We saw at night upon the bluffs, the fires of Indian camps; it was thought probable that these Indians, whose villages were situated far towards the West, had come to this part of their ancient territory, for the purpose of performing certain forms of worship before one of the large detached granite boulders, situated on the plateau near to their tents. On the following evening, as we steamed slowly through Lake Pepin, we looked with much interest at the high steep promontory, upon whose summit the love-distracted maiden Winona[34] sang her death song, and then leapt from the edge of the cliff and was dashed to pieces on the rocks below, within sight of her tribe who were assembled near their tents on the shore. The Muscatine terminated her long upward voyage against the swift stream, at the city of St. Paul’s, nineteen hundred and forty-four miles above the mouth of the river, a few miles below the great falls of St. Anthony, and near the confluence of the Minnesota. All this region was at one time, the principal gathering place of the branch of the Dakotas, called Sioux, and near at hand was the cave where their annual council meetings took place. To this place were also brought for burial, the bones and skulls of their dead, whose bodies had previously been placed upon scaffolds, and exposed to the influences of the winds and weather. Upon a bluff overlooking the Mississippi, there are still to be seen a strange group of large mounds, whose purpose has not been ascertained. The examination of them has failed to afford the slightest clue by which any theory or conjecture can be safely established. Soon after my arrival I went there to examine them with particular attention, for I had observed certain peculiarities in their shape and position, which resembled portions of the defensive hill works of the Mound Builders. Mr. Hill, a member of the Historical Society of St. Paul’s, accompanied me, and pointed out those mounds which had been opened, and carefully inspected by competent observers. It has been supposed that they were the burial places of the Sioux during long periods of time, and it was hoped that some discoveries would be made of antiquarian importance.