Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

228 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
The great, wide Mississippi divided the lands once owned
by the Chippewa and Sioux Indians. The east side, the St.
Francis side, belonged to the former, a quiet tribe of Indians
whom we did not fear, while on the west side of the river roved
the savage Sioux. In a treaty they were permitted to own a
reservation on the Minnesota River not far from its confluence
with the Mississippi, a most desirable strip of land. As they
were being paid for their lands by the government, they were
better off than were the poor homesteaders. The only hesitancy
I had about going was that I feared the treachery of the
Indians.
The roads and hills we passed over were sandy and we had
to move slowly. We stopped en route with our hospitable
friends, who always made us welcome. We found the bill of
fare the same everjrwhere — potatoes boiled in their "jackets,"
a bowl of dried fruit sweetened with sorghum molasses, and
happy were we if there was also fat pork and "grease gravy."
There was salt-rising bread or saleratus biscuit, with sometimes
butter made from very sour cream and not good nor fresh; but
we expected these things, and as they were what others lived
upon every day we appreciated the kind and hospitable entertainment.
The journey was made in two days. Brother William
did some walking up the little hills. The road led along
by the banks of the Mississippi River until we came to Clearwater.
We traveled at least half a day over a level tract of
land known as Long Prairie. It was mostly wild country,
with here and there a claim shanty and with but few improvements.
Looking to the west the outlines of the landscape revealed
a long black line of deep forest.
On the afternoon of the second day we reached the crossing
of the Mississippi at the small hamlet of Clearwater. There
we found a raft and a man to operate the same. Ropes were
stretched in such a way that the raft went by the force of the
current, and it was a good and safe transport. We drove upon
this frontier ferry, the pony was securely tiedy and soon we
were all safely landed on the west side of the river. As we
proceeded we noticed the soil with interest; in places it was