BULL. 30] 



MASCOUTENS 



811 



'Firepeo]ile,' and hy the French 'Nation 

 du Ft'U.' These hist names seem to have 

 arisen from a mistranslation of the Algon- 

 quian term. In tlie Cliii)i)ewa dialect 

 'fire' isisltkole, and might easily be substi- 

 tuted for maahkudc, 'prairie'). A term 

 used by some early writers in a collective 

 and indefinite sense to designate the Algon- 

 quian tribes living on the i>rairies of Wis- 

 consin and Illinois; LaSalle even includes 

 soMiel)andsof Sioux under the name. The 

 name {Ma^^hL-otetis) is at present applied 

 by the Potawatomi to that part of the 

 tribe officially known as the "Prairie 

 band" and formerly residing on the 

 prairies of n. Illinois. The modern 

 Foxes use the term Muskut/iwa to 

 designate themselves, the Wea, Pianka- 

 shaw, Peoria, and Kaskaskia, on account 

 of their former residence on the prairies 

 of Illinois and Indiana. Gallatin was not 

 inclined to consider them a distinct trilte, 

 and Schoolcraft was of the opinion that 

 they, together with the Kickapoo, Avere 

 parts of one tribe. It is asserted by the 

 Jesuit Allouez that the Kickapoo and 

 Kitchigami spoke the same Algonquian 

 dialect as the JNIascoutens. ( iallatin says 

 the Sauk, Foxes, and Kickapoo "speak 

 precisely thesame language." Their close 

 association with the Kickapoo would indi- 

 cate an ethnic relation. According to an 

 Ottawa tradition recorded by Schoolcraft 

 there was at an early day a tribe known 

 as Assegun (q. v.), or Bone Indians, re- 

 siding in the vicinity of Michilimackinac. 

 These, after a severe contest, were driven 

 by the Ottawa into the southei'n peninsula 

 of Michigan as far as Grand r. During this 

 war on the eastern shore of L. INIichigan 

 the Ottawa and Chippewa, who had con- 

 federated with them, became involved in 

 a quarrel with a people known as Mush- 

 kodainsug (or Mascoutens) . From this 

 period, according to the tradition, the 

 Assegun and jNIascoutens were confeder- 

 ates, and were driven still farther south- 

 ward in the peninsula, after which they 

 are lost to the tradition, except that it 

 attributes to thent the well known "gar- 

 den beds" of southwestern Michigan. 

 Although this tradition stands to a large 

 extent alone, it is possibly not wholly un- 

 supported. The chief items which seem 

 to accord with it are the close relations 

 between the Mascoutens and the Sauk, who 

 are known to have resided at an early 

 period in the lower Michigan peninsula, 

 whence they passed into Wisconsin, where 

 the two tribes Avere found closely asso- 

 ciated; and the statement by Denonville 

 (N. Y. Doc. Cob Hist., ix, 37S) that Cham- 

 plain, in 1612, found (heard of) the peo- 

 ple of this tribe residing at Sakinan, or 

 Saginaw l)ay. To the same locality have 

 the Sauk l)een traced. Although the evi- 

 dence is not entirely satisfactory, it is 



probable that this tribe entered Wisconsin 

 from southern Michigan, passing around 

 the southern end of L. Michigan. 



The first mention of the Mascoutens is 

 by Champlain, in 1616, under the name 

 Asistagueroiion (QEuvres, iv, 58, 1870); 

 on his map (v, 1384) he locates them, 

 under the name Assistagueronons, beyond 

 and s. of L. Huron, L. Michigan being 

 unkntjwn to him. He says the Ottawa 

 were then at war with them. Sagard 

 (1036) places them nine or ten days 

 journey w. of the s. end of Georgian bay 

 (Hist, du Canada, 194, 1866). According 

 to the Jesuit Relation for 1640 they were 

 then at war with the Neuters, who were 

 allies of the Ottawa. The first actual con- 

 tact of the French with the Mascoutens of 

 which there is any record was the visit 

 of Perrot to their villagfe near Fox r. Wis. , 

 jirevious to 1669. Winsor (Cartier to 

 Frontenac, 152) says Nicolet visited their 

 village in 1634. That he passed up Fox r. , 

 probably to the portage, is doubtless true, 

 but that he visited the Mascoutens is not 

 positively known, as it is stated in the 

 Jesuit Relation for 1646 that up to that 

 time they had seen no European, and 

 that the name of God had not reached 

 them. They were visited in 1670 by 

 Allouez and in 1673 by Marquette, both 

 finding them in their village near the port- 

 age Ijetween Fox and Wisconsin rs., living 

 in close relation with the Miami and the 

 Kickapoo. After the visit by Marquette 

 they are mentioned by Hennepin, who 

 places them in 1680 on L. W^innebago; 

 though Mem1)re at the same date locates 

 at least a part of the tribe and some of 

 the Foxes on INIilwaukee r. Marest, 

 writing in 1712, says that a short time 

 jirevious thereto they had formed a set- 

 tlement on the Ohio at the mouth of the 

 Wabash, or more likely at Old Fort 

 Massac, whose occupa^nts had suffered 

 greatly from contagious disorders. In 

 the sanie year the upper Mascoutens and 

 the Kickapoo joined the Foxes against 

 the French. In the same year the Pot- 

 awatomi and other northern tribes made 

 a combined attack on the Mascoutens 

 and Foxes at the siege of Detroit, killing 

 and taking prisoners together nearly a 

 thousand of both sexes. In 1718 the ^las- 

 coutensand Kickapoo werelivingtogether 

 in a single village on Rock r. , 111., and 

 were estimated together at 200 men. In 

 1736 the Mascoutens are mentioned as 

 numbering 60 warriors, living with the 

 Kickapoo on Fox r. , Wis., and having the 

 wolf and deer totems. These are among 

 the existing gentcs of the Sauk and Foxes. 

 They are last mentioned as living in Wis- 

 consin in the list of tribes furnished to 

 James Buchanan (Sketches N. A. Inds., i, 

 139) by Heckewelder, which relates to 

 the period between 1770 and 1780. The 



