BUSHNELL] VILLAGES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI 47 
century, and moving southward settled along the banks of the Mis- 
sissippi. Descendants of these were occupying well-known villages 
on the Mississippi and Minnesota during the summer of 1823, when 
Major Long and his party ascended the rivers from Prairie du 
Chien. 
Before leaving Prairie du Chien to discover the course of the 
Minnesota, or St. Peters, as it was then designated, the members of 
the expedition were divided into two groups, one to go overland to 
the mouth of the St. Peters, the other to convey the supplies by boat 
to that point. Both parties visited the principal villages on the way. 
First following the route of those who went overland, on June 26, 
1823, they encountered a village of five lodges, evidently on the 
Iowa River, in the present Winneshiek County, Iowa. Two days 
later, June 28, they arrived at the more important village of Wa- 
pasha, in the present Wabasha County, Minnesota, and as told in 
the narrative: ‘“ Whatever might be the reveries in which the party 
were indulging, they were soon recalled to the dull realities of 
travelling, by the howling and barking of a band of dogs, that an- 
nounced their approach to an Indian village consisting of twenty 
fixed lodges and cabins. It is controlled by Wa-pa-sha, an Indian 
chief of considerable distinction. In his language, (Dacota,) his 
name signifies the red leaf. A number of young men fantastically 
decorated with many and variously coloured feathers, and their faces 
as oddly painted, advanced to greet the party. One of them, the son 
of the chief, was remarkable for the gaudiness and display of his 
dress. which from its showy appearance imparted to his character 
foppishness . . . The chief is about fifty years of ago, but appears 
older . . . His disposition to the Americans has generally been a 
friendly one.” (Keating, (1), 1, pp. 249-250.) Hennepin’s reception 
by the ancestors of the same people, in their ancient village near 
Mille Lac, about a century and a half earlier, may have been quite 
similar to this accorded the members of the Long expedition in 
1823. 
On the evening of June 30 the party going by land arrived “ at 
an Indian village, which is under the direction of Shakea, (the man 
that paints himself red;) the village has retained the appellation 
of Redwing, (ale rouge.) by which the chief was formerly distin- 
guished.” This was on the site of the present Red Wing, Goodhue 
County, Minnesota. There the party remained overnight, and on 
the following morning, July 1, 1823, the boat bearing the supplies 
belonging to the expedition, on its way from Prairie du Chien to 
Fort St. Anthony, reached the village, and “ The whole party being 
again united, the chief invited them to his lodge, with a view to have 
a formal conversation with them . . . As a compliment to the party, 
