Old Times on the Upper Mississippi
first heard this general term as applied to the lake, to accept it as
a proper name, and to translate the Indian term into Michigan, as we
have it to-day.
It is a source of gratification that the names applied to the Great
River by the Jesuit fathers who first plied their birch-bark canoes
upon its surface, did not stick. They were wonderful men, those
old missionaries, devoted and self-sacrificing beyond belief; but
when it came to naming the new-found lands and rivers, there was a
monotony of religious nomenclature. Rivière St. Louis and Rivière de
la Conception are neither of them particularly descriptive of the
Great River. In this connection it must be said, however, that there
was something providential in the zeal of the good missionaries in
christening as they did, the ports at either end of the upper river
run. The mention of St. Louis and St. Paul lent the only devotional
tinge to steamboat conversation in the fifties. Without this there
would have been nothing religious about that eight hundred miles of
Western water. Even as it was, skepticism crept in with its doubts
and questionings. We all know who St. Paul was, and his manner of
life; but it is difficult to recall just what particular lines of
holiness were followed by Louis XIV to entitle him to canonization.
Trempealeau Mountain, as it is called, situated two miles above
Trempealeau Landing, Wisconsin, is another marvel of nature that
attracted the attention of the Indians. It is an island of limestone,
capped with sandstone, rising four hundred feet above the level of
the river. Between the island and the mainland is a slough several
hundred feet wide, which heads some five or six miles above. The
Winnebago gave it a descriptive name: _Hay-me-ah'-shan_ (Soaking
Mountain). In Dakota it was _Min-nay-chon'-ka-hah_ (pronounced
Minneshon'ka), meaning Bluff in the Water. This was translated by
the early French voyageurs into: _Trempe à l'eau_--the Mountain that
bathes its feet in the water. There is no other island of rock in the
Mississippi above the upper rapids; none rising more than a few feet
above the water.
It is but natural that the Indians who for centuries have peopled
the banks of the Mississippi, should have many legends attaching to
prominent or unusual features of the river scenery. Where the Indians
may have failed, imaginative palefaces have abundantly supplied such
deficiencies.
There is one legend, however, that seems to have had its foundation
in fact--that of the tragedy at Maiden Rock, or Lover's Leap, the
bold headland jutting out into Lake Pepin on the Wisconsin side,
some six or eight miles below the head of the lake. Dr. Bunnell
devoted much study to this legend, and his conclusion is that it is
an historic fact. Divested of the multiplicity of words and metaphor
with which the Indian story-teller, the historian of his tribe,
clothes his narrative, the incident was this:
In the days of Wah-pa-sha the first, chief of the Dakota band of
that name, there was, in the village of Keoxa, near the site of
the present Minnesota city of Winona, in the latter part of the
eighteenth century, a maiden whose name was Winona (_Wi-no-na_:
first-born daughter). She had formed an attachment for a young
hunter of the tribe, which was fully reciprocated by the young man.
They had met often, and agreed to a union, on which all their hopes
of happiness centered. But on applying to her family, the young
suitor was curtly dismissed with the information that the girl had
been promised to a warrior of distinction who had sued for her
hand. Winona, however, persisted in her preference for the hunter;
whereupon the father took measures to drive him out of the village,
and the family began to use harsh measures to coerce the maiden into
a union with the warrior whom they had chosen for her husband. She
was finally assured that she was, with or without her consent, to be
the bride of the man of their choice.
About this time a party was formed to go to Lake Pepin to lay in a
store of blue clay, which they used as a pigment. Winona, with her
family, was of the party. Arriving at their destination the question
of her marriage with the warrior again came up, and she was told that
she would be given to him that very day. Upon hearing this final
and irrevocable decree the girl withdrew, and while the family were
preparing for the wedding festival she sought the top of the bluff
now known as Maiden Rock. From this eminence she called down to her
family and friends, telling them that she preferred death to a union
with one she did not love, and began singing her death song. Many of
the swiftest runners of the tribe, with the warrior to whom she had
been sold, immediately ran for the summit of the cliff in order to
restrain her; but before they reached her she jumped headlong from
the height, and was dashed to pieces on the jagged rocks a hundred
and fifty feet below.
This story was in 1817 related to Major Long, of the United States
Army, by a member of Wahpasha's tribe, Wa-ze-co-to, who claimed to
have been an eyewitness of the tragedy. Wazecoto was an old man at
the time, and his evident feeling as he related the tale went far
toward convincing Major Long that the narrator was reciting the tale
of an actual occurrence.
Maiden Rock itself is a bluff about four hundred feet in height. One
hundred and fifty feet of it is a sheer precipice; the other two
hundred and fifty is a steep bluff covered with loose rocks, and
grown up to straggling scrub oaks. Some versions of the legend state
that Winona in her grief leaped from the bluff into the waters of
the lake and was drowned. On my only visit to the top of the Leap,
in company with Mr. Wilson, the mate, we found it somewhat difficult
to throw a stone into the water from the top of the bluff. If Winona
made it in one jump she must have been pretty lithe, even for an
Indian.
I hope that I may not be dubbed an iconoclast, in calling attention
to the fact that Indian stories similar to this have been localized
all over our country. Lovers' Leaps can be counted by the score,
being a part of the stock in trade of most summer resorts. Another
difficulty with the tale is, that the action of the young pair does
not comport with the known marriage customs of Indians.
Index
Index
A. B. CHAMBERS: steamboat, 238.
Able, Capt. Dan: 259.
Accordion: 16.
Adriatic: steamboat, 238.
Africa: 161.
Afton (Catfish) Bar: 107.
Agents, transfer: 30.
Ainsworth, Capt. J. C.: 275.
Alex. Mitchell: steamboat, 122, 124.
Alford, Capt. Pliny A.: 282, 293.
Algoma: steamboat, 18.
Allegheny River: 66.
Allen, Capt. Charles J.: 225, 226, 273.
Alma, Wis.: 293.
Alton, Ill.: 29, 188.
Alton Line. _See_ Steamboats.
Alton Slough: 290.
Altoona: steamboat, 238.
Amaranth Island: 258.
American Fur Co.: 266, 282, 284.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers: 43.
Anchor Line. _See_ Steamboats.
Anderson, Capt. ----: 234, 268.
Andrews, Capt. ----: 284.
Anglo-Saxons: 70, 114, 211.
Anthony Wayne: steamboat, 277.
Antietam: battle of, 215.
Appendices: 257-303.
Apple River: 104.
Appomattox Ct. House: battle of, 215.
Archer: steamboat, 265.
Argo Island: 259.
Armstrong, Joseph: pilot, 116, 294.
Army: 80, 83, 84, 114, 115, 141, 190, 191, 204-206, 209, 212-214, 224,
226, 241, 283, 285, 288, 292.
Arnold, John: pilot, 116.
Arrowheads: 20.
Arrow Rock, Mo.: 288.
Art and artists: 152, 155, 283, 293.
Assault: 48.
Atchinson, Capt. G. W.: 258, 271, 277, 293.
Atchison, Capt. John: 279.
Atchison, Capt. Joseph: 274.
Atchison, Capt. Mark: 284.
Atchison, Capt. Pierce: 269, 271.
Atlas Island: 259, 264, 279.
Australia: steamboat, 238.
Aymond, Capt. F.: 276.
Ayres, Lieut. Romeyn, U. S. A.: 212.
BADGER STATE: steamboat, 260.
Baldwin, Capt. ----: 269.
Ball, ----: clerk, 292.
Baltimore, Md.: 80.
Bangor, Maine: 272.
Banks (Newfoundland): 15.
Banks, bankers, and banking: 174-180.
Barbers: 157.
Barger, ----: clerk, 279.
Barkeepers: 132, 135.
Barley: 169, 247.
Barnes, Charles: 246.
Barry, Capt. ----: 258.
Bass, black: 104.
Bateaux. _See_ Ships.
Bates, Capt. ----: 257.
Bates, David G.: 270.
Battles: 20, 21 (Indian), 184, 203, 211, 212, 215, 293.
Bayous: 22, 227.
Beadle, Hiram: pilot, 116.
Beans: 29.
Bears: 22.
Beaver, Pa.: 267.
Beaver Falls: 206.
Beebe, Capt. Edward H.: 265.
Beech, Lieut. ----, U. S. A.: 293.
Beef Slough: 76, 95, 247.
Bell, Capt. Edwin: 258, 285.
Bellefontaine Bend: 276.
Belle Plaine, Minn.: 209.
Belle Vernon, Pa.: 269, 274, 276, 279, 287, 289, 293.
Bellevue, Iowa: 118.
Ben Campbell: steamboat, 117.
Ben Franklin: name for steamboats, 229.
Berger, Capt. ----: 286.
Berlin, Ger.: 201.
Bersie, Capt. Hiram: 271, 289.
Biddle, Maj. John: 187.
Big Stone Lake: 269.
Bissell, Capt. James: 275, 282, 289.
Black, James (Jim): pilot, 80, 116, 268.
Black Hawk: Indian chief, 184, 293.
Black River: 113, 260.
Blacksmiths: 35, 188.
Blaisdell: family in Prescott, 22.
Blaisdell, Nathaniel: 35, 277 (engineer).
Blake, Capt. ----: 276.
Blakeley, Capt. Russell: 113, 180, 259, 265, 270, 282.
Blanchard, Mr. ----: 56.
Bloody Island: 115.
Bloomington, Iowa: 265.
Boats. _See_ Ships.
Boilers: 39;
how cleaned, 37.
_See also_ Engines.
Boland, Capt. ----: 245, 253.
Books: 200.
Boston, Mass.: 80, 84.
Boughton: family in Prescott, 22.
Boulanger's Island: 223.
Boyd, Capt. ----: 260.
Brady, Capt. ----: 266.
Brandy: 108, 135.
Brickie, Capt. ----: 278.
Bridges: 148, 189, 250, 260, 266, 272.
Briggs, William: engineer, 272.
Brisbois & Rice: 265.
Britt's Landing, Tenn.: 150, 282.
Brock, Capt. ----: pilot, 117.
Broken Chute: 273.
Brooks, Capt. John: 257.
Brown, Capt. L.: 293.
Brownsville, Pa.: 95, 258, 260, 263, 266, 267, 277, 278, 285, 287,
289, 294.
Brownsville Chute: 261.
Brunette: steamboat, 238.
Bryant, ----: clerk, 279.
Buchanan, Pres. James: 144.
Buffalo, N. Y.: 187.
Buford, Capt. Thomas B.: 280.
Bull Run: battle of, 215.
Bunnell, Dr. Lafayette: _Hist. of Winona_, cited, 150, 300, 302.
Burbank & Co., J. C.: 258.
Burke, Capt. ----: 281.
Burlington, Iowa: 264.
Burlington: name for steamboats, 230.
Burnett, Ellsworth: 205.
Burns, Thomas (Tom): pilot, 78, 80-88, 103, 116, 240-242, 245, 248,
249, 253, 268.
CABLES: 144.
Cairo, Ill.: 185, 187, 188, 242, 253.
California, Pa.: ships built at, 257, 260, 269, 271, 273, 276, 277,
281, 283, 284, 291, 292.
Campbell, Capt. ----: 273.
Campbell & Smith (Steamboat Co.): 265.
Campbell's Chain: 264.
Canada: 21, 64, 196.
Canals: 79, 199, 223, 225.
Canoes. _See_ Ships.
Cape Girardeau, Mo.: 188.
Captains (of steamboats): 59, 93, 95, 99, 112, 124, 126, 143, 144,
157, 161, 163, 167, 170, 173, 193, 199, 229.
Cards, Playing: 139-141.
Carlisle College: 216.
Carlton, E.: clerk, 267.
Carpenters: 50, 163, 175, 194, 213, 275.
Carson's Landing, Mo.: 278.
Casey, ----: clerk, 288.
Cassville, Wis.: 167.
Cassville Crossing: 86, 95.
Cassville Slough: 250.
Casualties: 69, 74, 76, 96, 103, 104, 172, 192-195, 210, 211, 214,
215, 227, 229-239, 257-293.
Catfish Bar (Reef): 107, 108, 192.
_See also_ Afton.
Cat Island: 280.
Catlin, George: artist, 293.
Cedar Creek, Va.: 152.
Celts: 70.
_See also_ Irish.
Centennial: steamboat, 124.
Chain of Rocks: 264.
Challenge: steamboat, 238.
Chambers, Capt. Ludlow: 281.
Champlin, Capt. A. T.: 263, 282.
Channels: in river, how kept, 40.
Charlevoix, Pierre François Xavier de, S. J.: _Hist._, cited, 21.