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THE RED MEN OF IOWA.
waters of the Fox River, near the portage. In 1680, Hennepin locates them with the Miamis and Foxes, on Winnbago Lake, but about the same time they are mentioned by Membre as being with the Foxes on Meleoki (Milwaukee) River. According to Father Marest, a short time previous to 1712 the Mas-coutins had established a settlement on the Ouabache (Ohio) River, but had suffered there greatly from some contagious disease. It was about that time that they joined with the Kickapoos and Foxes in a plot against the French. The conspiracy failed, as they were surprised by the Ottawas and Pottawattamies, and one hundred and fifty of their warriors slain. The Wolf and Stag tribes of Mas-coutins are mentioned as being on the Fox River in 1736. In 1764, Bouquet mentions their number on Lake Michigan as five hundred warriors. It is mentioned that the Indians who attacked Colonel Croghan near the mouth of the Wabash, in June, 1765, were chiefly Kickapoos and Mas-coutins. The next mention we find of them is in the journal of Colonel Clark, when, in 1778, as stated heretofore, during a council at Cahokia, a party of this tribe, called by him "Meadow Indians," attempted to cut him off by treachery. The last we find of this part of the tribe is in 1779, when they are included with the Piankeshaws and Vermillions on the Wabash. Gallatin, who is recognized as excellent authority in matters relating to aboriginal ethnology, regards it as doubtful whether the Mas-coutins were ever a distinct tribe. We think, however, that the fact of their being referred to by different authorities through a period of over one hundred years, points pretty conclusively to the fact that they once had a distinct tribal character. Their plot
