York. To procure it they will part with any thing at their disposal; and if they have no furs or dried venison to exchange, they will sell their silver ornaments, their guns, and even parts of their dress. They generally become intoxicated whenever opportunity is presented; and a trader, or traveller, can present nothing which is of half so much value in their estimation. We have generally found it the first and last thing inquired for."* In Dr. Morse's recent Report on the subject of Indian affairs, he remarks, that the Act of Congress above alluded to, and the injunctions contained in the American licenses, have not had the effect of putting a stop to the sale of spirituous liquors among the Indians. As whiskey is extremely cheap in the United States, there is, therefore, no scarcity of that destructive article for the purpose of barter in the interior; nor have the Indian agents any hesitation in avowing the fact. One of these officers, who communicated much useful information to Dr. Morse in compiling his Report, enumerates the various evils which, in his opinion, were caused by the present mode of carrying on the American fur-trade; and among these, he notices "the impossibility, on the present system, of preventing the introduction of spirituous liquors into * Schoolcraft's Narrative, &c. p. 100. Albany, New York, 1821. the Indian country. The traders obtain their licenses at Mackinaw (Michillimakinac), and make their entries, and get their clearance. Their whiskey, of the highest proof, so as to take up little room, is privately conveyed to some spot on the shore of the island, where they are to pass under cover by night; it is then taken on board their boats, and carried into the country." ""* The same agent, in noticing the effects of spirituous liquors upon the Indians, states, that "no quarrels, disturbances, or murders, have been known among the Menomenies during the four years of my residence among them, except such as have had their origin in whiskey.”† These remarks, it should be observed, are made by American writers who were employed at the time in the service of the United States, and by them officially communicated to the proper department of their own government. In the recent Memoirs of Mr. Hunter's Captivity among the Indians, the author has furnished various and striking instances of the dreadful result of Indian intoxication. The first time he ever saw the effects of it he thus describes: "Here I first saw drunken Indians, and witnessed with indescribable astonishment its unsocial effects on the * Morse's Indian Report, p. 40. Newhaven, 1822. women as well as on some of the warriors. No state of society is, in my opinion, more exempt from strife and contention between husband and wife, than that of the Indians generally. The warrior thinks it beneath his character to meddle in any way with the province of his squaw; but when this evil spirit is introduced among them by the traders, this character undergoes a great modification, particularly during the paroxysm of its influence. In fact, a drunken Indian and squaw act more like demons than rational human beings; and nearly a whole town in the same situation, as I have since frequently witnessed, would, according to the representations given of them by some poets, bear a strong resemblance to the infernal regions. Indeed, no language can describe its mischievous effects. The traders take advantage of such occasions to defraud the Indians; who, when they become sober, very often seek redress in the destruction of their property, or in that of the whole white people themselves."* *། t Memoirs of a Captivity among the Indians of North JAmerica, &c. by J. D. Hunter, p. 37. Published in America, 1822, and in England, 1823. Mr. Hunter was taken prisoner by the Indians he thinks the Kickapoos- when he was a child. The whole party of the whites to which he belonged were massacred, except himself and another little boy. He was afterwards taken prisoner by a party of the Pawnees, from whom he was transferred to the Kanzá nation, where he It was Hunter's fate, while he led the life of an Indian, to witness several cases of the dreadful effects of intoxication among the natives, in consequence of the spirituous liquors supplied them by the American traders. It appears, indeed, from his Memoirs, that his own "assumption of the habits of civilized life' may in a great measure have been caused by a bold and successful exertion, which his humanity prompted him to make at the risk of his own life, in order to prevent the execution of a murderous plan formed by a party of Indians when in a state of intoxication. Some individuals belonging to an Osage hunting party got drunk while carrying on their traffic with a Colonel Watkins, at that time engaged in the American fur-trade. On their leaving the colonel's station, they stole six of his horses, murdered a Mr. la Fouche, one of the traders, and plundered the whole of his stores. "With their hands thus stained in blood," says Hunter, 66 and rendered furious by the excessive use of whiskey, they returned to our camp, distributing the poisonous and infuriating liquid among the rest of the hunters, was adopted, and among whom he resided. He subsequently lived among the Osages: nor did he leave the Indian country until he was, as he imagines, about twenty years of age. The Indians gave him the name of the Hunter, which he has since regularly adopted; but he has never been enabled to obtain the slightest trace of his family or parents. threw down their spoils, and trampled them under foot; at the same time exhibiting the scalp of the unfortunate La Fouche, and threatening a similar vengeance on all the whites." The Indians then got all intoxicated, and determined in their frantic rage to cut off Watkins and his party. In this determination they went to rest: when Hunter, distressed at their savage intention, and resolving, if possible to prevent it, escaped in the night-time, and with great exertion and risk, reached Watkins's quarters early in the morning, apprized him of the plot, and prevented its execution.* Hunter, of course, could not venture to return to the Osages; and he afterwards took up his residence with several other tribes, among whom he obtained that valuable information with respect to Indian customs, and met with those curious adventures, which he has so ably detailed in his meritorious and interesting work. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act of Congress, and of the American licenses above referred to, it is evident that the government of the United States has failed in putting a stop to the sale or disposal of spirituous liquors among the Indians; and as both that country and Great Britain had their full share in causing the mischiefs complained of, it would become them now cordially to unite in endeavouring to find out a * Hunter's Memoirs, p. 101. |