Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri / Edited with Notes and Biographical Sketch

by Edwin Thompson Denig

Names and Events in History.—There is no great event in the history of the Assiniboin that gives them cause to rejoice. True, they have occasionally gained a battle, but at other times have lost greatly by wars. Upon the whole they have had the worst of it; at least they, being a smaller nation than the Blackfeet and Sioux (their enemies) have felt the loss more severely. The principal calamity that first overtook them, and by which they suffered greatly, was the smallpox in 1780. (See Mackenzie’s travels and other authors.) On this occasion they lost about 300 lodges of their people, and it is to this day mentioned by them as their greatest first misfortune. In the spring of 1838 this disease was again communicated to them, being brought up the Missouri by a steamboat, and although every precaution had been used, the boat cleansed, and no appearance of disease for a long time aboard, yet it in some way broke out among the Indians, beginning with the Sioux tribes and ending with the Blackfeet. Being an eyewitness to this, we can with certainty give an account of its ravages. When the disease first appeared in Fort Union we did everything in our power to prevent the Indians from coming to it, trading with them a considerable distance out in the prairie and representing to them the danger of going near the infection. All efforts of the kind, however, proved unavailing, for they would not listen, and 250 lodges contracted the disease at one time, who in the course of the summer and fall were reduced to 65 men, young and old, or about 30 lodges in all. Other bands coming from time to time caught the infection and remained at the fort, where the dead were daily thrown into the river by cartloads. The disease was very virulent, most of the Indians dying through delirium and hemorrhage from the mouth and ears before any spots appeared. Some killed themselves.

On one occasion an Indian near the fort after losing his favorite child deliberately killed his wife, his two remaining children, his horses and dogs, and then blew his own brains out. In all this the Indians behaved extremely well toward the whites, although aware they brought the disease among them, yet nothing in the way of revenge took place, either at the time or afterwards. Being obliged to be all the time with them, helping as much as possible to save a few, they had plenty of opportunities should they have wished to do damage. Every kind of treatment appeared to be of no avail, and they continued dying until near the ensuing spring, when the disease, having spent itself, ceased. The result was that out of 1,000 lodges and upward of the Assiniboin then in existence but 400 lodges or less remained, and even these but thinly peopled. Relationship by blood or adoption was nearly annihilated, all property lost or sacrificed, and a few very young and very old left to mourn the loss. Most of the principal men having died, it took years to recover from the shock. Young men had to grow up, new leaders to be developed, remnants of bands to be gathered together, property to be had—in fact, under all these adverse circumstances, so slow has been the increase that during the interim of 17 years but 100 lodges have accumulated. In times like this no leader can be effective. All counsel was rejected; their chiefs and divining men shared the fate of the others. With the Mandan the disease was even more destructive. Before it they numbered 600 warriors and inhabited two large villages where the Arikara are now stationed, and when the disease ceased about 30 men remained, from which remnant have since sprung about 25 lodges. All this time an Assiniboin chief named The Gauche, or by the Indians “He who holds the knife,” was the principal man in the band which bore his name, consisting of 250 lodges.

These died in greater proportion than the others and after the disease had disappeared the old chief found himself at the head of about 60 fighting men. The Gauche was a very old man and had had the smallpox in the north; he was also famed in their annals as a leader and divining man. He had been very successful in his expeditions against the Blackfeet, and by the use of poisons administered occasionally to his people, while predicting their death, he had inspired in all the fear of a sorcerer. His life contains a history which our limits do not admit of describing, although well known, singular, interesting, and authentic. On this occasion he understood that the Mandan were rendered totally helpless by the effects of the smallpox, and conceived the idea of taking their village and in a measure retrieving his losses by the horses and other property of these Indians. Gathering together the remnant of his band, about 50 men, he proceeded thither. The writer saw him pass with the pipe of peace to lull suspicion, in order to enter their village in a friendly way, and then at a given signal each one with knife in hand to rush upon and destroy the unsuspecting friends. The whole was well planned, managed, and kept secret, and it would have succeeded but for an occurrence of which the Assiniboin was not then aware. The Arikara, a tolerably numerous people, having left the Missouri, had been for years residing on the Platte River, and having previously had the smallpox did not contract the disease to any extent. About the same time The Gauche was on his way to the Mandan, they returned suddenly from the Platte and took possession of their village a short distance from the Mandan. Now the Arikara numbered about 500 men, all deadly enemies to the Assiniboin, so that when the latter presented their pipe of peace the ceremonies were interrupted by an attack of the Arikara. The Assiniboin were routed, and about 20 of them killed.

The old chief, as usual, escaped, though his day of power was over. Shortly afterwards he predicted the day and hour of his own death at the fort—days beforehand, without any appearance of disease or approaching dissolution, and the writer with other gentlemen at the fort saw the same fulfilled to the letter. The conclusion was that he took poison, which he was long supposed to have received from the whites in the north and kept a dose for the fullness of time.

This man had more renown than any other leader spoken of, although several have done gallant actions. His success may be attributed to great cunning and the large force he always headed, together with the power his fetishes gave him over his fellows, who blindly followed his instructions and fought desperately under his prophecies, though his life shows the anomaly of a great leader being entirely destitute of every particle of personal intrepidity. Many other events have happened which form data in their history; indeed it is composed of reference to certain remarkable occurrences, such as the year of the smallpox, year of the deep snow, year of massacre of 30 lodges of Blackfeet, year of great rise of waters, and other natural phenomena.

Present Rulers and Condition.—Their present ruling chief is Man-to-was-ko, or the Crazy Bear, made chief by Colonel Mitchell, Commissioner of the United States, at the Laramie treaty in 1851. The choice could not have been better. The Crazy Bear has always been a respectable and brave man, greatly elevated above all the rest in intelligence but not ranking with some in military exploits, having never been a great warrior, though on some small occasions he has shown an utter contempt of death before his enemies. He is a mild, politic man, looking after his people’s interest, and viewing with a jealous eye anything inconsistent with them. Even when a very young man his opinions were always honored with a hearing in council, and he now bears his honors with great credit to himself and service to his people, endeavoring to carry out to the letter the stipulations of the treaty to which he is a party.

Among the principal soldiers and war captains may be mentioned To-ka´-ke-a-na, or the “First Who Flies.” This man is a son of the old chief, Wah-he´ Muzza, or “Iron Arrowpoint,” mentioned before. The whole of that old man’s numerous family have been, and those living still are, desperate men, proud and overbearing with their people, though good to the whites. From the eldest, named “The Sight,” who visited Washington City by General Jackson’s orders, to the one now mentioned, five in number have been killed by their own people in personal quarrels.

The one now spoken of has frequently led parties to battle and showed such a recklessness of danger that his name stands high as a warrior; has also killed two of his own people who were concerned in the murder of his brothers; was at the Laramie treaty and since behaves himself with great moderation; is one of the Crazy Bear’s principal soldiers and supports; and should the Bear die would undoubtedly take his place as chief of the tribe.

Wa-ke´-un-to, or the Blue Thunder, is another warrior and partisan in a band of 200 lodges, is not over 25 years of age, but has raised himself to distinction by going to war alone on the Sioux and bringing home scalps and horses; he has also headed several war excursions with great success and is generally liked by his own people.

Wo´-a-see´-chah, or Bad Animal, known to traders by the name of Le Serpent, is a war leader and chief of Les Gens des Canots Band, the same 200 lodges of which Blue Thunder is one of the warriors and camp soldiers. I believe he has never killed many enemies but has murdered in quarrels two of his own people, is considered a sensible man, very friendly to the whites, judicious in his government of his band, and also is a person whom it is not desirable to aggravate too much. Me-nah (The Knife), A-wah-min-ne-o-min-ne (The Whirlwind), Ish-ta-o-ghe-nah (Gray Eyes), He-boom-an-doo (La Poudrière), and others are soldiers and warriors whose histories are known to us and would present the usual features of savage life and warfare.