AITFAIMX. 281 



to use his power to prevent the Sioux from crossing the linos. 

 The pipe was then lit, handed round, the a>lw s knocked out, and 



a formal presentation of it made. This ceremony being ended, I 

 ■hook hands with them, and immediately embarked* 



On the second day afterward, I reached the sawmill, the sub- 

 ject of SOCh frequent allusion, and landed there at 7 o'clock in the 

 morning. I found a Mr. Wallace in charge, who was employed, 

 with ten men, in building a n« w dam on a hrook of the Red ( Ydar, 

 the freshet of last spring haying earned away the former one. 

 I inquired of him where the line between the Sioux and Chippe- 

 waa crossed. He replied that the line crossed above the mill, he 

 did not precisely know the place ; adding, however, in the course 

 of conversation, that he believed the land in this vicinity originally 

 belonged to the Chippewaa. He said it was seven years since 

 any Sioux had visited the mill; and that the latter was owned 

 by persons at Prairie du Chien. 



The rapids of the Red ( Ydar River extend (according to the esti- 

 mates contained in my notes) about twenty-four miles. They 

 commence a few miles below the junction of Meadow River, and 

 terminate about two miles below the mills. This extension of 

 falling water, referred to in the treaty as a fixed point, has led 

 to the existing uncertainty. The country itself is of a highly 

 valuable character for its soil, its game, its wild rice, and its 

 wood. We found the butter-nut among those species which are 

 locally included under the name of Bois franc by the traders. 

 The land can, hereafter, be easily brought into cultivation, as it is 

 interspersed with prairie ; and its tine mill privileges will add to 

 its value. Indeed, one mile square is intrinsically worth one 

 hundred miles square of Chippewa country, in some oilier places. 

 The present sawmills (there are two), are situated 65 miles 

 from the banks of the Mississippi They are owned exclusively 

 by private citizens, and employed for their sole benefit. The 

 board- are formed into rafts: and these rafts are afterward at- 

 tached together, and floated down the Mississippi to St Louis, 

 where they command a good prion, The business is understood 

 to be a profitable one. For the privilege, no equivalent has been 

 paid either to the Indians or to the United States. The first mill 

 was built several years ayo, and before the conclusion of the 



