This morning three Omawhaws were fired upon by a war-party of five Ioway Indians, and two were wounded; this occurred on the east side of the river, nearly opposite to our cantonment. When they fired, each one called out his name agreeably to the Indian custom. A party of Omawhaws then assembled, and pursued them about fifteen miles, but without success.
Two Oto warriors, and a boy, nephew of Ishta-gre-ja, Gray Eyes the elder, visited us this afternoon. They have been hunting on Blue Water creek, in the neighbourhood of the Konzas hunting camps, and not distant from the[pg273] village of the latter; they have been so fortunate as to take one hundred and forty beavers, the skins of which they left at {168} their village, under the care of the son of Gray Eyes and their squaws; their business in this quarter is to look out for the best market for their peltries. They say it was certainly not the Konzas who stole the horses from their brethren who are encamped near the confluence of the Platte. They attribute that theft to the Ioways, who, they say, are still fools, as they always have proved themselves to be.
30th. In the morning a nimbus from the north. An[pg274] imperfect parhelion appeared at sunrise, consisting of three luminous spots, at about 22° distant from each other in the horizon; one of them was the real place of the sun, and the others were to the north and south of it. As the sun ascended towards the zenith, the mock suns continued to ascend equally and parallel with it, but became gradually fainter until they disappeared near the zenith.
Evening. A complete paraselene appeared about the moon, of the diameter of 45 degrees.
The mercury was below Zero the greater part of the day, in Fahrenheit's thermometer.
31st. Several Canadians in the employ of the Missouri Fur Company, came this evening to dance and sing before us, agreeably to the custom of their countrymen, in celebration of the termination of the year. They were adorned with paint after the Indian manner, clothed with bison robes, and had bells attached to different parts of their dress. So completely were they disguised, that three of their employers, who happened to be present, had much difficulty in recognizing them. This dance is called La Gineolet,[195] and may have had its origin in the same cause that produced our Belshnickles, who make their appearance on Christmas-eve. We gave them what was expected, whiskey, flour, and meat.
January 6th, 1820. Mr. Graham and I measured the width of the river in two places, a short distance below our cantonment, and a short distance above; [158] the latter gave two hundred and seventy-seven and one-third yards, and the former one hundred yards. [pg275]
We hear the barking of the prairie wolves every night about us; they venture close to our huts; last night they ran down and killed a doe, within a short distance of our huts; this morning the remains of the carcass were found, consisting only of bones and skin.
Mr. Fontenelle, [196] in the employ of the Missouri Fur Company, who has been absent for some time trading with one of the bands of the Omawhaws, called to-day on his return; this band had been much necessitated for food, subsisting for some time upon the fruit of the red haws, which the squaws sought for beneath the proper trees, under the snow. He met with some of the nation of Sioux, called Gens de Feuille[197] by the French. They have been much thinned in numbers by a disorder, which, from the description given of it, may be the quinsy. This same band is said to have suffered much from the small-pox last autumn. They were also now nearly starved for want of food; but they said if they could hold out until they arrived at Min-da-wa-cong, or Medicine lake, (on the maps, Spirit lake,)[198] they would do very well, as they had there a considerable quantity of wild oats buried, or caché, as the French say.