[20] Silvester Pratte was born in St. Louis (1799), the son of Bernard Pratte, a partner in the American Fur Company. He did not return from this expedition, but died in New Mexico; see post.—Ed.
[21] For the early history of Council Bluffs, see Brackenridge's Journal, volume vi of our series, p. 78, note 28.—Ed.
[22] For Elkhorn River, see James's Long's Expedition, in our volume xiv, p. 240, note 182.—Ed.
[23] For the Pawnee Indians, consult Brackenridge's Journal, in our volume vi, p. 61, note 17.—Ed.
[24] This is not the stream now known as the Little Platte, for which see James's Long's Expedition, in our volume xiv, p. 174, note 141. Possibly it was Maple Creek, a stream which rises in the southern part of Stanton County, Nebraska, and flowing westward through Dodge County joins the Elkhorn nearly opposite the town of Fontenelle. At the time of Major Long's expedition (1820), all the Pawnee villages were situated within a few miles of each other, on the Loup fork of the Platte (see volume xv of our series, pp. 144-149), while Pattie finds a Republican Pawnee village within a day's march of the Elkhorn. Probably this was but a temporary village, as Colonel Henry Dodge (1835) and later travellers describe the location on the main Platte (see Senate Doc., 24 Cong., 1 sess., 209). Pattie is also the only person who mentions more than one Republican Pawnee village. It seems likely that he erroneously classed as Republican the other Pawnee villages, excepting that of the Loups (which he mentions separately)—namely, the Grand and the Tapage villages.—Ed.
[25] The definiteness with which Pattie gives his dates, lends to his account an appearance of accuracy, which an examination of the narrative does not sustain. By his own enumeration of days after leaving Council Bluffs, this should be August 8. There is no indication that Pattie kept a journal, or that he wrote any account of his travels before reaching California.—Ed.
[26] For the Pawnee Loups see Bradbury's Travels, volume v of our series, p. 78, note 44. An account of the visit of the Pawnee chiefs to Washington may be found in Faux's Journal, volume xii of our series, pp. 48-52.—Ed.
[27] This is the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtos). The tail-feathers are about a foot long, and were especially prized by the Indians for decorative purposes.—Ed.
[28] This animal is not, correctly speaking, an antelope, but constitutes a separate family. The scientific name, Antilocapra americana, was assigned to it (1818) by the naturalist Ord, upon data furnished by Lewis and Clark.—Ed.
[29] For the Cheyenne Indians, see Bradbury's Travels, volume v of our series, p. 140, note 88.—Ed.