It was not
what was expected, what we believed we had a right to expect,
after so much waggoning and tracking and drenching, and river
turmoil and trouble. This woeful shortcoming from bygone days
attended other aspects of the scene. Instead of fiery oratory and
pipes of peace--the stone calumets of old--the vigorous arguments,
the outbursts of passion, and close calls from threatened violence,
here was a gathering of commonplace men smoking briar-roots,
with treaty tobacco instead of "weed," and whose chiefs replied
to Mr. Laird's explanations and offers in a few brief and sensible
statements, varied by vigorous appeals to the common sense and
judgment, rather than the passions, of their people. It was a
disappointing, yet, looked at aright, a gratifying spectacle.
Here were men disciplined by good handling and native force out
of barbarism--of which there was little to be seen--and plainly
on the high road to comfort; men who led inoffensive and honest
lives, yet who expressed their sense of freedom and self-support
in their speech, and had in their courteous demeanour the
unmistakable air and bearing of independence. If provoked
by injustice, a very dangerous people this; but self-respecting,
diligent and prosperous in their own primitive calling, and
able to adopt agriculture, or any other pursuit, with a fair
hope of success when the still distant hour for it should arrive.
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