Page:History of the Ojibway Nation.djvu/230

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
220
MINNESOTA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS.

one of his men being wounded, Ma-mong-e-se-da grasping his gun sallied out, and pronouncing his name loudly in the Dakota tongue, he asked if Wabasha, his brother, was among the assailants. The firing ceased immediately, and after a short pause of silence, a tall figure ornamented with a war dress, his head covered with eagle plumes, stepped forward from the ranks of the Dakotas and presented his hand. It proved to be his half brother Wabasha, and inviting him and his warriors into his lodge, Ma-mong-e-so-da entertained them in the style of a chief.

This chieftain was noted also for the frequency of his visits to Montreal and Quebec, and the great love he bore to the French people, whose cause he warmly espoused against the British. He was at last recognized as a chief, and received a medal and flag at the hands of the French. He actively aided them in their wars with Great Britain, and on one occasion he took a message from Gen. Montcalm to the Lake Superior Ojibways, asking them to come to his aid in Canada. But a small party followed the chieftain on his return to join the French general, in whose ranks he fought at the taking of Quebec in 1759.

After the failure of the Indian opposition to the British arms in 1764, Ma-mong-e-se-da, through the attentions he received at the hands of Sir William Johnson, became a fast friend to the English. After his death he was succeeded by his son Waub-o-jeeg, in his war chieftainship, who became much more noted in Ojibway history than even his father.

The British trader Alexander Ilenry, notwithstanding the losses and misfortunes which had befallen him at the hands of the Ojibways, again returned into their country immediately after the peace, and joining his more ample means with the greater influence of Mons. Cadotte in partnership, they carried on the fur trade with the Ojibways of Lake Sui»erior, which had for a time been discon-