Page:History of the Ojibway Nation.djvu/486

476 body of the coward, however, was trampled on indiscriminately by Sioux and Chippewas, and subjected to every species of indignity."

The dead bodies were then dragged to the high bluff above the fort, and thrown into the Mississippi.

W. Joseph Snelling in one of his stories writes: "The Flat Mouth's band lingered in the fort till their wounded comrade died. He was sensible of his condition, and bore his pains with great fortitude. When he felt his end approach, he desired that his horse might be caparisoned and brought to the hospital window, so that he might touch the animal. He then took from his medicine bag a large cake of maple sugar, and held it forth. It may seem strange, but it is true, that the beast ate it from his hand. His features were radiant with delight, as he fell back on the pillow exhausted. His horse had eaten the sugar he said, and he was sure of a favorable reception and comfortable quarters in the other world. We tried to discover the details of this superstition, but could not succeed."

On the 20th of May, 1829, there was a peace dance at Fort Snelling, by about one hundred relatives of the four Sioux who had been delivered in 1827 to be executed by the Ojibways. An uncooked dog was hung upon a stake, and each dancer came up and took a bite. Seven days afterwards twenty-two bark canoes filled with Ojibways from Sandy Lake, Gull Lake, and Rum River arrived, and on Sunday, the last day of May, the Sioux and Ojibways danced together before Agent Taliaferro's house. Then the Sioux crossed the river and danced before the Ojibway lodges, and to return the compliment, the next day the Ojibways went to Black Dog's, a Sioux village four miles above the fort, on the Minnesota River, and danced. An