Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-03-05
Tomo.

| Inelr rise nere. On the north are the
Raquette, Black, Beaver, Grass Oswegat-
chic, and the like, which roll their wa
ters through the forests, till they find
the st. Lawrence. Into the Champlain
empty the Saranac, the Ausable and the
Bouquet, while from the south, comes
the lordly Hudson, whose birthplace is
among wilds and lakes almost inaccessi-
BILE. In this mighty wilderness are
mountains terribly magnificent, rising
up alone, cold, dreary and sublime.
Here, too, are lakes, more than too hun
dred in number, wild as they were be-
fore the white man ever came to their
0hUres. and beautiful, often beyond any,
thing to be described on paper Lakes
George and Champlain are of the tribe.
and have the good fortune to be more &C
cessible than the rest of their family ::
but there are multitudes which are no.
ways inferior to them in beauty. and far
superior to them in wildness.
In former times this was all the rich
hunting ground of the Mohawks and
for long period they trapped the bea-
yer and the otter, and feasted upon the
moose and the deer, unmolested. But
In process of time, a shrewd old sachem
OF the Abenaquis Indians, Canada, dis
covered this choice hunting region. At
hrst ne came alone but the abundance
OF his success caused his young men to
watch and follow him, and he was
obliged to lead them into it. To this
day there are marks left by which he
endeavored to frighten any from follow
ing him. Those who have gone over
the old "lndian carrying-place," be-
tween the waters of the Saranac and the
Raquette, will know what | mean. Th~
r-oG " the lakes and rivers
Eat emptied into Canada must belong to
the Canada Indians, while the Mohawks
contended that the ground was all theirs
from immemorial possession. These dis
putes caused bitter enmities, severe con-
tests and much bloodshed. On the
banks of the rivers, and around all the
lakes, is many an unknown grave, where
they waylaid and murdered each other.
Even to this day, you can see the eve
kindlo, and the form enlarge. as the
Abenauuis tells the s'vIy OF these wars,
and lauds the sdperior courage of his
tribe; and l yresume, though am un-
acquainted with them, that almost any
of the remnants of the Mohawks would
do the samN The story l am about to
relate vas told me by one of the former
trib"
The bark canoe is the horse, camel,
carriage and the vessel of the Indian.
1t is made so light that the owner can
carry it on his head for miles through
the forest, and yet capable of carrying
several men. Each tribe has its OWL
pattern, some exceedingly graceful and
beautiful, so that on seeing a canoe, you
can tell in moment to what tribe il
belongs. They are made of the bark o.
the white birch, lined with white cedar
rived very thin, sewed with the roots O.
the spruce, and gummed (or puccoed
as the Indians call it with the gum o
the same tree.
Has the reader ever passed through
the enchanting lake, Champlain, from
) Whitehall to St. Johns? If he has. h.
has had great amount of enjoyment il
a small space, provided he had som
friend by him to whom he could say
"Oh, how beautiful p AS he left tn
bold shores and lofty mountains tha
looked down on the lake on both sides
Vermont and New York, and came alon,
{ the fattened shores in Canada, did tn
e reader ever notice small, fiat island i
/. the lake, just before he reached 81
Johns? Those who speak the Englis
language call it cash Island" Tn
n Indians, for reasons soon seen, call
|, "Head Island"
On one occasion company of thirt
Mohawks in their canoes passed thrOug
v the wilderness which have named int
:, Champlain, and then down north, towar
y Canada, in order to waylay and intel
!, cept any of the Abenaquis who migl
. be coming up to hunt. Just at nigl
% the warriors killed moose, and lande
IS on Ash Island to camp for the nigh
a = Here they built their camp fire. and b
: gan to roast their moose. Just aft,
this there came along single cano
containing an old chief and three hui
d ters on their way to the huntir
1T grounds. Noiselessly they moved the
1T paddles. Before they had discovert
~ the smoke of the camp fire. They wal
~ - ed till dark, and then silently land,
r, on the shore opposite the island. Ol
10 of the best swimmers was sent to exal
9d inc the canoes, and see who were t
lo owners. There were bushes all aroul
m the shores of the island, and the NJ
en- hawks were busy in cooking their su
m. per. The night was very dark. T
Iu cunning chief laid his plans Instant
~ ~ and lost no time in executing them.