Noted fur trader, Alexander Ross, described a Metis and Ojibwe hunting expedition that took place in 1840. According to Ross, two expeditions were undertaken that year by a group that include about 1,630 men, women, and children. The hunters started their hunt leaving from Red River Colony where they made a stop at Fort Garry to purchase supplies before traveling south to Pembina. In his description, Ross gives detailed information about the highly organized political organization of the hunting party and the rules followed by the hunters while on the march. 

According to Ross, “The first step was to hold a council for the nomination of chiefs or officers. Then captains were named, the senior [leader] on this occasion being Jean Baptiste Wilkie, an English half-breed, brought up among the French. Besides being captain…[Wilkie] was styled the great war chief or head of the camp; and on all public occasions he occupied the place of president. Each captain had ten soldiers under his orders; in much the same way that policemen are subject to a magistrate. Ten guides were likewise appointed. Their duties were to guide the camp, each in his turn -- that is day about -- during the expedition. "The hoisting of the flag every morning is the signal for raising camp. Half an hour is the full time allowed to prepare for the march; but if anyone is sick, or their animals have strayed, notice is sent to the guide, who halts until all is made right. From the time the flag is hoisted, however, till the hour for camping arrives, it is never taken down. The flag taken down is the signal for encamping. While it is up, the guide is chief of the expedition and the Captains are subject to him, and the soldiers of the day are his messengers: he commands all. The moment the flag is lowered, his functions cease, and the captains' and soldiers' duties commence. They point out the order of the camp, and every cart, as it arrives, moves to its appointed place."

Ross further stated that the captains and other chief men laid down rules to be observed by the hunters. Most of these rules concern restrictions on hunting without general orders being given, and the punishment for infractions of these rules.

​The hunt of 1840 left Pembina on the 21st of June.

While on the march, many of the hunters and their families experienced severe hunger. On the ninth day the expedition reached the Sheyenne River without having seen any buffalo. But on the nineteenth day, along the Missouri River, the hunters finally encountered buffalo on July 4th.  About 400 huntsmen, all mounted took up their position in a line at one end of the camp while Captain Wilkie surveyed the buffalo, examined the ground, and issued his orders.

At the end of the day’s hunt, 1,375 buffalo had been harvested.

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SOURCE: Red Lake & Pembina Chippewa by Voegelin and Hickerson, ICC Docket 18A

Makadeshib (Black Duck) was a brave warrior and early chief of the Pembina Band of Ojibwe. He maintained his home camps and hunted at Stump Lake and near Fargo, North Dakota during the early years of the 1800s.

In about 1824, Makadeshib decided to go to war against the Dakota. He sent around tobacco and raised a war party that left Pembina, marching towards Lake Traverse (Sisseton, South Dakota).  The march took thirteen days. The war party searched the area around Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, but did not find their enemies.  

The war party then proceeded west towards Ogema-Wadju (Chief Mountain), a large hill where the Dakota were known to camp.  Not finding a village there, the war party soon became disenchanted. Chief Peguis, who was part of the war party, took his men and returned home, but the remaining men who stayed with Makadeshib kept searching until they came upon a village of about 300 Dakota. ​

That night they attacked, and the fight was a resounding victory for Makadeshib and his troops. However, a few Dakota were able to escape and they made their way to a nearby camp where they roused more warriors who quickly came to press the fight against the Ojibwe.

Out of bullets and tired from the fight, Makadeshib and his men retreated as quickly as they could, but they saw that they would soon be overtaken.  Knowing that they would all be slaughtered in the upcoming fight, it was decided that most of the men would keep running, while a small party remained with Makadeshib to fight and secure their escape. 

Makadeshib and his stalwart companions calmly took off their clothes down to their breechcloths, folded them into bundles, then they took out their pipes and smoked and prayed to the manitou for pity. ​Almost 300 Dakota warriors came upon them and the fighting was hand-to-hand.  During the short battle, 13 warriors fell, including Makadeshib. One man escaped across the river and was able to sneak away to report the fate of his companions and the brave Makadeshib.

This final battle took place near modern-day Wild Rice, North Dakota, a small town south of Fargo.  

During the middle-1800s, a priest named Father Genin - who ministered to the Ojibwe and Dakota - was told about the bravery of Makadeshib and his men.  Father Genin went to the location where they fell and ordered the erection of a large, white cross at the spot where they had died.  

Years later, as white men finally came to North Dakota after the land was opened up following the 1863 Old Crossing Treaty, many settlers were surprised to see the white cross as they crossed the Red River. Most were unaware that this location was where a mighty warrior and his brave men lost their lives.

Makadeshib is relatively unknown today, but many of his descendants can be found at Cypress Hills and Cowessess Reserve in Canada, and at Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.

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SOURCES: 
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Indian Tribes of the United States. (1884) 
O.G. Libby. Collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Volume 1. (1906)