Boulder rings, which sometimes appear in large numbers but more often present only one or two specimens in a given location, were once thought to be tipi rings. The fact that many of them appear on the sides and tops of hills has discredited this assumption, however.
Veneration of the so-called sacred stones of the State probably began in the effigy-building period, but the origin of the very interesting writing rocks (see Side Tours 3B, 4A, 8A, and 8C) is undoubtedly far more ancient. The significance of the markings on these rocks has not yet been determined.
THE COMING OF THE NORTH DAKOTA INDIAN TRIBES
About the time the earlier turtle effigies were made—perhaps 200 years ago—in permanent villages of earth lodges in the valley of the Missouri dwelt a most interesting group of people, raising many cultivated plants, building fortified towns, and in general living a rather ordered existence. These were the Mandan, as far as is definitely known the first of the historic tribes to enter the State. Their exact origin is not clear. Certain of their traditions claim that they long ago lived in the East near a great body of water—most authorities suggest the East Coast or Gulf of Mexico.
At any rate, many generations before the coming of the whites, the Mandan—probably crowded by other tribes—began to wander westward. Apparently their long trek finally brought them and their wives and children to the junction of the White River with the Missouri in what is now South Dakota. Grass-grown sites of their old villages along the benchland of the river show how these people, in quest of a new and more satisfactory home, moved northward in successive migrations until in time they arrived at the mouth of the Heart River in the neighborhood of present Mandan and Bismarck. Here they probably remained for generations, carrying on a settled agricultural life. They were visited by the Verendryes in 1738 (see Tour 8), at which time they had six large, well-fortified villages. Estimates of their number at this time have ranged from 2,500 to 15,000.
They are one of those four North Dakota Indian groups—Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, and Arikara—who because of their farming activities are called the agricultural tribes. While the Mandan were building on the Missouri, the Hidatsa were probably living somewhat farther north and east. They have a tradition that they originally came from a large lake to the east, possibly Devils Lake. Later, probably forced on by some other tribe, they moved their families over the prairies to the Missouri in the region of the Heart River, and eventually allied themselves with the Mandan. Their history thereafter follows very closely that of the latter tribe.
While the Mandan and Hidatsa were dwelling on the Missouri, the Cheyenne were migrating westward from the headwaters of the Mississippi, by way of Lac Que Parle in present Minnesota, Lake Traverse, and the big bend of the Sheyenne River, to the Missouri, seeking a place where they could till the soil and rear their children in peace, free from the harrying of the Sioux.
At the same time the Arikara, doubtless likewise trying to take their families away from the ravaging Dakota, were ascending the Missouri. The name of this tribe arose from their custom of wearing in their hair two pieces of bone which stood up on each side of the head like horns. They came from the southwest and their language differs only in dialect from the Pawnee. In 1770 French traders encountered them dwelling along the river bank somewhat below the mouth of the Cheyenne River in what is now South Dakota.
The migrations of the Hidatsa, Cheyenne, and Arikara, as those of the Mandan, are traceable by the old village sites, of which there are about 75 known locations on the prairies of the State. Arikara sites predominate lower down the Missouri in South Dakota; the older Mandan—perhaps constructed as early as 1575-1650—in the Heart River region; and the Hidatsa, farther north near the Knife River. There are apparently two types, a newer and an older. The newer, perhaps less carefully laid out than the older, is found at and above the mouth of the Heart River. The older type appears to have had better fortifications than the newer, and the lodges do not seem to have been so crowded. Because of its greater age it is more heavily sodded, and thus manufactured articles left by the village dwellers, such as stone and bone tools and ornaments, are less easily recovered. It seems to center below the Heart River, with the Huff site, just below the village of Huff, as perhaps the best example (see Tour 8).