The Columbian family, including the tribes in the North-west, of which the principal are the Snake or Flatheads, and the Shoshones.
The Sioux-Osage family, in which are found the powerful and numerous Sioux or Dakotas, the Assiniboines, who live in alliance with the Chippewas, the Mandans and the Osages.
The Mobile-Natchez, or Floridian family. This is composed of six independent branches, each divided into several tribes, including the five civilized ones already referred to.
The Algonquin, Huron (Wyandot) and Iroquois family. The first two named are residents of Canada, while many of the Iroquois live in Central New York.
The Lenape family include the Shawanoes, Kickapoos, Sacs, Foxes, Illinois, Pottawatomies, Winnebagoes, Delawares or Lenni-Lenape, Mohicans, Chippewas, and several others. The Apaches forming the most terrible of all Indian tribes, belong to the Mexican family.
The Indians knew nothing of firearms until they saw them in the hands of the white men. Like the ancient barbarians of other countries, they made use of the primitive bow and arrow, spear, tomahawk, knife and club. Swine, sheep, cows and horses were unknown until brought across the ocean by white men. America, in turn, gave tobacco to the Old World. The warrior lolled in his wigwam or tepee, smoking his pipe, while his squaw scratched the earth and raised maize and a few vegetables. Now and then the head of the household wandered into the woods to hunt for game, or to fish in the streams. His delight, however, was in going on the "war-path," and in slaying those of his own race, who belonged to another tribe. Through the gloomy depths of the forest, where only his trained eye could trace the prints of the moccasin, he tracked his enemy, braving storm, heat, cold, fatigue, starvation, and every kind of hardship, for the chance of stealing upon the sleeper, or catching him off his guard. Burying his knife in his breast, or driving his deadly arrow into the heart of his enemy, he wrenched the scalp from his crown, and with a shout of triumph, hurried back to his own people, with the shocking proof of his bravery. The members of the tribe who thus lost one of their number did not rest, so long as there was hope of revenge. Thus the fierce warfare went on, just as if these dusky people were civilized, or belonged to some of the "feudists" in certain parts of our country.
Among the many thousands of Indians there have appeared from time to time, numerous men of striking mental ability. They have had some of the most eloquent of orators, while others have shown marked military skill. Brought into contact with the white people, they have sometimes surpassed the Caucasian in real genius. In tracing the history and development of our country, we meet proofs of such skill and ability on the part of the Indians, and in the pages that follow we shall give attention to the most interesting instances, whose truth cannot be questioned.