Trowbridge writes
(April 8th), that about seventy persons united themselves a few days
previous to Mr. Wells' church, to which the influence has been
principally, but not wholly confined. Among these were many who had,
unaffectedly, listened to the Gospel, if not all their lives, certainly
no small part of it.

_May 3d_. Public instructions are issued for my organizing and taking
command of an expedition to the country upon the sources of the
Mississippi River, to effect a pacification between the Indian tribes,
in order to carry out, with increased means, the efforts made in 1831.
Those efforts were confined to tribes living in latitudes south of St.
Anthony's Falls. It was now proposed to extend them to the Indian
population living north of that point, reaching to the sources of that
river. This opened the prospect of settling a long contested point in
the geography of that stream, namely, its actual source--a question in
which I had long felt the deepest interest.

The outbreak of Indian hostility, under Black Hawk, which characterized
the summer of 1832, was apprehended, and it became the policy of the
Indian Bureau, in the actual state of its information, to prevent the
northern tribes from joining in the Sac and Fox league under that
influential leader. I forwarded to the Superintendent and Governor of
the territory, a report of a message and war-club sent to the Chippewas
to join in the war, for which I was indebted to the chief, Chingwauk, or
Little Pine.

"Reports from various quarters of the Indian country," says the
Secretary of War, in a private letter so early as March 28th, "lead to
the belief that the Indians are in an unsettled state, and prudence
requires that we should advise and restrain them. I think one more tour
would be very useful in this respect, and would complete our knowledge
of the geography of that region."

"There is a prospect," says the official instructions (May 3d), "of
extensive hostilities among themselves. It is no less the dictate of
humanity than of policy to repress this feeling, and to establish
permanent peace among the tribe.

"It is also important to inspect the condition of the trade, and the
conduct of the traders. To ascertain whether the regulations and the
laws are complied with, and to suggest such alterations as may be
required. And, finally, to inquire into the number, standing,
disposition, and prospect of the Indians, and to report all the
statistical facts y