And it marks an era in
the policy of our negotiations with the Indians, which is memorable. No
such gathering of the tribes had ever before occurred, and its results
have taken away the necessity of any in future, so far as relates to the
lines on the Mississippi.
We encountered head winds, and met with some delay in passing through
the straits into Lake Michigan, and after escaping an imminent hazard of
being blown off into the open lake, in a fog, reached Green Bay on the
4th. The journey up the Fox River, and its numerous portages, was
resumed on the 14th, and after having ascended the river to its head, we
crossed over the Fox and Wisconsin portage, and descending the latter
with safety, reached Prairie du Chien on the 21st, making the whole
journey from Mackinack in twenty-one days.
We found a very large number of the various tribes assembled. Not only
the village, but the entire banks of the river for miles above and below
the town, and the island in the river, was covered with their tents.
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