The Project Gutenberg eBook, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, Part III (the Text Being Chapters XXVIII-XXXIII of the London Edition, 1843, and the Appendix a Combination of the Appendices of the London and German [Coblentz, 1839] Editions), by Maximilian, Prinz von Wied, Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, Illustrated by Karl Bodmer

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Early Western Travels

1748-1846

Volume XXIV

Early Western Travels
1748-1846
A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive of the Aborigines and Social and Economic Conditions in the Middle and Far West, during the Period of Early American Settlement

Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by

Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D.

Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents," "Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," "Hennepin's New Discovery," etc.

Volume XXIV

Part III of Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834

Cleveland, Ohio
The Arthur H. Clark Company
1906

Copyright 1906, by THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Lakeside Press
R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXIV
[Part III of Maximilian's Travels in the Interior of North America]

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XXIV

(The following are text cuts in original)

Part III, and Appendix, of Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America

The Text, a reprint of chapters xxviii-xxxiii of the London edition, 1843; the Appendix, a combination of the Appendices of the London and German (Coblentz, 1839) editions.

TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1832, 1833, AND 1834

[PART III]

CHAPTER XXVIII[1]
WINTER SOJOURN AT FORT CLARKE, FROM NOVEMBER 8TH TO THE END OF 1833

Present State of Fort Clarke—Mr. Mc Kenzie's Journey—Peace between the Mandans and the Yanktonans—Ravages of the Cholera on the Lower Missouri—Mato-Topé—Sih-Chida—Return of my People to Fort Union—Sih-Sa—Narrative of Dipauch—Completion of our New Dwelling—Visit to a Winter Village of the Manitaries—The Great Buffalo Medicine Fête—Juggleries of the Manitari Women—Visit to the Winter Village of the Mandans—Festivity on the Sale of the Dance of the Half-shorn Head—Hunting Excursion—Cold Snow-storms—Accounts from St. Louis—Dance of the Ascho-Ochata—Violation of the Peace by the Sioux—Christmas Festivals—Dance of the Women of the White Buffalo Cow—News from Fort Union—Scarcity of Provisions—Employment of the Dogs for drawing Sledges—Dance of the Half-shorn Head in the Fort—Departure of Mr. Kipp to Fort Union—Increase of the Cold.

No important change had taken place at Fort Clarke during our absence. We found there, besides Mr. Kipp the director,[2] and his family, two interpreters, Belhumeur for the Mandan language, and Ortubize for the Sioux; the former was a half-breed Chippeway, and did not speak the Mandan language as well as Mr. Kipp.[3] Besides these men and their families there were in the fort only six white engagés, one of whom was a smith: some of them were married to Indian women. We unfortunately missed Mr. Mc Kenzie, who had left only four days before to return to Fort Union.[4] We had received, through him, a very welcome packet of letters from Germany, which I found here. As I had written to Mr. Mc Kenzie, requesting him to provide us with a winter residence at Fort Clarke, in order more closely to study the Indian tribes in the neighbourhood, instead of accepting his invitation to pass that season with him at Fort Union, where we should have been accommodated in a far more comfortable and agreeable manner, he had had the kindness to give orders for completing a new building at Fort Clarke, in which we were to reside. This order unfortunately came too late, and it was necessary to finish the work in a hurry in the month of November, when the frost was very severe, particularly during {413} the nights, so that our dwelling, being very slightly built, afforded us, in the sequel, but little protection from the cold. The large crevices in the wood which formed the walls, were plastered up with clay, but the frost soon cracked it, so that the bleak wind penetrated on all sides. Our new house, which was one story high, consisted of two light, spacious apartments, with large glass windows; we inhabited one of these rooms, while the other served for a workshop for the carpenter and the joiner. Each room had a brick chimney, in which we burnt large blocks of green poplar, because, for want of hands, no stock of dry wood had been laid in for the winter. The consequence was, that we were obliged to send men every morning, with small carts or sledges, for some miles into the forest, to fetch wood for the daily consumption, which in the intense cold was a truly laborious task. An engagé who was employed in our service brought the wood covered with ice and snow into our room, which considerably increased the cold which we already experienced.

As our lodging was not habitable for some time after our arrival, and there was no other room in the fort, Mr. Kipp received us in the small apartment which he himself inhabited with his family, and, though our beds were removed in the morning, yet our presence made it more difficult and troublesome to find accommodation for the numerous Indian visitors who came every day. The stores of the fort were at this time well filled; there were goods to the value of 15,000 dollars, and, in the loft, from 600 to 800 bushels of maize, which a great number of Norway rats assiduously laboured to reduce. Some changes had taken place among the Indians in the vicinity of the fort. At the time of my first visit, in the summer of 1833, the Yanktonans[5] had expressed a wish to make peace with the Mandans and the Manitaries, in which they did not succeed at that time, but accomplished it in September. Two hundred tents of those Sioux had then been pitched in the prairie behind the village; they remained there three or four days, and some traces of their camp still remained. There had been feasting and dances, and Fort Clarke was crowded the whole day with Indians of the three tribes. At this time the prairie in the neighbourhood of the fort was desolate and deserted; part of the Indians had already gone to their winter villages in the forest; many, however, remained in the summer villages, and we had plenty of Indian visitors during the whole winter.

Unpleasant news was received from the United States. The cholera had again broken out at St. Louis, and carried off a great number of persons. It had been brought, by the steam-boats, to the trading-posts on the lower Missouri; at Bellevue, Major Dougherty's post, seven of the ten white inhabitants had died in a few days.[6] The major himself had been very ill, but had happily recovered. Several persons were likewise carried off at the post of Major Pilcher, formerly that of Mr. Cabanné.[7] This dangerous disease had not penetrated to that part of the country where we were; but, as there was too much reason to apprehend that it might extend so far, Mr. Mc Kenzie had taken a young physician with him to Fort Union.

{414} Our first employment was to go on hunting excursions into the prairies round the fort, which afforded us an opportunity of collecting the seeds of the dried plants of the prairie. On one of these excursions, when Mr. Bodmer and Mr. Kipp had gone out together, they happened to separate, when a couple of Indians approached the former with their bows bent, and uttering the war-whoop; he cocked his double-barrelled gun and prepared to defend himself, when Mr. Kipp came up, and relieved him from these unwelcome visitors, the Indians taking flight as soon as they perceived him. Fresh scaffoldings for the dead were erected in the vicinity of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, several Indians having died of the hooping-cough, which was very prevalent. Every day we saw inhabitants of the summer villages removing, with much baggage, laden horses and dogs, to the winter villages. Among other things they carried the strange dresses belonging to the several bands, such as the buffalo heads of the band, Berock-Ochata, and a live owl, which they keep as a fortune-teller. Other Indians dragged dead dogs by a strap, probably as a bait to catch wolves or foxes. We heard, in the village, loud lamentations, and saw the women working at the erection of a scaffold for a woman who had just died.[8]

On the 13th of November, early in the morning, several Indians arrived, who related, with much gravity, that in the preceding night they had observed an extraordinary number of falling stars, all moving in a westerly direction, which they said was a sign of war, or of a great mortality, and asked Mr. Kipp what he thought of it. Many other Indians visited us, of whom several were in mourning, that is, rubbed over with white clay, and all of them spoke of the ominous phenomenon. They were much pleased with Mr. Bodmer's Indian drawings, and asked us many questions about their enemies, the Blackfeet. Among our most constant visitors were the distinguished chief, Mato-Topé, and Sih-Chida (the yellow feather). The former came with his wife and a pretty little boy, to whom he had given the name of Mato-Berocka (the male bear). He brought his medicine drum, painted red and black,[9] which he hung up in our room, and so afforded Mr. Bodmer an opportunity of making a drawing of it. Sih-Chida, a tall, stout young man, the son of a celebrated chief now dead, was an Indian who might be depended on, who became one of our best friends, and visited us almost daily. He was very polished in his manners, and possessed more delicacy of feeling than most of his countrymen. He never importuned us by asking for anything; as soon as dinner was served he withdrew, though he was not rich, and did not even possess a horse. He came almost every evening, when his favourite employment was drawing, for which he had some talent, though his figures were no better than those drawn by our little children. Ortubize, the interpreter, had moved, with his family, to the post of Picotte, a trader among the Yanktonans, where he was to pass the winter.[10] The people who had been sent thither returned, on the 14th of November, with the information that the Sioux were dispersed in the prairie, and that they had made capital bargains with them for beavers' skins. At our post we had to encounter the mercantile opposition of Messrs. {415} Soublette and Campbell, whereby the price of the buffalo skins was very much raised.[11] As our armed men now consisted of seventeen engagés, Mr. Kipp went to work and had my Mackinaw boat drawn to land, and secured from the ice, a task which the people had much difficulty in accomplishing. The 15th of November was the first day we saw ice in the Missouri; the sand banks were covered with a wide, thick sheet of ice and the river was still open, no aquatic birds had been seen for a long time; while, on the other hand, small flights of Fringilla linaria, which travels southward in the winter appeared in the prairie.

On the 16th November Mr. Kipp sent the men who had come down with me back, on foot, to Fort Union. They took with them two dogs, which drew well-laden travails (sledges), and hoped to arrive there in about nine days. We had a visit from the wolf chief, Charata-Numakshi, accompanied by half-a-dozen Manitaries,[12] among whom was a tall, stout fellow, named Tichinga; his hair was tied in a thick knot on his forehead; to this was attached a piece of leather, so ornamented with fringes that his eyes were almost concealed, and he could hardly see. At midday, I saw the first flight of the snow bunting (Emberiza nivalis), on the Missouri. They pass the winter here in the prairie bushes, and live upon such seeds as they can pick up. Sih-Sa (the red feather), the young Mandan Indian who, during the day, takes charge of the horses belonging to the fort in the prairie, came back to-day, having painted his whole body with spots of white clay. I asked him why he had done this? to which he replied, that he was thereby enabled to run faster. We likewise received a visit from a Mandan of half French extraction, named Kipsan-Nüka (the little tortoise), whose father was a French Canadian. He affirmed that he had formerly spoken both French and English, but he had entirely forgotten both. Neither his features nor his colour differed materially from the other Indians, whose manners, customs, and dress he closely followed. Every evening brought me a visit from Dipauch, who came to tell me all the legends and traditions, as well as the religious views of his people—conversations which interested me much, and which frequently lasted till late at night. Among his auditors were several young people, who sat listening with the most riveted attention to the disjointed sentences of our narrator; while Mr. Kipp, with great patience, performed the office of interpreter.

On the 17th of November we were visited by an old chief, Ahda-Miga (the man without arms), who, however, has no longer any influence among them. The bowl of his tobacco-pipe was made of an old iron gun-barrel. Mr. Kipp had many similar bowls made by the smith, which he sold to the Indians for six dollars. Dipauch and his friend, Berock-Itainu (the bull's neck), who was his inseparable companion, were presented with bowls of this kind, made in the form usual among the Indians. In the evening a white wolf approached so closely to the fort, that he was fired at from the gate, and attacked by our dogs.

On the 22nd of November we took possession of our new apartment, which was now completed, except that the whitewashed walls were still damp, and the constant wind generally {416} filled it with smoke. We were, however, thankful to have space to carry on our labours, to which we now applied with great assiduity, to make up for the time we had lost. The large windows afforded a good light for drawing, and we had a couple of small tables and some benches of poplar wood, and three shelves against the walls, on which we spread our blankets and buffaloes' skins, and reposed during the night. The room was floored; the door was furnished with bolts on the inside, and the fire-wood, covered with frozen snow, was piled up close to the chimney. We all felt indisposed soon after we took up our abode in this lodging, and were obliged to have recourse to medicine, but this was, probably, to be ascribed principally to the way of living and the state of the weather; for Sih-Sa and other Indians had bowel complaints, catarrh, and violent coughs, for which Mr. Kipp gave them medicines. I examined all the medical stock of the fort, and found neither peppermint nor other herbs, which would have been serviceable at this time; only a handful of elder flowers, and rather more of American camomile, which has a different taste to the European. There were some common remedies, but unfortunately we were without a medical man. Snow-storms, with a high west wind, had set in, and on the 23rd the country was covered with snow, and the Missouri froze for the first time on that day, below the village of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, and it is remarkable that it was frozen on the very same day in the preceding year. We saw the Indian women, as soon as the river was covered with ice, break holes in it, to wash their heads and the upper part of their bodies. The Indians had brought many beaver skins for sale, of which Mr. Kipp purchased eleven large ones, in exchange for a horse and some red cloth; the remainder, for which they demanded another horse, they took back with them. We had a visit from a young Mandan who had a bag made of the skin of the prairie dog, containing some pieces of a transparent selenite from which these Indians extract a white colour by burning it in the fire. Mato-Topé had passed the evening with us, and, when we went to bed, laid himself down before the fire, where he soon fell asleep. On the following morning he rose early, washed himself, but left his two buffalo skins lying carelessly on the floor, for us to gather them up, these Indians taking every opportunity to be waited on by the Whites. As we were molested during the night by numerous rats, we put my little tame prairie fox into the loft above us, where some maize was kept, and here he did excellent service. This pretty little fox afforded us much amusement during the long winter evenings. He was nearly a year old, but still liked to be caressed and played all kinds of antics to attract notice.

Several wolves, which the Indians had brought to me, were laid down near the fort, after they had been stripped of their skins, but we did not succeed in alluring one of their species by this bait. Dreidoppel, on his excursion, had killed a couple of wolves, which he allured by imitating the voice of a hare, and then shot with his fowling piece. The hares had now put on their white winter coats, and could scarcely be distinguished from the surrounding snow. They {417} were seen sitting singly on the hills, and we took them for buffaloes' skulls when there was no snow on the prairie.

On the evening of the 25th of November we were alarmed by information that some hostile Indians were near the fort. Dipauch and Berock-Itainu, who were called the soldiers of the fort, immediately took their arms, cautiously opened the gate, and discovered a Manitari, who was concealed near one of the block-houses, from which he was soon driven rather roughly. At this time, Charbonneau came to invite us to a great medicine feast among the Manitaries, an invitation which I gladly accepted.[13]

On the morning of the 26th we had fine weather and a clear sky, very favourable for our expedition. At nine o'clock, Bodmer, Charbonneau and myself set out, on foot, with our double-barrelled guns and the requisite ammunition, accompanied by a young Manitari warrior. We proceeded up the Missouri in a direction parallel with the river, leaving Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush on our right hand, and taking the way to Ruhptare which runs along the edge of the high Plateau, below which there is a valley extending to the Missouri, covered with the maize plantations of the Mandans, with some willow thickets and high reeds. On the left hand the prairie extended to the hills: it was covered with low, withered, yellowish grass, and presented a barren, desolate appearance. After proceeding about an hour, we came to a stone, undoubtedly one of those isolated blocks of granite which are scattered over the whole prairie, and which the Indians, from some superstitious notion, paint with vermilion, and surround with little sticks, or rods, to which were attached some feathers. This stone, and many similar ones in the prairie, are considered, by many Indians, as medicine; but I was not able to learn what ideas they entertain concerning the one here described. A little farther on, in a small ravine which crosses the path, there was an elm, the trunk of which was painted in many places with vermilion; rags, stained with vermilion, were suspended from it, together with a little bag containing some of the same colour, as a sign that the tree was sacred or medicine. A covey of prairie hens rose, with loud cries, from this ravine. At this spot 1000 or 1200 Sioux had attacked the united Mandans and Manitaries thirty years before, but lost 100 of their people. One of those Indians was afraid to proceed on this path, because he suspected that a wolf-pit, or trap, might be in the way; but the partisan, or chief, wishing to shame him, went before, and actually fell into such a pit, with sharpened sticks at the bottom, by which he was killed. From this place we came, in about half an hour, to the Mandan village, Ruhptare, which is now totally abandoned. The construction of the huts and medicines, the stages for the dead, everything, in short, is just the same as at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, only a much greater number of the stages stood near the huts, and flocks of ravens sat upon them. To the left of the village there is a little hill, which was quite covered with these strange erections, and poles with offerings suspended from them.

{418} We went through the village, in the centre of which there is a circular space, with the representation of the ark of the first man, and the figure of Ochkih-Hadda on a pole before the medicine lodge. We soon came to the bank of the river, and saw three Indians attempting to cross the ice of the Missouri, which had scarcely been frozen over twenty-four hours. Charbonneau went first, and we followed him on the path marked out by some poles stuck in the ice. While we were proceeding, carefully examining the ice with the butt-end of our guns, we were overtaken by the old Mandan chief, Kahka-Chamahan (the little raven), who wore a round hat, with a plume of feathers, and who now led the way.[14] After we had passed the Missouri we met, on the beach, some elegantly dressed Mandans, with whom we did not stop to converse. We turned to the close willow thicket which skirted an extensive forest on the north bank of the river: the path led through it, in many windings, till we reached the winter village, Ruhptare, which is closely surrounded by a thicket of willow, poplar, ash, cornus, and elm. Here the chief took leave of us, as we could not accept his invitation to his hut. We saw the women everywhere busy in tanning skins, and carrying wood. Most of the high trees in the forest had been cut down; but there was a shrub-like symphoria, with rounded elliptical leaves, and small bunches of whitish-green berries, which, when quite ripe, are of a bluish-black colour. This plant grows in great abundance as underwood in all the forests in these parts. Vitis, celastrus, and clematis, were entwined about some of the trees, but the wild vine was nowhere thicker than a little finger. There are many open spots in the wood, covered with thin grass and other kinds of plants, and also reeds.

We followed the winding path through this intricate wilderness, to the hills, which bound the prairie, at the foot of which we proceeded parallel to the Missouri: they are partly clay hills, of angular forms, from which marshy springs issue in many places, all which were at this time frozen over. Several of these places were covered with extensive thickets of reeds, and at the foot of the hills there were some bushes, among which the Indians had set fox-traps, which they endeavour to conceal with brushwood and buffaloes' skulls laid on it. We here saw some Indians, and heard the report of their guns. At the foot of the hills we saw the foot steps of the Virginian deer, but we observed only a few birds, chiefly crows, ravens, snow buntings, and the coal titmouse. When we had gone about half an hour, the hills receded from the river, and as soon as the wood terminates, the wide prairie extends along the Missouri, where we lately visited, on our arrival, Ita-Widahki-Hischa (the red shield). We proceeded for several hours through the desolate plain, which was covered with yellow, withered grass, now and then broken by gentle eminences, where bleached buffaloes' bones, especially skulls, are scattered about. We met with a couple of Indians, heavily laden with skins, resting themselves, who immediately asked us for tobacco. We had here an opportunity of seeing the wolf pits, in which the Indians fix sharp stakes, and the {419} whole is so covered with brushwood, hay, and dry grass, that it cannot be perceived. As our feet began to be very painful, we sat down to rest near a stream, now almost dry, bordered with high grass, which at this time was lying on the ground. As I was no longer accustomed to such long journeys on foot, I had asked Mr. Kipp for horses for this journey, but there were none in the fort at that time. Our European boots and shoes had wounded our feet, and it was with much pain that we ascended the pretty steep hills which now again came nearer to the river. I obtained from Charbonneau a pair of Indian shoes, in which I found it easier to walk, but the thorns of the cactus, which grew on the hills, pierced through them, and caused me pain in another way.

Towards evening, when we descended from the hills to the river, we again came to an extensive wood on the banks, in which one of the winter villages of the Manitaries is situated. We had, however, to walk several miles along a very winding path before we reached it. Being extremely tired, and our feet sore and wounded, it cost us some exertion to get over fallen trunks of trees, sharp stones, &c., in the way. The scenes which are inseparable from the dwellings of the Indians soon appeared; slender young men, galloping without saddle, who were driving their horses home from the pasture; women cutting or carrying wood, and the like. A young Indian joined us, who immediately offered, out of civility, to carry my gun, which I did not accept. He was an Arikkara, who had been captured, when a child, by the Manitaries—a good-tempered, well-behaved young man. He was tall and slender, with a pleasing countenance, long, narrow eyes, and a slightly curved nose.

Plan of Minitaree medicine feast

Club, with carved head

It was nearly nightfall when we reached the Manitari village, the large huts of which were built so close to each other that it was sometimes difficult to pass between them. We heard loud lamentations as we approached, and learnt that a child had just died, and that a corpse had been deposited, a few days before, on poles placed in the boughs of a tree. At the farther end of the village was the residence of Mr. Dougherty[15] a long, low, log-house, divided into three apartments, of which that in the centre was used for a storehouse, the northern apartment being assigned to the family, and the southern to the engagés. We were received with much kindness, and, being thoroughly tired by a fatiguing journey of, at least, nine leagues, we were truly glad to rest our weary limbs before a blazing fire. A number of Manitari Indians were assembled, who, however, gradually retired whilst we took some refreshment, not having tasted anything since we breakfasted at Fort Clarke. It being reported that herds of buffaloes were at no great distance, a party of Indians resolved to give them chase on the following day, and to implore the blessing of heaven upon their undertaking by a great medicine feast. Notwithstanding the pain I suffered in walking, the prospect of witnessing so novel a scene was so exciting that I immediately set out about seven o'clock in the evening, accompanied by Dougherty and Charbonneau, to see the Indian ceremony, which was instituted by the women. Between the huts, in the centre of the village, an elliptical {420} space, forty paces or more in length, was enclosed in a fence, ten or twelve feet high, consisting of reeds and willow twigs inclining inwards.[16] An entrance was left at a; b represents the fence; d are the four fires, burning in the medicine lodge, which were kept up the whole time. At e the elder and principal men had taken their seats; to the right sat the old chief, Lachpitzi-Sihrisch (the yellow bear); some parts of his face were painted red, and a bandage of yellow skin encircled his head. Places were assigned to us on the right hand of the yellow bear. At f, close to the fence, the spectators, especially the women, were seated: the men walked about, some of them handsomely dressed, others quite simply; children were seated around the fires, which they kept alive by throwing twigs of willow trees into them. Soon after Charbonneau had introduced us to this company, six elderly men advanced in a row from the opposite hut, and stopped for a moment at the entrance of the great medicine lodge.

They had been chosen, by the young men, to represent buffalo bulls, for which they afterwards received presents. Each of them carried a long stick, at the top of which three or four black feathers were fastened; then, at regular intervals, the whole length of the stick was ornamented with small bunches of the hoofs of buffalo calves, and at the lower end of the stick were some bells. In their left hand they carried a battle-axe, or war club, and two of them had a stuffed skin which they called a badger, and used as a drum. They stood at the entrance, rattled their sticks incessantly, sang alternately, and imitated, with great perfection, the hoarse voice of the buffalo bull. They were followed by a tall man, whose physiognomy strikingly resembled that of a Botocudo. He wore a cap, trimmed with fur, because he had been formerly scalped in a battle. He represented the director of the ceremony and the leader of the old bulls, behind whom he made his appearance. The bulls now entered the medicine lodge and took their seats at c, near the fence, behind one of the fires. In front of them they laid the badger, which is equivalent to what is called the tortoise in the Okippe of the Mandans.[17] Each of the bulls fixed his weapon in the ground before him; two of them had clubs, with a head, on which a human face was carved.[18] Several young men {421} were now employed in carrying round dishes of boiled maize and beans, which they placed before the guests. These dishes were handed to each person successively, who passed them on after tasting a small quantity. Empty wooden dishes were frequently brought and placed at our feet, the reason of which I could not, at first, comprehend, but soon learned from my neighbour, the Yellow Bear. As soon as the provision bearer—a tall, handsome, very robust, and broad-shouldered man, wearing only his breechcloth, ornamented at the back with long tufts of hair—came to take away one of these empty dishes, the old chief held his hands before his face, sang, and made a long speech, which seemed to me to be a prayer uttered in a low tone of voice, and then gave him the dish. These speeches contained good wishes for success in hunting the buffalo, and in war. They invoke the heavenly powers to favour the hunters and the warriors. In this manner two dishes were sometimes placed before us, and we also exerted ourselves in uttering good wishes in the English and German languages, which the Indians guessed from our motions, though they could not understand our words. If the speech was lengthy, they were specially gratified; the provision bearer stopped, listening very attentively, nodded his satisfaction, and passed his hand over our right arm from the shoulder to the wrist, and sometimes over both arms, and then again spoke a few words expressive of his thanks. In this manner the ceremony of the repast lasted above an hour; every person present partook of it, and offered up their good wishes for a successful buffalo chase. Meantime, the young men, in the centre of the space, prepared the tobacco pipes, which they brought first to the old men and the visitors; they presented the mouth-piece of the pipe to us in succession, going from right to left: we each took a few whiffs, uttered, as before, a wish or prayer, and passed the pipe to our next neighbours. Among those who carried the dishes and pipes, there was another young man who had been scalped, and who also wore a cap; he had received many wounds in the attack made by the Sioux on the Manitari villages, and had been left on the field as dead. The pipe bearers often turned their pipes towards the cardinal points, and performed various superstitious manœuvres with them. The six buffalo bulls, meantime, sitting behind the fire, sang, and rattled the medicine sticks, while one of them constantly beat the badger skin. After a while they all stood up, bent forward, and danced; that is, they leaped as high as they could with both their feet together, continuing to sing and rattle their sticks, one of them beating time on the badger. Their song was invariably the same, consisting of loud, broken notes and exclamations. When they had danced for some time, they resumed their seats.

The whole was extremely interesting. The great number of red men, in a variety of costumes, the singing, dancing, beating the drum, &c., while the lofty trees of the forest, illumined by the fires, spread their branches against the dark sky, formed a tout ensemble so striking and original, that I much regretted the impracticability of taking a sketch of it on the spot. When the ceremony had continued a couple of hours, the women began to act their part. A {422} woman approached her husband, gave him her girdle and under garment, so that she had nothing on under her robe; she then went up to one of the most distinguished men, passed her hand over his arm, from the shoulder downwards, and then withdrew slowly from the lodge. The person so summoned follows her to a solitary place in the forest; he may then buy himself off by presents, which, however, few Indians do. This honour was offered to us, but we returned to the lodge, after having made a present, on which pipes were again handed to us. The fires already burnt dim, many Indians had retired, and we asked the old chief, whether we might be permitted to do the same? At first he refused, but, on our repeating the question, he gave us leave. On other occasions, when circumstances allow all the inhabitants of the village to unite, many additional ceremonies take place; more dances are performed, and each of the bands dances that which is peculiar to itself, which could not be done to-day. The dance of the old buffalo bulls, with entire buffalo skulls, is said to be very interesting. This festival always continues for four successive nights, and, even on this occasion, the rioting and noise continued uninterruptedly throughout the night.

On the following morning, the 27th of November, the weather continued bright and clear. I observed in the thickets near the dwelling of Dougherty, large numbers of the little coal titmouse, but no other bird except the Picus pubescens. A number of Indians congregated very early around our fire, one of them having even ventured to take up his night's quarters with us. The Yellow Bear and the man who was scalped came early, the former to beg for some coffee; he looked miserable and faint, as if he were in want of food, and had a black silk handkerchief tied round his head. The scene outside was very animated: we observed many very handsome young men, in fine new dresses, some of whom were playing the game called billiards, and on the river, which was now quite frozen over, many children and young people were amusing themselves with sliding and other gambols. Some women were bringing wood from the forest, others cutting holes in the ice to procure water, and some playing with a leathern-ball, which they flung upon the ice, caught it, and then threw it into the air, catching it as it fell. At noon the thermometer was at 47°, but a high wind arose, and we were obliged to pass the whole day under shelter of Mr. Dougherty's roof, where we witnessed many very interesting scenes, the apartments being visited by a succession of Indians throughout the day.

The following day was spent in the same manner. The younger people, half naked, again played upon the ice, and I paid a visit, accompanied by Charbonneau, to the Yellow Bear. Mr. Dougherty had formerly resided in the hut which he now inhabited, and for which he had to pay 80 or 100 dollars. The beds, consisting of square leathern cases, were placed along the sides of this spacious hut, and the inmates sat round the fire variously occupied. The Yellow Bear, wearing only his breechcloth, sat upon a bench made of willow boughs, covered with skin, and was painting a new buffalo robe with figures in vermilion and black, having his colours standing by {423} him, ready mixed, in old potsherds. In lieu of a pencil he was using the more inartificial substitute of a sharp pointed piece of wood. The robe was ornamented with the symbols of valuable presents which he had made, and which had gained the Yellow Bear much reputation, and made him a man of distinction.

About twenty Manitaries had gone to hunt buffaloes, and as we had no meat, we waited with no small degree of impatience for their return. Our fast was of longer duration than we liked, for it was late before a few of our hunters arrived, and the scalped man brought us some meat, so that we did not get our meal till evening. At nightfall, a handsome young man came to us, accompanied by two girls, it being the custom of the Indian youths to stroll about in this manner. They had not been long in our room, when somebody knocked at the door, on which the two girls crept into Charbonneau's bed to hide themselves, as they suspected it was some of their friends come to look after them; but it proved to be only a messenger from Charbonneau, who, wishing to procure us a pleasant diversion for the evening, let us know that the women in a certain hut were about to perform a medicine dance; and, availing ourselves of the intimation, we hastened to the spot without loss of time.

On the left hand of the wooden screen at the door of the hut a fire was burning, and before it were spread out skins upon some hay, on which five or six men were seated in a row, one of whom beat the drum, and the other rattled the schischikué. They were more than usually vehement in the performance of this music; the drummer especially exerted himself to the utmost, and all the rest accompanied him with singing. Some elderly women were seated near the wall; a tall, robust woman, however, especially attracted our attention; she was standing in the centre of the hut; her dress consisted of a long yellow leather robe, trimmed with a quantity of fringes, and ornamented with pieces of red and blue cloth. We took our places to the right of the musicians, just in front of a number of spectators, consisting of women and children, who were prevented from pressing forward by a young man, who made use of the official dignity of a stick, with which he was invested for the occasion. The woman standing in the centre pretended that she had a head of maize in her stomach, which she would conjure up, and again cause to disappear. We had come rather too late, for the ear of maize had already disappeared; but Charbonneau spoke to the people, to whom we gave ten carrots of tobacco, and the trick was repeated. Our tobacco was thrown on a heap of roasted buffalo ribs, which were piled up on willow boughs, and there it remained till the end of the ceremony, the object of which was to procure a good crop of maize in the succeeding year. The din of the music now recommenced with renewed vehemence, and four women began to move. They waddled like ducks, making short steps, with their feet turned inwards, and keeping time to the quick beat of the drum; while their arms hung down motionless by their sides. The medicine woman danced alone near the fire, to which she {424} sometimes put her hands, and then laid them upon her face. At length she began to totter, to move her arms backwards and forwards, and to use convulsive motions, which became more and more violent. Now, as she threw her head backwards, we saw the top of a white head of maize fill her mouth, and gradually came more forward, while her contortions greatly increased. When the head of maize was half out of her mouth, the dancer seemed ready to sink down, when another woman advanced, laid hold of her and seated her on the ground. Here, supported by her companion, she fell into convulsions, and the music became overpoweringly violent. Other women brushed the arm and breast of the performers with bunches of wormwood, and the head of maize gradually disappeared; on which the juggleress rose, danced twice round the hut, and was succeeded by another female. After this second woman had danced in the same manner, a stream of blood suddenly rushed from her mouth over her chin, which, however, she extracted from a piece of leather that she held in her mouth. She, too, was cured of her convulsions as she lay on the ground, and then danced around the fire. Other women came forward and danced behind one another, which concluded the ceremony.

Almost all these people pretended that they had some animal in their stomach; some a buffalo calf, others a deer, &c. The scalped man told us that he had a buffalo calf in his left shoulder, and often felt it kick. Another, who pretended that he had three live lizards in his inside, complained to Charbonneau that these animals gave him pain, on which Charbonneau gave him a cup of coffee, but as this remedy did not relieve him, a cup of tea was given him, and this produced the desired effect. Notions of this kind are so common among the Indians, and they are said to have so firm a hold on the faith of the people, that it would be labour lost to attempt to convince them of their folly.

On the 29th of November, during which we continued in the Manitari village, the whole forest was covered with hoar frost; all the woods on the banks were clothed in white, and the red youths were sporting on the ice; the whole forming an interesting and animated scene. Mr. Bodmer painted several animals and birds for the Indians, such as cocks, eagles &c., which they pretended would make them proof against musket balls. In the evening Mr. Bodmer and Dougherty again went to the medicine feast, but the women did not, on this occasion, make their appearance, for which nobody, not even Charbonneau, who was so well acquainted with the Indians, could assign any reason. After dark our house-door was twice forced open, and we again observed how much more rude and savage the Manitaries are than the Mandans. Dougherty, who did not yet possess a fort, and was obliged to live among the former, suffered greatly from their importunity and rudeness; he was afraid even to give them a refusal, lest he might thereby bring upon himself greater inconveniences, for a continued and close intercourse with these people is always attended with danger. We had not been able to borrow horses to {425} return to Fort Clarke; but, on the 30th, Mr. Dougherty succeeded in obtaining one, and Durand, a clerk of Messrs. Soublette and Campbell, who had arrived on horseback, returned with us, and allowed Mr. Bodmer to ride with him.

At nine o'clock we took leave of our kind hosts, Dougherty and Charbonneau, and set out on our return. In the forest-village belonging to the inhabitants of Ruhptare, we stopped at a hut, in which Garreau, an old trader of Messrs. Soublette and Campbell, resided.[19] There was an abundance of meat hanging up in this hut, as they had had a very successful buffalo hunt. From this place I sent back my horse; but Durand, though with great difficulty, got his across the frozen river; the poor beast was nearly exhausted, it often slipped, and sometimes fell down. At twilight we reached Fort Clarke, where, during our absence, good news had been received of the cessation of the cholera in St. Louis and the neighbourhood.

During November the weather had, on the whole, been tolerably pleasant: a few days were stormy, with some snow and slight frost; and this kind of weather continued at the beginning of December. A high stage of strong posts was erected in our court-yard, where a part of the stock of maize was deposited, thereby to protect it from the voracity of the rats. It was defended from the rain by the leather covering of Indian tents.

The Mandan village near the fort was now entirely forsaken by the inhabitants. The entrances to the huts were blocked with bundles of thorns; a couple of families only still remained, one of which was that of Dipauch, whom Mr. Bodmer visited every day, in order to make a drawing of the interior of the hut.[20] Instead of the numerous inhabitants, magpies were flying about, and flocks of snow buntings were seen in the neighbourhood about the dry plants of the prairie, where the Indian children set long rows of snares, made of horsehair, to catch them alive.

Belhumeur had been sent several times to the prairie, and had brought back buffaloes' flesh; but the animals were so far off that we could not always be supplied, and were forced to live on hard dried meat and boiled maize; our beverage consisted of coffee and the water of the Missouri. Dreidoppel had killed several wolves, prairie dogs, and prairie hens; the Indians had brought me some white hares and other smaller animals. One of our dogs was shot in the foot by an Indian, with an arrow. Neither the motive nor the perpetrator of this hostile act could be discovered.

Heads of sledge dogs

Plan of Mandan hut

Mandan, in bull-dance costume

Having been invited by the Indians to the winter village, to be present at a great medicine feast, we proceeded thither, on the 3rd of December, in the afternoon. Mr. Kipp took his family with him, and Mato-Topé and several other Indians accompanied us. We were all well armed, because it was asserted that a band of hostile Indians had been seen among the prairie hills on the preceding day. Our beds, blankets, and buffalo skins were laid on a horse, on which Mr. Kipp's wife, a Mandan Indian, rode. Thus we passed, at a rapid pace, through the prairie, along the Missouri, then below the hills, which are pretty high; and I cannot deny that, in the valleys and {426} ravines, through which some small streams that we had to pass flowed, our whole company looked anxiously to the right and left to see whether any enemies would issue from their ambush. We had to pass a narrow gorge behind a little thick copse, where many Indians had been killed by their enemies. After proceeding about an hour and a half we reached the village in the wood, which is the winter residence of the inhabitants of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. We stopped at the hut of Mr. Kipp's father-in-law, Mandeek-Suck-Choppenik (the medicine bird), who accommodated us with a night's lodging. The description of this hut may serve for all the winter huts of these Indians.[21] It was about twenty paces in diameter, and circular: h is the fence or wall of the hut, supported inside by strong, low posts, on which rests the vaulted roof, which has a square hole to let the smoke escape; g is the entrance, protected by two projecting walls covered above. At f is the door, consisting of a piece of leather stretched on a frame. At d d there is a cross wall of considerable height, made of reeds and osier twigs woven together, to keep off the draught of air. At e e e there is another cross wall, only three feet high, behind which the horses stand; a is the fireplace, round which, at c c c c, are the seats of the inmates, consisting of benches formed of basket-work, covered with skins; b b b b are four strong pillars which bear the roof, and are very well united above by cross beams. At i there was a large leather case for the beds in which the family slept. A chain, with a large kettle, was suspended from the roof over the fire, to cook our supper, consisting of very pleasant flavoured sweet maize. The master of the hut was absent, but his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, received us very kindly. We had still a little time before the commencement of the medicine feast, which consisted of the dance of the half-shorn head, which the soldiers sold to the raven band. This feast was to last forty nights, and the son-in-law of our host was among the sellers. We sat around the fire and smoked, while the drum was beat in the village to call the two parties together. After seven o'clock we repaired to the medicine lodge; it was entirely cleared, except that some women sat along the walls; the fire burned in the centre, before which we took our seats, near the partition d d, with several distinguished men of the band of the soldiers. At our left hand, the other soldiers, about twenty-five in number, were seated in a row; some of them were handsomely dressed, though the majority {427} were in plain clothes. They had their arms in their hands, and in the centre were three men, who beat the drum. On the right side of the fire stood the young men of the raven band, who were the purchasers; they were obliged to satisfy the soldiers, who were the sellers, by making them valuable presents, such as horses, guns, powder and ball, blankets of different colours, kettles, &c.; to continue the feast forty nights; to regale them, for that time, with provisions and tobacco, and offer their wives to them every evening. The soldiers had consented to these terms, and the festival took place every evening in the following manner:—

We had all taken our seats before the band of the sellers arrived; but we soon heard them singing, accompanied by the drum, and they entered with their insignia; these consisted of four poles, or lances, seven or eight feet long, the iron points of which resembled sword blades, and were held downwards; the rest of the instrument was wrapped round with broad bands of otter-skin, like that of the Blackfeet,[22] and decorated at the point and other places with strips of skin: two of these poles are curved at the top. The others were a club with an iron point, painted red and ornamented with feathers; then three lances, decorated alternately with black and white feathers;[23] and, lastly, a very beautifully ornamented bow and quiver. These nine insignia were brought in, the soldiers, however, stopping, at first, near the door behind the cross wall. When they had remained for some time in this position, singing and beating the drum with great violence, they entered, placed the lances against the wall, and fixed the club in the ground near one of the pillars that supported the hut; after which they all took their seats near the wall. While the singing and dancing were continued alternately for some time, the purchasers filled their pipes and presented them to all of us in succession. We took one or two whiffs; they did the same, and carried the pipe round to the left hand, but offered it only to the visitors and to the sellers. This smoking continued a long time, during which each of the guests received a small cake of sweet corn baked in fat. In about half an hour two of the soldiers rose and danced opposite each other. One of them was a tall, powerful man, with a weak, effeminate voice. He wore nothing but his robe and leggins, but without any ornaments; he took the club and held it firmly in his left hand; his right hand hung straight down; he bent his body forwards and danced, that is, he leaped with his feet close together, keeping time with the music. The head and legs of the other dancer were very handsomely ornamented, but the breast and shoulders were bare. He took one of the first four lances, which he held in both hands, and the two men then danced, or leaped, opposite each other. In a few minutes the first dancer put the lance aside and sat down, while all the other members of this band uttered the war-whoop, accompanied by the quick beating of the drum, now and then shouting aloud. Silence then ensued; the man with the club addressed the purchasers, called them his sons, and enumerated some of his exploits; after which he presented to them the war club. One of the purchasers called him his father, passed his hand along his arm, took {428} the weapon from his hand, and put it in its place again. The other dancer again came forward, did the same, spoke of his exploits, and presented the lance to a man or son of the other band, who received it with the same ceremony, and put it also in its place again. There were singing and dancing in the intervals, but no schischikué was heard. Two other soldiers then rose, related their deeds, how they had stolen horses, taken a medicine from the enemy, and the like, and presented two of the insignia to the purchasers. When this had been done four or five times, the women of the raven band rose; four of them threw aside their robes, snatched up the lances, carried them successively out of the hut, and, some time after, brought them in again. They hastened to pass by us, and some of them appeared to feel ashamed. This ceremony was repeated twice: these women then came, passed their hands down the arms of the strangers and of the fathers, took up their robes and went out, in the same manner as has been related in the medicine feast of the Manitaries. When they returned the second time, Mr. Kipp rose to go away, and I followed him. Some of the women were fat and corpulent, others very young, and one but little past childhood.

This feast was continued in the same manner forty nights. During the purchase of the dance of the half-shorn head, the buffalo medicine feast, which continues four nights, was celebrated in another hut. We retired to the hut of the Medicine Bird, smoked our cigars, and lay down in our clothes to sleep on buffalo skins spread on the floor. The weather was frosty, and it was very cold even in the hut; the Indians set a watch, during the night, that they might not be surprised by their enemies.

On the 4th of December, early in the morning, we left the village; we did not keep along the hills, but took another path through the thickets, which led in some places over frozen marshes, which were partly covered with reeds. The wood, which was spangled with hoar frost, is very much cleared, and contains but few large trees. A high, cold southeast wind blew in the prairie, and afterwards became violent. At eight o'clock we reached the fort, where we much enjoyed a hot breakfast. Several Mandans came to see us, among whom was the strongest man of this nation, named Beracha-Iruckcha (the broken pot), whom no one had yet been able to overcome in wrestling, though he had been matched with white men, negroes, and Indians, remarkable for their strength. Sih-Chida and Maksick-Karehde (the flying eagle), also visited us; the latter was the tallest man among the Mandans, and belonged to the band of the soldiers.[24]

Snow had already set in, yet still the buffaloes did not come nearer, and we were in want of fresh meat, and of tallow to make candles; and all the meat we could get was obtained from individual Indians returning from the chase. In the environs of the fort there were, at this time, wolves, foxes, and a few hares, and during the night we heard the barking of the prairie wolves (Canis latrans, Say), which prowled about, looking for any remnants of provisions. In our excursions {429} we everywhere met with wolves, foxes, hares, weasels, and mice, especially on the banks of the streams, and set snares of iron wire, in order to learn what species of mice could bear this winter weather. Our snares were often carried away by the wolves and foxes, but we frequently caught the Mus leucopus, which is especially the prey of the weasel. If any one imitate the voice of the hare, in order to attract the wolves, a number of magpies immediately come and settle in the neighbourhood. Scarcely any kinds of birds were found in the forest but Pica hudsonica, Picus pubescens, Parus atracapillus, Fringilla linaria, and Tetrao phasianellus, of which several were shot.

On the 10th of December, Charbonneau returned to the service of the American Fur Company, and took up his quarters in the fort, which gave me an opportunity to have much conversation with him respecting the Manitaries, with whom he was well acquainted. On the 11th, Dreidoppel, with his rifle, shot a prairie wolf (Canis latrans) on the ice of the Missouri, which crept into a burrow, where he could not get at it. He was returning to the fort, when a couple of Indians called after him, who had dragged the animal alive from its retreat, and brought it to our lodging, when Mr. Bodmer made a sketch of the head.[25] On the 13th of December, when Fahrenheit's thermometer was at 17°, several birds of the species Bombycilla garrula were brought to us: they are found in these parts during the summer also, and are said to breed here, which I think is doubtful. I obtained many wolves from the quite white to the perfectly grey, common variety, which the Indians sold for two rolls of tobacco a-piece. They also often caught ermines in horsehair snares, which they sell dear. As we continued to be in want of fresh meat and tallow, we had to send people for these necessaries to the Indian villages, and Mr. Kipp likewise went thither in his sledge, in order to trade. On one occasion his horse broke through the ice, so that it remained for an hour in the water, and was quite benumbed. An extremely cold storm from the north had blown away the wooden screen from our chimney. On the 15th of December, and on the preceding evening, we had a heavy fall of snow, which ceased when the wind veered a little to the north. At eight o'clock the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer was at 14°. The appearance of the prairie at this time was very remarkable, resembling the sea agitated by a terrible storm. The extensive surface of the snow was carried by the wind in a cloud; it was scarcely possible for the eye to bear the cold blast which drove the snow before it, and enveloped us in a dense cloud, above which the sky was clear, and the tops of the prairie hills were visible. We were, therefore, the more sensible of the enjoyment of our bright fire, seated about which we passed our time agreeably in various occupations. About this time the enemy had stolen six horses from the Manitaries. We had been for some time without meat, when the Indians, hunting at a considerable distance, at the forks of Teton River,[26] killed fifty-five buffaloes. On this occasion, Mr. Kipp's horse was lost, which, bridled and saddled as it was, had joined a herd of buffaloes; and two foals had perished in the cold.

{430} On the 16th the mercury was at 2°, Fahrenheit, below zero. For some time past the water in our room was frozen every day, notwithstanding the large fire which we kept up. Towards the 19th of December, the weather was again fine; in a few days there was snow, and the Missouri rose so high that it partly overflowed the ice that covered it. Some of Mr. Soublette's people arrived from St. Louis, which they had left on the 14th of October, and confirmed the accounts which we had already received of the cessation of the cholera. They told us that, in October, the snow was fifteen inches deep on the banks of the Konzas River, and that the party escorting the caravan from Santa Fé had been so closely hemmed in by the Indians (probably Arikkaras), that they had been compelled, by want of provisions, to slaughter fourteen of their horses.[27]

On the 22nd of December, a number of white maggots were found under a piece of poplar bark, which were completely enclosed in ice, but all came to life when they were warmed at the fire. On the 23rd, the mercury was at 10° Fahrenheit, above zero; the sky was bright and clear, the wind blew from the east, the icy covering of the river smoked and the woods were covered with hoar frost. The ravens came near to the fort to pick up food; the wolves, in consequence of our frequent excursions, had retired to a greater distance.

On this day, at noon, we heard the drums of the Indians, and a crowd of their people filled the fort. At their head were fourteen men of the band of the bulls, from Ruhptare, distinguished by their strange costume.[28]

{431} The whole head was covered with a wig, consisting of long plaits of hair, which hung down on every side, so that even the face was completely concealed. The appearance of these men was very singular in the cold weather, for their breath issued from between the plaits of hair like a dense vapour. They wore in their heads feathers of owls, ravens, and birds of prey, each of which had at the tip a large white down feather. One of them had a very handsome fan of white feathers on his head, doubtless the entire tail of a swan, each of the feathers having at the tip a tuft of dyed horsehair. They were closely enveloped in their robes, and had bow-lances ornamented with feathers, coloured cloth, beads, &c., and most of them had foxes' tails at their heels. Some of these men beat the drum, while they all formed a circle, and imitated the bellowing of the buffalo bulls. After they had danced awhile, some tobacco was thrown to them, and they proceeded to the village in the forest further down the river, taking off their wigs. The frozen Missouri was covered with Indians on this occasion, and presented an interesting scene. At this time the Sioux stole from the prairie thirty-seven horses belonging to the Mandans. On this day Dreidoppel had dragged the entrails of a hare about the prairie, and then concealed himself; he soon saw six wolves follow the scent and approach him; but it was so cold that he could not wait for them. Our cook, a negro, had a violent dispute with an Indian from Ruhptare, who had taken a piece of meat out of his pot, and the affair might have led to unpleasant consequences. The Indians of that village are the worst of the Mandans. Several articles had been stolen, which was nothing uncommon among our worthy neighbours, for even the wife of Mato-Topé had pilfered something in our room.

On the 24th of December, and on the preceding night, there was a very strong cold wind from the northwest (Fahrenheit's thermometer +12½°), which blew all the hoar frost from the trees. Many Indians knocked violently at our door, and attempted to force it, as we did not open it immediately. About four o'clock Papin and three other engagés, with seven horses, arrived from Picotte's post among the Yanktonans, which they had left two days before, and told us that they had there found 200 tents of the Yanktonans. At midnight the engagés of the fort fired a volley to welcome Christmas day, which was repeated in the morning: the 25th of December was a day of bustle in the fort. Mr. Kipp had given the engagés an allowance of better provisions, and they were extremely noisy in their Canadian jargon. The poor fellows had had no meat for some time, and had lived on maize, boiled in water, without any fat. Pehriska-Ruhpa, a robust Manitari, who had long lived among the Mandans, visited us, and soon afterwards Mato-Topé, but they took no notice of each other, as they were not on good terms, and the former immediately withdrew. He promised to have his portrait taken in his handsome dress.[29]

At noon there was a concourse of Indians in the fort: the woman's band of the white buffalo cow came to perform their dance.[30] The company consisted of seventeen, mostly old women, {432} and two men, with the drum and schischikué; the first of these two men carried a gun in his hand. A stout elderly woman went first; she was wrapped in the hide of a white buffalo cow, and held, in her right arm, a bundle of twigs in the form of a cornucopia, with down feathers at the top, and at the lower end an eagle's wing, and a tin drinking vessel. Another woman carried a similar bundle. All these women wore round their heads a piece of buffalo's skin in the form of a hussar's cap, with a plume of owl's or raven's feathers in front, some of which were dyed red; only two of them wore the skin of a polecat; all the men were bare-headed. The women were uniformly painted; the left cheek and eye were vermilion, and they had two blue spots on the temple near the right eye.[31] All except the first wore painted robes, and two of them only had the hairy side outwards. When they had formed a circle the music began in quick time; the men sung, and the women who were dancing responded in a loud shrill voice. In their dances they rock from side to side, always remaining on the same spot. After they had been dancing for some time there was a pause, when the dance recommenced. Only the oldest of these women, most of whom were exceedingly plain, had the tattooed stripes on the chin which are peculiar to this band.

They had scarcely left us, after receiving a present, when three engagés arrived with letters from Fort Union. They informed us that Mr. Mc Kenzie had built a new fort at the mouth of the Rivière aux Trembles, which he had called Fort Jackson, and appointed Mr. Chardon director.[32] Up to the 15th, when these messengers left Fort Union, the weather had been very mild; the river was quite free from ice, and no snow had fallen. Mr. Mc Kenzie invited me to visit him at Fort Union, but the inclemency of the weather rendered such a journey extremely unpleasant. The wind had blown down all the pickets at Fort Union, and some Indians, probably Gros Ventres des Prairies, had shot a white man on the Yellow Stone. Information had been brought by some Indians that Doucette, when on a journey from Fort Mc Kenzie to the Kutanas, had been shot by the Blood Indians.[33]

On the 26th of December the wind blew the snow into the air and obscured the sky. With a temperature of 12°, Fahrenheit, early in the morning we observed a rainbow among the clouds of snow, with a parhelion in the centre. We dispatched a number of letters, which were forwarded on the 27th by engagés, from station to station, down the river. Four men, with two sledges, and a number of horses, were sent from the fort, two of whom were to receive a supply of fresh meat for use at the trading post of the Yanktonans, from which they were expected to return in four days. Sih-Chida brought us the paper which his father, at that time the first chief of the Mandans, had received from General Atkinson and Major O'Fallon, several years before, when a treaty of friendship and commerce was concluded with the Indians.[34] This document was written on large paper in the English and Manitari languages. Most of the Indian names, which were doubtless given by Charbonneau, were incorrectly written. As we had now {433} no meat, our breakfast consisted of coffee and maize bread, and our dinner of maize bread and bean soup. Our people caught an Indian dog in the fort, intending to put him in a sledge, but he was so wild and unruly, bit and howled so furiously, that it was long before they could obtain the mastery. An engagé then knelt upon him to put on the harness, but when this was done he discovered that he had killed the poor dog. These dogs, if they are not broken in, are quite unfit for the sledge; when, however, they are accustomed to the work, they draw a sledge over the snow more easily than the best horse. If the snow is frozen, they run over it, where the horse sinks in, and they can hold out much longer. They can perform a journey of thirty miles in one day; and if they have rested an hour on the snow, and had some food, they are ready to set out again. A horse must have sufficient food, frequent rest, and a good watering place, and when it is once tired it cannot be induced to proceed. I have been assured by some persons that they had made long journeys, for eight successive days, with dogs, during which time the animals did not taste any food. In the winter, when the Indians go to hunt the buffalo, they drive, in light sledges, over the frozen snow, into the midst of the herd; the Indian, with his bow and arrows, sits or kneels down in the sledge; and dogs that have been trained, cannot be held back when they perceive the buffalo herd. In the north three good dogs are seldom to be purchased for less than 100 dollars. A single dog, when it is very good and strong, costs sixty or seventy dollars; on the Missouri, however, they are by no means so dear.

On the 28th December, about noon, we again heard the Indian drums: several soldiers announced the band which had lately purchased the dance of the half-shorn head. The whole company, very gaily and handsomely dressed, soon afterwards entered the fort, followed by a crowd of spectators. About twenty vigorous young men, with the upper part of the body naked (having thrown off their robes which they wore at their entrance), painted and ornamented in the most gaudy manner, formed a circle in the court-yard of the fort. Their long plaits of hair were covered with reddish clay. One eagle's feather, or several other feathers, were fixed transversely in the hair; others had a long plait hanging down, with five or six brass rosettes, in the manner of the Sioux; several had a bunch of owl's feathers hanging down, necklaces of bears' claws and otters' tails, wolves' tails at their heels, red cloth or leather leggins, often painted, or with bells fixed to them; they had a looking-glass suspended from the wrist, or the waist, and carried the several insignia of the dance, such as the long hooked sticks, or rods, adorned with otter's skin and feathers, the straight rod, covered with red cloth[35] &c., and had guns or bow-lances in their hands. One of them wore a long feather cap, with horns and strips of ermine on his head; another sat on horseback, and was daubed with yellow clay, and bleeding wounds were painted on his body: he carried a bow and arrows, without a quiver; his leggins were of red cloth, trimmed with a row of bells. His horse was likewise painted, {434} and the bridle ornamented with red and black cloth. The three musicians belonged to the band of the soldiers. They were dressed in shabby blanket robes. As soon as the drum was beat, the dancers bent their bodies forward, leaped up with both feet together, holding their guns in their hands, and the finger on the trigger, as if going to fire. In this manner they danced for about a minute in a circle, then gave a loud shout, and, having rested a little, began the dance again, and so on alternately. Some tobacco was thrown on the ground before them, after which they soon broke up, took up their robes and went to Ruhptare, where they danced and passed the night, and then exhibited their performances among the Manitaries.[36]

Mr. Kipp had received orders from Mr. Mc Kenzie to go to Fort Union, and he accordingly made the necessary preparations for this winter's journey. He purchased, from the Indians, eighteen dogs; and the getting sledges in readiness caused some bustle in the fort.

On the 29th of December, the thermometer, at eight o'clock in the morning, was at 19° Fahrenheit, and the high northwest wind was so cutting that we could not hold it out long in the prairie. Notwithstanding this, the dogs were collected, and harnessed with considerable difficulty, as they made much resistance. Mr. Kipp travelled with five Indian sledges, with a sufficient number of well-armed engagés. Charbonneau accompanied him on what is called a cariole (a convenient wooden sledge, drawn by one horse), in order to purchase meat for us of the Indians. The appearance of the caravan was very amusing, for many of the dogs, not trained to this service, jumped from one side to the other and could not be brought into order but by the use of the whip. The three dogs which drew the principal sledge had, on their collars, a large double bow, covered and ornamented with red, yellow, blue, and white fringe, to which a bell was suspended.[37]

About noon the snow storm increased, and it was so cold in our apartment that, notwithstanding a good fire, we were unable to work. The high wind drove the snow through the crevices in the walls and the doors, and the whole place was filled with smoke. The thermometer at noon was 14° Fahrenheit. The night, too, was stormy, and on the 30th the hurricane from {435} the west roared exactly as at sea; a great deal of snow lay in our room, and the water was frozen. In the prairie we could not keep our eyes open on account of the excessive glare: exposure to the weather was painful both to man and beast. It was hoped, however, that it would soon cause the herds of buffaloes to come nearer to us; but this expectation was not realized though it was said that there were many at the post of the Yanktonans. Our horses were obliged, during this dreadful weather, to walk about the whole night in the court-yard of the fort, with a mass of ice and snow on their backs. As Gautier, an old engagé, was bringing wood into the room, and the door remained open a short time, Mr. Bodmer's colours and pencils froze, so that he could not use them without hot water. Writing, too, was very difficult, because our ink was congealed; and, while the side of our bodies which was turned to the fire was half roasted, the other was quite benumbed, and we were often forced to rise in order to warm ourselves. The cook had his ears frostbitten in going to the river to fetch water.

To add to our chapter of misfortunes, news was received that the Yanktonans had stolen some horses from the Mandans, and killed several. This was the fourth time that these Indians had broken the peace concluded in the preceding September, and the Mandans were so incensed at their treachery that they were disposed to recommence the war.

This day Mr. Kipp got no further on his journey than the Manitari village, because some of his dogs had broken loose and run away, and several of his people had their faces frostbitten. The last day of the year was clear and cold: at eight o'clock in the morning the mercury was at 16½°, by Reaumur's thermometer, below freezing point: a vapour rose from the river. Towards noon the wind again blew high, the frozen snow crackled, and no animals, not even wolves or ravens, were to be seen. Before this weather set in, the Indians had ridden fifteen miles into the prairie, where many of them were almost frozen to death, but were recovered by being wrapped up in blankets, and laid before the fire.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Part III of our reprint of Maximilian's Travels begins with chapter xxviii of the original London edition (1843).—Ed.

[2] For Fort Clark and its custodian, James Kipp, see our volume xxii, p. 344, note 317, and p. 345, note 319.—Ed.

[3] Simon Bellehumeur, probably this interpreter's father, was in 1804 a North West Company's voyageur on upper Red River. One of the same name also acted as express and scout in the time of General Alfred Sully's campaign (1864) through the Little Missouri Bad Lands. See Montana Historical Society Contributions, ii, pp. 314-330; and Larpenteur's Journal, ii, p. 362.—Ed.

[4] For Kenneth Mc Kenzie, see Wyeth's Oregon, in our volume xxi, p. 45, note 25. Fort Union is noticed in our volume xxii, p. 373, note 349.—Ed.

[5] See our volume xxii, p. 305, note 263, for account of the Sioux bands, of which the Yanktonai was one of the largest. They were inclined toward peace with the United States although tradition relates that one of these bands participated in the sieges of Forts Meigs and Stephenson in the War of 1812-15. Their habitat was the Upper James River, above the Yankton. They are divided into two bands, Upper and Lower Yanktonai, the former being now located on Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota, the latter near Crow Creek agency, South Dakota.—Ed.

[6] For Major Dougherty, see our volume xiv, p. 126, note 92; for Bellevue, xxii, p. 267, note 221.—Ed.

[7] Pilcher is noted in our volume xiv, p. 269, note 193; Cabanné, in volume xxii, p. 271, note 226.—Ed.

[8] For burial customs, see our volume xxiii, p. 360, note 329.—Ed.

[9] See Plate 81, figure 17, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[10] Honoré Picotte was a French-Canadian who came to the Missouri about 1820, and entered the Columbia Fur Company. Afterwards (1827-30) he was a member of the French Fur Company; and when that was merged in the American Company he became a partner in the Upper Missouri Outfit. He had much influence with the Sioux, among whom he married, and for many years was stationed at Fort Pierre (see our volume xxii, p. 315, note 277). Audubon met him at this post in 1843; and in later years he had charge of the annual voyage of the trading steamer to the upper river. In 1846 Father De Smet was his guest at Fort Pierre. About two years later Picotte retired from the active business of the company, and removed to St. Louis. In the early days of the trade, he had a brother associated with him; and his half-breed son, Charles F. Picotte, was a noted figure in early Dakota history. See South Dakota Department of History Collections, ii, pp. 246-248.—Ed.

[11] For Sublette and Campbell, and the rivalry of their company with that of the American Fur Company, see our volume xxiii, p. 198, notes 154, 155.—Ed.

[12] For this chief, see our volume xxii, p. 345, note 318.—Ed.

[13] A sketch of Charbonneau is found in our volume vi, p. 32, note 3; consult also Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, vii, pp. 329, 330; see also index to that work.—Ed.

[14] Lewis and Clark made (1804) this Mandan second chief of the village of Ruhptare. Upon the return voyage of the explorers, two years later, he agreed at first to accompany them to the United States, but later, through jealousy of another Mandan chief, refused. See Original Journals, i, pp. 212, 216; v, pp. 341, 343.—Ed.

[15] Joseph Dougherty, for whom see our volume xxiii, p. 218, note 167.—Ed.

[16] See p. [25], for plan of Minitaree medicine feast. See also our volume xxiii, p. 334.—Ed.

[17] For this instrument, see our volume xxiii, p. 325, note 293.—Ed.

[18] See p. [25], for illustration of club with carved head.—Ed.

[19] Garreau settled among the Arikara Indians at an early day (about 1785), being probably the first white settler in South Dakota. Lewis and Clark found him in the Arikara villages on both their outward and return journey—Original Journals, i, pp. 7, 272; v, p. 355. His son Pierre was a noted interpreter, being for many years located at Fort Berthold. See Larpenteur's Journal, i, p. 124, for his portrait; see also Boller, Among the Indians, pp. 181, 182, 245-248.—Ed.

[20] See Plate 52, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[21] See accompanying ground-plan of Mandan hut.—Ed.

[22] See our volume xxiii, p. 113, for Blackfeet badge of Prairie-dog band.—Ed.

[23] See our volume xxiii, p. 113, for badge of Raven band.—Ed.

[24] See Plate 53, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv; the figure in the background represents Maksick-Karehde (the Flying Eagle); that in the foreground, Sih-Chida (the Yellow Feather).—Ed.

[25] See our volume xxiii, p. 247, for head of this animal.—Ed.

[26] Teton River, so named by Lewis and Clark from that tribe of Sioux Indians, was originally called by the Dakota Watpa Chicha, a term translated into the modern Bad River. It is a South Dakota prairie stream, between White and Cheyenne rivers. Its forks were probably at the entrance of Frozenman's Creek, its largest northern tributary.—Ed.

[27] For the Santa Fé trade, see preface to our volume xix; the caravan for 1833 went out under the leadership of Charles Bent, and brought back large returns. See Niles' Register, xliv, p. 374.—Ed.

[28] See p. [37], for portrait of a Mandan, in bull-dance costume. For an account of this band or company, see our volume xxiii, pp. 294, 295.—Ed.

[29] See Plate 56, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[30] See previous mention of this union in our volume xxiii, p. 297.—Ed.

[31] For a representation of this costume, see Plate 28, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[32] Fort Jackson was built by Chardon (for whom see our volume xxiii, p. 188, note 144) in December, 1833. It was sought thereby to intercept the Assiniboin and Cree tribesmen who came from the Saskatchewan Valley, thus getting possession of their furs before they reached the rival traders of Sublette and Campbell's opposition. Chardon took twenty men with him from Fort Union, and built a post fifty feet square, naming it in honor of the president of the United States. The post was not long maintained. In 1845 Larpenteur made a camp on Poplar River, but does not mention any preceding fur-trade station thereon.—Ed.

[33] For this expedition, see volume xxiii, pp. 153, 154.—Ed.

[34] For a brief account of this expedition of 1825, see our volume xxiii, p. 227, note 182. The treaty is given in Treaties between the United States and the Several Indian Tribes 1778 to 1837 (Washington, 1837), pp. 356-359. Sih-Chida was son of the chief known commonly as Four Men.—Ed.

[35] See badges of Prairie-Dog and Raven bands in our volume xxiii, p 113.—Ed.

[36] For the dance of this band, see Plate 25, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[37] See illustration, p. [37], for heads of sledge dogs.—Ed.

CHAPTER XXIX
CONTINUATION OF OUR WINTER RESIDENCE AT FORT CLARKE, TILL OUR DEPARTURE, FROM JANUARY 1ST TO APRIL 18TH, 1834

Increase of the Cold in the beginning of January—The Arrival of our People from Picotte—Parhelia—Changes of Temperature—Sih-Chida's Prayer—My Thermometer stolen—Reconciliation of Mato-Topé and Pehriska-Ruhpa—Consecration of a Medicine Son at Ruphtare—Visit of some Yanktonans—Hunting of the Indians in the severe Cold—Dance of the Women of the White Buffalo Cow at Ruphtare—Mr. Kipp's Return—Scarcity of Provisions—Enemies in the Indian Village—Rapid Thaw—The Mandans kill an Assiniboin—Cunning and Boldness of the latter—The Scalp Dance of the Manitaries—Superstition of the Indians—They remove to their Summer Village—The Arikkara, Pachtuwa-Chta—Dance of the Meniss-Ochata—Blindness caused by the Snow—Commencement of my Illness—Arrival of the Spring Birds—The Mad Dogs' Dance in the Fort—Dance of the Ischoha-Kakoschochata in the Fort—Breaking-up of the Ice in the Missouri—Dance of the Berock-Ochata—Arrival of the People entered for my Service—My Recovery by the use of Green Herbs—Preparations for our Departure.

January set in with increasing cold, which at eight in the morning was 18° Reaumur, and on the 2nd, at the same hour, 25°, Reaumur, below freezing point. On the 3rd the mercury sank into the ball, and was frozen; it remained there on the 4th, but on the 5th it rose, and at eight in the morning was 9° below zero. During these cold days, some of our woodcutters had their noses and cheeks frostbitten. The horizon was hazy; the river smoked; neither man nor animal was to be seen; yet a party of Mandans, with their wives, were in the prairie hunting buffaloes, of which they killed forty. At night the cold was so intense, that we could not venture to put our hands from our bodies, lest they should be frozen. In the morning we could scarcely endure the severity of the weather, till we had a blazing fire, for the bleak northwest wind penetrated through all the seams of the building. We received information that Mr. Kipp had remained with the Manitaries till the 2nd of January, and had not proceeded on his journey till the cold had somewhat abated. Almost all his people had some part of their body frostbitten, and eight of his {437} dogs had run away. Some Indians who visited us presented rather a novel appearance, having their hair, and even their eyelashes, covered with hoar frost and icicles. In our own room, the boots and shoes were frozen so hard in the morning, that we could scarcely put them on; ink, colours, and pencils were perfectly useless. During this cold we were visited by a deaf and dumb Mandan, who had no covering on the upper part of his body under his robe. On the 3rd of January, at noon, when the sunbeams, shining on the frozen snow, were extremely dazzling, the thermometer being at 24° below zero, I saw no living creatures in the neighbourhood of the Indian village, except flocks of the snow-bunting, and a few ravens, two species of birds which are capable of enduring the severest cold. The Yanktonans, and the people whom we had sent to Picotte, returned, on the 4th of January, with dried meat, as well as tallow for candles: they said that, during the two coldest days, they had halted in the forest, but that, in the night, the wolves had carried off part of their meat. On the 5th of January the air was misty, and at one o'clock there were two parhelia at a considerable distance from the sun; they were, however, faint and rather irregular. It was scarcely possible to obtain water from the river, and the water-casks in our room were frozen to the bottom. Unfortunately, too, our woodcutters brought us only driftwood, which had lain so long in the water that it would not burn. Picotte had sent a small cask of wine by our people, as a present from Mr. Mc Kenzie for the Mandans, which was delivered to the chiefs for distribution.

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 6th, there was a fall of snow; the temperature in the open air was 29° Fahrenheit, in our room only 25°. The wind blew from the west, and at noon the snow was mixed with rain, so that the water dripped on our books and papers from the loft, which was covered with snow. The robes and hair of the Indians were wet, and they very unceremoniously, therefore, came to dry themselves before our fire; this was not very agreeable, nevertheless we were glad that we could resume our usual occupations. At noon the temperature was 39½° Fahrenheit, and in the evening it became considerably warmer, so that we could leave our hands at liberty during the night, without their being affected by the cold. The night, however, was very stormy, and Sih-Chida laid himself down to sleep on the ground before our fire. These changes of temperature were very remarkable. On the 7th we again had cold, with a tempestuous west wind; at noon, the thermometer stood at 12°, and in the afternoon it again snowed. Sih-Chida once more passed the night with us, and, when all was silent, made a long address to the lord of life, in which he besought him to send buffaloes, that they might not starve. He spoke in a rapid half-suppressed tone of reproach, and without any gesticulation.[38] On the following day, Dreidoppel went into the forest in quest of game, but could not proceed on account of the drifted snow; he only saw some flocks of prairie hens. At noon, when I went to look at the thermometer, I found that it had been stolen by the Indians. Our {438} friend Sih-Chida immediately ran out, and discovered the instrument concealed by a woman under her robe, and, to my great joy, brought it back to me. Bidda-Chohki (generally called La Chevelure levée, the scalped man), visited us, and gave me some words of the Manitari language, but he was not in a very good humour, because he could not get any brandy. The next day this man dressed himself very handsomely in order to have his portrait taken, but the mercury was again 20° below zero, and it was too cold in our room to paint, for colours and pencils were frozen, though standing close to the fire, and had to be thawed in hot water. We calculated that we should burn in our chimney at least six cords of wood in a month if this cold continued. Mato-Topé had become reconciled to Pehriska-Ruhpa, and purchased a green blanket, which he showed to us, as a present for him. We heard that a wolf had attacked three Indian women in the forest, who had been obliged to defend themselves with their hatchets.

On the 14th of January, the cold was only 8° below zero, but there was such a high, piercing wind, that our woodcutters complained more than when the cold was more severe. In these prairies it is, for the most part, the wind which makes the cold intolerable; and though persons who ventured out wore woollen caps which left only the eyes exposed, yet their faces were frostbitten. Our provisions were very bad, for Picotte had sent us only tough, hard, stale meat, besides which we had nothing but maize and beans, and the water of the river. Mato-Topé, in his finest dress, accompanied by many Indians, visited us. He wore a large hood of red cloth, adorned with forty long eagles' feathers, and was going to Ruhptare, where a medicine son was to be adopted.

Double rainbow

Little Soldier (Tukan Haton), a Sioux chief

In the night of the 14th, the wind blew with such violence, that it scattered the heap of ashes from the fire place all over the room, so that our beds, benches, and clothes were completely covered with them. Mato-Topé returned on this day from Ruhptare, and told us, with great satisfaction and self-complacency, that he had enumerated all his exploits, and that no one had been able to surpass him. Old Garreau, who was constantly with our engagés in the fort, complained to me, that, for a long time, he had lived on nothing but maize boiled in water; and this was really the case with many persons at this place, as game became more and more scarce. When Garreau first came to these parts, game abounded, and beavers were heard in all the streams, striking with their tails; now, however, even the Indians are often reduced to want of food. On the 21st of January, while the Indians passed the night without fire, in the prairie, in order to hunt, the thermometer was at 30° below 0 (27½° Reaumur); the wind was easterly, and pretty high. The land and the river were covered by a dense mist, through which the sun penetrated when just above the horizon; on either side was a large crescent, which rose as high as the upper surface of the mist, the eastern one extending to the frozen surface of the river. They were at some distance from the sun, {439} and, like it, appeared of a light yellowish-white through the misty vapour.[39] Sometimes we observed, in the light misty clouds on the horizon, two short, beautifully coloured rainbows, at some distance from the sun, which, being interrupted by the upper stratum of clouds, did not rise to any great height. The snow was now frozen so hard, that it could be broken into large pieces, which emitted a clear sound when struck with the foot. In the sunshine the atmosphere sparkled with innumerable particles of floating ice. The Indians had cut some holes in the ice on the Missouri, to procure water, and fenced them round with poles and brushwood covered with buffalo hides, as a protection against the cold wind. At noon the weather was rather milder, the temperature being 10½° below zero. Three Yanktonans came to the fort with a view to persuade the Mandans to join in an expedition against another tribe.

Mr. Bodmer took a very excellent likeness of Psihdje-Sahpa, one of the three Yanktonans.[40]

On the 23rd of January information was brought that a herd of buffaloes was only six miles from the fort; accordingly, three engagés, with the Arikkara, were sent in pursuit of them, and returned at night with two cows and a young bull, two of which were given to the fort. The Mandans had killed about fifty of this herd: our hunters had almost all their fingers frozen, but they knew well how to restore circulation by rubbing the limbs with snow. The Indians did not visit us so frequently at this time, because they were well supplied with meat: the Arikkara, however, came to us to attend a feast in Belhumeur's apartment, where we were to be regaled with buffalo flesh. On the 29th, the women of the band of the white buffalo cow, from Ruhptare, came to the fort to perform their dance, on which occasion they were dressed in the same manner as the women from Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, only they had not the bundles of brushwood. The musicians were three men, who wore caps of white buffalo skin. Knives, tobacco, and glass beads were laid on the ground as presents for them, after which they proceeded to the lower Mandan village, from which they came back, the following day, in grand procession, over the frozen river. Mr. Kipp soon afterwards arrived from Fort Union, with three or four dog sledges, and six men: they were completely covered with ice, their noses and cheeks were {440} livid, and they appeared quite frostbitten. Besides staying four days with the Manitaries, Mr. Kipp and his party had been twelve days on their journey to Fort Union. At the beginning they had nothing to eat; and the poor dogs had been so completely starved for nine days, that they could scarcely crawl along, so that no burden could be laid upon them, and the party were obliged to travel the greater part of the way on foot, in deep snow. They encountered a war party of nine Assiniboins, some of whom ran away, but the others were sent by Mr. Kipp to hunt, by which means he procured meat, and the engagés, too, succeeded in killing a few elks and deer. It was affirmed that the mercury of Fahrenheit's thermometer had been for a whole fortnight at 45° below zero (77° below freezing point), at Fort Union. No buffaloes had appeared in the vicinity, nor any Indians, who remained farther down the river. The hunters of Fort Union had been absent nearly a month, in which time they killed only two bulls, two cows, and a calf. Except in some few places, provisions were extremely scarce this winter on the whole of the Missouri, from Fort Clarke upwards. No accounts had been received from Fort Mc Kenzie. I had wished to receive several articles from Fort Union; but Mr. Hamilton was not able to send them, the sledge being too heavily laden; he, however, promised to forward them without fail, in the spring, with the people who were to be sent to conduct us down the Missouri to Fort Pièrre. Mr. Kipp had been eleven days on his journey back, and had again been obliged to perform a considerable part of it on foot. The dogs had had nothing to eat for three days, and now the poor beasts were fed with hides cut in pieces, for we had no meat. Numbers of the fowls in the forest perished in the cold. On the last day of January there was a change in the weather; at eight in the morning, with a west wind, the mercury was at 22° Fahrenheit, and we could scarcely bear the warmth of the fire in our apartment. Towards noon a complete thaw set in, and the mild weather immediately brought us a number of Indian visitors.

On the 1st of February, Mr. Kipp sent three engagés, with two dog sledges, down the river, to the post among the Yanktonans, which was under the superintendence of Picotte, to procure meat, for we subsisted entirely on maize broth and maize bread, and were without tallow for candles; the dogs that were sent with the engagés howled most piteously when they were harnessed, their feet being still sore and bleeding from the effects of their late journey. On this day news was received from Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, that three hostile Indians (Assiniboins), had been in the village during the night, for the purpose of shooting somebody, for in the morning the place where they had concealed themselves was discovered, from one of the party having left his knee-band behind. They had not been able to fire through the wall of the hut, and had retired at daybreak without attaining their object; traces were also found of some hostile Indians, who had come over the river.

On the 2nd of February, one of the sledges sent to Picotte came back, having been broken on the way. The man who came with it fell in with the Mandans, who were going to hunt {441} buffaloes, and detained him, lest he should frighten the animals away. In the preceding night, the Assiniboins had stolen three horses from the Manitaries, 150 of whom immediately mounted their horses to pursue and kill them.

At eight o'clock on the morning of the 3rd, the thermometer stood at 39°; the face of the country had assumed quite a different aspect; large tracts of land were wholly free from the snow, which was fast melting away, and only the hills were partially covered; yet, with this rapid thaw, the ground had not become wet, for it was immediately dried by the continual wind; but there was a considerable quantity of water on the ice which covered the river. The ravens and magpies again flew about in the prairie in quest of food.

In the afternoon news was received that the Manitaries, who had gone in pursuit of the Assiniboins, had overtaken a small party, and killed a young man, whom they had found asleep, cruelly awakened with whips, and then murdered in cold blood. These Assiniboins are very daring, and often approach the villages of the Mandans and Manitaries, either singly or in small parties, and sometimes surprise individuals and shoot them. Thus an Assiniboin suddenly fired at a number of young people who were standing near the palisades of the village, and killed one of them. The others raised an alarm, while the murderer took the scalp of the youth he had killed, fled down the steep bank of the river, where many persons were bathing, and made his escape through the very midst of all these people. Other Assiniboins stole eleven horses from a Manitari hut, and were not even perceived till they were in the act of leading off the last of the animals. They stole four horses from a hut in which Charbonneau was sleeping, and made their escape with their booty, without being seen by any one. To-day arrows were found sticking in the huts and posts of the village, which they had discharged at random during the night in the hope of killing one of their foes.

On the 4th and 5th, the weather was mild; the horses were again sent out to graze in the prairie, our waggons went to fetch grass, and, towards noon, the day was really quite warm. We were still without meat, none of the parties whom we sent out having been able to procure any. Our stock of tallow, too, was exhausted, and we were obliged to content ourselves with the light of the fire. For several succeeding days, the weather being still mild, we were much interested in watching the activity of the Indians on the river; among them a number of women brought heavy burdens, especially of wood, from the lower forest village, to Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. They had to pass, opposite the fort, a channel formed through the midst of the frozen river, which was covered with a thin coat of ice; this they broke very deliberately with their long poles, and then waded through. Some carried their small leathern boats to the channel, in this they deposited the wood, and then pushed it along. The manner in which they took up the heavy burdens was remarkable. A woman lay down on her back, upon the bundle of wood, while another raised her with the burden till she was able to bend forward, and then stand upright with her load. A great many women were thus {442} occupied, for the Indians were desirous of going to their summer village, because they were now too much scattered to be safe while the enemy was so near at hand.

On the 9th of February the inhabitants of Ruhptare had all removed from their winter to their summer quarters; they were evidently afraid that the ice would break up early, and the water of the Missouri rise considerably.

On the 10th, two of our people came from Picotte, with a sledge drawn by two dogs, and informed us that there were many buffaloes in the neighbourhood, consequently our fear of want of provisions was dispelled. At Fort Pièrre, on the River Teton, the cold had been more intense than had been known for many years, the mercury having remained for a considerable time between 30° and 40° below zero. Three of Mr. Laidlow's people,[41] who were travelling at the time, had suffered so severely from the frost, that their lives were despaired of. The ice of the Missouri had, for a few days, been very unfavourable for travelling, as it was covered to some depth with water, and our people, consequently, had suffered much. In the afternoon of that day, the Manitari chief, Lachpitzi-Sirish (the yellow bear), arrived, bringing on his horse a small supply of meat, and a young buffalo calf, which he presented to us, this disgusting little black animal being reckoned a great dainty by them. His robe was painted with suns, and on his back he carried his bow, with a beautifully ornamented quiver of panther's skin. Charbonneau immediately accommodated him in his bed room. On the following day we sent a couple of our hunters to Fort Union, with letters to Mr. Mc Kenzie. The fort was crowded with Manitaries who wished to perform before us the scalp dance, in commemoration of having slain an enemy on the preceding day. A number of tall, handsomely dressed men, having their faces blackened, soon filled every apartment. Itsichaika (the monkey-face), and the other chiefs, had arrived, and these Indians, who are not nearly so well behaved as the Mandans, very deliberately took possession of all our seats and fireplaces. We bolted the door of our own apartment, where we quietly remained, permitting only a very few of the Indians to enter.

At two o'clock the Manitari women arrived in procession, accompanied by many children and some Mandans. Eighteen women, marching two and two in a close column, entered the court-yard of the fort, with a short-measured, slow pace. Seven men of the band of the dogs, having their faces painted black, or black striped with red, acted as musicians, three of them having drums, and four the schischikué. They were wrapped in their buffalo robes, and their heads were uncovered, and ornamented with the feathers of owls and other birds. The faces of some of the women were painted black, others red, while some were striped black and red. They wore buffalo dresses, or blankets, and the two principal were enveloped in the white buffalo robe. The greater part of them had the feather of a war eagle standing upright, and one only wore the large handsome feather cap. In their arms they carried battle-axes or guns, ornamented with red cloth and short black feathers, which, during the dance, they placed with the butt-end on the {443} ground; in short, while performing this dance, the women are accoutred in the military dress and weapons of the warriors. The right wing was headed by the wife of the chief, Itsichaika, who carried in her hand a long elastic rod, from the point of which was suspended the scalp of the young man slain on the preceding day, surmounted by a stuffed magpie with outspread wings;[42] lower down on the same rod hung a second scalp, a lynx skin, and a bunch of feathers. Another woman bore a third scalp on a similar rod. The women filed off in a semicircle; the musicians, taking their stand on the left wing, now commenced a heterogeneous noise, beating the drum, rattling the schischikué, and yelling with all their might. The women began to dance, waddling in short steps, like ducks; the two wings, or horns of the crescent, advanced towards each other, and then receded, at the same time singing in a shrill tone of voice. It was a complete caterwaul concert. After awhile they rested, and then recommenced, and continued dancing about twenty minutes. The director of the fort now caused tobacco, looking-glasses, and knives, from the Company's stores, to be thrown on the ground in the middle of the circle. Hereupon the women once more danced in quick time, the musicians forming themselves into a close body, and holding their instruments towards the centre. This concluded the festivity, and the whole band retired to the Mandan forest village.

There was a heavy fall of snow during the night, and the morning of the 12th again presented the landscape clothed with its white covering. Mr. Bodmer had taken an excellent portrait of Machsi-Nika, the deaf and dumb Mandan, in his war dress. He came to our residence to-day with angry gestures, and evidently greatly enraged against us, so that I was afraid that this half-witted, uncivilized man would attack the artist. Mr. Kipp was requested to clear up the matter, and it appeared that his anger had been caused by a malignant insinuation of the perfidious old Garreau, who had pointed out to him that Bodmer had drawn him only in a mean dress, while all the other Indians were represented in their handsomest robes. This ill-natured insinuation completely exasperated the poor man, and we in vain endeavoured to pacify him, by assuring him that we intended to make him known to the world in a truly warlike costume. Mr. Bodmer then thought of an expedient: he quickly and secretly made a copy of his drawing, which he brought in, tore in half, and threw into the fire, in the presence of the Indian. This had the desired effect, and he went away perfectly satisfied.

In the afternoon the Manitaries returned from the Mandan village, and again took deliberate possession of the various apartments of the fort. The Monkey-face, a cunning, perfidious Indian, who wore a new red felt hat, is the chief who now takes the lead among the Manitaries. Accordingly, as soon as he took leave, all the Indians followed him. One of the chiefs, with his family, sat a long time in our room, and were much interested with Mr. Bodmer's drawings, and astonished and delighted with our musical box. A Mandan who was present thought that a little white man, who was making this pretty music, must be concealed in it. All of them asked for presents, {444} and they would certainly have pilfered many things if we had not kept close watch over them. At length our door was opened, and a tall, heavy man, with a blackened face, entered, and, like all the rest assembled there, demanded something to eat. We, however, gave him to understand that we had nothing to give them, as we were supplied by Mr. Kipp, and with this answer they were obliged to be satisfied. Towards evening our provision store was replenished by three sledges, laden with meat, sent by Picotte, which arrived in the fort.

On the following day, a very high, cold wind arose, which blew the snow off from the ice that covered the river, and the Indian women, carrying their burdens, frequently fell down on the slippery surface. The Mandans had found a dead buffalo cow in the prairie, and, although it was in part decayed, they greedily devoured it.

On the 17th, at eight in the morning, with a temperature of 1° below 0, the woods were covered with hoar frost; the wind blew from the south, and veered to the southwest; the river had risen considerably, and, in some places, overflowed its banks. The sledges had much difficulty in crossing the river without getting into the water, and the ice broke under one of them. At noon, the temperature was 10°, and afterwards there was a fall of snow. Dreidoppel shot a beautiful red fox in the prairie, but had no success against the wolves. The Mandans told us, that they had gone, some days before, to hunt buffaloes, and had driven a herd of them towards the mountains, where there is a good opportunity to use the bow and arrows; they had, therefore, pursued the animals rapidly, but, on reaching them, they found but a very few buffaloes, the others, as they affirmed, having sunk into the ground: they had, doubtless, taken refuge in the nearest ravines. They assigned, as the cause of this sudden disappearance of the buffaloes, that their party was headed by a man who, in the preceding year, had caused five Assiniboins, who had come to them as messengers of peace, to be killed, and that, on account of this unjust act, he was now always unsuccessful in hunting.

The mercury remained now a little above or below zero, but at noon the sun had much power, and the reflection from the snow was very dazzling, which induced our hunters to make for themselves wooden snow spectacles, in the manner of the Esquimaux. The dumb Mandans had been successful in hunting, and brought several horse-loads of meat, which we bought of them. In the afternoon, when the temperature was 8° or 9°, I heard an Indian child crying at the door of our room; it had touched a piece of iron with its tongue, and the skin immediately came off.

At daybreak, on the 27th, in the morning, the mercury was at 26°, Fahrenheit, below zero, or 59° below freezing point; and at 8 o'clock, when the sun shone brightly, at 11° below zero, with a west wind. During the night, the horses had broken a window in Mr. Kipp's room, so that we had a very cold breakfast there. In our apartments everything fluid was frozen, and the quilts on the beds were covered with hoar frost. We had now some fresh meat, but our stock of sugar was at an end, and we had to sweeten our coffee with treacle. We were visited by the three {445} deaf and dumb Mandans, whose fourth brother, Berock-Itainu, whom we have before mentioned, is not so afflicted: there is, likewise, a deaf and dumb child in the village. Kiasax, the Blackfoot, who had accompanied us to Fort Union, visited us to-day for the first time, and we showed him the portraits of his countrymen, with which he was much pleased. The Indians were busy in conveying many things to the summer village, though the prairies were covered with snow; and numerous horses were seeking a scanty subsistence by scraping it away with their hoofs to get at the dry grass.

On the 27th of February, Mr. Kipp had pieces of ice hewn on the river to fill his ice cellar. A high west wind increased the cold, but the snow melted away because the thermometer was at 38° at noon. We saw the Indian boys pursue and catch the snow-buntings, of which there were large flocks in the neighbourhood of the villages; and the prairie wolves now prowled about in couples: in the evening there was a heavy fall of snow. The Indians removed to their village: all their horses, even the foals, were loaded: they likewise cut blocks of ice from the river, which the women carried home on their backs, in leather baskets, in order to melt them to obtain water. The Indian children amused themselves with ascending the heaps of snow, and gliding down on a board, or a piece of the back-bone of a buffalo, with some of the ribs attached to it. Mato-Topé paid us a visit in a very strange costume; his head-dress was much more suitable for an old woman than for a warrior. His head was bound round with a strip of wolf's skin, the long hairs of which stood on end, and which hung down behind. Some feathers, standing upright, were placed among the hair, which, except at the tip, were stripped, and painted red. This chief, indeed, had on a different dress almost every time he came to see us. Sometimes he wore a blue uniform, with red facings, which he had obtained from the merchants. Mr. Bodmer took the portrait of a handsome Manitari partisan to-day.[43] He was not pleased that we intended to keep his portrait, as he was going on a military expedition, and said that Mr. Bodmer ought, at least, to give him a copy of the drawing. This being refused, he drew a portrait of the artist, and his performance showed that he possessed some talent for the art.

On the evening of the 28th of February, Picotte sent up the letter-bag from St. Louis, and I had the pleasure of receiving despatches from Germany, with very agreeable intelligence. This post was forwarded, on the 2nd of March, to Fort Union, by two of the engagés in dog-sledges. Bodmer drew the portrait of an old Manitari, whose proper name was Birohka (the robe with the beautiful hair), but the Mandans called him "Long Nose," on account of the prominence of that feature. He wore a cap of white buffalo skin, and an ample brown robe painted with wreaths of feathers; before he would suffer his portrait to be taken, he demanded a black silk neckerchief as a recompense, which was given him.[44] As all the Indians had now removed to their summer village,{446} Mr. Kipp took the usual complement of soldiers into the fort, four of whom served as a guard against the importunities of the women and children; they were Mato-Topé, Dipauch, Berock-Itainu, and another whose name I do not know. The first never smoked his pipe in another person's room, if anybody stirred from his place or looked at him. We had some interesting conversations with several sensible and inquiring Indians, especially with the soldiers of the fort.

On the morning of the 5th of March, the mercury being at 29°, we had a very severe snow storm from the north, which continued till near ten o'clock. On the following day, Mato-Topé introduced to us a tall, robust Arikkara, named Pachtuwa-Chta, who lived peaceably among the Mandans. He was a handsome man, but not to be depended upon, and was said to have killed many white men.[45] Another tall man of the same nation frequently visited us, generally observing that he was not like Pachtuwa, as he had never killed a white man. Mato-Topé, after repeated solicitations, prevailed on Mr. Bodmer to paint for him a white-headed eagle, holding in his claws a bloody scalp, to which he, doubtless, attached some superstitious notion, but I could not see exactly what it might be. Mato-Topé gave me very accurate information respecting his own language, and that of the neighbouring Indian nations, and took great pleasure in communicating to me some words of the Mandan and Arikkara languages, the latter of which he spoke fluently.

On the 7th of March, the band of the Meniss-Ochata (dog band), from Ruhptare, danced in the medicine lodge at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. Mr. Bodmer went to see the dance, and met Mato-Topé, who, however, puffed up by his high dignity as a dog, would not notice him. Sih-Chida, who also belonged to this band, went into the lodge, where he discharged his gun. In the afternoon the band approached the fort, and we heard the sound of their war pipes at the gates. A crowd of spectators accompanied the seven or eight and twenty dogs, who were all dressed in their handsomest clothes. Some of them wore beautiful robes, or shirts of bighorn leather; others had shirts of red cloth; and some blue and red uniforms. Others, again, had the upper part of their body naked, with their martial deeds painted on the skin with reddish-brown colour. The four principal dogs wore an immense cap hanging down upon the shoulders, composed of raven's or magpie's feathers, finished at the tips with small white down feathers. In the middle of this mass of feathers, the outspread tail of a wild turkey, or of a war eagle, was fixed. These four principal dogs wore round their neck a long slip of red cloth, which hung down over the shoulders, and, reaching the calf of the leg, was tied in a knot in the middle of the back. These are the true dogs, who, when a piece of meat is thrown into the fire, are bound immediately to snatch it out and devour it raw.[46] Two other men wore similar colossal caps of yellow owl's feathers, with dark transverse stripes, and the rest had on their heads a thick tuft of raven's, magpie's, or owl's feathers, which is the badge of the band. All of them had the {447} long war pipe suspended from their necks. In their left hand they carried their weapons—a gun, bow and arrows, or war club; and in their right hand the schischikué peculiar to their band. It is a stick adorned with blue and white glass beads, with buffalo or other hoofs suspended to it, the point ornamented with an eagle's feather, and the handle with slips of leather embroidered with beads.[47]

The warriors formed a circle round a large drum, which was beaten by five ill-dressed men, who were seated on the ground. Besides these, there were two men, each beating a small drum like a tambourine. The dogs accompanied the rapid and violent beat of the drum by the whistle of their war pipes, in short, monotonous notes, and then suddenly began to dance. They dropped their robes on the ground, some dancing within the circle, with their bodies bent forward and leaping up and down with both feet placed close together. The other Indians danced without any order, with their faces turned to the outer circle, generally crowded together; while the war pipe, drum, and schischikué made a frightful din.

On the 10th of March, two engagés, sent by Picotte, arrived, with letters and a sledge laden with dried meat. One of these men was blinded by the snow, a circumstance very usual in this month, from the dazzling reflection of the sun from an expansive surface of snow. He was obliged to get his companion to lead him by taking hold of the end of his stick.

On the 11th of March I felt the first symptoms of an indisposition, which daily increased, and soon obliged me to take to my bed. It began with a swelling in one knee, and soon extended to the whole leg, which assumed the colour of dark, extravasated blood. A violent fever succeeded, with great weakness, and, having neither medical advice nor suitable remedies, my situation became daily more helpless and distressing, as there was nobody who had any knowledge of this disorder. The other inhabitants of the fort were likewise indisposed, and our provisions were very bad and scanty. To economize our stock of coffee we were forced to make it wretchedly weak, and, for want of sugar or treacle, to sweeten it with honey, of which we had about twenty pounds. Our beverage was, generally speaking, the water from the river; and, as our supply of beans was very low our diet consisted almost exclusively of maize boiled in water, which greatly weakened our digestion.

The man blinded by the snow was so far recovered on the 13th, that he was able to return to Picotte. The first wild ducks were seen on this day, flying up the Missouri, and Mr. Kipp immediately set about making shot, to go in pursuit of these birds, which we had been most anxiously expecting. On the 14th, a store (cache) of maize was opened in the fort, the contents of which were perfectly dry, and in good preservation. Pehriska-Ruhpa spent several days with us, in order to have his portrait taken in his dress of one of the chiefs of the dog band. When the sitting was over, he always took off his ponderous feather cap, and rubbed it twice on each side of his head, a charm or precaution which he never neglected. He then seated himself {448} with his friend, Mato-Topé, by the fire-side, when both took their pipes, the latter, however, always turning round first, and making everybody in the room sit down. During the tedium of my confinement to bed, I was enlivened by the frequent visits of the Indians, and I never neglected to continue my journal, which, from fever and consequent weakness, was often very fatiguing. Mr. Kipp kindly sent me some new-laid eggs every day, as well as rice, which he had reserved for me, and from which I derived great benefit. The inmates of the fort had nothing to eat but doughy maize bread and maize boiled in water; but Mr. Kipp, who did not like the latter, was obliged to fast.

On the 16th of March, the first wild swans were seen flying towards the northwest. Ducks were in the pools of water in the maize plantations of the Mandans; and Dreidoppel had observed the Fringilla Canadensis, as a harbinger of spring. Violent storms from the northwest had prevailed for some days; the Missouri was much swollen, but the breaking-up of the ice could not yet be expected, and we had repeated falls of snow. Mato-Topé and Pehriska-Ruhpa, who had gone out to hunt, succeeded in killing five buffaloes, and from them we obtained some meat; for, to show their liberality, they gave away a great deal of it, together with several coloured blankets. The first white-headed eagle (Aquila leucocephala) was seen to-day; and I received the first prairie dog, which was also a sign of the approach of spring, as these animals leave their burrows at this season. On the 27th of March, the band of the mad dogs danced in the fort; and, towards evening, an Indian from Ruhptare, who had had a dispute with Mr. Kipp about a beaver skin, revenged himself by breaking a pane of glass in our room. Our people pursued, but could not overtake him. As it was feared that he might commit greater acts of violence, the soldiers of the fort were sent to Ruhptare on the 28th, to protect a fur trader who resided there.

On the 30th, the first flock of fifteen or twenty wild geese passed over: the wind was high, and, on the following day, a good deal of ice broke up in the river. On the 1st of April the wind blew stormy, with a thermometer of 33° at noon. On the 2nd, the women at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush celebrated the spring corn feast, of which Mr. Bodmer made a sketch. This feast is always observed on the return of the wild geese, which are the messengers of the old woman who never dies. The Indians had already killed some of these birds. The festival was over at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, but some of the women remained the whole day, reclining near the offerings hung up in the prairie. Great numbers of young men were running races, and all was animation about the village.

On the 3rd of April, the band of the Ischoha-Kakoschochata, eighteen in number, danced in the fort, led by Mato-Topé, on horseback, in full dress, wearing his splendid feather cap. The ice broke up so rapidly in the river, that it was necessary to set a watch over our boats during the night, lest the rising water should carry them away. On the following day the icy covering of {449} the river gave way, but soon froze again, only leaving a channel across the middle. Many ducks and geese, as well as a plover, appeared on the ice. On the 5th of April, the weather being stormy in the morning, and the temperature 59½° Fahrenheit, the river had risen about a foot, and towards noon it suddenly rose between three and four feet more, so that, at twelve o'clock, the ice on the surface began to move, the temperature being 68°. But in the night the river again fell a foot, and there was a slight frost. At nine in the evening the temperature was 55°, and we had a storm of thunder and lightning.

On the 7th of April there was but little floating ice on the river, which had fallen during the night. We saw several swans. On the 8th the Manitaries danced the scalp dance in the fort, and the Indians amused themselves in the prairie with races and various games. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the ice in the upper Missouri suddenly broke up, and brought down many trunks of trees, which endangered our boats. The Indians immediately availed themselves of this opportunity to land a good deal of the wood; they also brought ashore a drowned elk, which, though already in a state of decomposition, they actually ate, and the smith of the fort, a Canadian, did not disdain to partake of it with them. Some dead buffaloes likewise floated by, and the Indians followed them, for the same purpose. In the evening, though the quantity of ice was considerably diminished, yet some people who were to have gone down the river were obliged to defer their voyage.

The morning of the 9th of April being fine and serene, and the ice having almost entirely disappeared from the river, seven men were sent down to Picotte in Indian leather boats. The grass began to sprout, and some young plants appeared in the prairie, even a pulsatilla, with purple blossoms, apparently the same as the P. vulgaris of Europe; the Indians call this plant the red calf-flower. At noon the thermometer stood at 65°, with a northeast wind, and the river was free from ice. Towards evening, nine men of the band of the buffalo bulls came to the fort to perform their dance, discharging their guns immediately on entering. Only one of them wore the entire buffalo head;[48] the others had pieces of the skin of the forehead, a couple of fillets of red cloth, their shields decorated with the same material, and an appendage of feathers, intended to represent the bull's tail, hanging down their backs. They likewise carried long, elegantly ornamented banners in their hands. After dancing for a short time before us, they demanded presents. Besides the strange figures of this dance, Mr. Bodmer painted the chief, Mato-Topé, at full length, in his grandest dress. The vanity which is characteristic of the Indians induced this chief to stand stock-still for several days, so that his portrait succeeded admirably.[49] He wore on this occasion a handsome new shirt of bighorn leather, the large feather cap, and, in his hand, a long lance with scalps and feathers. He has been so often mentioned in my narrative, that I must here subjoin a few words respecting this eminent man, for he was fully entitled to this appellation, being not only a distinguished warrior, but possessing many fine and noble traits of character. {450} In war he had always maintained a distinguished reputation; and on one occasion, with great personal danger, he conducted to Fort Clarke a numerous deputation of the Assiniboins, who had come to Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush to conclude peace, while his countrymen, disregarding the proposals, kept firing upon the deputies. Mato-Topé, after having in vain exerted himself to the utmost to prevent these hostilities, led his enemies, with slow steps, amidst the whistling balls and the arrows of his countrymen, while he endeavoured to find excuses for their culpable conduct. He had killed many enemies, among whom were five chiefs. He gives a facsimile of a representation of one of his exploits, painted by himself, of which he frequently gave me an account.[50] He was, on that occasion, on foot, on a military expedition, with a few Mandans, when they encountered four Chayennes, their most virulent foes, on horseback. The chief of the latter, seeing that their enemies were on foot, and that the combat would thereby be unequal, dismounted, and the two parties attacked each other. The two chiefs fired, missed, threw away their guns, and seized their naked weapons; the Chayenne, a tall, powerful man, drew his knife, while Mato-Topé, who was lighter and more agile, took his battle-axe. The former attempted to stab Mato-Topé, who laid hold of the blade of the knife, by which he, indeed, wounded his hand, but wrested the weapon from his enemy, and stabbed him with it, on which the Chayennes took to flight. Mato-Topé's drawing of the scene in the above-named plate, shows the guns which they had discharged and thrown aside, the blood flowing from the wounded hand of the Mandan chief, the footsteps of the two warriors, and the wolf's tail at their heels—the Chayenne being distinguished by the fillet of otter skin on his forehead. The buffalo robe, painted by Mato-Topé himself, and which I have fortunately brought to Europe, represents several exploits of this chief, and, among others, in the lower figure on the left hand, the above-mentioned adventure with the Chayenne chief.[51]

The 10th of April was warm and fine, the thermometer at noon at 80°, the wind south, and the river had fallen three feet. Several of our Indian friends, among whom was Sih-Chida, had taken leave, intending to assist a large party of Manitaries and Mandans in a military expedition. They set out on their march about this time, and we afterwards learnt that a war party of the Manitaries had completely plundered a couple of beaver hunters, white men; and that their partisan, whose name was Pierce Iron, had acted the principal part on this occasion. On the other hand, the Assiniboins had stolen thirty-four horses from the Manitaries, who shot one of the thieves.

On the afternoon of the 14th of April, the people whom Mr. Mac Kenzie had promised to send to accompany me down the river to Saint Louis, at length arrived from Fort Union. There were, however, many others with them, and the whole party amounted to twenty men, among whom were Belhumeur and Mr. Chardon as leader. The violent storm on the preceding days had hindered them from travelling, and they were obliged to halt. They brought us letters from {451} Fort Union, and news from Fort Mc Kenzie. As my people could now be spared, I looked daily for the arrival of Picotte, who, with many men, was to go up to Fort Union, as, without the help of his men, my Mackinaw boat could not be caulked. A main point now was my recovery, which was singularly rapid. At the beginning of April I was still in a hopeless condition, and so very ill, that the people who visited me did not think that my life would be prolonged beyond three or, at the most, four days. The cook of the fort, a negro from St. Louis, one day expressed his opinion that my illness must be the scurvy, for he had once witnessed the great mortality among the garrison of the fort at Council Bluffs, when several hundred soldiers were carried off in a short time; of this there is an account in Major Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains.[52] He said that the symptoms were in both cases nearly similar; that, on that occasion, at the beginning of spring, they had gathered the green herbs in the prairie, especially the small white flowering Allium reticulatum, with which they had soon cured the sick. I was advised to make trial of this, recipe, and the Indian children accordingly furnished me with an abundance of this plant and its bulbs: these were cut up small, like spinage, and I ate a quantity of them. On the fourth day the swelling of my leg had considerably subsided, and I gained strength daily. The evident prospect of speedy recovery quite reanimated me, and we carried on with pleasure the preparations for our departure, though I was not yet able to leave my bed.

On the 15th of April, Picotte arrived with about twenty men, and had his boat laden with maize, which he was to carry to Fort Union. They immediately set about preparing the Mackinaw boat for our voyage down the river, and Picotte set out on the 16th, notwithstanding a heavy rain. Every preparation was completed on the following day; the boat was brought to the landing-place, furnished on the deck with a spacious Indian tent covering, and all was made ready for our voyage, Mr. Chardon resolving to accompany me to Fort Pièrre on the Teton River.

On the 18th of April, at noon, the boat was loaded; and, after we had partaken of our last frugal dinner at Fort Clarke, we took a cordial farewell of Mr. Kipp, with whom we had passed so long a time in this remote place, and who had done everything for me that was possible in his circumscribed condition. Accompanied by the inhabitants of the fort, and many of our Indian friends, among whom was Mato-Topé and Pehriska-Ruhpa, all of whom shook hands at parting, we went on board our boat. The weather was favourable, though there was a strong wind from the southwest. Some cannon-shot were fired by the fort as a farewell salute, and we glided rapidly down the beautiful stream of the Missouri.

FOOTNOTES:

[38] Compare with this the invocations of the Omaha, given in Dorsey, "Siouan Cults," U. S. Bureau of Ethnology Report, 1889-90, p. 373.—Ed.

[39] See p. [59], for illustration of a double rainbow.—Ed.

[40] See Plate 45, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[41] For sketch of this trader, see our volume xxii, p. 316, note 279.—Ed.

[42] See Plate 50, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[43] The second figure from the left, in Plate 50, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[44] This portrait is in Plate 50, the third figure from the left, atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[45] See Plate 27, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[46] A "very admirable likeness of Pehriska-Ruhpa in this strange costume" is represented in Plate 56, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[47] For a description of this dance among the Minitaree, see our volume xxiii, pp. 314, 315.—Ed.

[48] See Plate 51, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[49] See Plate 46, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[50] See Plate 55, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[51] See Plate 54, figure 1, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[52] See our volume xiv, pp. 282, 283.—Ed.

CHAPTER XXX
RETURN FROM FORT CLARKE TO THE CANTONMENT OF LEAVENWORTH, FROM APRIL 18TH TO MAY 18TH

Violent Storms and Bad Weather—Arikkara Villages—Meeting with two Fur Boats—Fort Pièrre, and our Stay there—The Mauvaises Terres—Sioux Agency—Cedar Island—Punca Island—Melone's Insubordination—Meeting with Punca Indians—L'Eau qui Court—Meeting with the Assiniboin Steamer—Melone's Mutiny and Punishment—Gardner as Pilot—Council Bluffs—Visit to Major Pilcher's Trading House—Belle Vue—Beauty of the Environs—Caterpillars—Nishnebotteneh—Roubedoux House on the Black Snake Hills—The Otos and Missouris—Village of the Kickapoos—The Cantonment of Leavenworth—Stay there—Dr. Fellowes.

Spring had but partially clothed the surrounding prairies with new verdure, even the willow bushes, which are generally the most forward, had scarcely assumed a slight tint of green; and, though some solitary ducks appeared as heralds of the fine season, the chilly temperature reminded us that winter was still lingering. On the 18th, we lay to on the right bank, on the other side of Goose-egg Lake,[53] and, on the following morning, encountered a very violent storm, and I discovered that my pretty prairie fox had escaped during the night, a loss which I the more regretted, as this rare animal has, probably, never been brought alive to Europe, whither I had fondly hoped to carry it. We had now made all our arrangements for the voyage, and my people had taken their respective posts. Our steersman, Fecteau, was very unskilful, and our three rowers, Melone, an American from the lower Missouri (whose real character we did not learn till some time after), Bourgua, a Canadian, and an old Pole, who had roamed half the world over, but was still the most industrious of the whole, all proved very indifferent workmen. Having partaken of our breakfast which was prepared on the shore, we passed the Butte Carrée[54] at seven o'clock; here we saw a troop of twelve elks, and many white cranes, swans, wild geese, and ducks of various species. At twelve o'clock we reached Heart River, where we found great numbers of wild geese. Our thermometer stood at 61°. At three o'clock we stopped at Picotte's winter post {453} among the Yanktonans, to which we had so often sent from Fort Clarke for supplies of meat, &c., but the house was now deserted.[55] In the neighbourhood is a pond, to which our hunters immediately bent their steps, to shoot water-fowl. In the vicinity they saw prairie hens, woodpeckers, thrushes, turkey-buzzards, and birds of prey, also a couple of swans, one of which they wounded, but did not succeed in securing, and brought back only a few ducks. In the evening twilight, when we were about to lay-to, a troop of ten or twelve elks came down to the river to drink, but one of my people, firing his piece prematurely, frightened them away, and we thus lost our chance of taking one of these large animals. During the night a tremendous storm of rain came from the north; on the 20th of April the whole country was covered with snow, and at nine in the morning the thermometer had fallen to 35°. The storm obliged us to remain at the spot where we had passed the night, and my people, who always lighted a fire on shore, found but slight protection from the storm among the willow bushes. The thermometer, at noon, was at 41°. The hunters had seen some game, but shot only a prairie hen, which had a strong taste of garlic, the chief food of this, bird. The snow ceased to fall at about four o'clock; the night was cold, and the men who slept near the fire were aroused by some wild animal, which made them conjecture that Indians were near, on which Chardon, who had lived many years among the Osages, set a watch for the rest of the night.

On the 21st we passed the mouth of Cannonball River.[56] The hills were sprinkled with snow, and not a vestige of verdure was to be seen, though, the preceding day, the willows and rose-bushes had a tinge of green. Our hunters again set out on an excursion towards a neighbouring lake, where they saw many cranes and water-fowl, but shot only a few ducks. Some cabris crossed the river right in front of us, but, in spite of the exertions of our rowers, we could not overtake them. We were equally unsuccessful with a herd of buffalo cows and some bulls. The following day was again so stormy that we were not able to proceed on our voyage, and the wind threatened to rend our leathern tent on deck; the country was covered with snow: towards evening the wind abated, the night was pleasant, and the next morning opened upon us calm and cheerful. The poplar and other thickets were beginning to bud, and some of the willow bushes were quite green. Cabris were seen in the prairie, vultures in the air, and pigeons on the bank.

At noon we reached the abandoned Arikkara villages, and landed a little further down.[57] While our dinner was preparing, Mr. Bodmer and Chardon, well armed, made an excursion to the forsaken Indian huts, in order to procure for me some skulls and prairie bulbs. They found the graves partly turned up by the wolves, and the bodies pulled out, wrapped in their blankets and robes. They brought two well preserved male skulls, which I added to my collection; one of these is now in the anatomical museum of the university of Bonn, and the other in the collection of Mr. Blumenbach at Göttingen.[58] At half-past four o'clock, when we had proceeded about ten miles from the villages, and were opposite the mouth of the Grand River,[59] we {454} were again visited by so heavy a storm, that we were compelled to lay-to, and light a fire for our people to warm themselves. While here, a couple of flocks of more than 160 pelicans passed over us in their way up the river, but we did not succeed in obtaining any of these fine birds. Towards evening the storm and rain, mingled with snow, were so extremely violent, that our boat was driven by the waves against the stones on the bank, and became leaky. Our people on shore found no protection under their blankets; they were kept awake throughout the night, and were frequently obliged to bale the water out of the boat. Towards midnight there was a frost, and on the morning of the 24th the country was again covered with snow. Our effects, which had, in the first instance, been completely soaked by the water, were frozen quite stiff. At eight o'clock the thermometer was at 33°, with a northwest wind. We saw a good deal of game, and Dreidoppel wounded, at a great distance, a cabri, in the midst of a troop of eighteen or twenty of those animals, but unfortunately brought us back nothing but a prairie dog. In the evening we lay-to at a steep bank opposite the mouth of Little Chayenne River.[60]

Early in the morning of the 25th we perceived a couple of fires burning on the bank, which must have been just left by some persons, and shortly afterwards we saw, in our van, two leather boats, which we succeeded in overtaking in about an hour's time. The people had halted to make a fire, and I therefore stopped to hold some conversation with them. They were Picotte's men, among whom were Ortubize, with his family, and Papin the hunter, returning to Fort Pièrre from the winter post, with the furs which had been obtained during that season. While we were conversing with them, Dreidoppel collected prairie bulbs. Papin gave me a part of a cabri; and the clerk who directed the boat, and whose name was likewise Papin, gave me a beautiful swan, but the large wing feathers were unhappily pulled out. The weather being very warm and fine, we rested here till eleven o'clock, and I then received into my boat a couple of women and a man named Crenier, who had been severely wounded. We passed the mouth of Big Chayenne River, and halted in the evening fifteen or twenty miles above Fort Pièrre. The heavily laden leathern boats having likewise come up, and set up their tents on the bank, we bivouacked together, and supped magnificently upon our roasted swan.

About two o'clock of the afternoon of the following day (the 26th), after our boat had several times run aground, we reached the landing-place at Fort Pièrre. Here there was still snow in the ravines of the mountains, and the bushes were but just beginning to bud. Several Sioux Indians, who were on the bank, shook hands with us. Mr. Laidlow, with some clerks of the Company, came to meet us, and conducted us to the fort, amidst a salute of several cannon-shot.

Fort Pièrre was in excellent condition.[61] The whole surrounding plain was covered with scattered tents of the Sioux, mostly of the Teton branch, and a few Yanktonans. Mr. Laidlow very kindly accommodated us, and assigned to us a spacious dwelling: I caused my boat to be {455} unladen, as it was hinted that the vicinity of the half-starved Indians might prove dangerous to my bears. We found Fort Pièrre in great want of fresh provisions, no buffaloes having been seen during the whole winter, and the inmates of the fort, as well as the Indians, being very numerous. I could easily have taken on board, at Fort Clarke, a considerable cargo of maize for Fort Pièrre, but we had not been informed that there was any scarcity existing here. For his own table, consisting of ten or twelve persons, Mr. Laidlow had generally bought dogs of the Indians, but these were now scarce, and consequently very dear: twelve dollars were paid for the dog destined for our repast to-day. There were, however, many superior provisions in the fort, which we enjoyed at Mr. Laidlow's table, after having long been deprived of them: one of these luxuries was new wheaten bread, and there were also potatoes, cabbages, carrots, several kinds of preserves and pickles, as well as coffee, sugar, tea, &c. I found here, also, a part of my stock of provisions which I had brought from St. Louis last year, such as coffee, sugar, brandy, candles, &c., which would have been invaluable to me at Fort Clarke. The brandy had, however, been almost exhausted, and the cask filled up with water.

We were soon invited, with Messrs. Laidlow, Chardon, Papin, and the old interpreter, Dorion,[62] to the tent of one of the Sioux. After we had taken our seats on a new blanket ornamented with porcupine quills, the flesh of a dog was taken from the kettle, and handed to the company. It was very fat, about the colour of mutton, but the taste was really so excellent, that we speedily surmounted our prejudice and antipathy. Other Indians continued coming in, and, ranging themselves in a circle, commenced smoking, but they suddenly started up, and left the tent. Mr. Laidlow received as a present the robe upon which he had sat. Before we commenced our meal, the host made a formal address to his visitors, in which he spoke of his attachment to the Whites, for which Mr. Laidlow returned thanks through the interpreter. We went back to Mr. Laidlow, where another fat roasted dog was served up. Mr. Laidlow's spacious sitting apartment was filled the whole day with a large party of Indians, whose chief motive for coming was to see us. Among them was our old acquaintance, Wah-Menitu,[63] who was rejoiced to see us again. Generally speaking, it was not Mr. Laidlow's custom to admit the Indians into his own room.

A high wind prevailed throughout the day, and my people slept on board the boat. The two bears, which were brought into the fort, attracted great attention from the Indians, many of whom were constantly assembled about the animals to look at them. The prairie in the environs of the fort was already green, and several small early plants were in flower. I much regretted that I could not remain long enough to visit the interesting tract of the Mauvaises Terres, which is some days' journey from hence. Mr. Laidlow, who had been there in the winter, gave me a description of it. It is two days' journey, he said, southwest of Fort Pièrre, and forms, in the level prairie, an accumulation of hills of most remarkable forms, looking like fortresses, churches, villages and ruins, and doubtless consisting of the same sand-stone as the conformations near the Stone Walls. He further stated that the bighorn abounds in that tract.[64]

{456} On the 27th of April I visited the stores of the Fur Company, which contained goods to the amount of 80,000 dollars. In the afternoon some hunters arrived, with twenty horses, who had been absent about three weeks on a buffalo chase, but returned with only one horse-load of meat. From their appearance I should certainly have taken them for savages. In the afternoon I took a walk in the prairie, though my strength was not fully restored, and the sight of the verdant plain was most refreshing to my mind. No birds were to be seen except the starling (Sturnella ludoviciana), which enlivened me with its short whistling note. Below the ridge which bounds the low bank of the river, the wild plum was covered with its snowy blossoms, which appear at the same time with the leaves; the scent is exactly like that of the flowers of our blackthorn. A small pink flower of the class Tetra dynamia covered the prairie. The beautiful yellow blossom of the Hyerochloa fragrans was likewise open. The Indian horses, which graze here, had now abundance of food, and quickly recovered from the effects of their fast in the severe winter. I visited the tents of the Indians, of whom, at least, fifty had gone away this morning on account of the scarceness of provisions. I was much struck with the difference of the physiognomy of the Sioux, after living so long among other tribes. Their features are much less agreeable, the cheek-bones more prominent, and their stature is lower and less vigorous than that of the Mandans, Manitaries, Arikkaras, and Crows. On the other hand, the expression of their countenances is more frank and good-tempered than that of those tribes. By way of comparison, I subjoin a woodcut of the Little Soldier, our former travelling companion, who, at this time, was absent on an expedition.[65]

{457} Mr. Bodmer took several views of the country, and also made a sketch of the stage of a distinguished Sioux warrior, whose remains had been brought from a great distance with much pomp, and were covered with red cloth. Groups of Sioux were in the vicinity.[66] My people erected a new awning with large tent coverings for our voyage down the river; and I received, by the kind care of Mr. Laidlow, many fresh provisions of different kinds, which greatly contributed to the perfect re-establishment of my health. On the 29th Mr. Laidlow sent some men with pack-horses, under the direction of La Chapelle the interpreter, to Fort Clarke, in order to obtain a supply of maize from Mr. Kipp.

A heavy storm, accompanied with rain, retarded our departure for some hours, but towards evening the weather improved, and about six o'clock I was able to take leave of Mr. Laidlow and the inmates of the fort. The crew of my Mackinaw boat now consisted of ten persons, for I had obtained an able rower, named Dauphin, from Carondelet, near St. Louis, who was, at the same time, a better steersman than Fecteau. A man named Descoteaux,[67] who intended to sell his beaver skins, of which he possessed about 200, in the United States, requested me to give him a passage, in return for which he promised to work. I likewise took on board a sickly young man, who was too weak for the service of the Fur Company.

We glided rapidly down the Missouri, and soon passed the mouth of Teton River, which is about two miles and three quarters distant from Fort Pièrre in a south-easterly direction. At this place, Messrs. Soublette and Campbell, the opponents of the American Fur Company, had built a fort, at which I was not able to stop.[68] We lay-to, at night, about six miles from Fort Pièrre.

On the 30th of April we had a heavy rain throughout the day, so that the poor men at the oars were wet through. Descoteaux, who had remained behind, and had run along the banks through the whole night in order to overtake us, made his appearance at eight o'clock, thoroughly soaked. The weather was so very unfavourable on this day that we found it necessary to stop repeatedly and kindle a fire, that the people might dry and warm themselves. We therefore lay-to a good deal earlier than usual in the evening, near a very fine wild forest of old red cedars a foot and a half in diameter. In the evening the rain ceased, and the night was calm. On the morning of the 1st of May the weather was very cool: at about six o'clock we reached the Big Bend, where Dreidoppel and Dauphin landed to seek for game, while the boat made the great détour on the river.[69] They found a number of impressions of shells on the burnt hills, and saw a large village of prairie dogs, one of which they shot; in the dry bed of a stream they found several tents of the Sioux, the inmates of which met them on horseback, and had some amicable conversation with them. At noon the weather was warm, the thermometer being at 64°, and at three o'clock we arrived at Sioux Agency, the post of Major Bean.[70] Here we found Cephir, the interpreter, and three white men, who were suffering greatly from want of provisions. No buffalo herds {458} had been seen here during the winter, and the men had lived on salt pork and the flesh of the cabri. The Sioux constantly pursue this animal, and on our arrival sent one to the fort. They were impatiently expecting the Company's steam-boat, with which Major Bean was to return. Thirteen Sioux tents were at this time near the fort; others had been here waiting for the steamer, but the want of provisions had forced them to disperse. It was not long before we received a visit in our boat from Wahktageli, whose portrait Mr. Bodmer had before taken, and who now repeated the assurance of his great attachment to the white men. We took advantage of the fine evening to prosecute our voyage, and then lay-to on the north bank. Dreidoppel had shot a duck, and several good-sized catfish were caught. The croaking of the frogs and howling of the wolves were our vesper song.

The following morning (2nd of May) was very cool, and a thick fog hung over the river. We soon passed the mouth of White River, but the wind becoming too high compelled us to lay-to on the south bank, where the waves drove the boat with such violence against the rocky bank, that it sprung a leak, and let in much water. We found it necessary to cut down a couple of trees, and fasten the boat to them, in order to make it more steady. Meantime we made an excursion to the ravines and hills. Cactus and yucca grew here in abundance, and some plants of the prairie were already in flower; and on the banks of the stream the young foliage was partly eaten away, which was said to have been done by the porcupines. We found prints of the footsteps of some game, and, in the dry bed of a brook, traces of the musk-rat, one of which Mr. Bodmer had killed. We likewise saw some black-tailed deer, and small hares (Lepus Americanus), the beautiful yellow-headed oriole, the sparrow-hawk, the turkey-buzzard, and several other kinds of birds. We left this place about noon on the 3rd of May, but made little progress on account of the storm and rain, and lay-to in the evening on the north bank, not quite a mile beyond Bijoux Hills.[71] The storm became very violent during the night; most of the people slept on land, as they were afraid that a tree which was standing very obliquely might give way to the storm and fall on our boat: nothing but the state of weakness, caused by my illness, could have made me so indifferent to this danger that I did not attempt to avoid it. The tree, however, did not fall. The wind abated towards the morning, and was succeeded by such torrents of rain, that on the following day (the 4th) we saw the water pour down from the left bank like cascades, the greater part of the neighbouring prairie being overflowed. Opposite to Bijoux Hills we were for a long time aground on a sand bank. Here we saw the first swallows returning to the north for the summer. In the afternoon we reached Cedar Island, and, proceeding a little further, lay-to for the night on the north bank.[72] Vegetation was pretty forward; but no birds had yet come; only the woodpecker and titmouse, which brave the winter, were to be seen. On the 5th, the wind being favourable, a sail was hoisted, but at eight o'clock the wind increased so much that we were obliged to stop at a large and beautiful island (Punca Island), where, having secured the boat, {459} we dispersed in search of game. When I returned to the boat I learned that Dauphin had killed an elk calf, and most of my people had gone with him to the place where the animal lay, in order to secure the prize. We waited an hour and a half by the fire till they returned, when I wished immediately to proceed on our voyage; but Melone, one of my rowers, stepped forward, and positively declared that he would not go on board till he had had his fill of the venison, though he had taken a sufficient portion of meat in the morning. A violent altercation ensued; the obstinate fellow was compelled to go on board; but I was now aware of the character of this troublesome American, who was so much addicted to drinking that it was necessary to keep a watchful eye over him. We proceeded through the channel near the island, but at the further end the wind suddenly caught the vessel, so that it was quite unmanageable, and the sail was rent. We crossed over to the south bank, and lay-to near an extensive thicket of willow. It was so full of climbing plants and trees, that we could scarcely penetrate into it, and tracks of wild animals were everywhere to be seen. All the birds had sought refuge from the storm in the thickest recesses of the wood, and scarcely a living creature was visible. We here found, as on our first visit, the beautiful Sylvia coronata (Latham), and shot a turkey-buzzard, the crop of which Fecteau took out, affirming that it was an effectual remedy for the bite of venomous serpents. Towards five o'clock, as the storm abated, we proceeded on our voyage, passed the mouth of Punca River, and soon after sunset came to three tents of the Punca Indians on the south bank, where the trader, Dixon, with several engagés from Fort Pièrre, was at that time residing. Primeau, the Punca interpreter, who, in the preceding year, when on board the steam-boat, had communicated to me some words of the Punca language, was also with these people.[73]

We were informed that the Fur Company's steamer was near at hand, on its way up the river, intelligence which was very agreeable to me. The Punca Indians whom we saw here had a miserable, dirty appearance, and they, too, had suffered from want of provisions. They had their hair cut short in the nape of the neck and across the forehead. Their leather tents, some of which were painted, stood on a narrow green plain at the foot of steep hills, where the wood had been felled and burnt. I here procured the skin of a skunk, which differed from all the animals of this kind that I had hitherto seen. It was all over of a blackish-brown colour, with only a small white stripe on the upper part of the neck. From this place I crossed the river, and we kindled our fire in the willow thicket before the steep rocky hills. This place was directly opposite the mouth of L'Eau qui Court. At daybreak on the following morning (the 6th of May) we heard the note of the wild turkey, but did not stop. A large flock of pelicans flew up the Missouri, and numbers of blackbirds were on the banks. We passed Rivière à Manuel,[74] and towards eleven o'clock saw the Assiniboin steamer, which lay still on the north bank for want of water. We were hindered by the sand banks and the high wind from getting up to the Assiniboin, {460} and therefore lay-to on the south bank, directly opposite. At this place there was a dense thicket of willows, and behind it an extensive forest. The woodcutters of the steam-boat happened to be engaged in felling wood, under the direction of a clerk, about a mile higher up, and, having observed our fire, came to us towards noon. A boat was afterwards sent to fetch them, which brought me a note from Captain Bennet, commander of the Assiniboin, in which he invited me to make haste to come on board, as they were impatient to see me again, after so long an absence. Captain Bennet also sent a number of men to row my boat across the stormy river, and with their aid we reached the Assiniboin at noon. We were received with much joy by our former travelling companions, Messrs. Sanford, Bean, Bennet, &c., and our accounts and news from the upper Missouri filled up a good part of the day. We also found on board our Indian friend, Schudegacheh, the Punca chief, who was extremely glad to see me again. There was likewise another chief, and several Indians. Schudegacheh's dress was remarkably handsome. His shirt was of beautiful otter skin, with a red cloth collar: he wore a cap of otter skin, and a tobacco pouch of the same material. This dress was extremely becoming to this fine man. The other chief wore a robe painted with red figures. They had a long conference with their agent, Major Bean, after which they took off all their clothes, and laid them on the ground before him, as a present, so that they sat quite naked, except the breechcloth. Major Bean at first declined accepting these things, but Schudegacheh would not take back his otter garment. The village of these Indians, consisting of nearly 100 tents, was about four days' journey up L'Eau qui Court.[75]

After spending the afternoon and evening on board the steamer, we took leave of our friends, and returned to our boat, intending to proceed early on the following morning; but, to my no small vexation, I found my people in a very excited state, and partly drunk; Dauphin alone seemed to know what he was about.

On the following morning (the 7th of May), Fecteau, Descoteaux, and Melone were still intoxicated, so that our departure was delayed, and I had to bear the noise and disorderly conduct of these men. We got over a dangerous place, where there were many snags; passed, at eleven o'clock, the mouth of the Rivière à Jacques, and then, the wind being very high, lay-to on the right bank.[76] My hunters went to a lake, about a mile off, in the hope of shooting some water-fowl, but did not succeed. I made my way, through the willow thicket, to the extensive verdant prairie, where a red fox sprang up before me. I saw many birds of various kinds—swallows, woodpeckers, finches, sylvias, and a couple of falcons (Falco cyaneus, Cuiv.); likewise butterflies, among which, Papilio plexippus, and many Libellalœ, in very warm places, sheltered from the wind. When I returned to the fire, I found my people asleep on the grass, in consequence of their excesses on the preceding day: Melone, however, was busy in bringing his trunk and other things from the boat to the land; after which he stepped forward and declared that "he {461} would not go any further with us, and that his comrades, the other rowers, had agreed with him to leave us;" so that we Europeans would have been left alone in this wilderness. The news of this plot, arranged by the men in their drunken fit, during my absence yesterday, surprised me not a little. I called the other people, and asked them if this was really their intention; but they had now thought better of it, and protested that they would not leave us. Melone, enraged at their want of resolution, broke out into violent abuse; so I told him that, conformably to his wish, he might remain here by himself. On this he suddenly changed his tone, spoke civilly, and at length begged for a passage to his native place, Liberty; but I kept him to his word: we went on board, and left him alone in this wilderness. This evil-disposed man, who had formerly been a soldier in the service of the United States, and was much addicted to drinking, had exchanged his rifle, on board the Assiniboin, for a considerable quantity of provisions, a hatchet, brandy, &c., and thus sufficiently proved his intention of leaving me in this shameful manner. As he was skilful in the use of the hatchet, and had a sufficient stock of provisions, it would be easy for him to make a boat of large poplar stems, and reach the neighbouring post of Le Roi.

On this day we proceeded twelve or fifteen miles. The country was flat, and the banks, in some parts, clothed with fine forests. At sunset we lay-to at a convenient place on the right bank, where a narrow strip of lofty, verdant wood filled the space between the river and the steep white hills: there was an undergrowth of the red willow (Cornus sericea), which was just coming into flower. The Fringilla Pennsylvanica was numerous, and fresh tracks of wild animals appeared in all directions. At twilight a great many of the whip-poor-wills flew round the fire within three paces of it, and quite stunned our ears by their cries. A couple of them were shot, the first of these birds that I had seen.

On the following morning (the 8th of May), we passed some extensive sand banks, on which we observed the avoset, and many wild geese. Towards ten o'clock we reached the mouth of Vermilion River,[77] where many Sioux Indians were at that time assembled: here commence the lofty forests, which are peculiar to the banks of the lower Missouri, and in which the note of the whip-poor-will resounds in the evening.

I had been informed, on board the steamer, that a man named Gardner, one of the best pilots on the whole course of the Missouri, and, at the same time, thoroughly acquainted with the Indian wilderness from his having been long engaged in hunting beavers, had gone down the river a short time before me, and I was advised to overtake him, and, if possible, to engage him as pilot, as our steersman was unskilful, and the snags in many parts of the river very dangerous.[78] We soon perceived Gardner's miserable flat leather boat, with a cargo of skins, before us, and presently overtook it. I immediately offered to take his furs into my boat, which was more secure, if he would act as steersman, to which he most readily agreed. His boat was very unsafe and bad, and at the same time was so heavily laden, that its edge was scarcely above the water, {462} and it proceeded very slowly. He was on his return from hunting beavers on the Upper Yellow Stone, and had two men with him. We lay-to, and, while the people were transferring the cargo of Gardner's boat to ours, we made an excursion into the interesting country. The chain of hills was clothed with young verdure, and covered and surrounded with tall trees and forests; beautiful thickets, mixed with cedars, grew on the banks; all appeared in the fresh loveliness of spring. In the hollow upper boughs of the lofty, colossal trees, numbers of the purple swallow (Hirundo purpurea) had built their nests; flocks of blackbirds were among the high grass, between the trunks of the trees, where the little wren (Troglodytes aedon) poured forth its cheerful song; the sparrow-hawk was sitting at the end of a high branch; and on the ground, among the roots of the trees, we descried what we thought was a mouse running along, which, however, proved to be a little bird; it was too near to be fired at, and we could not make it rise on its wing. At length, however, we killed it, and found it to be the pretty little finch called, by Wilson, Fringilla candacuta. The ash-grey finch (Fringilla hyemalis), the snow-bird of Wilson, who represents this bird larger than it is in nature, built its nest here.

Towards one o'clock in the afternoon we reached Le Roi's plantation, and lay-to at the sand bank opposite to it, the wind being very high. We dispersed in order to try our fortune with our fowling-pieces, but found on the bank an intricate thicket full of burs, so that we could scarcely penetrate it. Numbers of birds animated this thicket, the cormorant (Carbo) sat on the tall trees on the bank, the whip-poor-will uttered its plaintive note, and bats hovered over the river. We passed the evening sitting round our fire, when Gardner told us anecdotes of his many adventures and combats with the Indians. He gave me a particular account of the death of Glass, the old beaver-hunter whom I have already mentioned, and which particularly interested me, because I possessed the scalp of one of the two Arikkara Indians who were killed by Gardner on account of that murder. The following were the circumstances of that event. Old Glass, with two companions, had gone from Fort Cass to hunt beavers on the Yellow Stone, and, as they were crossing the river on the ice further down, they were all three shot, scalped, and plundered by a war party of thirty Arikkaras who were concealed on the opposite bank. These Indians, who are most dangerous enemies to the Whites, went then to the sources of Powder River, and it happened that Gardner, with about twenty men, and thirty horses, was in the neighbourhood.[79] As it was dark when they were seated about several fires, the Indians suddenly appeared, addressed them in the Manitari language, surrounded the fire, and dried their shoes. Gardner, being well acquainted with the character of the Indians, immediately took some precautions, which was the more necessary, as a Manitari woman, who was with his party, told him that the strangers were Arikkaras. He gradually collected his people round one of their fires, with their arms in readiness to act. He was also afraid for his horses, which were scattered in the prairie, and some of which were actually missing, and he had already sent some of his men to {463} erect in the neighbourhood what is called a fort, of trunks of trees, for the night. The Indians are accustomed, when they intend to steal horses, suddenly to give a signal, on which they all jump up, scatter the horses, and drive them away with them. Gardner, aware of this, watched the enemy closely, and when, on the signal being given, they all withdrew, three of them were seized, thrown down and bound. When the Arikkaras perceived this, several of them came back, pretended to be innocent of the stealing of the horses, and begged for their captive comrades; but Gardner declared to them that, if they did not immediately deliver up all the horses, the prisoners must die; one of whom, however, had cut the cords with which he was bound, and escaped. The Indians entreated for a long time, but were refused. The others seeing that they must die, commenced their death-song, related their exploits, and affirmed that they were distinguished warriors. One of them had old Glass's knife, and his rifle also had been seen in the possession of these Indians. The horses, however, were not brought, and the prisoners, alleging a pressing necessity, were taken aside; but in the thick copse they attempted to escape, on which one of them was stabbed, and several shots fired at the other, who was then killed with the knife. They were both scalped, and I received one of the scalps as a present, which was unfortunately lost in the fire on board the steamer. Gardner, by way of precaution, had all the fires put out, and passed the night in the fort, which was now completed. They were not disturbed during the night, and found, in the morning, that the Indians had retired with their booty, leaving the prisoners to their fate. The Arikkaras had begged for one of them in particular, who was a celebrated warrior, and had even brought back three horses, which they tied up near at hand, to exchange them for the prisoners; but Gardner did not attend to their request.

On the 9th of May we reached the mouth of Joway River, and at three in the afternoon that of Big Sioux.[80] The heat was pretty considerable; and we saw the great heron (Ardea herodias), and a flock of pelicans, some of which were grey, go up the river. We then came to Floyd's Grave, and at a bend in the river reached a spot, to the northwest of which there was a village of the Omahas, of about fifty huts. I wished much to visit these people, but we could not well stop, because our provisions were getting low, and we had already lost too much time through the continued storms. In the evening we stopped for the night on the left bank opposite the mouth of Omai Creek.[81]

On the following morning the weather was fine and warm, the thermometer at eight o'clock being at 72°. Wood-ducks in pairs, and flocks of wild geese and pelicans, attracted our attention, till we reached, about ten o'clock, the beautiful green hills of Waschinga-Saba's grave,[82] where we saw some deer and wolves, and found the tracks of these animals in all directions. The rising wind afterwards obliged us to lay-to, because there was a very dangerous place, with many snags, just before us; but when the wind abated Gardner steered my boat very skilfully between the snags. About sunset we passed the mouth of Little Sioux River, and lay-to three miles {464} below it, on the opposite bank. On the 11th we were very frequently obliged to stop, and meanwhile amused ourselves with looking at the beautiful birds in the thickets. At six o'clock we reached Soldier's River, and lay-to in a safe bay on the left bank. The weather was cool on the 12th. When we set out, one of my hunters shot a cormorant with his rifle. At ten o'clock we passed the ruins of the old fort of Council Bluffs, and in the afternoon reached Boyer's Creek, just before which we saw the first plane tree on the Missouri.[83] From this spot this species of tree becomes more and more common as you descend the river, which is very winding. We landed, between one and two o'clock, at Major Pilcher's trading house, formerly belonging to Mr. Cabanné.[84]

Mr. Pilcher gave us a very cordial reception after so long an absence, and we passed the whole day with him. A lawyer, of the name of Randolph, was at this time here to investigate a criminal case which had lately occurred; an engagé had shot his comrade, as was supposed in cold blood. There were not many Indians at the trading house at this time; however, there were some Otos, Missouris, Omahas and a couple of Joways, and Ongpa or Onpa-Tanga (the big elk), the principal chief of the Omahas, was daily expected;[85] I would gladly have waited to see him, had time permitted my doing so. Mr. Bodmer took the portraits of an Omaha and an Oto Indian. These two tribes do not differ in their manners, dress, and personal appearance. They wear their hair short, nay, sometimes the head is completely shorn, except a tuft behind, and in front; the upper part of the body naked, and strings of wampum in their ears.

At this time there was more order and cleanliness in Mr. Pilcher's house than during our former visit, and the store had been removed into the upper floor. It contained a large quantity of skins, among which were 24,000 musk-rats, which are sold at twenty-five cents a piece. The packs of these latter were very regularly piled up in a square. There was also a good stock of buffalo and beaver skins. Mr. Pilcher presented me with a very beautiful skin of a large dark brown wolf, which had been killed on the upper part of Boyer's Creek; it is, however, not a species, only a variety.

After dinner I took an excursion to the neighbouring finely wooded hills, which were now flourishing in the greatest luxuriance. Birds of various kinds were very numerous in a beautiful gently sloping valley, through which the Omahas pass when they go to their villages. Among the many kinds of trees and shrubs, I observed cratægus, or pyrus, twenty feet in height, covered with white blossoms, oaks, elms, &c. Near the house very fine cattle were grazing, and numbers of swine, all of which roamed at liberty in the woods. There are extensive plantations of maize and fields of potatoes, and Mr. Pilcher was so good as to furnish me with a supply of provisions from his store. This place had likewise been visited by the cholera in the preceding summer, but it had not carried off so many persons as at Dougherty's agency at Belle Vue, because Mr. Pilcher had a better stock of medicines. At nightfall we took leave of Mr. Pilcher, and went on board our boat, intending to proceed early the next morning, the 13th of May. During the night a dog stole a part of our stock of meat, the {465} door of the cabin not having been very well secured. Towards eight o'clock we lay-to on the right bank of the river, at a lovely verdant prairie covered with thickets and tall insulated trees. There we found many beautiful birds; among them were numbers of the red-breasted Fringilla ludoviciana; we shot a good many of them, but they were so fat that we had considerable difficulty in preserving the skins. We had a fruitless chase after some wild turkeys. Towards noon we arrived at Belle Vue, Major Dougherty's agency,[86] which is about thirty-four miles from Pilcher's trading house, and lies at the foot of the wooded chain of hills on which Mr. Pilcher's residence is situated. We landed, but unfortunately found only a few engagés, for Major Dougherty was absent at St. Louis, and was not expected to return till the middle of July. The majority of the persons whom we had seen here on our first visit had died of cholera, during the preceding summer, seven of ten persons having been carried off in the short space of twenty-four hours. They had all been buried by one man, who was now here, and who himself was ill when he was obliged to perform this last office for the dead. The disease had, however, quite passed away, and the fort was now healthy. The environs of Belle Vue presented great attractions to the naturalist at this season. The richly wooded hills, with their deep shady ravines and wild glens, were animated by the cuckoo, and a number of splendid birds, while innumerable bright winged butterflies fluttered about over the strawberry blossoms, the magnificent azure phlox, and a variety of other beautiful flowers.

After we had luxuriated in this romantic spot, we returned to take in a stock of provisions, and, being refreshed by that great rarity, a glass of new milk, we continued our journey. Towards noon we reached the mouth of the river La Platte, which is about six miles distant from Belle Vue. At sunset we passed Fife-Barrel Creek, and stopped opposite an island of the same name on the right bank of the Missouri. As soon as we landed I set out with my gun in my hand, and, passing through a lofty avenue of willows, came to a narrow marsh, quite overgrown with typha. The ground was swampy, but the raccoons had trod a regular footpath. The morass was bounded by hills covered with trees and bushes of the loveliest verdure, enlivened by the baltimore and the green icteria. The latter incessantly poured forth its song, which contains a strophe similar to that of the nightingale. It is remarkable that the cheerfulness and activity of these birds increase greatly towards evening. The whip-poor-wills were very numerous in the willow copse on the bank, and in the evening twilight their notes resounded on every side.

The morning of the 14th opened brightly upon us, and we set out early and passed Weeping-water River, landing several times to pursue the wild turkeys, whose note attracted us to their retreats.[87] We often saw these proud birds in the lofty trees, perched up beyond the reach of small shot. The most beautiful birds of this country select for their resort the airy summits of the woods, especially of the fine primeval forest on the bank, where we lay-to at ten o'clock. This noble forest comprises all the varied trees of this climate, with an undergrowth of prickly {466} ash, hazel-bushes, cornus, &c., entwined with Vitis hederacea and other parasitic plants. The stems are tall, straight, and closely crowded together; many were lying on the ground decayed, covered with moss and lichens, which frequently impeded our progress. Here we soon shot a variety of birds, and saw some parrots, which Gardner had already observed on Weeping-water River. In short we might have found here ample employment for a long time. A particular species of caterpillar abounded to such a degree in these forests, that all the branches of the trees, especially the willows and poplars, were thickly loaded with them. As soon as we entered the copses our clothes were covered with these caterpillars and their webs. We lay-to for the night about a mile below Little Nemawha Creek, where Dauphin caught a catfish weighing 15 lbs.

On the 15th we were about five miles from our night's quarters to the mouth of the Nishnebottoneh, which we reached at eight o'clock. In the fine forest at this spot our hunters shot only one rabbit, and wounded a deer, which we did not obtain. At noon we lay-to on the right bank, Gardner having promised to look for some wild honey. I may remark by the way, that though the bee was not known in America till it was introduced by the Europeans, it is now spread over the whole continent. The Indians are said to call it "the white man's fly." It is now common far up the Missouri, where the honey is eagerly sought for by both Whites and Indians, who cut it out of the hollow trunks of the trees. The spot where we rested and prepared our dinner was below the beautiful verdant wooded hills, and was shaded by high trees, inhabited by the most brilliant birds, which afforded much sport to our hunters. Along the bank and distant hills extended a splendid forest, through which winded a solitary Indian path, where the grey squirrels were very numerous. We found much recreation in this solitary wilderness, but here, too, the caterpillars annoyed us greatly; they were of a bluish-green colour, with a double row of green and yellow spots. We afterwards passed the Grand Nemawha, and lay-to, for the night, opposite Solomon's Island, six miles above Wolf River.[88]

On the 16th of May the river was covered with a thick fog, which prevented our proceeding on our voyage as early as usual. At half-past seven o'clock we were opposite the mouth of Wolf River, where we saw a herd of six or seven deer, and lay-to at nine o'clock on the right bank. The lofty forest here had a thick undergrowth of box-alder and cornus, which was completely covered with caterpillars and their webs. At noon we reached Nodaway River, and were charmed with the prospect of the sublime forest scenery of the banks, and the picturesque islands in this river.[89] Luxuriant woods appeared on every side, covered to the summits of their highest branches with graceful light green climbing plants, so that the trunks looked like verdant columns.

Their foliage was shining and juicy, like the whole of the luxuriant vegetation that surrounded them. Even from our boat we could see, in the dark forest, the scarlet plumage of the beautiful red tanagra, which the French on the Mississippi call the pope, the splendid cardinal, and the bright red baltimore. The meridian sun shed a glorious effulgence over this magnificent scene; where, {467} however, the red-bud, and the other early blossoming trees, had already lost their flowers. Most of the trees of these forests on the lower Missouri have not the beautiful large flowers common to those of Brazil, but, with a few exceptions, have only catkins. For the first time after a long interval we saw the kingfisher on the bank. Towards four o'clock in the afternoon we reached the beautiful chain of the Black Snake Hills, and, not long after, Roubedoux's trading house in the neighbourhood of the Joways and Saukies, or Sacs.[90] The forest-covered hills, as well as the prairie stretched at their foot, were now adorned with the most lovely verdure. The two houses at this spot were painted white, which, when seen from the river, gave them a very picturesque appearance amid the surrounding green. Behind the dwelling houses were extensive fields of maize, protected by fences, and very fine cattle were grazing in the plain. Mr. Roubedoux, the owner of the house, and his son, were from home, and some ignorant engagés could not comply with my desire to obtain fresh provisions, and to pay a visit to the Indians in the vicinity, to accomplish which I requested them to provide me with horses. About thirty Oto and Missouri Indians had been here a couple of days, and had just gone to the neighbouring Indians to purchase brandy. About six miles from hence lies a village of the Joway Indians, and at about the same distance down the Missouri, one of the Saukies. These Indians are able to obtain as much brandy as they please at the extreme settlements of the Americans, about fifteen miles from this place, who, at their own risk, pass the limit of the Indian country, fixed by the government in the latitude of the Cantonment of Leavenworth. This great facility of procuring cheap and bad spirits is extremely ruinous to the Indians, and accelerates the destruction of their race. We were dissuaded from visiting these two Indian tribes, because they had, for several days, been indulging in the immoderate use of whisky, and were in a dangerous state of excitement. A great number of Oto Indians gradually assembled near Roubedoux's house: many of them were quite intoxicated, and nearly all had four or five casks of this fatal draught fastened to their horses.

The Oto, Missouri, and Joway Indians, at least the young people, had their hair shorn in the manner of the Saukies and Foxes: several, however, especially the elder men, wore their hair short in the neck. I saw one of the Missouris with his hair hanging half-way down his back. Their dress and customs are said not to differ from the Saukies. They had holes in their ears, in which they wore bunches of wampum: some young men had red cloth tied round their heads, and one of them wore a cap made of the entire skin of a bear's head, with the ears, which gave him a very grotesque appearance. All these Indians were weaker, and of lower stature, than those of the upper Missouri, especially the Manitaries, Mandans, and Crows. The Otos and Missouris intended to go to-day with their stock of whisky to their villages on the other side of the river, and wished us to set them over, to which, however, I was not disposed to accede. Mr. Bodmer took the portrait of an athletic Missouri youth. This tribe was formerly numerous and {468} powerful, but, being defeated by the Foxes, Saukies, and Osages, it lost its independence, and the few that remain have intermingled with the Otos.

We made some little excursions in the neighbourhood, and found in the prairie and the lofty trees many beautiful plants and fine birds; the day was hot, and the evening remarkably pleasant; a numerous company of Indians, who were not a little troublesome, visited us in our boat, and stopped till ten o'clock. We left our night's quarters early on the following day, the 17th, and proceeded down the river, the banks of which were clothed with tall forests. The thermometer at noon was at 75°, but the wind was high, and compelled us to lay-to; we therefore took advantage of the delay to go ashore, and make some addition to our collection of plants and birds. About four in the afternoon, though the wind was still high, we were enabled to pursue our course. We were not long in making Cow Island, about nine miles from Leavenworth, where a good deal of cattle belonging to the military post were grazing. A little before sunset we came to the isolated dwelling of a white man, and saw several Indians, there being a settlement of the Kickapoos, who were removed from the eastern provinces, at a short distance from the river. We lay-to for the night on the right bank, and several of my people went on before us to Leavenworth. On the 18th, during a heavy rain, we made the three miles to the post; we heard some musket-shot, a signal that the guard was relieved, and soon reached the landing-place of the Cantonment. The sentinel informed us that we must immediately appear before the commanding officer, and compelled us, in an imperious manner, to keep close and march before him. We arrived like prisoners at the house of the commander, where Major Ryley received us with tolerable politeness, and supplied me with the provisions, meat, bread, &c., which I required, taking care, however, to be well paid for them.[91]

The Cantonment of Leavenworth is pleasantly situated; ten or twelve neat and spacious buildings, surrounded with a gallery or verandah, are occupied by two companies of the 6th regiment, not more than eighty men, with ten officers, who were detached from Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis. Dr. Fellowes, the military physician, who in the preceding year travelled with us to this place, received me with much cordiality, and gave me a good deal of information respecting this interesting country. He had been very successful with his cholera patients, for, out of a great number, one only had died, because he always attacked the disorder at its very commencement.

The heavy rain had converted the surrounding country into a swamp, so that we could not conveniently visit the environs of the Cantonment. The soil is very fruitful, and the whole country clothed in rich verdure. About four miles from this place, down the river, the Indian line meets the Missouri at right angles; this is the frontier of the Indian territory, which the Cantonment is destined to protect. Near this post is the village of the Kickapoos, inhabited by a poor and rather degenerated race. Major Morgan,[92] who kept a large store of provisions and other {469} necessaries, had a share in Gardner's fur trade; the latter accordingly quitted me at this place. To celebrate his happy return the people drank rather too freely, and were endeavouring to make Descoteaux do the same, in order to induce him to sell his beaver skins below their value, but I would not suffer this, and took him with me. The people here have a sufficient number of cattle and swine, as well as plenty of milk, butter, and cheese. My collections were here enriched with many interesting specimens. Dr. Fellowes had the kindness to give me a goffer (a large field-mouse), undoubtedly Diplostoma bulbivorum. Unfortunately the specimen was not complete.

FOOTNOTES:

[53] Not the lake of that name noted in our volume xxii, p. 368, note 344, but one between Knife and Heart River, North Dakota.—Ed.

[54] For the location of Butte Carré (Square Butte), see our volume xxii, p. 340, note 312.—Ed.

[55] This post was probably at or near Apple Creek, which by its connection with the lakes east of the Missouri furnishes communication with the upper James, the usual habitat of the Yanktonai.—Ed.

[56] See our volume xxii, p. 338, note 306.—Ed.

[57] For the site of these villages, see our volume xxii, p. 335, note 299.—Ed.

[58] See our volume xxii, p. 173, note 87.—Ed.

[59] Grand River, the Weterhoo of Lewis and Clark (Original Journals, i, p. 183; vi, p. 49), rises near the sources of the Little Missouri in northwestern South Dakota, and flows east into the Missouri in Boreman County. It is a prairie stream paralleling Cannonball and Cheyenne rivers, and largely destitute of timber.—Ed.

[60] For this stream, see our volume xxii, p. 334, note 295.—Ed.

[61] For Fort Pierre, see our volume xxii, p. 315, note 277.—Ed.

[62] See, for this man, Bradbury's Travels, our volume v, p. 38, note 7.—Ed.

[63] For the visit of this Teton Sioux, see our volume xxii, p. 329.—Ed.

[64] This tract was the area later famous as the Bad Lands of White River. Had Maximilian been able to visit this region, he might have antedated the discoveries made by J. V. Hayden and F. B. Meek, which awakened much interest in the scientific world. This area, extending nearly five hundred miles in each direction, lies between Cheyenne and White rivers east of the Black Hills. It is a tertiary formation of indurated sands, clays, and marl, cut up into ravines and cañons by streams and climatic action. In certain places it takes on the form of a gigantic city in ruins. To the scientist, however, the chief interest is its fossils, immense numbers of which are imbedded in the formation. The first descriptive account was that of Dr. H. A. Prout, who visited the region in 1847, given in the American Journal of Science, iii, 2d series, pp. 248-250. Two years later, Dr. John Evans went through this district, and the next year it was visited by Thaddeus A. Culbertson in the interest of the Smithsonian Institution. A thorough examination was made in 1853 by J. V. Hayden and F. B. Meek; the former passed through again in 1857, the results being embodied in American Philosophical Society Transactions, xii, new series (Phila., 1863). The fossil remains were described by Professor Joseph Leidy in Contributions to Extinct Vertebræ Fauna (Washington, 1873). Hayden made still another visit to this region in 1866, the results of which were published in his Geographical and Geological Survey of the Territories. The White River Bad Lands are still difficult of access, and not as yet visited by tourists.—Ed.

[65] See p. [59], for portrait of Little Soldier (Tukan Haton), a Sioux chief. Consult also our volume xxii, pp. 311-313, for Maximilian's relation of this chieftain's visit.—Ed.

[66] See Plate 44, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.

[67] In the early part of the nineteenth century there was a free-trader of this name on Minnesota River, where he was later murdered by his Indian wife. See Henry-Thompson Journals, p. 941.—Ed.

[68] The opposition post had been built since our author ascended the river. It was begun October 17, 1833, a "little below old Fort Tecumseh." According to Maximilian it was directly at the mouth of Teton River, probably in the northern angle. It was occupied only about a year, then being sold with all its effects to the American Fur Company. See Chittenden, Fur-Trade, iii, p. 956.—Ed.

[69] See our volume xxii, p. 313, note 272.—Ed.

[70] For the agency and agent, see our volume xxii, p. 235, note 171, and p. 304, note 261.—Ed.

[71] For Bijoux Hills and White River, see our volume xxii, pp. 301, 302, notes 258, 259, respectively.—Ed.

[72] For Little Cedar Island, see our volume xxii, p. 296, note 257. Maximilian here intends the present island of that name.—Ed.

[73] For Primeau and Ponca River, see our volume xxii, p. 286, note 248, and p. 291, note 253. The trader was William, half-breed son of Colonel Robert Dickson, who had been agent for the British government among the Northwestern Indians during the War of 1812-15. William's mother was a Sioux, and he assisted his father during that war, being still in the pay of that government in 1817; see Wisconsin Historical Collections, xi, p. 350. By 1821 he was established in trade on Lake Traverse, whence one of his letters (written in French) shows traces of considerable education; ibid., x, p. 140. He accompanied a delegation to Washington in 1824 as interpreter for the United States (consult Minnesota Historical Collections, vi, p. 205), and two years later was licensed as a trader. Some time before 1832, he crossed to the Missouri River and entered the employ of the American Fur Company, for whom he had a post called by his name, near the mouth of Petit Arc Creek in South Dakota. There Larpenteur met him in 1838, and states that he shortly after committed suicide. Compare also E. D. Neill, History of Minnesota (Minneapolis, 1882), p. 452.—Ed.

[74] For Niobrara River (l'eau qui court), see our volume v, p. 90, note 54. Emanuel Creek (Rivière à Manuel) is noted in volume xxii, p. 290, note 251.—Ed.

[75] For the Ponca Indians, see our volume v, p. 96, note 63. When Lewis and Clark ascended the river (1804) the village of this tribe was on the stream called by their name, not on the Niobrara. The name of the chief Schudegacheh signified Smoke, and Catlin speaks (North American Indians, i, p. 212) of him as "a noble specimen of native dignity and philosophy."—Ed.

[76] For James River (à Jacques), see our volume xxii, p. 282, note 238.—Ed.

[77] See our volume vi, p. 87, note 31.—Ed.

[78] For this trapper, see our volume xxiii, p. 197, note 153.—Ed.

[79] For the earlier adventures of Hugh Glass, see our volume xxii, p. 294, note 255. Powder River, called Red Stone by Lewis and Clark, is the most easterly of the great southern affluents of the Yellowstone. It rises in Central Wyoming, on the eastern slopes of the Big Horn Mountains and south thereof, near the sources of the Big Cheyenne and North Fork of Platte. The valley of Powder River was a favorite rendezvous of trappers, for it afforded both game and pasturage in abundance.—Ed.

[80] For these streams, see our volumes xxii, p. 280, note 236; and vi, p. 85, note 30, respectively.—Ed.

[81] For Floyd's grave, see our volume v, p. 91, note 56. Omai is now Omadi Creek, in Dakota County, Nebraska.—Ed.

[82] See Plate 12, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv. For this noted chief, known in English as Blackbird, see Bradbury's Travels, our volume v, pp. 84-86.—Ed.

[83] These are all three Iowa streams, the last two entering the Missouri in Harrison County, and Boyer's in Pottawattamie County. See our volume xxii, p. 275, note 231, for the fort at Council Bluffs.—Ed.

[84] For Cabanné and his post, see our volume xxii, p. 271, note 226. Cabanné had been obliged to return to St. Louis to defend himself against the legal action of Le Clerc. See Chittenden, Fur-Trade, i, pp. 346-350. A brief sketch of Joshua Pilcher is in our volume xiv, p. 269, note 193.—Ed.

[85] For this chieftain, see our volume v, p. 90, note 52; also, our volume xiv, pp. 258-262, where Big Elk holds council with the officers of Long's expedition.—Ed.

[86] For a brief history of Bellevue, see our volume xxii, p. 267, note 221.—Ed.

[87] For the geographical places mentioned in this paragraph, see our volume xxii, p. 264, note 217.—Ed.

[88] For the rivers mentioned, see our volume vi, pp. 72, 73, notes 23, 24. Both Solomon's Island and Wolf Creek are mentioned by Lewis and Clark (Original Journals, i, pp. 72, 73); the former has been swept away by the river. For Wolf Creek, see our volume xiv, p. 181, note 150.—Ed.

[89] Nodaway River is described in our volume v, p. 37, note 5.—Ed.

[90] For this trader and his post, see our volume xxii, p. 257, note 210.—Ed.

[91] See our volume xxii, p. 253, note 204, for the persons and places mentioned in this paragraph.—Ed.

[92] The eastern boundary of the Indian country, which was also the western boundary of Missouri, consisted of a line running directly north and south through the middle of the channel of the mouth of Kansas River. In 1824 commissioners were appointed to survey the western and southern line of Missouri, and in 1830 this was adopted as the boundary of the Western Territory (see our volume xxi (Wyeth), p. 50, note 31). This boundary is, however, nearly thirty miles (by the river) below Fort Leavenworth. Probably Maximilian confused this with the boundary of Fort Leavenworth military reservation.

The treaty of 1832 with the Kickapoo tribe arranged for their removal to a tract southwest of the Missouri, situated about Fort Leavenworth; see Indian Treaties (Washington, 1837), pp. 532-535.

Major Morgan was not the military officer who accompanied Long's expedition, referred to by Maximilian, ante (our volume xxii, p. 260). The one here mentioned was a trader and early settler near Fort Leavenworth—probably Alexander G. Morgan, who in 1831 was postmaster at the fort.—Ed.

CHAPTER XXXI
VOYAGE FROM THE CANTONMENT OF LEAVENWORTH TO PORTSMOUTH, ON THE MOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER, FROM MAY 18TH TO JUNE 20TH

Little Platte River—William's Ferry—The Mormons, a Religious Sect—St. Charles—Land Journey to St. Louis—Residence there—The Indian Barrows—Mouth of the Ohio—New Harmony—Journey to Vincennes and Louisville on the Ohio—Cincinnati—Portsmouth.

On the afternoon of the 18th of May, I left the Cantonment of Leavenworth amid a very heavy rain, which continuing on the 19th I lay-to, and made my people light a fire on shore, to warm themselves, and dry their clothes. As soon as we had left Little Platte River, I observed numerous isolated settlements, from which others had taken their rise. At Portage l'Independence, I saw Mr. Soublette, who had been ill for some time.[93] As I had very recently visited his trading post on the upper Missouri, I was enabled to give him the most recent intelligence respecting it. He has always been engaged in the fur trade; in the first instance, in opposition to the American Fur Company; subsequently, however, in connection with it; he was now waiting for the steam-boat, Oto,[94] intending to go by it to St. Louis.

About five o'clock we reached the landing-place of Liberty, but I did not make any stay there. Descoteaux here fell in with one of his acquaintances, a Canadian beaver hunter, and begged permission to leave me; I did not wish to detain the man, and accordingly set him on shore with all his furs and skins. At nightfall we came to a settlement called William's Ferry, or Charaton-Scatty; here, on the northern bank, we lay-to for the night, under shelter of a lofty umbrageous forest.[95] We passed the 20th on the same spot, our boat having received some injury, and we accordingly had it repaired; at the same time we caused our effects to be dried, as they had been thoroughly drenched by the rain.