Their houses are a perfect circle, except where the door enters, whence there is a projection of about 15 feet; the whole being constructed after the following manner: First, there is an excavation of a circular form made in the ground, about 4 feet deep and 60 in diameter, where there is a row of posts about 5 feet high, with crotches at the top, set firmly in all round, and horizontal poles from one to the other. There is then a row of posts, forming a circle about 10 feet wide in the diameter of the others, and 10 feet in height; the crotches of these are so directed that horizontal poles are also laid from one to the other; long poles are then laid slanting upward from the lower poles over the higher ones, and meeting nearly at the top, leaving only a small aperture for the smoke of the fire to pass out, which is made on the ground in the middle of the lodge. There is then a number of small poles put up around the circle, so as to form the wall, and wicker-work is run through the whole. The roof is then thatched with grass, and earth is thrown up against the wall until a bank is made to the eaves of the thatch; that is also filled with earth one or two feet thick, and rendered so tight as entirely to exclude any storm, and make the houses extremely warm. The entrance is about six feet wide, with walls on each side, and roofed like our houses in shape, but of the same materials as the main building. Inside there are numerous little apartments constructed of wicker-work against the wall, with small doors; they have a great appearance of neatness, and in them the members of the family sleep and have their little deposits. Their towns are by no means so much crowded as the Osage, giving much more space; but they have the same mode of introducing their horses into the village at night, which makes it extremely crowded. They keep guards with the horses during the day.
They are extremely addicted to gaming, and have for that purpose a smooth piece of ground cleared out on each side of the village for about 150 yards in length, on which they play the three following games: One is played by two players at a time, and in the following manner: They have a large hoop about four feet in diameter, in the center of which is a small leather ring; this is attached to leather thongs which are extended to the hoop, and by that means kept in its central position; they also have a pole about six feet in length, which the player holds in one hand; he then rolls the hoop from him, and immediately slides the pole after it; and the nearer the head of the pole lies to the small ring within the hoop, when they both fall, the greater is the cast. But I could not ascertain their mode of counting sufficiently to decide when the game was won. Another game is played with a small stick, with several hooks, and a hoop about four inches in diameter, which is rolled along the ground, and the forked stick darted after it, the value of the cast being estimated by the hook on which the ring is caught. This game is gained at 100. The third game alluded to is that of la platte, described by various travelers [as the platter or dish game]; this is played by the women, children, and old men, who, like grasshoppers, crawl out to the circus to bask in the sun, probably covered only with an old buffalo robe.
The Pawnees, like the Osage, quit their villages in the winter, making concealments under ground of their corn, in which [caches] it keeps perfectly sound until spring. The only nations with whom the Pawnees are now at war are the Tetaus, Utahs, and Kyaways. The two latter of these reside in the mountains of North Mexico, and shall be treated when I speak of the Spanish Indians. The former generally inhabit the borders of the Upper Red river, Arkansaw, and Rio del Norte. The war has been carried on by those nations for years, without any decisive action being fought, although they frequently march with 200 or 300 men.
The Pawnees have much the advantage of their enemies in point of arms, at least one-half having firearms, whilst their opponents have only bows, arrows, lances, shields, and slings. The Pawnees always march to war on foot; their enemies are all cavalry. This nation may be considered as the one equidistant between the Spanish population and that of our settlements in Louisiana, but are at present decidedly under Spanish influence, and, should a war commence to-morrow, would all be in their interest. This circumstance does not arise from their local situation, because they are all situated on navigable waters of the Missouri; nor from their interest, because from the Spaniards they obtain nothing except horses and a few coarse blankets of W. Mexico; whilst from us they receive all their supplies of arms, ammunition, and clothing—but all those articles in very small quantities, not more than half having blankets, and many being without breech-cloths to cover their nakedness. But the grand principle by which the Spaniards keep them in their influence is fear, frequently chastising their small parties on the frontiers. Their sending out the detachment of 600 horsemen, in 1806, has made such an impression that the Spaniards may safely calculate on the Pawnees in case of war. This detachment took with them some of the Pawnees to Chihuahua, at the same time that I entered the Spanish provinces. But, by our withholding their supplies of arms, ammunition, and clothing for one or two years, bringing on their backs the Osage and Kans, the Pawnees would be in great distress, and feel the necessity of a good understanding with the United States.
If there should ever be factories established for their accommodation, these should be at the entrances of La Platte and Kans rivers, as those waters are of so uncertain navigation (only in freshets) that it would be folly to attempt any permanent establishments high up them; and to make those establishments useful to the Pawnees, we must presuppose our influence sufficient to guarantee them peace and a safe passage through the nations of the Kans, Otos, and Missouries—the former on the Kans river, the two latter on the river Platte. My journal will give various other striking traits of the national character of the Pawnees, and my dissertation on the subject of the Spanish claims will further elucidate the political and relative situation of that nation.
The Kans are a small nation, situated on a river of that name (see the chart), and are in language, manners, customs, and agricultural pursuits, precisely similar to the Osage; with whom I believe them, as before observed, to have had one common origin. It may be said, however, that their language differs in some degree, but not more than the dialect of our Eastern States differs from that of the Southern. But in war they are yet more brave than their Osage brethren; being, although not more than one-third of their number, their most dreaded enemies, and frequently making the Pawnees tremble.
The Tetaus, or Camanches as the Spaniards term them, [called] Padoucas by the Pawnees, are a powerful nation who are entirely erratic, without the least species of cultivation, and subsist solely by the chase. But their wanderings are confined to the frontiers of New Mexico on the W., to the nations on the Lower Red river on the S., to the Pawnees and Osage on the E., and to the Utahs, Kyaways, and various unknown nations on the N. This nation, although entirely in our territories, is claimed exclusively by the Spaniards, and may be said to be decidedly in their interest, notwithstanding the few who lately paid a visit to Natchitoches.
They are the only nation bordering on the Spanish settlements whom that nation treats as an independent people. They are by the Spaniards reputed brave—indeed, they have given some very strong evidences of this; for when I first entered the province of New Mexico, I was shown various deserted villages and towns beaten down, which had been destroyed by the Tetaus in an invasion of that province, when they were at war with the Spaniards about ten years since.
From the village of Agua Caliente (see chart) they carried off at one time 2,000 head of horses; but they now have an excellent understanding with the Spaniards, which Don Facundo Malagare's [Malgares'] late expedition has served very much to increase. He personally related his rencounter with the Tetaus in the following manner: Having been personally apprised of each other's approximation, and appointed a time for the Indians to receive him on an extensive prairie, he sallied forth from his camp with 500 men, all on white horses, excepting himself and his two principal officers, who rode jet black ones, and was received on the plain by 1,500 of the savages, dressed in their gay robes, and displaying their various feats of chivalry. I leave this subject to the judicious, whether the circumstance would not be handed down to the latest posterity as an instance of the good will and respect which the Spaniards paid their nation, as no doubt Malgares had policy sufficient to induce them to believe that the expedition was principally fitted out with a view to pay them a visit. As I was not in their country, and did not meet with any of the wandering parties, I shall not attempt to describe their manners and customs; but in my [statistical tables] I shall include them, agreeably to the best information obtained of their nation.
I shall here conclude my account of the nations with whom I became acquainted in our boundaries; as I conceive the Spanish Indians require a different discussion and attention from a different point of view, as their missionaries have succeeded with them beyond what we can form an idea of. My diary will present numerous additional circumstances, to form an idea of those savages, their manners, customs, principles, and biases, political and local.