I have mentioned the interest excited by our Chippewas finding the bark letter, or pictographic memorial at the deserted Sioux encampment above Sac River. It turned out, as we were informed, that this Aboriginal missive was a reply to a similar proposition transmitted from Sandy Lake, by the Chippewas. The very person, indeed, who inscribed the Chippewa bark message, was one of the ten persons who had accompanied us from that lake. Gov. Cass, on learning this fact, requested him to draw a duplicate of it on a roll of bark. He executed this task immediately. We thus had before us the proposition in this symbolic character, which is called _ke ke win_ by the Chippewas, and its answer. By this mode of communication two nations of the most diverse language found no difficulty in understanding each other.[91] [91] _Vide_ Appendix, for a letter from Gen. Cass to the Secretary of War on this curious topic. On the second day after our arrival, the Indians consummated their intentions, as signified by the bark letter, and the Sandy-Lake delegation assembled with the Sioux at the old quarters of the military, now occupied as an Indian agency, and smoked the pipe of peace. There were present at this pacification, besides the chiefs Shacopee and Babasikundiba, and minor chieftains, His Excellency Gov. Cass, Col. Leavenworth, and sundry officers of the garrison and the expedition. The ceremonies were conducted under the auspices of the U. S. Indian Agent, Mr. Taliaferro. Every attention was given to make these ceremonies impressive, by a compliance with the Aboriginal customs on these occasions, and it is hoped not without leaving permanent effects on their minds. The pipe employed by the native diplomatists, in these negotiations, is invested with a symbolic and sacred character, as if the fumes of the weed were offered, in the nature of frankincense, to the Deity. The genuflections with which it is presented, more than the words expressed, countenance this idea. The bowl of the pipe used on this occasion consisted of the well-known red pipe-stone, called opwagonite,[92] so long known in Indian history as being brought from the _Coteau des Prairies_. It is furnished with a wooden stem two or three feet long, and two and a half inches broad, shaved down thin so as to resemble a spatula. It is then painted with certain blue or green clays, and ornamented with braids of richly dyed porcupine quills, or the holcus fragrans, and the tuft feathers of the male duck or red-headed woodpecker. These state pipes are usually presented by the speakers as memorials of the speeches, and laid aside by the officials having charge of Indian affairs. Col. Leavenworth presented us with some of these carefully ornamented diplomatic testimonials. [92] Schoolcraft's View of the Lead Mines of Missouri. Scenes and Adventures in the Ozark Mountains, the Catlinite of Dr. Jackson.