1894-95.] THE FUR TRADE. 81 



" The present state of the Indian trade," he said, " requires regulation. 

 A number of people belonging to the disbanded troops have settled 

 themselves among the Indians on purpose to avoid the restraints of the 

 law. There unmolested, they exercise every species of cheating, etc. 

 Their continual jealousies and quarrels give the Indians the most unfav- 

 orable impressions of us. Formerly no person was permitted to trade 

 without a written permission from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs ; 

 now every idle fellow commences Indian trader." 



Sometime in 1785, a second association of Montreal merchants was 

 formed with the intention of competing with the North-west Company, 

 but in the course of a few months they consented to a union by which 

 four new shares of stock were added to the original sixteen, and the term 

 •of partnership extended to seven years. 



In April, 1786, a committee of twenty-eight of the principal merchants 

 •of Montreal engaged in trading to Mackinac and its dependencies, applied 

 to Sir John Johnson to act as mediator between the Indian tribes in that 

 quarter. For some years the Chippewas had been at war with their 

 neii^hbours, the Menomonees and Winnebagoes, and the sphere of 

 hostilities had gradually become extended until the Ottawas, Sacs, 

 Foxes and Sioux were numbered among the belligerents, and the life of 

 the trader was beset on every hand with fresh perils, while it offered 

 small prospect of gain. 



" Some attempts," they said, " have been made to reconcile the jarring 

 nations, and at times the traders, when on the spot, have so far succeeded 

 as to keep them at peace for a season, the good effects whereof were not 

 less esteemed by the Indians than beneficial to the traders, as by that 

 means the Indians remained unmolested on their respective wintering 

 grounds, which naturally produced a considerable degree of success and 

 advantage to the merchant ; but lately the disputes of those nations 

 have arose to a height above the power of the traders, assisted by the 

 officer commanding at Michilimackinac, to control or appease, in conse- 

 quence whereof the trade has suffered greatly, and unless some remedy 

 is applied in time there is reason to fear the loss of a considerable part 

 of that valuable branch of commerce, in particular the whole of that 

 carried on upon the Mississippi from the Illinois to its source," 



Four noted French traders, Cadotte, Reaume, Ainse, and Gautier, 

 were named as suitable persons to deliver messages to the several tribes 

 and induce them to agree to the proposals of a general peace. The 

 number of warriors of the Chippewa nation was estimated at 800 ; the 

 Menomenees had 150; the Winnebagoes or Puants, 600, and the Outa- 

 gamies or Foxes, 1,400, while the various clans of the Sioux were sup- 



