Part 5

In 1793, Robert Dickson wrote of the Indians near Portage: “At the Falls of the Fox River there is a portage of three-quarters of a mile. The Indians here raise Indian corn, squash, potatoes, melons, and cucumbers in great abundance, and good tobacco. On the low lands by the river great quantities of wild oats [rice] grow.”[19]

As a rule the Indian depended on corn and beans to support him during his long excursions, whether in peace or war. In the account of the capture of the Hall girls, which occurred about May, 1832, there is a good side-light on the Indian commissariat: “When we halted, the Indians having scalded some beans, and roasted some acorns, desired we should eat. * * * On our arrival several squaws came to our assistance * * * prepared a place for us to sit down, and presented us some parched corn, some meal, and maple sugar, mixed, and desired us to eat. * * * In the evening we were presented with a supper consisting of coffee, fried cakes, boiled corn, and fried venison, with fried leeks. * * * When our flour was exhausted we had coffee, meat, and pounded corn made into soup.”[20] Later, it is mentioned that the Indians carried pork and potatoes while on the march. The pork as well as the coffee was, of course, obtained from the whites, but the potatoes, so-called, were probably wild artichokes which Lapham found in use as food among the Indians in what is now Brown County. In 1844 he found them using “a very good kind of potato * * * the mode of preserving which was entirely new to us. The potatoes, which are of an oblong shape, and not longer than a man’s thumb are partially boiled, and carefully peeled while hot, without breaking the pulp, and strung like so many beads upon a twine or tough thread of bark and then hung in festoons on the ridge pole of the wigwam, over the smoke of the fire, where they became thoroughly dry. This process renders the potatoes fit for transportation and use during the severest frosts without injury. The squaws take great interest in preparing this article of food which is about the only vegetable they cultivate.”[21] However, the Indians around Green Bay were by no means restricted to one agricultural product, although contact with the white men tended to make them more and more dependent, since they found it easier to barter furs for food than to raise grain.

From the above citations, it appears that the cultivated fields of the Indians occupied a diagonal line across the state, following the courses of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers and Green Bay; and that the Sauk, Foxes, and Winnebago were the most inclined, in the struggle for existence, to make use of their agricultural knowledge and opportunities. It may also be shown that there were some important cultivated areas along the Mississippi and Rock rivers, and some insignificant patches near Lake Michigan. The settlement of Black Hawk’s followers on the lower part of the Rock, on the point between that river and the Mississippi is of interest, and these were Wisconsin Indians, who had resumed their agricultural labors in a new home.

Something of the skill of these people in choosing land on which to grow corn, also an idea of the quantity grown, are furnished by Black Hawk in his _Autobiography_: “In the front a prairie extended to the Mississippi, and in our rear a continued bluff gently ascended from the prairie. * * * On the side of this bluff we had our corn-fields, extending about two miles up parallel with the larger river, where they adjoined those of the Foxes, whose village was on the same stream opposite the lower end of Rock Island and three miles distant from ours. We had eight hundred acres in cultivation, including what we had on the islands in Rock River. The land around our village which remained unbroken, was covered with blue-grass which furnished excellent pasture for our horses. * * * The land being very fertile never failed to produce good crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes.”[22]

Black Hawk then goes on to state that, owing to encroachments of the white settlers, his people had hard work to find sufficient land on which to plant corn, and gives a sorrowful account of the distress caused by the confiscation of their crops by the whites. Black Hawk does not give any estimate of the area cultivated by the Foxes, but Col. John Shaw, in speaking of both settlements, estimates the fields at five thousand acres.[23] This is probably an exaggeration, but it serves its purpose in giving some notion of the importance of agricultural industry to the Indians themselves, and surely it was not inconsiderable. Anyone wishing to estimate the amount of these products by the various tribes, will find some data in the _Emigrant’s and Traveller’s Guide_, where a fairly good estimate of the numbers of the several Indian tribes in 1834 appears.[24]

A great many more references could be given, emphasizing the reliance of the red man on his rude husbandry; but perhaps enough has already been said to make it plain that something is due him for taking the initial step in the development of the great grain regions of the upper Mississippi valley. Neither are we left wholly to deduce our conclusions from circumstantial evidence. The early military expeditions of the West and Northwest were for the most part dependent on supplies obtained from the Indians.[25] The accounts of the Lewis and Clark expedition tell of the dependence of the party on provisions furnished by the Indians, and even so far north as the Mandan village they traded for Indian corn. At Mackinac Island, a point hardly within the present corn belt, the Indians raised a sufficient quantity of that cereal to attract the attention of the British garrison as well as of various travellers. As early as 1766 Jonathan Carver saw the importance of the agricultural products of the Wisconsin Indians, and after enumerating the crops grown by the “Saukies” before mentioned, speaks thus of the Sauk village: “This place is esteemed the best market for traders to furnish themselves with provisions, of any within eight hundred miles of it.”

Thus it is seen that the Indians, on their own account, furnished provisions for their own war parties; for the English forays against Americans and Spanish; for explorers like Marquette, Carver, and Lewis and Clark, and the long list of later adventurers who came to spy out the land and eventually to expel the tribesmen from their fields. The traders who ranged the woods and rivers for a century before civilization ruined their traffic, depended in a large measure on the meagre stores of Indian corn and beans; while even the troops which finally hunted the natives from their homes, filled their camp kettles either from the _caches_ or the corn fields of the fugitives. Nor was this all. The earliest settlers seized upon the little cultivated plots as the most desirable ground for their own first plantings, and utilized the native-grown seed, since it was known to be adapted to the soil and climate. It is interesting to note that the two crops which the Indians prized most highly, corn and tobacco, are at present two of the foremost products of Wisconsin.

BENJAMIN HORACE HIBBARD, PH. D.

(Communicated by Wisconsin Historical Society.)

THE AUTHENTICITY OF CARVER’S “TRAVELS”

In his paper on “The Travels of Jonathan Carver,” read before the American Historical Association in Chicago, December 29, 1904, Prof. E. G. Bourne of Yale University, presented the results of an investigation as to the originality and authenticity of the second part of this famous book, which is devoted to giving a systematic account of the manners and customs of the Indians in the Northwest, and of the animals and products of the soil.

The Professor brought to light the fact that as early as 1792 Oliver Wolcott, then Comptroller of the Treasury in Philadelphia, wrote the geographer Jedidiah Morse, that he had been informed on good authority that the book was written under very inauspicious circumstances; adding that Carver was an ignorant man, incapable of writing such a work, and that there was reason to believe it to be a compilation from other authors.[26]

Next, he cited contemporaneous but entirely independent criticisms by Schoolcraft in 1823,[27] and by Keating in 1824,[28] both of whom assert that the author of the _Travels_ drew considerably from Lahontan. In addition, Schoolcraft declared that material was also derived from Charlevoix’s _Travels_. More detailed and more positive still, were the assertions of Greenhow, the historian of Oregon, that the second part of Carver’s _Travels_ was a compilation from Charlevoix, Hennepin, and Lahontan.[29] Greenhow was familiar with Keating’s views, but apparently not with Schoolcraft’s, whose _Memoirs_ were published in 1851, or with Wolcott’s, whose letter first saw light in 1846. These early criticisms appear to have escaped the notice of later writers who have written upon Carver’s _Travels_, for neither Moses Coit Tyler, in his _History of American Literature_, nor the authors of the articles on Carver in the various cyclopædias, breathe any suspicion as to the authenticity of the work.

In the second part of his paper, Professor Bourne gave the results of his attempt to test the correctness of the assertions of Wolcott, Schoolcraft, Keating, and Greenhow. He cited a few passages showing how the author of the _Travels_, whoever he might be, drew from books information which a genuine traveller would not think of going to books for. For example, the description of the personal appearance of the Indians was taken from Lahontan; of their keenness in detecting a trail, from Charlevoix; of their game of lacrosse partly from Charlevoix and partly from Adair’s _History of the American Indians_. The description of the Indian sled (or toboggan), with which the real Carver must have been perfectly familiar, is taken word for word from Charlevoix. Again, the real Carver must have many times seen Indians scalp prisoners, for he was a veteran of the French and Indian War, and one of the survivors of the Fort William Henry massacre; but notwithstanding such presumable personal observation, the author of Carver’s _Travels_ borrows word for word Adair’s account of the process of scalping. The accounts of the animals are largely from Charlevoix. “The short vocabulary of the Chippeway Language” is almost entirely taken from Lahontan’s “Dictionary of the Algonkin Language.” Some of the changes are pure blunders of hasty transcription, which one familiar with the language, as Carver pretended to be, could not have made; as, for example, where Carver gives _Sheshikwee_ for “dart,” when Lahontan gives it as the name of a particular kind of dance; or again, where Carver gives the word for “heart” which Lahontan gave for “hart.”

Professor Bourne’s conclusion was, that the second and larger part of Carver’s _Travels_ is not an original work, but a literary compilation, like Sir John Mandeville’s _Travels_ or Benzoni’s _History of the New World_; and that the first part was probably put together by the same writer, from Carver’s notes or oral recollections. As to the extent or reality of Carver’s journey up the St. Peter’s (or Minnesota) River, Professor Bourne felt disposed to accept the view of Keating, who apparently had studied the question very thoroughly on the ground, that Carver had entered the river but did not ascend it as far as he pretended.

OLD FORT GEORGE, ON THE BATTERY, NEW YORK CITY

On July 30, 1904, the contractors who were excavating for the Rapid Transit tunnel in Battery Park, New York City, dug up at a point twenty feet west of the center line of State street and eighty-seven feet north of the center line of Bridge street, a small monumental stone of great historical significance. This stone, which was two feet nine inches below the surface of the ground, marked the site of the southwest bastion of Old Fort George.

The great historical value of this monument was immediately appreciated by the American Scenic and Historical Preservation Society and the New York Historical Society, for it supplied the _datum_ for the exact location of the boundaries of the old fort, which, under various names, had occupied the site of the birthplace of the Metropolis.

The Secretary of the American Scenic and Historical Preservation Society on August 1, wrote to Mayor McClellan, and President Orr of the Rapid Transit Commission, requesting that the bearings of the exact site of the monument be carefully taken, and that the stone be replaced above ground on the same spot as soon as Battery Park was restored to its normal condition. On August 12th, the Scenic Society’s letter was formally approved by the Rapid Transit Board, and the acting chief engineer was authorized to construct a proper pedestal for the monument and restore it as soon as practicable.

The New York Historical Society, through whose instrumentality the stone was originally erected in 1818, also manifested the liveliest interest in the matter, and when the stone is replaced will probably hold formal ceremonies.

The circumstances of the original erection of the monument are extremely interesting:

Under date of June 10, 1817, Mr. John Pintard, Secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, wrote to the New York Historical Society as follows:

NEW YORK, _10th June, 1817_.

The subscriber, as Secretary of the Corporation of the New York Chamber of Commerce (instituted 5th April, 1768), in reviewing the minutes of that respectable Association, found the following astronomical observations for determining the Latitude of the City of New York made in October, 1769, by Mr. David Rittenhouse of Philadelphia, and Captain John Montresor of the British Corps of Engineers, at that period stationed in this City.

These observations, it is presumed, have never been published, and may be considered of sufficient importance to be preserved in the archives of the New York Historical Society.

JOHN PINTARD.

The accompanying extracts from the minutes of the Chamber of Commerce were as follows:

NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,

_7th November, 1769_.

At the desire of several members of the Chamber, they had requested the President to apply to Messrs. David Rittenhouse and John Montresor to take the Latitude of the Flag Bastion on Fort George in the City of New York.

NEW YORK, _October 12th, 1769_.

At your request, in behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of the City of New York, I have made the following observations with the Pennsylvania sector of six feet radius on the Southwest Bastion in this city.

Zenith distance on the Meridian of Capella ° ′ ″ Octr. 9th, morn 5 2 0½ 10th, do 5 1 59

of Castor ° ′ ″ 10th, morn 8 19 51 12th, do 8 19 51

Having carefully computed the Declinations of the above stars from their latitudes as settled by Dr. Bradley, reduced to the present time and corrected by the observation of light and variable motion of the earth’s axis, I find, the Latitude of the place from the observations of Capella to be 40° 42′ 9″ and from those of Castor 40° 42′ 7″, a mean whereof is the Latitude of the Fort, 40° 42′ 8″.

I am sir, your very humb. servt.

DAVID RITTENHOUSE.

to John Cruger President of the Chamber of Commerce

Observations made at the Flag Bastion in Fort George in the City of New York, principally with the sector belonging to the Province of Pennsylvania, of six feet radius, by Messrs. David Rittenhouse and John Montresor, Engineers, October, 1769.

Zenith Distance of Capella October 9th 3h 50′ morn 5° 2′ 0½″ 10th 3 46 do 5 1 59

Zenith Distance of Castor October 10th 6h 6′ 8 19 51 12th 5 58 8 19 51 === === === Declination of Capella 45 44 14 Zenith distance of Capella Refraction 5 2 5 ——— ——— ——— Latitude 40 42 9 === === === Declination of Castor 32 22 7 Zenith distance of Castor 8 19 51 Refraction 0 0 9 ——— ——— ——— Latitude 40 42 7 === === ===

The mean of the above observations ascertain the Latitude of Fort George in 40° 42′ 8″.

I am, with respect Sir, Your most Humb. Servt. JOHN MONTRESOR.

John Cruger Esq. President of the Chamber of Commerce of New York.

(End of extract of minutes.)

The Chamber of Commerce appropriated 20 pounds to pay Mr. Rittenhouse for his services in the above matter.

In 1790,[30] Fort George was razed to the ground, part of the material was used for filling in and enlarging Battery Park, the Government Building was erected on part of the old fort site, and all trace of the southwest bastion where the observations of Montresor and Rittenhouse were made was lost.

The New York Historical Society, on June 10, 1817, therefore voted to apply to the Corporation of the City to ascertain the site of the bastion an which Messrs. Rittenhouse and Montresor made their observations in 1769 and to erect a monument with suitable inscriptions to mark the same. Messrs. John Pintard, Dr. John Griscom and Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill were appointed a committee to prepare the memorial to the Common Council and present it to that body. The memorial, dated June 16, 1817, recited the facts here given and said: “It is conceived by the Historical Society that it is worthy the care of a cultivated and enlightened people to ascertain and perpetuate by a monumental stone the aforesaid site.” It also called attention to the fact that “Your magnificent City Hall has been erected considerably to the northward of the place where Fort George formerly stood,” and requested that its latitude also be accurately determined and marked by a monument with appropriate inscriptions.

On July 8, 1817, the New York Historical Society Committee reported to the Society that the Committee of Arts and Sciences of the Common Council, to whom their Memorial had been referred, had reported favorably thereupon.

The report of the Common Council Committee, after reciting the facts of the survey in 1769, proceeds as follows:

“The communication from the Historical Society having stated this fact as taken from the minutes of the Chamber of Commerce, request that the Corporation would endeavor to find the site of the Flag Bastion of Fort George and erect on the spot a stone with an inscription stating the latitude, when and by whom taken, and that a suitable person or persons be employed to take the latitude of the City Hall and erect a stone in front or near it with the latitude marked thereon which shall serve as a monument or milliarium from which all distances shall be reckoned and which will be considered the proper latitude of the place, being taken from the largest and most elegant and permanent building in the City.

“Your Committee think that the subject of this communication is of great importance and that so large and growing a city as New York, should not longer remain without its latitude being accurately ascertained and that a place of observation should be known and designated; wherefore they recommend,

“1, That the Street Commissioner be directed to ascertain as nearly as possible the site of the Southwest Bastion of Fort George and to erect thereon a monumental stone on which shall be marked the latitude as taken in 1769 and by whom;

“2, That a suitable person or persons be employed under the direction of your committee to find the Latitude of the City Hall and to erect a monumental stone near it with suitable inscriptions from which mileage or distances from the city shall hereafter be computed.

“One other subject connected with the one before your committee, though not in the petition under consideration, they beg to submit to the Board. The City Surveyors frequently differ in their computations of distances and direction in consequence sometimes of the different variations of the magnetic needles used by them. If a place was fixed in some elevated situation, (as the cupola of the City Hall, for instance) from which some permanent object on Long Island or the Jersey Shore could be observed, and the true direction ascertained, it might serve the purpose of regulating surveys and in some measure of correcting errors, as thereby the compasses of all surveyors might at any time be adjusted. Wherefore your committee recommend the adoption of the following resolution:

“Resolved, That the Street Commissioner be directed to ascertain if any proper object can be seen from the Cupola of the City Hall which may be fixed upon as a mark to ascertain the direction of the compass from the said cupola; and that a stone slab be fixed somewhere on the top of the Hall with marks thereon by which the true direction of the magnetic needle of surveyors’ compasses may at all times be regulated and adjusted.

“Respectfully submitted.

SAMUEL ACKERLY, J. WARREN BRACKET, THOMAS R. SMITH, JOHN REMMEY, ARTHUR BURTIS.”

The inscription originally drafted by the New York Historical Society for the Fort George monument was as follows:

_To perpetuate The site of the S. W. Bastion of Fort George The Latitude of Which, 40° 42′ 8″ was taken at the order of the N. Y. Chamber of Commerce[31] by Capt. John Montresor and David Rittenhouse Esq. In October, 1769 The Corporation of the City of New York (at the request of the N. York Historical Society) have erected This Monument A D 1817_

The monument was not erected until 1818, and the inscription actually carved on it reads as follows:

_To perpetuate The Site of the S. W. Bastion of Fort George In 40° 42′ 8″ N. Latitude As observed by_ CAPT. JOHN MONTRESOR, AND DAVID RITTENHOUSE _in October 1769. The Corporation of the City of New York, have erected This monument A. D. MDCCCXVIII._

NEW YORK CITY EDWARD HAGAMAN HALL

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

A WAR LETTER OF WALT WHITMAN

(_His opinion of President Lincoln_)

[The original letter dated Washington, March 19, 1863, is owned in New York and is of exceptional interest, as written to two intimate friends and revealing Whitman at his very best. He says it is the longest he has ever written, and that he is “writing at night, while taking care of the child of a friend who had gone to see Matilda Heron in _Medea_.”]

* * * After describing his life in Washington, among the soldiers, he refers thus to President Lincoln:

“Congress does not seize hard upon me ... much gab, great fear of public opinion; plenty of low business talent, but no masterful man in Congress (probably best so)—I THINK WELL OF THE PRESIDENT. He has a face like a Hoosier Michael Angelo, so awful ugly it becomes beautiful, with its strange mouth, its deep cut criss-cross lines, and its doughnut complexion. My notion is, too, that underneath his outside smutched manner, and stories from third-class country bar rooms (it is his humor), Mr. Lincoln keeps a fountain of first class practical telling wisdom. I do not dwell on the supposed failures of his government; he has shown I sometimes think an almost supernatural tact in keeping the ship afloat at all, with head steady, not only not going down and now certain not to, but with proud and resolute spirit, and flag flying in sight of the world, menacing and high as ever. I say never yet Captain, never ruler, had such a perplexing dangerous task as his the past two years. I more and more rely upon his idiomatic western genius, careless of court dress or of court decorums....”

(_His hospital experiences are very interesting._)