FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 14, 1899. 
firearms gave the invaders the advantage, but at any 
rate the Sioux were killed in hundreds, and the victory 
rested with the people from the Great Water, Avho have 
ever since then held the land they thus gained by con-. 
quest. 
The Chippewas still want this land. They want it as 
their fathers left it to them, with its trees, its fish and 
game still abundant. In all tlie wild lands of our great 
Northwest, there is no more beautiful spot than this. 
Leech Lake itself is invested with ancient legend by the 
Indians, who tell that long ago an Indian maiden was 
visited by an emissary of Hiawatha, the tribal deity, and 
instructed to strike a. certain rock with a spear made of 
the sacred pipestone. She did so, arid a great spring 
gushed forth, which in time formed this great lake. To 
escape drowning the Indian maiden climbed out of her 
boat at Bear Island. This Avas the central stronghold of 
the Pillager band of the Chippewas, who held this point 
last fall against the troops who came to take awaj'^ from 
them their chief, who had refused to go again to Duluth 
because his white brothers had once made him walk home 
Avhen he Avent there. To make it short, the troops have 
never yet caught the chief, and never yet punished the 
men who did the killing last fall at this storied locality, so 
much prized by the tribe. 
Iq the Way of Igaorance. 
At the Indian A^illage the party made many purchases of 
miniature birch bark canoes, bows and arroAvs, etc., and 
the community sold out about all it had to offer. I do 
not know hoAv much the A^llage took in by Avay of actual 
cash, but it seemed to me that if those people could have 
their country left to them unspoiled, so that the white men 
could come and see Avhat a wilderness actually Avas and is 
and can be, they Avould make a living more easily from the 
sale of their little Avares than they ever did before, and 
could yet feel that they Avere not outcasts. It all rcA^erts 
to the old misunderstanding of the one race by the other, 
as witness one little incident to-day. One gentleman, 
Avhom it is best not to name, saw a pair of snowslioes 
banging in the Avoods. and he wanted them. Generous to 
a fault himself, it is not to be supposed that he would take 
anything not belonging to him, or refuse to pay for what 
he took. Yet he did not know that the Avoods are the 
household of the Indian, that the man Avho cached the 
shoes there knew perfectly where they 'Avere and left 
them there because he wanted to do so. The Indian, who 
chanced to be head man of the tribe, folIoAved the gentle- 
man to the boat and claimed the shoes. Not miderstand- 
ing him, the latter refused and carried off the shoes, ex- 
ulting in his capture. Tavo days later, at Cass Lake, it Avas 
learned that this incident had caused great dissatisfaction 
among the Indians, and the latter gave it out that if this 
man CA^er came back among them be Avould not be safe. 
This trouble AVas the result of no intent, but of ignorance, 
and the old, unreasoning contempt of the Indian because 
he is an Indian. I am very glad to say that a collection 
of some tAventy dollars Avas later raised by the party and 
sent back to the chief Avith full explanation, and I think 
the gentleman Avas later advised of his mistake, Avhich he 
himself Avould be first to rectify. 
Remarkable Banquet at Walker. 
The party Was entertained at luncheon on Ottei- Tail 
Point Avith some of the ladies of Walker as hostesses and 
the house-boat Avas toAved back to tOAvn late in the after- 
noon. In the evening there was serAi^ed at the Hotel 
Pameda a banquet Avhich made one of the most remarka- 
ble features of the entire trip. It should be remembered 
that Walker is less than three years old. Around it stands 
the unbroken forest. On the beach of the lake, at the 
foot of the bluff, Avhere the village of the Avhite man 
stands, there lie not only the steamboats of the lumber- 
men, but the birch canoes of the Indians. At the ban- 
quet, table itself there Avere 115 persons who sat at table, 
and this number Avas exclusiA^e of many of the expedition 
Avho remained at the cars too tired to attend. Part of the 
gentlemen Avere in evening dress. There Avere ladies pres- 
ent, as beautiful, as au fait as any you shall see in a 
metropolis in the East. The big dining hall Avas decorated 
Avith the Stars and Stripes. Several LTnited States Army 
officers in full uniform Avere present. Some of the party 
present Avere dressed in business Avear, or the rough garb 
of the cruder way of the Avoods. Three paces from the 
door of the banquet hall was the hotel bar, with gambling 
rooms in Avhich games of roulette, faro, etc., were con- 
tinually going on. Gazing in through the doors at this 
spectacle Avere Avoodsmen in Mackinaw jackets, spiked 
shoes and overalls, Indians with braided hair, half-breeds 
Avith swarthy faces. Now and then, interrupting the 
voice of the speakers, arose the shouts of an excited and 
semi-demented half-breed, who was accusing another half- 
breed of treachery to his tribe. There was present in 
the black coat of civilization an Indian preacher, educated 
in the colleges of the East. There Avere present members 
of the Congress of the United States, some of the ablest 
and most brilliant minds of the entire country. I ques- 
tion Avhether any man there present ever looked upon a 
scene more strange, more incongruous, more suggestive 
or more inspiring. Here Avas the West, and here were 
those who had come to sit in judgment upon the West, 
to decide Avhether all of it shall be Aviped out and de- 
stroved, or \Arhether a part of it shall be set aside forever 
under the Stars and Stripes, Avhich stretched above the 
heads of the banqueters this night, under that strong arm 
of Uncle Sam, whose jury had come here to learn and 
pass upon the facts. 
The village of Walker, in proportion to Chicago, St. 
Paul and Minneapolis, did ^ dozen times as much as even 
the royal efforts of those cities. . 
Mr. A. G. Bernard, editor oi the Walker Pilot, was 
toastmaster of the evening. OAving to the length of the 
programme, but a few speakers were called upon— Judge 
McGarry, Mr. Schilling, Mr. Allen, Colonel Cooper, Mr. 
Cochran, Mr. Cannon. It is impossible in the Forest and 
Stream 'space to give even -a brief synopsis of all these 
addresses, but to my own notion that by Mr. Cochran was 
the ablest effort and most fitting to the occasion. Mr. 
Cochran has evidently taken his part in this expedition 
seriously. He reviewed to-night the story of the Louisiana 
Purchase, the history of the country threaded by the 
mighty Mississippi. He shed the light of a full informa- 
tion upon the subjects connected Avith this Avork and 
brongh!; out the epthuRiasjn of eRtirq audi^Tice by hi§ 
clearly expressed conviction that this remaining pine land 
ought to belong to the people and not to the lumbermen. 
Every allusion by this speaker or by the others to the 
fonnation of a national park .and to a successful com- 
pletion of this enterprise brought out ringing and long 
continued applause. Colonel Cooper also met an ovation 
when he spke, albeit with a voice hoarse with cold and a 
face pale with the fatigue he had undergone. Mr. Allen, 
of Mississippi, as usual had his audience with him at every 
point. I regret that I cannot more fully go into this 
banquet at Walker, which was a very striking and most 
satisfactory occasion. The little toAvn received the com- 
pliments of every one upon the train. 
This is what the West can do. It can offer you birch 
bark and steamer, dress coat and overalls, wild rice and 
oratory. There is no land like the West. I think many 
of the party are deeply touched by the scenes of this trip. 
Thus Mr. Cochran, who Avas a frontiersman in the buffalo 
daj'S, an employee of the old Ben Holliday stage lines, a 
rancher, a laAvyer, a newspaper man, a State Senator, a 
Congressman, said to me in course of couAi'ersation : 
"There never Avas a country like the West. If I kncAv any 
place upon the globe like the West of my early days, I 
Avould resign my seat in Congress to-morroAv, sell out 
everything I have and start for that country as soon as I 
could go, even old as I am to-day." 
It is a little part of the old West, a small portion that 
remains, which the gentlemen of Congress are asked to 
leave so that their children Avill have a notion of Avhat 
this West once Avas. It is for them to say AA^hether the 
people or the lumbermen shall OAvn this land. ^ 
At Cass Lake. 
Colonel Cooper wished to take the party to Bemidji and 
out to the end of the Itasca Lumber Company's logging 
road. It was also thought that perhaps a party could be 
made up to take the tAventy-five mile ride by wagon to 
Lake Itasca. All these plans were cut short. Ea-cii at 
Walker there Avas spread a strong rumor that some of 
the party Avished to go back directly to Minneapolis from 
Walker. A compromise Avas made, and at i o'clock A. M. 
the train left Walker for Cass Lake, Avhere breakfast was 
had on board, Cass Lake is a raw and straggling little 
A'illge only a few months old, and is located on the 
reservation. It is the toAvn Avhich this summer gave the 
United States Government so much trouble, the result 
being that the Secretary of the Interior has set aside a 
quarter section for auction sale to be held open to Cass 
Lake residents next November. Cass Lake, it may be 
added, is hostile to the forest reserve movment, and" has 
ambitions to become a lumbering center. Indeed, such are 
the beautiful and wonderful Avorkings of the justly famous 
"dead and down timber act," one might very Avell suppose 
that Cass Lake Avas already a lumbering center. It has a 
big saAV mill, a mountain of saAvdust 50ft. high, booms 
holding large rafts of logs and a number of steamboats 
used in logging purposes. No one need be told that the 
lumbermeit are after this Indian pine land, I myself saw 
in the woods many and many a stump of a tree that had 
been imtouched by fire. I saw logging camps which must 
have held fifty men. Give the lumbermen a feAv more 
years and you would not knoAV this Chippewa reserva- 
tion from the slashed lands of Michigan or Wisconsin. 
At Cass Lake Ave met for the first time the camp com- 
mittee, Avho preceded the expedition from Chicago — Mn 
H. G. McCartney. Captain Clow and son — and saw visible 
proof of their activity. These gentlemen had established a 
beautiful camp on the high bluff bank of an island in Cass 
Lake, known usually as Big Island, but unmarked on the 
maps. This island Avas reached by steamer only after a 
tempestuous voyage, for the Aveather had now changed 
and a strong, cold Avind Avas bloAving. Less than half the 
party made the trip, l)ut were very well repaid. A more 
beautiful spot than this island never Avas discovered. The 
lumberman's axe has not entered here, and the groA^es are 
as God made them. Giant Avhite pines, magnificent Nor- 
AvaySi many hardAvood trees and dense thickets on the 
lower grounds cover this beautiful spot. The island it- 
self is apparently three or four miles in length, and 
two or more in Avidth. Camp Avas pitched on an open spot 
among the big Norways, at the top of the bluff on the 
lake shore, and a more ideal camping ground never was 
seen. Mr. McCartney had handsomely completed all de- 
tails. A long table of rough boards extended some Soft, 
in front of the camp. • Big iron broilers lay over long 
fires built between logs. Delicious Avhitefish, purchased 
from the Indians. Avere broiled to a turn. The potatoes 
grantly and bright the sun shone o'er fair tin cups and new 
spoons. Those who came over to the island said they 
Avould not have missed it for many a dollar. 
The Guide Got Lost. 
There had been a fcAV boats portaged over into the 
little inland lake upon this island, a sheet of water per- 
haps a half-mile across, and some attempts were made at 
fishing, but the high Avind prevented any success, only a 
few small bass being taken. Accompanied by Mr. Fred N. 
VanDuyse, of the Pioneer Press, I started out to find this 
lake. We Avere led by one of the local guides, who said he 
Avould take us there directly, but somewhat to the chagrin 
of the latter, he missed the lake by about a mile and a half, 
and turned up completely lost on the shores of Cass Lake, 
about tAvo miles from camp. My friend and I had to con- 
duct him to his lake ourselves, which we did by follow- 
ing the shore line of the big lake, until we came to the 
portage path, Avading in the icy Avater part of the way. 
Wishing to get some fishing for muscallunge on the fol- 
lowing day for one of the members of the party, I here 
captured one of the boats on the little lake, portaged it 
over into Cass Lake and by the help of two men got it 
around to camp after a very tempestuous voyage of about 
five miles. Very little of concerted plans were carried out 
during that day, and it might be said that none of the 
party had any sport, the weather being very bad and the 
preparations being confined to a trip to the island, rather 
a picnic than anything else. Yet the utmost jollity pre- 
vailed, and nobody Avas heard to complain, there being in 
evidence the usual rejuvenating influence of a pine woods 
trip. I have earlier mentioned the fact that a Congress- 
man is a very human sort of being, and does not neces- 
sarily go about with folded arms and unfurled, thoughtful 
scoAvl. We had only one man in our party who looked' 
like a Congressman, and he wasn't. In the morning, as 
l&f m^^^ ^ H^tle group Qi lr\<i}m liQuseg Qn the 
shore, waiting for the steamer, some one picked up a 
big horned owl that an Indian had killed, and began to 
pull out the quills and tail feathers. Some one else stuck 
a feather in his hat, and this became infectious. Young 
Mosher, a reporter for the Globe, of St. Paul, gravely 
offered a plume to one of the Congressmen, who as grave- 
ly accepted it and stuck it in his cap. Soon every one of 
the Yankee Doodle party had a feather in his hat, and the 
Congressmen and all sat in the presence of the Indians, 
and every man had a plume on his head except the In- 
dians. NoAv that was rather a singular and pathetic thing 
to see. Here was the savagery of civilized man sticking 
out, and in the very face of the men we were asking to 
become civilized like ourselves. It Avas sad as to the 
savages who are trying to be civilized, and not free from 
sadness as to the Avhite men Avho were longing to be 
savages. 
A Split in the Party. 
Cass Lake, Minn., Oct. i.— This afternoon, while the 
party was Avell scattered over the island, there came 
A\-ord by boat from the train that all should hurry back 
to the railroad, for that the entire party was to start 
back to Minneapolis. Col. Cooper, Mr. Cochran and 
others returned to the cars, though yet others remained 
out in the woods. At evening it was discovered that 
six of the ten cars Avere gone, with over forty of the 
party, about fifty-five men remaining with the four cars 
left. Some of the baggage of those remaining had been 
carried off by the departing ones, who had gone to 
Duluth, and thence home, and much confusion ensued 
that night in essaying to make those remaining comfort- 
able; in the general shifting about of berths, baggage, 
etc. There was a great amount of outspoken criticism 
on this action of a part of the party, and some of the 
Congressmen privately voiced their wonderment. Col. 
Cooper was perturbed, but with characteristic good 
humor treated the matter as a "tempest in a teapot." 
Mr. Whitney, of the Great Northern, evidently regretted 
the matter, but explained that he could not stand in the 
Avay of those who wished to return home. The party 
of "quitters" or "cold feet," as they were called by the 
remaining members of the party, Avere led by Mr. Thos. 
Shevlin, of Minneapolis. Among those who returned 
Avere Congressmen Cannon, of Illinois (who was ill); 
Heatwold, Fletcher and Eddy, of Minnesota; Fordney 
and Mesick, of Michigan; Drs. Wesbrook and Bell, of 
Minneapolis; Thomas Lowry, George R. Finch, Senator 
\oung, etc. Many of this party are business men of 
large affairs, who were in a hurry to get home, and 
who took little interest in the sporting side of the ex- 
cursion. The incident, though smoothed over as much 
as possible, unquestionably did a great deal to shorten 
the trip and rob it of its full measure of pleasure, if not 
of its full effect. Mr. Shevlin came in for severe criti- 
cism by members from his own State. There was a story 
out that he, being a lumberman, did not wish the Con- 
gressional party to see too much of this country, and he 
Avas accused also of insincerity in his connection with 
the enterprise. Sober judgment cannot approve of this 
supposition, for conduct so clrnnsy would be sure of its 
OAvn detection and its own condemnation. It seems more 
likely that Mr. Shevlin was hurried and busy, and too 
impatient to think carefully of the others of the ex- 
pedition who had come such great distances to see the 
coimtry. Mr. Shevlin has been one of the largest finan- 
cial contributors to the trip, and his influence is of value, 
so that this action Avas regrettable, though by no means 
fatal. 
The Cfari»teolng Party, 
Oct. 2. — The "stayers," or "thoroughbreds," of the 
party, as they noAV styled themselves, wei'e at last re- 
Avarded with a perfect day, and they deliberately set 
about availing themselves of the sporting resources 
Avithin their reach. Another fish dinner was prepared 
on the big island, which drew a considerable number of 
the tourists. As this island and its beautiful little lake 
had neither received a definite name, it Avas decided to 
make up a christening party. With this party were mem- 
bers of Congress Stevens, of St. Paul; Otjen, of Mil- 
waukee; Col. Cooper, Mr. Whitney, of the Great North- 
ern; Gen. AndrcAVS, Senator Schaller, Dr. McDonald, 
Dr. Schenck, Mr. Clink and others. Congressman 
SteA'ens made the address in appropriate speech. Dip- 
ping a vessel of water from the lake, he poured back the 
contents and christened the lake by the name of Helen. 
Congressman Cannon's daughter is named Helen, and 
there lives in Chicago a descendant of Lewis Cass Avhose 
name is Helen. The island was named Cooper Island, 
and the bestowal of the name was greeted with cheers. 
These names will be official on the maps and in the 
Great Northern literaure from now on. The names Avere 
cut deep into a pine tree, and Messrs. Stevens and 
Otjen said they Avould have the christening confirmed 
by the Interior Department at Washington. 
The Angling Parllet. 
Other steamboat parties were made up, the most im- 
portant being that bound for Moose Lake, fifteen miles 
away. With this party were Congressmen Graham and 
Gaston, of Pennsylvania; Clark, of New Hampshire; 
Allen, of Mississippi; Cochran, of Missouri, and TaAvney, 
of Minnesota, all of whom expressed a desire to catch 
some fish. Several of the members of the party were 
put off near an Indian village and secured birch canoes 
for voyages up the Turtle River, The Congressmen 
above mentioned, with three guides, and accompanied 
also by Mr. Stevenson, of Menominee, Spargo, of the 
Times-Herald, and myself, made the portage of three 
miles from Turtle River over to Moose Lake._ It was 
an easy wagon trail. There had been a rumor circulated 
to the effect that heavy windfalls had made this trail 
impassable, but we did not find this to be the case. Mr 
Stevenson and his guides even carried a boat across the 
trail and Mr. Cochran, Avho has one limb which he 
describes as not of the best, made the walk with no 
serious consequences. , . ^ , . 
We were now getting a taste ot the fishing of these 
o-reat fishing Avaters. After leaving the steamer at the 
Indian village, the Moose Lake party divided out among 
the rowboats. Mr. Cochran, of Missouri and myself 
«;ort of drifteci together, and we sort of picked out the 
best guide there was, young Zembrick. I am sure that 
I got the most genuine thovoit^hbre^ \\\ whgl? p9,rty 
^1 
