112 NARRATIVE, &c. 



of the country they possess on this border, the conquests are of 

 remote date. For the French, in exploring northward, found 

 them already seated here. The part the Leech Lake Indians 

 have played in this war, has rendered them conspicuous in 

 their nation, and as before indicated, led to the appellation of 

 Mukkundwais, or Pillagers, by which they are distinctively 

 known. The circumstances which imposed upon them this 

 name, are these. 



Tradition asserts that in the interval which happened be- 

 tween the first attack on the French power in Canada, and the 

 final acknowledgment of English supremacy, great irregularities 

 existed in the fur trade in this quarter. The French were loved 

 by the Indians, and naturally retained their influence to the last. 

 And when the English entered the field of the trade, they were 

 essentially dependent upon French clerks, and wholly so, on 

 French or Canadian boatmen. During this era, a Mr. Berti 

 entered the country, with a large assortment of goods. He took 

 his station at the mouth of the De Corbeau, where he carried 

 on a lucrative trade with the Chippewas. He had, however, 

 more goods than these had furs to purchase, and among them, 

 guns and ammunition, which he very well knew would find a 

 ready sale among the Sioux. But, the Leech Lake Indians, 

 forbid his going into the Sioux country, alleging that the Sioux 

 were their enemies, and that the putting of guns and powder 

 in their hands, would be to join their cause. Mr. Bcrti did not 

 probably consider these declarations as absolutely final, for he 

 proceeded towards the mouth of the Long Prairie River, in 

 order to go to the Sioux. The result, however, was most dis- 

 asterous to him. This band arrested his progress, and with 

 arms in their hands, robbed him of all his goods without discrim- 

 ination, but spared his own life and the lives of his men, who 

 were suffered to go back, with their private effects. Mr. Berti 

 was probably overwhelmed by this misfortune, for he never 

 returned from the country, but soon after this event, died a 

 natural death, and was buried in the region about Sandy Lake. 



