23 



till all have passed, and then all join in the hof)e that the next 

 brigade will really take the matter m hand. It was about at 

 its worst when we passed, but with my companion and myself 

 on opposite sides to brace up Blackie when he slipped sideways, 

 leaving the surefooted Bichon to pick his own way at a snail's 

 pace on the outer rim of this wretched causeway, we reached 

 the further end of the " long corduroy," at the middle of whose 

 three miles some wag ha'l nailed a barrel stave to a tree, on 

 which was a notice written with a red lead pencil " No riding 

 or driving over this bridge faster than a walk." 



Crow Wino-, a frontier tradinii' villao'e, was reached at last, 

 fifteen days' journey for tbe four hundred miles ; and we fared 

 sumptuously on fried bacon and many triangular cuts of 

 apple pie. The I'emainder of the load, being over bridged 

 streams and ferries, needs no special mention, but Crow Wing 

 warrants some slight notice, for neai' it was the Chippewa In- 

 dian agency, and hard by the new residence of " Hole in the 

 Day," then a noted Ojibway chief. This man, who was the son 

 of a chief, possessed great influence over the various bands of 

 that tribe, whose hunting grounds extended far to the east, 

 west and nortli, and it had been hard to convince him that 

 these bands Wvre right in disposing of their rich lacustrine i"e- 

 gion where the wild lice grew everywhere, tish thronged 

 every lake and stream, and of wild bird and beast there was 

 no stint ; but when were Indian treaties fair to both contract- 

 ing parties ? Hole in the Day must be cajoled ; and accord- 

 ingly he had been, a year or two before, taken to Washington 

 to see his " Great Father." The Great Father promptly, after 

 the first interview, turned liim over to the Indian Department, 

 who made his straight athletic fioure look ridiculous in a 

 black bi oadcloth suit and tall black silk hat, and, thus array- 

 ed, showed liim the circus, the theatre, the dime and other 

 museums, the Navy Yard, and finally seated him in the gal- 

 lery of the Talking Tepee, where, no doubt, he contrasted the 

 orator who was not heard, and the assembled wisdom who did 

 not listen, with the stately dignity and decorum of an Indian 

 Council, Educated half-Indian men, engaged by the Govern- 



