Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

by David I. Bushnell

Siouan Tribes.

The numerous and widely scattered tribes belonging to the Siouan linguistic family formerly had a combined population which caused this to rank as the second largest stock north of Mexico, being exceeded only by the Algonquian.

All evidence tends to prove that during past centuries the many tribes who were found living west of the Mississippi when the great central valley of the continent first became known to Europeans had, within a few generations, migrated from the eastward. This is likewise indicated by certain tribal traditions. Many had undoubtedly occupied the upper parts of the Ohio Valley, and were probably the builders of the great earthworks discovered in that region. What impelled the westward movement of the tribes may never be determined. Whether they were forced to abandon their early habitat by stronger forces, by the lack of food which made it necessary for them to seek a more plentiful supply, or by reason of causes distinct from either of these can never be definitely known.

But some remained in the east; all did not join in the migration, and the native tribes encountered by the colonists living in the piedmont region of Virginia and extending southward into Carolina belonged to this linguistic family. Their villages have been mentioned in a former publication. (Bushnell, (1), pp. 92-94.)

It is more than probable that while living east of the Mississippi all reared and occupied structures similar to those of the Algonquian tribes of later generations, mat and bark covered lodges, such as continued in use by the Osage, Quapaw, and others even after they had reached their new homes, but some through necessity were compelled to adopt other forms of dwellings. Thus many were found occupying the conical skin tipi, while some had learned the art of building the large earth-covered lodges, an art which had evidently been derived from the Caddoan tribes coming from the Southwest.

dakota-assiniboin group.

The Dakota constitute the largest division of the great Siouan linguistic family. To quote from the Handbook, this group includes the following tribes, a classification which is recognized by the people themselves: "1. Mdewakanton; 2. Wahpeton; 3. Wahpekute; 4. Sisseton; 5. Yankton; 6. Yanktonai; 7. Teton, each of which is again subdivided into bands and subbands." These seven principal divisions are often referred to as the Seven Council Fires of the Dakota. The first four groups as given in this classification formed the eastern division, and their home, when first encountered by Europeans, was in the densely forested region about the headwaters of the Mississippi. The others lived westward, reaching far into the plains. The Assiniboin, in historic times a separate tribe, was originally a part of the Yanktonai, from whom they separated and became closely allied with the Algonquian Cree. Thus some of the Dakota as first known to history were a timber people, others lived where the forest and prairie joined, with a mingling of the fauna and flora of the two regions, and in later years the Oglala, the principal division of the Teton, extended their wanderings to and beyond the Black Hills, crossing the great buffalo range.

As will be shown in the sketches of the dwellings and other structures of the Dakota tribes, those who lived in the timbered region, occupying much of the present State of Minnesota, erected the type of habitation characteristic of the region, but in the villages along the Minnesota both bark and skin covered lodges were in use, and the more western villages were formed exclusively of the latter type, the conical skin tipi of the plains. There appears to have been very little variation in the form of structure as erected by the widely scattered bands.

Mdewakanton.

When preparing a sketch of the villages and village sites of the Mdewakanton, it is quite natural to begin with a brief description of the site of the village to which Father Hennepin was led captive, during the early spring of the year 1680. On the afternoon of April 11 of that year, while ascending the Mississippi with two companions, he was taken by a war party of the Sioux, and after much anxiety and suffering reached the Falls of St. Anthony, which he so named. Thence, going overland through the endless forests, they arrived at the village of their captors. Soon Indians were seen running from the village to meet them, and then it was that "One of the principal Issati chiefs gave us his peace-calumet to smoke, and accepted the one we had brought. He then gave us some wild rice to eat, presenting it to us in large bark dishes." From this place they were later taken in bark canoes "a short league ... to an island where their cabins were." (Shea, (1), pp. 224-225.)

The Mdewakanton "mystery lake village," of the Santee or eastern division of the Dakota, were considered by some as "the only Dakota entitled to the name Isanyati (`Santee'), given them from their old home on Mille Lac, Minnesota, called by them Isantamde, 'Knife Lake.'" There is no doubt of the Mdewakanton being the Issati of Hennepin, to whose principal village he was taken, and where he remained for some weeks during the year 1680. It has always been acknowledged that the village stood on or near the shore of Mille Lac, but not until 1900 was a site discovered which appears without doubt to indicate the position of that ancient settlement. The outlet of Mille Lac is Rum River, which enters the Mississippi at Anoka. The stream soon after leaving the lake expands into a series of small lakes, usually designated as the First, Second, and Third Lake, from the outlet at Mille Lac. Rum River leaves Mille Lac near the southwest corner, but soon turns eastward, therefore the three lakes are rather parallel with the south shore of the great lake. At the upper end of Third Lake is an isolated mass, rising some feet above the highest stage of water, and having a superficial area of several acres. On May 29, 1900, this spot was surrounded by a marsh, in places overgrown with rushes, with pools of water, more numerous on the north side. But a short time has elapsed since all the lakes were somewhat deeper and more water flowed in Rum River. And at that time the waters surrounded this elevated mass and it stood as an island at the head of Third Lake. When the surface of this island was examined it was found to be strewn with innumerable fragments of pottery, some fractured stones, and a few stone implements. The amount of pottery was greater than is often found on any site, in any part of the country, and it was quite evident this island was once occupied by a large, permanent native settlement. Without doubt this was the site of the village to which Hennepin was taken in a bark canoe, "an island where their cabins were." At present this is in Sec. 25, T. 42, R. 27, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota.

No description of the ancient village has been preserved, but it undoubtedly resembled the settlements of other tribes living in the midst of the great forests. The structures were probably bark or mat covered, many of an oval form quite similar to those of the Ojibway, who later occupied the near-by sites on the shores of Mille Lac. And like the Ojibway, the Mdewakanton may have had more than one type of dwelling in the same village, or structures of different forms may have served different purposes.

The shores of Mille Lac, one of the most beautiful sheets of water in Minnesota, abound in traces of the ancient settlements which stood generations or centuries ago. Near several of the sites are groups of a hundred or more burial mounds, all of which may be attributed to the Siouan tribes. One village, the site of which is marked by a large number of mounds, stood on the shore of the bay in the northwestern part of the lake, shown in the photograph reproduced in plate [20], a.

The sacred or mysterious island, known as such to the Sioux and later to the Ojibway, is in the southern part of the lake, several miles from the south shore. It is a remarkable spot, one to be looked upon by the Indian as a place of mystery. So small that often it is not visible from the shore, it consists of a great quantity of blocks of granitic formation which are piled to a height of 20 feet or more upon a ledge which comes to within a foot or less of the surface of the lake. The island is about 250 feet in length from east to west, the width from north to south being about one-half the length. Some of the great blocks are 10 or 12 feet in length, 4 or 5 feet in thickness and width, and would weigh many tons. The ledge extends for a distance of about 150 feet to the north and east of the island, covered by a foot or more of water. There is no soil on the island, no vegetation, and its only occupants are numbers of gulls. A photograph of this most interesting spot, made by the writer May 20, 1900, is reproduced as plate [20], b.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 20

a. Northwest shore of Mille Lac, 1900. Site of an ancient Sioux settlement

b. The Sacred Island in the southern part of Mille Lac. May, 1900

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 21

"KAPOSIA, JUNE 19TH, 1851" F. B. Mayer

According to the stories of the old Ojibway who were still living on the shore of Mille Lac during the spring of 1900, the Mdewakanton were driven from that region about the middle of the eighteenth century, and moving southward settled along the banks of the Mississippi. Descendants of these were occupying well-known villages on the Mississippi and Minnesota during the summer of 1823, when Major Long and his party ascended the rivers from Prairie du Chien.

Before leaving Prairie du Chien to discover the course of the Minnesota, or St. Peters, as it was then designated, the members of the expedition were divided into two groups, one to go overland to the mouth of the St. Peters, the other to convey the supplies by boat to that point. Both parties visited the principal villages on the way. First following the route of those who went overland, on June 26, 1823, they encountered a village of five lodges, evidently on the Iowa River, in the present Winneshiek County, Iowa. Two days later, June 28, they arrived at the more important village of Wapasha, in the present Wabasha County, Minnesota, and as told in the narrative: "Whatever might be the reveries in which the party were indulging, they were soon recalled to the dull realities of travelling, by the howling and barking of a band of dogs, that announced their approach to an Indian village consisting of twenty fixed lodges and cabins. It is controlled by Wa-pa-sha, an Indian chief of considerable distinction. In his language, (Dacota,) his name signifies the red leaf. A number of young men fantastically decorated with many and variously coloured feathers, and their faces as oddly painted, advanced to greet the party. One of them, the son of the chief, was remarkable for the gaudiness and display of his dress, which from its showy appearance imparted to his character foppishness.... The chief is about fifty years of age, but appears older.... His disposition to the Americans has generally been a friendly one." (Keating, (1), I, pp. 249-250.) Hennepin's reception by the ancestors of the same people, in their ancient village near Mille Lac, about a century and a half earlier, may have been quite similar to this accorded the members of the Long expedition in 1823.

On the evening of June 30 the party going by land arrived "at an Indian village, which is under the direction of Shakea, (the man that paints himself red;) the village has retained the appellation of Redwing, (aile rouge,) by which the chief was formerly distinguished." This was on the site of the present Red Wing, Goodhue County, Minnesota. There the party remained overnight, and on the following morning, July 1, 1823, the boat bearing the supplies belonging to the expedition, on its way from Prairie du Chien to Fort St. Anthony, reached the village, and "The whole party being again united, the chief invited them to his lodge, with a view to have a formal conversation with them.... As a compliment to the party, the United States' flag was hoisted over his cabin, and a deputation of some of his warriors waited at our encampment to invite us to his lodge. We were received in due ceremony; the chief and his son, Tatunkamane, (the walking buffalo,) were seated next to the entrance. We took our stations near them, on the same bed-frame, while his warriors seated themselves on the frame opposite to us." This was followed by handshaking, and the smoking of the pipe of peace. (Op. cit., pp. 251-252.) The two parties again separated and those passing overland arrived at the fort the following evening.

The boat party, ascending the Mississippi, arrived at "Wapasha's village" on June 29, soon after the departure of the others who were going overland. They left Redwing early in the afternoon of July 1, and on the following day passed the St. Croix. Continuing, they "passed an Indian village consisting of ten or twelve huts, situated at a handsome turn on the river, about ten miles below the mouth of the St. Peter; the village is generally known by the name of the Petit Corbeau, or Little Raven, which was the appellation of the father and grandfather of the present chief.... As the village was abandoned for the season, we proceeded without stopping. The houses which we saw here were differently constructed from those which we had previously observed. They are formed by upright flattened posts, implanted in the ground, without any interval except here and there some small loopholes for defence; these posts support the roof, which presents a surface of bark. Before and behind each hut, there is a scaffold used for the purpose of drying maize, pumpkins, &c." Late in the same day they arrived at the fort. (Keating, (1), I, pp. 288-289.) Whether the method of constructing lodges by forming the walls of upright posts or logs was of native conception or was derived from the French is now difficult to determine. In referring to the customs prevailing in the Mississippi Valley, particularly the French portions, about the year 1810, Brackenridge said: "In building their houses, the logs, instead of being laid horizontally, as ours, are placed in a perpendicular position, the interstices closed with earth or stone, as with us." (Brackenridge, (1), p. 119.) The old courthouse at St. Louis was built after this method. Again, among some tribes along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, as will be told on another page, were to have been found small, well-protected lodges formed of upright poles, and in this instance there is no reason to suspect European influence. Therefore it is not possible to say definitely whether the structures standing on the banks of the Mississippi during the summer of 1823 were of a primitive, native form, or if they represented the influence of the early French who had penetrated the region many years before.

Just three years before the Long expedition passed up the Mississippi and prepared the preceding descriptions of the Sioux settlements Schoolcraft went down the river, and in his journal are to be found brief references to the same villages. To quote from the journal, August 2, 1820: "Four miles below Carver's cave, we landed at the village of Le Petit Corbeau, or the Little Raven. Here is a Sioux band of twelve lodges, and consisting of about two hundred souls, who plant corn upon the adjoining plain, and cultivate the cucumber, and pumpkin. They sallied from their lodges on seeing us approach, and gathering upon the bank of the river fired a kind of feu-de-joie, and manifested the utmost satisfaction on our landing.... We were conducted into his cabin which is spacious, being about sixty feet in length by thirty in width—built in a permanent manner of logs, and covered with bark." (Schoolcraft, (2), pp. 317-318.) The following day at noon the party arrived "at the Sioux village of Talangamane, or the Red wing, which is handsomely situated on the west banks of the river, six miles above Lake Pepin. It consists of four large, and several small lodges, built of logs in the manner of the little Raven's village. Talangamane is now considered the first chief of his nation.... Very few of his people were at home, being engaged in hunting or fishing. We observed several fine corn fields near the village, but they subsist chiefly by taking sturgeon in the neighbouring lake, and by hunting the deer. The buffalo is also occasionally killed, but they are obliged to go two days journey west of the Mississippi, before this animal is found in plenty. We observed several buffalo skins which were undergoing the Indian process of tanning." (Op. cit., p. 323.) The third settlement was reached during the afternoon of August 4, 1820, at which time, to quote from the journal, "we made a short halt at the Sioux village of Wabashaw, which is eligibly situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, sixty miles below Lake Pepin. It consists of four large lodges, with a population of, probably, sixty souls. A present of tobacco and whiskey was given, and we again embarked at twenty minutes before five o'clock." (Op, cit., p. 334.) The question now arises, Were the various structures seen by Schoolcraft, those "built in a permanent manner of logs," constructed of "upright flattened posts," as mentioned in the Long narrative? If so, it is evident similar habitations were reared by the Foxes and were encountered by Schoolcraft at the Fox village standing on the left bank of the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Wisconsin, August 6, 1820. However, the statements are rather vague, and the various dwellings may have been quite similar to the bark houses more clearly described in later narratives. But it is beyond question that some of the structures were strongly built, and Long on July 16, 1817, wrote: "Passed a Sioux village on our right containing fourteen cabins. The name of the chief is the Petit Corbeau, or Little Raven.... One of their cabins is furnished with loop holes, and is situated so near the water that the opposite side of the river is within musket-shot range from the building.... The cabins are a kind of stockade buildings, and of a better appearance than any Indian dwellings I have before met with." (Long, (1), p. 31.)

One of the most interesting accounts of the villages just mentioned is contained in the journal of a traveler who visited them in 1849, the year the Territory of Minnesota was created. On May 16 of that year he "passed Wapasha's Prairie ... a beautiful prairie in Minnesota, about nine miles long and three miles wide, occupied by the chief Wapasha (or Red-Leaf) and his band of Sioux, whose bark lodges are seen at the upper end of the prairie." (Seymour, (1), p. 75.) And later in the day, after leaving Lake Pepin, "an Indian village, called Red Wing, inhabited by a tribe of Sioux is seen on the Minnesota shore. It appears to contain about one dozen bark lodges, and half as many conical lodges, covered with buffalo skins; also, a log or frame house, occupied by a missionary. Indian children were seen running, in frolicsome mood, over the green prairie, and Indian females were paddling their canoes along the shore. This village is near the mouth of Cannon River." On the following day, May 17, 1849, Seymour passed the village of Kaposia, occupied by the chief Little Crow, or Little Raven. It stood on the west bank of the river about 5 miles below the then small town of St. Paul. The Indian village at that time consisted of about 40 lodges, having a population of some 300. A few days later he went to the village, and regarding the visit wrote: "During the time I visited them, the Indians were living in skin lodges, such as they use during the winter, and when traveling. These are formed of long, slender poles, stuck in the ground, in a circle of about eight feet in diameter, and united at the top, and covered with the raw hide of the buffalo, having the hair scraped off. They are in the form of a cone, and can be distinguished from those of the Winnebagos and other Indians as far as they can be seen. During the summer they live in bark houses, which are more spacious, and when seen from a distance, resemble, in form and appearance, the log cabins of the whites. When passing in sight of the village, a few days afterward, I noticed that they had removed their skin lodges, and erected their bark houses. The population of this village, as I before remarked, is from 250 to 300 souls." He entered one of the small skin-covered lodges. "An iron kettle, suspended in the center, over a fire, forms the principal cooking utensil. Blankets spread around on the ground, were used as seats and beds." (Op. cit., pp. 137-138.) A cemetery, with its scaffold burials, stood on the bluffs in the rear of the village. There is reason to believe these were the first skin-covered tipis encountered by Seymour while ascending the Mississippi.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 22

a. "Dakotah Village." Seth Eastman

b. "Dakotah Encampment." Seth Eastman

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 23

a. Council at the mouth of the Teton. George Catlin

b. Page of Kurz's Sketchbook, showing Fort Pierre and the Indian encampment, July 4, 1851

It will be noticed that in the preceding description of Kaposia no mention is made of log structures, such as were alluded to by Long and Schoolcraft. Only the typical bark house and the conical skin-covered tipi were seen by Seymour. Fortunately a most valuable and interesting picture of the village, as it appeared on June 19, 1851, is preserved and is now reproduced in plate [21]. Both forms of habitations are shown, and in the distance, on the left, are indicated the scaffold burials standing on the bluffs in the rear of the settlement. On the extreme right is the prow of a canoe, evidently on the immediate bank of the Mississippi. Having this remarkable sketch, it is gratifying to find a brief description of the two forms of lodges, and also to know that the notes may have referred to Kaposia in particular. It tells that "the lodges are from eight to fifteen feet in diameter, about ten to fifteen feet high and made of buffalo-skins tanned. Elk skins are used for this purpose also. The summer house is built of wood, or perches set upright, twenty or thirty feet long, by fifteen or twenty wide. The perches are set in the ground about one foot, and are about six feet out of the ground. Over this is put a roof of elm bark. They are very comfortable for summer use. The lodge of skin lasts three or four years; the lodge of wood seven or eight years." (Prescott, (1), p. 67.)

The bark houses, which resembled "the log cabins of the whites," were shown by Capt. Eastman in one of his paintings. It was used as an illustration by Schoolcraft, and is here reproduced as plate [22], a. It is less interesting than the sketch of Kaposia, but in many respects the two are quite similar.

Several bark houses of the form just mentioned stood on the shore of Mille Lac, forming part of the Ojibway village visited in 1900, and similar to these were the "winter habitations," occasionally erected by the Menominee, as mentioned and figured by Hoffman as plate xviii in his work on that tribe. (Hoffman, (1), p. 255.) It is rather curious that these should be described as "winter habitations" among that Algonquian tribe, and as being occupied during the summer by the Siouan people. As a matter of fact this strong distinction may not have existed. The use of this type of house by the Foxes has already been mentioned. Whether these may be regarded as representing a purely aboriginal form of structure is not easily determined, but they will at once recall the unit of the long communal dwellings of the Iroquois. The slanting roof, the flat front and back, and the upright walls, all covered with large sheets of bark, were the same.

Again returning to the narrative of the Long expedition. Early in July, 1823, the party having rested at the mouth of the Minnesota, or St. Peters River, began ascending that stream. Having advanced a short distance they arrived at the village of Taoapa, better known as "Shakopee's Village," from the name of the chief of this band of the Mdewakanton. It stood in the present Scott County, Minnesota, and in the summer of 1823 "consisted of fifteen large bark lodges, in good order; they were arranged along the river. Some of them were large enough to hold from thirty to fifty persons, accommodated as the Indians usually are in their lodges. The ground near it is neatly laid out, and some fine corn-fields were observed in the vicinity. There were scaffolds annexed to the houses, for the purpose of drying maize, etc.; upon these we were told that the Indians sleep during very hot nights." Near the village were seen various scaffold burials, while "In the midst of the corn-fields a dog was suspended, his head decorated with feathers, and with horse-hair stained red; it was probably a sacrifice for the protection of the corn-fields during the absence of the Indians." Six miles above the village was Little Prairie. (Keating, (1), pp. 329-330.) Quite likely the structures at this village were similar to those described above, which resembled in outline the log cabins of the white settlers.

Wahpeton.

The Wahpeton, "dwellers among leaves," constitute one of the seven great divisions of the Dakota, and to quote from the Handbook: "Historic and linguistic evidence proves the affinity of this tribe with the Sisseton, Wahpekute, and Mdewakanton. Hennepin (1680) mentions them as living in the vicinity of Mille Lac, Minn., near the Mdewakanton, Sisseton, and Teton. On his map they are placed a little to the N. E. of the lake." While living in the seclusion of the vast forests which surrounded the great lakes of central Minnesota, the villages of the Wahpeton were probably formed of groups of bark or mat covered structures so typical of the region at a later day. Gradually they left the timbered regions, and about the first years of the last century were living near the mouth of the Minnesota River. Thence they appear to have moved up the stream, and during the summer of 1823 were encountered by the Long expedition in the vicinity of Big Stone Lake, in the present Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. The account of the meeting with the Indians on the prairie, and later of their visit to the village, by the members of the expedition, is most interesting. On July 21, 1823, "While traveling over the prairie which borders upon this part of the St. Peter, that connects Lake qui Parle with Big Stone Lake, our attention was aroused by the sight of what appeared to be buffaloes chased across the prairie. They, however, soon proved to be Indians; their number, at first limited to two, gradually increased to near one hundred; they were seen rising from every part of the prairie, and after those in advance had reconnoitered us, and made signals that we were friends, by discharging their guns, they all came running towards us, and in a few minutes we found ourselves surrounded by a numerous band.... Some of them were mounted on horseback, and were constantly drumming upon the sides of their horses with their heels, being destitute both of whip and spur. Many of them came and shook hands with us, while the rest were riding all round us in different directions. They belonged, as we were told, to the Wahkpatoan, [Wahpeton] one of the tribes of the Dacotas.... As we rode towards their lodges, we were met by a large party of squaws and children, who formed a very motly group.... The village, to which they directed us, consisted of thirty skin lodges, situated on a fine meadow on the bank of the lake. Their permanent residence, or at least that which they have occupied as such for the last five years, is on a rocky island, (Big Island), in the lake, nearly opposite to, and within a quarter of a mile of, their present encampment. Upon the island they cultivate their cornfields, secure against the aggressions of their enemies. They had been lately engaged in hunting buffalo, apparently with much success. The principal man led us to his lodge, wherein a number of the influential men were admitted, the women being excluded; but we observed that they, with the children, went about the lodge, peeping through all the crevices, and not unfrequently raising the skins to observe our motion. They soon brought in a couple of large wooden dishes, filled with pounded buffalo meat boiled, and covered with the marrow of the same animal; of this we partook with great delight." This was followed by another feast, in a near-by tent, and still a third where a dog had been killed and prepared, "which is considered not only as the greatest delicacy, but also as a sacred animal, of which they eat only on great occasions." The party did not remain long at the village, but continued on up the lake shore, and soon encountered on a bluff "two Indian lodges, in one of which was Tatanka Wechacheta, (the buffalo man,) an Indian who claims the command of the Wahkpatoans." Later in the day the party returned to these lodges, where "the chief, and his principal men, were in waiting. We entered the skin lodge, and were seated on fine buffalo robes, spread all round; on the fire, which was in the centre of the lodge, two large iron kettles, filled with choicest pieces of buffalo, were placed.... Our hosts were gratified and flattered at the quantity which we ate; the residue of the feast was sent to our soldiers. In this, and every other instance where we have been invited to a feast by Indians, we observed that they never eat with their guests." (Keating, (1), I, pp. 367-373.)

The village of skin-covered tipis standing on the shore of the lake, as seen by members of the expedition on that July day nearly a century ago, must have resembled the painting later made by Capt. Eastman, which is reproduced in plate [22], b, taken from Schoolcraft. In the painting the tipis are undoubtedly too closely placed, but otherwise they are quite accurately shown. This illustration as used in Schoolcraft bears the legend "Dakotah Encampment."

Yanktonai.

Like other divisions of the Dakota, the Yanktonai formerly lived in the thickly timbered region surrounding the headwaters of the Mississippi, in the central portion of the present State of Minnesota, and, like them, moved southward and westward until they reached the plains and the habitat of the buffalo. Although in their earlier home they undoubtedly reared the mat-covered structures, nevertheless when they reached the open country they constructed the conical skin lodge.

During the latter part of July, 1823, the Long expedition reached a village of this tribe then standing in the vicinity of Lake Traverse, in the present Traverse County, Minnesota. In the narrative of the expedition very little is said regarding the appearance of the encampment, which may not have offered any peculiar features, but much was said concerning the dress and ways of the inhabitants. In part the narrative states: "The principal interest which we experienced in the neighbourhood of Lake Traverse, was from an acquaintance with Wanotan, (the Charger,) the most distinguished chief of the Yanktoanan tribe, which, as we were informed, is subdivided into six bands. He is one of the greatest men of the Dacota nation, and although but twenty-eight years of age, he has already acquired great renown as a warrior." As the party neared the establishment of the Columbia Fur Company, on the border of the lake, "a salute was fired from a number of Indian tents which were pitched in the vicinity, from the largest of which the American colours were flying. And as soon as we had dismounted from our horses, we received an invitation to a feast which Wanotan had prepared for us." Three dogs had been killed and prepared for the great occasion. "We repaired to a sort of pavilion which they had erected by the union of several large skin lodges. Fine Buffalo robes were spread all around, and the air was perfumed by the odour of sweet scenting grass which had been burned in it. On entering the lodge we saw the chief seated near the further end of it, and one of his principal men pointed out to us the place which was destined for our accommodation; it was at the upper end of the lodge." (Keating, (1), I, pp. 429-432.)

Arranging the skin covers of several large tipis in such a way as to form a single shelter, to serve as a ceremonial "lodge," was the custom of many tribes, and other instances will be mentioned. But another and more elaborate form of structure was used by the tribes just mentioned. In 1858, when describing certain customs of the people then living along the course of the Minnesota and in the vicinity of Lake Traverse, Riggs referred to the sacred dance and said: "Among the Dakotas a most remarkable society exists which is called Wakan wachepe, or Sacred Dance, of which the medicine sack is the badge. It may be regarded as the depository and guardian of whatever they esteem as wakan, or sacred." He then related the contents of the bag and the meaning of the ceremony, and continues: "A large skin lodge is usually occupied as the center of operations, the door of which is made wide by throwing up the corners. From this, on each hand, extends a kind of railing, some thirty or forty feet, on which skins are thrown. The entrance is at the farther end. All around the inside of this sanctum sanctorum and along the extended sides sit those who are called to the dance. Beyond this and near the place of entrance is a fire, with great kettles hanging over it, which are filled with dried buffalo meat or other food; and near by lay several packs or bags of the same, which are consecrated to the feast. The whole village are gathered around and are looking over or peeping through the holes in the barricades." Much was then told about the strange and curious ceremonies enacted within the lodge. (Riggs, (1), pp. 505-506.)

Leaving the encampment in the vicinity of the post of the Columbia Fur Company, the Long expedition moved northward, and when just beyond Lake Traverse, while traversing the prairies on July 27, 1823, "passed a party of squaws engaged in conveying to their camp some slices of fresh meat to jerk; their fellow labourers were dogs. Each of the dogs had the ends of two poles crossed and fastened over the shoulders, with a piece of hide underneath to prevent chafing. The other extremities dragged on the ground. This sort of vehicle was secured to the animal by a string passing round the breast, and another under the abdomen; transverse sticks, the ends of which were fastened in the poles, kept these at a proper distance, and supported the meat. This seems to be the only mode of harnessing dogs, practised among the Sioux; we believe, they never use them in teams, as is customary with the traders." (Keating, (1), II, pp. 9-10.)

The expedition soon arrived at Pembina, near the international boundary, where it would appear they found the two characteristic forms of native habitations in use by the Indians. A drawing was at that time made by Seymour and used as an illustration in the narrative, showing the "two different kind of lodges used by the northwest Indians," the first being the skin lodge of the prairie tribes, and "of this nature are all the lodges used by the Dacotas;" the second were the bark-covered structures of the Ojibway, "who for the most part live to the north-east of the buffalo regions." To this latter class must have belonged the habitations of the Siouan tribes before they were forced from their early homes among the forests and lakes to the eastward.

When referring to the two characteristic forms of habitations it will be of interest to quote from the writings of one who traversed the country more than a century and a half ago, when all was in its primitive condition, but, like many writers of that period, he failed to give details which at the present time would prove of the greatest value. He wrote: "The Indians, in general, pay a greater attention to their dress and to the ornaments with which they decorate their persons, than to the accommodation of their huts or tents. They construct the latter in the following simple and expeditious manner.

"Being provided with poles of a proper length, they fasten two of them across, near their ends, with bands made of bark. Having done this, they raise them up, and extend the bottom of each as wide as they purpose to make the area of the tent: they then erect others of an equal height, and fix them so as to support the two principal ones. On the whole they lay skins of the elk or deer, sewed together, in quantity sufficient to cover the poles, and by lapping over to form the door. A great number of skins are sometimes required for this purpose, as some of their tents are very capacious. That of the chief warrior of the Naudowessies was at least forty feet in circumference, and very commodious.

"They observe no regularity in fixing their tents when they encamp, but place them just as it suits their conveniency.

"The huts also, which those who use no tents erect when they travel, for very few tribes have fixed abodes or regular towns or villages, are equally simple, and almost as soon constructed.

"They fix small pliable poles in the ground, by bending them till they meet at the top and form a semi-circle, then lash them together. These they cover with mats made of rushes platted, or with birch bark, which they carry with them in their canoes for this purpose.

"These cabins have neither chimnies nor windows; there is only a small aperture left in the middle of the roofs through which the smoke is discharged, but as this is obliged to be stopped up when it rains or snows violently, the smoke then proves exceedingly troublesome.

"They lie on skins, generally those of the bear, which are placed in rows on the ground; and if the floor is not large enough to contain beds sufficient for the accommodation of the whole family, a frame is erected about four or five feet from the ground, in which the younger part of it sleep." (Carver, (1), pp. 152-154.) Though lacking much in detail, nevertheless the preceding notes are of historical interest and value, describing as they do the primitive habitations which were reared and occupied by the native tribes living in the upper Mississippi Valley about the middle of the eighteenth century. Skins of the elk and deer were evidently used as coverings for the conical tipi, which seems to prove the lack of a sufficient number of buffalo skins to serve the purpose, although farther west, beyond the timbered country, where buffalo were more easily obtained, their skins were made use of and covered the shelters of tribes by whom they were hunted.

Yankton.

When the expedition under the leadership of General Atkinson ascended the Missouri, during the summer of 1825, he wrote regarding the Yankton: "The Yanctons are a band of the Sioux, and rove in the plains north of the Missouri, from near the Great Bend, down as far as the Sioux river. They do not cultivate, but live by the chase alone, subsisting principally upon buffalo. They cover themselves with leather tents, or lodges, which they move about from place to place, as the buffalo may chance to range. They are pretty well supplied with fusees, and with horses, and a few mules. They are estimated at 3,000 souls, of which 600 are warriors. They are comfortably habited in frocks, or shirts of dressed skins, and leggings, reaching to the waist, of the same; they use besides, robes of buffalo skins, which are frequently beautifully wrought with porcupine quills, or painted tastefully; are friendly to the whites, but make war upon almost all other tribes, except those of their own nation. Their trading ground is on the river Jaques." (Atkinson, (1), pp. 8-9.) On June 17 the party arrived at Fort Lookout, a post of the American Fur Company, and four days later, "on the 21st, the Tetons, Yanctons, and Yanctonies, three distinct bands of the Sioux Nation, having arrived, a council was opened, and, on the 22d, a treaty concluded with them." This great gathering of the tribes, with their numerous skin-covered tipis, would have presented a sight similar to that witnessed and described by Catlin just seven years later, in the vicinity of Fort Pierre.

An excellent description of the skin-covered tipi of the Sioux, but of the structures of the Yankton in particular, is contained in Maximilian's narrative. Writing on May 25, 1833, he said the "Sioux Agency, or, as it is now usually called, Fort Lookout, is a square, of about sixty paces, surrounded by pickets, twenty or thirty feet high, made of squared trunks of trees placed close to each other, within which the dwellings are built close to the palisades.... About ten leather tents or huts of the Sioux, of the branch of the Yanktons or Yanktoans, were set up near the fort.... All these Dacotas of the Missouri, as well as most of those of the Mississippi, are only hunters, and, in their excursions, always live in portable leather tents.... The tents of the Sioux are high pointed cones, made of strong poles, covered with buffalo skins, closely sewed together. These skins are scraped on both sides, so that they become as transparent as parchment, and give free admission to the light. At the top, where the poles meet, or cross each other, there is an opening, to let out the smoke, which they endeavor to close by a piece of the skin covering of the tent, fixed to a separate pole standing upright, and fastened to the upper part of the covering on the side from which the wind blows. The door is a slit, in the front of the tent, which is generally closed by another piece of buffalo hide, stretched upon a frame. A small fire is kept up in the centre of the tent. Poles are stuck in the ground, near the tent, and utensils of various kinds are suspended from them. There are, likewise, stages, on which to hang the newly-tanned hides; others, with gaily-painted parchment pouches and bags, on some of which they hang their bows, arrows, quivers, leather shields, spears, and war clubs.

"We paid a visit to Wahktageli in his tent, and had some difficulty in creeping into the narrow, low entrance, after pulling aside the skin that covered it. The inside of this tent was light, and it was about ten paces in diameter. Buffalo skins were spread on the ground, upon which we sat down. Between us and the side of the tent were a variety of articles, such as pouches, boxes, saddles, arms, &c. A relation of the chief was employed in making arrows, which were finished very neatly, and with great care. Wahktageli immediately, with much gravity, handed the tobacco-pipe round, and seemed to inhale the precious smoke with great delight.... The conversation was carried on by Cephier, the interpreter kept by the Agency, who accompanied us on this visit.... The owner of a neighbouring tent had killed a large elk, the skin of which the women were then busily employed in dressing. They had stretched it out, by means of leather straps, on the ground near the tent, and the women were scraping off the particles of flesh and fat with a very well-contrived instrument. It is made of bone, sharpened at one end, and furnished with little teeth like a saw, and, at the other end, a strap, which is fastened round the wrist." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 148-152.) A drawing by Bodmer, reproduced by Maximilian on page 151 of the work cited, is here shown as figure [2]. It represents a small group of tipis, of the type mentioned in the narrative, and on the right, in the rear, is a tripod with what appears to be a shield suspended from it. The bone implement mentioned as being used by the women to remove particles of flesh from the skin of the recently killed elk belonged to a well-known type which was extensively used throughout the region. It was formed of the large bones of the leg of the buffalo, elk, or moose. Many old examples are preserved in the National Museum, Washington.

Fig. 2.—Tipis.

When dealing with the agents of the Government the Yankton would gather on the plains around Fort Pierre. Just 20 years after Maximilian's visit to the upper Missouri a small party passed down the river, and on October 18, 1853, entered in their journal: "We reached Fort Pierre about 12 o'clock m.... Two days before our arrival at this place, the main body of the Yankton Sioux, in number some twenty-five hundred, had left for the buffalo country. They have been here to receive their presents from the government. Two more bands are expected in a few days." (Saxton, (1), p. 267.) And some days later, while continuing down the Missouri: "The prairies are burning in every direction, and the smoke is almost stifling."

Teton.

The Teton, moving westward from their early habitat to the east and north of the Minnesota, were encountered on the banks of the Missouri by Captains Lewis and Clark when they ascended the river, during the early autumn of 1804. On September 26 of that year the expedition reached the mouth of Teton River (the present Bad River), which enters the Missouri from the west at Pierre, Stanley County, South Dakota. Here stood the great village of the Teton, concerning which Sergeant Gass gave a very interesting account in his journal: "We remained here all day. Capt. Lewis, myself and some of the men, went over to the Indian camp. Their lodges are about eighty in number, and contain about ten persons each; the greater part women and children. The women were employed in dressing buffaloe skins, for clothing for themselves and for covering their lodges. They are the most friendly people I ever saw; but will pilfer if they have an opportunity. They are also very dirty: the water they make use of, is carried in the paunches of the animals they kill, just as they are emptied, without being cleaned.... About 3 o'clock we went aboard the boat accompanied with the old chief and his little son. In the evening captain Clarke and some of the men went over, and the Indians made preparations for a dance. At dark it commenced. Captain Lewis, myself and some of our party went up to see them perform. Their band of music, or orchestra, was composed of about twelve persons beating on a buffalo hide, and shaking small bags that made a rattling noise. They had a large fire in the centre of their camp; on one side the women, about 80 in number, formed a solid column round the fire, with sticks in their hands, and the scalps of the Mahas they had killed, tied on them. They kept moving, or jumping round the fire, rising and falling on both feet at once; keeping a continual noise, singing and yelling. In this manner they continued till 1 o'clock at night, when we returned to the boat with two of the chiefs." (Gass, (1), pp. 45-46.)

In the journal of the expedition is a very full account of the events which transpired during the two days spent at the Teton camp, but only part will now be quoted, sufficient to describe the place of meeting: "Captain Lewis went on shore and remained several hours, and observing that their disposition was friendly we resolved to remain during the night to a dance, which they were preparing for us. Captains Lewis and Clark, who went on shore one after the other, were met on landing by ten well dressed young men, who took them up in a robe highly decorated and carried them to a large council house, where they were placed on a dressed buffaloe skin by the side of the grand chief. The hall or council-room was in the shape of three quarters of a circle, covered at the top and sides with skins well dressed and sewed together. Under this shelter sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before whom were placed a Spanish flag and the one we had given them yesterday. This left a vacant circle of about six feet diameter, in which the pipe of peace was raised on two forked sticks, about six or eight inches from the ground, and under it the down of the swan was scattered: a large fire, in which they were cooking provisions, stood near, and in the centre about four hundred pounds of excellent buffaloe meat as a present for us." Then followed several addresses by the chiefs; offerings of dog meat to the flag "by way of sacrifice," and the smoking of the pipe of peace. (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 84-86.) The entire ceremony proved of the greatest interest. Then followed an account of the habitations standing in the village: "Their lodges are very neatly constructed, in the same form as those of the Yanktons; they consist of about one hundred cabins, made of white buffaloe hide dressed, with a larger one in the centre for holding councils and dances. They are built round with poles about fifteen or twenty feet high, covered with white skins; these lodges may be taken to pieces, packed up, and carried with the nation wherever they go, by dogs which bear great burdens. The women are chiefly employed in dressing buffaloe skins: they seem perfectly well disposed, but are addicted to stealing any thing which they can take without being observed." (Op. cit., pp. 88-89.)

During the year 1832 George Catlin remained for some time at and near the mouth of the Teton, where a few years before had been erected a station of the American Fur Company, which was soon given the name Fort Pierre. "The country about this Fort is almost entirely prairie, producing along the banks of the river and streams only, slight skirtings of timber.... On my way up the river I made a painting of this lovely spot, taken from the summit of the bluffs, a mile or two distant, showing an encampment of Sioux, of six hundred tents of skin lodges, around the Fort, where they had concentrated to make their spring trade; exchanging their furs and peltries for articles and luxuries of civilized manufactures." (Catlin, (1), I, p. 209.) And he continued (p. 211): "I mentioned that this is the nucleus or place of concentration of the numerous tribe of the Sioux, who often congregate here in great masses to make their trades with the American Fur Company; and that on my way up the river, some months since, I found here encamped, six hundred families of Sioux, living in tents covered with buffalo hides. Amongst these there were twenty or more of the different bands, each one with their chief at their head, over whom was a superior chief and leader, a middle-aged man, of middling stature, with a noble countenance.... The name of this chief is Ha-won-je-tah (the one horn) of the Mee-ne-cow-e-gee band, who has risen rapidly to the highest honours in the tribe."

About this time a "grand feast" was prepared by the Indians in honor of the Indian agent and the several Americans who were then at Fort Pierre, including Catlin. A sketch of the gathering is shown in plate [23], a, after the illustration in Catlin's narrative, but it may be of interest to know that the original painting is now in the National Museum, Washington. Describing this scene, Catlin wrote:

"The two chiefs, Ha-wan-je-tah and Tchan-dee ... brought their two tents together, forming the two into a semi-circle, enclosing a space sufficiently large to accommodate 150 men; and sat down with that number of the principal chiefs and warriors of the Sioux nation." The several Americans were "placed on elevated seats in the centre of the crescent; while the rest of the company all sat upon the ground, and mostly cross-legged, preparatory to the feast being dealt out. In the centre of the semi-circle was erected a flag-staff, on which was waving a white flag, and to which also was tied the calumet, both expressive of their friendly feelings towards us. Near the foot of the flag-staff were placed in a row on the ground, six or eight kettles, with iron covers on them, shutting them tight, in which were prepared the viands for our voluptuous feast. Near the kettles, and on the ground also, bottomside upwards, were a number of wooden bowls, in which the meat was to be served out. And in front, two or three men, who were there placed as waiters, to light the pipes for smoking, and also to deal out the food." (Op. cit., p. 228.) The account of the ceremony which soon followed proves the gathering to have been one of much interest, and to the Indians one of great moment. The arrangement of the two large tipis so as to form a single shelter recalls the site of the gathering near the shore of Lake Traverse only a few years before. It is to be regretted that Catlin did not leave a more detailed description of the appearance of the great encampment as it was at the time of his visit, but he devoted much of his time to painting portraits of the Indians, of which he prepared a large number.

Although Catlin found representatives of many bands of Sioux gathered about on the plain surrounding Fort Pierre, nevertheless the comparatively permanent village of the Teton was near the mouth of the stream of that name. Maximilian, who ascended the Missouri during the spring of 1833, arrived at Fort Pierre late in May, and in his journal said: "The Sioux, who live on Teton River, near Fort Pierre, are mostly of the branch of the Tetons; though there are some Yanktons here." (Maximilian, (1), p. 150.) He elsewhere mentioned that "the tents are generally composed of fourteen skins," therefore consider the great number of buffalo required to furnish coverings for the lodges mentioned by Catlin. Maximilian wrote on May 30, 1833, near Fort Pierre: "Round an isolated tree in the prairie I observed a circle of holes in the ground, in which thick poles had stood. A number of buffalo skulls were piled up there; and we were told that this was a medicine, or charm, contrived by the Indians in order to entice the herds of buffaloes. Everywhere in the plain we saw circles of clods of earth, with a small circular ditch, where the tents of many Indians had stood." (Op. cit., p. 157.) These were evidently the remains of the encampment seen by Catlin the preceding year.

A sketch of Fort Pierre as it appeared July 4, 1851, is given in plate [23], b. This was the work of the young Swiss artist, Friedrich Kurz, and is now reproduced for the first time. The small groups of Indians, the tipis standing near the fort, and the rolling prairie in the distance are all graphically shown.

The several divisions of the Teton performed the sun dance, at which time a large ceremonial lodge would be erected, which stood alone in the camp circle, formed of the numerous skin tipis. The lodge as reared at different times and by the various tribes varied in form and method of construction, but it seems to have been the custom of all the tribes to abandon the structure at the termination of the ceremonies. It was regarded as a sacred place and one not to be destroyed by man. Large structures of this sort were often encountered by parties traversing the plains and adjacent regions, and one, probably erected by a tribe of the Teton, was discovered by the Raynolds party, July 16, 1859, in the extreme eastern part of the present Crook County, Wyoming. In the journal of the expedition it was written on that day, "We have not yet met any Indians, nor any indications of their recent presence. The site of our camp is, however, marked by the remains of an immense Indian lodge, the frame of which consists of large poles, over thirty feet in length. Close by is also a high post, around which a perfect circle of buffalo skulls has been arranged." (Raynolds, (1), p. 31.) This may have been used during the preceding year, at which time the skin tipis of the people enacting the sacred ceremonies were pitched in the form of a circle with the great lodge standing in the center. But with the completion of the annual dance the participants removed, with their skin tipis, to other localities, allowing the sacred structure to be destroyed by the elements.

OGLALA.

Of the early history of this, the principal division of the Teton, nothing is known. During the first years of the last century they were discovered by Lewis and Clark on the banks of the upper Missouri, south of the Cheyenne River, in the present Stanley County, South Dakota. They hunted and roamed over a wide region, and by the middle of the century occupied the country between the Forks of the Platte and beyond to the Black Hills. While living on the banks of the Missouri their villages undoubtedly resembled the skin-covered tipi settlements of the other kindred tribes, and later, when they had pushed farther into the prairie country, there was probably no change in the appearance of their structures. A very interesting account of the villages of this tribe, with reference to their ways of life, after they had arrived on the banks of the Platte, is to be found in the narrative of Stansbury's expedition, during the years 1849 and 1850.

July 2, 1849, the expedition crossed the South Fork of the Platte, evidently at some point in the western part of the present Keith County, Nebraska, and on the following day "crossed the ridge between the North and South Forks of the Platte, a distance of eighteen and a half miles." On July 5 the expedition began moving up the right bank of the North Fork, and after advancing 23 miles encamped on the bank of the river. They had arrived in the region dominated by the Oglala. "Just above us, was a village of Sioux, consisting of ten lodges. They were accompanied by Mr. Badeau, a trader; and having been driven from the South Fork by the cholera, had fled to the emigrant-road, in the hope of obtaining medical aid from the whites. As soon as it was dark, the chief and a dozen of the braves of the village came and sat down in a semicircle around the front of my tent, and, by means of an interpreter, informed me that they would be very glad of a little coffee, sugar, or biscuit. I gave them what we could spare." This particular band had not suffered very severely from the ailment, but were greatly heartened to receive medicines from the doctor, or "medicine-man," of the expedition, and when they returned to their village "the sound of the drum and the song, expressive of the revival of hope, which had almost departed, resounded from the 'medicine lodge,' and continued until a late hour of the night." (Stansbury, (1), pp. 44-45.) During this visit some of the Indians told of a larger camp about 2 miles distant, where many were ill with the dreaded malady.

The following morning, July 6, 1849, the expedition resumed its advance up the valley, and soon reached the "upper village," of which an interesting account is given in the journal. It "contained about two hundred and fifty souls. They were in the act of breaking up their encampment, being obliged to move farther up the river to obtain fresh grass for their animals. A more curious, animated, and novel scene I never witnessed. Squaws, papooses, dogs, puppies, mules, and ponies, all in busy motion, while the lordly, lazy men lounged about with an air of listless indifference, too proud to render the slightest aid to their faithful drudges. Before the lodge of each brave was erected a tripod of thin slender poles about ten feet in length, upon which was suspended his round white shield, with some device painted upon it, his spear, and a buckskin sack containing his 'medicine' bag.... We continued our journey, accompanied for several miles by the people of both villages. The whole scene was unique in the highest degree. The road was strewn for miles with the most motley assemblage I ever beheld, each lodge moving off from the village as soon as its inhabitants were ready, without waiting for the others. The means of transportation were horses, mules, and dogs. Four or five lodge-poles are fastened on each side of the animal, the ends of which trail on the ground behind, like the shafts of a truck or dray. On these, behind the horse, is fastened a light framework, the outside of which consists of a strong hoop bent into an oval form, and interlaced with a sort of network of rawhide. Most of these are surmounted by a light wicker canopy, very like our covers for children's wagons, except that it extends the whole length and is open only at one side. Over the canopy is spread a blanket, shawl, or buffalo-robe, so as to form a protection from the sun or rain. Upon this light but strong trellice-work, they place the lighter articles, such as clothing, robes, &c., and then pack away among these their puppies and papooses, (of both which they seem to have a goodly number;) the women, when tired of walking, get upon them to rest and take care of their babies.... The dogs also are made to perform an important part in this shifting of quarters. Two short, light lodge-poles are fastened together at the small end, and made to rest at the angle upon the animal's back, the other end of course, trailing upon the ground. Over his shoulders is placed a sort of pad, or small saddle, the girth of which fastens the poles to his sides, and connects with a little collar or breast-strap. Behind the dog, a small platform or frame is fastened to the poles, similar to that used for the horses, upon which are placed lighter articles, generally puppies, which are considered quite valuable, being raised for beasts of burden as well as for food and the chase.... The whole duty of taking down and putting up the lodges, packing up, loading the horses, arranging the lodge-poles, and leading or driving the animals, devolves upon the squaws, while the men stalk along at their leisure; even the boys of larger growth deeming it beneath their dignity to lighten the toils of their own mothers." (Op. cit., pp. 45-47.)

From the preceding account of the movement of a village of the Oglala it is quite apparent they did not advance in the orderly manner followed by the Pawnee, as described by Murray in 1835, but the dreaded illness from which many were then suffering may have caused the rather demoralized condition of the band. The travois as used at that time was similar to the example shown in plate [14], although the latter was in use by the Cheyenne a generation later. But the frame was not always utilized, and often the tipi, folded and rolled, with other possessions of the family, rested upon the poles or upon the back of the horse.

Horses thus laden, and with trailing poles on either side, left a very distinctive trail as they crossed the prairie, and as described: "The trail of the Plain Indians consists usually of three paths, close together, yet at fixed distances apart. They are produced as follows: The framework of their lodges or tents are made of long poles which, on a journey, are tied to each side of a pony, and allowed to trail upon the ground. The result is that a long string of ponies, thus laden and following each other, will wear a triple path—the central one being caused by the tread of the ponies, the two outer by the trailing of the lodge-poles." (Bell, (1), pp. 25-26.) An illustration of a horse so loaded is given on page 26 and is here reproduced as figure [3]. It bears the legend "Sioux Indian Lodges or Tents; one packed for a journey, the other standing," and, although crude, conveys a clear conception of the subject.

Fig. 3.—Horse travois.

To continue the narrative of the Stansbury expedition. The party advanced up the river and pursued their journey to the Great Salt Lake and there wintered. The following year they returned to the east and on September 21, 1850, reached the left bank of the North Fork of the Platte, at a point near the center of the present Carbon County, Wyoming. Describing the site of their encampment that night, near the bank of the Platte: "The place we now occupy has long been a favorite camp-ground for the numerous war-parties which annually meet in this region to hunt buffalo and one another. Remains of old Indian stockades are met with scattered about among the thickets; and the guide informed us, that four years since there were at one and the same time, upon this one bottom, fifteen or twenty of these forts, constructed by different tribes. Most of them have since been destroyed by fire. As this was the season of the year when we might expect to find them upon their expeditions, we were on the qui vive, lest we should be surprised." They remained in camp the following day, Sunday, and that evening entered in the journal: "Several herds of buffalo were seen during the day."

The morning of the 23d was warm and cloudy, and the party soon after leaving their camp forded the river "on a ripple, with a depth of eighteen inches." The water was clear, with a pebbly bottom. That this location was frequented by Indians was again indicated by the discovery of another great group of "forts," as told in the narrative: "Immediately above where we crossed, were about twenty Indian forts, or lodges constructed of logs set up endwise, somewhat in the form of an ordinary skin lodge, which had been erected among the timber by different war-parties: they appeared to be very strong, and were ball-proof." (Stansbury, (1), pp. 243-246.) These strongly constructed lodges will at once recall the rather similar structures which stood at some of the Siouan villages, on the Mississippi below the mouth of the Minnesota, during the early years of the last century.

On September 27, when about midway across the present Albany County, Wyoming, the expedition encountered a large number of Indians belonging to a village a short distance beyond. These proved to be the Oglala, and during the following day the village was visited by Stansbury, who wrote in the journal: "This village was the largest and by far the best-looking of any I had ever seen. It consisted of nearly one hundred lodges, most of which were entirely new, pitched upon the level prairie which borders on the verdant banks of the Laramie. No regular order seemed to be observed in their position, but each builder appeared to have selected the site for his habitation according to his own fancy.

"We rode at once to the lodge of the chief, which was painted in broad horizontal stripes of alternate black and white, and, on the side opposite to the entrance, was ornamented with large black crosses on a white ground. We found the old fellow sitting on the floor of his lodge, and his squaw busily engaged over a few coals, endeavouring to fry, or rather boil, in a pan nearly filled with grease, some very suspicious-looking lumps of dough, made doubtless from the flour they had received from us yesterday.... After some further conversation, another chief, named the 'Iron Heart,' rose up and invited us to a feast at his lodge: we accordingly accompanied him, and found him occupying the largest and most complete structure in the village, although I was assured that the Sioux frequently make them much larger. It was intended to be used whenever required, for the accommodation of any casual trader that might come among them for the purpose of traffic, and was accordingly called 'The Trader's Lodge.' It was made of twenty-six buffalo-hides, perfectly new, and white as snow, which, being sewed together without a wrinkle, were stretched over twenty-four new poles, and formed a conical tent of thirty feet diameter upon the ground, and thirty-five feet in height." This must have been a magnificent example of the tipi of the plains tribes, and is one of the largest of which any record has been preserved.

Moving in a southeastwardly direction from the great village, they passed many mounted Indians killing buffalo, and later in the day passed another Oglala village of some 50 lodges, moving southward. The surface of the prairie for many miles was strewn with the remains of buffalo, which had been killed by the Indians and from which only choice pieces had been removed. (Op. cit., pp. 254-257.) They were now ascending the western slopes of the Black Hills, and approaching the region dominated by the Cheyenne, and two days later, September 29, 1850, were a short distance south of a village of the latter tribe.

The region just mentioned, the southeastern part of Wyoming, was traversed by a missionary who, July 24, 1835, encountered a party of 30 or 40 mounted Indians. "They were Ogallallahs, headed by eight of their chiefs, clad in their war habiliments, and presenting somewhat of a terrific appearance.... They told us their whole village was only a few hours' travel ahead of us, going to the Black Hills for the purpose of trading." Late the following day the party overtook the Indians, "consisting of more than two thousand persons. These villages are not stationary, but move from place to place, as inclination or convenience may dictate. Their lodges are comfortable, and easily transported. They are constructed of eight or ten poles about eighteen feet long, set up in a circular form, the small ends fastened together, making an apex, and the large ends are spread out so as to enclose an area of about twenty feet in diameter. The whole is covered with their coarse skins, which are elk, or buffalo, taken when they are not good for robes. A fire is made in the centre, a hole being left in the top of the lodge for the smoke to pass out. All that they have for household furniture, clothing, and skins for beds, is deposited around according to their ideas of propriety and convenience. Generally not more than one family occupies a lodge." (Parker, (1), pp. 66-67.)

Fort Laramie was reached by the Stansbury expedition on July 12, 1849, after advancing about 100 miles beyond the Oglala villages passed six days before. The fort stood on the emigrant road, and was likewise a great gathering place of the neighboring Indians. An interesting account of the visit of a party of emigrants just four years before is preserved: "Our camp is stationary to-day; part of the emigrants are shoeing their horses and oxen; others are trading at the fort and with the Indians.... In the afternoon we gave the Indians a feast, and held a long talk with them. Each family, as they could best spare it, contributed a portion of bread, meat, coffee or sugar, which being cooked, a table was set by spreading buffalo skins upon the ground, and arranging the provisions upon them. Around this attractive board, the Indian chiefs and their principal men seated themselves, occupying one fourth of the circle; the remainder of the male Indians made out the semi-circle; the rest of the circle was completed by the whites. The squaws and younger Indians formed an outer semi-circular row immediately behind their dusky lords and fathers." (Palmer, (1), pp. 25-26.) This was June 25, 1845, and the account of the gathering of emigrants and Indians is followed by a brief description of the fort itself which is of equal interest; "Here are two forts. Fort Laramie, situated upon the west side of Laramie's fork, two miles from Platte river, belongs to the North American Fur Company. The fort is built of adobes. The walls are about two feet thick, and twelve or fourteen feet high, the tops being picketed or spiked. Posts are planted in these walls, and support the timber for the roof. They are then covered with mud. In the centre is an open square, perhaps twenty-five yards each way, along the sides of which are ranged the dwellings, store rooms, smith shop, carpenter's shop, offices, &c., all fronting upon the inner area. There are two principal entrances; one at the north, the other at the south." (Op. cit., pp. 27-28.) Outside the fort proper, on the eastern side, stood the stables, and a short distance away was a field of about 4 acres where corn was planted, "by way of experiment." About 1 mile distant was a similar though smaller structure called Fort John. It was then owned and occupied by a company from St. Louis, but a few months later it was purchased by the North American Fur Company and destroyed. Such were the typical "forts," on and beyond the frontier during the past century.

The Indians would gather about the fort, their skin tipis standing in clusters over the surrounding prairie. Such groups are shown in plate [24], a, b. These two very interesting photographs were made during the visit of the Indian Peace Commission to Fort Laramie in 1868, and it is highly probable the tipis shown in the pictures were occupied by some of the Indians with whom the commissioners treated.

The Black Hills lay north and west of the region then occupied by the Oglala, and although it is known that the broken country was often visited and frequented by parties of Indians in quest of poles for their tipis, yet it seems doubtful if any permanent settlements ever stood within the region. Dodge, in discussing this question, said:

"My opinion is, that the Black Hills have never been a permanent home for any Indians. Even now small parties go a little way into the Hills to cut spruce lodge-poles, but all the signs indicate that these are mere sojourns of the most temporary character.

"The 'teepe,' or lodge, may be regarded as the Indian's house, the wickup as his tent. One is his permanent residence, the other the make-shift shelter for a night. Except in one single spot, near the head of Castle Creek, I saw nowhere any evidence whatever of a lodge having been set up, while old wickups were not unfrequent in the edge of the Hills. There is not one single teepe or lodge-pole trail, from side to side of the Hills, in any direction, and these poles, when dragged in the usual way by ponies, soon make a trail as difficult to obliterate as a wagon road, visible for many years, even though not used." (Dodge, (1), pp. 136-137.)

Col. R. I. Dodge, from whose work the preceding quotation has been made, was in command of the military escort which formed part of the expedition into the Black Hills during the summer of 1875. The traces of the lodges which had stood near the head of Castle Creek, as mentioned in 1875, undoubtedly marked the position of the small encampment encountered by the Ludlow party the previous year. In the journal of that expedition, dated July 26, 1874, is to be found this brief mention: "In the afternoon occurred the first rencontre with Indians. A village of seven lodges, containing twenty-seven souls, was found in the valley. The men were away peacefully engaged in hunting; the squaws in camp drying meat, cooking, and other camp avocations. Red Cloud's daughter was the wife of the head-man, whose name was One Stab. General Custer was desirous they should remain and introduce us to the hills, but the presence among our scouts of a party of Rees, with whom the Sioux wage constant war, rendered them very uneasy, and toward night-fall, abandoning their camp, they made the escape. Old One Stab was at headquarters when the flight was discovered, and retained both as guide and hostage.... The high limestone ridges surrounding the camp had weathered into castellated forms of considerable grandeur and beauty and suggested the name of Castle Valley." (Ludlow, (1), p. 13.) Red Cloud, whose daughter is mentioned above, was one of the greatest chiefs and warriors of the Oglala; born in 1822 near the forks of the Platte, and lived until December, 1909.

Although there may never have been any large permanent camps within the Black Hills district, nevertheless it is quite evident the region was frequented and traversed by bands of Indians, who left well-defined trails. Such were discovered by an expedition in 1875, and after referring to small trees which had been bent down by the weight of snow the narrative continued: "The snow must be sometimes deep enough to hide trails and landmarks, as the main Indian trails leading through the Hills were marked by stones placed in the forks of the trees or by one or more sets of blazes, the oldest almost overgrown by the bark." (Newton and Jenney, (1), p. 302.) And in the same work (p. 323), when treating of the timber of the Hills, it was said: "The small slender spruce-trees are much sought after by the Indians, who visit the Hills in the spring for the purpose of procuring them for lodge-poles."

In another work Dodge described the customs of the tribes with whom he had been in close contact for many years. The book is illustrated with engravings made from original drawings by the French artist Griset, and one sketch shows a few Indians, several tipis, and frames from which are hanging quantities of buffalo meat in the process of being dried. (Dodge, (2), p. 353.) This suggests the scene at Red Cloud's camp. The original drawing is now reproduced as plate [1], the frontispiece.

Assiniboin.

The Assiniboin were, until comparatively recent times, a part of the Yanktonai, from whom they may have separated while living in the forest region of the northern section of the present State of Minnesota. Leaving the parent stock, they joined the Cree, then living to the northward, with whom they remained in close alliance. Gradually they moved to the valleys of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboin Rivers and here were encountered by Alexander Henry in 1775. Interesting though brief notes on the structures of the Assiniboin as they appeared in 1775 and 1776 are contained in the narrative of Henry's travels through the great northern country. In 1775, when west of Lake Winnipeg, Henry wrote: "At eighty leagues above Fort de Bourbon, at the head of a stream which falls into the Sascatchiwaine, and into which we had turned, we found the Pasquayah village. It consisted of thirty families, lodged in tents of a circular form, and composed of dressed ox-skins, stretched upon poles twelve feet in length, and leaning against a stake driven into the ground in the centre. On our arrival, the chief, named Chatique, or the Pelican, came down upon the beach, attended by thirty followers, all armed with bows and arrows and with spears." (Henry, (1), pp. 256-257.) Fort de Bourbon stood at the northwest corner of Lake Winnipeg, and the Assiniboin village of Pasquayah was on the present Carrot River, which flows parallel with the Saskatchewan before joining the larger stream. This was in the eastern part of the province of Saskatchewan.

Early the following year Henry made a visit to an Assiniboin village, to reach which he crossed many miles of the frozen wilderness. He was accompanied by a party of Indians and the short account of the journey contains much of interest. They left Fort des Prairies, "built on the margin of the Pasquayah, or Sascatchiwaine," February 5, 1776, and, as is recorded in the journal, "At noon, we crossed a small river, called Moose-river, flowing at the feet of very lofty banks. Moose-river is said to fall into Lake Dauphin. Beyond this stream, the wood grows still more scanty, and the land more and more level. Our course was southerly. The snow lay four feet deep. The Indians travelled swiftly; and, in keeping pace with them, my companions and myself had too much exercise, to suffer from the coldness of the atmosphere; but, our snow-shoes being of a broader make than those of the Indians, we had much fatigue in following their track. The women led, and we marched till sunset, when we reached a small coppice of wood, under the protection of which we encamped. The baggage of the Indians was drawn by dogs, who kept pace with the women, and appeared to be under their command. As soon as we halted, the women set up the tents, which were constructed, and covered, like those of the Cristinaux.

"The tent, in which I slept, contained fourteen persons, each of whom lay with his feet to the fire, which was in the middle; but, the night was so cold, that even this precaution, with the assistance of our buffalo-robes was insufficient to keep us warm. Our supper was made on the tongues of the wild ox, or buffalo, boiled in my kettle, which was the only one in the camp."

On the morning of February 7, "I was still asleep, when the women began their noisy preparations for our march. The striking of the tents, the tongues of the women, and the cries of the dogs, were all heard at once. At the first dawn of day, we commenced our journey. Nothing was visible but the snow and sky; and the snow was drifted into ridges, resembling waves.

"Soon after sunrise, we descried a herd of oxen, extending a mile and a half in length, and too numerous to be counted. They travelled, not one after another, as, in the snow, other animals usually do, but, in a broad phalanx, slowly, and sometimes stopping to feed."

One week was required to reach their destination, and during the morning of the 12th of February the party arrived at a small wood, in which the Assiniboin village stood. And "at the entrance of the wood, we were met by a large band of Indians, having the appearance of a guard; each man being armed with his bow and spear, and having his quiver filled with arrows.... Forming themselves in regular file, on either side of us, they escorted us to the lodge, or tent, which was assigned us. It was of a circular form, covered with leather, and not less than twenty feet in diameter. On the ground within, ox-skins were spread, for beds and seats."

Later, the same day of their arrival, they were invited to a feast in the tent of the chief. An Indian appeared. "We followed him accordingly, and he carried us to the tent of the great chief, which we found neither more ornamented, nor better furnished, than the rest." And another feast followed in the evening, "Every thing was nearly as before, except that in the morning all the guests were men, and now half were women. All the women were seated on one side of the floor of the tent, and all the men on the other, with a fire placed between them."

The village consisted of about 200 tents, "each tent containing from two to four families." And here "I saw, for the first time, one of those herds of horses which the Osinipoilles possess in numbers. It was feeding on the skirts of the plain." (Henry, (1), pp. 275-289.) Such was a great Assiniboin village nearly a century and a half ago.

The entire village was to return to Fort des Prairies, and so, on the morning of February 20, 1776, the tents were struck, and "Soon after sunrise, the march began. In the van were twenty-five soldiers, who were to beat the path, so that the dogs might walk. They were followed by about twenty men, apparently in readiness for contingent services; and after these went the women, each driving one or two, and some, five loaded dogs. The number of these animals, actually drawing loads, exceeded five hundred. After the baggage, marched the main body of men, carrying only their arms. The rear was guarded by about forty soldiers. The line of march certainly exceeded three miles in length." (Op. cit., p. 309.)

It is easy to visualize this great body of Indians passing over the frozen plain, camping at night under the scant protection of a small cluster of trees. The hundreds of dogs carrying the skin lodges of the villages, the men and women moving forward on snowshoes, undoubtedly stopping to kill buffalo and thus to obtain food for all. An exciting and animated scene it must have been, but only typical and characteristic, not unusual.

The preceding description of the movement of an entire village suggests a passage in the journal of La Verendrye, treating of the same people a generation earlier. Late in the autumn of 1738 a small party of French, accompanied by a numerous band of Assiniboin, set out from the village of the latter to visit the Mandan, who lived many leagues distant. La Verendrye, the leader of the expedition, wrote: "I observed to M. de la Marque the good order in which the Assiniboins march to prevent surprise, marching always on the prairies, the hillsides and valleys from the first mountain, which did not make them fatigued by mounting and descending often in their march during the day. There are magnificent plains of three or four leagues. The march of the Assiniboins, especially when they are numerous, is in three columns, having skirmishers in front, with a good rear guard, the old and lame march in the middle, forming the central column.... If the skirmishers discovered herds of cattle on the road, as often happens, they raise a cry which is soon returned by the rear guard, and all the most active men in the columns join the vanguard to hem in the cattle, of which they secure a number, and each takes what flesh he wants. Since that stops the march, the vanguard marks out the encampment which is not to be passed; the women and dogs carry all the baggage, the men are burdened only with their arms; they make the dogs even carry wood to make the fires, being often obliged to encamp in the open prairie, from which the clumps of wood may be at a great distance." (La Verendrye, (1), p. 13.)

The Assiniboin appear to have possessed a great fondness for visiting other tribes, and many narratives of journeys in the upper Missouri Valley contain references to meeting with such parties.

The size of the Assiniboin camps was often mentioned by the early writers. Thus Tanner wrote: "When we came from the Little Saskawjawun into the Assinneboin river, we came to the rapids, where was a village of one hundred and fifty lodges of Assinneboins, and some Crees." (James, (2), p. 57.) This was a century ago, when the villages retained their primitive appearance, and so it is to be regretted that no detailed description was prepared of this large group of skin-covered tipis.

The two associated tribes extended their wanderings to the southward, reaching the Missouri, a large gathering of the allies being encountered by Lewis and Clark at the Mandan towns in November, 1804. In their journal, on November 14, appears this entry: "The river rose last night half an inch, and is now filled with floating ice. This morning was cloudy with some snow: about seventy lodges of Assiniboins and some Knistenaux are at the Mandan village, and this being the day of adoption and exchange of property between them all, it is accompanied by a dance, which prevents our seeing more than two Indians to-day: these Knistenaux are a band of Chippeways whose language they speak; they live on the Assiniboin and Saskashawan rivers, and are about two hundred and forty men...." And on the following day: "The ceremony of yesterday seem to continue still, for we were not visited by a single Indian. The swan are still passing to the south." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, p. 127.)

As will be recalled, the expedition under command of Lewis and Clark wintered near the Mandan towns, and on April 7, 1805, proceeded on their journey up the Missouri. On the 13th of April they arrived at a small creek which entered the Missouri about 20 miles above the mouth of the Little Missouri. They ascended the creek and at a distance of about 1½ miles reached a pond "which seemed to have been once the bed of the Missouri: near this lake were the remains of forty-three temporary lodges which seem to belong to the Assiniboins, who are now on the river of the same name." The following day, April 14, 1805, after advancing about 15 miles beyond the creek entered on the 13th, "we passed timbered low grounds and a small creek: in these low grounds are several uninhabited lodges built with the boughs of the elm, and the remains of two recent encampments, which from the hoops of small kegs found in them we judged could belong to Assiniboins only, as they are the only Missouri Indians who use spirituous liquors: of these they are so passionately fond that it forms their chief inducement to visit the British on the Assiniboin." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 185-186.)

During the days following many Assiniboin camps were discovered.

From these brief statements recorded in 1804 and 1805 it will be understood that when a large party of the Assiniboin moved, or when on a visit to another tribe, they carried with them their skin lodges, but when on a hunting trip they raised temporary shelters of brush and boughs, and the same custom was undoubtedly followed by war parties.

Evidently the establishment in after years of posts of the American Fur Company at certain points along the course of the upper Missouri served to attract bands of the Assiniboin as well as representatives of other tribes. Several interesting accounts of the arrival of such parties at Fort Union, near the mouth of the Yellowstone, are preserved. Thus Maximilian wrote when at the fort, June 29, 1833: "The expected arrival of more Assiniboins was delayed; they do not willingly travel with their leather tents in wet weather, because their baggage then becomes very heavy.... On the 30th of June, at noon, a band of Indians had arrived, and twenty-five tents were set up near the fort. The women, who were short, and mostly stout, with faces painted red, soon finished this work, and dug up with their instruments the clods of turf, which they lay round the lower part of the hut. One of these tents, the dwelling of a chief, was distinguished from the rest. It was painted of the colour of yellow ochre, had a broad reddish-brown border below, and on each of its sides a large black bear was painted (something of a caricature it must be confessed), to the head of which, just above the nose, a piece of red cloth, that fluttered in the wind, was fastened, doubtless a medicine." Continuing, the narrative recorded the arrival of others. "Another band of Assiniboins appeared at a distance. To the west, along the wood by the river-side, the prairie was suddenly covered with red men, most of whom went singly, with their dogs drawing the loaded sledges. The warriors, about sixty in number, formed a close column.... The whole column entered the fort, where they smoked, ate, and drank: and, meantime, forty-two tents were set up. The new camp had a very pretty appearance; the tents stood in a semicircle, and all the fires were smoking, while all around was life and activity." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 202-204.)

A painting of the dwelling of the chief, with a broad border at the bottom, "and on each of its sides a large black bear," was made by Bodmer and reproduced by Maximilian. It is here shown in plate [24], c. Several interesting details are represented in this graphic sketch. The dog travois is well shown, both the manner in which a dog appeared when the frame was attached, and the several pairs of poles with the small net-covered frames, standing together to the left of the principal tipi.

The preceding quotation from Maximilian is suggestive of an entry in the journal of the Swiss artist Friedrich Kurz, made some years later. Kurz wrote while at Fort Union: "October 13, 1851. As we were weighing and hanging up dried meat, a lot of Assiniboins came to the fort with squaws and many horse and dog travois. As a whole these trading parties do not show much of interest, but there are always many details to be picked up, of great value to a painter." (Bushnell, (3), p. 15.) Kurz remained at Fort Union until April 19, 1852, when he descended the Missouri to St. Louis, and thence returned to his native city of Bern. While still at Fort Union on March 21, 1852, he made the sketch now reproduced in plate [25], b, which bears the legend, "Horse camp of the Assiniboins." It shows a group of skin-covered lodges in the midst of a grove of cottonwoods, and evidently the Missouri is in the distance on the right. At that time (1851-52), according to Kurz, the Assiniboin then living in the vicinity of Fort Union numbered 420 lodges, with 1,050 men, but "from 2-3000 Assiniboins live far above, near lake Winnibeg."

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 24

a. Near Fort Laramie, 1868

b. Near Fort Laramie, 1868

c. "A skin lodge of an Assiniboin chief." Karl Bodmer

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 25

a. Assiniboin lodges "formed entirely of pine branches." Paul Kane, 1848

b. "Horse camp of the Assiniboins, March 21, 1852." Friedrich Kurz

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 26

a. Tipi of Gi-he-ga, an Omaha chief. Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871

b. Page of Kurz's Sketchbook

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 27

"THE VILLAGE OF THE OMAHAS" Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871

The Assiniboin living in the far northwest had another and simpler form of temporary structure, as mentioned by Kane. He wrote, when arriving at Rocky Mountain Fort, a post of the Hudson's Bay Company, April 21, 1848: "This fort is beautifully situated on the banks of the Saskatchewan, in a small prairie, backed by the Rocky Mountains in the distance. In the vicinity was a camp of Assiniboine lodges, formed entirely of pine branches." (Kane, (1), p. 408.) The painting made by him showing the fort and lodges is reproduced in plate [25], a.

dhegiha group.

Five tribes are considered as belonging to this group of the Siouan linguistic family: Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, Osage, and Kansa. Distinct from the Dakota-Assiniboin tribes already mentioned, these undoubtedly some centuries ago lived in the central and upper Ohio valleys, whence they moved westward to and beyond the Mississippi. To these tribes may be attributed the great earthworks of the southern portion of Ohio and the adjacent regions bordering the Ohio River. To quote from the Handbook: "Hale and Dorsey concluded from a study of the languages and traditions that, in the westward migration of the Dhegiha from their seat on Ohio and Wabash rivers, after the separation, at least as early as 1500, of the Quapaw, who went down the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio, the Omaha branch moved up the great river, remaining awhile near the mouth of the Missouri while war and hunting parties explored the country to the northwest. The Osage remained on Osage River, and the Kansa continued up the Missouri, while the Omaha, still including the Ponca, crossed the latter stream and remained for a period in Iowa, ranging as far as the Pipestone quarry at the present Pipestone, Minnesota."

While living in the heavily timbered valleys reaching to the Ohio the several tribes now being considered unquestionably occupied villages consisting of groups of mat-covered lodges of the type erected by the Osage and Quapaw until the present time. But with the Omaha, Ponca, and Kansa, it was different, and when they reached the intermediate region, where forest and prairie joined, they were compelled to adopt a new form of structure, one suited to the natural environments, and thus they began to make use of the earth-covered lodge, and the conical skin tipi, with certain variations in form. The characteristic structures of the five tribes will now be briefly described, beginning with those of the Omaha.

Omaha.

When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri in 1804 they found the Omaha village not far from the Missouri, in the present Dakota County, Nebraska. On the 13th of August the expedition reached the mouth of a creek entering the right bank of the Missouri. Just beyond they encamped on a sandbar, "opposite the lower point of a large island." From here Sergeant Ordway and four men were sent to the Omaha village and returned the following day. "After crossing a prairie covered with high grass, they reached the Maha creek, along which they proceeded to its three forks, which join near the village: they crossed the north branch and went along the south; the walk was very fatiguing, as they were forced to break their way through grass, sunflowers, and thistles, all above ten feet high, and interspersed with wild pea. Five miles from our camp they reached the position of the ancient Maha village: it had once consisted of three hundred cabins, but was burnt about four years ago, soon after the smallpox had destroyed four hundred men, and a proportion of women and children. On a hill, in the rear of the village, are the graves of the nation." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 44-45.)

Seven years after Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri the traveler Bradbury visited the Omaha village standing on or near the site of the one mentioned in the earlier narrative. May 12, 1811, while away from the boat and traversing the country in search of botanical specimens, he arrived on the summit of the bluffs, and, to quote from his journal: "I had a fine view of the town below. It had a singular appearance; the framework of the lodges consists of ten or twelve long poles, placed in the periphery of a circle of about sixteen feet in diameter, and are inclined towards each other, so as to cross at a little more than half their length from the bottom; and the tops diverging with the same angle, exhibit the appearance of one cone inverted on the apex of another. The lower cone is covered with dressed buffalo skins, sewed together, and fancifully painted; some with an undulating red or yellow band of ten or twelve inches in breadth, surrounding the lodge at half its height; on others, rude figures of horses, buffaloes, or deer were painted; others again with attempts at the human face, in a circle, as the moon is sometimes painted; these were not less than four feet in diameter. I judged there were not fewer than eighty lodges. I did not remain long on the summit of the bluffs, as I perceived, from the heaps of earth, some of these recent, that it was a burial ground, and I knew the veneration they have for the graves of their ancestors." (Bradbury, (1), pp. 65-67.)

It is interesting to read of the number of decorated lodges then standing in an Omaha village, but in later years fewer structures were so ornamented. A typical example of a tipi of half a century ago is shown in plate [26], a, from a photograph made by Jackson in 1871.

According to the best authorities on the Omaha, from whose monographs much of the following information has been gleaned, the earth lodge and the skin tipi are the only forms of habitations made use of by the Omaha in recent generations. The earth lodge resembled those of other tribes of the upper Missouri, and among the Omaha the work of erecting such a structure was shared in by both man and woman.

"The marking out of the site and the cutting of the heavy logs were done by the men. When the location was chosen, a stick was thrust in the spot where the fireplace was to be, one end of a rawhide rope was fastened to the stick and a circle 20 to 60 feet in diameter was drawn on the earth to mark where the wall was to be erected. The sod within the circle was removed, the ground excavated about a foot in depth, and the earth thrown around the circle like an embankment. Small crotched posts about 10 feet high were set 8 or 10 feet apart and 1½ feet within the circle, and on these were laid beams. Outside this frame split posts were set close together, having one end braced against the bottom of the bank and the other end leaning against the beams, thus forming a wall of timber. The opening generally, though not always, faced the east. Midway between the central fireplace and the wall were planted 4 to 8 large crotched posts about 10 feet in height, on which heavy beams rested, these serving to support the roof. This was made of long, slender, tapering trees stripped of their bark. These were tied at their large ends with cords (made from the inner bark of the linden) to the beams at the top of the stockade and at the middle to those resting in the crotches of the large posts forming the inner circle about the fireplace. The slender ends were cut so as to form the circular opening for the smoke, the edges being woven together with elm twine, so as to be firm. Outside the woodwork of the walls and roof, branches of willow were laid crosswise and bound tight to each slab and pole. Over the willows a heavy thatch of coarse grass was arranged so as to shed water. On the grass was placed a thick coating of sod. The sods were cut to lap and be laid like shingles. Finally they were tamped with earth and made impervious to rain. The entrance way, 6 to 10 feet long, projected from the door and was built in the same manner as the lodge and formed a part of it. A curtain of skin hung at the inner and one at the outer door of this entrance way. Much labor was expended on the floor of the lodge. The loose earth was carefully removed and the ground then tamped. It was next flooded with water, after which dried grass was spread over it and set on fire. Then the ground was tamped once again. This wetting and heating was repeated two or three times, until the floor became hard and level and could be easily swept and kept clean. Brooms were made of brush or twigs tied together. Couches were arranged around the wall in the spaces between the posts of the framework. These were provided with skins and pillows, and served as seats by day and as beds by night. In the building of an earth lodge the cutting and putting on of the sods was always done by women, and as this part of the task had to be accomplished rapidly to prevent the drying out of the sods, which must hold well together, kindred helped one another. The erection of this class of dwelling required considerable labor, hence only the industrious and thrifty possessed these lodges." (Fletcher and La Flesche, (1), pp. 97-98.)

Although the earth-covered lodge, as just described, was used in the permanent villages, nevertheless in the same villages were to have been seen many of the conical skin tipis. Both types of habitation were standing at the Omaha village in 1871 when the photograph, now reproduced in plate [27], was made by W. H. Jackson.

Near each earth lodge, "generally to the left of the entrance, the cache was built. This consisted of a hole in the ground about 8 feet deep, rounded at the bottom and sides, provided with a neck just large enough to admit the body of a person. The whole was lined with split posts, to which was tied an inner lining of bunches of dried grass. The opening was protected by grass, over which sod was placed. In these caches the winter supply of food was stored; the shelled corn was put into skin bags, long strings of corn on the cob were made by braiding the outer husks, while the jerked meat was packed in parfleche cases. Pelts, regalia, and extra clothing were generally kept in the cache; but these were laid in ornamented parfleche cases, never used but for this purpose." (Op. cit., p. 98.)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 28

a. Page of Kurz's Sketchbook showing Omaha village, May 20, 1851

b. Page of Kurz's Sketchbook showing interior of an Omaha lodge, May 16, 1851

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 29

"PUNKA INDIANS ENCAMPED ON THE BANKS OF THE MISSOURI" Karl Bodmer, 1833

On pages 95 and 96 of the work just cited appears a very interesting description of the making and raising of a skin tipi. "Formerly the cover was made of 9 to 12 buffalo skins tanned on both sides. To cut and sew this cover so that it would fit well and be shapely when stretched over the circular framework of poles required skilful workmanship, the result of training and of accurate measurements.... The tent poles were 14 to 16 feet long. Straight young cedar poles were preferred. The bark was removed and the poles were rubbed smooth. The setting up of a tent was always a woman's task. She first took four poles, laid them together on the ground, and then tied them firmly with a thong about 3 feet from one end. She then raised the poles and spread their free ends apart and thrust them firmly into the ground. These four tied poles formed the true framework of the tent. Other poles—10 to 20 in number, according to the size of the tent—were arranged in a circle, one end pressed well into the ground, the other end laid in the forks made by the tied ends of the four poles. There was a definite order in setting up the poles so that they would lock one another, and when they were all in place they constituted an elastic but firm frame, which could resist a fairly heavy wind." There was probably very little variation in the ways and customs of the different members of the tribe, and the tents of an entire village would have been raised after the same, long-established manner. But the structures in an Omaha village did not surround an open space, "nor were they set so the people could live in the order of their gentes, an order observed when they were on the hunt and during their tribal ceremonies. Yet each family knew to what gens it belonged, observed its rites, and obeyed strictly the rule of exogamy. To the outward appearance a village presented a motley group of tribesmen. The dwellings and their different corrals were huddled together; the passageways between the lodges were narrow and tortuous. There was little of the picturesque. The grass and weeds that grew over the earth lodges while the people were off on their summer buffalo hunt were all cut away when the tribe returned. So, except for the decorations on the skin tents, there was nothing to relieve the dun-colored aspect." (Op. cit., p. 99.) Such was the appearance of an Omaha village in the valley of the Missouri.

In 1847 the Omaha erected a village on the banks of Papillon Creek, near the line between Sarpy and Douglas Counties, Nebraska. Four years later it was visited by Kurz during his journey up the Missouri. Kurz was camped near Council Bluffs, on the left bank of the Missouri. Opposite was Bellevue, the trading post of Peter A. Sarpy, and while at the latter place, May 16, 1851, Kurz entered in his journal: "In Bellevue I have drawn an Indian winter house made of earth, and also a Pawnee girl." And on May 20 he wrote: "Again crossed the river to Bellevue in order to visit the Omaha village some six miles distant; went over the bluffs, as being the shortest way, then crossed the high prairie ... to the Papillon creek which partly surrounds the village of the Omahas. The village itself is built on a hill.... The camp or village is composed of leather tents and earth-covered lodges. Between the tents and lodges are scaffolds for drying meat and also an enclosure for the horses.... I walked into the village and watched a group of young men endeavoring to throw lances through rolling rings, the others being gathered on top the earth lodges, [pl. [26] b] as spectators." (Bushnell, (3), p. 11.) Sketches made by Kurz at that time are reproduced in plate [28]. The interior of an earth lodge, drawn at Bellevue May 16, 1851, is shown in b; the couches extending along the wall are clearly indicated, also the fireplace in the center of the lodge, over which is hanging a hook for the suspension of a kettle. The village, which stood on the banks of Papillion Creek, is shown in the lower part of a, of the same plate. Both forms of dwellings are represented in the sketch; also the scaffolds for drying meat and other purposes, and several inclosures in which their horses were confined.

On June 12 Kurz attended a sacred dance performed for the benefit of a wounded man. He referred to it in his journal as being given by the Buffalo Society, where all wore buffalo masks. It was held in a large earth lodge, and he was accompanied by the chief, Joseph La Flesche.

The site of the small village mentioned by Kurz was identified a few years ago by Gilder, and some of the ruins were examined. It stood in the forks of the Papillion, about 4 miles in a direct line west of the Missouri. To quote from the brief narrative: "It was here the Omaha lived last before going on a reservation, and where they were visited by the Swiss artist, Kurz.... It was found that the ruins were quite shallow and had left but slight depressions, while others left small circular mounds above the surrounding level. The Rock Island Railroad has cut through the village, and at least one cache was exposed from top to bottom—about fifteen feet. In all instances the caches were outside the lodge sites.

"The surface yielded fractured iron pots, delft or figured china of white man's manufacture, and rusty iron objects, besides flint scrapers and chips, potsherds, and the usual accumulations of a village prior to contact with white people. The writer cannot attribute the flint implements to the Omaha, but considers the favorable site on a plateau at the junction of two streams to have been used by another people long before the Omaha erected their lodges there." (Gilder, (1), p. 75.)

Innumerable ruins of earth lodges were to have been found in the vicinity of the present city of Omaha, the great majority of which stood in early days before the arrival of Europeans in the valley of the Missouri, and it is not possible to say by which tribe the villages were erected. Many large ruins were discovered on Childs Point, in the extreme northeastern corner of Sarpy County, just south of Omaha, and some 4 miles northeast of the small village visited by Kurz. Some of the ruins were carefully examined by Gilder. One, which appears to have been considered as possessing the typical characteristics of the group, was described by Gilder, who wrote: "In all house ruins similar to the one here described, the main fireplace, four or five feet in diameter, is situated near the exact center. From this fireplace the floor extends, nearly flat, to within ten feet of the extreme outer edge or periphery of the ruin. Here a platform, or step, twelve to fourteen inches high and almost vertical, rose from the floor and sloped rather sharply to the outer rim.... Around the line of the inner circumference of the platform, at distances of approximately five feet, the remains of posts six or seven inches in diameter were discovered. These were either in the form of charcoal or of wood dust. Sometimes bowlders lay about the remains of the posts, as if designed to aid in holding them in position. The grain of the charcoal posts indicated the wood to have been oak. About the posts, under the floor, and also under the platform, objects were more numerous than at other points in the ruin. The charred remains of four posts about eight feet apart surrounded the central fireplace. There were two features of house construction that stand out conspicuously: (1) the floor was approximately six to eight feet lower than the level of the surrounding ridge; (2) the angle at which the slabs, logs, or paling probably leaned inward from the periphery seems to indicate the highest part of the roof at about the same distance above the surrounding level as the floor was below, making the highest part of the roof about fifteen feet above the fireplace in the center of the dwelling.... Little besides broken flint instruments, flint chips, shells, potsherds, and fractured drift bowlders were found upon the floor itself; the major number of objects was beneath the floor surface, very often covered with bowlders, as if the latter had been placed to mark the spot. Small fireplaces were of frequent occurrence on all parts of the floor.

"Three caches were found in the first ruin.... In one, fifteen feet west of the center of the dwelling were found flint blades, a score of Unio shells, a mano or muller made from a rounded drift bowlder ... and a pottery pipe in form of a soaring bird.... The bottom of this cache was six feet from the surface. The second cache lay at the southeastern side of the ruin. Its bottom was eight feet from the surface of the ground. It contained thirty shells, several large flint blades, other large flint implements of unknown use ... animal bones, projectile points, and a small piece of galena. The third cache, in the northeastern part of the ruin, was the largest and deepest of the three, its bottom being nine feet and a half from the surface. On a small shelf, or niche, at its eastern side, two feet from the bottom, lay, a small image of a human face carved from pink soapstone, a number of animal bones and skulls, fish bones and scales, and Unio shells.

"So many and varied were the objects found in the ruin, so abundant the charred sticks and grasses, that the impression is conveyed that the dwelling had been abandoned in haste and that it had burned to the ground." (Gilder, (1), pp. 58-61.) The objects discovered in this ancient ruin were truly varied, as the discoverer remarked, and likewise of the greatest interest, including specimens of stone, bone, and pottery, with bones of animals which had probably served as food. But how interesting it would be to know the date of the construction of this large lodge, and the tribe to which its occupants belonged—questions which may never be determined. However, it unquestionably belonged to people of a tribe who reared and occupied similar structures in the valley of the Missouri as late as the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Other quite similar ruins a short distance north of the city of Omaha were examined by Gilder. Many objects of bone, stone, and pottery were discovered. Caches were encountered, and to quote from his account of the work: "The caches within the house sites are smaller in diameter near the top than at the bottom, the latter part flaring out somewhat in the manner of a large earthen pot. The bottom of the caches are rounded, and the walls are almost as hard as fired clay. In the very bottom of each cache was a quantity of dust, or earth as fine as dust (not compact as at other points), in which were found small arrowpoints, flint blades, shell beads, and flint flakes. In each case where the cache was found within the house circle it occurred close under the western wall, back of the fireplace and exactly opposite the entrance to the lodge, the latter in every instance facing the east." (Gilder, (2), p. 716.)

Before closing this brief sketch of the Omaha villages and forms of structures, it will be of interest to quote from the writings of one who was intimately acquainted with the people of whom he wrote. Referring to their various types of habitations, he says:

"The primitive domiciles of the Omaha were chiefly (1) lodges of earth or, more rarely, of bark or mats, and (2) skin lodges or tents. It may be observed that there were no sacred rites connected with the earth lodge-building or tent-making among the Omaha and Ponka. When earth lodges were built, the people did not make them in a tribal circle, each man erecting his lodge where he wished; yet kindred commonly built near one another. The earth lodges were made by the women, and were intended principally for summer use, when the people were not migrating or going on the hunt.... Earth lodges were generally used for large gatherings, such as feasts, councils, or dances.... On a bluff near the Omaha agency I found the remains of several ancient earth lodges, with entrances on the southern sides. Two of these were 75 feet and one was 100 feet in diameter. In the center of the largest there was a hollow about 3 feet deep and nearly 4 feet below the surface outside the lodge.

"The Omaha sometimes make bark lodges for summer occupancy, as did the Iowa and Sak." (Dorsey, (1), pp. 269-271.)

Referring to the more temporary structure, the skin tipi: "The tent was used when the people were migrating, and also when they were traveling in search of the buffalo. It was also the favorite abode of a household during the winter season, as the earth lodge was generally erected in an exposed situation, selected on account of comfort in the summer. The tent could be pitched in the timber or brush, or down in wooded ravines, where the cold winds never had full sweep. Hence, many Indians abandoned their houses in winter and went into their tents, even when they were of canvas.

"The tent was commonly made of ten or a dozen dressed or tanned buffalo skins. It was in the shape of a sugar loaf, and was from 10 to 12 feet high, 10 or 15 feet in diameter at the bottom, and about a foot and a half in diameter at the top, which served as a smoke-hole.... No totem posts were in use among the Omaha. The tent of the principal man of each gens was decorated on the outside with his gentile badge, which was painted on each side of the entrance as well as on the back of the tent." (Op. cit., pp. 271-274.)

In an earlier work, "A Study of Siouan Cults," Dr. Dorsey showed the varied designs on ceremonial tipis of the different Siouan tribes. Among other interesting illustrations are pictures of lodges erected at the time of the Sun dance, with the great camp circle as formed at that time. (Dorsey, (2).)

A clear insight into the ways of life of the primitive Omaha of a century ago, before their native manners and customs had been changed through influence with the whites, may be obtained from the narrative of the Long expedition. A great part of the recorded information was imparted by John Dougherty, at that time deputy Indian agent for the tribes of the Missouri.

In 1819 and 1820, the period of the narrative, the permanent village of the tribe stood on the banks of Omaha Creek, about 2½ miles from the right bank of the Missouri, in the present Dakota County, Nebraska. As told on preceding pages, this was the large, permanent village of the tribe, but nevertheless it was occupied for less than half the year, and as related by Dougherty: "The inhabitants occupy their village not longer than five months in the year. In April they arrive from their hunting excursions, and in the month of May they attend to their horticultural interests, and plant maize, beans, pumpkins, and watermelons, besides which they cultivate no other vegetable. They also, at this season, dress the bison skins, which have been procured during the winter hunt, for the traders, who generally appear for the purpose of obtaining them. The young men, in the mean time, are employed in hunting within the distance of seventy or eighty miles around, for beaver, otter, deer, muskrat, elk, &c.

"When the trading and planting occupations of the people are terminated, and provisions begin to fail them, which occurs generally in June, the chiefs assemble a council for the purpose of deliberating upon the further arrangements necessary to be made...." A feast is prepared, and all gather to determine where and when the next hunt shall take place. These important questions being settled, all are in readiness, and "The day assigned for their departure having arrived, the squaws load their horses and dogs, and take as great a weight upon their own backs, as they can conveniently transport, and, after having closed the entrances to their several habitations, by placing a considerable quantity of brushwood before them, the whole nation departs from the village." And thus they continue to move until word is brought that herds of buffalo are near, then they encamp at the nearest watercourse. The skin lodges, having been conveyed by means of the travois, are soon set up, to be occupied during the period of the hunt. These "are often fancifully ornamented on the exterior, with figures, in blue and red paint, rudely executed, though sometimes depicted with no small degree of taste." The buffalo skins obtained during the summer hunt were known as summer skins, and were used especially for the covering of their lodges and also for their garments. After a successful hunt all parts of the buffalo were carried to the camp and the vertebrae were crushed "by means of stone axes, similar to those which are not unfrequently ploughed up out of the earth in the Atlantic states."

After the summer hunt "The nation return towards their village in the month of August, having visited for a short time the Pawnee villages for the purpose of trading their guns for horses. They are sometimes so successful, in their expedition, in the accumulation of meat, as to be obliged to make double trips, returning about mid-day for half the whole quantity, which was left in the morning. When within two or three days journey of their own village, runners are dispatched to it, charged with the duty of ascertaining the safety of it, and the state of the maize.

"On the return of the nation, which is generally early in September, a different kind of employment awaits the ever industrious squaws. The property buried in the earth is to be taken up and arranged in the lodges, which are cleaned out, and put in order. The weeds which during their absence had grown up, in every direction through the village, are cut down and removed. A sufficient quantity of sweet corn is next to be prepared, for present and future use."

Being now plentifully supplied with food, unless for some unforeseen cause having an ample quantity of buffalo meat and corn, together with the other products of the gardens, they would "content themselves in their village until the latter part of October, when, without the formality of a council, or other ceremony, they again depart from the village, and move in separate parties to various situations on both sides of the Missouri, and its tributaries, as far down as the Platte. Their primary object at this time, is to obtain, on credit from the traders, various articles, indispensably necessary to their fall, winter, and spring hunts; such as guns, particularly those of Mackinaw, powder, ball, and flints, beaver traps, brass, tin, and camp-kettles, knives, hoes, squaw-axes and tomahawks.

"Having obtained these implements, they go in pursuit of deer, or apply themselves to trapping for beaver and otter. Elk was some time since an object of pursuit, but these animals are now rather rare, in the Omawhaw territories.

"This hunt continues until towards the close of December, and during the rigours of the season they experience an alternation of abundance and scarcity of food."

The skins secured during the late autumn hunt would be carried to the traders and left as payment for the goods previously obtained on credit, and also given in exchange for blankets, wampum, and various other articles. Thence they would return to their permanent village "in order to procure a supply of maize from their places of concealment, after which they continue their journey, in pursuit of bisons.... This expedition continues until the month of April, when they return to their village as before stated, loaded with provisions. It is during this expedition that they procure all the skins, of which the bison robes of commerce are made; the animals at this season having their perfect winter dress, the hair and wool of which are long and dense." (James, (1), I, pp. 200-221.)

Such was the life of the Omaha a hundred years ago, and it may have been quite the same for many generations, omitting, of course, the visits made to the traders. But their systematic hunts had probably been performed ever since the Omaha reached the valley of the Missouri, and possibly long before.

Ponca.

That the Ponca and Omaha were formerly a single tribe is accepted without question, and that the separation took place long after they crossed the Mississippi from their ancient habitat is established by the traditions of the two tribes. Probably the two tribes in later years, after the separation, continued to resemble one another to such a degree that the villages of one could not have been distinguished from those of the other.

A deserted village of the Ponca was discovered by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, and according to the narrative of the expedition on September 5 they arrived at the "river Poncara," which entered the Missouri from the south, and at its mouth was 30 yards in width. "Two men whom we despatched to the village of the same name, returned with information that they had found it on the lower side of the creek; but as this is the hunting season, the town was so completely deserted that they had killed a buffaloe in the village itself." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 66-67.) The "river Poncara," later to be known as Ponca Creek, enters the right bank of the Missouri in the western part of the present Knox County, Nebraska. Here they continued to live for some years, and during the spring of 1833 Maximilian said they "dwell on both sides of Running-water River, and on Ponca Creek, which Lewis and Clark call Poncara." Running-water River was the earlier name of the Niobrara. "The band of them, which we met with here, has set up eight or nine leather tents, at the mouth of Basil Creek, on a fine forest." On May 12, 1833, appears this note in the narrative: Arrived "opposite the huts of the Punca Indians. They lay in the shade of a forest, like white cones, and, in front of them, a sand bank extended into the river, which was separated from the land by a narrow channel. The whole troop was assembled on the edge of the bank, and it was amusing to see how the motley group crowded together, wrapped in brown buffalo skins, white and red blankets—some naked, of a deep brown colour." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 137-139.) A sketch made at that time by Bodmer and reproduced by Maximilian is here shown in plate [29]. It bears the legend "Punka Indians Encamped on the Banks of the Missouri."

Although at that time living in the typical skin tipi, Maximilian stated (p. 137), "They formerly lived, like the Omahas, in clay huts at the mouth of the river, but their powerful enemies, the Sioux and the Pawnees, destroyed their villages, and they have since adopted the mode of life of the former, living more generally in tents made of skins, and changing their place from time to time." The village visited by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, September 5, 1804, when they "killed a buffaloe in the village itself," was probably composed of earth-covered lodges.

When discovering a trail, or rather tracks made by a number of Indians crossing the prairie, it was often possible to determine the nature of the party. The Ponca, who often moved from place to place, setting up their tipis in various localities during the course of the year, could have been held in mind by Gregg when he wrote: "These lodges are always pitched or set up by the squaws, and with such expedition, that, upon the stopping of an itinerant band, a town springs up in a desert valley in a few minutes, as if by enchantment. The lodge-poles are often neatly prepared, and carried along from camp to camp. In conveying them one end frequently drags on the ground, whereby the trail is known to be that of a band with families, as war parties never carry lodge-poles." (Gregg, (1), II, pp. 286-288.) The rapidity and skill with which the squaws set up and arranged the tipis, when the site of the camp had been selected, was commented on by many writers, and what an interesting and animated scene it must have been.

Kansa.

To quote from the Handbook: "Their linguistic relations are closest with the Osage, and are close with the Quapaw. In the traditional migration of the group, after the Quapaw had first separated therefrom, the main body divided at the mouth of Osage River, the Osage moving up that stream and the Omaha and Ponca crossing Missouri River and proceeding northward, while the Kansa ascended the Missouri on the south side to the mouth of Kansa River. Here a brief halt was made, after which they ascended the Missouri on the south side until they reached the present north boundary of Kansas, where they were attacked by the Cheyenne and compelled to retrace their steps. They settled again at the mouth of Kansas River, where the Big Knives, as they called the whites, came with gifts and induced them to go farther west. The native narrators of this tradition give an account of about 20 villages occupied successively along Kansas River before the settlement at Council Grove, Kansas, whence they were finally removed to their reservation in Indian Ter. Marquette's autograph map, drawn probably as early as 1674, places the Kansas a considerable distance directly west of the Osage and some distance south of the Omaha, indicating that they were then on Kansas River.... It is known that the Kansa moved up Kansas River in historic times as far as Big Blue River, and thence went to Council Grove in 1847. The move to the Big Blue must have taken place after 1723."

Thus it would appear that for many generations the villages of the Kansa had stood near the eastern boundary of the great plains, a region where buffalo were plentiful, one suited to the wants and requirements of the native tribes.

On June 26, 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the mouth of the Kansas and encamped on the north side, where they remained two days. In the journal of those days they referred to the Kansa, and said: "On the banks of the Kanzas reside the Indians of the same name, consisting of two villages, one at about twenty, the other forty leagues from its mouth, and amounting to about three hundred men. They once lived twenty-four leagues higher than the Kanzas [river], on the south bank of the Missouri.... This nation is now hunting in the plains for the buffaloe which our hunters have seen for the first time." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 18-19.) A few days later, July 2, after advancing a short distance up the Missouri, above the mouth of the Kansas, they arrived at the site of an ancient village of the tribe. In the journal (p. 20) is this account: "Opposite our camp is a valley, in which was situated an old village of the Kansas, between two high points of land, and on the bank of the river. About a mile in the rear of the village was a small fort, built by the French on an elevation. There are now no traces of the village, but the situation of the fort may be recognized by some remains of chimnies, and the general outline of the fortification, as well as by the fine spring which supplied it with water." Three days later, July 5, 1804, while on the right bank of the Missouri, they "came along the bank of an extensive and beautiful prairie, interspersed with copses of timber, and watered by Independence creek. On this bank formerly stood the second village of the Kanzas; from the remains it must have been once a large town." (Op. cit., pp. 21-22.)

The village mentioned by Lewis and Clark as standing on the banks of the Kansas River some 40 league above its confluence with the Missouri may have been the one visited and described by Maj. George C. Sibley during the summer of 1811. Sibley wrote in his journal: "The Konsee town is seated immediately on the north bank of the Konsee River, about one hundred miles by its course above its junction with the Missouri; in a beautiful prairie of moderate extent, which is nearly encircled by the River; one of its Northern branches (commonly called the Republican fork, which falls in a few hundred paces above the village) and a small creek that flows into the north branch. On the north and southwest it is overhung by a chain of high prairie hills which give a very pleasing effect to the whole scene.

"The town contains one hundred and twenty-eight houses or lodges which are generally about 60 feet long and 25 feet wide, constructed of stout poles and saplings arranged in form of an arbour and covered with skins, bark and mats; they are commodious and quite comfortable. The place for fire is simply a hole in the earth, under the ridge pole of the roof, where an opening is left for the smoke to pass off. All the larger lodges have two, sometimes three, fire places; one for each family dwelling in it. The town is built without much regard to order; there are no regular streets or avenues. The lodges are erected pretty compactly together in crooked rows, allowing barely space sufficient to admit a man to pass between them. The avenues between these crooked rows are kept in tolerable decent order and the village is on the whole rather neat and cleanly than otherwise. Their little fields or patches of corn, beans and pumpkins, which they had just finished planting, and which constitute their whole variety, are seen in various directions, at convenient distances around the village. The prairie was covered with their horses and mules (they have no other domestic animals except dogs)."

The manuscript journal from which the preceding quotation is made is now in the possession of Lindenwood College, St. Charles, Mo., the copy having been made by Mrs. N. H. Beauregard.

The preceding is a clear though all too brief account of a native village, prepared at a time when it continued in a primitive condition. The site, on the left bank of Kansas River just below the mouth of the Republican, would have been about the present Fort Riley, near the northern line of Geary County. In some respects this is the most interesting description of a Kansa village given in the present work. The habitations—long mat-covered lodges—were of the type erected by the Osage and Quapaw, kindred tribes of the Kansa, and it is highly probable they represented the form of dwellings reared by the same tribes many generations before in their ancient villages which then stood in the valley of the Ohio, far east of the Mississippi.

Just 15 years elapsed between the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the arrival of the Long party in the country of the Kansa. In August, 1819, to those aboard the steamboat Western Engineer, "The site of an old village of the Konzas, and the remains of a fortification erected by the French, were pointed out a few miles below Isle au Vache. This island, which lies about one hundred miles above Fort Osage, was the wintering post of Capt. Martin's detachment, destined to proceed in advance of the troops ordered to the Missouri." And nothing shows more clearly the changed conditions in that region during the past century than the continuation of this narrative: "Captain Martin, with three companies of the rifle regiment, left Bellefontain in September 1818, and arrived at Isle au Vache in October, with the expectation of resuming his march, as early in the following spring as the weather would permit. But not having received the necessary supplies of provisions as anticipated, they had been compelled to remain till the time of our arrival, subsisting themselves principally by hunting.... Between two and three thousand deer, besides great numbers of bears, turkies, &c. had been taken." On August 23, 1819, a large number of Kansa Indians, from their villages on the river bearing their tribal name, gathered at Isle au Vache to meet members of the Long party in council. "There were present at this council, one hundred and sixty-one Konzas, including chiefs and warriors, and thirteen Osages." (James, (1), I, pp. 110-112.)

While at Fort Osage members of the Long expedition left for an overland journey to the Kansa towns. The party was led by Say, and left the fort August 6, arriving at the villages just two weeks later. The Kansa town then stood in the extreme southwestern corner of the present Pottawatomie County, Kansas, at the mouth of the Big Blue. And "as they approached the village, they perceived the tops of the lodges red with the crowds of natives; the chiefs and warriors came rushing out on horseback, painted and decorated, and followed by great numbers on foot ... the village was in confusion, the hunters having lately returned; and being then engaged in preparations for the journey to Isle au Vache." The journey was that mentioned above, when the Indians arrived at Isle au Vache to hold council with Long. Continuing the narrative: "The approach to the village is over a fine level prairie of considerable extent; passing which, you ascend an abrupt bank of the height of ten feet, to a second level, on which the village is situate in the distance, within about ¼ of a mile of the river. It consists of about 120 lodges, placed as closely together as convenient, and destitute of any regularity of arrangement. The ground area of each lodge is circular, and is excavated to the depth of from one to three feet, and the general form of the exterior may be denominated hemispheric.

"The lodge, in which we reside, is larger than any other in the town, and being that of the grand chief, it serves as a council house for the nation. The roof is supported by two series of pillars, or rough vertical posts, forked at top for the reception of the transverse connecting pieces of each series; twelve of these pillars form the outer series, placed in a circle; and eight longer ones, the inner series, also describing a circle; the outer wall, of rude frame work, placed at a proper distance from the exterior series of pillars, is five or six feet high. Poles, as thick as the leg at base, rest with their butts upon the wall, extending on the cross pieces, which are upheld by the pillars of the two series, and are of sufficient length to reach nearly to the summit. These poles are very numerous, and, agreeable to the position which we have indicated, they are placed all around in a radiating manner, and support the roof like rafters. Across these are laid long and slender sticks or twigs, attached parallel to each other by means of bark cord; these are covered by mats made of long grass, or reeds, or with the bark of trees; the whole is then covered completely over with earth, which, near the ground, is banked up to the eaves. A hole is permitted to remain in the middle of the roof to give exit to the smoke. Around the walls of the interior, a continuous series of mats are suspended; these are of neat workmanship, composed of a soft reed, united by bark cord, in straight or undulated lines, between which, lines of black paint sometimes occur. The bedsteads are elevated to the height of a common seat from the ground, and are about six feet wide; they extend in an uninterrupted line around three-fourths of the circumference of the apartment, and are formed in the simplest manner of numerous sticks, or slender pieces of wood resting at their ends on cross pieces, which are supported by short notched or forked posts, driven into the ground; bison skins supply them with a comfortable bedding. Several medicine or mystic bags are carefully attached to the mats of the wall, these are cylindrical, and neatly bound up; several reeds are usually placed upon them, and a human scalp serves for the fringe and tassels. Of their contents we know nothing. The fireplace is a simple shallow cavity, in the center of the apartment, with an upright and a projecting arm for the support of the culinary apparatus." (Op. cit., pp. 120-121.)

Say and his associates left the Kansa village to rejoin the main party aboard the steamboat Western Engineer, then waiting near Isle au Vache, but soon after starting on the journey were attacked by some wandering Pawnee and forced to return to seek refuge among those whom they had just left. And as told in the narrative, they were, as a consequence, able to witness an interesting ceremony in one of the large earth lodges. This was August 23, 1819. "Mr. Say's party were kindly received at the village they had left on the preceding day. In the evening they had retired to rest in the lodge set apart for their accommodation, when they were alarmed by a party of savages, rushing in armed with bows, arrows and lances, shouting and yelling in a most frightful manner. The gentlemen of the party had immediate recourse to their arms, but observing that some squaws, who were in the lodge, appeared unmoved, they began to suspect that no molestation to them was intended. The Indians collected around the fire in the centre of the lodge, yelling incessantly; at length their howlings assumed something of a measured tone, and they began to accompany their voices with a sort of drum and rattles. After singing for some time, one who appeared to be their leader, struck the post over the fire with his lance, and they all began to dance, keeping very exact time with the music. Each warrior had, besides his arms, and rattles made of strings of deer's hoof, some part of the intestines of an animal inflated, and inclosing a few small stones, which produced a sound like pebbles in a gourd shell. After dancing round the fire for some time, without appearing to notice the strangers, they departed, raising the same wolfish howl, with which they had entered; but their music and their yelling continued to be heard about the village during the night.

"This ceremony, called the dog dance, was performed by the Konzas for the entertainment of their guests. Mr. Seymour took an opportunity to sketch the attitudes and dresses of the principal figures." (Op. cit., p. 135.) The sketch made by Seymour was engraved and served as an illustration in the narrative of the expedition prepared by James. It is here reproduced as plate [30], b. The interior of the large earth lodge is clearly shown. The "continuous series of mats" are suspended around the wall, and the "bedsteads," as described, serve as seats for the guests. Mats are also represented as spread over the floor in the foreground.

On August 25, 1819, the steamboat Western Engineer steamed away from Isle au Vache, and that night, after having advanced about 23 miles up the Missouri, stopped at the mouth of Independence Creek, and a little above the creek, on the right bank of the Missouri, was "the site of an old Konza town, called formerly the village of the Twenty Four." This was evidently the same site as mentioned by Lewis and Clark, July 5, 1804. Ruins of the earth lodges had undoubtedly remained quite distinct, being overgrown with the grass of the prairie.

Isle au Vache, in the Missouri, faces Oak Mills, Atchison County, Kansas, and Iatan, Platte County, Missouri. A brief history of the island was prepared a few years ago. (Remsburg, (1), pp. 436-443.)

Interesting notes on the habitations of the Kansa Indians are contained in a narrative prepared by one who passed through their country during the month of May, 1834.

On the night of May 1 the party encamped on a small branch of the Kansas River, where they were joined by some members of the Kansa tribe who occupied six lodges in a near-by woods. "This party is a small division of a portion of this tribe, who are constantly wandering; but although their journeys are sometimes pretty extensive, they seldom approach nearer to the settlements than they are at present." Later they arrived at the banks of the Kansas River, and as it was approached, so the narrative continues, "we saw a number of Indian lodges, made of saplings driven into the ground, bent over and tied at top, and covered with bark and buffalo skins. These lodges, or wigwams, are numerous on both sides of the river. As we passed them, the inhabitants, men, women, and children, flocked out to see us, and almost prevented our progress by their eager greetings. Our party stopped on the bank of the river, and the horses were unloaded and driven into the water." They crossed the river by means of a large flat-bottomed boat, and reaching the opposite bank saw many Indian lodges with some frame houses occupied by whites. "The canoes used by the Indians are mostly made of buffalo skins, stretched, while recent, over a light frame work of wood, the seams sewed with sinews, and so closely, as to be wholly impervious to water. These light vessels are remarkably buoyant, and capable of sustaining very heavy burthens." That evening they were visited by the Kansa chief who lived near by, a "young man about twenty-five years of age, straight as a poplar, and with a noble countenance and bearing.... The Kaws living here appear to be much more wealthy than those who joined our camp on the prairie below.... Their dress consists, universally of deer skin leggings, belted around the loins, and over the upper part of the body a buffalo robe or blanket." (Townsend, (1), pp. 30-33.)

During the morning of May 20, 1834, the party departed from the Kansa settlement on or near the banks of the Kansas River, "leaving the river immediately, and making a N. W. by W. course—and the next day came to another village of the same tribe, consisting of about thirty lodges, and situated in the midst of a beautiful level prairie.... The lodges here are constructed very differently from those of the lower village. They are made of large and strong timbers, a ridge Pole runs along the top, and the different pieces are fastened together by leathern thongs. The roofs, which are single, make but one angle, are of stout poplar bark, and forms an excellent defence, both against rain and the rays of the sun, which must be intense during midsummer in this region. These prairies are often visited by heavy gales of wind, which would probably demolish the huts, were they built of frail materials like those below. We encamped in the evening on a small stream called Little Vermillion creek...." (Op. cit., pp. 33-34.)

The sketch by Seymour conveys a very good idea of the general appearance of the interior of a Kansa lodge, and an equally interesting picture of the village, as it was just 22 years later, is to be found in one of Father de Smet's works. He arrived at the first of the villages May 19, 1841, and in describing it said: "At the first sight of their wigwams, we were struck at the resemblance they bore to the large stacks of wheat which cover our fields in harvest-time. There were of these in all no more than about twenty, grouped together without order, but each covering a space about one hundred and twenty feet in circumference, and sufficient to shelter from thirty to forty persons. The entire village appeared to us to consist of from seven to eight hundred souls,—an approximation which is justified by the fact that the total population of the tribe is confined to two villages, together numbering 1900 inhabitants. These cabins, however humble they may appear, are solidly built and convenient. From the top of the wall, which is about six feet in height, rise inclined poles, which terminate round an opening above, serving at once for a chimney and window. The door of the edifice consists of an undressed hide on the most sheltered side, the hearth occupies the centre and is in the midst of four upright posts destined to support the rotunda; the beds are ranged round the wall and the space between the beds and the hearth is occupied by the members of the family, some standing, others sitting or lying on skins, or yellow colored mats. It would seem that this last named article is regarded as a piece of extra finery, for the lodge assigned to us had one of them." (De Smet, (1), pp. 65-66.) Following this description of a lodge is an account of its occupants. He refers to the women busily engaged at various occupations, and the men, some eating or smoking, and others plucking the hair from their brows and beard. The brief description of the interior of the lodge conforms with those of the earlier writers, but it is to be regretted that more was not said about the outside of the structure. Were they covered with earth or thatch? The village visited by Say in 1819 was composed of earth-covered lodges, clearly described, but the drawing made by one of Father de Smet's associates (it is marked Geo. Lehman, del.) represents the large circular houses with overhanging roofs, more closely resembling thatch than the usual covering of earth and sod. This drawing, which was reproduced in the work cited, is here shown in plate [30], a. The structures standing in the village visited by Father de Smet may have resembled the bark-covered house illustrated in plate [31]. This most interesting photograph was probably made about 40 years ago, and at once suggests the frame, covered with bark, and ready for the final covering of earth; in other words, an unfinished earth lodge. However, it was probably a complete and finished structure.

Regarding the large village visited by De Smet as mentioned above, one historian of the tribe has written: "An important village, and the largest of the tribe at that time, was that of old Kah-he-gah-wa-ti-an-gah, known as Fool Chief, which from about 1830 to 1846 was located on the north side of the Kansas river, just north of the present Union Pacific station of Menoken.... Until recent years the lodge-circle marks were visible and its exact location easy to be found." (Morehouse, (1), p. 348.)

A year passed between the visit of Father de Smet to the Kansa towns and the arrival of Fremont in the same locality, but it had been a period of trouble for the tribe and they had suffered greatly. On June 18, 1842, Fremont wrote in his journal: "We left our camp seven, journeying along the foot of the hills which border the Kansas valley.... I rode off some miles to the left, attracted by the appearance of a cluster of huts near the mouth of the Vermillion. It was a large but deserted Kansas village, scattered in an open wood, along the margin of the stream, chosen with the customary Indian fondness for beauty of scenery. The Pawnees had attacked it in the early spring. Some of the houses were burnt, and others blackened with smoke, and weeds were already getting possession of the cleared places." (Fremont, (1), pp. 12-13.)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 30

a. Kansa village, 1841. George Lehman

b. Dog dance within a Kansa lodge, August 23, 1819. Samuel Seymour

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 31

KANSA HABITATION

It is quite probable that during their journeys away from the permanent villages the Kansa, like other tribes of the Missouri Valley, made use of skin tipis as being easily transported from one place to another. It would also appear that in later years the earth and bark covered lodge ceased to be used, and that skin tipis were constructed to the exclusion of other forms of dwellings. A missionary who resided at the Kansa agency from 1865 to 1868 wrote: "The tribe at that time was divided into three bands, or villages, as they were generally called. Ish-tal-a-sa's village occupied the northern part of the reserve. He was not only village chief, but head chief of the whole tribe also. Fool Chief's village occupied the central part of the reserve, and Al-le-ga-wa-ho's the southern portion. The latter became head chief after Ish-tal-a-sa's death. There were probably about 300 in each band. Their custom was for the entire band to camp together in some desirable locality, where wood, water and grass for their ponies were accessible, and remain until the pasture was eaten down, and then move to another site. Another reason for moving was to get away from the filth that always accumulated in an Indian village. Their tents, or tepees, were made of buffalo skins.... The lodge, as they usually designated their tepees, was easily taken down and removed to another place." (Spencer, (1), p. 373.)

Of the numerous tribes mentioned at the present time no one appears to have erected a greater variety of dwellings than did the Kansa, whose habitations were of several distinct forms and were constructed of various materials.

The long mat-covered lodges described by Sibley in 1811, as at that time standing in the village at the mouth of the Republican, on the left bank of the Kansas River, may be accepted as being the typical or primitive form of structure erected by the tribe. Eight years later Say and his companions reached another village, a few miles eastward from the one preceding, and there found the circular earth lodges. Evidently the ruined towns mentioned by Lewis and Clark as being visible from the Missouri River were once groups of similar earth lodges. But all circular lodges were not covered with earth and sod; in some instances the walls and roofs were formed of sheets of bark.

During the month of May, 1834, many small dwellings were standing on both banks of the Kansas River which were formed by covering a frame composed "of saplings driven into the ground, bent over and tied at top," with sheets of bark and buffalo skins. And not far away was another village of the same tribe but presenting a very different appearance. The structures were described as being "made of large and strong timbers, a ridge pole runs along the top, and the different pieces are fastened together by leathern thongs. The roofs, which are single, make but one angle, are of stout poplar bark." Whether this was of circular or quadrangular base is difficult to determine, but probably the latter, resembling the example shown in plate [19]. And in addition to the various structures already noted, the conical skin tipis were extensively used by the Kansa, probably serving in early days when the people were away from their more permanent villages, but later they were more generally utilized.

Osage.

From the earliest historical times the habitat of the Osage was among the hills and valleys of the Ozarks, south of the Missouri, in the present State of Missouri, and here they continued to dwell until their removal during the early part of the last century.

When Père Marquette passed down the Mississippi, late in the month of June, 1673, he learned of the Osage, and on his map, prepared soon afterwards, indicated the villages of that tribe near a stream which was evidently the river bearing their tribal name. They continued to occupy rather permanent villages until the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The tribe included three bands, two of which may be rather old; the third more recently created. These are: (1) Pahatsi or Great Osage, (2) Utsehta or Little Osage, (3) Santsukhdhi or Arkansas band. The latter dates from the year 1802 or thereabouts, when a large part of the Great Osage, under the leadership of the chief Big Track, removed to the vicinity of the Arkansas.

The Osage, unlike certain other members of the Siouan group to which they belong, continued to erect and occupy the mat or bark covered habitations so characteristic of the forest tribes. Their villages which stood among the Ozarks were probably similar in appearance to the ancient settlements of their ancestors which once occupied a part of the upper valley of the Ohio, whence they migrated to the region beyond the Mississippi. But the country which served as their new home was one well suited to the wants and requirements of the tribe. Game was plentiful, the streams teemed with fish, and wild fruits were to be had in vast quantities. Thus food was easily obtained.

The expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark began ascending the Missouri May 14, 1804, and just one month later, on June 15, arrived at the site of an earlier settlement of the Little Osage. In the journal the entry for that day states that: "We passed several islands and one creek on the south side, and encamped on the north opposite a beautiful plain, which extends as far back as the Osage river, and some miles up the Missouri. In front of our encampment are the remains of an old village of the Little Osage, situated at some distance from the river, and at the foot of a small hill. About three miles above them, in view of our camp is the situation of the old village of the Missouris after they fled from the Sauks. The inroads of the same tribe compelled the Little Osage to retire from the Missouri a few years ago, and establish themselves near the Great Osages." And two days later, at a place about 20 miles above their camp, on the 15th, they reached "the crossing place for the Sauks, Ayauways, and Sioux, in their excursions against the Osage." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, p. 15.)

The ruined or deserted village of the Little Osage seen by the party stood on the right or south bank of the Missouri, in the western part of the present Saline County, Missouri, not far from the village of Malta. The structures which had stood at this old site were probably similar to those later erected by the people in their new village near the town of the Great Osage, both of which were visited two years later. They were situated far south of the Missouri, in the northern part of the present Vernon County, in the valley of the Little Osage River.

During the latter part of August, 1806, Pike arrived at the two villages of the Osage, having departed from Fort Bellefontain a short time before on his journey to the far west. But, unfortunately, his accounts of the native tribes and their villages which he encountered during his travels are neither full nor clear, and so it is with the description of the habitations of the Osage. To quote from the narrative: "The Osage lodges are generally constructed with upright posts, put firmly in the ground, of about 20 feet in height, with a crotch at the top; they are generally about 12 feet distant from each other; in the crotch of those posts, are put the ridge poles, over which are bent small poles, the ends of which are brought down and fastened to a row of stakes of about 5 feet in height; these stakes are fastened together with three horizontal bars, and form the flank walls of the lodge. The gable ends are generally broad slabs and rounded off to the ridge pole. The whole of the building and sides are covered with matting made of rushes, of two or three feet in length, and four feet in width, which are joined together, and entirely exclude the rain. The doors are in the side of the building, and generally are one on each side. The fires are made in holes in the centre of the lodge; the smoke ascending through apertures left in the roof for the purpose; at one end of the dwelling is a raised platform, about three feet from the ground, which is covered with bear skins, and generally holds all the little choice furniture of the master, and on which repose his honorable guests.... They vary in length from 36 to 100 feet." (Pike, (1), App., pp. 11-12.)

Fort Osage, soon to be named Fort Clark, stood on the right bank of the Missouri, a short distance northeast of Independence, in Jackson County, Missouri. During the early years of the last century it was a gathering place for the Osage and neighboring tribes, and several interesting accounts are preserved of the appearance of the Indian lodges clustered about the post. Both Bradbury and Brackenridge made mention of the fort in their journals. The former wrote on April 8, 1811, and told of his arrival: "About ten o'clock we came in sight of the fort, about six miles distant. We had not been long in sight before we saw the flag was hoisted, and at noon we arrived, saluting with a volley as we passed on to the landing place, where we met Mr. Crooks, who had come down from the wintering station at the mouth of the river Naduet to meet us. There were also collected at the landing place about 200 Indians, men, women, and children, of the Petit Osage nation, whose village was then about 300 yards from the fort." And continuing: "At evening Dr. Murray proposed that we should walk into the village, and I found it to consist of about one hundred lodges of an oblong form, the frame of timber, and the covering mats, made of the leaves of flag, or Typha palustris. On our return through the town, we called at the lodge belonging to a chief named Waubuschon, with whom Dr. Murray was particularly acquainted. The floor was covered with mats, on which they sat; but as I was a stranger, I was offered a cushion. A wooden bowl was now handed round, containing square pieces of cake, in taste resembling ginger-bread. On enquiry I found it was made of the pulp of the persimon, mixed with pounded corn. This bread they called staninca." (Bradbury, (1), pp. 35-37.)

Less than three weeks elapsed before Brackenridge reached the fort in the company of Manuel Lisa. April 25, 1811, "About eleven, came in sight of Fort Osage, situate on a bluff, three miles off, on a commanding eminence.... A number of Indians of the Osage nation, of all ages, and sexes, were scattered along the bank, attracted by curiosity, some with old buffalo robes thrown over their shoulders, others dressed out in the gayest manner.... On landing at the fort, on a very rocky shore, a soldier under arms, who waited for us at the water's side, escorted Mr. Lisa and myself to the fort, where we were politely received by the commanding officer. While Mr. Lisa was transacting some business, accompanied by Mr. Sibley, the factor, and an interpreter, I went to deliver a pipe to Sans Oreille, (a warrior, and head man of this tribe) sent to him by gen. Clark....

"The lodges of the Little Osage, are sixty in number, and within gun shot of the fort; but they are about to remove their village to a prairie, three miles off. Their lodges are of a circular form, not more than ten or fifteen feet in diameter, constructed by placing mats, made of coarse rushes, over forks and poles.

"All three of the Osage bands, together with some Kansas, were lately encamped here for the purpose of trading, to the number of fifteen hundred warriors." (Brackenridge, (1), pp. 216-217.)

It is more than probable the Little Osage were then returning to their distant villages. Within less than three weeks the group of dwellings in the vicinity of the post had been reduced in number from about 100 to 60, and undoubtedly before the lapse of many days all would have begun their homeward journey. But the structures as described would have resembled the dwellings in their permanent villages, differing from the more temporary lodges discovered by Schoolcraft a few years later.

When Schoolcraft traversed the southern part of the State of Missouri a century ago, crossing the Ozarks and following the deep valleys which separated the ridges, he encountered many deserted camps of the Osages and frames of one or more habitations, the mat or bark covers often having been removed, thus allowing the bare frames to remain. These had been the temporary shelters occupied by small parties hunting away from their home villages. On November 27, 1818, so he wrote, "night overtook us, and we encamped in an Indian bark tent on the bank of the river, which had not been occupied for one or two years." (Schoolcraft, (1), p. 28.) The river mentioned was the Great North Fork of White River, and the latter was soon reached. Continuing their journey over the rough and rugged hills, through tangled masses of vegetation, often advancing only a few miles each day, and that with the greatest exertion, they arrived December 30, 1818, in the region a short distance east of James River, possibly in the present Christian County, Missouri. Here they encountered several deserted camps, of which, fortunately, interesting accounts are preserved in the narrative: "In pursuing up the valley of Swan Creek, about nine miles, we fell into the Osage trace, a horse-path beaten by the Osages in their hunting excursions along this river, and passing successively three of their camps, now deserted, all very large, arranged with much order and neatness, and capable of quartering probably 100 men each. Both the method of building camps, and the order of encampment observed by this singular nation of savages, are different from any thing of the kind I have noticed among the various tribes of aboriginal Americans, through whose territories I have had occasion to travel. The form of the tent or camp may be compared to an inverted bird's nest, or hemisphere, with a small aperture left in the top, for the escape of smoke; and a similar, but larger one, at one side, for passing in and out. It is formed by cutting a number of slender flexible green-poles of equal length, sharpened at each end, stuck in the ground like a bow, and, crossing at right angles at the top, the points of entrance into the ground forming a circle. Small twigs are then wove in, mixed with the leaves of cane, moss, and grass, until it is perfectly tight and warm. These tents are arranged in large circles, one within another, according to the number of men intended to be accommodated. In the centre is a scaffolding for meat, from which all are supplied every morning, under the inspection of a chief, whose tent is conspicuously situated at the head of the encampment, and differs from all the rest, resembling a half cylinder inverted. Their women and children generally accompany them on these excursions, which often occupy three months." Schoolcraft soon crossed the ridge separating Swan Creek from Findley's River, the latter "running from the north-east, and tributary to James' river, the main north-western branch of White River." (Op. cit., pp. 52-53.)

It must be understood that this description applies to a temporary encampment of the Osage, not to a permanent village, although they would probably not have differed greatly in appearance. The structures in a camp were rather smaller than those in the villages, and the latter were covered with mats or sheets of bark instead of the walls being composed of the crude wattlework, as mentioned in the preceding account.

Throughout the region traversed by Schoolcraft are to be found traces of ancient camps, some quite large, others small. The innumerable caves and caverns occurring in the limestone formations through which the many streams have cut deep valleys show evidence of long occupancy by the natives. Great masses of wood ashes, intermingled with broken and lost implements of bone and stone, fragments of pottery vessels, and charred or broken bones of animals which had served as food, are to be found accumulated near the opening, beneath the overhanging strata. The great majority of such material should undoubtedly be attributed to the Osage, whose hunters penetrated all parts of the Ozarks.

A beautiful example of a frame for an Osage habitation is shown in plate [32], a, a reproduction of a photograph made near Hominy, Oklahoma, in 1911. This was probably the form of structure seen by the early travelers, which is more clearly described on the following pages. It is interesting, showing as it does the manner in which the uprights were placed in the ground, then bent over and bound in place. As the Osage undoubtedly lived, generations ago, in the Ohio Valley, it is possible the ancient village sites discovered in Ross County, Ohio, belonged either to this or a related tribe, and the ground plan of the structures revealed during the exploration of a certain site would agree with the typical Osage habitation of recent years. A ground plan was prepared by the discoverer of the ancient village site (Mills, (1)) and was reproduced on page 139, Bulletin 71, of this Bureau.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 32

a. Frame of an Osage habitation, near Hominy, Okla., 1911

b. An Iowa structure

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 33

"OTO ENCAMPMENT, NEAR THE PLATTE, 1819" Samuel Seymour

On the plan of the ancient settlement which stood many generations ago are several interesting features in addition to the outline of the oval habitation. North of the space once occupied by the dwelling are many comparatively large caches, with fireplaces between. On the opposite side of the structure were encountered 30 burials, representing children and adults. It would be of the greatest interest at the present time to discover the exact location of one of the Osage villages of a century ago, and to determine the position of the caches and burials, if any exist, in relation to the sites of the habitations.

About the time of Schoolcraft's journey through the Ozarks another traveler went up the valley of the Arkansas, and when far west of the Mississippi came in contact with the Osage. Nuttall, on July 15, 1819, wrote: "The first village of the Osages lies about 60 miles from the mouth of the Verdigris, and is said to contain 7 or 800 men and their families. About 60 miles further, on the Osage River, is situated the village of the chief called White Hair. The whole of the Osages are now, by governor Clark, enumerated at about 8000 souls. At this time nearly the whole town, men, and women, were engaged in their summer hunt, collecting bison tallow and meat. The principal chief is called by the French Clarmont, although his proper name is the Iron bird, a species of Eagle." (Nuttall, (1), p. 173.) Under date of August 5, 1819, he referred to the women of the tribe, saying: "It is to their industry and ingenuity, that the men owe every manufactured article of their dress, as well as every utensil in their huts. The Osage women appear to excel in these employments. Before the Cherokees burnt down their town on the Verdigris, their houses were chiefly covered with hand-wove matts of bulrushes. Their baskets and bed matts of this material were parti-coloured and very handsome. This manufacture, I am told, is done with the assistance of three sticks, arranged in some way so as to answer the purpose of a loom, and the strands are inlaid diagonally. They, as well as the Cherokees and others, frequently take the pains to unravel old blankets and cloths, and reweave the yarn into belts and garters." (Op. cit., pp. 192-193.)

Evidently it was not the custom of the Osage to entirely abandon their villages when they went on their periodical hunts. Some remained, either through choice or necessity. In the above quotation Nuttall spoke of "nearly the whole town" being absent on their summer hunt, and one very familiar with the habits of the tribe said: "The Osages and Kansas live in villages, which, even during the hunting seasons, are never wholly abandoned, as in the case with several tribes settled on the Missouri." (Hunter, (1), p. 334.) Regarding the general appearance of the villages: "Their lodges are built promiscuously, in situations to please their respective proprietors: they are arranged to neither streets nor alleys, and are sometimes so crowded, as to render the passage between them difficult."

That some of the Osage constructed very long structures is told by Morse, but if the dimensions given in his account are accurate they refer to the unusual rather than to the usual form of habitation erected by members of that tribe. He said: "The Osages of the Arkansaw occupy several villages. The principal village contains about three hundred lodges or huts, and about three thousand souls. The lodges are generally from fifty to a hundred feet in length; and irregularly arranged, they cover a surface of about half a mile square. They are constructed of posts, matting, bark and skins. They have neither floors nor chimneys. The fire is built on the ground, in the centre of the lodge, and the family, and the guests, sit around in a circle, upon skins or mats." (Morse, (1), p. 219.) These various statements appear grossly exaggerated, and on page 225 of the same work appears the statement that "Their villages are nothing more than what they can remove on the shortest notice, one horse being capable of carrying house, household furniture, and children all at one load." Morse included in his notes on the Osage several letters written by missionaries then working among the tribe. One communication from Dr. Palmer, dated at Union, March 18, 1820, contained a note on their habitations: "Their houses are made of poles, arched from fifteen to twenty feet, covered by matting made of flags. At the sides they set up rived planks, lining the inside with neatly made flagg matting. They build several fires in the lodge, according to its size, or the number of wives the owner has. For a fire-place, they dig a hole about as big as a bushel-basket, leaving the smoke to ascend through a hole in the roof. Around the fire they spread their mats to sit or eat." And when visiting the settlement, "Having entered the lodge, and had our horses turned out, we took a humble seat around the fire. Presently there was brought to us a wooden bowl, filled with food made of corn. In a short time we were invited to eat at another lodge, and before we had finished, at another, and another." And another letter, from W. C. Requa, dated February 3, 1822, told of the native dwellings. He wrote at that time: "I live at present among the Osages, at one of their villages about fifty miles from Union. This unhappy people live in low huts, covered with long grass or flag, but so badly put together that they leak considerably in a storm of rain. They have very little furniture, merely a few pots or kettles in which they boil their provisions. The art of cooking their meat in any other way than boiling is unknown among them, except roasting it on a stick before the fire. They have very little variety in their food. Wild game, corn, dried pumpkins, and beans constitute about all on which they subsist. With this, however, they are contented. They have wooden bowls, out of which they eat, drink, wash themselves." (Op. cit., pp. 227-233.) Union, where the two communications were written, was probably Union Agency, which stood on the right bank of the Arkansas River, just southwest of Fort Gibson, in the present Muskogee County, Oklahoma. The settlement "about fifty miles from Union" may have been on the Verdigris, near the center of the present Rogers County, Oklahoma.

An interesting description of a deserted camp of the Osage was prepared by Irving, as it appeared, standing near the banks of the Arkansas, October 11, 1832. On that day, so he wrote: "We came in sight of the Arkansas. It presented a broad and rapid stream, bordered by a beach of fine sand, overgrown with willows and cotton-wood trees. Beyond the river, the eye wandered over a beautiful champaign country, of flowery plains and sloping uplands.... Not far from the river, on an open eminence, we passed through the recently deserted camping place of an Osage war party. The frames of their tents or wigwams remained, consisting of poles bent into an arch, with each end stuck into the ground; these are intertwined with twigs and branches, and covered with bark and skins. Those experienced in Indian lore, can ascertain the tribe, and whether on a hunting or warlike expedition, by the shape and disposition of the wigwams. Beatte pointed out to us, in the present skeleton camp, the wigwam in which the chiefs had held their consultations round the council fire; and an open area, well trampled down, on which the grand war-dance had been performed." (Irving, W., (1), pp. 38-39.) The frames probably resembled the example shown in plate [32], a.

This mention of a dance by Irving suggests the description of a ceremony witnessed at the village of the Little Osage during the same year. The account of a "war-dance" was prepared July 25, 1832: "Much of the ceremony consisted in a sort of dancing march round the streets of the village between their lodges.... In their marching round the settlement, the warriors were followed by a band of musicians, some drumming on a piece of deer skin, stretched over the head of a keg, and others singing their wild songs. Among the retinue I observed a great many youths, who appeared to be young disciples, catching the spirit of their seniors and fathers. Another group followed, who appeared to be mourners, crying for vengeance on their enemies, to reward them for the death of some relative." (Colton, (1), pp. 299-300.)

A brief but interesting sketch of the manners and ways of life of the Osage of a century ago is to be found in Morse's work already quoted. Although the notes were prepared to apply to several neighboring tribes, they referred primarily to the tribe now being discussed. First speaking of their gardens: "They raise annually small crops of corn, beans, and pumpkins, these they cultivate entirely with the hoe, in the simplest manner. Their crops are usually planted in April, and receive one dressing before they leave their villages for the summer hunt, in May. About the first week in August they return to their villages and gather their crops, which have been left unhoed and unfenced all the season. Each family, if lucky, can save from ten to twenty bags of corn and beans, of a bushel and a half each; besides a quantity of dried pumpkins. On this they feast, with the dried meat saved in the summer, till September, when what remains is cashed, and they set out on the fall hunt, from which they return about Christmas. From that time, till some time in February or March, as the season happens to be mild or severe, they stay pretty much in their villages, making only short hunting excursions occasionally, and during that time they consume the greater part of their cashes. In February or March the spring hunt commences; first the bear, and then the beaver hunt. This they pursue till planting time, when they again return to their village, pitch their crops, and in May set out for the summer hunt, taking with them their residue, if any, of their corn, &c. This is the circle of an Osage life, here and there indented with war and trading expeditions; and thus it has been, with very little variation, these twelve years past." (Morse, (1), pp. 203-205.)

The cornfields were left without watchers and were probably often destroyed by roving parties of the enemy or by wild beasts. On August 18, 1820, a hunter belonging to a division of the Long expedition "returned with the information of his having discovered a small field of maize, occupying a fertile spot at no great distance from the camp, it exhibited proofs of having been lately visited by the cultivators; a circumstance which leads us to believe that an ascending column of smoke seen at a distance this afternoon, proceeded from an encampment of Indians, whom, if not a war party, we should now rejoice to meet. We took the liberty, agreeable to the custom of the Indians, of procuring a mess of corn, and some small but nearly ripe watermelons, that were also found growing there, intending to recompense the Osages for them, to whom we supposed them to belong." The following morning, August 19, they encountered several small cornfields near a creek along which they were passing, and that day discovered "an Indian camp, that had a more permanent aspect than any we had before seen near this river. The boweries were more completely covered, and a greater proportion of bark was used in the construction of them. They are between sixty and seventy in number. Well worn traces or paths lead in various directions from this spot, and the vicinity of the cornfields induce the belief that it is occasionally occupied by a tribe of Indians, for the purpose of cultivation as well as of hunting." (James, (1), II, pp. 220-221.)

The encampment just mentioned may have resembled the one described by Schoolcraft the preceding year, though many miles away in the heart of the Ozarks.

Although it is quite probable that hunting parties of the Osage, during their wanderings, reached all parts of the Ozarks, and occupied camps on banks of many streams in distant regions far away from their more permanent villages, nevertheless all sites do not present the same characteristic features. Thus in the central and eastern sections of the hill country, as in the valleys of the Gasconade and its tributary, the Piney, and along the courses of the streams farther eastward quantities of fragmentary pottery are to be found scattered over the surface of the many village and camp sites, and here it may be remarked that seldom are traces of a settlement not to be discovered at the junction of two streams, however small or large they may be.

A great many caves, some rather large, occur in the limestone formation, often in the cliffs facing or near the streams. As previously mentioned, these show evidence of long or frequent occupancy by the Indians. At the openings are masses of wood ashes and charcoal, filling the space between the sides to a depth of several feet, and in the caves encountered in the vicinity of the Gasconade quantities of broken pottery are found, with bones of animals which served as food, various implements, shells, etc., all intermingled with the accumulated ashes. A short distance from the bank of the Piney, several miles above its junction with the Gasconade, a cave of more than usual interest is met with in the high cliff. This is in Pulaski County. Flowing from the cave is a small stream of clear, very cold water. It enters the main chamber through an opening not more than 4 feet in height and about the same in width, the stream, when the cave was visited some years ago, being 3 or 4 inches in depth. A few yards up the watercourse the channel widens several feet and so continues for a short distance. This widening was caused by pieces of chert having been removed from the mass, this evidently having been one of the sources whence the Indians secured material for the making of their implements. The bed of the stream was strewn with flakes and roughly formed rejected pieces of stone.

Thus, as has been shown, vessels of earthenware were made and used by the people who occupied or frequented this part of the Ozark country, but conditions appear to have been different in the western sections. Bits of pottery do not occur on the surface of the camp sites, and it is evident it was neither made nor used by the occupants of certain settlements. Fragments of pottery are not encountered on these particular sites, but large stone mortars are often found, objects which do not seem to have been very frequently used farther east.

The valleys of the James and White Rivers, in Stone and Taney Counties, Missouri, were visited some years ago and many interesting sites were discovered. Traces of a comparatively extensive village were encountered on the E. ½ of lot 1, S. W. ¼ of Sec. 9, T. 22, R. 23, Stone County, on the left bank of White River. Within a radius of a few feet, on a level spot near the center of the once occupied area, were found four large sandstone mortars, the concavity of the largest being about 15 inches in diameter and 6 inches in depth, while the entire block of stone was more than 2 feet in thickness. When discovered, June 11, 1901, the mortars gave the impression of not having been touched since they were last used by some of the inhabitants of the ancient village, and from the surrounding surface, an acre or more in extent, were collected several hundred stone implements, but not a fragment of pottery was encountered. This site, although rather larger and more extensive than the majority, was, nevertheless, typical of the 20 or more which were discovered during that interesting journey through the valleys mentioned. Quantities of stone implements were gathered from the surface of the sites, and many mortars were found, but no pottery.

While the material recovered from the sites in the valley of the Gasconade is similar to that found to the eastward, the finding of mortars and the lack of pottery on the James and White River Valley sites suggests a different culture, and it is possible the latter owe their origin to parties of the Wichita or neighboring tribes who entered the western valleys of the Ozarks from the prairie lands.

Quapaw.

This, the southernmost tribe of the Dhegiha group, occupied several villages west of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Arkansas. When the closely allied tribes had removed from their ancient habitat in the upper valley of the Ohio, and had arrived at the mouth of that stream, the Quapaw are believed to have turned southward while the others went northward. The name of the tribe, Quapaw, signifies "downstream people;" Omaha being translated "those going against the wind or current." As a people they seem to have been known to the members of the De Soto expedition about 1541, probably occupying villages on or near the sites of the settlements visited by the French during the latter part of the next century.

Père Marquette, while on his memorable journey down the Mississippi, in the year 1673, went as far as the mouth of the Arkansas, where he lingered a few days before returning northward on July 17. The villages of the Quapaw, designated the Arkansa, were reached, but the habitations were only briefly described: "Their cabins, which are long and wide, are made of bark; they sleep at the two extremities, which are raised about two feet from the ground. They keep their corn in large baskets, made of cane, or in gourds, as large as half barrels." They used both wooden dishes and "plates of baked earth. Their cooking was done in large earthen pots, of their own make." (Shea, (2), p. 48.) But the most interesting early account of the villages is contained in Joutel's narrative of La Salle's last expedition, when he attempted to reach the Illinois country overland from the Gulf coast. Through jealousy and intrigue of members of the expedition he was murdered by one of their number, March 20, 1687; but others continued eastward, and on July 24, 1687, arrived at the four villages of the Quapaw, and to quote from the narrative of the expedition: "The Nation of the Accancea's consists of four Villages. The first is call'd Otsotchove, near which we were; the second Toriman, both of them seated on the River; the third Tonginga; and the fourth Cappa, on the Bank of the Missisipi. These Villages are built after a different Manner from the others we had seen before, in this Point, that the Cottages, which are alike as to their Materials and Rounding at the Top, are long, and cover'd with the Bark of Trees, and so very large, that several of them can hold two hundred Persons, belonging to several Families. The People are not so neat as the Cenis [Caddo], or the Assonis [Caddo], in their Houses, for some of them lie on the Ground, without any Thing under them but some Mats, or dress'd Hide. How ever, some of them have more Conveniencies, but the Generality has not. All their Movables consist in some Earthen Vessels and oval wooden Platters, which are neatly made, and with which they drive a Trade."

The expedition was then resting at the village standing on the banks of the Arkansas, not far above its junction with the Mississippi. Here they remained three days, departing on July 27. On that day "We imbark'd on a Canoe belonging to one of the Chiefs, being at least twenty Persons, as well Women as Men, and arriv'd safe, without any Trouble, at a Village call'd Toriman, for we were going down the River." The river was the Arkansas. Later in the day they reached the "fatal River, so much sought after by us, called Colbert, when first discover'd, and Missisipi, or Mechassipi by the Natives that were near us." The party lingered at Toriman during the twenty-eighth, and on the following day arrived at "the next Village call'd Tonningua, seated on the Bank of that River [the Mississippi], where we were receiv'd in the Chief's Cottage, as we had been in the others." On July 30, "We set out for Cappa, the last Village of the Accancea's, eight Leagues distant from the Place we had left." (Joutel, (1), pp. 155-161.) Passing up the Mississippi from the Quapaw towns, they encamped during the night of August 2 on an island, "for our greater Safety, for we were then come into an Enemy's Nation, call'd Machigamea, which put our Indians into great Frights."

Père Anastasius Douay, also a member of the party, had very little to say about their stop among the Quapaw, only that "We visited three of these villages, the Torimans, the Doginga, and the Kappa; everywhere we had feasts, harangues, calumet-dances, with every mark of joy." (Shea, (2), p. 220.) Evidently his notes were faulty, as no mention was made of the fourth town.

When La Harpe made his journey into the region bordering the Mississippi some distance above New Orleans he encountered the Quapaw, and in his journal referred to them as the Alkansa, and said: "La nation Alkansa, ainsi nommée parce qu'elle sort des Canzés [Kansa] etablis sur le Missouri, est situé sur le bord du Mississipi dans un terrein isolé par les ruisseaux qui l'environnent; elle se divise en trois villages, Ougapa, Torisna et Tonginga, éloignés d'une lieue les uns les autres, et renfermant ensemble quatre cents habitans; leur principal chef est celui des Ougapas; les Sotoüis le reconnaissent aussi pour le leur; ils Sotoüis le reconnaissent aussi pour le leur; ils sont tous sortis de la même nation et parlent le même langue." (La Harpe, (1), p. 317.) Elsewhere he referred to reaching the "rivière Blanche, qui court dans le nord-ouest du coté des Osages," which entered the "rivière des Sotoüis," or Arkansas, 4 leagues from the Mississippi. Here stood a village of the Sotoüis, consisting of 40 habitations and having a population of 330.

Nearly a century elapsed between the time of La Harpe's visit to the country occupied by the Quapaw and the journey performed by Nuttall. On February 27, 1819, when the latter was ascending the Arkansas River, he wrote: "In the course of the day we passed the outlet of the bayou, or rather river, Meta, which diagonally traverses the Great Prairie, also two Indian villages on the south bank [of the Arkansas].... The first was the periodical residence of a handful of Choctaws, the other was occupied by the Quapaws." (Nuttall, (1), p. 91.) This was near the line between Lincoln and Desha Counties, Arkansas. Some distance beyond, apparently at some point in the present Jefferson County, on March 11, 1819, he saw other native villages, but whether occupied by Quapaw or some other tribe was not told. However, they were probably Quapaw settlements. On that day: "Passed Mr. Embree's, and arrived at Mr. Lewismore's. Six miles above, we also saw two Indian villages, opposite each of those settlements.... The Indians, unfortunately, are here, as usual, both poor and indolent, and alive to wants which they have not the power of gratifying. The younger ones are extremely foppish in their dress; covered with feathers, blazing calicoes, scarlet blankets, and silver pendants. Their houses, sufficiently convenient with their habits, are oblong square, and without any other furniture than baskets and benches, spread with skins for the purpose of rest and repose. The fire, as usual, is in the middle of the hut, which is constructed of strips of bark and cane, with doors also of the latter split and plaited together." (Op. cit., pp. 97-98.)

When returning down the Arkansas, on January 18, 1820, Nuttall evidently reached the Quapaw village which he had passed when ascending the stream during the preceding February. He wrote: "About noon we landed at one of the Quapaw or Osark villages, but found only three houses constructed of bark, and those unoccupied. In the largest of them, apparently appropriated to amusement and superstition, we found two gigantic painted wooden masks of Indians, and a considerable number of conic pelt caps, also painted. These, as we learnt from an Indian who came up to us from some houses below, were employed at festivals, and worn by the dancers.... At the entrance of the cabin, and suspended from the wall, there was a female figure, with a rudely carved head of wood painted with vermillion. Being hollow, and made of leather, we supposed it to be employed as a mask for one of the musicians, having in one hand a pendent ferule, as if for the purpose of beating a drum. In the spring and autumn the Quapaws have a custom of making a contribution dance, in which they visit also the whites, who live in the vicinity, and the chief alms which they crave is salt or articles of diet." The following day the party reached Arkansas Post. (Nuttall, (1), p. 223.)

This account of the ceremonial lodge, for such it undoubtedly was, of the Quapaw of a century ago, is most interesting, as it proves how the rapidly diminishing tribe held to their old customs. The tribe gradually disappeared from the lower Arkansas. The remnants of this once large body moved westward, and on August 11, 1853, some were encountered by the Whipple expedition in the extreme north west corner of the Choctaw Nation, on the right bank of the Canadian, where the Shawnee Hills reach to the river bank. There, on the "high bank of the Canadian, stand still some wigwams or rather log-houses of Quappa Indians, who may boast of not having yet quitted the land of their forefathers. But they have shrunk to a small band that cannot furnish above twenty-five warriors, and it would scarcely be supposed that they are all who are left of the once powerful tribe of the Arkansas, whose hunting grounds extended from the Canadian to the Mississippi." (Möllhausen, (1), I, p. 74.)

Probably no section of the country has revealed more traces of the period of aboriginal occupancy than has that part of the Mississippi Valley which extends southward from the Ohio to the Arkansas. This was the region traversed by the Quapaw during the latter part of their migration from their earlier habitat east of the Mississippi, and may have been occupied by them since the fifteenth century, or before. Many of the mound groups, village sites, and burial places occurring within this area may undoubtedly be justly attributed to the Quapaw. Vast quantities of earthenware vessels, of great variety of forms and sizes, have been recovered from the sites north of the Arkansas, and these often present marked characteristics differing from the ware found farther south. The Quapaw are known to have been skilled pottery makers. As already mentioned, Marquette, in 1673, referred to their "plates of baked earth," and also to the large earthen cooking vessels "of their own make." And in 1687 Joutel wrote of their earthen vessels "with which they drive a Trade." Therefore it is more than probable that much of the ancient pottery encountered in this part of the Mississippi Valley was made by this southern Siouan tribe. Many of the village sites discovered near the Mississippi, north of the Arkansas, were probably once occupied by the Quapaw who, by the latter part of the seventeenth century, had moved as far south as the mouth of the Arkansas River, in the present Desha County. The earlier references to the tribe, those contained in the narratives of the De Soto expedition, 1541, mention the towns being protected by encircling embankments and ditches. The former were probably surmounted by palisades. The village or villages of this period probably stood on the bank of the Mississippi, and one may have occupied the interesting site at Avenue, in Phillips County, where some remarkable pottery vessels have been discovered. Other ancient sites in Lee and Crittenden Counties, north of Phillips, were possibly occupied by the same people at different times.

The position of the village of the Algonquian Michigamea, who lived north of the Quapaw, has not been determined.

chiwere group.

This group, so designated by the late Dr. J. O. Dorsey, includes three tribes, the Iowa, Oto, and Missouri, who spoke slightly different dialects of the same language. According to tribal traditions, they were, generations ago, allied and associated with the Winnebago, from whom they separated and scattered while living in the vicinity of the Great Lakes east of the Mississippi, where the Winnebago continued to dwell. It is not the purpose of the present sketch to trace the movements of the three tribes from their ancient habitat to the banks of the Mississippi, thence westward to the Missouri and beyond, but the routes followed in their migrations can be fairly accurately determined by comparing their own statements and traditions with early historical records, and it is quite probable that many village sites now discovered within this region were once occupied by some members of these tribes.

While living east of the Mississippi in a region of lakes and streams surrounded by vast forests, their habitations were undoubtedly the bark or mat covered structures, but when some moved far west and came in contact with tribes beyond the Missouri they evidently learned the art of constructing the earth-covered lodge which they soon began to occupy. Likewise when and where the skin tipi first became known to them is not possible to determine, but probably not until they had reached the valley of the Missouri and were nearing the banks of that stream north of the Kansas.

Iowa.

On September 15, 1819, the expedition under command of Maj. Stephen H. Long arrived at the mouth of Papillion Creek, on the right bank of the Missouri a few miles above the Platte, a site now covered by the city of Omaha, Nebraska. In the narrative of the expedition it is said that at the mouth of the Papillion "we found two boats belonging to the Indian traders at St Louis. They had passed us some days before, and were to remain for the winter at the mouth of the Papillion, to trade with the Otoes, Missouries, and other Indians.

"The banks of the Missouri above the Platte, have long been frequented by the Indians, either as places of permanent or occasional residence. Deserted encampments are often seen. On the northeast side, near the mouth of Mosquito river, are the remains of an old Ioway village. Four miles above, on the opposite side, was formerly a village of the Otoes." (James, (1), I, pp. 144-145.)

As mentioned elsewhere, the Iowa and their kindred tribes had migrated from their ancient habitat in the vicinity of the Great Lakes to the Missouri Valley, and in 1848 a map was prepared by an Iowa Indian showing the route of the tribe from the mouth of Rock River, Illinois, to the banks of the Missouri, across the State which perpetuates the tribal name. The map was reproduced by Schoolcraft. (Schoolcraft, (3), III, pp. 256-257.)

Unfortunately very little is to be found in the early writings regarding the appearance of the Iowa villages, but they probably did not differ from those of the tribes with whom they were so closely associated, and the primitive village, composed of a group of mat or bark covered structures, must have resembled the towns of the Osage. But in addition to the usual habitation the Iowa evidently erected a larger, longer structure. Maximilian on April 25, 1833, when in the region then occupied by the Iowa, wrote: "The canal between Nadaway Island and the cantonment is called Nadaway Slew, at the end of which we saw the remains of some Indian huts. In a dark glen in the forest, we observed a long Indian hut, which occupied almost its whole breadth, and must have served for a great number of persons." (Maximilian, (1), p. 124.) It is to be regretted that a full description of this "long Indian hut" was not preserved. It may have been a ceremonial lodge rather than a large dwelling.

An interesting though brief account of the Iowa as they were at this time is preserved. It was related by a missionary, Samuel M. Irvin, who arrived among the Iowa April 10, 1837. They were living in the northwestern part of Missouri, the "Platte purchase," but were soon to be removed to lands west of the Missouri. At that time, the spring of 1837, so the narrative continues: "They numbered in all 830. They were a wild, warlike, roving people, and in a most wretched condition, depending mainly on the chase for a subsistence. Their habitations were of the most frail and temporary kind. They were shelters in the form of huts or houses made of the bark of trees stretched over slender poles and tied together with bark strings, or they were tents or lodges made of the skins of the buffalo or elk, and sewed together with the sinews of these animals. These bark houses were mainly for summer shelter, and would in a few years yield to the wear of time, when they would be abandoned and a new location sought. The skin tents were carried with them, and made their habitations wherever they chanced to stop. They were strictly a migratory and unsettled people." (Plank, (1), p. 312.) And "domestic animals, excepting ponies and dogs, were not among them. Indeed, to some of them, such things as cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry were almost unknown, and did such animals happen their way they would pounce upon them for present food as quickly as upon a buffalo or wild turkey."

An excellent picture of an Iowa habitation accompanied the article from which the preceding quotations have been made and is now reproduced in plate [32], b.

Oto.

When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri during the summer of 1804 they reached the mouth of the Platte July 21. At that time, so they entered in their journal, the Oto were living on the south side of the Platte 10 leagues above its junction with the Missouri, and 5 leagues beyond, on the same bank, were the Pawnee. Living with the Oto were the remnants of the Missouri who had, a few years before, joined them. On August 3, 1804, the expedition having ascended the Missouri to about the location of the present city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, held a council with representatives of the two tribes, Oto and Missouri, an event which has been perpetuated in the name of the city. A majority of the two tribes were then absent from their village on their summer buffalo hunt, consequently few were present at the council.

On May 3, 1811, Bradbury arrived at the Oto village, but it was deserted. All were probably some miles away hunting the buffalo. However, a very interesting description of the habitations in the deserted village is preserved. First referring to the Platte: "The southern bank is wholly divested of timber, and as the village is situated on a declivity near the river, we could see the lodges very distinctly, but there was no appearance of Indians." (p. 54.) On the following day, May 4, 1811, he visited the village and found it "to consist of about fifty-four lodges, of a circular form, and about forty feet in diameter, with a projecting part at the entrance, of ten or twelve feet in length, in the form of a porch. At almost every lodge, the door or entrance was closed after the manner which is customary with Indians when they go on hunting parties and take their squaws and children with them. It consists in putting a few sticks across, in a particular manner, which they so exactly note and remember, as to be able to discover the least change in their position. Although anxious to examine the internal structure of the lodges, I did not violate the injunction conveyed by this slight obstruction, and after searching some time found a few that were left entirely open. On entering one, I found the length of the porch to be an inclined plane to the level of the floor, about two and a half or three feet below the surface of the ground; round the area of the lodge are placed from fifteen to eighteen posts, forked at the top, and about seven feet high from the floor. In the centre, a circular space of about eight feet in diameter is dug, to the depth of two feet; four strong posts are placed in the form of a square, about twelve feet asunder, and at equal distances from this space these posts are about twenty feet high, and cross pieces are laid on the tops. The rafters are laid from the forked tops of the outside posts over these cross pieces, and reach nearly to the centre, where a small hole is left for the smoke to escape; across the rafters small pieces of timber are laid; over these, sticks and a covering of sods, and lastly earth. The fire is made in the middle of the central space, round the edges of which they sit, and the beds are fixed between the outer posts. The door is placed at the immediate entrance into the lodge; it is made of a buffalo skin, stretched in a frame of wood, and is suspended from the top. On entering, it swings forward, and when let go, it falls to its former position." (Bradbury, (1), pp. 56-57.)

It is to be regretted that Bradbury did not give a more detailed account of the general appearance of the village; that he did not tell of the placing of the lodges, and of the other structures, if any stood within the village. But this large group of earth-covered lodges undoubtedly resembled the village of the Republican Pawnee, as shown in the photograph made by Jackson more than half a century later.

In the narrative of the Long expedition, during the spring of 1820, more than a century ago, is a brief note on the Oto. It reads: "The Oto nation of Indians is distinguished by the name of Wah-toh-ta-na. The permanent village of this nation is composed of large dirt lodges, similar to those of the Konzas and Omawhaws, and is situate on the left bank of the river Platte, or Nebreska, about forty miles above it confluence with the Missouri." (James, (1), I, p. 338.) On the map which accompanies the narrative the village is indicated on the south or right bank of the Platte, in the eastern part of the present Saunders County, Nebraska. Continuing, the journal states (p. 342): "The hunting grounds of the Oto nation, extend from the Little Platte up to the Boyer creek, on the north side of the Missouri, and from Independence creek to about forty miles above the Platte, on the south side of that river. They hunt the bison, between the Platte and the sources of the Konzas rivers." Thus their hunting grounds included one of the richest and most fertile sections of the valley of the Missouri, now occupied by many towns and villages.

Much of interest respecting the manners and ways of life of the Oto when they occupied their village near the mouth of the Platte is to be found in Irving's narrative of the expedition of which he was a member. During the summer of 1833 the small party under the leadership of Commissioner H. L. Ellsworth left St. Louis and, with several teams, proceeded up the Valley of the Missouri. They traversed the vast rolling prairie: "Hour after hour passed on; the prospect was still the same. At last a loud cry from our guide announced that we had come in sight of the cantonment. There was a snowy speck resting upon the distant green; behind it rose a forest of lofty timber which shadowed the Missouri. This was Leavenworth.... It was mid day when we first caught sight of Leavenworth, but it was near sunset before we arrived there. About a dozen white-washed cottage-looking houses, composed the barracks and the abodes of the officers. They are so arranged as to form the three sides of a hollow square; the fourth is open, and looks out into a wide but broken prairie. It is a rural looking spot—a speck of civilization dropped in the heart of a wilderness." (Irving, J. T., (1), I, pp. 46-47.) From Fort Leavenworth they continued up the valley, soon reaching the village of the Oto, near the banks of the Platte. After describing the reception accorded the party by the people of the town Irving wrote: "The village of the Otoe Indians is situated upon a ridge of swelling hills overlooking the darkly wooded banks of the Platte river, about a quarter of a mile distant. There is but little beauty or neatness about an Indian town. The lodges are built in the shape of a half egg. They frequently are twenty feet in height, and sometimes sixty in diameter. The roofs are formed of long poles, which diverge like the radii of a circle, from one common centre. The ring of the circle is formed of upright posts, driven closely together in the ground, and projecting upward about five feet. These are interwoven with brushwood and the smaller branches of trees, and form the support of the outer end of the poles composing the roof, the interstices of which are also interwoven with twigs and brushwood. The whole is then covered with earth, and when finished resembles a large hillock. The town contained about seventy of these lodges, standing singly or in groups, without any attention to order or regularity. Within, they are capacious, but dark, being lighted merely by a small aperture at the top, which serves both as window and chimney. The fire is built in a cavity in the centre, directly under the hole in the roof, by which the smoke escapes after floating in easy wreaths about the interior.

"As the lodges are very spacious, a little back from the fire there is a circular range of tree trunks standing like columns, and connected by timber laid in their forks, forming a support for the roof, which otherwise, from the great length of the poles that form it, and the heavy mass of superincumbent earth, might fall in, and bury the inhabitants. Around the wall of the building, are ranged cribs or berths for sleeping, screened from view by heavy mats of grass and rushes. Over the fire is inclined a forked stake, in the hook of which hangs a large kettle, generally filled with buffalo flesh and corn. This, to judge from its looks, is never removed from the fire, even for the purpose of cleaning it." (Op. cit., pp. 158-160.)

A week or more passed after the arrival of the party at the Oto village before a council was held with the chief men of the tribe, "for the purpose of forming a treaty, with respect to the lands lying in the neighbourhood of the Nemahaw river." The time for holding the council having arrived, the commissioner and his party proceeded from their camp to the earth-covered lodge in which the ceremony was to be enacted. They entered and "found nearly the whole tribe assembled, and seated in circles, in the large lodge of the Iotan chief. At the far end of the building was the Iotan; and by his side were stationed those two worthies, the Big Kaw and the Thief. Next them were the stern forms of the older warriors and braves.... The lodge was excessively crowded. One ring was formed beyond another; one dark head rose behind another; until the dim, dusk outlines of the more distant were lost in shadow, and their glistening eyes alone could be seen. The passage which led to the air was completely crowded with women and children; and half a dozen curious faces were peering down through the round hole in the roof.

"The most of them had adorned themselves for the occasion. Plumes were floating from their scalp-locks; their heads and breasts were painted with vermilion, and long strings of wampum hung from their necks and mutilated ears. But at the present moment there appeared to be no thought of their appearance. Every sense was wrapped up in an intense interest in the approaching council; every breath was held; and every eye fixed with eagerness upon the face of the Commissioner, as he arose to address the meeting." (Op. cit., pp. 233-235.) This vivid description of the gathering of the Oto in a great earth-covered structure near the banks of the Missouri during the summer of 1833 tends to recall Lieut. Timberlake's meeting with the head men of the Cherokee, when they came together in the townhouse at Chote late in the year 1761. The two structures were of similar appearance and probably did not differ greatly in size, although at Chote there were several tiers of seats surrounding the central space within the house which were lacking in the Oto lodge, but the two gatherings were evidently quite similar, although belonging to different generations and being in regions separated by many hundreds of miles of forest and plain. The great rotundas, or townhouses of the Cherokee, were the most interesting of the various native structures which formerly stood east of the Mississippi. (Bushnell, (1), pp. 59-63.)

The preceding notes on the Oto refer to their permanent earth-lodge villages, which were occupied only part of each year. When away from the village they would make use of the skin-covered tipi, although the temporary shelter of the Pawnee may have been copied by some members of the tribe. Fortunately a very good description of the appearance of a winter encampment of several families, at some point far west of the Missouri on the prairie of Nebraska, during the winter of 1851-52, has been preserved. The account was prepared by a traveler who became separated from his companions and reached the camp unexpectedly while traversing the snow-covered wilderness. The "little camp consisted of two large tents, which stood in a deep ravine, overgrown with stunted oaks, and on the banks of a deep stream, whose waters were hidden beneath a thick covering of ice." One tent belonged to the chief Wa-ki-ta-mo-nee, the other to a half-breed named Louis Farfar. Arriving at the camp, so the narrative continues, I "crawled into the tent of the medicine-man, and took my place by his blazing fire, while the other occupants lay or crouched around. The old mother was busy in the preparation of the meat, and by her side, next the opening, were two daughters; the older about eighteen, the younger about two years old. The father of the family, his son, and Schin-ges-in-ki-nee had, according to Indian custom, kept the best places for themselves, which was so much the better for me as I was placed between them. The medicine pipe, with a bowl cut out of some red stone, went round briskly, and the time that was employed in distributing the meat intended for the meal I spent in taking a good view of the Indian dwelling. Sixteen long poles, made of slender pine trees, were so placed as to form a circle of sixteen or eighteen feet in diameter, their tops being bent over and fastened together. Around this framework was thrown, like a mantle, the tent leather, consisting of a great number of buffalo-hides, tanned white, and neatly sewed together for the purpose with sinews. The leather did not reach quite to the top, but left an opening, by which the smoke could escape; but there were two prolongations of the tent leather, something like flags, which were supported by particular poles, so as, in stormy weather or contrary winds, to form a very tolerable chimney. The tent was fixed so firmly to the ground with pegs that the tightly stretched sides would admit neither the rain nor the snow, when it melted from the heat of the fire; and the inhabitants had not only a secure refuge, but a tolerably comfortable dwelling. The various possessions of the Indians were hung round on the tent poles, where they only took up room that could easily be dispensed with, and kept out the cold that could have most readily found an entrance at those places. On the space round the fire, buffalo-hides were spread for beds at night, and when rolled up in the day made convenient seats; the fire, in a kind of pit half a foot deep, and two and a half in diameter, was a mass of glowing embers, with a number of logs blazing on the top, and diffused a most pleasant warmth over the small space. Near the fire a branch of a tree was stuck into the ground, and another placed horizontally across it, and running the whole breadth of the tent, from which hung the most indispensable of household utensils in the form of a great kettle, whilst the rest of the pole was covered with wet and torn mocassins and gaiters, in a manner that was certainly more convenient than ornamental.... Besides the wild half-naked forms of the Indians, a number of dogs, young and old, made part of the company assembled in Wa-ki-ta-mo-nee's tent. The attention of the mistress of the family, a very dirty old squaw, was exclusively devoted to the vast kettle and its bubbling contents; a row of roughly-cut wooden platters stood before her, and by means of a pointed stick she fished up from the cauldron large joints of bear and half turkeys, and loaded each of the platters with a huge portion of the savoury smelling food." (Möllhausen, (1), I, pp. 171-175.) The second tent, so he wrote, "was more spacious" than the one which he had entered, and described. This is an interesting description of a small winter camp of the Oto as it stood in the midst of the snow-covered prairie, near a stream "whose waters were hidden beneath a thick covering of ice." The scene could undoubtedly have been repeated in many localities in the vast region west of the Missouri. The identity of the stream near which the two tents stood during the winter of 1851-52 is suggested by a note in Fremont's journal, written 10 years earlier. On June 22, 1842, when traversing the prairies, soon to reach the right bank of the Platte, he wrote: "Made our bivouac in the midst of some well-timbered ravines near the Little Blue.... Crossing the next morning a number of handsome creeks, with clear water and sandy beds, we reached at 10 A. M., a very beautiful wooded stream, about thirty-five feet wide, called Sandy creek, and sometimes, as the Ottoes frequently winter there, Otto fork." (Fremont, (1), p. 14.) The greater part of the course of Sandy Creek is through the present Clay and Thayer Counties, Nebraska, a hundred miles or more south of west from the Oto village then situated near the mouth of the Platte.

Möllhausen remained with the Oto until the temporary camp was abandoned, then returned with them to their permanent village. The journey required several weeks but in time they approached the Missouri, and as they neared their destination: "We passed the burial place of the Ottoes just before we descended into the valley, and shortly afterwards came to the village. The first consisted of a number of hillocks inclosed by rough palings, and decorated with sticks with little bits of coloured stuff and feathers fluttering from them. The village, which lay not many hundred yards farther was a group of about sixty huts of various construction, some of clay, shaped like haycocks or baking ovens, others like small houses, built of thick oak bark. These dwellings stood mostly empty, as the inhabitants had pitched their tents just now in the angle formed by the Nebrasca and Missouri, on account of the rich grass to be found in these bottom lands under the protecting snow, and because they and their cattle were in that situation more sheltered from the violent gales of wind." (Möllhausen, (1), I, pp. 210-211.) Here is a reference to a third form of habitation known to the Oto. In addition to the earth-covered lodge and the skin tipi, both of which were characteristic of the time and place, they appear to have reared structures similar to the habitation of the Sauk and Fox, as shown in plate [19], a type of dwelling known to several neighboring tribes in the upper Mississippi Valley.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 34

a. "Pemmican maul, Oto Agency, Nebrasca, J. W. Griest." Formed of one piece of wood. Extreme length, 39 inches. (U.S.N.M. 22437)

b. Heavy stone maul with handle attached. "Yankton Sioux. Fort Berthold. Drs. Gray and Matthews, U. S. A." Extreme length about 2 feet 2 inches. (U.S.N.M. 6325)

c. "Tools of the Mandans for dressing leather, Dakota. Drs. Gray and Matthews, U. S. A." Handle of antler, with flint blade attached. Extreme length of handle about 11 inches. (U.S.N.M. 8409)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 35

a. Oto dugout canoe, from Kurz's Sketchbook, May 15, 1851

b. Bull-boat and paddle, obtained from the Hidatsa. Marked "Fort Buford, Dak. Ter. Grosventres Tribe. Drs. Gray and Matthews." (U.S.N.M. 9785)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 36

a. Structure showing arbor over entrance

b. Long structure with entrance on one side WINNEBAGO HABITATIONS, ABOUT 1870

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 37

WINNEBAGO STRUCTURES

It is quite evident that after leaving the permanent earth-lodge village of the Oto the Long party just a century ago passed one of the temporary camps of the same people. This, fortunately, was sketched by the artist of the expedition and reproduced in the narrative of the journey, and is now shown in plate [33]. To quote from the narrative: "For the elucidation of what we have said respecting the form and arrangement of the skin, or travelling lodges of the Indians, we subjoin an engraving, representing an encampment of Oto Indians, which Mr. Seymour sketched near the Platte river. In this plate, the group of Indians on the left is intended to represent a party of Konza Indians approaching to perform the calumet dance in the Oto village. It may be proper to remark, that this party when still distant from the Otoes, had sent forward a messenger, with the offer of a prize to the first Oto that should meet them. This circumstance was productive of much bustle and activity among the warriors and young men, who eagerly mounted their horses, and exerted their utmost speed." (James. (1), II, pp. 188-189.)

Various ethnological specimens collected among the Oto a generation or more ago are in the collections of the National Museum. One quite rare object, a "pemmican maul," formed of a single piece of wood, is figured in plate [34], a.

An original sketch by Kurz in May, 1851, representing a group of Oto with a dugout canoe, is reproduced in plate [35], a.

Missouri.

In the narrative of the Lewis and Clark expedition appears this record: "June 13, 1804. We passed ... a bend of the river, Missouri and two creeks on the north, called the Round Bend creeks. Between these two creeks is the prairie, in which once stood the ancient village of the Missouris. Of this village there remains no vestige, nor is there any thing to recall this great and numerous nation, except a feeble remnant of about thirty families. They were driven from their original seats by the invasions of the Sauks and other Indians from the Mississippi, who destroyed at this village two hundred of them in one contest." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, p. 13.) About 5 miles beyond they reached the mouth of Grand River which flows from the northwest, serves as the boundary between Carroll and Chariton Counties, Missouri, and enters the left bank of the Missouri River. Therefore the old village of the Missouri evidently stood at some point in the latter county. It was probably composed of a number of mat and bark covered lodges resembling the village of the Osage which stood a few miles farther up the river. Two days later, June 15, the party identified the site or remains of the former village of the Little Osage, and, so the narrative continues: "About three miles above them, in view of our camp is the situation of the old village of the Missouris after they fled from the Sauks." (Op. cit., p. 15.) From this village the few Missouri Indians appear to have sought refuge among the Oto, then living on the banks of the Platte.

winnebago.

When first known to Europeans the Winnebago occupied the region west of Green Bay, west of Lake Michigan, where, according to the Jesuit missionaries, they had resided for many generations. There they were living in the year 1634 when visited by Nicollet, and just 35 years later, during the winter of 1669-70, a mission on the shore of the same bay was conducted by Père Allouez, which proved a gathering place for various tribes, including the Winnebago, Sauk and Foxes, Menominee, and Potawatomi. These, with the exception of the Winnebago, were Algonquian tribes.

As already mentioned, the Oto, Iowa, and Missouri appear to have been closely connected with the Winnebago, all speaking dialects understood by one another. And it is also evident that when the Oto, Iowa, and Missouri began their movement westward to the Mississippi and beyond the Winnebago remained behind. However, about the beginning of the last century they reached the banks of the Mississippi, and by successive moves during the next 50 years some arrived in western Minnesota, soon to be removed to lands beyond the Missouri, adjoining the Omaha, in the northeastern part of Nebraska.

While living in the vicinity of Green Bay their villages were groups of mat and bark-covered lodges, typical of the tribes of the wooded country which abounded in lakes and streams. And it is quite evident that during their migration westward, when they made long stops before finally reaching the banks of the Missouri, they continued to erect and occupy structures similar to those which had stood in their old villages generations before.

Typical examples of Winnebago dwellings are shown in plates [36] and [37]. The arbor over the entrance is an interesting feature, seldom appearing in the Algonquian villages, although often shown in front of Siouan lodges.

In a forthcoming publication Radin has given a list of the various forms of structures erected by the Winnebago, some of which existed until very recent years. (Radin, (1).)

mandan.

As mentioned in the sketch of the Assiniboin, a small party of French accompanied by members of that tribe during the autumn of 1738 went southward from the Assiniboin country to the Mandan towns, where the French remained several weeks. The leader of the expedition, La Verendrye, prepared an account of the journey, this being the earliest record of a visit by Europeans to the Mandans known to exist, although it is easily conceived that French trappers may have been among the tribe earlier in the century.

The expedition arrived among the Mandan November 28, 1738, after a journey of 46 days, but soon pushed forward to a larger village. Fortunately the journal contains references to the ways of life of the Mandan and a brief description of their fortified or protected settlements. At that time the tribe was said to have had six villages, and evidently all were protected by encircling palisades. The village in which the French then rested consisted of 130 lodges, and "all the streets, squares and huts resembled each other." The French were particularly interested in the manner in which the town was protected, but the account in the journal must exaggerate the strength, or rather the size, of the ditch. The palisade was described as being 15 feet in height, and "At fifteen points doubled are green skins which are put for sheathing when required, fastened only above in the places needed, as in the bastion there are four at each curtain well flanked. The fort is built on a height in the open prairie with a ditch upwards of fifteen feet deep by fifteen to eighteen feet wide. Their fort can only be gained by steps or posts which can be removed when threatened by an enemy. If all their forts are alike, they may be called impregnable to Indians.... Both men and women of this nation are very laborious; their huts are large and spacious, separated into several apartments by thick planks; nothing is left lying about; all their baggage is in large bags hung on posts; their beds made like tombs surrounded by skins.... Their fort is full of caves, in which are stored such articles as grain, food, fat, dressed robes, bear skins. They are well supplied with these; it is the money of the country.... They make wicker work very neatly, flat and in baskets. They make use of earthen pots, which they use like many other nations for cooking their food." (La Verendrye, (1), p. 21.) In addition to the six more important villages there appear to have been others, similar but smaller. Referring to these La Verendrye wrote (p. 23): "We noticed that in the plain there were several small forts, of forty or fifty huts, built like the large ones, but no one was there at the time. They made us understand that they came inside for the summer to work their fields and that there was a large reserve of grain in their cellars." Evidently these were nearer their cornfields, away from the river banks, and were occupied only parts of each year.

From this all too brief account of the Mandan it is quite evident that when they were first encountered by the French, living in their earth lodges, their villages strongly palisaded, their caches filled with corn and other food supplies, buffalo robes and bear skins, they were in their most powerful and prosperous state. But what great changes they were destined to undergo during the next hundred years!

On October 19, 1804, the Lewis and Clark party discovered the first of the ruined villages of the Mandan, evidently standing on the left bank of the Missouri, in the southern part of the present Burleigh County, North Dakota. It proved an interesting day. "In walking along the shore we counted fifty-two herds of buffaloe and three of elk, at a single view. Besides these we also observed elk, deer, pelicans, and wolves." The ruined village had been protected by palisades and, according to the Arikara chief, who accompanied them, had been occupied by the Mandan. These, so they wrote, "are the first ruins which we have seen of that nation in ascending the Missouri." During the night of October 19 the expedition encamped on the south, i. e., right, bank of the Missouri, evidently about 2 miles below the mouth of Little Heart River, which flows from the westward and joins the Missouri in the present Morton County, North Dakota. The following day they advanced 12 miles up the Missouri.

October 21, 1804, was cold and bleak. Snow and ice covered the ground, and the wind blew strong from the northeast. That day the expedition advanced only 7 miles. They passed the mouth of Big Heart River and the site of Bismarck, the present capital of the State. Two miles above their camp of the night previous, about opposite the mouth of the Big Heart, they reached "the ruins of a second Mandan village, which was in existence at the same time with that just mentioned. It is situated on the north at the foot of a hill in a beautiful and extensive plain, which is now covered with herds of buffaloes; nearly opposite are remains of a third village on the south of the Missouri, and there is another also about two miles further on the north, a little off the river. At the distance of seven miles we encamped on the south, and spent a cold night." The next day, October 22, they discovered other ruined towns of the Mandan. "In the morning we passed an old Mandan village on the south, near our camp; at four miles another on the same side.... At six we reached an island about one mile in length, at the head of which is a Mandan village on the north in ruins, and two miles beyond a bad sandbar. At eight miles are remains of another Mandan village on the south; and at twelve miles encamped on the south.... These villages, which are nine in number, are scattered along each side of the river within a space of twenty miles; almost all that remains of them is the wall which surrounds them, the fallen heaps of earth which covered the houses, and occasionally human skulls and the teeth and bones of men, and different animals, which are scattered on the surface of the ground." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 112-114.) Other deserted villages were passed as they continued ascending the Missouri, to arrive late on the 26th of October, at an old field of the Mandan, about one-half mile below the first of their then occupied villages.

The winter encampment of the expedition, Fort Mandan, was situated on the left bank of the Missouri, about opposite the future Fort Clark, and some 7 or 8 miles below the mouth of Knife River, and consequently several miles from the first Mandan village. Here the expedition remained until April 7, 1805. The lower of the Mandan villages was "Matootonha," the second and smaller was "Rooptahee." The list continues and refers to "the third village which is called Mahawha, and where the Arwacahwas reside." "The fourth village where the Minnetarees live, and which is called Metaharta." A fifth village is mentioned but its name is not given. (Op. cit., pp. 120-121.) Referring to these more in detail the narrative tells something of their origin: November 21, 1804, "The villages near which we are established are five in number, and are the residence of three distinct nations: the Mandans, the Ahnahaways, and the Minnetarees. The history of the Mandans, as we received it from our interpreters and from the chiefs themselves, and as it is attested by existing monuments, illustrates more than that of any other nation the unsteady movements and the tottering fortunes of the American nations. Within the recollection of living witnesses, the Mandans were settled forty years ago in nine villages, the ruins of which we passed about eighty miles below, and situated seven on the west and two on the east side of the Missouri. The two finding themselves wasting away before the small-pox and the Sioux, united into one village, and moved up the river opposite to the Ricaras. The same causes reduced the remaining seven to five villages, till at length they emigrated in a body to the Ricara nation, where they formed themselves into two villages, and joined those of their countrymen who had gone before them. In their new residence they were still insecure, and at length the three villages ascended the Missouri to their present position. The two who had emigrated together still settled in the two villages on the northwest side of the Missouri, while the single village took a position on the southeast side. In this situation they were found by those who visited them in 1796; since which the two villages have united into one. They are now in two villages, one on the southeast of the Missouri, the other on the opposite side, and at the distance of three miles across. The first, in an open plain, contains about forty or fifty lodges, built in the same way as those of the Ricaras: the second, the same number, and both may raise about three hundred and fifty men.

"On the same side of the river, and at the distance of four miles from the lower Mandan village, is another called Mahaha. It is situated in a high plain at the mouth of the Knife river, and is the residence of the Ahnahaways. This nation, whose name indicated that they were 'people whose village is on a hill,' formerly resided on the Missouri, about thirty miles below where they now live. The Assiniboins and Sioux forced them to a spot five miles higher, where the greatest part of them were put to death, and the rest emigrated to their present situation, in order to obtain an asylum near the Minnetarees. They are called by the French, Soulier Noir or Shoe Indians; by the Mandans, Wattasoons, and their whole force is about fifty men.

"On the south side of the same Knife river, half a mile above the Mahaha and in the same open plain with it, is a village of the Minnetarees surnamed Metaharta, who are about one hundred and fifty men in number. On the opposite side of Knife river, and one and a half mile above this village is a second of Minnetarees, who may be considered as the proper Minnetaree nation. It is situated in a beautiful low plain, and contains four hundred and fifty warriors." (Op. cit., pp. 129-131.)

In their journal, kept while in winter quarters at Fort Mandan, are to be found many interesting references to the Mandan. To quote several of these will tend to shed light on the ways of life in the native village. On November 22, 1804, the Mandan sold to the members of the expedition "a quantity of corn of a mixed colour, which they dug up in ears from the holes made near the front of their lodges, in which it is buried during the winter." This had probably been gathered only a few weeks before the arrival of the party at the village, then deposited in the caches for future use. December 19 the weather had moderated, and the Indians were seen playing a game on the level space between the lodges of the first and second chiefs, a distance of about 50 yards. The entry for January 13, 1805, contains an interesting note: "We have a continuation of clear weather, and the cold has increased, the mercury having sunk to 34 below 0. Nearly one half of the Mandan nation passed down the river to hunt for several days; in these excursions men, women and children, with their dogs, all leave the village together, and after discovering a spot convenient for the game, fix their tents; all the family bear their part in the labour, and the game is equally divided among the families of the tribe." And on February 12, it was told how "The horses of the Mandans are so often stolen by the Sioux, Ricaras, and Assiniboins, that the invariable rule now is to put the horses every night in the same lodge with the family. In the summer they ramble in the plains in the vicinity of the camp, and feed on the grass, but during cold weather the squaws cut down the cottonwood trees as they are wanted, and the horses feed on the boughs and bark of the tender branches, which are also brought into the lodges at night and placed near them."

About the year 1797, and consequently a few years before the arrival of the Lewis and Clark expedition at the Mandan villages, John McDonnell, a partner of the North-West Company, made brief mention of the Mandan in his journal. He wrote: "These Indians live in settled villages, fortified with palisades, which they seldom ever abandon, and they are the best husbandman in the whole Northwest. They raise indian corn or maize, beans, pumpkins, squashes in considerable quantity, not only sufficient to supply their own wants, with the help of the buffalo, but also to sell and give away to all strangers that enter their villages." (McDonnell, (1), pp. 272-273.) And in 1804 another representative of the old North-West Company referred to the gardens of the Mandans and said in part:

"In the spring, as soon as the weather and the state of the ground will permit, the women repair to the fields, when they cut the stalks of the Indian corn of the preceding year and drop new seed into the socket of the remaining roots. A small kind of pumpkins which are very productive they plant with a dibble, and raise the ground into hillocks the same as those about Indian corn. Their kidney beans they plant in the same manner. They cultivate a tall kind of sunflower, the seed of which is reckoned good eating dry and pounded with fat and made into balls of three or four ounces; they are found excellent for long journeys." (Mackenzie, Charles, (1), pp. 338-339.) And the narrative continued: "The only implement used among the Mandanes for the purpose of agriculture is a hoe made from the shoulder blade of a buffalo and which is ingrafted upon a short crooked handle. With this crooked instrument they work very expeditiously, and soon do all that is required for their supplies."

As already mentioned, the Lewis and Clark party departed from their winter quarters April 7, 1805, to pursue their journey westward. The next year, on August 14, 1806, when returning, they again arrived at the Mandan villages. They reached Rooptahee, where they were kindly received by the people, but it is interesting to know that during the 16 months which had intervened between the departure and return of the Lewis and Clark party a great change had taken place in the appearance of the native village. As mentioned in the journal, "This village has been rebuilt since our departure, and was now much smaller; a quarrel having arisen among the Indians, in consequence of which a number of families had removed to the opposite side of the river." Such were the changes ever occurring among the people of the upper Missouri. Old villages were abandoned and new ones built, some to be divided and others united, consequently very few of the ruined sites discovered along the course of the river represent towns which were occupied at the same time.

Although the work just quoted contains much of interest pertaining to the Mandan and neighboring tribes, subsequent writers described the appearance of the villages and separate structures more in detail, and from the narratives of Catlin and Maximilian, supplemented by many sketches, it is possible to visualize the primitive earth-lodge villages with their many peculiar features.

Catlin remained among the Mandan for some weeks during the year 1832 and wrote at that time: "They have two villages only, which are about two miles distant from each other.... Their present villages are beautifully located, and judiciously also, for defence against the assaults of their enemies. The site of the lower (or principal) town, in particular is one of the most beautiful and pleasing that can be seen in the world, and even more beautiful than imagination could ever create. In the very midst of an extensive valley (embraced within a thousand graceful swells and parapets or mounds of interminable green, changing to blue, as they vanish in distance) is built the city, or principal town of the Mandans." This was evidently the lower village, the first encountered when ascending the Missouri, the Matootonha of Lewis and Clark, and Mihtutta-hangusch of Maximilian. Describing the position of this town, Catlin continued: "The ground on which the Mandan village is at present built, was admirably selected for defence; being on a bank forty or fifty feet above the bed of the river. The greater part of this bank is nearly perpendicular and of solid rock. The river, suddenly changing its course to a right-angle, protects two sides of the village, which is built upon this promontory or angle; they have therefore but one side to protect, which is effectually done by a strong piquet, and a ditch inside of it, of three or four feet in depth. The piquet is composed of timbers of a foot or more in diameter, and eighteen feet high, set firmly in the ground at sufficient distances from each other to admit of guns and other missiles to be fired between them. The ditch ... is inside of the piquet, in which their warriors screen their bodies from the view and weapons of their enemies." (Catlin, (1), I, pp. 80-81.) This is followed by a description of the earth-covered lodges, "closely grouped together, leaving but just room enough for walking and riding between them." Outside they appeared to be made entirely of earth, but entering he was surprised "to see the neatness, comfort, and spacious dimensions of these earth-covered dwellings." The structures varied in size, some being 40, others 60 feet in diameter. All were of a circular form with the floors 2 feet or more below the original surface. "In the centre, and immediately under the sky-light is the fire-place, a hole of four or five feet in diameter, of a circular form, sunk a foot or more below the surface, and curbed around with stone. Over the fire-place, and suspended from the apex of diverging props or poles, is generally seen the pot or kettle, filled with buffalo meat; and around it are the family, reclining in all the most picturesque attitudes and groups, resting on their buffalo-robes and beautiful mats of rushes." Their beds, or sleeping places, stood against the wall and were formed of poles lashed together and covered with buffalo skins. Each such bed was screened by skins of the buffalo or elk, arranged as curtains, with a hole in front to serve as an entrance. "Some of these coverings or curtains are exceedingly beautiful, being cut tastefully into fringe, and handsomely ornamented with porcupine's quills and picture writings or hieroglyphics." Catlin's sketch of the interior of a lodge, as just described, is reproduced in plate [38], a. In this picture the beds resting against the wall are clearly shown, the sunken fireplace is surrounded by the occupants of the lodge, and on the extreme right are two pottery vessels and a bull-boat, so characteristic of the upper Missouri.

Near the center of the large village, surrounded by the lodges, was the open space where games were played and their various ceremonies enacted. Referring to this, Catlin wrote (Op. cit., p. 88): "In the centre of the village is an open space, or public area, of 150 feet in diameter, and circular in form, which is used for all public games and festivals, shows and exhibitions and also for their 'annual religious ceremonies.'... The lodges around this open space front in, with their doors towards the centre; and in the middle of this circle stands an object of great religious veneration.... This object is in form of a large hogshead, some eight or ten feet high, made of planks and hoops.... One of the lodges fronting on this circular area, and facing this strange object of their superstition, is called the 'Medicine Lodge,' or council house. It is in this sacred building that these wonderful ceremonies, in commemoration of the flood, take place." Later Catlin witnessed the remarkable ceremony, as enacted by the Mandan in the midst of their large village, and prepared a series of paintings showing the various phases. The original pictures are in the collection belonging to the United States National Museum, and one, the last, showing what they termed the "last race," is now reproduced as plate [38], b. In the center of the open space stands the sacred object, "in form of a large hogshead." An outline drawing of this painting was reproduced as plate 69 in Catlin's work.

One of the most interesting and vivid passages in Catlin's writings is his description of this village as it impressed him. To quote (Op. cit., pp. 88-89): "In ranging the eye over the village from where I am writing, there is presented to the view the strangest mixture and medley of unintelligible trash (independent of the living beings that are in motion), that can possibly be imagined. On the roofs of the lodges, besides the groups of living, are buffaloes' skulls, skin canoes, pots and pottery; sleds and sledges—and suspended on poles, erected some twenty feet above the doors of their wigwams, are displayed in a pleasant day, the scalps of warriors, preserved as trophies; and thus proudly exposed as evidence of their warlike deeds. In other parts are raised on poles the warriors' pure and whitened shields and quivers, with medicine-bags attached; and here and there a sacrifice of red cloth, or other costly stuff, offered up to the Great Spirit, over the door of some benignant chief, in humble gratitude for the blessings which he is enjoying. Such is a part of the strange medley that is before and around me; and amidst them ... can be seen in distance, the green and boundless, treeless, bushless prairie; and on it, and contiguous to the piquet which encloses the village, a hundred scaffolds on which their 'dead live,' as they term it." Such was the appearance of the great Mandan town in the year 1832, and this description would probably have applied to many of the ruined villages which stood on the banks of the Missouri farther down the river, which were occupied during past generations by the ancestors of those whom Catlin met and whose portraits have been preserved.

Maximilian, accompanied by the artist Karl Bodmer, left St. Louis April 10, 1833, on board the steamboat Yellow Stone, bound for the upper Missouri. Arriving at Fort Pierre they boarded the Assiniboin. The Yellow Stone being loaded with "7,000 buffalo skins and other furs," was to return to St. Louis. Starting from Fort Pierre June 5, they arrived at Fort Clark, among the Mandan, just two weeks later. Maximilian wrote on June 18: "At half-past seven we passed a roundish island covered with willows, and reached then the wood on the western bank, in which the winter dwellings of part of the Mandan Indian are situated; and saw, at a distance, the largest village of this tribe, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, in the vicinity of which the whole prairie was covered with riders and pedestrians. As we drew nearer the huts of that village, Fort Clarke, lying before it, relieved by the background of the blue prairie hills, came in sight, with the gay American banner waving from the flag-staff.... The Assiniboin soon lay to before the fort, against the gently sloping shore, where above 600 Indians were waiting for us." (Maximilian, (1), p. 171.) They departed from Fort Clark the following day and on June 24, "the seventy-fifth day since our departure from St. Louis," arrived at Fort Union, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. Returning to Fort Clark November 8, they remained throughout the winter, departing April 18, 1834.

During the long winter months Maximilian learned much of the manners and ways of life of the Mandan, and his records are, in many respects, to be preferred to those of Catlin. To quote his description of the Mandan towns: "Their villages are assemblages of clay huts, of greater or less extent, placed close to each other, without regard to order. Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, the largest of the Mandan villages, was about 150 or 200 paces in diameter, the second was much smaller. The circumference forms an irregular circle, and was anciently surrounded with strong posts, or palisades, which have, however, gradually disappeared as the natives used them for fuel in the cold winters. At four places, at nearly equal distances from each other, is a bastion built of clay, furnished with loop-holes, and lined both within and without with basket-work of willow branches. They form an angle, and are open towards the village; the earth is filled in between the basket-work and it is said that these bulwarks, which are now in a state of decay, were erected for the Indians by the Whites." It is curious and interesting that a similar observation should have been made by La Verendrye nearly a century before, and so the question arises, If made by Europeans, who were they? No protection or fortification of this sort was at the second and smaller village. A plan of the larger village, indicating its position on the right bank of the Missouri a short distance above Fort Clark, is given by Maximilian on page 394 and is here reproduced in figure [4]. This would probably have been near the southern line of the present Mercer County, North Dakota.

Fig. 4.—Plan of the large Mandan village, 1833.

Continuing the description of the large village, Maximilian wrote: "The huts, as I have before remarked, stand close to each other, leaving, in the centre, an open circular space, about sixty paces in diameter, in the centre of which (among the Mandans) the ark of the first man is set up, of which we shall speak in the sequel. It is a small cylinder, open above, made of planks, about four or five feet high, fixed in the ground, and bound with climbing plants, or pliable boughs, to hold them together (see the woodcut, p. 342 [fig. [5]]).

Fig. 5.—"The ark of the first man."

"At the north end of this circular space is the medicine lodge, in which festivals are celebrated, and certain customs practised, which are connected with the religious notions of this people.... At the top of a high pole, a figure is here placed, made of skins, with a wooden head, the face painted black, and wearing a fur cap and feathers, which is intended to represent the evil spirit Ochkih-Hadda.... Other grotesque figures, made of skins and bundles of twigs, we saw hanging on high poles, most of them being offerings to the deity. Among the huts are many stages of several stories, supported by poles, on which they dry the maize. The huts themselves are of a circular form, slightly vaulted, having a sort of portico entrance. When the inmates are absent the entrance is shut up with twigs and thorns; and if they wish merely to close the door they put up a skin stretched out on a frame, which is shoved aside on entering. In the centre of the roof is a square opening for the smoke to find vent, over which is a circular sort of screen made of twigs, as a protection against the wind and rain, and which, when necessary, is covered with skins (see woodcut [fig. [6]]).

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 38

a. Interior of a Mandan lodge. George Catlin

b. Scene in a Mandan village. George Catlin

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 39

"MIH-TUTTA-HANG-KUSCH," A MANDAN VILLAGE Karl Bodmer, 1833

"The interior of the hut is spacious, tolerably light, and cleanly. Four strong pillars towards the middle, with several cross beams, support the roof. The inner circumference of the hut is formed by eleven or fifteen thick posts, four or five feet in height, between which other rather shorter ones are placed close to each other. On these shorter posts, which are all of an equal height, are long rafters, inclining to the centre; they are placed near each other, and bear the roof. On the outside the huts are covered with a kind of mat, made of osiers, joined together with bark, and now the skeleton of the hut is finished. Over this hay is spread, and the outer covering is of earth. The men and women work together in erecting these huts, and the relations, neighbours, and friends, assist them in the work.... In the centre of the hut a circular place is dug for the fire, over which the kettle is suspended. This fire-place, or hearth, is often enclosed with a ledge of stones. The fuel is laid, in moderately thick pieces, on the external edge of the hearth, crossing each other in the middle, when it is kindled, and the pieces gradually pushed in as they burn away. The Indians are not fond of large fires. The inmates sit round it, on low seats, made of peeled osiers, covered with buffalo or bear skin. Round the inner circumference of the hut lie or hang the baggage, the furniture, and other property, in leather bags, the painted parchment travelling bags, and the harness of the horses; and on separate stages there are arms, sledges, and snow-shoes, while meat and maize, piled up, complete the motley assemblage." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 342-344.)

Fig. 6.—Typical earth lodges.

Among the many interesting paintings made by Bodmer during his journey with Maximilian is one of the large Mandan village, plate [39], looking down the Missouri, showing the cluster of earth lodges on the summit of the cliff which terminates abruptly at the river. A structure rather lower than the others, on the immediate edge of the level area, is probably the "bastion," as represented in the plan, figure [4], pointing out over the cliff. Beyond the village, but evidently screened from view by the high cliff upon which the latter stood, was Fort Clark, near the mouth of a small stream which flowed into the Missouri.

In these large circular structures the beds stood against the wall and the single opening faced inward. These were described by Catlin and clearly indicated in his drawing of an interior of a lodge, plate [38], a. In Maximilian's work (p. 344) is a sketch of such a bed which shows it as a unit, not attached to the wall, and capable of being moved about. The sketch is reproduced in figure [7]. These were so formed and inclosed in skins as to protect the occupants from the cold blasts of air which must have circulated about in the interior of the lodge during certain seasons of the year. And as additional protection "In the winter huts they place, at the inside of the door, a high screen of willow boughs, covered with hides, which keeps off the draught of air from without, and especially protects the fire." And Maximilian related how, about the middle of November or before, the Indians removed to their winter huts which were in a timbered area, and thus more protected from the winds and storms of winter. There they remained until the latter part of February, or the beginning of March, being governed by the climatic conditions. Thus about four months of the year would be spent in their winter village. As the greater part of their possessions would be deposited in underground caches they made frequent trips between their villages to get what was desired—food, clothing, skins, and other supplies. In the winter, when the frozen prairie was covered with ice and snow, they made use of sledges drawn by dogs to transport their goods from place to place. The sledges were "made of a couple of thin, narrow boards, nine or ten feet in length, fastened together with leather straps, and with four cross-pieces, by way of giving them firmness."

Fig. 7.—Inclosed bed.

On the evening of November 30, 1833, Maximilian returned to Fort Clark from a visit of a few days to the villages a short distance above. They passed through "the forest-village belonging to the inhabitants of Ruhptare," referring to the winter village of the people of the smaller Mandan town. They entered one of the winter lodges, and "there was an abundance of meat hanging up in this hut, as they had had a very successful buffalo hunt." After returning to Fort Clark Maximilian wrote: "The Mandan village near the fort was now entirely forsaken by the inhabitants. The entrances to the huts were blocked with bundles of thorns; a couple of families only still remained, one of which was that of Dipauch, whom Mr Bodmer visited every day, in order to make a drawing of the interior of the hut. Instead of the numerous inhabitants, magpies were flying about, and flocks of snow buntings were seen in the neighbourhood about the dry plants of the prairie, where the Indian children set long rows of snares, made of horsehair, to catch them alive." (Op. cit., p. 425.) The drawing made by Bodmer of the interior of the lodge proves to be one of his most interesting pictures. It was reproduced as plate xix, and is here shown in plate [40].

The people of Mih-tutta-hang-kusch having removed to their winter settlement, prepared to have "a great medicine feast," and Maximilian was invited to be present, and so, as he recorded in his narrative, "we proceeded thither, on the 3rd of December, in the afternoon. Mr. Kipp took his family with him, and Mato-Topé and several other Indians accompanied us. We were all well armed, because it was asserted that a band of hostile Indians had been seen among the prairie hills on the preceding day. Our beds, blankets, and buffalo skins were laid on a horse, on which Mr Kipp's wife, a Mandan Indian, rode. Thus we passed, at a rapid pace, through the prairie, along the Missouri, then below the hills, which are pretty high.... After proceeding about an hour and a half we reached the village in the wood, which is the winter residence of the inhabitants of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. We stopped at the hut of Mr. Kipp's father-in-law, Mandeek-Suck-Choppenik (the medicine bird), who accommodated us with a night's lodging. The description of this hut may serve for all the winter huts of these Indians. It was about twenty paces in diameter, and circular; h is the fence or wall of the hut, supported inside by strong, low posts, on which rests the vaulted roof, which has a square hole to let the smoke escape; g is the entrance, protected by two projecting walls covered above. At f is the door, consisting of a piece of leather stretched on a frame. At d d there is a cross wall of considerable height, made of reeds and osier twigs woven together, to keep off the draught of air. At e e e there is another cross wall, only three feet high, behind which the horses stand; a is the fireplace, round which, at c c c c, are the seats of the inmates, consisting of benches formed of basket-work, covered with skins; b b b b are four strong pillars which bear the roof, and are very well united above by cross beams. At i there was a large leather case for the beds in which the family slept. A chain, with a large kettle, was suspended from the roof over the fire, to cook our supper, consisting of very pleasant flavoured sweet maize." (Op. cit., pp. 425-426.) A plan of the lodge is given on page 426, here reproduced as figure [8].

Fig. 8.—Plan of the interior of a Mandan lodge.

The "great medicine feast" was to begin the evening of their arrival at the winter village and to last 40 nights. That evening "after seven o'clock we repaired to the medicine lodge; it was entirely cleared, except that some women sat along the walls; the fire burned in the centre, before which we took our seats, near the partition d d, with several distinguished men of the band of soldiers. At our left hand, the other soldiers, about twenty-five in number, were seated in a row; some of them were handsomely dressed, though the majority were in plain clothes. They had their arms in their hands, and in the centre were three men who beat the drum." (Op. cit., pp. 426-427.) The lengthy detailed account of what followed during the course of the "feast" is most interesting, but will not be mentioned in this sketch.

As among the many neighboring tribes of the Missouri Valley, the buffalo served as the principal source of food for the Mandan. Often sufficient meat could be secured very near the towns; again it would be necessary to undertake long journeys in search of the moving herds. It will be recalled that on January 13, 1805, when the mercury stood 34° below zero, Lewis and Clark saw "nearly one half of the Mandan nation" pass down the frozen Missouri on a hunt to last several days. And a few years later, just at the beginning of summer, June 25, 1811, Brackenridge wrote: "At ten, passed an old Mandan village; and at some distance above, saw a great number of Mandan Indians on their march along the prairie. They sometimes go on hunting parties by whole villages, which is the case at present; they are about five hundred in number, some on horseback, some on foot, their tents and baggage drawn by dogs. On these great hunting parties, the women are employed in preserving the hides, drying the meat, and making a provision to keep. Very little of the buffalo is lost, for after taking the marrow, they pound the bones, boil them, and preserve the oil." (Brackenridge, (1), p. 260.) On such trips away from their permanent earth-lodge villages the Mandan made use of the skin-covered tipi.

In addition to the food supplied by the chase the people of the permanent villages had large gardens in which they raised quantities of corn and beans of various sorts, gourds and sunflowers of several varieties, and of the seeds of the latter "very nice cakes are made." Many animals in addition to the buffalo, and various plants besides those cultivated in the gardens, served the Mandan for food.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 40

"THE INTERIOR OF THE HUT OF A MANDAN CHIEF" Karl Bodmer, 1833

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 41

a. Mandan wooden bowl. Marked "Ft. Berthold, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Diameter 7¼ ¼ inches, depth 2 inches. (U.S.N.M. 6341)

b. Mandan earthenware jar, collected by Drs. Gray and Matthews. (U.S.N.M. 8407)

c. Wooden bowl. Marked "Bowl of Mandan Indians, Dakota T. Drs. Gray and Matthews—U. S. A." Diameters 10¾ and 9¼ inches, depth 3½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 8406)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 42

a. Spoon, marked "Buffalo horn spoon, presented by Gen. T. Duncan." Length about 10 inches. (U.S.N.M. 12259)

b. Spoon made of horn of mountain sheep. "Mandan Indians, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Extreme length 16½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 6333)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 43

"MINATARREE VILLAGE" George Catlin

At the time of Catlin's and Maximilian's visits to the Mandan the latter were making and using their primitive forms of utensils such as had been in use for generations. Wooden mortars, bowls hollowed out of hard knots, spoons made of the horn of buffalo and mountain sheep, and, most interesting of all, dishes and vessels made of pottery—all these were used in the preparation or serving of food. Some remarkable examples of wooden bowls made by the Mandan are now preserved in the collection of the United States National Museum, Washington. One of the most interesting is shown in plate [41], c (U.S.N.M. 8406), and another, of simpler form but equally well made, in plate [41], a (U.S.N.M. 6341). Both examples were evidently quite old even when collected. They are fashioned out of maple knots, worked thin and smooth, and are beautiful specimens. Large spoons, often termed "drinking cups," were, as already mentioned, made of the horns of buffalo and mountain sheep. The former were extensively used by many tribes, and usually resembled the one shown in plate [42], a. The spoons made of mountain-sheep horns were often much larger and thinner, of a yellowish hue, and the handles were frequently bent into form or decorated. A very beautiful spoon of this sort is shown in plate [42], b. (U.S.N.M. 6333.)

Pottery dishes and vessels, so Catlin wrote, "are a familiar part of the culinary furniture of every Mandan lodge, and are manufactured by the women of this tribe in great quantities, and modelled into a thousand forms and tastes. They are made by the hands of the women, from a tough black clay, and baked in kilns which are made for the purpose, and are nearly equal in hardness to our own manufacture of pottery; though they have not yet got the art of glazing, which would be to them a most valuable secret. They make them so strong and serviceable, however, that they hang them over the fire as we do our iron pots, and boil their meat in them with perfect success." (Op. cit., p. 116.) Maximilian described the art of pottery making among the Mandan as exactly like that of the two associated tribes, the Hidatsa and Arikara. He wrote regarding the three tribes that they "understand the manufacture of earthen pots and vessels, of various forms and sizes. The clay is of a dark slate colour, and burns a yellowish-red, very similar to what is seen in the burnt tops of the Missouri hills. This clay is mixed with flint or granite reduced to powder by the action of fire. The workwoman forms the hollow inside of the vessel by means of a round stone which she holds in her hand while she works and smooths the outside with a piece of poplar bark. When the pot is made, it is filled and surrounded with dry shavings, and then burnt, when it is ready for use. They know nothing of glazing." (Op. cit., p. 348.) This was probably the simple process of manufacture followed by the widely scattered tribes, and the apparent ease with which the vessels were made accounts for the great quantities of fragments now discovered scattered over ancient village sites. Two small vessels made by the Mandan, and collected by Dr. Matthews half a century ago, are in the National Museum collection, and one is shown in plate [41], b. Very few perfect specimens exist, several being in the collection of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The specimens in the National Museum are rather small, but some very large vessels were made and used in boiling their food.

Bows and arrows were the principal weapons of the Mandan. The heads of the arrows, at the time of Maximilian's stay among the people, were made of thin bits of iron, although persons then living remembered the use of stone. Lances and clubs were likewise made and used, and when mentioning the latter Maximilian said, "a simple, knotty, wooden club is called mauna-panischa," and gives, on page 390, a woodcut of such a weapon. It is of interest to know that an example of this peculiar form of weapon, which at once suggests the traditional club of Hercules, is preserved in the Museo Kircheriana, in Rome. It is one of four specimens now belonging to the museum which were collected by Maximilian, the other three being a knife sheath, a horse bridle, and a saddle blanket, all being beautifully decorated with colored quillwork. The club is shown in figure [9], after a drawing made for the writer in 1905 by Dr. Paribeni, of the museum. The smaller end is bound or braided with tanned skin, to serve as a handle, and around the upper end of the wrapping is a band of quillwork similar in workmanship to that on the other objects. All are remarkably well preserved, and several specimens in the Ethnological Museum in Florence may have belonged to the Maximilian collection.

Fig. 9.—Wooden club.

The Mandans, like other tribes of the upper Missouri Valley, were very expert in the art of dressing skins, especially those of the buffalo. They used two forms of implements, one of which is similar to those shown in plate [12], a; the second, rather more complicated, is represented in plate [34], c. This is a beautiful old specimen now in the National Museum. The handle is formed of a piece of elk antler; the blade is of clear, brownish flint, well chipped. Other similar objects are preserved in the collection.

How fortunate it was that Catlin and Maximilian chose to spend much time among the Mandan during the years 1832, 1833, and 1834. A few years later, in the spring of 1837, the dreaded smallpox swept away the greater part of this most interesting nation, and "when the disease had abated, and when the remnant of this once powerful nation had recovered sufficiently to remove the decaying bodies from their cabins, the total number of grown men was twenty-three, of women forty, and of young persons sixty or seventy. These were all that were left of the eighteen hundred souls that composed the nation prior to the advent of that terrific disease, and even those that recovered were so disfigured as scarcely to be recognized." (Hayden, (1), p. 433.) Soon those who survived deserted their old village near Fort Clark and removed a few miles above, and the town was, about this time, occupied by the Arikara. It is interesting to know that the small remnant of the Mandan continued to follow their own peculiar customs and to maintain their tribal unity although so reduced in numbers. It will not be necessary in the present sketch to trace the later history of the tribe.

In recent years the State Historical Society of North Dakota has caused surveys to be made of the more important village sites in that State. In addition to the plans of the sites, showing the position of the earth lodges, they have been fortunate in obtaining drawings of the Mandan and Hidatsa villages, made by a Mandan living on the Fort Berthold Reservation. In writing of the picture and plan of the "most important historical site of the Mandan tribe in the state, the one visited and described by Lewis and Clark, Catlin, and Maximilian," Libby said: "The Indian chart and the map of the village as it appears to-day are here shown. It is seen that the two representations are not essentially unlike. The grouping of the houses about a common center, at one side of which is the holy tepee, is the predominating characteristic of each." The Indian drawing, although crude, shows some details omitted by Catlin in his many sketches; but the map (fig. [10]) is of the greatest interest. It shows the site near Fort Clark as it appeared about the year 1908, and to quote from the description: "In the center of the tepees, on the space devoted by the old Mandans to the 'big canoe' and cedar post of the 'elder man,' stands now a large tepee (shown in dotted outline) which was placed there by the Arikara who occupied the village after the small-pox scourge of 1837 had killed or driven away the original inhabitants." The structures surrounding the open space were occupied by the principal men of the village, and the names as given by Libby were secured by him from "Bad Gun, Rushing War Eagle, son of the Ma-ta-to-pe or Four Bears, whose portrait Catlin painted." In the list of names "Tepee No. 1 was the holy tepee and was also used by Lance Shoulder," and "No. 2 was occupied by Four Bears." The list includes fifteen names. At the time the survey was made the entire ditch could not be traced, but its general course could be followed, thus indicating the approximate boundary of the town, "beyond which only a few tepees are located." (Libby, (1), pp. 498-499.)

Fig. 10.—Plan of the Mandan village at Fort Clark.

When it is realized how little is known regarding the arrangement of the many ancient villages which once stood in the country east of the Mississippi, villages which in their time were probably as large and important as those of the Mandan of the last century, it is not possible to overestimate the value of the work of the Historical Society in causing to be made an accurate survey of the sites and in securing descriptions of the villages from some who remember them. A generation later this would not have been possible.

hidatsa group.

Two tribes are regarded as constituting this group: The Hidatsa proper, known to the earlier writers as the Minnetarees, and to others as the Gros Ventres of the Missouri; and the Crows. The Hidatsa and the Crows were, until a few generations ago, one people, but trouble developed and the latter moved farther up the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and there they were discovered by the early explorers of the region.

The Amahami may have been a distinct tribe, and as such were recognized by Lewis and Clark, but according to their own traditions they, together with the Hidatsa and Crows, once formed a single tribe. Their language differs only slightly from that of the Hidatsa. During the early years of the last century their one village stood at the mouth of Knife River. Already greatly reduced in numbers, they suffered during the epidemic of 1837, and later the majority of those who had survived became more closely associated with the Hidatsa.

Hidatsa.

The Hidatsa, also known as the Minnetarees and designated by some writers the Gros Ventres of the Missouri, a name which must not be confused with Gros Ventres of the Prairie often applied to the Atsina, lived when first known to Europeans near the junction of the Knife and Missouri Rivers, in the eastern part of the present Mercer County, North Dakota. Some are of the belief that it was the Hidatsa and not the Mandan whom the French, under La Verendrye, visited during the autumn and winter of 1738, but in the present sketch the Mandan are accepted as undoubtedly being the tribe at whose villages the French remained.

The Hidatsa villages as seen by Catlin and Maximilian during the years 1832, 1833, and 1834 had probably changed little since the winter of 1804-05, when Lewis and Clark occupied Fort Mandan, their winter quarters, some 8 miles below the mouth of Knife River. Describing the villages, Catlin said the principal one stood on the bank of Knife River and consisted of 40 or 50 earth-covered lodges, each from 40 to 50 feet in diameter, and this town being on an elevated bank overlooked the other two which were on lower ground "and almost lost amidst their numerous corn fields and other profuse vegetation which cover the earth with their luxuriant growth.

"The scenery along the banks of this little river, from village to village, is quite peculiar and curious; rendered extremely so by the continual wild and garrulous groups of men, women, and children, who are wending their way along its winding shores, or dashing and plunging through its blue waves, enjoying the luxury of swimming, of which both sexes seem to be passionately fond. Others are paddling about in their tub-like canoes, made of the skins of buffaloes." (Catlin, (1), I, p. 186.) Among the great collection of Catlin's paintings belonging to the United States National Museum, in Washington, is one of the large village. The original painting is reproduced in plate [43]. A drawing of the same was shown as plate in Catlin's work cited above. The work is crude but interesting historically, and conveys some idea of the appearance of the town, although in this, as in other paintings by the same artist, the earth lodges are very poorly drawn, failing to show the projection which served as the entrance and having the roofs too rounded and dome-shaped. Bodmer's sketches are far superior.

On June 19, 1833, Maximilian, aboard the steamboat Assiniboin, left Fort Clark bound for Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Soon after passing the Mandan village of Ruhptare, so Maximilian wrote: "We saw before us the fine broad mirror of the river, and, at a distance on the southern bank, the red mass of the clay huts of the lower village of the Manitaries, which we reached in half an hour. The Missouri is joined by the Knife River, on which the three villages of the Manitaries are built. The largest, which is the furthest from the Missouri, is called Elah-Sa (the village of the great willows); the middle one, Awatichay (the little village), where Charbonneau, the interpreter, lives; and the third, Awachawi (le village des souliers), which is the smallest, consisting of only eighteen huts, situated at the mouth of Knife River.... The south bank of the river was now animated by a crowd of Indians, both on foot and on horseback; they were the Manitaries, who had flocked from their villages to see the steamer and to welcome us. The appearance of this vessel of the Company, which comes up, once in two years, to the Yellow Stone River, is an event of the greatest importance to the Indians.... The sight of the red brown crowd collected on the river side, for even their buffalo skins were mostly of this colour, was, in the highest degree, striking. We already saw above a hundred of them, with many dogs, some of which drew sledges, and others, wooden boards fastened to their backs, and the ends trailing on the ground, to which the baggage was attached with leather straps." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 178-179.)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 44

a. Original pencil sketch

b. Finished picture of the same "WINTER PICTURE OF THE MINATARRES Karl Bodmer, 1833

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 45

a. Manner of carrying basket similar to that shown in plate [52], a

The ring-and-pole game.

c. Hidatsa group with bull-boats. At Fort Berthold, July 13, 1851 FROM KURZ'S SKETCHBOOK

As told in the preceding section, Maximilian returned from Fort Union to Fort Clark, where, with the artist Bodmer, he spent the long winter. While near the Mandan towns he made several visits to the Hidatsa villages a few miles above, and learned much of the manners and ways of life of the people. He again spoke of the three villages on the banks of Knife River, "two on the left bank, and the third, which is much the largest, on the right bank." He continued: "At present the Manitaries live constantly in their villages, and do not roam about as they formerly did, when, like the Pawnees and other nations, they went in pursuit of the herds of buffaloes as soon as their fields were sown, returned in the autumn for the harvest, after which they again went into the prairie. In these wanderings they made use of leather tents, some of which are still standing by the side of their permanent dwellings" (p. 395). He then described the dress and general appearance of the people and continued: "The Manitari villages are similarly arranged as those of the Mandans, except that they have no ark placed in the central space, and the figure of Ochkih-Hadda is not there. In the principal village, however, is the figure of a woman placed on a long pole, doubtless representing the grandmother, who presented them with the pots, of which I shall speak more hereafter. A bundle of brushwood is hung on this pole, to which are attached the leathern dress and leggins of a woman. The head is made of wormwood, and has a cap with feathers. The interior of their huts is arranged as among the Mandans: like them the Manitaries go, in winter, into the forests on both banks of the Missouri, where they find fuel, and, at the same time, protection against the inclement weather. Their winter villages are in the thickest of the forest, and the huts are built near to each other, promiscuously, and without any attempt at order or regularity. They have about 250 or 300 horses in their three villages, and a considerable number of dogs" (pp. 396-397). Bodmer's picture of the "Winter Village of the Minatarres," made during the winter of 1833, is probably the most accurate drawing of an earth-lodge village in existence. It was given as plate xxvi by Maximilian, which is here reproduced as plate [44], b. A pencil sketch which may be considered as the original sketch made by Bodmer, and from which the finished picture was made, is now in the E. E. Ayer collection preserved in the Newberry Library. Unfortunately the drawing is unfinished but is very interesting historically. It is shown in plate [44], a.

Maximilian then referred briefly to the creation myth of the people with whom he was then resting. The entire surface was once covered with water. There were two beings: one a man who lived in the far Rocky Mountains who made all; the other was the old woman called grandmother by the members of the tribe. "She gave the Manitaries a couple of pots, which they still preserve as a sacred treasure," and "When their fields are threatened with a great drought they are to celebrate a medicine feast with the old grandmother's pots, in order to beg for rain: this is, properly, the destination of the pots. The medicine men are still paid, on such occasions, to sing for four days together in the huts, while the pots remain filled with water." Such were the superstitious beliefs of these strange people.

November 26, 1833, Maximilian, Bodmer, and several others went from Fort Clark to the winter village to attend "a great medicine feast among the Manitaries." They passed the two Mandan towns and during the journey saw a large stone, "undoubtedly one of those isolated blocks of granite which are scattered over the whole prairie, and which the Indians, from some superstitious notion, paint with vermilion, and surround with little sticks, or rods, to which were attached some feathers." The little party had seen much of interest on the way, and it was late in the day when they arrived at the village, "the large huts of which were built so close to each other that it was sometimes difficult to pass between them." Herds of buffalo having been reported in the vicinity of the village, a party of Indians had decided to start after them the following day, and planned "to implore the blessings of heaven upon their undertaking by a great medicine feast." This appears to have been a ceremony arranged by the women of the village. The structure in which the dance took place was not one of the earth-covered lodges of the town, but a rather temporary shelter of unusual shape. As described by Maximilian: "Between the huts, in the centre of the village, an elliptical space, forty paces or more in length, was enclosed in a fence, ten or twelve feet high, consisting of reeds and willow twigs inclining inwards. (See the woodcut.) [Fig. [11].] An entrance was left at a; b represents the fence; d are the four fires, burning in the medicine lodge, which were kept up the whole time. At e the elder and principal men had taken their seats; to the right sat the old chief, Lachpitzi-Sihrisch (the yellow bear); some parts of his face were painted red, and a bandage of yellow skin encircled his head. Places were assigned to us on the right hand of the yellow bear. At f, close to the fence, the spectators, especially the women, were seated: the men walked about, some of them handsomely dressed, others quite simply; children were seated round the fires, which they kept alive by throwing twigs of willow trees into them." Here follows a description of the ceremony, and it is related how six elderly men who had been chosen by the younger ones to represent buffalo bulls, entered the inclosure. They came from the hut opposite and when they were within, and after certain formalities, were seated at c. The ceremony was attended by smoking, the pipes were "brought first to the old men and the visitors; they presented the mouth-piece of the pipe to us in succession, going from right to left: we each took a few whiffs, uttered, as before, a wish or prayer, and passed the pipe to our next neighbours.... The six buffalo bulls, meantime, sitting behind the fire, sang, and rattled the medicine sticks, while one of them constantly beat the badger skin. After a while they all stood up, bent forward, and danced; that is, they leaped as high as they could with both their feet together, continuing to sing and rattle their sticks, one of them beating time on the badger. Their song was invariably the same, consisting of loud, broken notes and exclamations. When they had danced for some time, they resumed their seats.

Fig. 11.—Plan of a ceremonial lodge.

"The whole was extremely interesting. The great number of red men, in a variety of costumes, the singing, dancing, beating the drum, &c., while the lofty trees of the forest, illumed by the fires, spread their branches against the dark sky, formed a tout ensemble so striking and original, that I regretted the impracticability of taking a sketch of it on the spot."

Fig. 12.—Plan of the large Hidatsa village.

Two days after the dance, on November 28, 1833, Maximilian visited the chief Yellow Bear in his lodge. The interior presents an interesting appearance: "The beds, consisting of square leathern cases, were placed along the sides of the spacious hut, and the inmates sat round the fire variously occupied. The Yellow Bear, wearing only his breech-cloth, sat upon a bench made of willow boughs, covered with skins, and was painting a new buffalo robe with figures in vermillion and black, having his colours standing by him, ready mixed, in old potsherds. In lieu of a pencil he was using the more inartificial substitute of a sharp-pointed piece of wood. The robe was ornamented with the symbols of valuable presents which he had made, and which had gained the Yellow Bear much reputation, and made him a man of distinction." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 419-423.)

Among the historic village sites which have been studied and surveyed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota, as mentioned in the preceding sketch of the Mandan, was that "of the largest Hidatsa village on Knife river." The map made for the society is here reproduced in figure [12]. This, to quote Libby, "shows the present appearance of the ... largest Hidatsa village site, located just north of the mouth of Knife river. From the position and direction of the doorways, it is seen that these villages show no such large grouping as is characteristic of the Mandan village...." It was observed that the circles marking the positions of the earth lodges were much deeper in the Hidatsa villages than in the two Mandan sites. In the former the extreme depth below the "highest part of the rim was often three feet and very commonly over two feet," but on the Mandan sites the depressions were quite shallow. And "in many cases it was observed that in and near the Hidatsa villages were mounds of debris of varying heights, while nothing of the kind was seen on or near Mandan sites." (Libby, (1), p. 500.) Noting these characteristic features of the two groups of villages, or rather of the villages of the two tribes, should reduce the difficulty of identifying other ancient sites in the upper Missouri Valley.

The several quotations already made refer to the earth-covered lodges of the Hidatsa, but the same people also made use of the typical skin tipi, although less often mentioned by the early writers. They probably resembled the structures used by the Crow. On November 8, 1833, when Maximilian was returning to Fort Clark from the mouth of the Yellowstone, he wrote: "At twelve o'clock we were opposite the first Manitari summer village, and saw, on the other side, many Indians.... The invitations to land became more vociferous and numerous." Going ashore "we were immediately conducted, by a distinguished man, Ita-Widahki-Hisha (the red shield), to his tent, which stood apart on the prairie, on the summit of the bank. The white leather tent was new, spacious, and handsomely ornamented with tufts of hair of various colours, and at each side of the entrance, finished with a stripe and rosettes of dyed porcupine quills, very neatly executed. It had been well warmed by a good fire, a most refreshing sight to us. We took our seats around it, with the numerous family, the brother and uncle of the chief, young men, women, and children. The chief had rather a long beard, like the Punca chief, Shudegacheh, and his right breast was tattooed with black stripes.... A large dish of boiled maize and beans was immediately set before us; it was very tender and well dressed, and three of us eat out of the dish with spoons made of the horn of buffalo, or bighorn; after which the red Dacota pipe went round." (Maximilian; (1), p. 316.) This must have been a beautiful example of the buffalo-skin tipi, new and white, decorated with quillwork and tufts of hair.

Continuing down the Missouri to Fort Clark they passed women in their "round leather boats," and saw others, "proceeding towards the river, with their boats hanging on their heads and down their backs."

An example of a "bull-boat" and paddle is shown in plate [35], b. It was collected among the Hidatsa and is now preserved in the collection of the National Museum. It is a specimen of great interest and rarity, though once so extensively used by the tribes of the Missouri Valley. Several boats of this sort are shown by Bodmer in his picture of the Mandan village (pl. [39]), and Kurz likewise left many drawings of these peculiar craft (pl. [45], c).

In addition to the several forms of structures already mentioned, the Hidatsa evidently erected a very secure temporary lodge when away from their villages on hunting trips. On November 7, 1833, when descending the Missouri, and just before arriving at Fort Clark, Maximilian wrote: "Our breakfast was prepared at nine o'clock, when we lay to on the north bank, in a narrow strip of forest, where we found some old Indian hunting lodges, built, in a conical form, of dry timber. They had, doubtless, been left by the Manitaries, who had come thus far on their hunting excursions. The lower part of the huts, or lodges, was covered with the bark of trees; the entrance was square, and bones were scattered in all directions. We proceeded with a bleak, high wind, saw the singular clay tops of the hills, and, in the forest, the stages made of poles, where the Indian hunters dry the flesh of the animals they have taken in the chase. About twelve o'clock we came to the spot where some stakes indicated the former site of a Mandan village.... We are now in the centre of the territory of the Manitaries." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 314-315.) Probably the danger of attack by their enemies made necessary the erection of these comparatively secure shelters.

About the year 1845 many Hidatsa removed from the vicinity of Knife River and reared a new village not far from Fort Berthold, some 60 miles up the Missouri from old Fort Clark. They were joined from time to time by other members of their tribe, and also by many of the remaining Mandan. In 1862 the Arikara became the third tribe to settle near Fort Berthold. But in 1850 the Arikara continued to occupy the old Mandan town just below Fort Clark, the large village of earth lodges so often visited and mentioned by the explorers and traders during the early years of the last century. It is quite evident the new settlement of the Hidatsa did not differ in appearance from the old Mandan town, the later home of the Arikara, and on June 13, 1850, Culbertson wrote from Fort Berthold: "The village, with its mud lodges, differs nothing in looks from the Ree village described yesterday, except in one particular, that is, the inhabitants are now engaged in surrounding it with pickets. The logs are well prepared and are all up except on the west side; a bastion with loop holes is placed in the middle of each side. This picket is of course to protect the inmates against enemies by whom they are frequently attacked." (Culbertson, (1), pp. 118-119.) This is a most interesting reference. Could this palisade have been the one to which Matthews alluded as having stood until 1865? The manner of constructing the palisade, with "a bastion ... in the middle of each side," will tend to recall the similar arrangement as indicated on the drawing of the ancient Mahican village about two centuries before. (Bushnell, (1), p. 26.)

In the autumn of 1853, just 20 years after Maximilian was among the Hidatsa, an officer passed down the Missouri from Fort Benton to St. Louis, thence to continue to Washington, where he arrived November 21. In his journal are several brief references to the Hidatsa, or, as he designated the tribe, the Gros Ventres. To quote from the journal: "October 8 ... a fine region, full of game, and occasionally speaking a hunting party of Gros Ventres out after buffalo." The next day the small party arrived at Fort Berthold, late in the afternoon. Then, so the journal continues: "We received many visits from the Gros Ventres, and gave them a few presents. The Gros Ventres have a large village of mud houses—very unsightly outside, but within warm and comfortable." The following morning, October 10, 1853, "I visited some of the lodges of the Gros Ventres, and found them exceedingly comfortable and capable of accommodating comfortably a hundred persons. One part of the lodge is appropriated to the horses, dogs, cattle, and chickens, and another to their own sleeping apartments. They all seemed to live sociably and comfortable together during the long cold winters of this cold latitude.... We left Fort Berthold early; but, before we had advanced far, were driven ashore by a strong wind, which continued throughout the day. The smoke from the burning prairies is so dense as to almost hide the sun. The fires, burning in every direction, present at night a beautiful and magnificent, though terrible appearance." (Saxton, (1), pp. 264-265.) What a vivid, though brief, description of conditions in the Upper Missouri Valley when all was in a primitive state.

During the years following the visits of Catlin and Maximilian many changes took place in the native villages standing on the banks of the upper Missouri and its tributaries. Writing of a period about 40 years after Maximilian's stay among the Mandan and Hidatsa, the winter of 1833-34, Dr. Matthews said: "The Hidatsa, Minnetaree, or Grosventre Indians, are one of the three tribes which at present inhabit the permanent village at Fort Berthold, Dakota Territory, and hunt on the waters of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, in Northwestern Dakota and Eastern Montana." Describing the village, he continued: "The village consists of a number of houses built very closely together, without any attempt at regularity of position. The doors face in every possible direction; and there is great uniformity in the appearance of the lodges; so it is a very difficult matter to find one's way among them." In a footnote to this paragraph is given the number of structures standing there in the year 1872. The note reads: In the fall of 1872, Dr. C. E. McChesney, then physician at the Berthold agency, counted, with great care, the buildings in the village and, in a letter, gave me the following results:

Old-style (round) lodges of Rees	43
Log-cabins of Rees	28
	—
Total number of houses of Rees		71
Old-style lodges of Grosventres and Mandans	35
Log-cabins of Grosventres and Mandans	69
	—
Total number of houses of Grosventres and Mandans		104
		—
Total of houses in village		175

The note states that "owing to the stupidity of the interpreter" it was not possible to separate the Grosventres from the Mandans, which was to be regretted.

The "old-style lodges" were the earth-covered lodges, and Matthews follows with an excellent description of how they were constructed. He tells of the building of the frame, "covered with willows, hay, and earth," and over the opening in the center of the top "of many of the lodges are placed frames of wicker-work, on which skins are spread to the windward in stormy weather to keep the lodges from getting smoky. Sometimes bull-boats are used for this purpose." (Matthews, (1), pp. 3-6.) A comment on the work of the early artists is worthy of being mentioned at this time: "Prince Maximilian's artist [Karl Bodmer] usually sketches the lodge very correctly; but Mr. Catlin invariably gives an incorrect representation of its exterior. Whenever he depicts a Mandan, Arickaree, or Minnetaree lodge, he makes it appear as an almost exact hemisphere, and always omits the entry." (Op. cit., p. 6.)

Game, especially the buffalo, was becoming less plentiful in the vicinity of the villages, and Matthews told how, "Every winter, until 1866, the Indians left their permanent village, and, moving some distance up the Missouri Valley, built temporary quarters, usually in the center of heavy forests and in the neighborhood of buffalo.... The houses of the winter-villages resembled much the log-cabins of our own western pioneers. They were neatly built, very warm, had regular fire-places and chimneys built of sticks and mud, and square holes in the roofs for the admission of light." About that time some cabins of this sort were erected "in the permanent village at Fort Berthold; every year since, they are becoming gradually more numerous and threaten to eventually supplant the original earth-covered lodges." And in 1877 "game has recently become very scarce in their country, they are obliged to travel immense distances, and almost constantly, when they go out on their winter-hunts. Requiring, therefore, movable habitations, they take with them, on their journeys, the ordinary skin-lodges, or 'tepees,' such as are used by the Dakotas, Assiniboines, and other nomadic tribes of the region." (Op. cit., pp. 6-7.)

Matthews's description of the caches prepared by the tribes with whom he was so closely associated is most interesting, and it tends to explain the origin and use of the numerous pits often discovered in the vicinity of ancient village sites east of the Mississippi. He wrote: "The numerous caches, or pits, for storing grain, are noteworthy objects in the village. In summer, when they are not in use, they are often left open, or are carelessly covered, and may entrap the unwary stroller. When these Indians have harvested their crops, and before they start on their winter-hunt, they dig their caches, or clear out those dug in previous years. A cache is a cellar, usually round, with a small opening above, barely large enough to allow a person to descend; when finished, it looks much like an ordinary round cistern. Reserving a small portion of corn, dried squash, etc., for winter use, they deposit the remainder in these subterranean store-houses, along with household-utensils, and other articles of value which they wish to leave behind. They then fill up the orifices with earth, which they trample down and rake over; thus obliterating every trace of the excavation. Some caches are made under the floors of the houses, others outside, in various parts of the village-grounds; in each case, the distance and direction from some door, post, bedstead, fire-place, or other object is noted, so that the stores may be found on the return of the owners in the spring. Should an enemy enter the village while it is temporarily deserted, the goods are safe from fire and theft. This method of secreting property has been in use among many tribes, has been adopted by whites living on the plains, and is referred to in the works of many travelers." (Op. cit., pp. 8-9.)

Such were the characteristic features of the Hidatsa villages.

Crows.

Before the separation of the Crows from the Hidatsa they may have occupied permanent villages of earth-covered lodges, such as the latter continued to erect and use until very recent years. But after the separation the Crows moved into the mountains, the region drained by the upper tributaries of the Missouri, and there no longer built permanent structures but adopted the skin tipi, so easily erected and transported from place to place. Many of their tipis were very large, beautifully made and decorated, and were evidently not surpassed in any manner by the similar structures constructed by other tribes of the Upper Missouri Valley.

During the summer of 1805 François Antoine Larocque, a clerk attached to the Upper Red River Department of the Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, visited the Crows and in his journal recorded much of interest respecting the manners of the people. Larocque had, during the winter of 1804-05, remained near the Mandan and Hidatsa villages, and thus met Captains Lewis and Clark in their winter encampment. A large party of the Crows, the Rocky Mountain Indians of the journal, came to the Hidatsa villages on Knife River. There they were met by Larocque, with whom they departed for their distant country, on Saturday, June 29, 1805. His narrative contains a brief reference to the people. He wrote: "This nation known among the Sioux by the name of Crow Indians inhabit the eastern part of the Rocky Mountains at the head of the River aux Roches Jaunes (which is Known by the Kinistinaux and Assiniboines by the name of River a la Biche, from the great number of elks with which all the Country along it abounds) and its Branches and Close to the head of the Missouri.

"There are three principal tribes of them whose names in their own language are Apsarechas, Keetheresas and Ashcabcaber, and these tribes are again divided into many other small ones which at present consist but of a few people each, as they are the remainder of a numerous people who were reduced to their present number by the ravage of the Small Pox, which raged among them for many years successively and as late as three years ago. They told me they counted 2000 Lodges or tents in their Camp when all together before the Small Pox had infected them. At present their whole number consist of about 2400 persons dwelling in 300 tents and are able to raise 600 Wariors like the Sioux and Assiniboines. They wander about in Leather tents and remain where there are Buffaloes and Elks. After having remained a few days in one place so that game is not more so plentiful as it was they flit to another place where there are Buffaloes or deers and so on all the year around. Since the great decrease of their numbers they generally dwell all together and flit at the same time and as long as it is possible for them to live when together they seldom part." (Larocque, (1), pp. 55-56.) The narrative continues: "They live upon Buffaloes & Deer, a very few of them eat Bears or Beaver flesh, but when compelled by hunger; they eat no fish." The Crows were at that time in their primitive condition. "They have never had any traders with them, they get their battle Guns, ammunitions etc. from the Mandans & Big Bellys in exchange for horses, Robes, Leggings & shirts, they likewise purchase corn, Pumpkins & tobacco from the Big Bellys as they do not cultivate the ground."

Unfortunately, Larocque did not describe the appearance of the tipis, but such information was supplied by later writers.

Catlin visited the Crows during the summer of 1832 and saw many who frequented Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, during his stay at that post. He wrote at that time: "The Crows who live on the head waters of Yellow Stone, and extend from this neighborhood also to the base of the Rocky Mountains, are similar ... to the Blackfeet: roaming about a great part of the year." And describing their habitations, he said: "The Crows, of all the tribes in this region, or on the Continent, make the most beautiful lodge ... they construct them as the Sioux do, and make them of the same material; yet they oftentimes dress the skins of which they are composed almost as white as linen, and beautifully garnish them with porcupine quills, and paint and ornament them in such a variety of ways, as renders them exceedingly picturesque and agreeable to the eye. I have procured a very beautiful one of this description, highly ornamented, and fringed with scalp-locks and sufficiently large for forty men to dine under. The poles which support it are about thirty in number, of pine, and all cut in the Rocky Mountains.... This tent, when erected, is about twenty-five feet high." (Catlin, (1), I, pp. 43-44.) Catlin's original painting of this most interesting tipi is in the National Museum, Washington, and is here reproduced in plate [46], a. The same was drawn and given by Catlin as plate 20 in his work.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 46

a. "Crow lodge." George Catlin

b. Crow camp at the old agency on the Yellowstone, near Shields River. Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871
CROW TIPIS

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 47

A CAMP IN A COTTONWOOD GROVE Photograph not identified, but probably made by J. D. Hutton

As told elsewhere in this work, Maximilian, on June 18, 1833, arrived at Fort Clark. At that time representatives of several tribes were gathered in the vicinity of the fort. These included Crows, "of which tribe there were now seventy tents about the fort." Referring to these in particular, he remarked: "The tents of the Crows are exactly like those of the Sioux, and are set up without any regular order. On the poles, instead of scalps, there were small pieces of coloured cloth, chiefly red, floating like streamers in the wind." (Maximilian, (1), p. 172.) Later in the day Maximilian accompanied the Indian agent to the tipi occupied by the Crow chief Eripuass. This he found to be of much interest. "The interior of the tent itself had a striking effect. A small fire in the centre gave sufficient light; the chief sat opposite the entrance, and round him many fine tall men, placed according to their rank, all with no other covering than a breech-cloth. Places were assigned to us on buffalo hides near the chief, who then lighted his Sioux pipe, which had a long flat tube, ornamented with bright yellow nails, made each of us take a few puffs, holding the pipe in his hand, and then passed it round to the left hand." And speaking of the tribe as a whole he wrote: "The territory in which they move about is bounded, to the north or north-west, by the Yellow Stone River, and extends round Bighorn River, towards the sources of Chayenne River and the Rocky Mountains. These Indians are a wandering tribe of hunters, who neither dwell in fixed villages, like the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras, nor make any plantations except of tobacco, which, however, are very small.... They roam about with their leather tents, hunt the buffalo, and other wild animals, and have many horses and dogs, which, however, they never use for food.... The Crow women are very skilful in various kinds of work, and their shirts and dresses of bighorn leather, embroidered and ornamented with dyed porcupine quills, are particularly handsome, as well as their buffalo robes, which are painted and embroidered in the same manner." (Op. cit., pp. 174-175.)

During the spring of 1863 a peculiar type of log house was discovered in the Crow country which had probably been erected by members of that tribe. They may have resembled the cabins mentioned by Matthews as standing at the Fort Berthold Reservation nine years later. On May 2, 1863, a member of the Yellowstone expedition entered in his journal: "In the timber along the river, we saw many houses built of dry logs and bark; some are built like lodges, but the most of them are either square or oblong, and among them were many large and strong corrals of dry logs. The Crows evidently winter along here, and, from the sign, they are very numerous." The following day, "We camped three miles below Pompey's Pillar, on which we found the names of Captain Clark and two of his men cut in the rock, with the date July 25, 1806.... Buffalo to be seen in every direction, and very tame.... No wonder the Crows like their country; it is a perfect paradise for a hunter.... About sundown a large band of buffalo came in to drink at a water-hole about two hundred yards in front of our camp." (Stuart, (1), pp. 176-178.) This may have represented a winter camp ground, with permanent huts to which the Crows returned from year to year. It was in the northeastern part of the present Yellowstone County, Montana.

A very interesting description of a Crow camp is to be found in Lord Dunraven's narrative of his hunting trip to the Yellowstone region performed during the year 1874. The particular camp stood not far from the present Livingston, Montana. In describing the camp he wrote: "The lodges are tall, circular dwellings, composed of long fir-poles planted on a circle in the ground. These slope inwards and form a cone, meeting and leaning against each other at the apex; and upon them is stretched a covering of buffalo hides. They make very comfortable, clean and airy houses, and are far preferable to any tent, being much warmer in winter and cooler in summer. A tepee will hold from twelve to fifteen or even twenty individuals; several families, therefore, generally occupy one in common. The earth is beaten down hard, forming a smooth floor, and in the middle burns the fire, the smoke finding an exit through an aperture at the top. The portions of the tepee assigned to each family or couple are divided by a kind of wicker-work screen at the head and foot, separating a segment of a circle of about eight or ten feet in length and five or six in breadth, closed by the screen at either end, and at the outer side by the wall of the lodge, but being open towards the interior. The fire is common property, and has a certain amount of reverence paid to it. It is considered very bad manners, for instance, to step between the fire and the place where the head man sits. All round, on the lodge poles and on the screens, are suspended the arms, clothing, finery, and equipment of the men and their horses. Each lodge forms a little community in itself.

"The tepees are pitched with all the regularity of an organized camp, in a large circle, inside which the stock is driven at night or on an alarm or occasion of danger. Outside the door is struck a spear or pole, on which is suspended the shield of the chief and a mysterious something tied up in a bundle, which is great medicine." (Dunraven, (1), pp. 94-95.)

A white shield supported outside a tipi is visible in the photograph reproduced as plate [47]. This remarkable picture has not, unfortunately, been identified, but it was undoubtedly made in the Upper Missouri Valley, and from the nature of the tipis, many appearing to be quite small, it may be assumed that it was a party of Indians who had come on a trading trip, rather than that it represented a regular village.

Several accounts are preserved of large structures discovered in the region frequented by the Crows which, although not positively identified, were possibly erected by members of that tribe. Thus Lewis and Clark on July 24, 1806, arrived at an island in the Yellowstone River between 5 and 6 miles below the mouth of Clark's Fork, and wrote: "It is a beautiful spot with a rich soil, covered with wild rye, and a species of grass like the blue-grass, and some of another kind, which the Indians wear in plaits round the neck, on account of a strong scent resembling that of vanilla. There is also a thin growth of cottonwood scattered over the island. In the centre is a large Indian lodge which seems to have been built during the last summer. It is in the form of a cone, sixty feet in diameter at the base, composed of twenty poles, each forty-five feet long, and two and a half in circumference, and the whole structure covered with bushes. The interior was curiously ornamented. On the tops of the poles were feathers of eagles, and circular pieces of wood, with sticks across them in the form of a girdle: from the centre was suspended a stuffed buffaloe skin; on the side fronting the door was hung a cedar bush: on one side of the lodge a buffaloe's head; on the other several pieces of wood stuck in the ground. From its whole appearance, it was more like a lodge for holding councils, than an ordinary dwelling house." (Lewis and Clark, (1), II, p. 386.) This was undoubtedly a ceremonial lodge, and it was probably quite similar to another observed a few years later. To quote the description of the second example: "In the country of the Crow Indians, (Up-sa-ro-ka,) Mr. Dougherty saw a singular arrangement of the magi. The upper portion of a cotton-wood tree was implanted, with its base in the earth, and around it was a sweat house, the upper part of the top of the tree arising through the roof. A gray bison skin, extended with oziers on the inside so as to exhibit a natural appearance, was suspended above the house, and on the branches were attached several pairs of children's mockasins and leggings, and from one of the limbs of the tree, a very large fan made of war eagle's feathers was dependent." (James, (1), I, p. 272.)