Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-10-30

may be able to procure, using erea,
care to elicit from the witnesses th,
true state Of facts relative to tn,
elaimant's right to make the desired
entry. = Very respectfully.
rs: j. P.OwENs, Register.
:f;{E - =. :. ~. :. - Z - -. -.
From Red Lake Agency.
The following interesting letter wa
received from Jonathan Taylor, Esq.
formerly Of this village, by . friend il
Little Falls, aud we are allowed t.
give It toSour readers: f..
Mn, Taylor has given youa 4 descrip
tion Of our journey hither, and I will
only add chat l enjoyed the trip much
y, except. when from force Of circum,
stanssk I Twas Obliged to- administe,
reproefto 2 certain refractory India a
pony, which we had in our company
not because>be was of any particula,
service to US, but because of bis strict,
" ornamental qualities; he rather fig
nnng as the Grand Mogul of our little
caravan. Theseenery along the route
from White Earth to this place is not
of the grandest, having a sameness
which would be tiresome except 70,
the occasional appearance of a pleas
ant Jake surrounded with groves Of
hardwood timber, belted with as fine
a sand d-beach' as you ever saw, and rich
in its: wealth Of 6ony inhabitants.
ASIDE from the few pleasant places in
dicated, the road runs through burnt
pine timber, and over sterile plains and
hills of sand. About eight miles from
Red Lake we enter a belt of hardwood
timber, called the Sugar Bush, where
the natives, in the proper season, gath
er the sweet juices of the forest, and
distill them in spots of iron" to con-
s'stency suitable for table use, in fact,
make. maple sugar. Well, after three
days Of such amusement as We could
fed in threshing our lazy pony, hurl>
ing double-headed expletives at the
same,: and fighting mosquitoes, we
reached ked Lake, pleased that our
Journey was accomplished, and consoled
by the reflection that We had perform
ed our. whole duty in urging our OBJ
stinate companion-I mean the pony,
not Mrs. Tower the road. Red
Lake IS about 40 miles long, with an
average width of 10 to Is miles; and
it abounds in fish Of fine quality,
such as white 6sh, bass, pike, pick
| erel and The like, which furnish the
Indians wi.h at least oue~tbird of thei,
living. Speaking of Indians, I will
say that xe have about 1900 on this
reservation, who subsist by hunting,
fishing, ana farming. Iestimate grain
and vegetables raised on this reserva- .
tion the present year as follows: Corn,
10000 bushels; potatoes. 5000 bush
els; wheat, 1000 bushels and small
supply Of cabbage, turnips, carrots
and onions. The Indians here are
quiet, orderly, and many Of them in
dustrious:* They have a number Of
good log houses built, aud quite a mum.
Der in process of construction. There
are severa things which the Indian
needs in : sanitary way; for instance
soap, the judicious use ofwbch would
be a blessing, and salt, which be does
not have In sufficient quantity. 9th.
ther things ad tejinitums 'sSuf6oien'
unto the day is the evil thereof" On
the fifth of September. by order Of
Maj. G. 4. Ruffee, I started; on a TRIP
to the moath of Thief River, a tribu'
tary of Red Lake river. T left the
Agency after dinner, with Frank John
son and !Ay ue-we~grewn>abe.as as COM
pauions de vcyqge, and proceeded fo'
IL miles along the lake shore, camp
Ing at night in the house of Leading
Feather, . Red Lake chief:
Sept. 6,h.-Early In the morning
we launched our canoe. made of birct
bark, on the placid bosom of the lake
and steered our course for the Quite
which We reached in about two hours
and then commenced our journey dow1
the Red Lake river. At night VI
camped' on the river bank, at a place
called by the Indians, Little LAX
where, lulled by tho gentle breez'
which proverbially '.s,ghs among the
treea,' and which gracefully toyet
with our ''scalp.lock"-you know VI
have an extensive one-we slept a qui
ct, refreshing sleep, and awsked t.
our breakfast ere the sun showed him,
self above the horizon. Embarked
about sunrise, and wended our way
downsthe river, assailed on every eide
by dacks in squads Of dozens, hund.
reds, and thousands. We fought on,
way through in valiant style-1 CUES.
and At noon had bagged 40 Of these
aquatic fowl. We ,dined at Grants
Bureh, at which place we secreted
our canoe 10 the tail grass, together
with such provisions, ETC., as We did
not wish to carry with US, and started
on foot for the mouth Of Thief River,
| aOna thirty NJ fnrtu ,,:lo. J;st.r% ~,