ain. This is a very remarkable feature in the geography of the Upper Mississippi. The rock is calcareous; it is, in fact, the only fast or rocky island we have encountered below the little islet at the head of the Packagama Falls. It is not only striking from its lofty elevation, but is several miles in circumference; standing in the bed of the river and parting its channel into two, it appears to be the first bold geological monument which has effectually resisted its course.

We had passed this island but a short distance, and the approaches of evening began to be manifest, when a large gray wolf sprang into the river to cross it. The greatest animation at once arose in our flotilla; the canoemen bending themselves to their paddles, the auxiliary Indians of our party shouting, and the whole party assuming an unwonted excitement. A shot was soon fired from one of our rifles, but either the distance was too great, or the aim incorrect. The wolf was fully apprised of his peril, put forth all his strength, outstripped his pursuers, reached the shore, and nimbly leaped into the woods.

We encamped on the west shore, a few miles below the island at seven o'clock, having been twelve hours in our canoes. The confinement of the position nobody can appreciate who has not tried it, and I hastened to stretch my legs, by ascending the river cliffs in our rear, to have a glimpse of its geology and scenery. The view westwardly was one of groves and prairies of most inviting agricultural promise. In front, the island mountain rises to an elevation which appears to have been the original geological level of the stratification before the Mississippi cut its way through it.

At the rapids of Black River, which enters opposite our encampment, a saw-mill, we were informed, had been erected by an inhabitant of Prairie du Chien. Thus the empire of the arts has begun to make its way into these regions, and proclaims the advance of a heavy civilization into a valley which has heretofore only resounded to the savage war-whoop. Or, if a higher grade of society and arts has ever before existed in it, as some of our tumuli and antiquities would lead us to infer, the light of history has failed to reach us on the subject.*

* American Antiquities. As the tumuli and earthworks of the Mississippi Valley are more closely scrutinized, they do not appear to denote a higher degree of

At the spot of our encampment, as soon as the shades of night closed in, we were visited by hordes of ephemera. The candles lighted in our tents became the points of attraction for these evanescent creations. They soon, however, began to feel the influence of the sinking of the thermometer, and the air was imperceptibly cleared of them in an hour or two. By the hour of three o'clock the next morning (5th) the expedition was again in motion descending the river. It halted for breakfast at Painted Rock, on the west shore. While this matter was being accomplished, I found an abundant locality of unios in a curve of the shore which produced an eddy. Fine specimens of U. purpureus, elongatus, and orbiculatus were obtained. With the increased spirit and animation which the whole party felt on the prospect of our arrival at Prairie du Chien, we proceeded unremittingly on our descent, and reached that place at six o'clock in the evening.

Prairie du Chien does not derive its name from the dog, but from a noted family of Fox Indians bearing this name, who anciently dwelt here. The old town is said to have been about a mile below the present settlement, which was commenced by Mr. Dubuque and his associates, in 1783. The prairie is most eligibly situated along the margin of the stream, above whose floods it is elevated. It consists of a heavy stratum of diluvial pebbles and boulders, which is picturesquely bounded by lofty cliffs of the silurian* limestones, and their accompanying column of stratification. The village has the old and shabby look of all the antique French towns on the Mississippi, and in the great lake basins; the

civilization than may be assigned to the ancestors of the present races of Indians, prior to the epoch of the introduction of European arts into America. Certainly there is nothing in our earthworks and mounds, to compare with the Toltec and Aztec type of arts at the opening of the 16th century; while the possession by our tribes of the zea maize, a tropical plant, and other facts indicative of a southern migration, appear to denote a residence in warmer latitudes. The distribution of the Mexican teocalli and pyramid is also plainly traceable from the south. Neither the platform nor the solid conical mound has been traced higher north than Prairie du Chien; nor have the earthworks (adopting Carver's notices) reached higher than Lake Pepin. There are no mounds or earthworks at the sources of the Mississippi nor in all British America to the shores of the Arctic Seas. We cannot bring arts or civilization from that quarter.

* This term, unknown to geology at the period, has been subsequently introduced by Sir Roderic Murchison.

dwellings being constructed of logs and barks, and the courtyards picketed in, as if they were intended for defence. It is called Kipisagee by the Chippewas and Algonquin tribes generally, meaning the place of the jet or outflow of the (Wisconsin) River. It is, in popular parlance, estimated to be 300 miles below St. Peter's, and 600 above St. Louis.* Its latitude is 43° 3′ 6′′. It is the seat of justice for Crawford County, having been so named in honor of W. H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury of the U.S. It is, together with all the region west of Lake Michigan, attached to the territory of Michigan. There is a large and fertile island in the Mississippi, opposite the place.

We found the garrison to consist of a single company of infantry, under the command of Capt. J. Fowle, Jun.,† who received us courteously, and offered the salute due to the rank of His Excellency, Gov. Cass. The fort is a square stockade, with bastions at two angles. There was found on this part of the prairie, when it came to be occupied with a garrison by the Americans, in 1819, an ancient platform-mound, in an exactly square form, the shape and outlines of which were preserved with exactitude by the prairie sod. This earthwork, the probable evidence of a condition of ancient society, arts, and events of a race who are now reduced so low, was, with good taste, preserved by the military, when they erected this stockade. One of the officers built a dwelling-house upon it, thus converting it, to the use, and probably the only use, to which it was originally devoted. No measurements have been preserved of its original condition; but judging from present appearances, it must have squared seventyfive feet, and have had an elevation of eight feet.

* These distances are reduced by Ex. Doc. 237, respectively to 260 and 542 miles. This officer entered the army in 1812, serving with reputation. He rose, through various grades of the service, to the rank of Lieut. Col. of the 6th infantry. He lost his life on the 25th April, 1838, by the explosion of the steamer Moselle, on the Ohio River.

CHAPTER XV.

Mr. Schoolcraft makes a visit to the lead mines of Dubuque-Incidents of the trip -Description of the mines-The title of occupancy, and the mode of the mines being worked by the Fox tribe of Indians-Who are the Foxes?

I SOLICITED permission of Gov. Cass to visit the lead mines of Dubuque, which are situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, at the computed distance of twenty-five leagues below Prairie du Chien. Furnished with a light canoe, manned by eight voyageurs, including a guide, I left the prairie at half-past eleven A. M. (6th). Passed the entrance of the Wisconsin, on the left bank, at the distance of a league.* Opposite this point is the high elevation which Pike, in 1806, recommended to be occupied with a military work. The suggestion has not, however, been adopted; military men, probably, thinking that, however eligible the site might be for a work where civilized nations were likely to come into contact, a simpler style of defensive works would serve the purpose of keeping the Indian tribes in check. I proceeded nine leagues below, and encamped at the site of a Fox village, located on the east bank, a mile below the entrance of Turkey River from the west. The village, consisting of twelve lodges, was now temporarily deserted, the Indians being probably absent on a hunt; but, if so, it was remarkable that not a soul or living thing was left behind, not even a dog. My guide, indeed, informed me that the cause of the desertion was the fears entertained of an attack from the Sioux, in retaliation for the massacre lately perpetrated by them on the heads of the St. Peter's, which was alluded to in the speech of the Little Crow, while we were at his village (ante, p. 160).

It was at this spot, one hundred and thirty-seven years ago, that Marquette and M. Joliet, coming from the lakes, discovered the Mississippi.

Now the site of Cassville, Grant County, Wisconsin. It is a post town, pleasantly situated, with a population of 200.

It was seven o'clock P. M. when I landed here, and having some hours of daylight, I walked back from the river to look at the village, and its fields, and to examine the geological structure of the adjacent cliffs. In their gardens I observed squashes, beans, and pumpkins, but the fields of corn, the principal article of cultivation, had been nearly all destroyed, probably by wild animals. I found an extensive field of water and musk melons, situated in an opening in a grove, detached from the other fields and gardens. None of the fruit was perfectly ripe, although it had been found so at Prairie du Chien; some of it had been bitten by wild animals.* The cliffs consisted of the same horizontal strata of sandstones and neutral colored limestone, prevailing at higher positions in this valley. Returning to the river beach, I perceived the same pebble drift which characterizes higher latitudes. This seems the only difference in its structure or form, namely, that the pieces of quartz pebble, limestone, and other fragments brought down, become smaller and smaller, as they are carried down.

There were frequent thunders, and a rain-storm, during the night, which, with a slight intermission, characterized the morning until noon. I embarked at half-past three A. M. (7th), and landed at the Fox village of the Kettle chief, at the site of Dubuque's house,† at ten o'clock; a moderate rain having continued all the way. It ceased an hour after my arrival.

* Fondness for melons, and annual vine fruits of the garden, is a striking trait of the Indians. Some curious facts on this head are published in the statistics.Indian Information, vol. iii. p. 624, 1853, Philadelphia, Lippincott & Co.

This is now (1854) the site of the city of Dubuque, State of Iowa, which is reputed to be the oldest settlement in that State. This city is eligibly situated on a broad plateau, between limestone cliffs. The soil rests on a rock foundation, which renders it incapable of being undermined by the Mississippi. Its streets are broad and laid out at right angles. It has several Protestant churches, a Catholic cathedral, a public land office, two banks, four printing offices, and by the last census contains a population of 7,500, the county of which it is the seat of justice, has 10,840. Two railroads have their terminal points at this place. At the time of my visit, in 1820, the house which had been built by Mr. Dubuque, had been burnt down; and there was not a dwelling superior to the Indian wigwam within the present limits of Iowa. The State of Iowa was admitted into the Union in 1837. By the 7th U. S. census, the population of this State, in 1850, is shown to be 192,214. The number of square miles is 50,914. No Western State is believed to contain a less proportionate quantity of land unsuited to the plough, and its population and resources must have a rapid development.