Terim, Five Dollar* a Year. 
Ten Cent* a Copy. 
Volume I, Number N. 
IT Challiaiu M. (1 Uy Hall Hqr.) 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, 
APRIL 1, 1875. 
For Forest and Stream. 
"SAM.” 
W ELL, now. I'll tell ye, sir: 
D’ye see 
Thut lug rock, clutts by the old dead tree! 
Me mid my brother Jim cume down that duy, 
The cows was astray, 
And wc sot on the rock to rest a spell, 
Listenin' for old brlndlo's bell. 
The sun was jest glttln' a lcotle low. 
It wits coollsh-llko, an’ we started to go; 
Jim he chucked a end 'er terbacker 
Inter the water, 
And by-gum, mletcrl 
Yoa Jestorter 
Seen the splash. 
An all fired big trout made a dash, 
Grabbed that chaw, an’ then put 
Qulcker’n lightenin' under the old root. 
Jim, he streaked It heme for a pole, 
And I watched the hole. 
You’d better believe he come on the jump, 
An’ throw ’din by the stump. 
I kinder kept back, ready to roller, 
Then I heard Jim holler, 
Hurrah 8nml I’ve got him; he’s a whale I 
An’ then we had it, head an’ tall, 
With that trout. 
Till we was tuckered out. 
lie weighed rlsin’ three pound, 
An’ dad showed him round. 
That’s his picture ye see drnwed 
On the wall 
Of the tavern hall; 
J/f ' I was ten last Fall. T. W. A. 
For Forest and Stream. 
§lie Indiana o/f geeclf Tnlie. 
Y OU will doubtless ask, "Where is Leech Lake?" If 
you will take a good-sized map of the United States 
I will lead you thither. First find the Mississippi River. 
Now trace it up, up, farther yet, to within one day’s 
journey of its headwaters, viz. Lake Itasca, and then you 
will find me in the centre of the Chippewa Indiau Country. 
Here I am comfortably located as U. 8. Physician to the 
Leech Lake pillagers and Lake Winnebegoshish band of 
the Chippewa Indians. The nearest white settlement is at 
Brainerd on the Northern Pacific Railroad, seventy-five 
miles south of here. 
It would naturally be supposed that up here in this 
northern climate we are freezing to death, but this is not 
so. The Winters are long but not severe. Snow seldom 
falls to a greater depth than from eight to twelve inches, 
but remains all Winter, never thawing; the sun shines out 
very bright nearly every day. Once this Winter the ther- 
mometer touched 38° below zero, but it usually stands 10" 
above. When the sun shines out so brightly a stranger 
would think that it would melt all of the snow away before 
night, but such a thing as an icicle is not seen here during 
the Winter in all this cold. Men go about their business 
as in warm climes, but, perhaps, with a little more energy. 
The Indians are particularly exempt from disease, and 
although I have the care of about 1,700, yet a case of 
severe sickness I rarely see; aud in the few that arc sick 
the vis msdioitrix natur.i is quite prominently observed. 
They have their own doctors, or medicine men, as they 
arc called, and a regulnr college in which they graduate, 
some account of which I may give you in another letter. 
It is amusing to listen to their theory of disease, and they 
think that if the facts do not correspond with their theory, 
so much the worse for the fact9. The Indians have the 
utmost confidence in the medicine men, and will often give 
everything they possess to them to be cured, and the 
doctors make it a rule to get their pay in advance, a plan 
that their more enlightened brethren in the profession 
might adopt with a profit of an increased bank account. 
The Indians are great hands for taking physic, salts, castor- 
oil, pills, t&c. ; have a pretty good idea of counter irritation 
and cupping; this last they U9e for headache. They 
scarify with a piece of flint. For the cup they have a 
piece of cow’s horn about four inches long. The small 
end the doctor inserts in his mouth and draws. Should 
blood not flow sufficient to satisfy the patient, it can easily 
be furnished by the doctor’s pricking his teeth. 
It is a common practice to bleed themselves in the arm 
or foot. They understand bandaging above the point of 
opening the vein, and cut with a flint when a lancet cannot 
be procured. When I first came here they wanted me to 
bleed them. This I refused to do, and tried to convince 
them that it was not good for them. Then they would 
wnnt to borrow a lancet. I did lend mine to an Indian 
but the lancet never came back, so now I have u good ex- 
cuse for neither bleeding or lending lancets. 
The promise I made of giviug an account of the graduat- 
ing of the Indian M. D.’sl will not be able to fulfill this time, 
in the absence of tacts which I have not yet been able to 
obtain from my iuterperter, owing to his not having suffi- 
cient knowledge of the English language to convey intel- 
ligently his meaning, so will defer this part until I can 
understand more of their native tougue to explain more 
fully. 
The Indians will not manufacture curiosities for sale 
until they suffer from hunger. Then they will work to 
satisfy' their appetites. Among the animals nro deer in 
abundance, anil occasionally a moose. Otter mink, musk- 
rat, bear, black and cinnamon; foxes of all kinds, wolve- 
rines, weasels and wild cats, are the principal fur-bearing 
animnls, of which the muskrat is the most common. 
Thousands of dollars worth of their skins are brought in 
by the Indians every year and sold to the trailers on the 
reservation. Bears are quite plenty, and at some seasons 
do much damage to the settlers on the frontier by stealing 
pigs, calves, &c. In the Summer of 1805 bear were so 
plentiful on the Upper Mississippi country that every barn 
door was ornamented with sufficient skins to cover them. 
They are sometimes of enormous size and will fight savagely 
when wounded or cornered. The swamp wolf and the 
prairie wolf are also very numerous. A few years ago a 
bounty was offered for their scalps, which thinned them 
out. 
But a few years ago buffalo ranged in large gangs a short 
distance from us, but settlements and railroads have driven 
them West. Of the feathered tribe wo have the wild duck 
of every kind in abundance; also geese, swan, pelican, 
partridge and prairie chickens, in large quantities. It is not 
uncommon to shoot from fifty to one hundred in u few 
hours. 
The fish are very similar to the fresh water fish of New 
York, only are taken in much larger quantities. I dare 
not — (in order to preserve my reputation for truthfulness) — 
attempt to tell you the number of fish I caught with a hook 
and line in a single day, as you would certainly call it a 
fish story. One species we have in Leech Lake worthy of 
mention is the Lake Superior while fish, which is the finest 
fish I ever ate. They are only caught late in the Fall with 
nets, and in the Winter are speared through openings 
in the ice; they weigh about four pounds each. We 
also have the muskHllonge weighing as high as thirty 
pounds, which are caught with a hook; they are very 
gamey and make exciting work when caught. They re- 
semble very much the common pike except in size. 
The squaws catch large quantities of white fish as the 
cold weather commences; they string litem on sticks by 
running them through the tail, ten on a stick; they are 
then hung on a scaffold near the wigwam until about 
the holidays. When they are frozen hard, they 
are taken down aod stored away. Then they hnve all 
the fl9h they want during the Winter, and some Indians 
have nothing else to eat except some corn or wild 
rice which they may have stored. Should a thaw occur 
while they are hanging, the air is scented for a long dis- 
tance with their putrid bodies, but the Indians like them 
quite as well. 
The Indians nearly all left here about the 1st of Decem- 
ber on their Winter hunt. They are now returning and 
are very numerous. They lie around and gamble and smoke 
until the 15th of March, when the squaws start for the 
sugar camp, anil the Indians then start on their Spring 
•hunt, which will keep them away until the hist of May, 
when they return and do nothing dining the Summer. 
The squaws plant and tend the corn and potatoes. 
About the middle of September they commence to 
gather rice, which grows in the shallow parts of the lakes. 
We often sec ton or fifteen acres of it in a body. When 
growing it looks somewhat like oats, but the stalks are 
ten or twelve feet long, according to the depllt of tho 
water. About (ho first of June, in passing their planta- 
tions, tho rico is not vislbio, but about two weeks Infer 
it looks like a field of grain, and is of a tlarli green color, 
und so thick that tho water cannot be seen. Ah soon ns 
tho rico commences to rlpon thou comes tho strugglo be- 
tween the ducks, geese and Indians, to see who ahull havo 
the crop. 
The Indians enter the rico fields in their canoes. Ono 
pushes tho canoo through tho rico while two others take 
handfuls, bend it over tho sides of tho canoe, and with tho 
other hand they beat out tho grain Into tho boat, which Is 
then dried, put Into coppor kettles and parched, then 
stored into barrels or boxes anil beaten with a stick until 
tho husks como off. When winnowuil It to ready for cook- 
ing. 
I have Just returned from nn Indian danco and will givo 
a description of it. I have often wished I could havo my 
friends with mo to witness and enjoy the sport. Tho 
weather being quite mild, word was sent around that Ihoro 
would be a dance at tho truding post, und that two dogs 
would be killed and served ns a feast. This was sufficient 
to draw together about 150 spectators. They had a barn 
cleared out and a stove put in it- In the centre sat on tho 
ground eight men around a drum, which resembled a 
tamborino, and was two feet in diameter; this was hold 
just off tho ground by springs on eucli Hide. Each man 
lias a stick about sixteen inches long, with a rag tied 
around one entl of It. Outside of this ring sat a ring of 
squaws, ami around tho walls of tho building sat I ho 
dancers and spectators. All sat on tho floor, In ono part 
of the room, in pans ami pails, were the boiled dogs cutup 
in pieces, a large pan of brend, pails of boiled rice and 
soup. About one-half of the Indians were smoking aud the 
other half wero Ailing their pipes. 
Occasions of this kind call for all of their adornments, 
which aro piled on without regard to location or appro- 
priateness. Furs, feathers, bells, bendwork, paint and rib 
bone of all hues are brought into servico. It will bo im- 
possible to describe the costumes without taking each 
separate one, os they differ so much. Some wore common 
felt hats, tonic a few bands tied around tho head, and nearly 
all had their heads adorned with eagle feathers with their 
faces painted in every conceivablo manner and color. I 
might as well say that I am only speaking of the men. 
The women take no part in these dances except to sing. 
Homo wore flannel coats, and most of them wore calico 
shirts, with all the bendwork that they possessed hung 
around their necks or fastened around their waists, with a 
breach clout of heavy black cloth, and a strip of bear skin 
over this. Their leggins and moccasins besides, and some 
carried swords or war clubs, or tomahawks, &c. 
The musicians In the centre commence losing and heat 
on the drum, while the squaws join with the tenor. It is 
a monotonous ebant but so peculiar that a white man can- 
not sing It. After a few moments up jumped an IndiaH, 
who doffed Ids blanket and commenced to dance; then 
another and another, until twenty live were dancing at once. 
In the dance the feot nro scarcely raised from the flo< r, 
the knees nrc bent and their bodies sway to anti fro, 
keeping time with the music. Sometimes they go half way 
across the room in a kind of half inarching and half danc- 
ing gait, which is kept up about five minutes, when the 
music stops and all squat down iu their pluccs, gather 
their blankets around them, fill their pipes and smoko. 
After a few minutes the music begins again, when tho 
same set, or others who feel inclined to dance, rise and go 
through the some performance. During tho lull in the 
