"I can further state that I have known no man of the name of Wyatt in this country, who seems to have been mentioned as one of the friends of Hunter. "JOHN DUNN.".

British writers and British ignorance were prone to misrepresent not only the condition of the Indians, and their true character and disposition, but also the conduct of the American and British governments towards them. Their comparison was invidious, and often the facts cited were sheer fabrications. General Cass saw so much of this obloquy, and felt it too, that he has deemed it an imperative duty to unmask it, whenever a suitable opportunity has been afforded. The subject of our Indian relations was very imperfectly understood thirty years since, even by the mass of the people in this country, and when developed, as they have been from time to time, it is almost unnecessary to add, that they reflect the highest credit on the American government, at the same time they expose not more the unjustifiable measures of the London cabinet than the perverseness of London and Edinburgh writers.

Speaking of the progress of Indian depopulation, General Cass observes: "As long as the destruction of the game was restricted to an adequate supply of the wants of the Indians themselves, it is probable there was little diminution in the number of animals, and that here, as in other cases, population and subsistence had preserved an equal ratio to each other. But when the white man arrived, with his cloths, guns, and other tempting articles, and the introduction of new wants drove the Indians to greater exertions to supply them, animals were killed for their furs and skins. An important article of exchange was made known to the Indians, which they were stimulated to procure, and an alarming declension became visible in the animals essential to their support. Their population, scanty as it was, soon began to press upon their means of subsistence, and the operation of these causes was accelerated by the introduction of fire-arms, and the consequent facility afforded for destroying game. The occupation of the hunter ere long became laborious, and his labor was rewarded with dimin ished success. He found the means of supplying his family decreased, as their attachment to the articles brought among them, and their wants, increased.. Game became less abundant, and receded from the circle of destruction, which advanced with the advancing settlements.

"We are satisfied that this cause has had a strong influence in reducing the Indian population. Its operation has been aided by other circumstances by the small pox, whose ravages have been sometimes frightful, and by ardent spirits, which have prostrated the mental and physical energies, and debased the character of the Indians, in the immediate vicinity of the white settlements; but whose general effect, we are strongly inclined to believe, has been greatly over-rated. Among the remote tribes, spirits are scarcely ever seen, and they do not constitute an article of general use even among those who are much nearer to us. The regula tions of the government are such, and they are so rigidly enforced, that the general introduction of spirits into the Indian country is too hazardous for profitable speculation. Nor could it bear the expense of very distant transportation; for, if sold and consumed, a corresponding reduction must be made in clothing, guns, pow der and ball-articles essential to the successful prosecution of their hunting expeditions, and without which, the trader would soon find his credits unpaid, and his adventure equally ruinous to the Indians and himself.

"But their own ceaseless hostilities, as indefinite in their objects as in their duration, have, more than any other cause, led the melancholy depopulation, traces of which are everywhere visible through the unsettled country; less, perhaps, by the direct slaughter which these hostilities have occasioned than by the change of habits incident to their prosecution, and by the scarcity of the means of subsistence which has attended the interruption. of the ordinary employments of the Indians. There is reason to believe that fire-arms, by equalizing the physical power of the combatants, have among these people, as in Europe, lessened the

horrors of war.

"The Indians in that extensive region, (beyond the Mississippi,) are to this day far beyond the operation of any causes, primary or secondary, which can be traced to civilized man, and which have had a tendency to accelerate their progressive depopulation. And yet their numbers have decreased with appalling rapidity. They are in a state of perpetual hostility, and it is believed there is not a tribe between the Mississippi and the Pacific which has not some enemy to flee from or to pursue. The warflag is never struck upon their thousand hills, nor the war-song

unsung through their boundless plains.

"We have only stated a few prominent facts; but, were it necessary, many others might be added, to prove that the decreasd in the number of the Indians, whatever it may be, has been owing more to themselves than to the whites. To humanity it is indeed. consolatory to ascertain, that the early estimates of aboriginal population were made in a spirit of exaggeration; and that, although it has greatly declined, still its declension may be traced to causes which were operating before the arrival of the Europeans, or which may be truly assigned, without any imputation upon the motives of the first adventurers or their descendants.

"But after all, neither the government nor the people of the United States have any wish to conceal from themselves, nor from the world, that there is upon their frontiers a wretched, forlorn people, looking to them for support and protection, and possessing strong claims upon their justice and humanity. These people received our forefathers in a spirit of friendship, aided them to endure privations and sufferings, and taught them how to provide for many of the wants with which they were surrounded. The Indians were then strong, and we were weak; and without looking at the change which has occurred in any spirit of morbid affectation, but with the feelings of an age accustomed to observe great mutations in the fortunes of nations and of individuals, we may express our regret that they have lost so much of what we have gained. The prominent points of their history are before the world, and will go down unchanged to posterity. In the revolution of a few ages, this fair portion of the continent which was theirs has passed into our possession. The forests which afforded them food and security, where were their cradles, their homes, and their graves, have disappeared, or are disappearing, before the progress of civilization. We have extinguished their council fires, and plowed up the bones of their fathers. Their population has diminished with lamentable rapidity. Those tribes that remain, like the lone column of a fallen temple, exhibit but the sad relics of their former strength; and many others live only in the names which have reached through the earlier accounts of travelers and historians. causes which have produced this moral desolation are yet in con stant and active operation, and threaten to leave us, at no distan day, without a living proof of Indian sufferings, from the Atlanti to the immense desert which sweeps along the base of the Rock

The

Mountains. Nor can we console ourselves with the reflection, that their physical declension has been counterbalanced by any melioration in their moral condition. We have taught them neither how to live nor how to die. They have been equally stationary in their manners, habits, and opinions; in everything but their numbers and their happiness; and although existing more than six generations in contact with a civilized people, they owe to them no one valuable improvement in the arts; nor a single principle which can restrain their passions, or give hope to despondence, motive to exertion, or confidence to virtue."

CHAPTER XII.

The Year 1826-General Cass again Traverses the Lakes-Holds an Indian Council at Fon du LacIndians Appear with the British Flag-A Treaty Concluded-Repairs to the Wabash-In Council with Pottawatomies and Miamis-His Speech to Them-Concludes Treaties-The LegislatureTerritorial Boundaries-The Message-Accountability of Public Officers-Qualifications RequisiteDemocratic Tone of his Messages.

The year 1826 was a busy year for General Cass. In addition to the ordinary duties of his Indian Superintendency, he was requested by the War Department again to traverse the lakes, and meet the Chippewas of the extreme north-west in council at Fon du Lac. This place was an old Indian trading post, situate on the St. Louis river, and five hundred miles distant from Sault St. Marie. With Thomas L. McKenney, who was Associate Commissioner, he proceeded on his mission in July. As usual trav eling in his bark canoe, the voyage occupied eighteen days, and much tempestuous weather and high seas were experienced. Upon reaching the treaty ground, he found two thousand Indians assembled to meet him. The chiefs who were there appeared with the British flag, and with British medals suspended from their necks. This was annoying, but the council proceeded; and on the fifth of August a treaty was concluded and signed, the great object of which was to remove the causes of contention between the various tribes as to the limits of their hunting grounds. Up Upon the conclusion of this treaty, General Cass directed one of his attendants to take the flag and medals from the chiefs. When this was done, he very coolly placed the flag and medals under his feet, and told the chiefs that when he returned he would give them the flag and medals they were to use. This was a bold act on the part of the Commissioner, but it impressed the Indians with his courage, and made them listen more attentively and favorably to his views and advice. This duty performed, and returning to his home, General Cass repaired to the Wabash, to negotiate with the Miamis and Pottawatomies, in October following. He opened this council with the delivery of the following