Sioux often found 'quiet' in valley

Indian shelter varied with the time of year as well as with tribes. Summer quarters were generally in the form of a tepee because it could be moved quickly during food gathering periods. Some Indians, however, lived in them all year, primarily the Sioux.

     Their tents were pitched on the south shore at the junction of the two rivers. The tents were made of elk hide with tamarack poles extending through the smoke hole in the center.
     The poles were blackened by smoke from countless past fires, but now, in warm weather of mid-summer, fires were always made outdoors.
     The 11 Sioux Indians who made up the family group had arrived three days earlier. They had spent most of the spring at what the French called La Praries les Cheins at the mouth of the Wisconsin River.

Had traded 69 beaver pelts

     Here they had traded all their fur, consisting mainly of 69 beaver hides. For the hides they received cloth, beads, several pots, three knives and the best hunter among them procured a used shortbarrel flintlock musket and a small quantity of powder and lead.
     There had also been a small keg of rum, but that had been shared with others and lasted only one day.
     They stayed on with the French traders well into the planting moon, and then started up the "Father of Waters," called by the whites the Mississippi.
     There had been no hurry.
     They moved on when the spirit moved them. Sometimes they stayed a week, sometimes only a night. At the mouth of the Chippewa River they had a long discussion. Some were in favor of going north to French trading settlements, but these 11 decided to turn east and go to Ottawa Lakes.
     Here lived their old enemies, the Chipeway, but this year was a year of peace and no war parties had on the paint and followed the traditional road to war that lay that way.

Had seen wildlife

     Now they have come up the river five days' journey. There had been buffalo and elk in the flat, open meadows along the river and the last of the powder had been spent in killing two.
     The hides were in poor condition and one had been thrown away. The other was considered good enough for tanning and one of the women was working the hide.
     The three boys of the group, in their early teens, had been on a fishing expedition up the smaller of the two streams where the water curled over some rock ledges. It was clear water and they had speared a half-dozen big suckers that they proudly brought home.
     Already a pot was boiling for the fish would be a welcome change from the diet of buffalo.

It was a time of plenty

     Several of the older girls had been berry picking with moderate success. In fact, the excursion had been more for getting away from camp chores than of actively procuring food, but no one really cared. It was a time of plenty.
     Blueberries would be in great numbers shortly, and as the water lowered from the season's rains there would be plenty of fish in the river. If they stayed any length of time, they would build a trap to avoid the harder work of spearing.
     Most of the men were gathered in a group on the higher bank overlooking the river junction. They talked of other days. Of the beaver they had taken on the clear water stream to the east, of the bear they had speared in the shallows of Half Moon Lake just across the river and a short distance down stream.

Hoped to meet trader

     There was talk of getting more powder and it was hoped they would meet a trader who might have lingered at the falls one day's trip upstream. As yet, there was not much to trade, but there were a few poor-quality buffalo robes and two otter skins that might bring a small keg of powder.
     after the gun, it was difficult to go back to the bow.
     A loon came upstream, its loud and mournful call breaking the late afternoon stillness. For some reason all works topped and they watched the bird rise slightly above the water as it barely cleared the tents.
     Then all was silent again.
     In time the white men would found a city where their tents stood. They would name it after the clear stream coming in from the east -- the Eau Claire.
     The date was July 4, 1776

-- Jim Fisher

Extracted from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.