THE
" - i -
North -Carolina Chronicle ; or, Fay e mm Hi Gazette .
lo- J 2, of Vol. II.
M O N D A Y,
M K E R
15, 1790.
.Total NQ- ;62.j "
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HISTORT
CARVER'S TRAVELS.
(CjKi-.iiuJ.J
T T AVING concluded my bufineiVat
n La Prairie le Chien, I pioceedcd
o:cc mere up the MiiTifippi, ;ls iar as
iii; r t.ice where thi Chipeway river enter-
it a little below Lake Pepin. Here,
ir . .!ir engaged .w Indian pilot, I direct -i
him to' iieer tovvaids the Ottowaw
1,,:, which -ie near the head of tliis ri
ver. Thi he didjand I airived at thcM
:i.r beginning of July.
Tne Chipeway liver, at its junflion
v.-iiSihc-Miilifippijis about eighty yards
.id?, b; 't it is m"-.ch wider as yen ad
vance into it. NeaV thirty miles up it ic
pjr.Ucs into two branches, and took
iny ecu dethrouglY that which lies to the
tadwaid. i
Th: country adjoining to the river,
W about lixry miles, is very level, and
,;i its banks lie fiue meadows, where
la-er droves of buffaloes and elk", were
ice'iin", than I had obferved i any other
part of my travels, 1 lie track between
two branches pf this riveV, is termed
n-ad of war between the Chipeway
and Na-iJoweific Indians.
'i i:-country to !the Falls marked in
the -.lan at the extent cf the tra 'crs tra
vels, is alrnoft without .ny tin ber, and
2'v-v: that very uneven .u.u rugged, and
c!of:ly wcoded with pines, beach, maple,
ai d birch. Here a rfcoft remarkable and
Z'V i ithing fkht preiented it fell to my
vi.-w. In a wood, on theeaft of the river,
v hi h was about three quarters of a mile
in lerg-h, and in depth farther than my
eve could reach, I obferved that every
tier, many of which were more than fix
f :rt in chcun fcrcijce, wa- lyirg fiat on
th .ground torn Up by the to-:?. 'Ibis
'..r.rared to ha' r bcti. d ;ic by icrr.t ex
tia,.". dir.aiy hurricane :.Kif came horn
flu? wdt H me years a 1 ut. how many
I c -i:ld not lcar.,5- I :.ur.d vojr.habi
!.us nca. i of whom 1 con Id g?:n ir.for-ir.f;-
n. The cciintiy or. the-vctl fide
t he river, f:om tcing" Iels woody, had
. cd in a grear r:c.:Aire this ha-ock,
2 idy n few tree v it !)lrvn opwp.
KcJ the he .Us U this river is a LQwa
of the Chipeway f; from whence it takes
iinsaterl on eacn nae or
:s name.
J .J i Ok '
ti rivr. vl-.irh tliis nlace is of no
iiV 1 ' VI y
cor.nderable breadth)- and lies adjacent
to the banks cf a frnall lake. This town ,'
contains about forty houfes, and can jend
out upwards of one hundred warriors,
many cf whom were fine flout young
men. The houfes cf it are built after the
Indian manner, and have' neat plantati
ons behind them ; but tfce inhabitants
in general fcemed to be the nadiert peo
ple I had ever been among. I obferved
that the womeia and children indulged
ihemfelves in a cuilom, which though,
cemmon, in feme degree through every
Indian nation, appears to be, according
to our ideas, of the mod naufeous and
inUlicate nature that of fearching each
ether's head, and eating the prey caught
therein. ,
In July I left this town, and having
croiied a number of fmall lakes and car
ding places that intervened, came to a
head branch of the River St. Croix.
This branch I defcended to a fork, and
then afcended another to its fource. On
both thefe rivers I difcovered feveral
mines of virgin copper, which was as pure
as that found in any other country.
Here I came to a fmall brook, whicK
my guide thought might be joined at
fome diftancs by ft reams that would at
length render it navigable. The water
at tiril was fo fcanty that my canoe would
by no means fvrim in it, but having flop
ped up feveral old beaver dms which
had been broken down by the hunters, I
was enabled to proceed fcr fome miles,
till by the-conjunction cf a few brock,
thefe aids became no longer nccefiary.
In a fnoit time the water increafed to a
moft rapid river, which wc cefcended till
ir en'ered 'into Lake Supeucr. This ri
ver I named alter a gentleman that dc
fired to accompany me from the town of
the Ottngaumies to the Carrying Place
cn Lake Srpenpr, Goddard's tivtr.
To the x eit of this is anothe fmad ti
ver, which alfo empties itfeb into the
Lake. This I termed Strawberry River,
from ihe great number of ftr vtbeanrs
of a rood fize and fine fia our hat grew
cn its banks. A
Thr country frcm the Ottowaw Takes
toLiike Suptricr is in general very un
even and thickly cohered ith woodr
The lojl in fome places tolerably good,
in others but indifferent. In the head of
the St. Croix and tRe Chipeway Rivers
are xceeding fine ilurgeon. . ;j All thn ;
wildernefsi between the Miilifippi and
Lake Superior is' called by the Indian?
the Mofchetto country, and 1 thought H
moft juftiy named .-r for, it being then,
their feafdn, I never faw or felt fo man
of thbfe infedls in my lite.
Th latter end of July I arrived, afer
having cqaRed through Weft Bay, at lb J.
Grand Portage, which lies on the north -we
a: borders of Lake Supei ior. Here
thpfe who go on the north-vrt ft trade: to
the Lakes be Pluye,, Dubois, &t'. -carry
OTCI t UCU; V. oliuis ttliKX ua--fj- .j
ir-.iks, till! they conac to" a number of frjpail
L'.ke.', the; waters of fome of which de
fend into Lake Supei ior, and Others into
the iliver liouibcu. Lake Superior from
We a bay to this place is bounded by
rocks except tewards the fbuthfweil part
cf the Bay where I fir ft- entered it, there.
At the Giand Portage is a. fmil bayyjl
before the entrance of whicjh lies anj
:n,i t"L' !ruvr?nfc ihf Htparv z.nd un-
interrupted view over the Lake .whicii
otherwife urould have nrefented itfelf and,
rriakes the bay ferene,artd plenfant.
Here t met a large party of KihiPimoe
pd Afilnipoil Indians, with.thcir rcipec
tive kings and their families. Tiicy wei
come to this place in order to,: meet th
trader tVomMEchiilimackbaci vrho mak
' this theirj road to the north-we ft. . From
them I received the following accotm
of the Lakes that lie to the north-welt
of Lake Superior. r
Lake Bouibon, the mofl t northern ci
thole yet difcovered, receded ; its name
f:om l.ine French tradeis who accompa
nied a party of Indians to Hudfon's j
fome vear.s ago, liind was thus denomi
nated by them in!houour-cf the roytal Is
jnily of ! France.' ' It is compoled of the
waters of the Bourbon River, which, as
I have before obferved, rifes a great way
to the -fojuthward, rot far from the north
ern heac;s cf the Miffifi'ppi. '"
7 his Lake is about eighty rnijes ia
IcriJth, north and loutli, atd is h?ar!y
ci'i cu - ar j It has no veiv large ifiands
rr ft. The hsA cn 'the titcrn -.iidc k.