History of the Ojibway People, Second Edition

31 Ojibways of the Upper Mississippi

  Ojibways of the Upper Mississippi Half a century since,there flourished as one of the principal leaders of the Ojibway warriors on the Upper Mississippi,a man whose name was Waubo -jeeg,or White Fisher (namesake to the celebrated chief who,eighty years ago, led his people against the allied Foxes and Dakotas at the battle of St. Croix Falls). Waub-o-jeeg was a warrior of some distinction. He possessed much influence with, and was loved and respected by his people. His lodge was ever filled with the fruits of the successful chase, to which the hungry were always welcome. His social pipe was ever full, and the stem often passed around among his fellows. He was always foremost in defence of his people, when, as it too often happened, the startling warwhoop of their enemies fearfully broke on the morning stillness of their sleeping encampment! A successful and adventurous hunter, a brave and daring warrior, Waub-o-jeeg, who was ever foremost on the dangerous hunting grounds of the Dakotas,at last,in the prime of life,fell a victim to his courage. A few years after the battle and massacre at Cross Lake, one summer, while encamped near Mille Lac,in company with another warrior named She-shebe (who had distinguished himself on this bloody occasion), a Dakota war party suddenly fell on them early one morning, and being unprepared to resist the attack, they, with their wives and children, were killed and scalped. Waub-o-jeeg suffered death at the first fire; but Sheshebe had time to grasp his gun, and as his foes were eagerly rushing forward to finish their work and secure his scalp,he fired in their midst,killing oneDakotaandwoundinganother,accordingtotheirafteracknowledgment. The death of these two noted warriors, with their families, created a general excitement throughout the villages of the whole tribe,and the relatives of Waub-o-jeeg lost no time in making preparations to revenge the blow on their enemies.
Ba-be-sig-au-dib-ay, or Curly Head, chief of the lower 251 1. Pike met a chief named White Fisher at Red Cedar Lake on February , , so if he was the same Waub-o-jeeg,this battle could not have occurred before that date (Jackson ,). Schenck bk p i-xxiv 1-318_Layout 1 5/13/11 10:54 AM Page 251 Mississippi,or Gull Lake Ojibways,took the matter especially in hand,and late in the fall he collected the Sandy Lake warriors at Gull Lake. During the summer,Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe,or Flat Mouth,the Pillager chief,had lost a nephew at the hands of the Dakotas, and to revenge his death, he also collected his warriors,and these two noted chiefs met by appointment,and joined their respective forces at Crow Wing,from which place they jointly led one hundred and sixty warriors into the Dakota country. In those days, the lands which the Ojibways lately sold to the United States government, lying between Long Prairie and Watab Rivers, on the westsideoftheMississippi,andnowformingthehomeoftheWinnebagoes, were favorite hunting grounds of the Sisseton and Warpeton Dakotas. They were accustomed to rove through it each autumn, congregated in large camps, for greater security against the Ojibways. On this occasion, the war party of Curly Head and Flat Mouth first discovered the Dakota trail, at the western extremity of Long Prairie, near the present site of the Winnebago agency.Following the trail,they discovered a Dakota encampment consisting of about forty lodges,located on the banks of Long Prairie River,which they determined to attack. The encampment was surrounded during the night, and at a given signal, early in the morning, the Ojibways fell on the sleeping Dakotas. They fired volley after volley into the defenceless lodges, before a single warrior appeared to resist the attack.The sharp yell of defiance was at last heard issuing from the lips of a Dakota warrior,as he rushed bleeding from his lodge,and took a stand to return the fire of the assailants.Yell after yell succeeded his,and following his brave example,form after form were seen issuing from the perforated lodges, till nearly sixty Dakotas stood forth to confront their foes,and defend their families.The fight is said to have been close and most fiercely contested.It lasted till nightfall,when all the Dakota warriors but seven had been shot down, and silenced forever. Of these seven men, the most daring acts of valor are related...