FOOTNOTES:
[162] On his outward journey Maximilian gives this river the English form of its name—the Muddy. See our volume xxii, p. 372, note 348.—Ed.
[163] Charles Lucien Bonaparte, prince de Musignano and Canino, for whom see our volume xxii, p. 39, note 15.—Ed.
[164] See Plate 23, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[165] See our volume xxii, p. 369, note 345. The post was one built in 1825-26 by James Kipp (see our volume xxii, p. 345, note 319), for the Columbia Fur Company. This was transferred (1827) with other property to the American Fur Company, who maintained it, as Maximilian says, until the establishment of the Yellowstone post.—Ed.
[166] This post of Manoel Lisa was the one visited in 1811 by Bradbury and Brackenridge, who found Reuben, brother of Meriwether Lewis, in charge. See our volume v, pp. 152-167; vi, pp. 135-142. It was on the west bank of the Missouri about twelve miles above Knife River, near Emanuel Creek.—Ed.
[167] Probably Joseph L. Dougherty, who was in 1839 farmer at the Council Bluffs agency. His brother John accompanied Maximilian as far as Bellevue on the outward journey. The opposition of Soublette and Campbell to the American Fur Company was spirited though brief; consult Chittenden, Fur-Trade, i, pp. 350-354. The rival post was just below the former post of Lisa (see our volume xxii, p. 364), and above Fort Clark.—Ed.
[168] For Joshua Pilcher see James' Long's Expedition, in our volume xiv, p. 269, note 193. For his post consult our volume xxii, p. 364, note 335.—Ed.
[169] Red Shield was a young chief at the time of Lewis and Clark's visit; see Original Journals, i, p. 230. He is said to have been the slayer of Le Borgne, the famous Minitaree tyrant; see our volume v, p. 162, note 90.—Ed.
[170] For the location of this Minitaree village, see our volume xxii, p. 357, note 333.—Ed.
[171] See the view of the village Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, Plate 49 [in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv] where one of these boats is introduced.—Maximilian.
CHAPTER XXIV
DESCRIPTION OF FORT CLARKE AND THE ENVIRONS
History of the Fort—Description—Climate—Soil—Geological Formation of the Country—Plants—Animals—The neighbouring Indian Population—Indian Villages.
Lewis and Clarke gave an account of the state of this part of the country at the time of their residence in the vicinity of the Mandan villages, in the winter of 1803-4.[172] At that time they erected a fort on the north bank of the Missouri, a little above the place where Fort Clarke now stands, but, at present, there is not the smallest trace of that post. The river has since changed its bed in such a manner, that the site of that building, which was then at some distance from the shore, is now in the middle of the stream. Such changes in the channel of the Missouri are of very common occurrence, so that all the islands, sand banks, little bends, and points of land formed by them, laid down in the special maps, are correct for only a short time. Above the Manitari villages is a place where the river made its way through a tongue of land, and now forms a channel nearly four miles from its former bed. This took place in 1828. Some persons think that Lewis and Clarke's fort would now be on the south bank of the Missouri. Charbonneau, who was interpreter for the Manitari language, and had lived thirty-seven years in this part of the country, was here at the same time as those travellers, passed the winter with them, and afterwards accompanied them to the Columbia River. He generally lives at Awatichai, the second village of the Manitaries, and, excepting some journeys, has always remained at this spot: hence he is well acquainted with the Manitaries and their language, though, as he candidly confessed, he could never learn to pronounce it correctly.[173]
Mr. Kipp, a Canadian of German descent, now clerk of the American Fur Company, and director of Fort Clarke, came here in 1822, as agent of the Columbia Fur Company.[174] At that time there was no fort here. Major Pilcher, the same gentleman who came with us up the {319} Lower Missouri, in order to take the management of the trading post of Mr. Cabanné, among the Omahas, was, at that time, a proprietor of the Missouri Fur Company, and directed a trading post a little above the Manitari villages, on the southern coast. In the spring of 1822,[175] this fort was abandoned, the above-mentioned Fur Company having been dissolved. In May, the same year, Mr. Kipp commenced building a fort in the prairie, which lay between the present Fort Clarke, and the forest, in which the inhabitants of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush live in the winter. This fort was completed in the month of November. In the same summer, Colonel Leavenworth,[176] with a considerable body of troops, artillery, and an auxiliary corps of the Dacota Indians, came up the river to the Arikkara villages, to chastise those people, who, not long before, had attacked the keel-boats of General Ashley, killed eighteen of the crew, and wounded many others. The inhabitants of the banks of the Missouri affirm that this enterprise was conducted with very little energy; they retired from the enemy's villages without destroying them, or doing much injury to the inhabitants, at which the allied Indians, especially, were much dissatisfied.[177] The Arikkaras, on the other hand, became excessively arrogant, and henceforth attacked and murdered all the white men who were so unfortunate as to fall in their way. When Lewis and Clarke were here, these people were friendly, but now they are violently inimical to the Whites, and have killed many more than any other nation on the Missouri.[178] After Colonel Leavenworth's retreat, the Arikkaras removed to a station higher up the river, and settled in the forest which the Mandans have now selected for their winter quarters.[179] The garrison of the fort, built by Mr. Kipp, consisted of only five men, besides Mr. Tilton, the director. It was, therefore, in constant danger, because of the near vicinity of the Arikkaras. Those savages remained constantly close to the fort: one of their chiefs, Stanapat (the little hawk with the bloody hand) killed one of Mr. Tilton's people at the very door of the fort. Three white men, coming from the Rocky Mountains, were obliged by the Arikkaras, who lay in wait, to abandon their boat, and to escape, at imminent risk of their lives, to the opposite shore. In the same autumn these Indians murdered five persons belonging to the French Company on Cannon-ball River. Neither Messrs. Tilton and Kipp, nor any of their people, durst venture out of the fort, where they were obliged to remain in durance the whole of the autumn. Subsequently, the latter resided in a Mandan village till the fort was completed, though those people were on a friendly footing with the Arikkaras. When the man above-named was shot at the door of the fort, the Mandans were very anxious to declare war against the Arikkaras; but this was overruled, because the people belonging to the Columbia Fur Company, who had to come hither by land from Lake Travers and St. Peter's River, would inevitably have suffered by it.[180]
At the beginning of December, Mr. Laidlow, now on the Little Missouri, came from Lake Travers with six wagons laden with goods, on which a sort of peace was concluded with the Arikkaras.[181] They came first to the fort, because they could nowhere else obtain goods from the Whites, and the {320} precaution was always taken of admitting only a few of them at a time. The peace with these Indians was not, as might have been expected, of any long duration. They always behaved extremely treacherously, and it was at length dangerous even to go out for water, wood, or other necessaries, and the people were frequently threatened and intimidated; for which reason, Mr. Tilton left the fort, and went to the next Mandan village, where he resided in the hut of the distinguished chief, Tohp-Ka-Singka (the four men), who protected him against every attack. He afterwards went down to St. Louis.
In the spring of that year the Arikkaras returned to their former villages, declaring that they would, in future, live in peace with the white men. Mr. Kipp alone remained behind, and, throughout the summer, did not see a white man; the skins and goods of the Company were in his keeping in the hut of the chief, but he afterwards built a house near the village, where he dwelt, till 1824, with one Jeffers, who, with seven men, and wagons laden with goods, had come from Lake Travers. The Mandans had hitherto protected the abandoned fort, and kept it in order, that the Arikkaras might not burn it. During the summer Mr. Kipp caused the palisades of the fort to be cut down close to the ground, and the Mandans conveyed the wood to their village, carrying some of the beams on their shoulders, and floated the remainder down the river. The buildings were likewise destroyed. Several apartments were added to Mr. Kipp's house, and the palisades were placed round it. As he had not a sufficient quantity of goods, Mr. Kipp sent Charbonneau (who was likewise in the service of the Columbia Fur Company), in company with another man, to fetch a wagon-load from Lake Travers; but, on their return, encountering a party of Assiniboins, they were compelled to abandon their wagon, horses, and goods, and all was lost. About this time the Crows arrived with a good supply of furs, but as Mr. Kipp had not a sufficient number of articles to barter, he himself undertook, with two Half-breeds, the journey to Lake Travers, and succeeded in bringing a wagon-load in safety.
On his way he perceived a camp of the Dacota, and avoided it; and, during the night, lost his horses, but was fortunate enough to recover them. When he returned, General Atkinson, with 500 or 600 troops, had been at the Mandan villages, whence he proceeded upwards to Milk River. These troops returned during the summer, and hostilities had nearly ensued between them and the Crows, who were with the Mandans.[182] The French Fur Company had sent some of their servants with the General to trade in the Mandan villages. Bissonette was the chief trader. In the autumn Mr. Tilton came up from St. Louis, in a keel-boat laden with goods. Mr. Kipp had, meantime, sent some people to the Assiniboins, Crees, and Ojibuas, to invite their chiefs to come hither and open a trade with them. The troops had brought a person named Wilson, as agent of the United States for the Indians;[183] and all these people lived together in the Mandan fort. Peace was therefore concluded between those three Indian tribes, as well with the Whites as with the Mandans and their allies. The object was to break off their connexion {321} in the north with the English, and to draw them to the Missouri. In April, 1825, Messrs. Wilson and Tilton returned to St. Louis, and Kipp alone remained in the fort, with five men.[184] In November, Mr. Tilton returned with a supply of goods, and Mr. Kipp went to White Earth River, carrying with him a fine selection. Here he built a fort, a little on this side of the mouth of the river, and remained there during the winter, trading with the Assiniboins. In the autumn of 1826 the Sioux made an attack on the Mandans and Manitaries, killed above fifty of the latter, a couple of the Mandans, and likewise a Crow Indian, who happened to be on the spot. This year, the Columbia Fur Company united with the American Fur Company, and commenced its operations here on the Missouri.[185] In the winter of 1830 Mr. Kipp caused the wood to be prepared for the present Fort Clarke, and the palisades were erected in the spring of 1831. Mr. Mitchell now undertook the direction of this new fort, which he completed to a certain extent, and called Fort Clarke. In July, with forty-five men, Mr. Kipp was sent to Maria River, where he built the fort, the ruins of which I have mentioned above. He remained there till the spring of 1832, when he was succeeded by Mr. Mitchell, who then built the present Fort Piekann, or Mc Kenzie.[186] Mr. Kipp has since had the direction of Fort Clarke, except in the winter of 1832-33, when Mr. Lamont had it,[187] and Kipp was under him as clerk. Skirmishes with the Sioux took place in the neighbourhood; and, on one occasion, when Lamont and Kipp were conversing by the fireside, they were startled by a shot fired through the window, while the ball passed between them, and lodged in the wall. The Mandans, who were brought hither by Mr. Kipp, have remained here for eleven years, in the same position as then, and their number has neither increased nor diminished. The trade with the Indians is, on the whole, unchanged, and the goods remain nearly at the same prices, except when their value is raised by foreign merchants. This year (1833), on account of the competition with Messrs. Soublette and Campbell, twelve dollars were paid for a large beaver-skin, though it was, in reality, worth no more than four dollars in the United States. But it was of great moment to the Company not to suffer any other party to compete with them. The Indians now generally require horses in exchange for their beavers; and as there are but few at Fort Clarke, messengers were despatched to Fort Pièrre to fetch some. Messrs. Soublette and Campbell had, at present, one of their people in each of the neighbouring Indian villages. I have already mentioned their clerk, Mr. Dougherty, who lived among the Manitaries, and stated that they had taken Charbonneau into their pay. Mr. Kipp had likewise stationed a trader among the Manitaries, who, in the winter, visited the villages in a sledge. The circumstances which took place during the thirty-seven years of Charbonneau's residence in the Manitari and Mandan villages, were nearly as follows:—
At his first arrival, the three Manitari villages stood precisely as they do now, and Charbonneau immediately took up his residence in the central one. No commercial intercourse had then been opened with St. Louis; and he, as the only white man on the spot, procured what he wanted {322} from the north, of the English. In the year of his arrival, 1300 or 1400 Sioux, united with 700 Arikkaras, attacked the foremost Mandan village, and about 1000 Manitaries hastened to assist the latter. They repulsed the enemy, killing more than 100 of them, among whom was the son of Tanahah-Tahka (the white cow), an Arikkara chief. These people had before lived in the nearest forest, below that which the Mandans of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush now inhabit during the winter; but, after this battle, they removed further down the Missouri, and built their villages at the spot where we saw them.[188] After the war, they left all their effects behind them in their huts. Subsequently they often returned in a hostile manner, but never in such numbers as at that time. Five or six years before Charbonneau arrived, the Sioux, with 1500 tents, came on a visit to the vicinity of the Manitari villages. Two of the latter, a man and woman, who were returning from the Crows, were murdered by some of the Sioux; on which the Manitaries recklessly killed five Sioux, who happened to be with them. This was the signal for war. The Sioux surrounded the village; the inhabitants were unable to procure either wood or water, as the river was at some distance. There they remained closely blockaded for nine days, drinking only the dirty stagnant water which was in the village. The horses collected in the huts suffered hunger and thirst, and gnawed off the bark of the wood of the posts. A chief, who had erected a kind of bulwark on the top of his hut, shot eleven Sioux, but was, in the sequel, killed by a successful fire from the enemy.
On the ninth day the old men gave orders that the young warriors should mount their horses and go out to meet the enemy, while all the inhabitants should issue forth and fetch water from the river. This was done, but, when the Sioux observed the intended attack, they struck their tents and retired, conducting their women and children along the chain of hills. Eighty of the horses which were led to the river perished, because it was not possible to prevent them from drinking too eagerly. The Sioux were pursued, and many of them killed. During Charbonneau's time, another war party of the same nation appeared on the other bank of the Missouri; in the large Manitari village there were only eighteen men, the rest being out on a hunting expedition, but the other village collected all its warriors. The Mandans joined them, they forded the river on horseback to make an attack, and reached a ravine, where they faced the foe. The Sioux called to the Manitaries, that they would first smoke together, on which all sat down, showed each other their pipes, and began to smoke. This done, the chief of the Sioux advanced and called to his adversaries that they were come here to fight; both sides knew that they had brave men opposed to them, and he, therefore, considered it would be more honourable to leave the wood, and combat in the open plain, which was agreed to by both parties. They proceeded into the plain and commenced the attack. Two Mandans, the Coal, and the Black Cat,[189] had previously had a dispute with each other, and were now resolved to see which of them would fight the best. The Sioux soon gained considerable advantages, and the Mandans and Manitaries {323} were already beginning to retreat towards the forest, when the Black Cat called to the Coal, his adversary, who was among the retreating party, whether this retreat was a proof of his vaunted courage? On which the Coal recovered himself, took his adversary by the arm, and said, "Well then, we will die together!" They both turned back and rode into the thickest of the enemy. Their example was instantly followed by all the other warriors; they recommenced the attack with renewed vigour; the enemy was totally worsted, and many of their people killed.
At another time a war party of the Sioux appeared opposite the village Les Souliers,[190] in the large prairie. The Manitaries crossed the river, defeated the enemy, and pursued them for twenty miles. The Sioux constantly remained near the river to keep their opponents from their camp in hills, where their women and children were placed. A Sioux, wearing a handsome feather cap and tufts of hair, proceeded along the hills, and a Manitari chief pursued this enemy on a fleeter horse, and overtook him. Both dismounted and fought with their knives till the Sioux was killed. Forty-eight of the enemy were slain, while the Manitaries lost only three men. The Mandans had supported their allies and neighbours in this battle. Charbonneau was witness of this action, and said that in the following night the scalp dance was performed. Ten or twelve years ago the Manitaries were preparing an antelope park, and one of their people, who was occupied in a ravine, collecting the wood necessary for the purpose, was shot by some Assiniboins, who were lying in ambush. The relations were in the act of placing the deceased on the stage for the dead, when about thirty Assiniboins, with two calumets, came to the village to conclude a peace, not knowing that another band of their people had just committed the above-named murder. All the inhabitants hastened together, attacked and killed about twenty Assiniboins, took three of the women prisoners, while the few remaining of the party escaped by flight. Individuals are even now often murdered on both sides; and only three weeks before my arrival at Fort Clarke, three of the enemy had come to the bank opposite the fort, and made signals that they wished to be conveyed across. A man and two women accordingly went over in a leather boat, on which the strangers immediately shot the man, and the women with difficulty escaped.
Fort Clarke is about three quarters of a mile below the site of the old fort of Lewis and Clarke, 300 paces from the Mandan village, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, and between eighty and ninety paces from the southern side of the river, in a level prairie, above the rather steep bank of the Missouri. This bank, immediately below the Indian village, is much higher and quite perpendicular. About 200 paces below the fort is a streamlet which has steep clay banks, and at the distance of 200 paces from the Missouri divides into two arms, one of which comes down further south, and the other about 700 paces behind the fort, after issuing from the hills into the level prairie. This chain of hills limits the background of the prairie, and closes on that side the view from the fort.[191] The ground near the stream {324} is overgrown with grass, and, in its many windings, bushes and tall plants adorn the banks, especially of the class syngenesia, such as solidago, &c., the seeds of which are sought after in winter by the Fringilla linaria, and the Emberiza nivalis. In the spring and autumn wild ducks frequent this stream, which is inhabited by river tortoises; the unio, too, is found in it. As soon as it freezes, which, in 1833, it did in November, the ducks migrate to the ponds and lakes a few miles distant, where they remain with pelicans, swans, wild geese, divers, cranes, and other water fowl, till these lakes are likewise frozen. About a league below Fort Clarke the Missouri makes a bend to the east or north-east, and on this part of the bank is a rather extensive forest, in which the inhabitants of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush have built their winter village of sixty or seventy huts. From the above village there is easy access across the prairie, which is, in general, level, to Ruhptare, the second Mandan village, there being only a couple of small ravines filled with brushwood, the resort of prairie hens, to break the level. Opposite the fort, on the left shore of the Missouri, a fine forest of poplars, elms, maples, ash, &c., with a thick undergrowth of every variety of shrub, extends to the prairie hills. In this forest the inhabitants of Ruhptare live in the winter time, directly opposite their summer village.[192]
Fort Clarke itself is built on the same plan as the other trading posts of the Company. The front and back of the square are forty-four paces in length, the sides, forty-nine paces. The northern and southern corners have block-houses; the buildings are of one story, and they were just erecting a new one, with a couple of rooms, having good glass windows, which, however, was not yet completed. In front of the postern gate was the machine in which the skins are made up into bundles, each bundle consisting of ten buffalo hides, and weighing 100 pounds. A small piece of garden-ground is laid out behind the fort, and not far off, on the banks of the stream, the Indians had planted some small fields of maize and gourds. There were only three dogs in the fort, which were always shut out in the evening. At this time we had little opportunity of following the chase; the herds of buffaloes had gone to a distance, and the hunters were obliged to make long excursions before they could meet with them. There was, however, a sufficient stock of food for the horses in the fort, and sometimes a good many horses were kept there; but, at this season, most of them had been sold, in consequence of the competition in trade. These animals are very badly treated; they are scarcely housed in a stable during the whole winter, and in the coldest nights they were in the court-yard, while the congealed snow lay on their backs and shoulders, some inches thick. They had no food in the winter, except the bark of the poplar trees in the forest; and, when the weather was not too rigorous, and the snow too deep, they were driven thither daily. The dogs have also to pass the night in ice and snow. Fort Clarke possessed no oxen, nor any domestic animals, except some cocks and hens, which latter begin to lay in March. Oxen would be in danger from the numerous Indians, who consider them as a medicine {325} of the white men, which may be prejudicial to them in hunting the buffaloes. There were a few tame cats in the fort, but not sufficient to reduce the great numbers of rats. These animals (the Norway rats) were so numerous and troublesome, that no kind of provision was safe from their voracity; their favourite food was the maize, among which they committed sad havoc; and it was calculated that they daily devoured five bushels, or 250 pounds. There were often from 500 to 800 bushels of this corn in the loft at a time. The rats were brought hither by the American ships; but, as yet, they have not reached the Manitari villages. The Indians killed seven of these creatures in the prairie, which were on their route from Fort Clarke to those villages. No rats have since attempted to visit them, but it is more than probable that they will, ere long, find their way thither.
The only neighbours of the fort are the Indian villages. They are surrounded by their stages for the dead, which form a very strange appearance, and, in the warm season, when the wind blows from that direction, spread most disagreeable and unwholesome exhalations.[193] In the summer time, the many Indians engaged in various occupations in the prairie, and their numerous horses grazing around, give great animation to the country; but, in winter, the landscape is extremely dead and monotonous. The extensive white plain is enlivened by neither man nor beast, unless, indeed, some herds of buffaloes are in the neighbourhood, or a few hungry wolves are prowling about in search of food. At that season there is generally more life on the frozen river, as the Indians are continually going backwards and forwards from their winter to their summer villages, and to the fort. Men, women, children, and dogs, drawing little sledges, are seen on it all day long; and the people of the fort amuse themselves with skating, and the children with sledges, especially on Sundays.[194]
The climate in the country about Fort Clarke is, in general, healthy; yet, in the spring and autumn, and even in winter, there are always some disorders which carry off many of the inhabitants, especially the Indians, who are entirely destitute of medical assistance. In the winter which we passed here, several such epidemics prevailed, which affected very many of the people; and some of the Whites, too, were severe sufferers. A great many children were carried off by the hooping-cough, and some Indians by diarrhœa and colic; and the cholera having prevailed on the Lower Missouri, it was at first feared that it had penetrated thus far, though these apprehensions afterwards proved to be groundless. In consequence of the frequent and sudden changes of the temperature, catarrh is very common among the half-naked Indians; agues are quite unknown here. The winter is usually accompanied with much rain, snow, stormy, and tempestuous weather. At times there have even been snow-storms late in May, from which Indians have perished in the prairie. In April, last year, a father and son were there frozen to death.
Great inundations are rare; since Charbonneau came to this country, which was about thirty-seven {326} years since, there have been only two, which, however, were very severe.[195] Earthquakes, which are frequent on the Mississippi, have not been noticed here; a circumstance confirmed by Volney. March and April are called by the Indians the horses' winter, because, when the weather is warm, the horses are often driven to pasture in the prairie, and then violent storms of snow sometimes occur suddenly, and destroy many of these animals.
The difference of climate a few days' journey down the Missouri is often very great; for in many seasons the gourds are ripe in the Arikkara villages, when they are only in blossom with the Mandans, and the trees are in flower there, when the leaves are but just beginning to sprout here; a difference which is, of course, still greater the further you go down the river. At the Mandan villages, the leaves of the plants seldom appear before May; the willows on the banks, perhaps, a little sooner. The flowers in the prairie are said not to blossom earlier, and in some years the trees have not been clothed with foliage till the end of May. The changes of temperature are often sudden and unpleasant.[196] The summer is always dry and hot, yet the heat is not so enervating as on the Mississippi, though, in the prairies, when there is no wind stirring, it is excessively oppressive. Swarms of mosquitoes are a great torment in the summer time, but not in the same degree every year. Last summer they were not very numerous. We were assured that July is the only month in the year which is without frost; before and after it there are frosts nightly.[197] In the heat of summer the creeks become dry, and the crops of maize of the Indians often fail in consequence of the drought. In the year 1833, the crop was not very good, though it did not entirely fail. Autumn is generally the most pleasant season of the year.
Fine, bright, clear days, with moderate heat, prevail; the leaves, indeed, fall in October; and even in autumn {327} the changes of temperature are frequently great and rapid. On the 17th October the weather was fine, serene, and warm, and on the 18th such a sharp frost, with a storm of snow, that two Indians were frozen to death in the prairie. The winter is long, and generally severe; most animals then migrate, and, therefore, the winter Fauna has but a few species whereof to boast. We were told that, about new year, there is usually a very cold interval of about a week, which was the case during our visit; and the Indians have, on this account, called one of their months "the moon of the seven cold days." The winter of 1833-34 is considered as one of the most severe. The mercury in the thermometer was frozen for several days, and, at Fort Union, the cold is said to have been 47°, Fahrenheit, below zero.[198] The snow is seldom more than two feet deep, but it remains a long time, often unchanged till the month of March—a proof of the dryness of the climate. In the dreadful storms of snow which perfectly darken the air, the compass is an important and necessary instrument; in fact, it is, at all times, indispensable in these prairies. The winter of 1832 was extremely mild: there was scarcely any snow, and the inhabitants did not remember to have had such a season for many years. The Missouri generally freezes in November. Last year (1832), on the 24th November, and likewise in the winter of this year (1833), it froze on the 23rd November, but only in some places, at which the ice was passable two days after.
Close to the fort it is seldom frozen quite across, there being, generally, a narrow open channel, which, however, is not of any great length. The freezing of the Missouri in this part of the country, which continues uninterruptedly throughout the winter, is not to be compared with that of other large rivers; for instance, the Mississippi—for the Upper Missouri has at this season much less depth and rapidity, so that it freezes the more easily. Mr. Kipp recollected, in in the eleven years of his residence here, the greatest degree of cold to have been 36° below zero. The east and north winds are generally accompanied, at Fort Clarke, with snow and rain: the north and north-west winds are cold. In spring and autumn there are violent storms, and but few days are without wind, which, in fact, is pretty nearly the case in all seasons of the year. In cold winters the sun often has a parhelion-on either side. In the spring and autumn, there are often splendid northern lights, while in winter they are very rare, and are most frequently seen in autumn at about ten o'clock in the evening.
The water of the Missouri is cold, refreshing, and very wholesome. In spring and summer it is not so transparent as at other times; in frosty weather in winter, it is perfectly clear, as many travellers have testified. The water in the small streams is generally bad, having something of a brackish taste; and the banks of the Missouri are frequently covered with a very thin, white, saline coating. Lewis and Clarke frequently speak of this phenomenon. The soil in this country is said to be, in general, fruitful in the plains; and especially in the valleys which lie {328} between the hills, there is a stratum of black mould, more than two feet thick, but the excessive drought, in summer and winter, causes many crops to fail. The almost incessant wind dries the ground to such a degree, that it soon absorbs the little moisture proceeding from the rain. The dew, besides, is not sufficiently copious to refresh and support the parched vegetation, as it does in hot countries. When manure was spread upon the prairies, it was immediately converted into dust, and blown away by the wind. The Mandans and Manitaries cultivate very fine maize, without ever manuring the ground; but their fields are on the low banks of the river, sufficiently sheltered by eminences, where the soil is particularly fruitful. When, after many years, the field is exhausted, they let it lie fallow, and cultivate another spot, since these extensive wildernesses offer them inexhaustible resources. They have been advised to use manure, at which, however, they only laugh. Mr. Kipp intended to make a trial with some exhausted Indian land, and to manure it; for this purpose, he meant to spread earth over the manure, that the wind might not so easily affect it, and in this way he hoped, in the sequel, to convince the Indians, who pertinaciously abide by their old prejudices. They have extremely fine maize of different species. Mr. Kipp has made frequent trials of blue flowering potatoes, which succeeded extremely well; but the Indians were so eager after these incomparable roots, that he could not keep enough for seed. One Indian, however, in Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, had prudently preserved some potatoes in order to plant them; and thus it may be hoped that they will be gradually propagated among these people.
It appears, from what has been above stated, that drought and want of wood are the chief impediments to the cultivation and settlement of the Whites in the prairies of the Upper Missouri—an opinion in which most of the persons engaged in the service of the Company agree, though Bradbury thinks differently.[199]
With respect to the geological formation of the soil, it appears chiefly to consist of clay, sand, and sand-stone. All the chains of hills which traverse the prairie, and of which there is one along both the banks of the Missouri, consist of clay mixed with sand, and of sand-stone, with many impressions and petrifactions of shell-fish, and the singular baculites, which are found everywhere on the Missouri and its tributaries, and even here and there in the beds of the streams. Fossil bones are frequently found, and, in the calcareous rock further down the Missouri, entire skeletons, twelve, fourteen, or even more, feet in length, of reptiles of the crocodile kind, of which I brought back one, found in the vicinity of the Big Bend, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Major O'Fallon, at St. Louis.[200] It appears that there are no minerals in this country, and, {329} in the immediate vicinity of Fort Clarke, not even lime. On the other hand, the strata of black, bituminous coal appear in the hills for many hundred miles. This coal ignites easily, with a strong sulphureous smell, but it does not emit sufficient heat to serve as fuel or for the forge.[201] In many places it may be evidently seen that these strata have been on fire. The surrounding clay is frequently burnt red, and the shards are perfectly coloured, hard and sonorous, like our bricks and Dutch clinkers. About Fort Clarke they know nothing of such fires, but they have frequently occurred lower down the Missouri. The red clay, which we have so often spoken of, appears to have been elevated by the action of fire. On the banks, extremely light, porous, cellular, red brown scoriæ are everywhere found, which the people here call pumice stone, though they are totally different from the fossil usually so called, and of which extensive strata are found on the banks of the Rhine. Petrifactions of animals and plants are to be looked for only on the banks of the rivers, though they doubtless are as frequent in the chains of hills, where they are concealed by the greensward from the eye of the passing observer. I was told that, in the prairie, about twenty miles distant from Fort Clarke, there are places in the hills where the organic remains of the antediluvian world lie exposed on the surface, but that country can be visited only for short intervals of time, and that, too, attended with great danger, on account of the hostile Indians. Entire petrified trunks of trees, such as we had observed on the banks of the Missouri, are said to be there, and impressions of crabs, or similar crustacea, have been found. The Indians speak of a petrified man, at the distance of three or four days' journey, whose head is round, and lies detached from the body. The story about the head is, probably, incorrect, as they pretend to be able to discern the countenance; but the rest of the skeleton is said plainly and distinctly to be seen. These are, doubtless, the remains of some antediluvian animal. It is much to be regretted that it is impracticable to explore, without much risk, a country so abounding with remains of this nature.
The extensive prairies, and their hills, certainly produce a great variety of plants, of which a part only have been described. Bradbury collected many plants about the Mandan villages, which were described by Pursh;[202] and Nuttall's works likewise contain many;[203] but there is, undoubtedly, much remaining to be done, especially in the chain of the Black Hills. The country, about the Missouri, has its peculiar botanical characters. The tongues of land at the bends of the river are generally covered with wood; other parts of the banks more rarely so; the species of trees and shrubs which occur here have already been mentioned. There are no pines in the vicinity of Fort Clarke; but they are found higher up the river; nor are there any birch trees; indeed, I did not meet with one on the whole course of the Missouri. These do not grow, except on the tributaries of the Upper Missouri, for instance, Knife River. At the distance of three days' journey from the mouth, at the foot of the mountains which are improperly called La Côte Noire, though they join the Black Hills, of which they are a branch, the latter form {330} a very interesting chain, which runs nearly in a north-east direction from La Platte and the great northern bend of the Missouri. They lie about 100 miles to the east of the Rocky Mountains, and form the watershed between the Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas, several rivers having their sources in those mountains.[204] Many kinds of fossils, and numerous species of plants and animals, which do not occur on the Missouri, are found on those hills. The paper birch (Betula papyracea) grows there, of the bark of which the northern Indians make the large pirogues, which are described in various works on North America. This tree is often thicker than a man's body; the bark is stripped off in large sheets, by making two parallel transverse incisions above and below, and then a perpendicular incision; after which the bark is loosened by means of wooden wedges. It is dry, and comes off very easily. Within is the smooth watered skin used by the Indians for writing their characters upon, from which circumstance the tree has derived its botanical name. The Black Hills are said to be likewise interesting in a zoological point of view. Among other animals found there, are the panther (Felis concolor), several species of rodentia, squirrels, &c.
In the prairies on the Missouri, near Fort Clarke, the same species of cactus are found as near Fort Union; the grasses are not of so many species as might be supposed; Chondrosium oligostachyum (Nees), which grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, and Bryzophyrum spicatum, are, however, found there. As I had no opportunity of botanizing here in the summer time, my list of plants of this part of the country is very incomplete; but Bradbury and Nuttall were more fortunate. Many officinal plants grow here, but there are no physicians to direct the use of them.
In the forests about Fort Clarke, only a very small quantity of useful timber is found. The poplar burns quickly, and emits much heat, and the bark serves for the winter food of the horses. The animal kingdom has many interesting species, for those of the extensive western prairies are united with those of the cold regions of North America. The best accounts of the former are given by Say, whose early death is deeply to be deplored:[205] and for those of the more northern regions, Richardson's admirable Fauna Boreali-Americana is replete with interest and information. The buffalo herds do not appear in the immediate vicinity of Fort Clarke, except when the winter is very severe, because they are too much disturbed by the numerous Indians in the neighbourhood. The hunters of the fort are often obliged to ride twenty miles before they find them. In the cold snow-storms, so prevalent during the winter, these animals take refuge in the forests on the banks, when great numbers of them are killed, and it is often almost impossible to drive them out of the wood. Their bones and skulls, scattered all over the prairie, prove the immense destruction which is made of these harmless animals. The elk may be shot at about eighteen miles from Fort Clarke; but it does not approach nearer, because of the Indians, to whom the skins of the elk are of great value in the manufacture of their shoes. The white-tailed {331} deer (Cervus Virginianus), called by the French, le chevreuil, is found in the nearest woods, not a mile from the fort. The black-tailed or mule deer is not to be seen within twenty or thirty miles. The cabri, or antelope (Antilocapra Ord.), lives the whole year in the immediate vicinity, and in the summer, great numbers congregate together; but in the winter they go towards the mountains, where they find protection against the snow, and return in April, when large herds of them are seen to pass the Missouri. The annexed woodcut, designed by Mr. Bodmer from the life, gives a perfect and correct idea of this animal.[206]
The bighorn (Ovis montana), the grosse-corne of the French, is not found nearer than fifty miles from this part of the country. The Manitaries, who go to the Black Hills and other mountainous tracts to hunt, kill a hundred or more of these animals in a season. The grizzly bear approaches to within four miles of the fort, because the Indians, who do not like to hunt them, leave them undisturbed. They are, however, very fond of the flesh of the young bear; and the claws are much valued by them, for the manufacture of their necklaces. Of the genus canis, I met with five wild species in western North America. The changeable wolf (Canis variabilis), undoubtedly a distinct species, as Lewis and Clarke likewise affirm, is very common on the whole of the Upper Missouri. It is found to vary in colour from wolf grey to pure white. In winter these animals are nearly famished, and extremely lean. They closely follow the herds of buffaloes, and many sick, young, or weak animals become their easy prey; and when the hunters are abroad there is a rich harvest for the wolves. They even bite and devour each other, yet they did not meddle with the dead wolves which we left in the prairie; possibly they might not have been so {332} ravenously hungry just then. They distinguish the report of a gun so well, that they hasten to the spot almost immediately after the shot has been fired. The same is the case with the ravens; and the Indian hunters affirm that the wolves watch these birds, in order to ascertain the direction in which the prey is to be found: if a poor animal has only been wounded, they are on the alert, and instantly pursue it, and it inevitably becomes their prey. In cold winters they are often so bold that they come into the villages, and approach the people's dwellings.
Head of Antilocapra Ord.
Head of Canis latrans
The red fox (Canis fulvus) is very handsome, and at the same time common, though by no means so numerous as the wolves. The grey fox (Canis cinereo-argenteus), and the cross fox (Canis decussatus), are likewise found here. The black or silver fox (Canis argentatus), is met with sixty or seventy miles further north, but it is occasionally seen here, and the skin is highly prized, being sold for sixty dollars.
The prairie fox is frequently seen, but the panther and the wild cat are not often found. Beavers become more numerous on the Missouri and its tributaries the higher they are ascended, and the Indians catch them in considerable numbers; their skins are much valued by the Whites. I saw one beautifully spotted with white; yellowish-white and pure white beavers are not unfrequently caught on the Yellow Stone.
There are, likewise, many interesting species of birds, among which are the turkey-buzzard, the stone falcon, the owl (a very hardy bird, which remains here throughout the whole of the rigorous winter), the Carolina parrot, the humming-bird (Trochilus colubris), wild pigeon, woodpecker, magpie, and many others. There are many interesting species of reptiles in this part of the country, and I much regretted that I was not here in the summer time, when, of course, they are more abundant and various. Several kinds of turtles frequent the Missouri and the prairies. {333} I was told that many species of lizard abound in summer, especially phrynosoma, of which there are many on the Yellow Stone, at Fort Union, and in the Valley of the Stone Walls. I was much surprised at not seeing a single animal of the lizard kind on my voyage on the Missouri. Of snakes there are many species; the black snake is not found here, but the Coluber proximus (Say) is abundant, as well as the Coluber eximus. There is only one kind of rattlesnake, which is very common, and of a considerable size. Of frogs there are several kinds, of which the Rana pipiens (Schreb.), is the most beautiful; small tree frogs likewise abound, and after a shower of rain, the ground is frequently quite covered with young frogs. Even many of the Whites believe that these little animals fall from the sky; they imagine that the rainbow draws the frogs up into the air at one end, and that they fall in a mass to the ground with the rain.
But few species of fish frequent this part of the Missouri; among them are two kinds of cat-fish, the pike, sturgeon, gold-eye, and occasionally the buffalo (catastomus). Doubtless there are many more species, but they have not been noticed by the inhabitants, and it is very difficult to procure them. Numerous insects of various species abound here, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, such as mosquitoes, and innumerable grasshoppers, which quickly devour the plants in the prairie, and are themselves the food of many kinds of animals during the summer.
To give a complete picture of the country about Fort Clarke, we must subjoin an account of the numerous Indians who inhabit this territory; namely, the three tribes of the Mandans, the Manitaries or Gros Ventres, and the Arikkaras, the latter of whom were absent during our sojourn here. In order to make the narrative of our long residence at this spot (which will be given in the sequel) more intelligible, I shall annex, in the three following chapters, the information I collected respecting those three Indian nations.