The falls of the Mississippi were also worshipped by the Indians, through whose territories that great river flowed in its upper course, and the manner in which adoration was made to the Power, which was manifested in the movements of these cataracts, is well described by Captain Carver, who visited them with one of the chiefs of the Winnebagoes in 1767. The chief in the first place, addressed a brief invocation to the Manito, and then he made his offerings. In this instance he gave everything he possessed, that was valuable, including all his ornaments, together with his pipe and roll of tobacco. He concluded his acts of devotion[36] by asking the Great Spirit to give them his protection, a bright sun, a blue sky, and untroubled waters. I visited the spot near which the chief must have stood upon that occasion. Much had been changed in the succeeding century, but the wild and tumultuous character of the falls, and the noise and foam caused by the rushing waters, are still very impressive. From Mendota I proceeded towards the north-west, in the direction of the Minnesota as far as Mankato, with the intention of crossing the prairies southwards towards Nebraska. It was also my purpose to visit the Winnebagoes at their reservation. This tribe had been removed from their lands near Lake Michigan, and settled a few miles from Mankato; but upon my arrival at that town, I was informed that they had been again removed to a reservation further west, to give room for the occupation of the land by the numerous emigrants from Europe, especially those thrifty, hard-working agriculturists, who came from Sweden and Norway. The new settlements in this part of Minnesota were still in an alarmed condition, in consequence of the memory of the massacres that had taken place a few years previously, when the Sioux rose in rebellion, and committed a grave series of atrocities upon the white inhabitants. At the conclusion of the war, thirty-eight of the chief perpetrators of cruelties upon the unoffending white people, were condemned to death and were hanged. The events that took place upon that occasion were described to me by an eye-witness, as having been exceedingly repulsive, in consequence of the defiant shouts and gestures of the prisoners. Hanging is a form of execution particularly disliked by Indians, because they consider that it is ignominious. The war was caused by a belief, spread among the tribes, that they had been treated with great injustice. They declared that they were not allowed to remain in possession of their lands, and that the treaties which had been made with them, had not been fairly carried out. The savage desire for revenge was aroused, and barbarous acts were committed by the Sioux, whilst they were in a state of passionate excitement.