Plan of Fort Pierre
156 Fort Pièrre is one of the most considerable settlements of the Fur Company on the Missouri, and forms a large quadrangle, surrounded by high pickets,[282] round which the buildings stand in the manner already described. At the north-east and south-west corners there are block-houses, with embrasures, f, f, the fire of which commands the curtain; the upper story is adapted for small arms, and the lower for some cannon; each side of the quadrangle is 108 paces in length; the front and back, g, g, each 114 paces; the inner space eighty-seven paces in diameter. From the roof of the block-houses, which is surrounded with a gallery, there is a fine prospect over the prairie; and there is a flag-staff on the roof, on which the colours are hoisted. The timber for this fort was felled from forty to sixty miles up the river, and floated down, because none fit for the purpose was to be had in the neighbourhood. Mr. Laidlow's dwelling-house, d, d, consisted of one story only, but was very conveniently arranged, with large rooms, fire-places, and glass windows. Next this house was a smaller building, e, for the office and the residence of a clerk. The other clerks, the interpreters for the different Indian nations, the engagés and their families, altogether above 100 persons, lived in the other buildings, a, a, a, a. Opposite, in c, c, were the stores, at that time of the value of 80,000 dollars; and in other rooms, the furs obtained from the Indians by barter. The fort has two large doors, g, g, opposite each other, which are shut in the evening; in b there was an enclosed piece of garden ground. The situation of the settlement is agreeable; the verdant prairie is very extensive, animated by herds of cattle and horses; of the latter, Fort Pièrre possessed 150, and of the former, thirty-six, which afforded a sufficient supply of milk and fresh butter. Indians, on foot and on horseback, were scattered all over the plain, and their singular stages for the dead were in great numbers near the Fort; immediately behind which, the leather tents of the Sioux Indians, of the branches of the Tetons and the Yanktons, stood, like a little village; among them the most distinguished was the tent of the old interpreter, Dorion, a half Sioux, who is mentioned by many travellers, and resides here with his Indian family.[283] This tent was large, and painted red; at the top of the poles composing 157 it some scalps fluttered in the wind. A great number of Indian dogs surrounded this village, which did not differ from those we have already described. Many of them were perfectly similar to the wolf in form, size, and colour; they did not bark, but showed their teeth when any one approached them.
Near the fort we roused, in the thickets, a Virginian deer, and saw wolves, in the middle of the day, prowling about in the prairies; but we could not get near them, and fired at them in vain with our rifles. Round an isolated tree in the prairie I observed a circle of holes in the ground, in which thick poles had stood. A number of buffalo skulls were piled up there; and we were told that this was a medicine, or charm, contrived by the Indians in order to entice the herds of buffaloes. Everywhere in the plain we saw circles of clods of earth, with a small circular ditch, where the tents of many Indians had stood. This time we visited the Indian tents uninvited; in that which we first entered there were several tall, good-looking men assembled; the owner of the tent was a man of middle-size; his complexion very light, and his features agreeable. His wives were dressed very neatly, and were remarkably clean, especially the one who appeared to be the principal; she wore a very elegant leather dress, with stripes and borders of azure and white beads, and polished metal buttons, and trimmed as usual at the bottom with fringes, round the ends of which lead is twisted, so that they tinkle at every motion. Her summer robe, which was dressed smooth on both sides, was painted red and black, on a yellowish white ground.[284] She estimated all these articles of dress very highly. Among the effects piled up inside the tent, there were several interesting things, such as cradles for the infants, viz., ornamented boards, to which they are fastened with broad leathern straps, one passing over the head, and the other over the middle of the body. The workmanship of these leathern straps was remarkably neat and curious; for instance, they were entirely covered with a ground of milk-white porcupine quills, on which figures of men, of a vermilion colour, and black figures of dogs, and other similar patterns, were most tastefully embroidered, and all of the most lively and well-chosen colours. After we had conversed with the men, the pipe circulated. The pipes of 158 the Dacotas are very beautiful,[285] in truth the most beautiful of all the North American Indians, which they make, in various forms, of the red indurated clay, or stone.[286]
Dakota pipes
The pipe has a long, flat, broad wooden tube, which is ornamented with tufts of horse-hair, dyed red, yellow, or green, and wound round with strings of porcupine quills of divers colours. We looked at the women as they were at work. For the shoes which they made they had softened the leather in a tub of water, and stretched it in the breadth and length with their teeth. In the middle of the hut was a fire, over which the kettle was suspended by a wooden hook; they now all use iron kettles, which they obtain from the traders. Before most of the tents poles were placed, leaning against each other, to which gaily-painted parchment pouches were hung, and likewise the medicine-bags, as they are called, in which the medicine, or charms, are preserved, and which they open and consult only on solemn or important occasions, such as campaigns and the like. Here, too, were suspended the bow and quiver of arrows, spears, and a round shield of thick leather, with a thin cover, also of the same material. In another tent the women were dressing the skins, either with a pumice-stone, or with the before-described toothed instrument, which was here entirely of iron. They then pulled the skin over a line, in all directions, backwards and forwards, to make it pliable.
The Sioux at Fort Pièrre were in general slender, sometimes muscular-men, of middling stature, though some of them were tall. They had oval faces, with prominent cheek-bones, slightly-curved and well-formed noses; the inner angle of the eye often drawn down. Their faces were painted red, some with white rings round the eyes, and others with a black point on the forehead, or a white circle with a black point on each cheek. Some had strings of wampum in their ears, but the greater part of them strings of white or blue glass beads, and round their necks an elegant, and frequently broad necklace, embroidered with white beads. The neck and breast of several were marked with dark blue tattooed stripes, or only with some small figures. These Indians let their hair grow as long as possible, and plait it behind in a long tail, which is ornamented with round pieces of brass, and often hangs down to a great length, as among the Chinese. Many of the Dacotas have three such tails, one behind, and one at each side, for the Indians on the Upper Missouri take much pride in long hair, whereas those in the country lower 159 down the river, cut it short. Some wore feathers in their hair, which are tokens of their exploits, and are determined with great precision, according to the merit of the wearer. The annexed figure of a Dacota shows the manner in which the hair is divided into plaits.[287]