Travels in the Interior of North America Part 16

[pg. 129] It was near this place that a marauding party of twelve Joways lately crossed the river, and pursued a defenceless company of Omahas, who had just left Belle Vue; and, having overtaken them three miles off, killed and plundered all of them, except some who were desperately wounded, and whom they believed to be dead. The victors returned by another way. A woman and a child recovered. Major Dougherty took leave of us at Belle Vue, intending to go to the Omahas, and appease the vengeance of that tribe. About five in the afternoon we also left, and were proceeding along the west bank, when we met two Mackinaw[224] boats, which had been obtained for our vessel by a boat which we had sent before. On the same bank we suddenly saw three Omaha Indians, who crept slowly along. They were clothed in buffalo robes, and had bows, with quivers made of skin, on their backs. About the nose and eyes they were painted white.[225]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Omaha Indians]

Among these Indians there was a woman who had been severely wounded; namely, the well-known Mitain, who is spoken of in Major Long's "Travels to the Rocky Mountains," as an interesting instance of maternal affection, but without mentioning her name. She and her child had received many severe wounds, but were so fortunate as not to be scalped.[226] The nearest village of the Omahas is twenty-five miles from Belle Vue.[227] This country is the proper territory of this tribe, which lives on both sides of the Missouri, from Boyer River to Big Sioux River, and hunts further up to Jacques River, as well as between Running Water River (l'eau qui court) and the La Platte.

On the morning of the 4th of May, at half-past seven o'clock, the thermometer was at 69. We had all round us beautiful low prairie hills, before which was alluvial land, thrown up by the [pg. 130] river, covered with fine gra.s.s. The river had risen an inch during the night.

The noise and smoke of our steamer frightened all living creatures; geese and ducks flew off in all directions. There was formerly a village of the Joway Indians at this place, the inhabitants of which, on the death of their chief, returned to their countrymen further down. On the left bank there were whole tracts covered with dead poplars, which had been killed by the fires caused by the Indians in the forest and prairie. We soon saw the white buildings of Mr.

Cabanne's trading post, which we saluted with some guns, and then landed.

We were very glad to see, at the landing-place, a number of Omaha and Oto Indians, and some few Joways, who, in different groups, looked at us with much curiosity; all these people were wrapped in buffalo skins, with the hairy side outwards; some of them wore blankets, which they sometimes paint with coloured stripes. In their features they did not materially differ from those Indians we had already seen, but they were not so well formed as the Saukies. Many of them were much marked with the small pox. Several had only one eye; their faces were marked with red stripes: some had painted their foreheads and chins red; others, only stripes down the cheeks. Few only had aquiline noses, and their eyes were seldom drawn down at the corners; generally speaking, their eyes are small, though there are exceptions. They wore their hair loosely hanging down their backs; none had shaved their heads; and, on the whole, they looked very dirty and miserable. The countenances of the women were ugly, but not quite so broad and flat as those of the Foxes and Saukies; their noses, in general, rather longer. Their dress did not differ much from that of those Indians, and they wore the same strings of wampum in their ears. The men carried in their hands their tobacco pipes, made of red or black stone (a hardened clay), adorned with rings of lead or tin, which they generally obtain from the Sioux, at a high price.

This trading post consists of a row of buildings of various sizes, stores, and the houses of the _engages_, married to Indian women, among which was that of Mr. Cabanne, which is two stories high. He is a proprietor of the American Fur Company, and director of this station.[228] He received us very kindly, and conducted us over his premises. From the balcony of his house was a fine view over the river, but the prospect is still more interesting from the hills which rise at the back of the settlement. Between the buildings runs a small stream, with high banks, which rises from a pleasant valley, in which there are plantations of maize for the support of the inhabitants. Mr.

Cabanne had planted fifteen acres of land with this invaluable grain, which yield, annually, 2,000 bushels of that corn, the land here being extremely fertile. The banks of the stream are covered with fine high trees, and many of the plants were in flower, especially the beautiful blue lychnis, the white oak, &c. A high wind prevailed throughout the day, but, within doors, the weather was warm, 78 at four o'clock. Our vessel remained here the whole day, and we were besieged all the time by Indians, who caused a very disagreeable heat in our cabins. Among [pg. 131] them was a Joway, called Nih-Yu-Mah-Ni (_la pluie qui marche_), who sold us several articles of his dress. Mr. Bodmer made a sketch of the boy of an Omaha, whom the father first daubed with red paint. He took vermilion in the palm of the hand, spat upon it, and then rubbed it in the boy's face. The head of this boy was shaved quite smooth, excepting a tuft of hair in front, and another at the back.[229] A number of men and women stood round, looking on with eager curiosity. I showed the Indians a rattlesnake in brandy, and they gave me to understand that a child had lately been bitten by one of these animals, and died in consequence. The little child, lately wounded by the Joways, was brought to us; the wounds, though they had not been dressed and covered, were almost healed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: An Omaha boy]

We spent a very pleasant evening with Mr. Cabanne; sitting in the balcony of his house, we enjoyed the delightful temperature and the fine scene around us. The splendid sky was illumined by the full moon; silence reigned around, interrupted only by the noise of the frogs, and the incessant cry of the whip-poor-will, in the neighbouring woods, till the Indians a.s.sembled round the house, and, at the request of Mr. Cabanne, performed a dance. About twenty Omahas joined in it; the princ.i.p.al dancer, a tall man, wore on his head an immense feather cap, like those of the Camacans in Brazil, but larger and of less elaborate workmanship, composed of long tail and wing feathers of owls and birds of prey;[230] in his hand he held his bow and arrows. The upper part of his body was covered only with a whitish skin, which fell over the right shoulder and breast, and was adorned with bunches of feathers; his arms, face, and the uncovered parts of his body, were painted with white stripes and spots. His trousers were marked with dark cross stripes, and trimmed at the ankles with a great quant.i.ty of fringe. He also wore an ap.r.o.n. He had a savage and martial appearance, to which his athletic figure greatly contributed. Another man, [pg. 132]

who was younger, of a very muscular frame--the upper part of whose body was naked, but painted white--had in his hand a war club, striped with white, ornamented at the handle with the skin of a polecat.[231]

He wore on his head a feather cap, like that already described. These two men, and several youths and boys, formed a line, opposite to which other Indians sat down in a row; in the middle of which row the drum was beat in quick time. Several men beat time with war clubs hung with bells; and the whole company (most of whom were painted white) sung, "Hi! hi! hi!" or "Hey! hey! hey!" &c., sometimes shouting aloud. The manner of the dance was thus: bending their bodies forward, they leaped up with both feet at once, not rising high from the ground, and stamped loudly, while the drum beat in quick time, and their arms were rattled and occasionally lifted up into the air. Thus they leaped opposite to each other, with great exertion, for about an hour; they perspired violently, till the usual presents, a quant.i.ty of tobacco stalks, were thrown on the ground before them. This dance was very interesting to me, especially in connection with the beautiful evening scene on the Missouri. The bright light of the moon illumined the extensive and silent wilderness; before us, the grotesque band of Indians, uttering their wild cry, together with the loud call of the night raven, vividly recalled to my mind scenes which I had witnessed in Brazil. We did not return to our vessel till late at night, after taking leave of our kind host, and of Major Pilcher; the former was on the point of returning to St. Louis, leaving the superintendence of the trading post to Major Pilcher.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Omaha war club]

The Omahas, or, as some erroneously call them, Mahas, were formerly a numerous tribe, but have been much reduced by frequent wars with their neighbours; the smallpox, too, has committed dreadful ravages, and there are now but few vigorous young men among them. Their language differs from that of the Otos, Missouris, and Joways; there is, however, an affinity between them. The best and most complete accounts of the Omahas are given by Mr. Say in his Narrative of Major Long's "Expedition to the Rocky Mountains," to which I would refer my readers.[232]

On the 5th of May, the Yellow Stone left Cabanne's trading house; the weather was warm [pg. 133] and serene; we pa.s.sed the mouth of Boyer's Creek on the east bank, where the Missouri makes a bend, and saw the ruins of the former cantonment, or fort, at Council Bluffs.[233] This military post was established, in the year 1819, for 1,000 men, but, in fact, there were now only 500 men of the regiment in garrison at Jefferson barracks. In the year 1827, these troops were withdrawn and stationed at Leavenworth; the fort, or, rather, the barracks, formed a quadrangle, with a bastion or blockhouse, in two of the angles. At present there were only the stone chimneys, and, in the centre, a brick storehouse under roof. Everything of value had been carried away by the Indians. We were told that numerous rattlesnakes are found among the ruins. The situation of Council Bluffs is said to have been much more favourable for observing the Indians than that at Leavenworth; and it was even conjectured that this post will be again occupied. The military station was at first placed a little further inland, but the scurvy carried off 300 of the garrison in one winter.

Mr. Sandford, who had rejoined us, once found here the large grinders of a mastodon, which are now in the possession of General Clarke, at St. Louis.

At twelve at noon, we ran aground, but happily sustained no damage, at a dangerous place, where the left bank was blocked up with many snags, and which is called the Devil's Race-ground. The country was low and uniform till we again reached the hills, which were rather bare of wood, but of grotesque form, and covered with a fine verdant carpet.

Near the mouth of the Soldier River, an _engage_ met us, who brought letters from the a.s.siniboin steamer. We went on pretty well till the evening, when we got upon a sand bank, and then made the vessel fast for the night; after which our people exerted themselves to get off the bank, in the midst of a storm of thunder and lightning.

The steamer was got afloat by daybreak on the 6th. On both sides there was alluvial soil, thickly covered with willows and poplars, mixed, in some places, with other trees. Here we saw, on a sand bank, two large wolves, which seemed to look at us with surprise. The Omaha Indians hunt on both banks of this part of the river; they are said to be the most indolent, dull, unintellectual, and cowardly of the Missouri Indians. At two in the afternoon we landed on the prairie, which was covered with tall trees, and forty or fifty of our men immediately began to hew down wood for fuel; there was abundance of gra.s.s, but not a single flower, which was caused by the prairie having been set on fire; black burnt wood was scattered about, and the ground itself was discoloured in places by the effects of the fire.

From this place the country becomes more and more level, and bare of wood, and the eye roves over the boundless prairie. Behind a willow-tree I saw some remains of Indian huts, in front of one of which a pole was set up, with a piece of red cloth attached to the top. The forest, which had been inundated, was likewise dest.i.tute of flowers; numerous traces of stags were everywhere seen. During the night a man deserted, whom Mr. Mc Kenzie had some time before put under arrest for having uttered vehement threats. The 7th day of May, the anniversary of our [pg. 134] departure from Germany, was very fine. We soon reached the chain of hills on the left bank, at a place where the yellow limestone rock was nearly perpendicular, and in which innumerable swallows had built their nests; these are called Wood's Hills, and do not extend very far. On one of them we saw a small, conical mound, which is the grave of the celebrated Omaha chief, Washinga-Sahba (the blackbird). In James's Narrative of Major Long's Expedition, is a circ.u.mstantial account of this remarkable and powerful chief, who was a friend to the white man: he contrived, by means of a.r.s.enic, to make himself feared and dreaded, and pa.s.sed for a magician, because he put his enemies and rivals out of the way when it suited him. An epidemical smallpox carried him off, with a great part of his nation, in the year 1800, and he was buried, sitting upright upon a live mule, at the top of a green hill on Wakonda Creek. When dying, he gave orders that they should bury him on that hill, with his face turned to the country of the white men.[234] The Omahas have been since so reduced by their enemies, the Sioux, Saukies, and Foxes, that they are now quite powerless and insignificant, not being able to muster above 300 or 400 warriors. Washinga-Sahba was so feared by his own people, that n.o.body ventured to wake him when he slept: it is said that they used then to tickle his nose with a blade of gra.s.s. The present chief of the Omahas is Ongpa-Tanga (the great elk), of whom G.o.dman, in his Natural History, has given a good portrait. He lives on the Horn River, which falls into the La Platte, about twenty miles above its mouth.[235]

On the following day (the 8th of May) we came to Floyd's Grave, where the sergeant of that name was buried by Lewis and Clarke. The bank on either side is low. The left is covered with poplars; on the right, behind the wood, rises a hill like the roof of a building, at the top of which Floyd is buried. A short stick marks the place where he is laid, and has often been renewed by travellers when the fires in the prairie have destroyed it. A little further up is Floyd's River, and on Floyd's Hills there were a few fir trees, over which the kite hovered in the air.[236] About half a league beyond Floyd's River is the mouth of the Big Sioux River, interesting from the circ.u.mstance of its being the boundary of the territory of the Dacota, or Sioux nation. Its breadth, at the mouth, is about sixty paces, and it is said to be navigable by Mackinaw boats for 100 miles. About 120 miles up this river, a tribe of the Sioux reside, which is known by the name of Wahch-Pekute; this, and another tribe of this people on the Mississippi, and near Lake Pepin, are the only ones of their nation who plant maize; all the other hordes of the Sioux are hunters. The territory of these people formerly extended further to the south, till the before-mentioned treaty for the purchase of land was concluded with the Indians.[237]

At noon, with a temperature of 75, there was such a violent wind, that the fine sand from the banks penetrated into the innermost parts of our vessel; the broad river was so agitated by the wind, that the pilot could not distinguish the sand banks, and we were obliged to lie to. In a small meadow in the woods we saw the giant footsteps of the elks, and likewise of the common [pg. 135] stag, which we would willingly have followed had not a rising tempest compelled us to return on board. Vivid lightning flashed in the horizon, the rain soon poured down in torrents, and at night a storm arose which, at midnight, raged with such fury, that we might have felt some alarm, had not our vessel been so well protected by the bank. The storm frequently forced open the doors of the upper cabin, and the rain beat into the room. Towards daybreak the tempest returned with increased violence; the flashes of lightning and the claps of thunder were incessant during the twilight, and everybody thought that the vessel must be struck.

The 9th of May set in with rain, a cloudy sky, and high wind; the thermometer, before so high, fell, at half-past seven o'clock, to 56.

When the storm had pa.s.sed over, our vessel quitted the place where it had taken shelter. We pa.s.sed along wild, desolate banks, then a green prairie, by a chain of steep hills, partly bare, partly covered with forests, or with isolated fir trees and picturesque ravines, with dark shadows, into which the close thicket scarcely allowed the eye to penetrate. We here saw, for the first time, a plant which now became more and more common; namely, the buffalo-berry-bush (_Sheperdia argentea_, Nutt.), with pale, bluish-green, narrow leaves. At the mouth of the Joway River, which runs into the Missouri, on the south bank, at a very acute angle, clay-slate appeared to stand out on the bluffs, divided into narrow, horizontal strata, the lower of which were blackish-blue, and those above of yellowish-red colour.[238] Our hunters and wood-cutters landed, on which occasion we lost a hound, which had strayed too far into the forest. Five or six hundred paces further up, we saw, among the thickets of willow and poplar, an old Indian wigwam,[239] near which the red willow, mixed with the common willow, was in blossom. The thermometer, which had been at 56 in the morning, rose at ten o'clock, when the sun broke through the clouds.

We frequently observed the wild geese, which endeavoured to take their young, of which they never had more than four or six, to some place on sh.o.r.e, where they would be safe from us. When we came very near, the mother fluttered anxiously to a little distance, and called them to her.

We continued our voyage, but soon lay to at the prairie, on the right bank, because Mr. Mc Kenzie wished to form a plantation at this place.

The whole plain was covered with high, dry gra.s.s. On the bank of the river there was a fine border of tall timber trees, in which the turtle-dove cooed, and flocks of blackbirds were flying about. The hills of the prairie were covered with the finest verdure, and the singular forms of the hills afforded us an interesting subject of observation on the otherwise uniform appearance of the country. We halted for the night near the high trees that bordered the prairie, where there were numbers of ducks and plovers. As soon as it was dark, the young men set fire to the dry gra.s.s of the prairie, to give us the pleasure of seeing how the fire spread, but the attempt did not fully succeed, because there was [pg. 136] no wind. Mr. Mc Kenzie left some men here, with agricultural implements, to make a plantation; among them was one Francois Roi, of Rheims, whose name gave occasion to many innocent jokes, and we deliberated what name should be given to the kingdom he was going to found.

On the following day, the 10th, we had been exactly four weeks since we left St. Louis. At the spot where we now were, it is said that large herds of buffaloes are seen in the winter, but we had not yet met with one of these animals. The character of the country was much changed; it is, for the most part, naked, and without woods. The trees which are found here are no longer lofty and vigorous, as on the Lower Missouri; yet the wild vines are still seen climbing on the bushes, though this, too, entirely ceases further up the river. Near the mouth of Vermilion Creek, the green hills of the prairie approach very near the water; and here we saw, on the back of one of the hills, a grave surrounded with poles, which was that of some Sioux Indians, who had been killed by lightning in a violent thunder-storm. At the mouth of the stream we saw wild ducks and geese, of which a pair of the latter, with six young ones, anxiously endeavoured to escape us. The female remained faithfully with her young ones, while the male flew away.

The morning of the following day (the 11th of May) brought us to the mouth of Jacques River, which was concealed from our view by a sand bank. The steep banks, which in Lewis and Clarke's map are called Calumet Bluffs, have deep ravines, and are of an ash-grey colour at the base, and yellow above. We reached the island called by those travellers Sego Island, where we found very little water, and then came to Lewis and Clarke's White Bear Bluffs, of which Mr. Bodmer made a drawing.[240] At noon the thermometer was at 63. After dinner we saw, at a distance, the a.s.siniboin steamer, with which we came up in half an hour. It had not been able to proceed any further for want of a sufficient depth of water. After we had saluted the master of the vessel, Mr. Pratte, son of the General of that name at St. Louis, and a member of the American Fur Company, we went on board his vessel.[241] In this steamer there were two cabins, much lighter and more pleasant than those in the Yellow Stone; the stern cabin had ten berths, and the fore cabin twenty-four, and between decks was the large apartment distinct for the _engages_. The crew had lately killed a she-bear--the young ones were alive on board. While we were visiting the a.s.siniboin, we suddenly perceived, on the left or southern bank, a number of Indians, between fifteen and twenty of whom rolled down the hills. As our people did not seem very desirous of having anything to do with them, and contented themselves with looking at them through a telescope, we took advantage of the fine weather to make an excursion into the prairie.

The chain of hills, bounding the valley of the Missouri on the north, crossed the verdant prairie, in a straight line, at a distance of about 1,000 paces from the river. The appearance of this chain was singular, with perpendicular, yellow, calcareous walls, which indicated that the [pg. 137] river must, formerly, have flowed in that direction; and the cylindrical hollow marked the ancient bed of the river. In the prairie itself there were many pools of water, and we found several interesting plants, among which were some with long roots like carrots, especially the yellow flowering _Batschia longiflora_ (Pursh.), and the _Oxitropis Lamberti B._ The great yellow-breasted lark (_Sturnella_, Vieill.), was everywhere seen in pairs, and its short, coy call, and its pleasing, whistling note, were heard from every side. Besides these, we saw the prairie hen, and the great long-billed curlews (_Numenius longirostris_), of which we shall speak hereafter. Skeletons of buffaloes were scattered in the plain, especially many skulls, but very few of which were entire.

When I returned to the vessel, I found there three Punca Indians, the chief of the tribe Shudegacheh,[242] his brother Pa.s.sitopa,[243] and Ha-cha-ga. They were all robust, good-looking men, tall, and well-proportioned, with strongly-marked features, high cheek-bones, aquiline noses, and animated dark hazel eyes. Their hair hung down as far as the shoulders, and part of it lower; that of the chief was shorter, and fastened together in a plait. The upper part of the body of these Indians was naked, only they wore round the neck an ornamented band, and had a large slit in their ears: from those of the chief an ornament of sh.e.l.l work was suspended. His beard below the chin consisted of scanty hairs, which had been suffered to grow very long.[244] They wore a narrow bracelet of white metal round the wrist, very plain, leather pantaloons, and large buffalo robes; the chief, however, was wrapped in a white blanket.

The Puncas, as they are now universally called, or as some travellers formerly called them, Poncaras, or Poncars, the Pons of the French, were originally a branch of the Omahas, and speak nearly the same language. They have, however, been long separated from them, and dwell on both sides of Running-water River, and on Punca Creek, which Lewis and Clarke call Poncara. They formerly lived, like the Omahas, in clay huts, at the mouth of the river, but their powerful enemies, the Sioux and the p.a.w.nees, destroyed their villages, and they have since adopted the mode of life of the former, living more generally in tents made of skins, and changing their place from time to time. Their external appearance and dress do not much differ from those of the Omahas. They are said to have been brave warriors, but have been greatly reduced by war and the smallpox. According to Dr. Morse's report, they numbered, in 1822, 1,750 in all; at present the total amount of their warriors is estimated at about 300.[245] The band of them, which [pg. 138] we met with here, has set up eight or nine leather tents, at the mouth of Basil Creek,[246] on a fine forest.[247] They plant maize, which they sell to the Sioux, but they had neglected to cultivate this grain for about three years, and obtained it from the Omahas; they, however, intended to grow it again themselves.

As Major Bean was agent of the Puncas, they came to speak to him. The chief had formerly received, through the agent, a large silver medal of President Madison, which he wore suspended round his neck. On the face of all these medals, which are given as a distinction to the Indian chiefs, there is the bust of the President, and, on the reverse, two clasped hands, with a suitable inscription.[248]

Shudegacheh had a remarkably intelligent countenance, and fine manly deportment. He sat down by us, and smoked, with his comrades, the only pipe that they had with them; but, according to Indian custom, several pipes soon circulated in the company. The evening was very cool, and, as some of the Indians had no leggins, we took them into our cabin, where their portraits were drawn, after they had been regaled with pork, bread, and tea, which Mr. Mc Kenzie gave them. One of the Indians made me a present of his wooden war-club, which was painted reddish-brown;[249] another, with a pair of shoes, made of elk leather, which were dyed black with the juice of white walnut. These people were not armed, as they had come merely on a visit, and had left their best effects behind. Among them was a French Canadian, named Primeau, who has long lived among them. He acted as interpreter, and communicated to me some words of the Punca language.[250]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Punca war club]

The morning of the 12th of May was cold, there having been a h.o.a.r frost during the night. The Indians sat upon the bank, wrapped in their buffalo skins, as represented in the subjoined woodcut.[251]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Punca Indians in buffalo robes]

[pg. 139] While the Yellow Stone remained stationary, the a.s.siniboin attempted to pa.s.s the shallow place on the river, during which time the hunters went into the prairie. The Indians had a conference with their agent, in which the chief expressed a wish that their great father (the President) would send them several articles, particularly agricultural implements. The att.i.tude and gestures of the speaker were graceful; his right arm and shoulder were bare, while he gesticulated with his hand; and his fine, manly countenance was very expressive. As he had not put on his leggins, we observed, on his muscular calves, two tattooed stripes crossing each other, X; otherwise, he was neither tattooed nor painted. Some of these Indians had been inoculated with the smallpox by a surgeon, whom Major Bean had taken to them the year before, and who had inoculated 2,600 Indians of different tribes. Many of them had manifested distrust on this occasion; and, when he offered to perform the operation, said, "Now we are well; if we should become sick it will be time enough to submit to the operation." Shudegacheh had on the upper part of his arm a large, round scar, which he is said to have burnt into his flesh with his tobacco-pipe, on the death of a relation. Major Bean presented to the Indians, in the name of the Government, tobacco, powder, and ball, and the chief received a fine blanket. Mr. Mc Kenzie observed to him, that "the Puncas furnished too few skins, and did not plant maize enough; it was not possible to purchase anything of them;" to which he replied, that "there was no unity among his people; that they lived too scattered, and, therefore, he could not superintend them, and keep them to work." At noon, the thermometer being at 67, our hunters returned, without having seen anything of consequence, except a couple of large curlews. The boats, which had been sent out to take soundings, likewise came back, and great exertions were made to lighten the steamer, by transferring part of the cargo to the Maria keel-boat. At length, at two o'clock, we were able to weigh anchor, and run awhile down the river, which was done with such rapidity that the Indians became giddy, and sat down on the floor. In this manner we turned round a sand bank, and proceeded upwards, along the south coast of the river, and in twenty minutes were opposite the huts of the Punca Indians. They lay in the shade of a forest, like white cones, and, in front of them, a sand bank extended into the river, which was separated from the land by a narrow channel. The whole troop was a.s.sembled on the edge of the bank, and it was amusing to see how the motley group crowded together, wrapped in brown buffalo skins, white and red blankets--some naked, of a deep brown colour. The little children, with their protuberant bellies,[252] and their legs, of a dark brown colour, carrying bows and arrows in their hands, were running along the beach, or cowering like little monkeys, while the men walked about, very gravely, with their weapons in their hands. We landed our Indian visitors on the sand bank; the boat brought back some skins, and we afterwards saw Primeau, with the Indians, wade through [pg. 140] the channel. A little further up we witnessed a great prairie fire, on the left bank. The flames rose from the forest to the height of 100 feet--fiery smoke filled the air: it was a splendid sight! A whirlwind had formed a remarkable towering column of smoke, which rose, in a most singular manner, in graceful undulations, to the zenith. Afterwards we came to steep hills, behind which is Manoel's Creek, so called from Manoel Lisa, a Spaniard, who formerly carried on the fur trade in these parts.[253] Towards evening we were near the a.s.siniboin steamer, which lay before us, and halted in the vicinity of Basil Creek, where the Puncas formerly dwelt, numbers of whose graves are seen upon the hills. The trunks of trees in the river had much injured our paddles.

FOOTNOTES:

[209] Lewis and Clark apply this term with different orthography (Waucarba, wacandda) to the island above Fort Leavenworth now known as Kickapoo. The river is here compressed into a narrow s.p.a.ce, above which it widens considerably. See Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, i, p. 64.--ED.

[210] For this detachment under Captain Martin, see our volume xiv, p.

175.--ED.

[211] The creek was so named by Lewis and Clark because its mouth was pa.s.sed by them on July 4, 1804. It is a small stream entering the Missouri near the boundaries of Doniphan and Atchison counties, Kansas. According to Lewis and Clark this was the second old Kansa village, the first being just above Kickapoo Island. If the Spanish ever had a post in this vicinity, it must have been in the capacity of succeeding (after 1764) to the possession of the old French post among the Kansa Indians. See on this subject, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, i, pp. 64-68, and notes.--ED.

[212] Joseph Robidoux, whose trading post was on the site of the future city of St. Joseph, which took its name from its founder. The Robidoux were a family of fur-traders. The father, Joseph, came from Montreal to Kaskaskia, and having won a competence removed to St.

Louis, where at his house the first territorial legislature of Missouri met in 1812. Joseph, jr., was born in 1783, and early entered the fur-trade. Lewis and Clark met "young Mr. Robidoux" on their return journey (1806), and scrutinized his license with some suspicion. Lewis also complained of the loyalty of the elder trader, saying that he enticed the Indians from their allegiance to the United States. The younger Robidoux lived for many years at the post where Maximilian met him--in 1868 dying at this place, where the city had already sprung up around him. See sketch in Joseph Ta.s.se, _Canadiens du Nord-Ouest_ (Montreal, 1878), ii, p. 131.--ED.

[213] The Joways had exchanged their blankets and other effects for brandy. White settlers have already established themselves fifteen or sixteen miles within the Indian territory, who make whisky, and sell it excessively cheap to the Indians, by which these people are ruined.

The distance is only eight miles from Roubedoux trading house to the Little Platte River; and between these two rivers and the high land, is the village of the Joways.--MAXIMILIAN.

[214] This is, doubtless, the same river which Bradbury, in his _Travels_, calls Naduet River.--MAXIMILIAN.

[215] For Captain Martin see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xiv, p. 175, note 142. Maximilian would here appear to be confused. Martin pa.s.sed the winter of 1818 to 1819 on Cow Island (see note 208, _ante_, p. 256). He had, however, a hunting camp in this vicinity.--ED.

[216] For the Oto, see Bradbury's _Travels_, our volume v, p. 74, note 42.--ED.

[217] Morgan's Island is just below Nemaha City, in the Nebraska county of the same name. Probably it took its t.i.tle from Colonel Willoughby Morgan, for whom see our volume xiv, p. 178, note 146. The trading post has not been identified, unless it were that of Crooks and McClellan, who once (1810-11) wintered in this region. See Brackenridge's _Journal_, volume vi of our series, p. 71.--ED.

[218] Lewis and Clark found the pa.s.sage across the narrows at this point but 300 yards. Changes have since occurred in the beds of both rivers. See our volume xiv, p. 217, note 166. The range of hills was aptly designated by the explorers as Bald Pated Prairie.--ED.

[219] Weeping Water Creek is a small stream paralleling the Platte in Ca.s.s County, Nebraska. The French form was "l'eau qui pleure."

Five Barrel Islands are laid down on early maps; with changes in the river's bed, they are now swept away.--ED.

[220] For a brief sketch of Fontenelle, see our volume xiv, p. 275, note 196.--ED.

[221] See Brackenridge's _Journal_, in our volume vi, p. 76, for the origin of this name. The Indian name of the chief--an Oto--is given by Lewis and Clark as "Sarnanona."--ED.