ndians were
left drunken and destitute and often with death, disease and wounds in
their midst.

Smith gives a vivid description of one of their orgies at Detroit as
follows: "At length a trader came to town (the Indian camp) with French
brandy. We purchased a keg of it, and held a council about who was to
get drunk, and who was to keep sober. I was invited to get drunk, but I
refused the proposal. Then they told me I must be one of those who were
to take care of the drunken people. I did not like this, but of the two
evils I chose that which I thought was the least, and fell in with those
who were to conceal the arms, and keep every dangerous weapon we could
out of their way, and endeavor, if possible, to keep the drinking club
from killing each other, which was a very hard task. Several times we
hazarded our lives, and got ourselves hurt, in preventing them from
slaying each other. Before they had finished the keg, near one-third of
the town was introduced to this drinking club; they could not pay their
part, as they had already disposed of all their skins; but they made no
odds, all were welcome to drink."

"When they were done with the keg, they applied to the traders, and
procured a kettle full of brandy at a time, which they divided out with
a large wooden spoon--and so they went on and on and never quit whilst
they had a single beaver skin. When the trader had got all our beaver,
he moved off to the Ottawa town, about a mile above the Wyandot town."

"When the brandy was gone, and the drinking club sober, they appeared
much dejected. Some of them were crippled, others badly wounded. A
number of the fine new shirts were torn, and several blankets burned. A
number of squaws were also in this club, and neglected their corn
planting."

"We could now hear the effects of the brandy in the Ottawa town. They
were singing and yelling in the most hideous manner, both night and day;
but their frolic ended worse than ours; five Ottawas were killed, and a
great many wounded."

The marshes, lakes, rivers and small streams of northern Ohio and
Indiana, and of the whole of Michigan and Wisconsin, abounded with the
homes and habitations of the beavers. Behind them, as a memorial of
their old days, they have left the names of creeks, towns, townships and
even counties. The beaver lake region of northern Indiana has a Beaver
"lake," a Beaver "township," a Beaver "creek," a Beaver "city," and a
Beaverville to its credit. The h