The Portland daily press., 1870-08-08
Terms $500 per amman, i'm adrancc.

IN oregon, and on the St. Croix between this
State and Wisconsin, the Dalles of the st.
Louis is deep gorge or chasm in the sever
lasting hills as though by some gigantic con-
vulsion of nature the mountain or deep rock
had been cloven to its base, and the parts
pressed asunder to allow the pent up waters
to find an outlet. At the St. Louis the wa
tiers of the mighty river are crowded into
very narrow, deep, ragged, jagged channel,
giving great depth to the stream, AMI 10 the
water dark, forbidding aspect. Under the
railroad bridge which spans the river at the
narrowest point, we were told the water Is
forty feet deep, and from this point to the
calm waters four miles below, the river makes
descent of from four hundred to five hun
dred feet. The Dalles is one Of the widest,
most romantic and fearfully enchanting spots
l ever looked upon beautiful, some would
call il, but it is the beauty which inspires awe
and fear, and repels the beholder rather than
invites him to close, fau iliar and secret COM
munlcation. The rushing, foaming, angry
waters, seemingly black with rage: the deep,
precipitous shores; the rocky turrets brstliue
on the surrounding hills, the dark, forbidding
tees; the silence of all save the rustng wa
tiers and the beating heart; the wild scene of
desolat'on,-these all conspire to max.
scene at once grand and sublime and yet fear
ful and repelling.
As have said, the fall of water in the St.
Louis is over four hundred feet in four miles,
and Duluth people speak of the water power
as of incalculable capacity, and the locality as
"ths future Lowell of Duluth" The some
what hasty observation which was able to
bestow upon the 'Falls," seen nearly at all
points from the railroad track, convinced me
that about the only element of a good water
power which is found here, is the mere fall of
,cater; the rugged, rocky, deep, preciptous
banks, averaging an hundred feet in height,
entirely excluding the idea Of utility, and the
amount OF money required to blast and level
down foundation for "future LowelIv le-
ing vastly in excess of all the products that
such Lowell, in such a place, would ever
yield.
From the near neighborhood of st. Paul 70
within one mile of the st. Louis, there is a
disasreeabe sameness in the soil, timber and
general features of the landscape Sandy,
pitch pine plains and tamarack swamps alter
nate, relieved occasionally by quite extensive
tracts of white pine timber, which is fast dis
appearing before the vandal blows of the st.
Croix lumbermen, the tributaries of that river
watering this waste wilderness. For more
than hundred miles one almost dead level
prevails, with no sign of cultivation-no sign
ofrichness to invite the attention of the agri-
culturist; and except tor the timber, which is
| in comparatively small patches, your down
east farmers would Lot purchase it at five
cents an acre. A few sbanties-rude and
comforlless-occupied by railroad employees,
or for the sale of tangleIoot whiskey, consti-
tute large proportion OF the buildings on the
route, with occasional lodges of the Chppe-
way Indians, the miserable remnants OF a
once powerful tribe, many Of whom have dom
ned the garments of civilized lie, though few
Of them impress one with any of those high
| notions of Indian character which the stories
of Pocahontas, Logan and other aboriginal
heroes are intended to inspire.
Speaking of Indians reminds me of the
celebrated "Medicine Dance" which it was
my privilege to witness while stopping
couple of hours at Fondulac. Here is quite
settlement of Indians and half-breeds, and
here also resides real chief il not the chief
himself. The day was there occurred the
great festival of the tribeJ. With friend I
went 10 the scene of the ceremony, and at
sight of a"quarter'' the flap of the lodge was
opened to us. The Medicine Dance is a re-
ligious ceremony or observance, as much so az
Easter and High Mass with the Catholic; as
Christmas and the Eucharist with the Episco-
pllian. The performances was within tent
covered with birch bark and fragments of old
| canvass, long and narrow, and carpeted
around the sides with feshly plu liked and
odorous cedar boughs, upon which were seat
ed men, women and children not engaged in
the dance, and to which we genties were re-
spectfully pointed on our entrance.
In the centre of the lodge, driven into the
ground, was a stake about three feet high,
painted white, with green stone near its
foot; near one end of the tent was similar
stone colored, and at the opposite end white
stone, beside which, with his head next the
figure largely in the ceremony. About dog
en- persons, male and female, participated In
the dance, which was performed around the
coored stone and particularly around the
body Of the defunct dog. The dance consist
ed OF monotonous jumps, both feet at once,
/ with n SiHouayS advapna tho md h<,Iu
as nearly motionless as possible, keeping tint
to the beating of rude drum made by
stretching a dried skin over the end of sec
tion Of hollow log, with an accompaniment
OF jerky, grunting gutterals from the leading
males Of the party, one old fsllow-probably
the Priest, or "Medicine Man,"-taking the
lead, and neither Aaron Of old, clad in all the
panoply Of the Hebrew Priesthood, nor Plus
IA., in full po1tifcals, watching the proceed
| ings of the Ecumenical Council, could possi-
bly, evince more earnestness, sincerity or unc-
ton than did this tawny son of the forest
Articles of dry goods, such as prints, hand
kerchiefs, etc., we're blessed by the officiating
priest, and presented to the females with a
speech to each one, and the ways the old chap
Swung around the circle" of the lodge, making
his brief speeches, would have thrown Andy
johnson and Nasty into the shade in the
palmiest days of their campaigning. Another
dance around the stones, and then cedar
boughs were collected with which the dead
dog was covered, except ibis head,-al with
most imposing ceremony, then after the
Medicine Man had extended the friendly
hand to the Gentiles present, seated himself
and lighted his pipe, the whiskey sacrament
was administered, a large brown jug taking
the place of the gorgeous silver flagon, and q
tin dipper doing service for the cup, each one
children excepted-taking single sip; and
following this were brought in two large iron
camp kettles, smoking and savory, from which
the festival soup was to be served. While the
smoking red dog meat was being fished up
up from the depths of the camp kettles and
deposited in tin pans, not feeling hungry, or
wishing to abuse the hospitality of our eutsr-
tainers, with my friend l quietly withdrew.
regretted that l could find no interpreter
present, and no one who could speak three
consecutive words of English intelligibly, for
l thus lost the significance of the ceremonies,
though not eatirely oblivious TO the dogmati-
cal conclusion. l learned from people outside
| that three fat CANNES had suffered from the
j sacrificial knife that morning, that they might
i ia fha a n