436 APPENDIX. 



vention of letters, I thought it not improper to communicate to 

 you. It is only necessary to add, that on our arrival at St. Peter's, 

 we found Col, Leavenworth had been as attentive and indefatigable 

 upon this subject, as upon every other which fell within the sphere 

 of his command. 



During the preceding winter, he had visited a tribe of the 

 Chippewas upon this pacific mission, and had, with the aid of 

 the agent, Mr. Talliafero, prepared the minds of both tribes for a 

 permanent peace. The Sioux and Chippewas met in council, at 

 which we all attended, and smoked the pipe of peace together. 

 They then, as they say in their figurative language, buried the 

 tomahawk so deep that it could never be dug up again, and our 

 Chippeway friends departed well satisfied Avith the result of their 

 mission. 



I trust that Mr. Bolvin, the agent at Prairie du Chien, has been 

 able before this to communicate to you a successful account of the 

 negotiation which I instructed him to open between the Sacs and 

 Poxes, forming one party, and the Sioux. Hostilities were car- 

 ried on between these tribes, which, I presume, he has been able 

 to terminate. 



"We discovered a remarkable coincidence, as well in the sound 

 as in the application, between a word in the Sioux language and 

 one in our own. The circumstance is so singular that I deem it 

 worthy of notice. The Sioux call the Falls of St. Anthony Ha ha, 

 and the pronunciation is in every respect similar to the same words 

 in the English language. I could not learn that this word was 

 used for any other purpose, and I believe it is confined in its 

 application to that place alone.* The traveller in ascending the 

 Mississippi turns a projecting point, and these falls suddenly ap- 

 pear before him at a short distance. Every man, savage or civil- 

 ized, must be struck with the magnificent spectacle which opens 

 to his view. There is an assemblage of objects which, added to 

 the solitary grandeur of the scene, to the height of the cataract, 



* Ilia ha [ilia-ikiha] are words given as equivalent to laugh, v. in Riggs's Dic- 

 tionary of the Dakota language, published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1852. 

 Ihapi, n., is laughter. The letter h, with a dot, represents a strong guttural, re- 

 sembling the Arabic Kha. Iha, by the same authoritj^ is the lips or cover to any- 

 thing; it is also an adverb of doubt. The vowel i has the sound of i in marine, or 

 e in me. 



