Chapter 13
The Search for Iron Ore, 3 K
(E. MT, ND, MN, WI, MI, 1371)
This was undoubtedly my favorite trip so far in the new land. We set out at a leisurely pace to accommodate the wagons to some extent, but really so we could enjoy the beauty of the steppe in spring. As we moved east and spring became summer, we were greeted with a remarkable variation of flower size, shape and color. I’m fairly sure that white and yellow was the predominant color, but we also saw many shades of reds, pinks, oranges, blues, and purples. I had never seen the Mongol steppe, but I doubt if it was any more beautiful. The only thing wrong with the steppe was the weather. There didn’t seem to be anything like a good orderly monsoon season. On the contrary, it was very changeable. It would be a clear, windless, warm day in the morning, and before midday, the wind would pick up, huge black clouds would come out of nowhere, pelt us with hail, endless barrages of lightning would crash all around us, and then it would be quite cold, and it cleared up again. Sometimes we would see dark clouds and lightning, but there would be no wind or rain and it would stay humid. Some days it would be clear and pleasant but then would become very windy all day with no other change. Still, there were enough good days to make the journey memorable, and it was wonderful having Paula with me for a change.
The second day of our journey, I noticed some hills that I thought might have coal and stopped to look wondering how I had missed them all the other times I had passed here. There was indeed coal, but only the poor quality brown coal. Still, it gave me renewed hope that we’d find more coal around here somewhere. It took twenty days to reach my coal find of the past winter since we had to stop at all the villages along the way. I had learned a decent amount of their several languages much to their delight (although I did occasionally mix up a few words of the very similar Hewaktokto and Absaroke), and I told them about the new confederation option. They, however, seemed intent on joining us outright. Everyone was most interested to see that I wasn’t the only “pale” Mongol.
The coal was easier to reach from the steppe, and we dug out a fair amount of it to take with us. Wanbli Sapa, one of the Ocheti shakowin who had come with me, finally had to ask why I wanted black rocks that were neither hard nor sharp. He had heard of a black rock that was sharp like flint, but a bit too brittle. This was surely not that. I didn’t know at the time what he was talking about, but later found out he was referring to obsidian. It was only used for decoration in the north, but quite differently far to the south. I promised to show him how I used the coal when we made camp. That night, when the fire was strong enough, I put in a piece of the coal for the locals. They were quite amazed that the stone would burn and glow red-hot. They wondered how I knew about this rock if I had never been here before. I explained that we had such rocks in our old land, the world was after all one, we had the same stars overhead, many of the same trees and animals and the same earth. Odinigun wondered if the iron ore I was looking for would also burn like the coal, I assured him it wouldn’t but I’d show him what it could do if we found it and got it back to the Ordu.
The land was rough near the Mongol River, with many tributary rivers breaking the plane of the steppe and cutting deeply into it. As we moved away from the river, the terrain sloped gently downward; the grassland was dotted with small lakes full of ducks and other water birds. We would hear the birds well before we could see the lake. Ten days later, we reached the area where the grass was getting taller. It was in full height this time and could easily hide a man. We could still see over it on horseback but not by much. It looked like a taller version of the grass that seemed bluish green, but the stems varied in color from almost gray to dark red. There were also patches of a tall golden brown grass and a tall green grass, but the first grass clearly prevailed. When the wind blew, it looked like waves on a multicolored sea. Paula was quite taken by it and would often stand up in the cart for a better view. Two days later, we entered the country of the Dzitsiistas and soon crossed the river we had named for them.
One of the Dzitsiistas who had returned with us rode ahead to gather the tribal leaders, while another, Motsoyouf, led us to the gathering place. Pine trees dominated this forest, but there were quite a few oaks and maples also as well as a tree that looked like a very large linden tree with huge leaves. Odinigun told us that his people took ziinzibaakwad (maple syrup) from the maple in early spring. I asked him what he meant, and it seemed they would score the bark and the sap would flow from the tree. They would collect the sap and boil it down to produce a sweetener. He promised to give us some to taste when we returned to his village. At length we arrived at the gathering place and were received with much interest. The Dzitsiistas in our entourage were beset with questions while the rest of us and the carts and the horses were observed carefully but politely. Motsoyouf had to let everyone get on his horse and let everyone touch the carts, but we were not so put upon. I could see they were especially curious about Padraig and the women. The former’s height coupled with his reddish hair and beard, and the latter’s strange clothes and appearance fascinated them. There was also some interest in Mathilde’s baby since he had the reddish hair like his father. I suppose they also really didn’t think there could be any more people like me.
Finally the chiefs gathered, and Motsoyouf and I joined them. We passed the weed around, and then the chiefs asked for Motsoyouf’s report. He told them all that he had seen and learned and how much it would benefit them to join us. He certainly wanted to be a Mongol, and so did all the others who had gone. Once again, one after the other of the leaders spoke his piece, a few in favor of joining, a few against, most not yet sure. Finally, it was my turn. I told them of Kaidu’s confederation offer. They could stay here and live as they have sharing with us their knowledge and experience and receiving ours in return. Their young men would train with us and return to them or stay with us as they wished. If they were attacked by anyone we would rush to their assistance and destroy their enemy as though he had attacked us. For their part, they would not initiate any hostilities with their neighbors and would send us back their already trained young men should we go to war.
Predictably, this set off another extended round of talk, much more favorable this time. They finally agreed to the proposal, although it was not unanimous. They did wonder if all their neighbors had agreed to ally with us in this way as well. I told them that Juchi would be talking to the Kensistenoug, the Inuna-ina, and the Yanktonai group that had moved away from the Ocheti shakowin and I would be talking to the Ocheti shakowin and the Anishinabe. I would send word to them about the outcome of those meetings. This satisfied them, and they promised to send a large group of their young men to train and anyone else who wanted to join us. I detailed Motsoyouf and the other Dzitsiistas with us to lead them back. It turned out to be quite a group. Not only a few hundred young men, but also about a hundred and fifty others, mostly relatives and friends of those who had decided to stay with us. I dashed off a note to Kaidu and gave it to Motsoyouf to deliver. He was familiar enough with me by now to ask what it was. I tried to explain writing to him, but he couldn’t quite figure out what I meant. He was a bright fellow, so I promised to teach him when I got back. He was quite pleased with this, so I told him to learn as much Mongol as possible by the time I got back. I decided to teach him the Uighur script. If I tried to teach him Hanjen, we’d both go mad, besides, only a few of us in the Ordu knew the language.
The rest of us turned east to meet the Ocheti shakowin. Once again I sent one of them to ride ahead and announce our arrival. Meanwhile, I asked Wanbli Sapa and Wakinyan Cetan how they thought their people would decide. They told me that they were almost certain the entire tribe would join, especially after they heard how the Hotcangara had insulted them. I suggested that would not be the best reason for joining us. They assured me it would only serve to convince those who were wavering.
In due course we arrived at the same place on the west bank of the large lake (which I had named Ocheti) where I had met with the chiefs the year before and was ushered into the same large house before the same group of chiefs. The chief who had come with us last year, Tatanka Ska Koda, had also returned with us to report to his colleagues. After the usual weed, he was called upon to speak. I could not really understand the language well enough yet, so I had Wanbli Sapa serving as interpreter. Tatanka Ska Koda spoke at length to the chiefs, telling them all about us. He definitely had his eyes open during his stay, for he told them about everything there was to tell, favorable and unfavorable. When he finished, each of the chiefs who wanted to say something did. Finally I told them about the confederation option. Tatanka Ska Koda next said he thought it best that the whole tribe become Mongols. He had noticed that others who had joined still maintained their identity and spoke their own language, but had become and were accepted as Mongols, which after all meant “The Brave.” And were not the Ocheti shakowin “brave”? One older fellow with bright intelligent eyes then asked me what it was “The Brave” was planning to do that required bravery. I explained that we had traveled a long distance through an unknown country braving the long bitter winter of the far north to find a new home and establish a new Khanate. We wished to unify all the tribes into a great nation that would be both strong and peaceful. We would be the best of friends and the worst of enemies. A younger chief wanted to know if it were true we would punish the village that had treated Wanbli Sapa shamefully. I assured him it was—we would send an expedition there the following year once we had fully trained our new army. He then rose up and said he wanted to join that army. It turned out, Wanbli Sapa translated army as war party since they had no word for it. In any event, it was agreed that the whole tribe would join us en masse in the fall. Meanwhile a large group of young men would go back to the Ordu to train.
I again dashed off a note to Kaidu and gave it to Tatanka Ska Koda to deliver. He was honored and too polite to ask what it was. A few days later, he led a group of almost three thousand young men and several hundred others west, while the rest of us continued northeast. About four days later, we arrived at the shore of Lake Gichigami. Those who had not seen it before were quite impressed. Even though we were at its narrow end I could still see how huge it was. We found Odinigun’s village a short distance along the north shore of the lake, and he gave us some of the Ziinzibaakwad to taste as he had promised. It was really quite sweet, more so than honey, and with a rather unique flavor, hard to describe. I also prevailed on him to get us some of their rice since I wanted the others to taste it. While one of his relatives was fixing us the rice, he went on to try and arrange a meeting of the Anishinabe chiefs.
We were there a few days before Odinigun was able to tell us that the chiefs, or at least some of them, had agreed to meet with us at a place called Mooningwaneking two full moons hence. The moon was waxing, so that would probably be about forty or so days away, but he pointed out the additional time would ensure a better turnout. I asked where the meeting place was. He said Mooningwaneking was a sacred place, and it was an honor that I would be received there. It was an island off the southern shore of the lake about ten days away from his village. But we could not go there until it was time, so he would take me to see the stone that looked like dried blood. He would also be able to show us a great “manidoo” on the way.
We set off back down along the northern shore of the lake and swung around to the southern shore, then headed east again. The woods began to change a little as we went; there was more variety, with spruce, fir, and hemlock joining the pines and aspen joining the maples and lindens. The oaks seemed to be reduced. The woods made the going a bit rough with the carts, and we found ourselves hugging the lakeshore. This took us a bit out of the way, and it was twelve days before we saw the sacred island of the Anishinabe. It was one of several islands. It looked quite long and narrow, and it was a bit of a distance offshore. We would get there by boat, it seemed. I decided I’d leave the others behind for that meeting. I did know how to swim, but cold as that water was I wasn’t sure it would matter.
It was quite hilly on this part of the lake near the island, with cliffs coming up close to the shore, and it continued to be so for a few days’ journey. Then the hills receded, and we had to slog through a small marshy patch before again the hills approached the lake. Soon the lakeshore flattened out again, but then we had to weave our way among trees, slowing us down considerably. We finally arrived at a village near a small river. Here Odinigun prevailed on us to leave the carts in the village’s care while we continued on horseback or boat, because we’d never get the carts to where we wanted to go. I thought horseback would be best, not having too much faith in the light boats. He led us up the river, first south quite a way, then back west for a much shorter distance, finally stopping near dusk at what looked like a large rock. He proclaimed it to be the great “manidoo” he had promised to show us. On closer inspection, it was a huge lump of apparently pure copper. It was about three feet wide, two and half feet long, and nearly two feet tall. It was quite irregular in shape and was mostly dark from oxidation, but with a little rubbing I could see it was copper. A remarkable find, but I was curious why it was considered a “manidoo” which I understood to mean a kind of spirit or demigod. It turned out they thought it was responsible for the smaller pieces of copper that they had found nearby and had been using for many years. They honored the large chunk so that it would continue to give them the smaller chunks. It was fairly obvious that it would be inappropriate to take a piece of the chunk, so I merely congratulated them on their good fortune in finding the “manidoo.”
We camped nearby, and I asked Odinigun if his people ever melted the copper to shape it into things. He said it wasn’t possible to melt it; they just hammered it into the desired shape with stone hammers. It seemed they had no metallurgy at all. I wondered if there was any copper ore in the area as well as native copper. I described the ore to him, and he said he thought we could find that kind of rock just a little to the east; he was sure he could find it tomorrow. Of course, we didn’t really need copper unless I could find some tin or zinc, but it would be good to know if there was any ore.
The next day, we returned down the river until it turned north; then we crossed it and continued east into the more rugged hill country. I had to admit he was right about the carts, between the irregular grades and the trees, we would probably have to build a road to get through here with them. Of course, this made me wonder about how we’d ever get the ore out if we did find it, but I decided it would be best to find it first, then worry about getting it out. Late in the day, shortly after crossing a small river that flowed east, Odinigun stopped and showed me a hillside that had been cleared by a rockslide a few years ago and had not yet been fully reforested. Sure enough, there was copper ore. I took a moderate amount and put it on one of the horses. When we camped that evening, I asked Odinigun that if I needed a lot of this rock, what would be the best way to get it to the carts? He suggested that I leave the carts at the western end of Lake Gichigami. His people could easily carry the rock to the river we had just crossed, then transport it by boat to the carts. I suggested it would be too heavy for the boats, but he disagreed strongly. I asked Padraig to carve a model of a Hanjen wheelbarrow for me with a moving wheel if possible. He was quite accomplished at woodcarving and assured me he’d be finished with it by the next day.
Before we set out, Padraig presented me with a perfect model, and I showed it to Odinigun. I explained that just as the wheels enabled the carts to carry heavy loads, the wheelbarrow enabled men to carry heavy loads more easily. He was fascinated, but thought the model was too small to carry much of a load. I explained that it was only a model just as they made small model boats; a large one would hold a large amount. Would not that be better than carrying heavy loads on one’s back? They would not fit on a boat if they were as big as I had demonstrated. I explained it would be best to have one at each end of the boat transportation. He was no fool and finally grasped what I was talking about, even though the whole idea was quite new. He had to admit the wheelbarrow might come in handy for moving rocks like this, but since the Anishinabe always lived on the water, it would not be of much use in their daily lives. He was right, of course, but I hoped to encourage some changes in their lives.
Some three days later, we arrived at another not-yet-healed rockslide, and there was indeed quite a vein of hematite. I took as much as I thought the horses could carry and asked Odinigun if he thought his people might be willing to get more of these rocks for us. He asked what they would get in return, and I suggested iron goods like arrowheads, axes, knives, etc. He thought they might be interested, but wasn’t sure. What if our people dug out the rocks, would they help us carry them to the carts? Perhaps they might be willing. Then I had an inspiration. What if we gave them all the copper they could possibly want? Well, that was a good offer, except that they already had quite a bit of copper. I had a feeling our meeting on the sacred island was going to be a frustrating one. What could we offer the Anishinabe that they would want badly enough to join us. I had brought along some steel tools, perhaps if they saw the advantage of steel over their stone implements in a demonstration, I might make some headway.
With the remaining time, I scouted around to see how much iron ore there was here, and it seemed to be all along a group of hills that ran east for quite some distance, many li. Lake Gichigami was not too far from the hills, perhaps only fifty li, and even better, there was a lake less than thirty li to the north that was drained by a river that flowed into Lake Gichigami. I carefully mapped the area and asked to return along the lakeshore so I could map it as well. He agreed up to a point, for there was a very large peninsula jutting deeply into the lake that would have taken us well out of our way. We cut across the base of the peninsula, which proved to also have copper ore along a range of hills that likely extended from the one farther south where Odinigun had shown me the copper ore. Finally, we got back to the carts with six days to spare before our big meeting. We moved back along the shore and arrived opposite the island the evening when the moon had just become full.
The next morning, I wrapped the steel tools I had brought along in a piece of felt and carefully boarded one of the birch bark boats. I was seated in the middle with Odinigun, and there was a rower in front and in back of us. The boat seemed to have no trouble with all the weight and indeed our rowers easily propelled us the distance to the sacred island. We landed and were led to one of their good-sized houses. We entered and found a large gathering of older Anishinabe men suffused with an air of wisdom and dignity. I was seated and maintained a respectful silence. The burning weed was passed around as usual until spent, and then the man in the center addressed me.
“You have moved among our people in peace,” he began, “and asked us to leave our home to which the sacred miigis shell guided us to join your strange-looking tribe on the plains. A few of us have indeed joined you, and they are free to do so, but if we leave our lake, we will surely die, for so our legends have told us.”
“It was wrong of me to ask you to leave your ancestral home,” I replied. “Our leader in his wisdom has come to see that it would be better if you remained in your home according to your customs. Still we would be your allies and would like to help you and have you help us. Our leader has proposed that we be joined in a confederation among equals. If any of you wish to join us outright, they are most welcome, for it is obvious what a fine people you are. However, for the rest, we ask that you send us your young men as you can spare them so that we can train them in our army. Therefore, should anyone attack you, we will quickly fall on them and destroy them, and should anyone attack us, your young men would be able to help us. We could also exchange goods. You have rocks that are of great use to us; we have implements I think you would find helpful.”
At this point, I unwrapped the tools and passed them around. Old as they were, they were strong enough to heft the tools with ease and could see the potential. Each one methodically examined each tool in turn. Finally they asked about the rocks I wanted, and Odinigun explained where they could be found. I passed around a small piece of the iron ore to them. They were clearly puzzled that I would trade such wonders as these marvelous tools for rather unimpressive-looking rocks. At length, one wanted to know why we wanted the rocks, and I explained that with much effort and special procedures we could turn the rocks into the tools he was holding. They wanted to see this. But I explained I didn’t have the necessary equipment or the other raw materials I needed, but I would show Odinigun when I got back to the Ordu, and he could return and tell them about it if they wished. I was beginning to think the Anishinabe would also join us. But no one was asleep in this room.
“The trade is good,” one of them said. “It benefits us both and harms neither. However, why should our young men join your army to defend us, when they have been most successful in doing so without any such training? What can you teach them about fighting in the forests? Are you not a plains people? Should not you learn from us?”
I had to admit he had a point. Mongol tactics are most effective on an open field. We rarely encountered woods such as these in the old Khanate. So I suggested that perhaps we could learn from each other. We would send some of our army to train with them, and they could send some of their young men to train with us. That way there would always be some of each group that could effectively come to the aid of the other. I explained that at least two of their western neighbors had joined us, and it was possible that the Kensistenoug would also join. They were surprised that we had been able to talk to all of the latter in so short a time since they were scattered over a very large area both to the east and the west, north of the Anishinabe. That rather surprised me, but I explained that Juchi, whom a few of them had seen with me the year before, had gone to them with the confederation offer while I had taken the more southerly route here.
At length, and it was indeed at length, most of the day in fact, they agreed to confederate with us. They decided that young men from the villages west of the lake would train with us, and we could send our men to the same villages for training. Since we had effectively removed all their potential enemies from that area, it would be safe to leave it less protected. Should we manage to induce their neighbors to the south and southeast to join us also, then young men from these areas could also be sent. Meanwhile, they would pass on our offer to their relatives and allies in the east, the Potawatamink and the Ottawa if I wished. I thanked them and asked them to by all means extend our offer to their allies. Finally, I asked them about their southern neighbors.
It seemed that to the south were the Hotcangara who had spread there from farther south and to the southeast were the Menominiwok ininiwok, a tribe vaguely related to them but whose language was difficult to understand. They occupied both shores of a long large lake that could be found not far from where I had gathered the rocks I wanted. I blanched that I could have taken Paula so close to a potentially hostile group. I asked if this tribe was friendly to them, and they said that there was trade between them but little else. I promised to contact them as soon as possible but was not sure about the Hotcangara since we were already planning to punish one of their villages for mistreating one of our men.
We passed around the weed again, and we finally got back just before dark. I gave the news to the others, and they admitted that they had become worried since I was gone so long. The next morning just before we left, one of the chiefs, Gagewin, came across and asked to see the ore again. He looked at it a while and said he was sure we could find more of it on a line of hills beyond the marshy area on the western end of the lake. He promised to send me a sample as soon as he got back; it would probably be waiting for us when we reached Odinigun’s village. I decided that was worth the detour, and Odinigun was happy to return to his village because he wanted to bring some of his relatives back to the Ordu with us.
It was the perfect time to arrive at his village—right after the rice harvest. We spent a few days there while Odinigun organized his relatives, most of his immediate family actually. Meanwhile, Gagewin had kept his word and sent some of his men with a boatload of iron ore. We loaded it on the wagons, and I left the others and went back with the men to see how much ore was in the hills and to pinpoint it on my maps. If this source panned out it would be a lot more convenient than the other, at least immediately, and the other would serve as a backup. The hills proved to be almost one hundred eighty li northwest of the lake, through a marshy area. They were beyond the marsh, and the ground to the west seemed to be firmer. I sent a couple of the men back to tell Odinigun to lead the carts back to Lake Ocheti and I would meet them there. I wanted to assess the size of this lode and also decided it would be best to find a better way into these hills. The ore extended throughout the row of hills. It would take us a long time to use this up. The hills ended before a group of lakes, which I passed to the south. I then turned west to avoid the western edge of the marsh and eventually swung around it finally reaching the northwestern shore of Lake Ocheti. It was about a two hundred and seventy li journey. I continued on to the western shore of the lake until I reached the appointed rendezvous point. The western shore of the lake was less marshy than the southeastern shore. The carts had not yet arrived.
Once the carts reached me, we turned southwest from Lake Ocheti. Most of the journey brought us back into the high grass, interrupted only by many small lakes. At this time of year, late summer, the grasses had all flowered and now many shades from crimson through copper and gold to straw colored the gently rolling steppe. When the sun shone on it and wind stirred it, the beauty was breathtaking. We crossed a good-sized river that was surrounded on both sides by heavily wooded bottoms. The river was conveniently low at this time of year making an easy passage for the carts. This was again Dzitsiista country although well south of where I had contacted them before. We stopped at a few of their villages along the way. They had heard of us, of course, and we were well received. We had met some of the village chiefs at the meeting earlier, and they were most cordial. I decided to name this river for them also, the South Dzitsiista River. We stopped by my coal seam and found the place quite a bevy of activity. A group from the Ordu was working the vein. They told me they had already sent quite a bit back and were holding the rest here since the Ordu would be moving here soon. It was early fall when we arrived back.