The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1916-10-05
to be very large body Of water, too
broad for one standing on the shore to

to be very large body Of water, too
broad for one standing on the shore to
see the land on the farthest side.
(The lake is % miles long and 16 miles
wide). Here we found a band Of In
dams and an old chief, second in au-
thority to Hole-in-the-Day. They had
planted small gardens and seemed like
a half civilized people. We were treat
ed as braves and given plenty Of game,
corn and potatoes.
"On the shores of the rice lakes,
which we had passed, many Indians
were encamped. In the lakes for more
than six miles, they were gathering
the wild rice. I had never seen that
article of food before, and desired to-
know how it was harvested and pre-
pared for food. When the rice is ready
for gathering, it is made into bundles
by drawing two or three straws around
a bunch and tying them. They make
lines or rows of these punches across
the lake and each family has from
two to five rows. Each has a canoe
with blanket spread in the bottom to
hold the rice The canoe is run be-
tween two rows by two squaws, and
they pull the tops Of the punches of
rice over the side of the canoe and
pound them with stick. In this SIM
pie way they secure large quantities
of this nutritious grain. After it has
been winnowed, it is prepared for
packing by heating it in camp kettles
over fire until it is parched. The
grain is then put into packages for
storage, and it will keep for years.
The packages which the Ojibways
| (Chippewas) call mokuls, are made of
birch bark, and are pitched like a ca
noe. They hold from a half bushel to
one bushel, and are stored away in the
ground for winter, being covered with
leaves and old bark.
Fifty years have passed since I
first dealt with the Indians. In all my
experience, they have been found more
true and honorable than most of the
white men with whom they have come
in contact on the frontier"
| With the exception Of the pine,
which is all gone save for scattering
specimens, and of the clearings and
farm houses, which are increasing all
the time, much of the region is just as
Daniel Stanchfeld saw it 70 years ago.
I have quoted Mr.. Stanchfeld's de-
scription of the Chippewa wild rice
harvest at some length, because have
just seen such harvest at the same
place, conducted practically as it was
in the olden days, with the Indians
living in queer birch-bark houses,
shaped like the Esquimaux igloo in
stead of the tepee One reason for
slow development around Mile Laos
is the prevalent and mistaken belief
that timber land is of little value after
the pines have been removed and, an
other is, that this particular belt has
been lacking in railroad facilities until
the 500 built branch a few years
ago from it's main line at Brooten to
Duluth and skirting the south shore of
Mile Laos. This opened the country
east and west, though it is still rather
hard to reach from the north and
south, wide angles having to be made
to get into it by railroad. The auto
mobile, however, lessons the necessi-
ties for rails, and the new era is not
only born, bit is we'll under way, in
this remarkable stretch of territory
in the heart of the state.
With the new era has come such a
change that if this were movie drama
a change of reels would now take
place.
With the change of reels new
! character comes upon the scene. He
is a pioneer, no less than Stanchfeld
was, but he comes from further away
than northern Maine. Some of him
come from Sweden, some from Nor
way, some from Germany and others
from Latin and Slav countries. The
one have selected as typical of this
new kind of pioneer comes from Switz-
erland, which contributes a small per-
centage of the thousands who have
been crossing the Atlantic for the past
! quarter Of a century to become pio-
neers of this vast new world Of ours.
The young Swiss who is to be the
hero Of this reel came to America when
he was Is years of age and could not
speak a word of any language except
German. He came over to visit an
aunt of his in Wisconsin who had mar
ried Scotchman and emigrated to the
new world. His aunt had learned
English from her husband and the boy
learned it from both uncle and aunt.
To hear a German-Swiss speak Eng
lish with Scotch burr is alone worth
the price of admission.