360 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
This bark contained the answer of the Sioux nation. So sanguinary had been the 
contest between these two tribes that no personal communication could take place. 
Neither the sanctity of office nor the importance of the message could protect the 
ambassador of either party from the vengeance of the other. 
Some time preceding, the Ojibwas, anxious for peace, had sent a number of their 
young men into these plains with a similar piece of bark, upon which they repre- 
sented their desire. This bark had been left hanging to a tree, in an exposed situ- 
ation, and had been found and taken away by a party of Sioux. 
The proposition had been examined and discussed in the Sioux villages, and the 
bark contained their answer. The Ojibwa explained to us with great facility the 
intention of the Sioux. 
The junction of the St. Peters with the Mississippi, where the principal part of the 
Sioux reside, was represented, and also the American fort, with a sentinel on duty, 
and a flag flying. 
The principal Sioux chief was named The-Six, alluding, I believe, to the band of 
villages under his influence. To show that he was not present at the deliberation 
upon the subject of peace, he was represented on a smaller piece of bark, which 
was attached to the other. To identify him, he was drawn with six heads and a 
large medal. Another Sioux chief stood in the foreground, holding a pipe in his 
right hand and his weapons in his left. Even we could not misunderstand that; 
like our own eagle with the olive branch and arrows, he was desirous for peace, but 
prepared for war. 
The Sioux party contained fifty-nine warriors, indicated by fifty-nine guns, drawn 
upon one corner of the bark. 
The encampment of our troops had been removed from the low grounds upon the 
St. Peters to a high hill upon the Mississippi. Two forts were therefore drawn upon 
the bark, and the solution was not discovered until our arrival at St. Peters. 
The effect of the discovery of the bark upon the minds of the Ojibwas was visible 
and immediate. 
The Ojibwa bark was drawn in the same general manner, and Sandy lake, the 
principal place of their residence, was represented with much accuracy. To remove 
any doubts respecting it, a view was given of the old northwestern establishment, 
situated upon the shore, and now in the possession of the American Fur Company. 
No proportion was preserved in their attempt at delineation. One mile of the Mis- 
sissippi, including the mouth of the St. Peters, occupied as much space as the whole 
distance to Sandy Lake, nor was there anything to show that one part was nearer 
to the spectator than another. 
The above pictorially professed attitude of being ready for either 
peace or war may be compared with the account in Champlain— Voyages 
(d)—of the chief whose name was Mariston, but he assumed that of Ma- 
higan Atticq, translated as Wolf Deer. He thereby proclaimed that 
when at peace he was mild as a deer, but when at war was savage as 
a wolf, 
In Davis’ Conquest of New Mexico (a) it is stated that Vargas’ Ex- 
pedition in 1694 was met by the Utes, who hoisted a deerskin in token 
of peace. ; 
The following ‘‘speech of an Ojibwa chief in negotiating a peace with 
the Sioux, 1806,” from Maj. Pike’s (a) Expeditions, etc., shows the pic-_ 
tographic use of the pipe as a profession of peace: 
My father, tell the Sioux on the upper part of the river St. Peters that they mark 
trees with the figure of a calumet; that we of Red lake who may go that way should 
we see them, that we may make peace with them, being assured of their pacific dis- 
position when we shall see the calumet marked on the trees. 
