HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-09-08 PACKET 05.A.Cottage
� Grove
here pride and P,,S?er1tY Meet
TO: Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation
FROM: John M. Burbank, Senior Planner
DATE: September 3, 2015
RE: Island Naming Discussion II
Background/Proposal
At the last ACHP meeting, it was reported that legislative bills related to the conveyance
of a tax -forfeit parcel of property to the City from the State was nearing completion and
that the ACHP was requested to suggest names for the island to the Parks Commission
and City Council. The ACHP had numerous suggestions and requested additional time
to contemplate the topic, so no action was taken.
Based on the discussion at the May meeting, several names were suggested including:
Joseph R. Brown, Joseph Lebathe, and Maxcell Verille de Courturier.
Additional research information was gathered and is being presented in order to assist with
the naming discussion.
Recommendation
That the ACHP discuss the topic and suggest several names to the Parks Commission.
On May 14, 2015, at 3:46 PM, "Alice Robinson" <alicebyrobinson(cr�gtnail.com> wrote:
Courterier — Maxcell
While researching Grey Cloud Island's early settlers, I came upon the story of a French
Canadian, named, Maxcell Courterier, a farmhand at the trading post of Joseph R. Brown.
Remember that in 1837 the Government negotiated a treaty with the Indians - trading Indian land
on the Fast side of the Mississippi for land on the West of the Mississippi, called Pine Bend.
(Before 1837) The only inhabitants on Grey Cloud were Medicine Bottle's Sioux Indian village
which would now move to Pine Bend, the designated area for Indians to begin anew life..
Grey Cloud was now a new territory for far trading. Quickly Hazen Mooers and Thomas
Robertson took over the Medicine Bottle's village with its already built cedar bark lodges. And,
Joseph R. Brown came down from the Fort Snelling area to a place on the southern shores of
Grey Cloud to build a trading post and farm and grog shop. He brought with him the French
Canadians he met at the Fort: Joseph Boucier, Peter Felix, David Hone and the new Maxcell
Courterier to work as farm hands and clerks in the post.
Joseph Brown's wife, at this time, was Margaret McCoy. Joe Brown now had a new twinkle in
his eye and wished to leave Margaret, suggesting that his employee, Joseph Boucier would be a
good fit. The divorce was granted and the two Brown daughters, Margaret and Mary, moved to
Red Rock with their mother.
(Nancy and Bob's book of Joe Brown goes more into detail)
Back to Maxcell -
He was born in St. Francois, near Sorel, Quebec, Canada in 1816. At the age of 16, in 1831, an
active, strong and venturesome lad, Maxcell signed a three year contract with the American Fur
Company as a voyageur. The next spring, in the year 1832, he was ordered by the American Fur
Company to Mackinaw to accompany a party of men to a post on the upper Missouri River, in
what is now Montana.
(show on map Mackinaw and distance to Montana)
This journey was to be accomplished on foot - 1000 miles in extent across Wisconsin,
Minnesota and North Dakota. They walked through unbroken forests and trackless prairies and
crossed rivers and streams - as far a Lac qui Parle and somewhere on the prairies, at the time of
the hay harvest, the boy, Maxcell, was taken seriously ill. He was unable to travel, and his
comrades could not well carry him with them, or to where he might be cared for, and a human
life, more or less, was nothing very important in that situation, under the circumstances, and so
he was left lying along on the prairie - fever -smitten and much in pain, left to get well, if it
should please God, to die if it should please God, and if he died to be given such sepulture as
should please the wolves.
It pleased God that he should live. Luckily, A band of Indians found him, a day or two later,
lying helpless in the prairie. Something in his condition moved their sympathy and they bore
him tenderly to their camp to be cared for as if one of their own number, until the fever abated
and he could walk, they escorted him to the trading post of Old Joseph Renville at Lac qui Parle.
Colora (cholera) had been raging - and when the party came to the trading house with the
emaciated youngster — the Indians called out " Ho, Here is a white boy we found sick on the
prairie, take him". Old Joe would have none of it —"He has the coleral He shall not come
in." He barred the door. Old Joe's son, brave and humane, convinced his father there was
nothing infectious or contagious about the lad and he admitted and nursed the lad to health and
strength. It was the time of cutting and putting up hay — and Maxcell was able to do work in the
hayfield. He remained with the Renvilles for two years doing various kinds of work connected
with the fur trade.
Now he had one year of his contract to fulfill and his original party was long gone. In the
spring of 1834 he traveled to Prairie du Chien to talk with trader Henry Dousman. Maxcell
wanted a release from his contract to return to Canada, but Dousman said he was obligated to
the three year contract or pay a $100. Maxcell new it was an impossibility, so he returned to
Traverse de Sioux in Minnesota to work for Louis Provencalle for one year and he was flee of
the contract.
His contract fulfilled - Maxcell did not go back to Sorel in Canada.
The next four years were spent — on the farm of John Faribault in Mendota,
then passed the winter of 1836 with Hazen Mooers at Little Rock. His work consisted of being
a boatman, a hunter, a courier and a man of all work and underwent all kinds of privation and
discomfort. In 1837 he went back to Prairie du Chien to the employee of Joseph Rolettes and
then Dubuque - a town of a few hundred inhabitants struggling for importance. But four months
in civilization was enough for this voyageur and he came back to the old life and in the fall of
1838 came to Grey Cloud to join Major Joseph R. Brown who was settling into a new house,
farm and trading post and his old employer, Hazen Mooers had also come to the Island with
Thomas Robertson to do trading. ( The Island is named for Thomas R's mother, Jane. Her Indian
name was Grey Cloud)
Brown closed his trading post in less than a year and went to the St. Croix to lumbering.
Maxcell moved on to the trading posts of Norman Kittson, Franklin Steel and Joe LaFrambois.
Apparently with some money in hand, Maxcell purchased a claim at Dayton's Bluff in St, Paul
and tools Joe Brown's daughter, Margaret, as his wife. The ceremony took place in the new St.
Paul's Log Chapel officiated by Father Ravoux.
Margaret's mother, now divorced from Joseph Brown and married to Joseph Boucier — the
former Brown boatman was settled on a little farm along the slough on Grey Cloud and raising a
family.
Maxcell engaged in hunting, trapping and exploring and finally settled down on a small farm
with young Margaret next door to her mother on the Grey Cloud slough. There were no
children born to Maxcell and Margaret. Margaret died in 1887 at age 45.
I have a picture of Maxcell and a woman — we believe is not Margaret — Maxcell sold his small
farm in 1894 ( and no wife listed in the census). He finally made that trip back to St. Francis,
Quebec Canada and found a brother and sister - and never returned to Minnesota. He would
be about 78 years old — yet robust and well preserved.
Marcel Verville dit Couturier Born April 28, 1817 in St. Francois -du -Lac, Sorel, Quebec,
Canada to Charles Verville and Josephte Despin. He was baptized in 1817.
Burial: Died on April 2, 1901, buried on April 4, 1901 at St. Francois -du -lac. Age 84.
Spouse Maria Proulx ]
Witness was Thomas Gill, married to Marcel's niece, Laura Verville.
(If needed _)------
Other families who descendent from Fur Traders also came to the Island to live along the
Mississippi River and the River Channel - My family, the LaBathes from Prairie du Chien, the
Turpins originally from Selkirk village on the Red River — the Leiths from Scotland and
McCoys also from the Red River and employee of JR Brown.
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t
F 9 11 vjl1j
C,0
4
z
Crei'
admtr
trudln
for _"ai
-
of nionoy by: the enterprise, He tiled nud'
_ �(�
m•Q"�r1
n°an borlen near Fort ltldgelY„nud his wlfq(
died at 111nek Dog'a Xudtml village, on fhbl
1 ,L7
x'�V���
,j -j -J.,11
Mhluesota, a ten• wI1Cs above >,'otE Snellr!
c (''1"�1TT �)C
44 ''Y'O •It• AGE URS
Itloil Grey Cload Island,ore hoiv (Wing half
,Aozeu mixed -blood families. Their fives,
- _
like their blood and llueng'', are part Sly oOa,
•
part Ildian. TIioY Owl' and cultivate small
:ELLCOURTURIER, OF
fors and they built and flab. Their habl•
iY CLOUD ISLANDable,
taL1m0118 aro simple but cleml and comfort -
.
and tliey. arC plata, bonest I)Wple.
-
contented mud :ijulgtly Lanny 16'11119 the
,•Cara go by at peace with all the p'orld.
I It is refreshing to ga00 fu a w•ldle breithn;
spot
.tire tIln turlo Spot n i10>.ev
a
air here:such people live, whole hearts
r an w
Tte Homo
Icl St. PRC
nra vold of dedelt luta guile and no 1111»11,
f
iiil Mixed 11100,19—A Sieeteh
Itches for that which Is not Its own, A .
Pturlcr, Who Worked for
few days nlnco-.a,represmltntivo of the Plo-
iicj Roletfo:nnd 7Cltixoa•.,A1
livor Press, ttccohlpnnted by Mr. William
rl: Career Whioh- Ix North-
( L. Qulun, visited this Cmuuunity, talked
l 1t1uU1rY. -
wIth the alerdbova, learned their Owll and j
-
lintel, other history, oxchnnged viewa- and
_.-._
opisdmlu with th'iuu lied ntn of ttifir'-unit. -
Bore in IR`in;; a noted and notabto,cLar- .
Utes or. mora down the \Ilmis-
artcl "�laxccll y<rvllle d, ' Colu_CuAcr,: or
Island, rt
It:ynul is Croy Cloudu
\Ca\eetl Corturler, as h is milnuouly,
amtlow rimbig out; of ibe river,
• valled4 Ile is the lust survivor of that once
itral. portion 'bnulreda Of feet
numerous class of men of early thnes, the
uler;mork,.and as varied in Its
1'tench voyageurs. Flo was very readily In -
voter and;�lopography as Juan
luteal to,cnmo Into the pity and Mt far 1118
There lira :hills . and' dudes,
pietograpll--tl copy of nhlch'Is herewith
nd mcadu,jungles and fruitful
ts fi11B Cil are
shown—mil to ldYe his rennulseeneus. Arld'1
Is Mlle hist the 1'reltcll voyageursat1
ragmnobout
lora ii
w, list fl'llgillein lin ra'llllan•
lit of
- -
�lflanesntn, tonne brave, naMY• ndvMdlurolls
lq n• slrlulge mingling of the
ld sryuctmul, periods. Pluaidig to
.:spirits who traversed the .unbroken_ forests,
"vo{•
-Wervor. and lnterostIng to the
crosgod the trackless prairles, and
tgnd„ down the virgin more -
iy old- uoltlor knows the lo-
lip and utmou s
not :.all,(it of the
,than halt n"century. ago. Ile bmtec than,
_tho..readem
if Old nottlers. It was ale
Tally other white man now living cvllbhl the
,are
nvhlto 'settled portions of 'Alli-
'hordeis ,of tho elate call toll the story of
Min developeout of Iho country, of too
j. JlIP6pb,It. 13lrovvn,-the pletleer
ellnDg0 front Inlrinll'Ixltl to ch'iliraltoll, pull
V o f: kovt.Snnhhlg;' n'hOse nrilno
view• Ills wllderitv.4tl bus been'Inule to tilos-.
nent,lil:the :political mut civil
soul like. the 11040. He calm to \llanesgta.
7lunesom, unit Hazen Milner, a
Plxty-Lwo yetirs ago olid his holile Ilan heed'
hon 111.4 of
diiv, and nn early fur trader•,
over since. seventy-eight years
it y:11 ere,. ltruwit nt the. lower
'life press lightly upon Jilin, and though
!I It rO ilCrbert ,Ines' line
tilnall of xtature and naturally Itarobvist, 110.
ocr t the upper mid,
Is well preserved and bus apparently fatly.
0n»nanding n 1101 Wuren or I
it stiore of yens hefoio hint When o8r
kps.;vlwOr caple a feu'
Pioneer 'Press representativo called at Ills
Ltlan n•`oNliro)vn. At 1111 events
tmnpororY.. holonfor he Is 'Mono in the
•iii tic nnui6 gor's wife;
Nvorld and makes Ills rc6ldcnce with the
i»Ixod•blobd;'mimed-Unr-til•ca.
fundiy of nvmlxedbloat tumuxl jii urclm--
C',tifoiean&od U)akh-peg'o-kho.
tie old voyagoarwas ypwy oild'11s1LLngCcs..
. -in. the
urcy Cloud w'omaut
purskel.
gc.,tbe letter If often:roPrgsmlts.
'lila Hi+libry ," •''
f: kh,-:and the ayilnblo '"lulu,"'
hlrlgr ns: burn of CaatiJloa':
�Inxcell Courq'
nlll a17rn,B •x the frim•
jlurentago nt St. I1an00ls, hear ColvI,.<un �
L, �Irx hloocv Wall roared In
twice l4ilnrrted, tlRgi itrst
adil, 1n 18113. In 15J' lliouglt bit a sm'"17't
�%
,was
iyndulcdXddolsonr'nnd'sho-n•a's:
faaxl Roy ot;nixtoeu, ho:wasyYlil�l iletivM,-
strong and iEiAtltre.4olm::`ti�1hu hhl' Yertts;:_
of A 7•f - \ndq xoa pito^for
In. .__.. ....._' ..-'.,-.:_ ..._..
and ongagal, with Anbklol,,v- oRUe;Lion
gt;ont
to the Posts of the coapnay oil the uppor tko';'enrnilptnct�r
W1686url 1111104, Ut w•hnl. Is 11011. Mont nin Cailed, out )Mol ,
✓rho16nrnos to Is; nhtdO 1e1is e110ut. `t OM1 �10 SOnndhylok''on
"" ""•` house and barred the -loot: SttCr hitliii0; i
anuuav ht of at lhu vv Olt. praides, at I to ilwe however, old dac'x soft—yonn
oC the -Uus bury, W Pw boy anxce'll was g 506 stun\•lll0r
Whhtnn arrlouHly Ili, Ae leas uuabic Ib Ueua- and hulivire Convlueed his 4 t or
en mJ 1.l eomradex 0oulq not well 11111111), filet thero. yens nothing hifoctlolm or atilt -1
1011hon whit thein or to vilivre he Might be hagloas nbnul tllO Lul, and Vu was ndalttett
1m or nwU a 111011110 lite uwru or .less and uur8Ud to hoal'th And strength, Ile ve-
wnx nothing eery In111an lif 1.0 {Got sttue. ayanboh:'r 4hnt tilt$ was wt the Utile of cut-
tlun, Imdrr Ihu Olrruuhslnum:v, .mut so hu ilug and pntlhlg. up Lor, and lila titst work
1rnH loft lyl ug alone Oil the plaide, fover; ho oats aUlo to tlo wax 1.0 411dluq• field.
Hnluten naal Pain racicnl; IOgot wolf IC It Held to Ills Contract.
Hhnuld picnse i nd• In file It It Hhould ITO rpawflua with Itonville' nearly two
plensc Con, and if In, died tO ha given sucdt years, 0hgngtvl in various kinds bf work
'dcp u1. un'o nx shoula ple;lso lhr woiveH. - ,mnuocfi:d a•Iih .the fur inwld. In the ss7work-
-ll )Ili'aspd ilnll 1111th 1111 Nhallld Ilse. ,A ,of ISM he wont down to 11ralrlo du,a;hheh
band of Ilvlhoas found him titter it 4hhy or. and hod n talk with the reooWncd'-'.trndar
so lying h0ple." an.. it stdpyi•ra^ked imu•Imre llouyuum, n nuut gh•Nh to • talUug care .o}
cila glut; no n Hit slaw• to ",..a it. Somo- uO in[Ot•psls Uel hls, Own. Ile. wnuted- to
Ailing Ili Ibis COL-61tlon moved 61"Ir.. uynt• Uo released from Ilk mhgagemout and to re-.
Pnl11y will they. bore Uta hanlorly to Ilteir. ("M to Caunlbt, but DOmm
usisalt: '-You
wuup Rohl Ca Ved for him ns If it, lend tenon ongagml h, mvo the fnr'Company for throe'
Olin of their own number, until .lie f6v(v VOWN; 100 boas, Millet, serve nttotbiu year
abated and lie wrat
it, ble to wa1R tilt❑ at Iwive nl ;•lUU It e as easyo p
(ay the
Ipey es(orted. tdm In 1.110 tralluh vOst ot, nalonal debt as '1109, so ho returned to
Oil l .YOs, pit Itonv9do At ),It.: qnl 1ntie. Iho appal tllmt0abtn nSmG�t null lens dc-
yahololA hod becM tobblo ht Pralt fo du t)h10n robe nny,1 I.nnlor nnoitim a unto 1.i oWtl.
Had othev po11dH Iintt "soagmt, mitt w'hhn 1 a
1 Prl i�i ;1
a
a
t
t
Is
-�dLtic—nyC mid
sensgood ITIM—ns
Catin
and
ItTo. wero • nlcivling and puklug In
111unes' .1mm"
TLB halls of !la) St. 1.01115 arc Vern•
ILC Krnnl U;Ivolcd boll UOliveon Into
slDpl nuc l.alcv Superior, called ille
),n k0 1-0.10, and ro11418t of 1L.sure04Sl.
molds and cataracta, [lot n
ot- oo of whld
half aha pm'p0iulk•.id1p' hclght attrlpnl
It. by \In'. l.ai,l:::lil. A 901Melleln Of
but 0110 of 1110 null)' m1&st
work.
A. lilt lit ItooUnto kers,
uld to 'hardly worth the
'.Ratko lhce
C.Illl.GY'3 WeT'Ph1TtB, coplod f1 -
a R
110,111
ally
In mottle &ort,-,oL•
table. ,lollrnais, usL
r, i\ew ]OTIC'PAoin-
I of which tend to
by glAing ION,)
$m—the country, ns
of tho people who
a right 0 espeet
Lot that the author
coldrnot with the
is, oblIguting hhn•
it uuunlserlpt call..
of linf6ps within a
Or to so. bill that
notes its IIC Nvent
onearallce Of the
lit the, llosiceto ',raise t1w
Bill it out •Iny 1'0111111'$x Oil
a groator length than I In.
ninny have to recur to it In
I4 boSt
a• f ] )at.
t
will
boi 1
nflog tl
n awrc
1301-0 to ,
lie Freryuently \\'role to,, Prevent
tholr nor
'... T11MPC11rCMcltt ill lona
I dorxed -b
In earl)• (lays befNe Mhmewta Nvos "-,it
the ',,Alto
a territory, f cn Sibley was frenuontly
Lig Post
ll
pbu¢e is
stirred up by uliRr0prc4rnhlllols of Iho
ill'oll
tion to rogard ictal
lti1 c
well nti. a
and
R1nh high ndmiratlan alai hl LvLuxe fuhur
suchcounty ghhdl it
rn91de W
hrt ];lilt such Wrong fulth. Uminin tourixlit
•." What t
min travc.lors visited-lhli region front {hue.
In a ])Oak
to little buLn'e.on IS30 and Win, and oil ro-
n
':.still[[ pro)
lb rpcls
turning to civilization published nt>.511Mn'
HoW to L
of Ihulr obsorvullnna ealeninled to Id\'o Clic
joining a
uufin'tonuid au on favorable opl,alafl of On
g1,h-ell (lilt
Northwest, \vinalever these uufah• apo 'In-.
'110. 8110111(JUrlmis
publications cones to illy hollies
along! 111
coatttrl; I
c4
Sibley always ronlod thong, 1t one- lune
and clair,
110 \\Toto it HOVIen of arta Clea rollcolillg 4111011
tllell.illlltl
corinhl ehllen!enla of fl Corgi L. Catlin,. lilt
jl;nod w•.
necoinpilifl lid nrllst alul lrnvoler• In :18,15).
finch 0 1.
mho \vas to Ito the lost Amerleon to ,o, at,
Aloe, tha
ofOo t
\111111Pxota NVeacry all IIC Raw It, although
Illi Oft
a
It Somas robabla illat-0atlin ons �hlllocont
I
114 llfhl'1' 1
t!
or CM'hilil chlll'gC4 IlladC 11Gahlyt 111111 hy. the
11'11111." I
sensltivo pllmlcsollan, \L'. Charles Lou.
tilt. Hublr
noun, nuother notod nrlixt and QeNrriptivo
toluled; sl
mi•ihc•, mho Avrole of and paIll(nnl so ninny
At future t
t4 t0
300110 lit the \ortll\i'CSI, especially' Ill Mand•
ga11lla c
gall Wont \tIvil "A published n vobane hl
palls o
IA4T, eutltlwl ",t Smnntcr 111 aha \1'ildrr-
We-
. fall. \\'e'
noR4,'1 and Slbioy tool: lint to task for c.vw,
Mail$ a 1
Will ullogod untruthful Matowenta about
-
bald soul)
I, 0t* avithh
\orthorm'nfinne4oln.
'In, less tl
Thu following nrtlelo was wrlllen by
non' allot]
EI@joy.. lit 1817, af,ler Laninnn's buck laid
slate—will
appoared, unit was evidently 1hU!mled for
trenee qe
balite Eit"tern iournalt loot, ala 1110 Original
Uldall, fill,
tor es 11P.Ld
111111111&CI•lpt 1R 011dorzand 111 Gm Still ll)''4
111110 coil
1101111. "Not Rept for hlihlical 1011," It max
n
COIIII0. C
1l oyer nInte.d. .file, al'lielC beat's the CIp1•.
RON," qhl
(toll, ''1 lilt at h0014 ti1Ill:Cl'a,'�, and Is of
-
old Oil till
real Interest: -
lfoF9M: P.d11orR—A-monu the ovIlx lnol•
In_[Ito, fall
a R
110,111
ally
In mottle &ort,-,oL•
table. ,lollrnais, usL
r, i\ew ]OTIC'PAoin-
I of which tend to
by glAing ION,)
$m—the country, ns
of tho people who
a right 0 espeet
Lot that the author
coldrnot with the
is, oblIguting hhn•
it uuunlserlpt call..
of linf6ps within a
Or to so. bill that
notes its IIC Nvent
onearallce Of the
lit the, llosiceto ',raise t1w
Bill it out •Iny 1'0111111'$x Oil
a groator length than I In.
ninny have to recur to it In
I4 boSt
a• f ] )at.
t
will
boi 1
nflog tl
n awrc
THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE
In the northeastern part of Aitkin County, Minnesota, lie
two small lakes, Savanne and Wolf, distinguished in no way
from thousands of other lakes which make this part of the
country a paradise for hunter, fisherman, and tourist; but
significant beyond, all others because of the physiographic fact
that here the waters of the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence
systems approach each other more closely than at any other
place in Minnesota. It was this fact which rendered it inevita-
ble, in the days when transportation was largely by canoe and
portage, that this particular region should become the site of
one of the most important portage routes in the Northwest.
From a time far back beyond the dawn of historical knowl-
edge, there was probably a portage route between the two
streams which drain Savanne and Wolf lakes. During the
days of the fur trade, this route was one of the most important
avenues of communication between the upper Mississippi
Valley and the Great Lakes, as attested by the journals of
traders, travelers, and missionaries who penetrated this region
between 1763 and 185o. After the middle of the nineteenth
century, however, a silence falls about it, which may be ex-
plained by the decay of the fur trade, the changing routes of
transportation, the development of new markets down the
great river to the south, and the beginnings of the lumber
industry, which found no place in its cosmos for such things
as portages. The trail fell into gradual disuse, until, so, far as
the general public was concerned, it was forgotten. Few, even
among the residents of the region, knew its location, and of
these none realized its former importance. It existed only in
the pages of the chroniclers of the past and promised soon to
become little more than a dim tradition.
The relocation of this historic route of trade and transpor-
tation was a challenge, and, under the guidance of Mr. 'Wil -
117
n8 IRVING H. HART JUNE
liam P. Ingersoll, without whose woodcraft and intimate
knowledge of the region the successful conclusion of the under-
taking would have been impossible, the attempt was made in
the early fall of 1926.
It is Brower's opinion that this portage had been used by the
Indians and their predecessors for centuries before the first
white man set foot upon the trail. It seems reasonable to
assume that it was by this route that Du Luth made his epochal
journey to the upper Mississippi country in 1679.1 And it is
an equally reasonable assumption that it was along this trail
that the first Chippewa pushed westward from their homes on
Lake 'Superior into the territory then occupied by the Sioux
around Sandy Lake.
The story of the coming of the first Chippewa to Sandy
Lake has, down to the present, remained a matter of oral
tradition; but, derived, as it is from several separate and inde-
pendent
ndependent sources, it seems to be of sufficient significance to be
recorded. The tale runs thus: Many years ago, when the
Chippewa had their homes on Lake Superior, a brave warrior
of this tribe, accompanied only by his squaw, ascended the
St. Louis and East Savanna rivers, and pushed westward to
the West Savanna Valley, seeking new hunting grounds.
Crossing the West Savanna, the Indians continued their
journey until nightfall, when the brave indicated a place for the
squaw to make camp, and himself pushed on a little distance
to spy out the land. Within a short time he came to an
opening in the forest, across which he saw two loons swoop
down in the long plunging flight which these birds make only
when settling into the water. A few steps in advance, he came
to the brow of a cliff, from which he looked down upon a
village of the Sioux, many tepees clustered along the shore of
'Jacob V. Brower, "Prehistoric Man at the Headwaters of the Mis-
sissippi River," in Minnesota Historical Collections, 8:238; Reuben G.
Thwaites, " The Story of Chequamegon Bay," in Wisconsin Historical
Collections, 13:407.
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120 IRVING H. HART JUNE
an island in the lake a mile or more away. Apparently the
Chippewa warrior had been unaware either of the existence of
the lake or of the imminent proximity of so large a body of
enemies. Realizing the necessity for extreme caution to pre-
vent his presence in the enemies' country from becoming known,
he hurried back to the place where he had left his squaw. Be-
fore he could reach her, however, she had lighted a fire, and
when he arrived she was engaged in preparing their evening
meal. Hastily smothering the flames, the two Chippewa hur-
riedly began to retrace their steps; but the watchful Sioux had
seen the warning smoke rising above the tree tops, and gave
chase. The pursuit continued for miles, until the Sioux over-
took and killed the fleeing brave. The squaw managed to con-
ceal herself in the woods, and, eventually, after many hardships,
to make her way back to her own people. And it was in seeking
revenge for the death of their fellow tribesman, according to
this story, that the first war party of the Chippewa came along
the old trail to Sandy Lake; thus beginning the long period
of conflict which was to result in the expulsion of the Sioux
from the whole region, and in the permanent establishment of
the Chippewa on the islands and along the shores of Sandy
Lake.2
The warfare between the Chippewa and the Sioux in this
region began about 1173o and continued intermittently for
almost a century.' By 175o, however, the Chippewa control of
the land lying between Lake Superior and Sandy Lake had
been definitely and finally established. Soon after, it is prob-
able that French traders began to make occasional incursions
into the region, but thus far no record of these early journeys
has been found.
2 This story was told to Mr. Ingersoll by Mr. Charles Wakefield, a half-
breed Chippewa, and to the writer by Mr. J. E. Murphy. Another account
of the coming of the Chippewa to this general region is given by Wil-
liam W. Warren in his "History of the Ojibways, Based upon Traditions
and Oral Statements," in Minnesota Historical Collections, 5: i57-162.
3 Warren, in Minnesota Historical Collections, 5: 155-193•
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 121
That by the middle of the eighteenth century the existence
of a portage route from the St. Louis to the Mississippi was
known to the French is evidenced by Bellin's map of North
America, published in 1755, which shows the " R. du Fond
du Lac," or St. Louis River and a portage from its source to
" Lac Rouge," which is evidently confounded with Mille Lacs.
In common with all early maps of this region, Bellin's is ex-
tremely inaccurate; but the physiography of the region makes
it seem probable that the reference is to the Savanna Portage.',
Other than a somewhat obscure reference in an English
military memorandum, apparently written in 1777,' the earliest
references to the portage routes between Lake Superior and
Sandy Lake thus far discovered are those of Jean Baptiste
Perrault. Perrault wrote his narrative about 1830, evidently
basing it upon diaries kept during the years of his active partici-
pation in the fur trade of the Northwest. Between 1787. and
1797, he made comparatively frequent trips back and forth
from Lake Superior to Sandy Lake, of some of which he has
left more or less detailed accounts. In these accounts he makes
mention of two portages between the St. Louis and Sandy
Lake, which he calls the " portage de la prairie " and the " por-
tage de la savanne." From the dates given, it is evident that
the former was used in the winter months and the latter in the
summer.
Accompanying the narrative of Perrault are a number of
maps of the regions traversed by him, sketched by himself,
one of which is probably the oldest detailed map of the country
between Lake Superior and Sandy Lake. This map Perrault
has entitled in crude French, " Sketch map of the country from
the entrance of the river Fond du Lac Superieur to penetrate
to the entrance of the discharge to Lac des Sables [Sand,,
Lake] where it flows into the Mississippi, and where the posts
are marked with a zero apostrophe." This map is not drawn
4A copy of Jacques N. Bellin's "Carte de VAmerique Septentrionale,"
1755, is in the library of the Minnesota Historical Society.
5 Wisconsin Historical Collertions, Ia r 43•
122 IRVING H. HART JuN$
to scale, and is naturally inaccurate in many details. It shows
the St. Louis River, which Perrault styles the " Fond du
Lac," with a tributary, the " riviere de la Savanne "; Prairie
Lake, unnamed on the map, but called " lac de la puisse " in
the narrative; Prairie River, which is likewise unnamed on the
map, though Perrault calls it " riviere des prairie " in one
account of the portage; and "Lac des Sables," with an un-
named stream by which the lake empties into the Mississippi.
The most interesting feature of the map is the fact that two
portage routes from river to river are marked by dotted lines;
one from the St. Louis River directly to Prairie River just
below its discharge from Prairie Lake, and the other from the
East Savanna to the Prairie River farther down on its course
to Sandy Lake. These two portages are marked as the " por-
tage la prairie " and the " portage la Savanne " respectively.
The location of the " portage la prairie " is further confirmed
by the mark of a "zero apostrophe" (O'), by which the site
of a log cabin built by Perrault in 1785 is shown near the lake
out of which Prairie River flows.
From Perrault's references by name to the various physical
features on the map, it would seem that they were known and
named previous to his first visit to the country and that the
trails were already well defined. His errors in the direction of
stream flow are no more serious than those of later travelers
through the region, whose opportunities for exact observation
and record were at least equal to his. The fact that the map
does not show the West Savanna River at all casts some doubt
upon the identity of Perrault's " portage ]a Savanne " and the
Savanna Portage of later days; but the physiography of the
region between the East Savanna and Prairie rivers would
seem to preclude the practicability of the use during the sum-
mer months of any other route between these two streams.e
6 Jean Baptiste Perrault, "Narrative of the Travels and Adventures of
a Merchant Voyageur," in Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections,
37: 521. 524, 530, 574, and map facing p. Sig.
1927 THE OLD SAV A ATA PORT -46E 123
Another traveler who left a record of the use of this portage
route was David Thompson, a Scotch surveyor in the service
of the - arth-svest Company, who in '_May, 1798, descended the
Mississippi to "Sand Lake River," and thence crossed the
divide to Lake Superior.' Zebulon M. Pike refers only inci-
dentally to the portage, since it was not included in his route
to the sources of the 'Mississippi.' George Henry '_Monk, a
clerk in the employ of the Northwest Company, writing in
1807, gives a fairly complete description of the entire route
from Lake Superior to the 'Mississippi. He is one of the few
to describe the portage who gives the correct direction of the
flow of the East Savanna Monk states that " At the west end
of the portage is a small river also called La Sae.aww." 9
The removal of the headquarters of the Northwest Com-
pany from Grand Portage to Fort William about i8o2 and the
sale in 1816 to the American Fur Company of all its posts and
stocks in the territory later assigned to the United States
ushered in a new era for this portage. It is to the narratives of
travelers who traversed the trail between 182o and 1835 that
we owe the greater part of our present knowledge of the route
of the Savanna Portage
In 1820, Lewis Cass, then governor of -Michigan Territory,
which at that time included northeastern Minnesota, led an
exploring expedition from Detroit to the upper Mississippi
region, traveling by canoe along the sbores of Ickes Huron
and Superior to the head of the latter lake_ From here his
party ascended the St. Louis and East Savanna rivers, por-
taged across to the West Savanna, and thence proceeded by
way of Sandy Lake and the Mississippi to Cass Lake — at the
time believed to be the ultimate source of the 'Mississippi_
Dr. Alexander Wolcott, a surgeon with the Cass party, has left
a detailed description of the portage.
7 David Thompson, Narrative of His Explorations in Western _America,
r7&}–t8t2, 283 (Champlain Society, Publications, no_ i2—Toronto, x9][6),
5 Zebulon M. Pike, Expeditions to Headzcutem of the Mist sippi River,
1:321 (Cones edition, New York, 1895)-
9 Set ante, 5: 34, 33.
124 IRVING H. HART JUNE
The length of the Savannah portage is six miles, and is passed at
thirteen pauses.10 The first three pauses are shockingly bad. It is
not only a bed of mire, but the difficulty of passing it is greatly
increased by fallen trees, limbs, and sharp knots of the pitch pine,
in some places on the surface, in others imbedded one or two feet
below. Where there are hollows or depressions in the ground, tall
coarse grass, brush, and pools of stagnant water are encountered.
Old voyageurs say, that this part of the portage was formerly
covered with a heavy bog, or a kind of peat, upon which the walk-
ing was very good, but that during a dry season, it accidentally
caught fire and burnt over the surface of the earth so as to lower
its level two or three feet when it became mirey, and subject to
inundation from the Savannah river. The country, after passing
the third pause,, changes in a short distance, from a marsh to a
region of sand hills covered mostly with white and yellow pine,
intermixed with aspen. The hills are short and conical, with a
moderate elevation. In some places they are drawn into ridges,
but these ridges cannot be observed to run in any uniform course.
. Where the portage approaches the sources of the West
Savannah there is a descent into a small valley covered with rank
grass — without forest trees — and here and there clumps of wil-
lows.... The valley is skirted with a thick and brushy growth
of alder, aspen, hazel, &c. The adjoining hills are sandy, covered
with pine. The stream here is just large enough to swim a canoe,
and the navigation commences within a mile of its source. It pur-
sues a very serpentine course to Sandy Lake, in a general direction
northwest [sic]... .
.. The river . .. receives a tributary from the south, called
Ox creek, and from the point of its junction the navigation is good
at all seasons, to Sandy Lake, a distance of six miles.,"
Wolcott makes a peculiar error in the direction of the flow
of the West Savanna, which he states flows northwest instead
of southwest. If it were not for the internal evidence of the
description itself and for the later account in the narrative
of the Schoolcraft expedition of 1832, which followed the same
route, one might conclude that the portage here described lay
between the East Savanna and Prairie rivers. There is,
however, no place practicable for a portage between these two
io Resting places on a portage were known as pauses or poses. In
speaking of the length of a portage the voyageur referred to the number of
poses involved.
„Henry R. Schoolcraft, Narrative Journal of Travels . . to the
Sources of the NJissi=ppi River in the Year z82o, 221-223 (Albany, 1821).
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 125
streams at which the distance is so small as six miles. Ox
Creek, which Wolcott mentions as a tributary, entering the
West Savanna from the south, must in reality be Prairie River,
which, just before its junction with the West Savanna, curves
sharply northward. At the point of union, nowadays, the
Prairie is distinctly the larger stream.
Henry R. Schoolcraft, who accompanied Cass as geologist
in 182o, himself headed a second expedition to the headwaters
of the Mississippi by way,of the Savanna Portage in 1832. In
his account of this journey, he gives a brief description of the
portage, agreeing in intimate detail with Wolcott, but adding
the information that for the distance of the first three poses,
" Trees and sticks have, from time to time, been laid . . to
walk on, which it requires the skill of a balancing master to
keep." 12
With the Schoolcraft expedition of 1832, was Lieutenant
James Allen, who in his official report describes the portage.
Allen corrects Wolcott's apparent error as to the Prairie River,
and is much more nearly accurate in his estimate of the
distance from the junction of this stream with the West
Savanna to the lake, when he says, " about a mile from Sandy
lake it receives a small river from the east." To the description
of the portage proper, Allen makes no significant additions."
Another member of the Schoolcraft expedition of 1832, the
Reverend William T. Boutwell, a Congregational missionary
to the Indians, wrote in his diary a colorful description of the
portage, from which the following is taken:
River Savannah. June 30. 1832.. . To describe the diffi-
culties of this portage, would puzzle a Scott, or a Knickerbocker,
even. Neither language nor pencil can paint them. After making
about half a pose, our baggage was landed on a wharf made of
poles. A dyke was then made, and our canoes brought up through
mud and water knee deep, and landed in the portage path. A few
pieces were put on board, and one at the how and another at the
18 Henry R. Schoolcraft, Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedi-
tion to the Sources of the Mississippi River, xx8 (Philadelphia, 1855)•
18 American State Papers: Military Affairs, 5: 328.
126 IRVING H. HART JUNE
stern, the latter pushing and the former drawing in mud and
water to their middle, made their way in this manner for half a
mile, and unloaded on a second wharf. When all was up, a second
dyke was made, which raised the water sufficient just to swim the
canoes, which were loaded a second time, and carried all to another
pose. Some of the gentlemen were carried across in the canoes
with the baggage. Others, with myself, forced their way on foot,
through mud and water. The musketoes came in hordes and
threatened to carry away a man alive, our [or] devour him ere
they could get him away... .
July 2. 1832.... The rain ... has rendered the portage
almost impassable for man or beast. The mud, for the greater
part of the way will average ankle deep, and from that, upwards.
In spots, it is difficult to find bottom —a perfect quagmire. Our
men look like renegades, covered with mud from head to foot,
some have lost one leg of the pantaloons, others both. Their
shirts and moccasins are of a piece, full of rents and mud. Face,
hands and necks, look like men scarred with the small -pox.
. Mangled toes and bruised legs were brought forward to
the Dr. which I venture to say will long fix in mind the fatigues of
this portage.
Within half a mile of this end of the portage, we cross a pine
ridge which seems to have escaped the ravages of fire which in
past time seems to have destroyed the first growth of timber, and
fell into a swamp of fine grass"
Boutwell gives the direction of the flow of the West Savanna
as northwest, as does Wolcott. The day of their departure to
descend the West Savanna was, however, as he indicates,
cloudy, thus giving them no opportunity to determine their
course by the sun. Schoolcraft perpetuates this error in the
map accompanying the narrative of the expedition of 1820.
Again were it not for internal evidence and for the exact
accordance of the route described with the terrain of that
traced out by the writer, one might conclude that the stream
then called the West Savanna was what is now known as the
Prairie River.
The Reverend Edmund F. Ely, another pioneer Congrega-
tional missionary, came to Sandy Lake in 1833, where he estab-
14 A copy of the Boutwell Journal, in the handwriting of J. Fletcher
Williams, is in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society.
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 127
lished one of the first schools in Minnesota. On this trip he
was accompanied by William A. Aitken, the American Fur
Company trader at Sandy Lake, and Boutwell. Ely says, in
his description of the portage, that at the eastern end " A very
small stream. runs into the Portage N. W. I should think —
this stream when dammed is of sufficient depth to allow a
Canoe to be drawn with %, load ... about 1/ mile [s]." 11
This suggests that in its ,first stages the eastern part of the trail
may have followed the course of the rivulet by which Wolf
Lake then emptied into the East Savanna. The construction of
a drainage ditch in recent years, by which the waters of this
lake now empty into the East Savanna, and the nature of the
low-lying swamp lands through which this part of the trail
runs make it impossible at the present time to determine the
original course of this stream.
In 1833 William Johnston, a half-breed Chippewa in the
service of a rival of the American Fur Company, wrote a very
complete description of the entire route from Fond du Lac
to Sandy Lake. He characterizes the first half pose of the
Savanna Portage as " middling," and the next two poses as
having sufficient water to allow half canoe loads to be dragged
through. Continuing, Johnston writes:
Very little labour is required to make this portion passable for
canoes, nothing however has been done to it since the Northwest
Company[s] time, their traders had a platform made, the extent
of the bog, the remnants of which still can be seen; single logs
have lately been laid at the extremity, and which is very dangerous
to pass, especially with loads... .
The remaining Eight poses were dry compared to those first
passed; the land gradually rises for about four poses; and then
descends; It marks the height of land from each side of which, the
waters run to Lake Superior and the Mississippi.1'
Joseph G, Norwood, a geologist in the service of the United
States government, made a survey of this portion of Minnesota
is Ely Diaries, September 18, 1833. The originals of these diaries are in
the possession of the St. Louis County Historical Society at Duluth; the
Minnesota Historical Society has copies.
16 William Johnston, "Letters on the Fur Trade 1833," in Michigan
Pioneer and Historical Collections, 37: 170-172.
128 IRVING H. HART JUNE
in 1848. His report contains a record of his passage of the
Savanna Portage, from which the following extract is taken.
On the 24th of June, we left Sandy Lake for Lake Superior, by
the route over which the Fur Companies have transported their
goods toward the far northwestern posts for many years past.
... In winter, and occasionally in summer, the Indians, passing
from Sandy Lake to Fond du Lac, follow this [Prairie] river to
its source, and then, by a portage of twelve miles, reach St. Louis
River, a few miles below the mouth of the East Savannah River.
The distance to Fond du Lac by this route is considerably less than
by the Savannah Rivers. In summer, however, the swamps about
the head of Prairie River are almost impassable, and then the line
of travel is the same as the one pursued by us.
. The east end of the portage, for the distance of a mile
and a half, runs through a tamerack swamp, which was flooded
with water, and next to impassable. It is generally considered the
worst "carrying place" in the Northwest, and, judging from the
great number of canoes which lie decaying along this part of it,
having been abandoned in consequence of the difficulty experi-
enced in getting them over, its reputation is well deserved.
East Savannah River, where the portage strikes it, is about five
yards wide. It comes from the northwest, and turning a short
distance below the portage, pursues a general northeasterly direc-
tion to its junction with St. Louis River.17
A late reference to the use of the Savanna Portage is that in
a letter written in 1855 by the Reverend Samuel Spates, who
conducted a Methodist mission for the Indians of Sandy Lake
in the forties and fifties.1e
Chambers, who visited the region in 1872, writes
We slept that night at the mouth of Sandy Lake River, upon
the floor of Mr. Libby's historic trading post. " Libby's " has
been known for three generations as the point of portage for the
" Big Sea Water " (Lake Superior), reached by descending the
turbulent St. Louis River.ls
17 Joseph G. Norwood, "Geological Report of a Survey of Portions of
Wisconsin and Minnesota," in David Dale Owen, Report of a Geological
Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, 300 (Philadelphia, 1852).
is Samuel Spates to Jabez Brooks, March 8, 1855, Spates Papers, in
the possession of .the Minnesota Historical Society.
19 Julius Chambers, The Mississippi River and Its Wonderful Valley,
169 (New York and London, i9io).
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 129
Chambers did not make the portage trip himself, and spoke of
it merely from hearsay. One might conclude from what he
says that the route was still more or less in use at that time.
It was with this information in hand, gleaned from historical
sources, that in the summer of 1926 a trip was planned by
the writer and Mr. Ingersoll, for many years a resident on or
near Sandy Lake, in the effort to relocate the route of the old
Savanna Portage.20 The historical data were supplemented by
interviews with old residents of the locality. The most helpful
information was secured from Mr. C. A. Maddy and Mr. J. E.
Murphy, both of McGregor, and indirectly from Mr. George
Wakefield of Swan River. Both Mr. Maddy and Mr. Murphy
were in earlier years timber cruisers and had covered in their
wanderings practically every bit of country around Sandy
Lake. Both had seen and crossed the old trail many times,
and Mr. Murphy was able to locate it on the snap with a fair
degree of accuracy. Mr. ,Wakefield's information came to us
at second-hand. He was reported to have said that fifty years
Z01n addition to the examples cited in this paper, there are on record
several instances of the use of the Savanna Portage by other travelers. In
order to reach their posts on Sandy Lake and Leech Lake, missionaries
seem to have used the portage frequently. Thus J. P. Bardwell made the
trip in 1843, Mrs. Lucy M. Lewis in 1844, and John H. Pitezel in 1849
and all three have left records of their experiences. Newton H. Winchell,
with two companions, crossed the portage in 1878 while making a canoe
trip for the Minnesota Geological Survey through the lakes of northeastern
Minnesota. Oberlin Evangelist, 6: 61 (April io, 1844) ; Lucy M. Lewis to
James R. Wright, May 29, 1844, Dr. William Lewis Papers, in the posses-
sion of the Minnesota Historical Society; John H. Pitezel, Lights and
Shades of Missionary Life, 210-212 (Cincinnati, 1883) ; Newton H. Win-
chell, The Aborigines of Minnesota, 589 (St. Paul, 1911).
Attention may be called to the fact that the portage trail is indicated on
a manuscript map of the Northwest by John Dutton, dated 1814, and on one
of a section of northeastern Minnesota prepared in 187o by Alfred J. Hill
for Charles H. Baker. The Minnesota Historical Society owns the original
of the second map and a photostatic copy of the first, the original of which
is in the archives of the Province of Ontario at Toronto. The trail is
shown in detail on a map of Aitkin County by Warren Upham, in the
Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, Final Report, igoo,
vol. 6, plate 57• As here given, the route differs slightly from that indi-
cated on Mr. Ingersoll's map (past, p. 131). Ed.
130 IRVING H. HART JUNE
ago, when he was a small boy, his father had carried him the
full length of the trail from river to river. His exact descrip-
tion of the location of the west end of the trail enabled us,
after one failure, to discover the point at which the portage
enters the valley of the West Savanna.
The continual rains of August and September delayed our
departure, and compelled us to abandon an earlier project of
packing in our supplies and tentage on foot from a point on
State Highway Number 5, north of Sandy Lake, to Savanne
Lake at the head of the West Savanna River. Fearing that
the rivers that we should have to cross would be overflowed
to such an extent that it would be impracticable to cross them,
we finally elected to p7oceed by automobile around the south
end of Sandy Lake, following the forest roads as far as possi-
ble, and then to strike out on foot toward our objective.
Our equipment included the best maps of the portage region
that we were able to obtain, of which the most serviceable
proved to be the United States engineers' map of the Sandy
Lake basin and the township maps based upon the government
surveys. From the latter, it appeared probable that the west
end of the trail was located somewhere in section 7, township
5o north, range 22 west, as 'Mr. Murphy had informed us.
Wolf Lake is shown for the most part in sections 5 and 6. Mr.
Murphy had told us, and the map confirmed his statement, that
along the north line of township 5o a drainage ditch had been
constructed, with laterals extending southward between sec-
tions 2 and 3 and sections 1 and 2. In the office of the secretary
of state at St. Paul the writer found later, on his return trip,
a map made in 1874 which showed by a dotted line the eastern
half of the portage trail.�7 It would seem probable that at the
23 The original township plats made by the government surveyors are
in the office of the secretary of state at St. Paul. The surveyor's field
notes contain a number of references to the trail; for example in the
description of the line between sections 2 and 3 there is a notation, "cross
trail bearing R. & W." The dotted line indicating the trail on the plat
ends just west of the section line between sections 4 and 5, and the field
notes mention a trail bearing north.
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 131
time when the original townslip surveys were made in this
region, the eastern part of the trail was discovered; while,
either because of lack of interest or because its route was al-
ready more or less obliterated, the western part of the portage
was left unmarked.
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THE ROUTE OF THE SAVANNA PORTAGE,
TOWNSHIP 5o NORTH, RANGE 22 WEST
We left Sandy Lake Tuesday noon, October 5, with the
minimum of supplies necessary for several days, intending, if
the trip took longer than this, to live upon the country. Our
first stop was at a cabin east of the lake. Here we were fortu-
132 IRVING H. HART JUNE
nate enough to find two forest rangers, from whom we received
information regarding roads that ultimately saved us miles of
useless travel. On their advice, we went on by way of Tam-
arack, and thence north and west to Balsam post office. From
the latter place onward, the road we followed was one of the
original ones laid out when the country was new, winding in
and out over and around sand hills and through cut -over
forests of poplar, birch, and oak.
We finally reached the clearing of a man named Larson,
an old settler in the region, from whom we hoped to secure
some further information about the trail. These hopes proved
to be vain. Mr. Larson, although he has lived here for some
twenty five years, had heard of the trail but had never seen it.
He questioned our ability to find it at all, but he did give us
at least the information that there were two other settlers,
named Anderson and Thompson, either of whose places we
could reach before dark. He also told us that there was a
lumber camp at the west end of Wolf Lake where we might
find lodging for the night.
Despite this somewhat discouraging experience, we pushed
on, past the road leading eastward toward Anderson's clearing,
into the big woods. Here the road became merely two deep
ruts, winding endlessly through heavy timber and made infinite-
ly worse by the constant rains of the past weeks. In order
to make progress at all at times, it was necessary to dig and fill
and push; but the horse power of the "dependable light car,"
supplemented by man power, enabled us to keep going. The
clouds had begun to break away by now, and the sun, hanging
low in the west, was beginning to cast long and ominous shad-
ows which made one think with anything but pleasure of the
prospect of spending the night in the rain -soaked woods. At
length, however, we came upon a pole gate in a wire fence,
indicating the proximity of a clearing, and half a mile farther
on we sighted through the trees the roofs of several buildings.
A few moments later we came out upon the lumber camp, sit-
uated just below Thompson's clearing at the west end of Wolf
Lake.
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 133
We found the lumber camp in charge of a man named Roe, a
likeable young fellow, an ex -service man, who with his wife
and three small children makes his year-round home in this
lonesome spot. Mr. Roe welcomed us cordially, as do all of
these remote settlers when they meet strangers, and offered u5
the use of the bunk house and its facilities. He explained that
his supplies of " grub " were running low, as he went into town
but once a month; but he said that we could have all the
" spuds " we wanted, and that his wife could let us have some
bread.
The bunk house was a rough board shack with three win-
dows, two of which were broken, and it contained an old heat-
ing stove, evidently salvaged from some deserted cabin or
lumber camp, as it had plainly been exposed to the weather
for a good many years. With the assistance of two strands
of barbed wire, it managed to maintain a precarious equilib-
rium.; it was piled full of fuel to which Mr. Roe touched
a match, and immediately it began to give off a heat which was
thrice welcome to the two mud -bespattered explorers. ,Without
further consideration, we accepted the invitation to camp there.,
spread our bed roll on one of the double bunks, hung blankets
over the two broken windows, and proceeded to get our supper.
After supper, we went up to Mr. Thompson's and got what
information he had with reference to the trail. He said that
he was sure that we could find the east part where it crossed the
drainage ditch; but he knew nothing of the west part, and
doubted our ability to trace it out beyond the tamarack swamp
(the east two miles of the trail), where he said it was still
plainly visible. From Mr. Roe, however, although he is a
newcomer, we received some information as to the west end
of the trail and the location of the old fur company camp on
the West Savanna. This he had from Mr. George Wakefield,
a timber cruiser for the Wooden Ware camp, a few miles
north of Wolf Lake.
We went to bed early in preparation for the strenuous work
of the next day. The skies were clear and the stars were shining
by bedtime, a faint but often futile promise of fair weather.
134 IRVING H. HART JUNE
Away off in the woods, we heard the occasional howl of a
brush wolf. This and the soughing of the wind through the
trees, the stamping of the camp horses in the barn near by, and
the scurry of the mice in the sawdust -packed walls of the
bunk house furnished the music that lulled us to slumber.
Wednesday morning dawned bright and clear, with the first
sunrise that had been visible for weeks, promise of the fair
weather that was to stay with us till the end of our trip. After
breakfast, we started out to find the site which Mr. Roe had
described as that of the old camp at the west end of the trail.
We found without difficulty a place in the beautiful little valley
of the West Savanna where the stream turns its course from
the southeast to the southwest toward Sandy Lake, plainly,
both from observation and from the map, its most eastern
point. Along the eastern edge of the valley, at the foot of a
steep hill, stand the remains of a number of log buildings, which
we later learned are what is left of an old lumber camp. At
the south end of this row of ruins, we found a well-defined
trail climbing the ridge to the eastward. No other trail having
been revealed by our search, we decided that this must be the
one we were looking for and started out to follow it.
The course of this trail, which we followed for several miles,
was clearly marked for the eyes of a woodsman by blazes—
some of them very old — on the trees. As we went on, how-
ever, both the sun and the compass showed us that we were
bearing a little south of east, whereas the portage trail was
supposed to run north of east throughout the greater part of
its course. Finally we were forced to the conclusion that we
had taken the wrong route and that what we were following
must be an old logging road. As the trail we were seeking ran
somewhere to the north, we struck out across country through
the dense woods, past a beautiful little lake tucked away out of
sight so far from civilization that it has neither name nor place
on the maps, until at length we came in sight of a clearing
which proved to be Anderson's on Shumway Lake.
Mr. Anderson told us that there was an old trail running
northeastwardly through the woods north of his place, which
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 135
was said to be the old " Hudson Bay Trail." We found this
trail less than half a mile from Anderson's clearing, and fol-
lowed it until we came upon another clearing, in which stood
a deserted cabin and a log stable. Here we lost the trail en-
tirely. After circling the clearing several times without finding
where the trail led out eastward, we struck off through the
woods, going northeast in a blind search for it. For same time
oar efforts were unrewarded, but within a few minutes after
2 brief pause for lunch —supplemented by coffee boiled over
a .fire of birch -bark, and served on plates cut from the same
convenient tree — Mr. Ingersoll discovered the trail again.
This part is so completely overgrown with brush that none but
an experienced woodsman could ever have found it. From
this point on, however, it became increasingly easy to follow.
The larger trees have all been lumbered off years ago, with
the exception of an occasional oak or birch; but here and there
along the trail we found blazes, often almost obliterated by
the passage of time, but still discernible. We kept on the course
until, according to expectation based on the old descriptions of
the trail, it descended into a tamarack swamp. From here on,
the going was difficult to say the Ieast. In the old days, this
part of the trail was known as " the worst carrying -place in the
northwest," and years of neglect have not served to improve
it. The way lay clear before us, a well -marked path through the
wilderness of swamp, but rendered almost impassable at times
by fallen trees and sink holes. The only thing which made it
possible for us to make our way at all was the fact that occasion-
ally in the worst places we found, embedded in the morass a
few inches below the surface, tamarack poles running length-
wise of the trail. Had this been an old logging road, these
poles would have been laid crosswise to form a corduroy road.
This discovery was all that was needed to convince us that we
were actually following the original trail of the portage, as our
notes indicated that the fur companies had laid poles length-
wise of the trail to make passage possible. These tamarack
poles buried beneath the marsh mud will, so we were told, last
for a hundred years. It may be that some of the poles which
136 IRVING H. HART JUNE
saved us from sinking in the mire are the ones of which School -
craft speaks, when he says, " Trees and sticks have, from time
to time, been laid . . . to walk on, which it requires the skill
of a balancing master to keep." Schoolcraft was right.
After a mile or more of the trail through the tamarack
swamp, we came out suddenly upon the lateral drainage ditch
between sections 2 and 3, for which our maps had led us to
look. Here a bridge led across the ditch to a high and dry
road leading off to the north. According to the map, we were
within less than three-quarters of a mile of the eastern end of
the trail, so we decided to take the easy way around the rest
of the swamp by way of the ditch roads. Half a mile north
we struck the main ditch with a good road running eastward
along its southern edge. These ditch roads are now mere paths
which run along the tops of the dikes thrown up by the steam
shovels used in constructing the ditches some years ago. The
original intention seems to have been to build roads along these
dikes, but the hopes and money expended in the attempt to
drain the swamps have proved profitless. The land is still
hopeless swamp, and so far as anyone can now see will always
remain so.
Then, too, on the heels of the human engineers who laid out
and constructed these w6rks, have come some natural engineers
whose work has gone to undo that of man. At the north end
of the lateral ditch, we ran on to the first of twelve beaver
dams built across the ditch, which have served to raise the level
of the water until, in the upper course of the ditch, it overflows
all of the surrounding forest land. We saw thousands of
stumps from which these busy little engineers had cut the
timber for their dams and houses, some of the cuttings being
so fresh and the abandoned sticks lying on the bank so plainly
ready to be hauled down the slides into the water, that we
believed that we had actually interrupted their operations by
our approach. It takes time and patience to get an opportunity
to see beavers at work. As we were miles from camp and
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 137
the sun was already beginning its downward course, this privi-
lege we had perforce to forego.
Along the eastward course of the big ditch, we traveled
until we carne to a hay meadow, through the middle of which
flowed a winding stream which we recognized as the East
Savanna. At the southwest side of the meadow on the west
side of the stream were the remains of an old hay camp, and
here we struck the portage trail again. We followed this
westward until we came in sight of the first lateral ditch upon
which we had come in our earlier eastward trek. This com-
pleted the tracing out of more than two-thirds of the trail, and
all the worst part of it. Retracing our steps to the main ditch,
we proceeded westward, covering the five miles that lay be-
tween the East Savanna and the east end of Wolf Lake by
five o'clock. As we had neither a boat nor means of communi-
cation with the Thompsons, our only choice of a route back to
camp was to skirt the north shore of the lake to our destination.
This last two-mile stretch was the worst of the day. There
was no semblance of a trail, not even a game trail, to follow.
The way led through an absolute jungle of tangled underbrush
over rotting trees, fallen and half -buried in the mire and cov-
ered with moss. One small stream, we had to bridge. At
last, just at sundown, we came out at Thompson's clearing,
having covered more than twenty miles on foot since morning,
under conditions as difficult, so far as the going was concerned,
as those described by the early chroniclers of the portage. We
were duly thankful, however, that we were not burdened
as were the men of that early day with the heavy packs which
it was their task to carry.
The next morning we broke camp and started back. Mr.
George Wakefield had visited the lumber camp during our ab-
sence and had left even more exact information regarding the
western end of the trail. With this added help and the per-
sonal assistance of Mr. Roe, we were able to locate with reason-
able certainty the site of the fur company camp on a little knoll
138 IRVING H. HART JUNF
just above the bend of the West Savanna. Our investigations
here were very casual. A few spadefuls of earth turned up
nothing more interesting than a carved bear's tooth, part of
some Indian ornament; but we feel sure that further careful
search on this site should prove profitable.
Our search for the western part of the trail, which we had
missed the day before, proved equally successful. Our diffi-
culty had been that we had failed to note the fact that the road
to Anderson's clearing runs for a mile or so along the old
trail, except at the extreme western end where the old trail
crosses a swamp which the later road avoids. We followed
the road to the place where the original trail branches off to the
north, and thence on to the point at which we had picked it up
the day before. This ended our search, and we returned to
Sandy Lake with the satisfaction that accompanies the success-
ful conclusion of a worthy undertaking.
The first four miles from the western end of the trail are
comparatively high and dry. Its general course is north of
east, proceeding in a fairly direct line except where it veers
to the one side or the other to avoid the ascent of one of the
many hills that characterize the region. One who, travels this
trail can see how every natural advantage was taken to make
the route as easy as possible for burdened men. As Mr. Inger-
soll frequently remarked, after we had finally located the trail,
" You see, it couldn't have gone anywhere else." The timber
for the first part of the trail is poplar and hardwood, with
many old pine slashings. Some birch and oak trees from sev-
enty to a hundred years old were seen, but most of the valuable
timber has been cut off. For the last two miles, the way lies
through a tamarack swamp. There is in general a gradual
slope to the eastward. The trail is marked by old blazes and
a number of later ones, evidence of its use in part as a logging
road in comparatively recent times. It is from one to two
yards wide in places, but elsewhere is little more than a nar-
row path, particularly where it passes through the tamarack
swamp.
1927 THE OLD SAVANNA PORTAGE 139
Some means should be found to mark permanently this his-
toric trail. There are no present evidences of forest fires hav-
ing swept through this region, but as such a catastrophe may
occur at any time, there is danger that the exact location may
be lost entirely. While it can still be traced throughout its
course, an effort should be made to mark for future genera-
tions the location of this ancient highway, for it brings back
vividly the romantic days when it was an important trade
route from the Mississippi Valley to the markets of the East.
1RVING HARLOW HART
IowA STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
CEDAR FALLS, IowA