[309] For representation of a buffalo hunt, see Plate 64, in the accompanying atlas,' our volume xxv.—Ed.
[310] The economy of the buffalo in the life of the plains Indians is well known; its flesh was the staple for food, its skin for shelter, dress, and utensils of many sorts, its horn for implements, and its sinews for strings and thread. The sedentary aborigines of the Missouri were scarcely less dependent upon this animal than their plains kinsmen, their agricultural products forming but a small supplement to the food supply. Hunting the buffalo was thus the chief employment of the male Indians. For this purpose guns were but little used, they being reserved for war or occasional encounters with grizzly bears. Compare descriptions of Mandan buffalo hunts in Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, i, pp. 234, 278; Henry-Thompson Journals, i, pp. 336, 337; Palliser, Solitary Rambles (London, 1853), pp. 111-114; and Boller, Among the Indians, pp. 78-80.—Ed.
[311] H. M. Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana, p. 56.—Ed.
[312] For this method of taking antelope compare Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition i, pp. 313, 314; and H. M. Chittenden and A. T. Richardson, Life, Letters, and Travels of Father De Smet, iv, pp. 1396, 1397. Frequently Indians pursued the antelope on swift horses, driving them in zig-zags until they were exhausted. See Original Journals, ii, pp. 345, 346.—Ed.
[313] Op. cit., in note 311, p. [56].—Ed.
[314] See Matthews, Hidatsa Indians, p. 58. This is the eagle sometimes known as Aquila canadensis, although it has a wide range of habitat. It is the royal or calumet eagle of Lewis and Clark—one of the two North American eagles, the other being the bald-headed (Haliætus leucocephalus).—Ed.
[315] See a good description of war-parties led by partisans in our volume xv, pp. 78-85.—Ed.
[316] See Plate 54, figure 9, and Plate 81, figure 14, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[317] See our volume xv, p. 92. These hiding places are described as prepared by the squaws in case of an unexpected attack, warriors only retreating thereto if hard-pressed.—Ed.
[318] Brackenridge (1811) witnessed the return of an Arikkara war-party and the subsequent scalp-dance, which he vividly describes in volume vi of our series, pp. 142-145.—Ed.