[153] Little Snake is the largest affluent of the Yampah. Rising in Elk Head Mountains, it flows west and south-west, debouching at a small plain known as Lily's Park—Ed.
[154] For the Paiute see our volume xviii, p. 140, note 70. Concerning the Sanpitch (not Land Pitch), consult De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 166, note 37.—Ed.
[155] Brown's Hole, now known as Brown's Park, is in the north-western corner of Colorado, on Green River. It is thought to have been named for an early trapper. The valley, which is about thirty miles long by five or six in width, is formed by an expansion of the cañon walls of the river, so that all about it cliffs rise to a great height. The only entrance is a rocky chasm at the east, about sixty yards wide. The valley is so sheltered that it possesses an unusual climate, with seldom snow enough to cover the pasturage; it was, therefore, a favorite wintering ground for trappers and hunters.—Ed.
[156] Fort David Crockett was not long maintained; erected before Farnham's visit, it was a ruin when Frémont passed here in 1844. Wislizenus, who arrived a few days after Farnham, declares it the poorest building seen on his travels, and that the distance from any well-worn route of travel and the lack of game on the neighboring hills had given it the name of Fort Misery. It was owned jointly by Thomson, Craig, and St. Clair.—Ed.
[157] Farnham refers here to tribes of the Yuman stock; see our volume xviii, p. 131, note 65. The Yuma proper are large physically, and finely proportioned. A recent writer declares that their men are nearly all over six feet in height—see Eugene J. Trippel, "Yuma Indians," in Overland Monthly, xiii, xiv. They are an agricultural people and depend largely upon the mesquite harvest, which Farnham refers to as black beans. The Yuma were made known to the Spaniards by the reports of the Franciscan padre, Francisco Garcés, who in 1771 visited them from his mission on the Gila. They received him with joy, and begged for his return; he revisited them in 1774. Shortly after this a Yuman chief called Palma was conveyed to Mexico. Awed by what he saw, he consented to baptism, and requested a mission in his own land. But it was not until 1779 that the foundation of a mission was laid, and in the following year two small colonies were begun—one on the site of Fort Yuma, and the other eight miles lower down. The natives, however, found their new neighbors troublesome and exacting, and rising in revolt July 17, 1781, with clubs massacred almost the entire garrison, including four missionary padres; see Coues, Francisco Garcés, i, pp. 10-24. Hence the appellation, "Club Indians." In 1857 the Yuma suffered a severe defeat from their neighbors, the Pima and Maricopa, wherein over a third of their warriors perished. They have generally been on friendly terms with the United States government, which has recently arranged a system of irrigation for their lands. About fifty-six Yuma still live on their reservation, and have a reputation for industry beyond that of most tribesmen; see U. S. Indian Commissioner's Report, 1904, pp. 158-161.—Ed.
[158] For particulars of this meeting, which had been eagerly desired by the explorers, consult Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ii, pp. 329-360.—Ed.
[159] For a brief sketch of the Crow Indians, see Bradbury's Travels, in our volume v, p. 226, note 121.—Ed.
[160] The Blackfeet are noted in Bradbury's Travels, our volume v, p. 225, note 120. A detailed description is to be found in Maximilian's Travels, our volume xxiii, pp. 95-122. The year of the small-pox scourge was 1837 (not 1828), and it was a Mandan (not a Blackfoot) chief who stole the infected blanket. However, the disease reached the Blackfeet by the same steamer that carried it to the Mandan. See our volume xxii, p. 36, note 13.—Ed.
[161] A brief note on the Arapaho is in our volume v, p. 225, note 120. The significance of the tribal name is uncertain, but is supposed to mean "he who buys or trades." The Caddo and Comanche had epithets for this tribe, that signified "dog-eaters."—Ed.
[162] This is incorrect, the Shoshonean differing widely from the Algonquian language stock. On the Arapaho language, consult James Mooney, "Ghost Dance Religion," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology Report, 1892-93, p. 1012.—Ed.