On the second day after our arrival, the Indians consummated their intentions, as signified by the bark letter, and the Sandy-Lake delegation assembled with the Sioux at the old quarters of the military, now occupied as an Indian agency, and smoked the pipe of peace. There were present at this pacification, besides the chiefs Shacopee and Babasikundiba, and minor chieftains, His Excellency Gov. Cass, Col. Leavenworth, and sundry officers of the garrison and the expedition. The ceremonies were conducted under the auspices of the U. S. Indian Agent, Mr. Taliaferro. Every attention was given to make these ceremonies impressive, by a compliance with the Aboriginal customs on these occasions, and it is hoped not without leaving permanent effects on their minds.
The pipe employed by the native diplomatists, in these negotiations, is invested with a symbolic and sacred character, as if the fumes of the weed were offered, in the nature of frankincense, to the Deity. The genuflections with which it is presented, more than the words expressed, countenance this idea. The bowl of the pipe used on this occasion consisted of the well-known red pipe-stone, called opwagonite,[92] so long known in Indian history as being brought from the _Coteau des Prairies_. It is furnished with a wooden stem two or three feet long, and two and a half inches broad, shaved down thin so as to resemble a spatula. It is then painted with certain blue or green clays, and ornamented with braids of richly dyed porcupine quills, or the holcus fragrans, and the tuft feathers of the male duck or red-headed woodpecker. These state pipes are usually presented by the speakers as memorials of the speeches, and laid aside by the officials having charge of Indian affairs. Col. Leavenworth presented us with some of these carefully ornamented diplomatic testimonials.
[92] Schoolcraft's View of the Lead Mines of Missouri. Scenes and Adventures in the Ozark Mountains, the Catlinite of Dr. Jackson.
I obtained from the Sioux some very carefully moulded pyramidal-shaped pieces of the blue and green clays from the valley of the St. Peter's, which they employ in painting their pipe-stems and persons. The coloring matter of these appears to be carbonate of copper. It is brought from the Blue Earth River. I also obtained from the Indians very small and carefully tied leathern bags of the red oxide of iron, which they obtain in the state of a dry, powdery mass, on the prairies near the Big Stone. The Indians brought me, from the same region, crystals of salt, scraped up from the margin of certain waters on the prairies, of a dark cast, mixed with impurities. The tendency of these crystals to assume a cubic form was quite distinct. The most interesting development, in the mineralogical way, consisted of small lumps of native copper, which I obtained on an eminence on the banks of the Mississippi, directly opposite the influx of the St. Peter's. They occupy, geologically, a diluvial position, being at the bottom of the prairie-drift stratum, and immediately above the superior limestone.