Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-04-10
FROM THE WILD LAND.
Villas County-A Land Where Indian
Trails Are Still Used,

.Ah" 'lhS. w men q DIT OF indian romance
is brought TO light with the discovery of
some hidden remnant of this great Amer
lcan race, 1t invariably has charms for
lhoSe who have ever been stricken with
the desire to collect these threads in
the lacework of history.
NO state i'll the union. perhaps, offers
a larger field for research along this
line than Wisconsin. Mounds in count
Tess numbers mark the burial places of
the dead, and in each of them can be
found Indian relics.
Volume after volume has been written
OF the sentimental rites which invariably
accompanied the interment of the body
OF an American Indian. The weird cere-
mony OF giving all that was mortal to
the cold and silent depths of the grave
has been depicted by the artist, but how
many are there in this state who have
seen traces of Indian life and habita-
ton above the earth?
Little is known of the woods in Wis
consln where evidences of Indian life
can be seen on every turn. 1t is in the
north-ln the lake country where the
cruiser marks the trail for the woods
man to follow with the cruel axe the
country which is now being rapidly civ
lllzed' by the network of railroads and
the work of men who are succeeding in
converting this section into fertile farm
lands.
The sportsman who HES himself to
the lakes for the pleasure of getting
away from the smoky city-and Incl
dentally to hunt and fish in the woods
and waters-tO become drOne in the
woods where the smell of pine and bal
sam give one the feeling that life is
worth living after all. is the one man
who becomes interested in detecting the
signs left by the Indians when they, too,
searched the woods for game to supply
the commissary of the tepee or camp.
A county Ehich gives one ample OPP
portum.y 20 study the peculiar customs
in locating every place where the marks
of the Red Man are seen would
be taking up too much space. Let it
suffice to say that they can be found
everywhere in the woods which have not
been molested by the greed of the lum-
bering corporations, in the forest as it
was left by the Creator.
On the shores of SanbOrn lake not
many miles from Eagle River, there is
grOteSQue figure of an Indian brave
carved in the bark of a tall and majestic
hemlock This figure was probably
carved years ago.
A new covering of bark has formed
over the places left bare by the ''artists''
knife, but the form stands out with re-
markabe clearness.
Indian trails can be found everywhere
They are told by the blazes on the trees
along the rough paths in the forest.
The Indian used knife to blaze his
trails. and the cut was a long slash of
the bark. These of course have partly
disappeared with time, but the scars
are left. On many trails the blaze of
the white man is seen on the same trees,
but it is the mark left by two strokes
of the small axe.
These trails lead the wo0dsman from
one lake to the other. They are the
paths followed now by the hunters and
fishermen in transporting their canoes on
trips from one system of the northern
waters to another. Without them, even
the experienced guide would have diff
Guilty in finding his way back to camp.
Strips of birch with peculiar inscrip-
tons and grotesQue figures carved On
them have been found buried on the
banks of the streams which penetrate
the forest from their sources in the
lakes Show one of them to a Chlppe-
wa Indian and he will begin a kl-yT'
which resembles the sounds from the
lips of an lgorrote after partaklng OF
choice bit of dog steak and beginning
the after-dinner dance. The Inscriptions
are the notes IN the rolls of Indian mu-
sic.
To get back to real Indian life. all orc
has to do is to visit the camp OF tht
Chippewas on a narrow hOgback OF land
between Palmer and Cochrane lakes,
about two miles from Camp Tendertoot.
Every fall the Indians leave then reser-
walton on the Flambeau to gather the
wild rice sown in shallow bay OF Palm
er to attract the ducks in their flight over
the wooded sections of Villas county IN
search of food
1t is here that the Indians camp for a
stay of about two or three weeks. Ihef
imprOvised tents, racks for drying the
wild rice and devices for husklng, 1t are
decidedly ingenious. Squaws work with
the zeal of skilled mechanics who Ia
Dor by contract, and when the head OF
a family feels a craving for fire water
coming over him. he sells his canoes, in
various sizes, to the visitors in camp.
A large canoe with a carrying ca
pacity Of about 500 or 600 pounds, is
worth about $15, but if the Indian is
particularly hard up for money he Will
dispose of it for So. The bark IS secured
from the birch trees on the portage, ana
the pitch used for closing the seams Is
made by boiling the gum which accumu-
lates in a cut made in one or the large
mines After harvesting the rice the In
dams travel by canoe and loot BACK 10
the reservation.
Fond du Lac once claimed as resi-
dent man who made thorough
study of Indian life. He lived in this
state when the red men traded with the
White settlers at the head of Lake Win
nebago. and actually met many or the
chiefs and their followers when they
nitched their tents in the village.
This man was Mark Harrison. an art
ist whose paintings now hang III the gal
Ipries of Paris and New York, the State
Historical society's rooms at Madison,
The public library at Oshkosh and other
nublic buildings. OF the Indian works
which he completed, one which gained
much distinction for the artist is The
Burial of NIinnehaha,' scene taken
from Iongfellow's ''Hiawatha."
This painting was photographed, and
conv was sent to Longfellow who wrote
TO Harrison. congra tulating him upon the
admirable grouping of the figures. Long
fellow closed his letter with these words:
..It is lust as | pictured it when | wrote
the story This letter. with the picture,
IS now in the home of Judge A. +. Rich
ter of Fond du Lac
a copy of the painting has since been
made by pupil of Harrison. Edward
g Mascraft who assisted the pioneer
artist in most of his work. and it now
hangs in the Mascraft studio, an exact
counterpart of the original. Mascraft
has painted many other Indian scenes,
among them being THE Falls of Chime
Eaha.'' THE Prairie Fire and Sitting
Bull