The daily Minnesota pioneer., 1855-04-17


'Roates OF Travel to Lake Superior.
ROUTE THiRD.-rHE ST. cRolx AND Bola
BRULE ROUTE ' 10
This trip is made almost entirely by wa
ter Parties on arriving at St. Croix Falls
must procure royageurs and birch bark Ca
noes, which may be obtained there, though
sometimes not without difficulty, the roya-
gsurs especially, who demand 81 per day,
and provisions--the general and ruling rates
elsewhere being but 81 per day. From st.
Croix Falls, the party ascends the st. Croix
River TO its source at Upper St. Croix Lake,
q distance of 80 miles, and on arriving there
q portage Of two miles is made by which
the. head waters Of the Bois Brule, or Half
Breed River are reached. This river, by a
succession Of rapids, falls nine hundred feet
in its passage to where it enters Lake Su-
perior, at twenty -one miles from its head
10 royogrurs the navigation is perfectly
safe, but it is absolutely necessary for trav-
ellers to have them. Two are sufficient for
each canoe, carrying four or five persons.
This route is the one used by the early
Jesuit Missionaries, and at the head of the
Brule there is the finest trout fishing imagi
nable. "A canoe load can be caught in a
short time About mile from the Upper
St. Croix Lake, and half way across the
portage, is reached the summit Of the divid-
ing ridge between the waters Of the Missis-
sippi and Lake SuperiorAa point 900 feet
above the waters Of the latter, and 500 feet
above those Of the former. On this ridge
is boiling siMine;; covering nearly an acre
Of ground the water from which 'rdns in
two directions, viz westward into the Up
petTBake Of st. Croix,, and down the Mis-.
sissippi into the Gulf Of Mexico; eastward
into the Bois Brule, and emptying into the
Atlantic Ocean, by way Of Lake Superior,
the chain Of Lakes and the River st. Law
renee The waters, commingle, by the &C;
tion Of che Gulf Stream in the broad AT.
Antie Ocean pJGAiq aalsasoa 10 se"s4 s9a,.Sf se
Tho Bois Brnle; ss before stated, is full
f rapids, and Il requires the skin Of expert.
saced royagsars, such as, the brothers. An,
giiste. and. Chasiot. cadotte, at st. Croix
Falls 70 navigate the frail birch canoes in
safety. Uhdef'their guidance, there is no
danger, and the journey, which lasts somee 3
Or-fe days, is g'sde through sapicturesque
and beautiful country, and with all the ep.
portunities, while doing SO, of indulging Ell
ther in the canoe a. ii in travelling, Or in the
camp on shore. in the dolce fer mien!e, which
the ,lazy Italians love 50 much. The roya-
gear propela the canoe by paddle when in
deep, and BY poles when in shallow water !;
at the close Of evening he ties up at some
convenient point: i laa camp, and camp
lire, cooks the 5osi2on, makes the tea, fries
pork. ETC.. and is content, himself, with bard
and common fare His service is rendered
cheeFfuiy, and It does not enter his mind
that what he can by any possibility do him
self, he should ask his travellers to aid him
*iu, or ,do,foc hin;- --nothing, but . common
$danger brings him and them all to one PM
pose and labor, and even then the peyagssr
kaa athaa most exposed. and periioua portion,
of his own miA ss Thnsesx have never
seen 8 tseyaeear. may as s.tgeneral. indiea.
tien, imagine hthe and siheewvy figure, with
taSs.asItak .istin which SaiEs,tte mixed. blood
of the half-breedursyes. black, glistening
and restless, as if looking constantly a'for
some covert foe; chair Jet black and shining,
as if it had q recent application Of bears
grease; and dssEsa ont in costume eonsist-
ng Of psntaloons, confined At the west by
ia gsudy colOrad and frinsed \ xcssted - Ssh;
aasd aamshS1isty nsoscassns aaa @eap, and