Journal and Letters of Lieutenant James Allen
The source for the text excerpt below is: Mason, Philip P. (ed.). 1993. Schoolcraft's Expedition to Lake Itasca. The Discovery of the Source of the Mississippi. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI.
As an introduction:
Second Lieutenant James Allen was ordered by the U.S. Army to provide a military escort for the Schoolcraft expedition, and to keep a detailed journal and construct maps of his route. Historically speaking, the detail and accuracy of his maps of Minnesota and Wisconsin were very significant in adding to the geographical knowledge of the area.
For a variety of reasons, Lt. Allen’s group had much more trouble in navigating and traversing the rivers and streams than did Schoolcraft. His men were much less familiar and proficient with canoes, and he was not as successful in communicating with local residents and in securing guides. As the trip progressed Lt. Allen got more and more frustrated with the difficulties he encountered (including abandonment by Schoolcraft), and fell behind the progress of the main expedition.
The section below starts with Lt. Allen’s journal entry of August 1, 1832 as he reached the junction of the St. Croix and Yellow Rivers. He is now several days behind Schoolcraft, whom he was ordered to accompany.
August 1. The river was less rapid to-day, is filled in this part with sand bars, and skirted with low lands and swamps, with pine hills back. We reached the mouth of the Yellow river at 4 P.M., a distance of 30 miles. Here is a large Indian village and a trading house, which Mr. Warren occupies in winter, by one of his clerks. Most of the Indians and their chief, however, were absent.
Yellow river comes into the St. Croix from the southeast, and is one of its principal tributaries; it is navigable for canoes 60 miles to its source, near Ottawa [Court Oreilles] lake, and runs through several little rice lakes. My Indian guide from the Snake river refused to go further, and I could not induce any of the Indians here to take his place, but I succeeded in making one of them understand that I wished him to sketch me a map of the river above, which he did, though very badly. We encamped a few miles above the village, were some of the Indians followed us unperceived, and, with a most daring theft, stole the bread which was baking at the fire, before which the men were sleeping.
August 2. Ten miles above the Yellow river, we passed the mouth of the Nam-a-kwa-gon [Namekagon] river, another large branch of the St. Croix, coming from the east, where we found an Indian encampment of two lodges; and I was again unsuccessful in an application, was well as I could make it, for a guide, but they sold me some gum and birch bark for provisions. The St. Croix above was very sensibly less, and its numerous rapids broke my canoes, and detained me as usual; one of them was repaired in the bottom this afternoon, with about six square feet of bark
In the course of the day, I met a hungry Indian and his wife descending the river in a good little new canoe, which I purchased for an injured bag of flour, of about 80 lbs. in weight. The canoe was worth about ten dollars; but the flour, according to the traders’ prices for it, was worth twenty dollars; and this would appear cheap to any one who should witness its transportation to this place. By means of this canoe I lightened the other two, and passed the rapids much easier. I met, also, the Indian chief of this country, Keppameppa [Kabamappa] with a note from Mr. Johnson, the enterpreter [interpreter], enclosing a sketch of the Bois Brule river, which I was to descend to Lake Superior. Journey to-day 16 miles.
August 3. The river has become so low that we have to wade over all the rapids, which seem to be interminable. Many of them, to-day, were over shelving sandstone rock; the fragments of which, broken and strewed in the channel, have cut up my men’s feet, and the bottoms of the canoes, horribly. Made about the same distance as yesterday.
August 4. Passed a long expansion of the river [Whitefish Lake], grown over with wild rice, on the east side of which is an Indian village, of seven or eight lodges, with gardens of potatoes, squashes, and corn, adjacent. This is Keppemeppas permanent village; but all the Indians were now absent, hunting or fishing. Twelve or fifteen miles above this village, we came to another expansion, or narrow rice lake, five or six miles long, the upper end of which receives the Ox river; the St. Croix coming in below the Ox river, on the west side. From my ignorance of the route, I was near getting lost at this place, by following up the wrong river. A broad, plain channel, with a current all the way, leads up, through the rice, to the mouth of Ox river; but the St. Croix, which is here the smaller of the two rivers, comes in, as it were, on one side of the rice pond, and has its mouth, in a measure, concealed by the grass growing in it. Each canoe passed in succession to the mouth of the former river, without noticing the latter; but I had remarked, as I passed, an opening in the woods, as though a stream came in; and after entering the mouth of the wrong river, I went back, to be satisfied as to this appearance, and found the stream; but, from its being smaller than the other, I was still in doubt which to take, till I had followed it up a short distance, to a rapid, where I observed, on a rock in the bottom, a little red spot, which, on examination, proved to be red lead paint rubbed from Mr. S.’s canoe, which had touched the rock. This little circumstance determined this to be the proper route, and save me from the error of taking the other; which, if I had done, might have led to further error, and been attended with serious consequences: for, if I had been lost for many days in this poor country, till my provisions were exhausted, starvation would have been almost inevitable.
From here the St. Croix, now very small, crooked a few miles through a tamarack and cedar swamp, and brought us to its source, in a beautiful, clear, deep lake, (Upper Lake St. Croix,) twelve miles long, and from one to three miles wide, with a pretty little island near its southern end, on which were two Indian lodges, but no Indians.
Lt. Allen’s Journal continues with a description of the Brule portage and the journey down the Brule River to Lake Superior which can be found in the cited reference.
James Allen image included on this website with written permission from State Historical Society of Iowa. Note: Photo was taken later in his life, after he had been promoted to Captain.
Text excerpt included on this website with written permission from Michigan State University Press.
