[116] Jean Latresse had acted as Mitchell's envoy to Fort Union, upon the sinking of his keel-boat the preceding year.—Ed.
[117] This is a frequent custom among the Indians, which always occasions the Whites some expense. They must bury these bodies decently at their own cost, for which blankets, cloth, red paint, &c., are necessary, and the Indians, by this means, avoid the obligation of providing all these things themselves. If the Whites were to refuse such a present, they would be considered as acting very meanly.—Maximilian.
[118] In the year 1832, when Mr. Mitchell had a dispute with Tatsiki-Stomik, who was on the point of withdrawing with his whole band, he could not find any means of retaining him, till an Indian proposed the above measure. Mr. Mitchell accordingly took a mouthful of brandy, went into the Indian camp, embraced the angry chief, and discharged the liquor into his mouth, by which the friendship of the old man was restored, who became very kind, and entertained no further thought of going away.—Maximilian.
[119] See Plate 79, the figure at the right hand of the page, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[120] Minohanne was the principal chief and the leader of the whole party of Assiniboins engaged in this expedition, in which there were likewise 100 Crees. After this battle he changed his name, and called himself Tatogan (the antelope or cabri).—Maximilian.
Comment by Ed. See further account of this chief in Montana Historical Society Contributions, iii, p. 209, note. Pierre De Smet, Western Missions and Missionaries (New York, 1859), pp. 168-205, also gives a long biography of this dangerous and potent tribesman.
[121] See Plate 75, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv, for a view of the contest.—Ed.
[122] See description of the battle as given by Culbertson in M. R. Audubon, Audubon and his Journals (New York, 1897), ii, pp. 133-136; also in Montana Historical Society Contributions, iii, pp. 207-209. The prince here omits reference to his own participation, and to the fact that he was possibly the slayer of the Assiniboin.—Ed.
[123] For a further adventure of Augustin Bourbonnais, "a free trapper," consult Coues, Larpenteur's Journal, i, pp. 117-123.—Ed.
[124] This Dechamp was an excellent marksman, and very brave in action. He had been in the service of the Northwest Company, and, in the battle with Governor Semple, had killed an Englishman, a circumstance of which he always spoke with great pleasure, having a genuine Indian spirit. An account of the disgraceful defeat of Governor Semple by the Half-breeds and Indians, among whom Maji-Gabowi was present, may be found in Schoolcraft's Expedition to Itasca Lake, p. 102, and in Ross Cox's Account of his Journey to the Columbia, p. 269.—Maximilian.