1786-’87.
THE CORBUSIER WINTER COUNTS.
1781-’82—No. I. Many died of small-pox.
No. II. Many people died of small-pox. They all record two successive winters of small-pox, but No. I makes the first year of the epidemic one year later than that of Battiste Good, and No. II makes it two years later.
1782-’83.—No. I. A Dakota named Stabber froze to death. The sign for winter is the same as before.
No. II. Many people died of small-pox again.
1783-’84—No. I. The Mandans and Rees made a charge on a Dakota village. The Dakotas drove them back, killed twenty five of them, and captured a boy. An eagle’s tail, which is worn on the head, stands for Mandan and Ree.
No. II. The-Stabber froze to death. The man’s name is suggested by the spear in the body over his head, which is connected with his mouth by a line.
White-Cow-Killer calls it “Big-fire winter,” possibly because big fires were required to keep them warm.
1784-’85.—No. I. A young man who was afflicted with the small-pox, and was in his tipi, off by himself, sang his death-song and shot himself. Suicide is more common among Indians than is generally suspected, and even boys sometimes take their own lives. A Dakota boy at one of the agencies shot himself rather than face his companions after his mother had whipped him, and a Pai-Ute boy at Camp McDermit, Nevada, tried to poison himself with the wild parsnip because he was not well and strong like the other boys. The Pai-Utes usually eat the wild parsnip when bent on suicide.