Page:History of the Ojibway Nation.djvu/174

164 The ill-will between the two tribes had risen to such a pitch that it required every persuasion, and the gift of large presents, to effect a reconciliation. The French, during the course of the bloody warfare between these two powerful tribes, while travelling through their country on their trading and exploring expeditions, had often suffered death indiscriminately with Dakota or Ojibway, at the hands of their blood-seeking war parties.

The interests of the fur trade had also severely suffered, for the warriors of either tribe, neglected their hunts to join in the more favorite pastime of war and bloodshed, and their continually prowling war parties prevented the more peaceful-minded and sedate hunters from seeking the beaver in the regions where they abounded in the greatest plenty.

Peace being once effected, this deplorable state of affairs ceased to exist, and once more these two people hunted on their richest hunting grounds without fear and trembling, and plenty reigned in their lodges. On the St Croix the two tribes intermingled freely, being more immediately under the supervision of their traders. They encamped together, and intermarriages took place between them. It is at this time that a few lodges of Ojibways first located themselves in a permanent village on the waters of the St. Croix River. They chose Rice Lake, the head of Shell River, which empties into the St. Croix, for their first permanent residence and it remains an important village of their tribe to this day.

The principal chief of this band, belonging to the Awause or Catfish Totem family, is said to have died