Travels in the Interior of North America Part 20

[292] See p. 323, for ill.u.s.tration of this Teton.--ED.

CHAPTER XIII

VOYAGE FROM FORT PIERRE, ON THE TETON RIVER, TO FORT CLARKE, NEAR THE VILLAGES OF THE MANDANS, FROM JUNE 5TH TO JUNE 19TH

Singular conformation of the Country--Traces of Fire--Chayenne Island and River--Former abode of the Arikkaras--The Woodcutters alarmed by the Indians--Cabris or Antelopes--Wolves and other Animals--Little Chayenne River--Abundance of Game--Traces of the Beaver, and of the breaking-up of the Ice--Moreau's River--Grand or Wetarko River--Rampart River--The two abandoned Villages of the Arikkaris--La b.u.t.te au Gres--La b.u.t.te de Chayenne--Murder of Whites by the Arikkaras--Cannon-ball River, with its Sand-stone b.a.l.l.s--Heart River--La b.u.t.te Carree--Interview with the Yanktonans--Fort Clarke, near the Mandan Villages--The Mandans--The Crows.

Our departure was delayed till ten o'clock on the 5th of June, when three guns were fired, and we left the fort. The a.s.siniboin was perfectly equipped for the voyage up the river, and had sixty men on board. Mr. Mc Kenzie had remained behind in the fort, but overtook us at noon with Mr. Laidlow, who was desirous to accompany us a little way. We had stopped at an island called, by the Canadians, Isle au Village de Terre, because, on the other side of the channel which divides it from the continent, there was formerly a village of the Sioux. This island was covered with an almost impenetrable thicket of narrow-leaved willows, which was so dense and entangled, that one of our large dogs caught an elk calf alive; we heard its moaning, but were not able to find it. The next morning the thermometer was at 66. We were obliged to unload some goods, and to lighten our vessel, and our hunters brought us many interesting objects, particularly several birds, among which was the grey butcher-bird (_Lanius excubitoroides_), of which Richardson gives a representation, and which we had not met with before. Though antelopes and a white wolf had approached very closely to them, our hunters had not been able to kill any large animals. The addition to our Flora was very considerable. The hills all consisted of clammy, greasy, sterile clay, which was burnt on the surface, and covered with pieces of stone; and in many places we observed on them round ma.s.ses, which looked as if they had been [pg. 164] melted and formed by fire. We stayed here till noon on the 7th of June, when we again proceeded with an agreeable temperature of 77. We ran aground several times, and at last took in our goods, which we had deposited on the left bank. This delay gave us time to make an excursion. In company with Mr. Bodmer, I ascended the slippery, very steep eminences along the river, the singular shapes of which often appeared to form perfect craters. The earth and stones everywhere indicated that they had undergone change by fire.

The earth was hard, friable, with many crevices--the stones brown, blackish, and often looking like scoriae. This clay, when wet, is exceedingly clammy and tough. The conical summits, most of which were perfectly round and pyramidal, were most singularly formed. At the top there were always very regular, parallel, horizontal rings; the lower parts of the pyramid had perpendicular furrows, or clefts, as the annexed woodcut shows.[293] These conical hills have been evidently elevated by fire, so that many crater-like hollows are seen between and near them. In the furrows and clefts of these singular hills, many low plants grow, and form regular net-like green stripes on the bare black clay. These lines, intersecting each other, divide the surface into regular beds. The lower part of these eminences is generally covered with plants, particularly gra.s.ses, while the upper is bare, or merely crossed with the transverse stripes of verdure, and often they are entirely bare. The climbing up these high, slippery ascents in the heat of the day was rather fatiguing. When we came into the clefts between the pyramids, we found the ground, in general, slimy, and so adhesive that we were almost compelled to leave our shoes behind. In such places, some old red cedars, groups of the bird cherry, ashes, roses, &c., were nourished by the moisture. Near the hills, and in the plain, a cactus, with roundish, flat joints, grew in abundance. It was not yet in blossom, and I cannot say whether it is the plant taken, by Nuttall, for _Cactus opuntia_; probably it is _Cactus ferox_. We found many traces of antelopes and of herds of buffaloes. The latter had everywhere trodden broad paths on their way to the river to drink. No beast of the chase presented itself as an object for our rifles, and, as the sun was going down, we set out on our return. On the way we [pg. 165] found the horns of an elk, with twelve antlers, and it was late before we reached the a.s.siniboin. On the 8th of June, in the morning, we received a farewell visit from Mr. Laidlow, and then saw Mr. Fontenelle's party, consisting of sixty men and 185 horses, pa.s.s along over the hills. They rode in our sight through the stream called, by the Anglo-Americans, Breechcloth Creek, and, by the Sioux, Tscheh-ke-na-ka-oah-ta-pah.[294] This stream, as well as most of the small rivers of the prairie, not excepting even the Little Sioux River, have, in general, a brackish taste when the water is low.

Frequently taking soundings, we proceeded but slowly in the shallow Missouri, and, early in the afternoon, reached the place where the timber for building Fort Pierre had been felled. From this place it is fifteen miles to the mouth of the Chayenne River. Finding some cords of wood ready piled up, we took them on board. At sunset, a high wind arose, so that we could not reach the mouth of the Chayenne till about seven o'clock on the following morning, after pa.s.sing Chayenne Island.

The country about the mouth of this river is open, the chain of hills low, and the banks covered with forests. At its mouth, and for some way up on both sides of the Missouri, the Arikkaras formerly dwelt, till they were driven further up by the Sioux, and, at length, wholly retired from the banks of the Missouri.[295] If we follow the course of the Chayenne for a couple of hundred miles up to the Black Hills, we come to the dwellings of the Chayenne Indians, who are hostile to most of the tribes of the Missouri. They are said to be tall, slender men, with long, narrow faces, and differing in their language from all the other tribes in the country. They formerly lived at the mouth of Chayenne River. They affirm that they came to the Missouri from the north-east.[296] Dr. Morse states their number at 3,250 souls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hill of baked clay]

We made but slow progress to-day; and at two o'clock, after our boats had taken soundings in all directions, we remained fast aground, and had burnt all our fuel, so that we had to send wood-cutters into the forests on the left bank. In about half an hour the boats suddenly returned, bringing word that hostile Indians had been seen in the forest, and the wood-cutters had, therefore, refused to begin their work. To give them courage, and to protect them during their work, all hands on board, that could be spared, armed themselves with rifles and muskets, and, to the number of twenty-six persons, immediately went on sh.o.r.e. They formed a line of outposts behind the trees, under whose protection the wood-cutters pursued their work. But they were not disturbed, for the Indians had retired, or it had been a false alarm.

We lay to for the night on the west bank; a strong wind had risen, with a pretty high temperature, which continued till the following morning, the 10th of June. Early on that day we reached an island, which appears to be that called, by Lewis and Clarke, Caution Island, where a couple of white wolves gazed at us without appearing to be at all afraid. In the afternoon, we came to the mouth of Little Chayenne River, on the east bank.[297] Elks are very numerous in these parts; on the following morning we saw a herd of, at least, thirty of these large animals, as well as a great many wolves, often three or four together, most of them white. The wood, on the high bank, bore marks of [pg. 166] the breaking up of the ice, the bark of the trees being peeled off eight or ten feet above ground. At noon, Mr. Bodmer had shot a very large male antelope, which we despatched some of the people to bring on board; other hunters, who had gone out early to the east bank, made signs that they had killed some game; and the boat which we sent to them returned in the evening with four large elks. In the thick forest, on the left bank, were many traces of beavers, which are more numerous hereabouts than in most of the other parts on the Missouri, because the trappers (beaver catchers) did not venture to place their traps in the territory of the hostile Arikkara Indians.

Opposite to the mouth of Otter Creek,[298] in the woods and thickets of the west bank, behind which rose the green hills of the prairie, there were many elks, which were frightened by the noise of the steamer. In this forest we found an uninhabited loghouse, 180 steps from which runs a pretty river, called Moreau's River, from a man of that name who pa.s.sed the night here with a Chayenne Indian woman, who had been taken by the Arikkaras and escaped.[299] She stabbed him while he slept, and fled on his horse to her own nation. This river is called the southern boundary of the territory of the Arikkaras, though they often make excursions far beyond it. We stopped at the above-mentioned loghouse to cut wood, but it was found more convenient to pull down part of the old building and take it away. On the morning of the 12th, our cannon, muskets and rifles were loaded with ball, because we were approaching the villages of the hostile Arikkaras. We came to Grand River, called in Lewis and Clarke's map Wetarko River.

As we here touched the bottom, we crossed to the east bank, and in half an hour reached Rampart River,[300] which issues from a narrow chain of hills, called Les Ramparts; and soon afterwards an island covered with willows, which, on the large special map of Lewis and Clarke, has an Arikkara village, of which there are now no traces.[301] From the hills we had a fine prospect over the bend of the river, on which the villages of the Arikkaras are situated, and which we reached after a short run of only two miles.

The two villages of this tribe are on the west bank, very near each other, but separated by a small stream. They consist of a great number of clay huts, round at the top, with a square entrance in front, and the whole surrounded with a fence of stakes, which were much decayed, and in many places thrown down. It is not quite a year since these villages had been wholly abandoned, because their inhabitants, who were extremely hostile to the Whites, killed so many Americans, that they themselves foresaw that they would be severely chastised by the United States, and therefore preferred to emigrate. To this cause was added, a dry, unproductive season, when the crops entirely failed; as well as the absence of the herds of buffaloes, which hastened their removal. It is said that these Indians now roam about on the road from St. Louis to Santa Fe, and the late attacks on the caravans are ascribed to them.[302] Mr. Bodmer made an accurate drawing of these deserted villages. The princ.i.p.al chief of the Arikkaras, when they retired from [pg. 167] the Missouri, was called Starapat[303] (the little hawk, with b.l.o.o.d.y claws), and generally La Main pleine de Sang, who will be mentioned in the sequel.

The Arikkaras, or, as they are called by the Mandans, Rikkaras or Rees, Les Ris of the Canadians, are a branch of the p.a.w.nees, from whom they long since separated. Their language, which is very easy for a German to p.r.o.nounce, is said to be a proof of this affinity. Their number is supposed to be still 4000 souls, among whom 500 or 600 are able to bear arms. The wife of La Chapelle, the interpreter for that nation, was an Arikkara; she had a round full countenance, and rather delicate small features, with a very light yellowish complexion. It is affirmed that the women of this nation are the handsomest on the Missouri. Manoel Lisa, a well-known fur trader, had formerly built a trading house in this country, of which nothing now remains; though the place is still called Manoel Lisa's Fort.[304] The prairie was to-day more verdant and pleasant than yesterday. A mountain, with some remarkable summits, called La b.u.t.te au Gres, gave it some diversity.

Here we suddenly saw, on the bank, a man, who fired his musket three times, and at first took him for an Indian; but another soon appeared, in a small leathern boat, and we learnt that both were _engages_ or travellers of the Company, who were dispatched from the Upper Missouri, with letters for Mr. Mc Kenzie. We took them in, and the little leathern boat was left lying on the beach. In the distance, on the left, there was a chain of mountains, with numerous summits, near which Cannon-ball River flows; and, nearer to the Missouri, a chain of flat hills, level at the top, with many clefts, called La b.u.t.te de Chayenne.[305] In this neighbourhood we saw a high tree in a poplar wood, entirely covered with turkey buzzards, as in Brazil; towards evening we pa.s.sed Beaver Creek (Riviere au Castor), the Warananno[306]

of Lewis and Clarke.[307]

On the 14th, in the morning, the sky was clouded, and the wind very bleak. On the west bank of the river a ravine was shown us, where, seven or eight years before, the Arikkaras had shot seven white men, who were towing a loaded Mackinaw boat up the river.

After we had pa.s.sed an island, which is not marked in Lewis and Clarke's map, we observed two isolated table mountains in the prairie, on the west bank, which are not far from Cannon-ball River; and we then came to an aperture in the chain of hills, from which this river, which was very high, issues.[308] On the north side of the mouth, there was a steep, yellow clay wall; and on the southern, a flat, covered with poplars and willows. This river has its name from the singular regular sand-stone b.a.l.l.s which are found in its banks, and in those of the Missouri in its vicinity. They are of various sizes, from that of a musket ball to that of a large bomb, and lie irregularly on the bank, or in the strata, from which they often project to half their thickness [pg. 168] when the river has washed away the earth; they then fall down, and are found in great numbers on the bank. Such sand-stone b.a.l.l.s are met with in many places on the Upper Missouri; and former travellers have spoken of them. Many of them are rather elliptical, others are more flattened, and others flat on one side, and rather convex on the other. Of the perfectly spherical b.a.l.l.s, I observed some two feet in diameter. On the steep bank of the Missouri we saw many such b.a.l.l.s projecting from the narrow strata of the yellow sand-stone. A mile above the mouth of the Cannon-ball River, I saw no more of them. The Missouri had risen considerably; and, during the night, our people were obliged to keep off, with long poles, the trunks of trees that came floating down the river, without being able to prevent our receiving shocks which made the whole vessel tremble.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Antlers of deer]

On the 15th, the river had risen nine inches, and brought down much wood and foam, which was expected, for it is reckoned that, in the month of June, the Missouri is twice much swollen from the melting of the snow in the Rocky Mountains. The weather was serene and warm. As early as half-past five o'clock we saw, on the eastern bank, a chain of table hills, quite flat at the top, which extends to a pretty considerable distance. The river turns, to the westward, towards this interesting chain, which is called the Mountains of the Old Mandan Village, because, at the place where it is traversed by the river, such a village is said to have formerly stood. At nine o'clock we stopped on the western bank to repair the damage the vessel had sustained, which gave our hunters time to make an excursion a few miles into the prairie. Towards eleven o'clock the bell gave the signal for departure. The current of the river was now very strong, so that we could proceed but slowly. We came to the site of the old Mandan village, which was situated, at the foot of the hills, in a fine meadow near the river; some poles, that were still standing, were the only remains of it; there was no village here at the time of Lewis and Clarke's journey. Dry, yellow gra.s.s now covered the place which had once been the scene of busy Indian life: only a colony of swallows, that had built their nests in the neighbouring hills, gave some animation to the scene. We were now in the territory of the Indian tribe of the Mandans.[309] A little further up, we saw four of our hunters sitting on the level ground, which was covered with poplars; one of them, Ortubize, the Sioux interpreter, had killed a Virginian deer, and wounded a large elk, which had escaped; soon after, Messrs. Bodmer and Harvey[310] arrived quite fatigued and heated; they had gone a great way, and very nearly missed the steamer. Mr. Harvey had killed a black-tailed or mule deer.[311] They had met with four of these animals, and brought the [pg. 169] head and skin, with some of the flesh of the one killed. At the next place, where we reached the hills, an isolated summit rose above the rest, which is called Bald Eagle Head; these hills were beautifully illumined with the setting sun; we saw the white wolves trotting about on them, and some swans were swimming in the river. On the eastern bank we saw the ruins of an old trading house, and many traces of beavers. Near the mouth of Apple Creek we took in wood, and saw, on the left hand, the continuation of a chain of hills, of very singular forms.[312] The night swallows flew over the river at an early hour, and a large beaver appeared among the willows, which we shot at without success. The 16th of June set in with a high northeast wind, accompanied with rain. We soon reached the mouth of Heart River,[313]

but the wind drove our vessel towards the bank, and we were obliged to lay to at six o'clock; and it was not till the evening that the wind so far abated as to allow us to continue our voyage. The next morning, early, we came in sight of the b.u.t.te Carree.[314] In the willow thickets, on the bank, a very fine buffalo bull stood within half musket-shot; our people fired, but to no purpose. Soon after, we saw, in the prairie, two more very large animals of this species; and, in the course of the day, perceived a great number of them. The river brought down several dead buffalo cows. A little before the mouth of Lewis and Clarke's Hunting Creek,[315] the Missouri is half a mile broad, but soon becomes narrower. At eight o'clock we reached the place where a Mandan village had formerly stood.[316] The Sioux, from St. Peter's River, surprised it about forty years ago, killed most of the inhabitants, and destroyed the huts. The prairie hills formed, in this part, long, flat, naked ridges, perfectly resembling the walls of a fortress. The oaks and ashes, at the edge of the thickets, were but just [pg. 170] beginning to unfold their buds. It is probable, however, that they had suffered by a fire in the prairie. After we had pa.s.sed, alternately, prairies, with their hills, steep clay banks, and stripes of forest, we prosecuted our voyage till dusk, and lay to near a large willow thicket, on the eastern bank, when some musket shots were suddenly heard, the flashes of which were evidently seen. Mr. Mc Kenzie immediately supposed that it was an Indian war party, which people, in general, avoid, as they do not much trust them. We consulted what was to be done. Many shots followed, which made a very loud report, it being the custom of the Indians to use a great deal of powder; and we soon perceived, among the dark thickets, the figures of the Indians in their white buffalo robes. As n.o.body knew the intentions of these people, we looked forward to the meeting with some anxiety. The Indians broke silence first, calling out that they were come with peaceable intentions, and wished to be taken on board. Ortubize, the interpreter, telling us that they were Sioux, of the branch of the Yanktonans, we conferred some time with them, while a kind of bridge of planks was thrown across to the sh.o.r.e. Twenty-three, for the most part tall men, came on board, and were made to sit down, in a row, on one side of the large cabin. They came from a camp of the Yanktonans, consisting of 300 tents, which was in the neighbourhood; they generally lived on the banks of the Chayenne, which falls into the Red River, near the Devil's Lake, and the sources of St. Peter's River.[317] They had been hunting in the neighbourhood, and shot some buffaloes. The Yanktonans are represented as the most perfidious and dangerous of all the Sioux, and are stated frequently to have killed white men, especially Englishmen, in these parts. They generally come to the Missouri in the winter, but at this season it was a mere chance that we met with them. They were mostly robust, slender, well-shaped men, with long dishevelled hair, in which some wore feathers as indications of their exploits. The upper parts of their bodies were generally naked, merely covered with the buffalo's skin, or blanket; but their whole dress was plain and indifferent, as they only came out for a hunting excursion. The chief of these people was Tatanka-Kta (the dead buffalo), a man of middling stature, with a very dark brown, expressive countenance, and his hair bound together over the forehead in a thick knot; he was dressed in a uniform of red cloth, with blue facings and collar, and ornamented with silver tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, such as the traders are used to give, or to sell to such chiefs as they desire to distinguish. In his hand he had the wing of an eagle for a fan.

After we had smoked with these Yanktonans all round, the chief opened, before Mr. Mc Kenzie, a bag, with old pemmican (dry meat powdered), by way of present, and then rose to make a speech. After shaking hands, successively, with all persons present, he said, with much gesticulation, and in short sentences, between which he appeared to be reflecting, "that the whole body of the 300 huts was under the princ.i.p.al chief, Jawitschahka; that his people had been formerly on good terms with the Mandans, but had been at variance with them for about a year, on account of the murder of a Sioux, and now wished to make peace again; that with this view [pg. 171] they had sent three of their people to the Mandan villages, but did not know the result; and, therefore, were very desirous of the mediation of Mr. Mc Kenzie; that they happened to be near the river, when they perceived their father's ship, and were come to visit him; that to be able to supply the Fur Company with more beaver skins, they wished to have liberty to hunt on the Missouri, and on that account peace with the Mandans was of importance to them. They hoped, therefore, that Mr. Mc Kenzie would intercede for them, and allow them to accompany him." The answer was--"That if, like the other tribes of their nation, who lived constantly on the Missouri, they would, in future, conduct themselves properly, and never kill white men, he would attempt all that lay in his power; but he bade them consider what would be the best for them, whether to come on board with him, or to go alone by land to the Mandan villages, as he did not know how they might be received by the young men of the Mandan tribe." These Indians showed us a beautiful skin of a young, white, female buffalo, which they intended as a present for the Mandans, by whom such skins are highly valued. They had already sent them a white buffalo calf. Our visitors were afterwards taken into another apartment, where refreshments were set before them, and they were lodged for the night. The next morning, however, they went ash.o.r.e, and proceeded to Fort Clarke on foot.

During the night there was a violent tempest, and the next morning, the 18th June, was gloomy, damp, and windy. We left at an early hour the place of the meeting, from which it was twelve miles to Fort Clarke. The Yanktonans, keeping in sight of us, walked through the prairie, where they frightened a herd of ten or twelve wolves, which had long amused us by their gambols. At half-past seven we pa.s.sed a roundish island covered with willows, and reached then the wood on the western bank, in which the winter dwellings of part of the Mandan Indians are situated; and saw, at a distance, the largest village of this tribe, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, in the vicinity of which the whole prairie was covered with riders and pedestrians.[318] As we drew nearer the huts of that village, Fort Clarke, lying before it, relieved by the back-ground of the blue prairie hills, came in sight, with the gay American banner waving from the flagstaff.[319] On a tongue of land on the left bank were four white men on horseback; Indians, in their buffalo robes, sat in groups upon the bank, and the discharge of cannon and musketry commenced to welcome us. The a.s.siniboin soon lay to before the fort, against the gently sloping sh.o.r.e, where above 600 Indians were waiting for us. Close to the beach, the chiefs and most distinguished warriors of the Mandan nation stood in front of the a.s.sembly of red men, among whom the most eminent were Charata-Numakschi (the wolf chief), Mato-Tope (the four bears),[320] Dipauch (the broken arm), Berock-Itainu (the ox neck), Pehriska-Ruhpa (the two ravens), and some others. They were all dressed in their finest clothes, to do us honour. As soon as the vessel was moored, they came on board, and, after having given us their hands, sat down in the stern cabin. The pipe went round, and the conversation began with the Mandans, by the a.s.sistance of Mr. Kipp, clerk to the American Fur Company, and director of [pg. 172] the trading post at Fort Clarke;[321] and with the Manitaries, by the help of the old interpreter, Charbonneau, who had lived thirty-seven years in the villages of the latter people, near this place.[322] Mr. Mc Kenzie caused the proposal of the Yanktonans to be submitted to these Indians, but the latter, after long deliberation, replied that they could not possibly accept these proposals of peace, because the Yanktonans were much too treacherous; that, however, no harm should now be done to them, and that they might depart unmolested.

Most of the Indians in our cabin were stout, tall men, except Mato-Tope, who was of middle stature, and rather slim. I shall have occasion to say more, in the sequel, of this brave and distinguished chief. They had their weapons, such as muskets, bows, war clubs, and battle axes, in their hands, and also fans of eagles' wings, and wore buffalo robes, which, on the inner side, are painted reddish-brown, or white, and adorned with coloured figures. They let their hair hang down at length, considering it as an ornament. Sometimes it is divided into plaits, and daubed with a reddish clay. However, I refrain, at present, from describing these Indians, of whom I shall have occasion to speak more at length. The Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, of which tribe there were now seventy tents about the fort, differ very little from each other in their appearance and dress; they are, however, taller than the Indians on the Missouri whom we had before seen, and their features more regular than those of the Sioux.

We soon went on sh.o.r.e, and examined the numerous a.s.semblage of brown Indian figures, of whom the women and children, in numerous groups, were sitting on the ground; the men, some on horseback, some on foot, were collected around, and making their observations on the white strangers. Here we saw remarkably tall and handsome men, and fine dresses, for they had all done their utmost to adorn themselves. The haughty Crows[323] rode on beautiful panther skins, with red cloth under them, and, as they never wear spurs, had a whip of elk's horn in their hand. These mounted warriors, with their diversely painted faces, feathers in their long hair, bow and arrows slung across their backs, and with a musket or spear in their hands, the latter of which is merely for show, were a novel and highly interesting scene. This remarkable a.s.sembly gazed at the strangers with curiosity, and we conversed with them by signs, but soon proceeded to the fort, which is built on a smaller scale, on a plan similar to that of all the other trading posts or forts of the Company. It is about the size of the Sioux Agency, but more rudely constructed. Immediately behind the fort there were, in the prairies, seventy leather tents of the Crows, which we immediately visited.[324]

The tents of the Crows are exactly like those of the Sioux, and are set up without any regular order. On the poles, instead of scalps, there were small pieces of coloured cloth, chiefly red, floating like streamers in the wind. We were struck with the number of wolf-like dogs of all colours, of which there were certainly from 500 to 600 running about. They all fell upon the strangers, and it was not without difficulty that we kept them off by throwing stones, in which [pg. 173] some old Indian women a.s.sisted us. We then proceeded about 300 paces in a north-west direction from the fort, up the Missouri, to the princ.i.p.al village of the Mandans, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush.[325] This village consisted of about sixty large hemispherical clay huts, and was surrounded with a fence of stakes, at the four corners of which conical mounds were thrown up, covered with a facing of wicker-work, and embrasures, which serve for defence, and command the river and the plain. We were told that these cones or block-houses were not erected by the Indians themselves, but by the Whites. Three miles further up the river, and on the same bank, is the second village of the Mandans, called Ruhptare, consisting of about thirty-eight clay huts, which we could not then visit for want of time. In the immediate vicinity of the princ.i.p.al village, the stages, on which these Indians, like the Sioux, place their dead, lay scattered.[326]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sioux burial stages]

Around them were several high poles, with skins and other things hanging on them, as offerings to the lord of life, Omahank-Numakshi, or to the first man, Numank-Machana.[327] The three villages of the Manitaries (_gros ventre_) nation, whose language is totally different from that of the Mandans, are situated about fifteen miles higher up on the same side of the river, and most of their inhabitants had come on this day to the Mandan villages.[328]

The view of the prairie around Fort Clarke was at this time highly interesting. A great number of horses were grazing all round; Indians of both s.e.xes and all ages were in motion; we were, every moment, stopped by them, obliged to shake hands, and let them examine us on all sides. This was sometimes very troublesome. Thus, for example, a young warrior took hold of my pocket compa.s.s which I wore suspended by a ribbon, and attempted to take it by force, to hang as an ornament round his neck. I refused his request, but the more I insisted in my refusal, the more importunate he became. He offered me a handsome horse for my compa.s.s, [pg. 174] and then all his handsome clothes, and arms into the bargain, and as I still refused, he became angry, and it was only by the a.s.sistance of old Charbonneau, that I escaped a disagreeable and, perhaps, violent scene. On returning to the steamer we there found a numerous company of Indians, some smoking, others wrapped in their blankets, and asleep on the floor.

Mr. Sandford, the sub-agent of the Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, had a conference with Eripua.s.s (the rotten belly), the distinguished chief of the latter. We accompanied Mr. Sandford to this meeting. Eripua.s.s, a fine tall man, with a pleasing countenance, had much influence over his people; being in mourning he came to the fort in his worst dress, his hair cut close, and daubed with clay. Charbonneau acted as interpreter in the Manitari language. Mr. Sandford recommended to the chief continued good treatment of the white people who should come to his territory, hung a medal round his neck, and, in the name of the government, made him a considerable present of cloth, powder, ball, tobacco, &c., which this haughty man received without any sign of grat.i.tude; on the contrary, these people consider such presents as a tribute due to them, and a proof of weakness. The Crows, in particular, as the proudest of the Indians, are said to despise the Whites. They do not, however, kill them, but often plunder them. At nightfall we visited Eripua.s.s in his tent. The whole camp of the Crows was now filled with horses, some with their foals, all which had been driven in, to prevent their being stolen. This nation, consisting of 400 tents, is said to possess between 9,000 and 10,000 horses, some of which are very fine. The dogs were partly taken into the tents, and we were less exposed to their attacks than in the day time, yet still we had to fight our way through them. The interior of the tent itself had a striking effect. A small fire in the centre gave sufficient light; the chief sat opposite the entrance, and round him many fine tall men, placed according to their rank, all with no other covering than a breech-cloth. Places were a.s.signed to us on buffalo hides near the chief, who then lighted his Sioux pipe, which had a long flat tube, ornamented with bright yellow nails, made each of us take a few puffs, holding the pipe in his hand, and then pa.s.sed it round to the left hand. After Charbonneau had continued the conversation for some time in the Manitari language, we suddenly rose and retired, according to the Indian customs.

The Crows are called by the Mandans, Hahderuka, by the Manitaries, Haideroka; they themselves call their own tribe Apsaruka. The territory in which they move about is bounded, to the north or north-west, by the Yellow Stone River, and extends round Bighorn River, towards the sources of Chayenne River and the Rocky Mountains.

These Indians are a wandering tribe of hunters, who neither dwell in fixed villages, like the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras, nor make any plantations except of tobacco, which, however, are very small.

About six years ago, the Crows are said to have had only 1,000 warriors, at present they are reckoned at 1,200. They roam about with their leather tents, hunt the buffalo, and other wild animals, and have many horses and dogs, which, however, they never use for food.

They are said to possess more [pg. 175] horses than any other tribe of the Missouri, and to send them in the winter to Wind River, to feed on a certain shrub, which soon fattens them. The Crow women are very skilful in various kinds of work, and their shirts and dresses of bighorn leather, embroidered and ornamented with dyed porcupine quills, are particularly handsome, as well as their buffalo robes, which are painted and embroidered in the same manner. I shall speak, in the sequel, of their large caps of eagles' feathers, and of their shields, which are ornamented with feathers and paintings,[329] and other articles. The men make their weapons very well, and with much taste, especially their large bows, covered with the horn of the elk or bighorn, and often with the skin of the rattle-snake. I have represented a beautiful quiver of this nation, adorned with rosettes of porcupine quills.[330] In stature and dress these Indians correspond, on the whole, with the Manitaries, both having been originally one and the same people, as the affinity of their languages proves. Long hair is considered as a great beauty, and they take great pains with it. The hair of one of their chiefs, called Long Hair, was ten feet long, some feet of which trailed on the ground when he stood upright.[331] The enemies of the Crows are the Chayennes, the Blackfeet, and the Sioux; their allies are the Mandans and Manitaries.

With the latter they bartered their good horses for European goods, but the American Fur Company has now established a separate trading post for them on the Yellow Stone River, which is called Fort Ca.s.s.[332]

Though the Crows look down with contempt upon the Whites, they treat them very hospitably in their tents, yet their pride is singularly contrasted with a great propensity to stealing and begging, which makes them very troublesome. They are said to have many more superst.i.tious notions than the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras; for instance, they never smoke a pipe when a pair of shoes is hung up in their tent; when the pipe circulates none ever takes more than three puffs, and then pa.s.ses it in a certain manner to his left-hand neighbour. They are skilful hors.e.m.e.n, and, in their attacks on horseback, are said to throw themselves off on one side, as is done by many Asiatic tribes. They have many bardaches,[333] or hermaphrodites, among them, and exceed all the other tribes in unnatural practices.

As among all the Missouri Indians, the Crows are divided into different bands or unions. A certain price is paid for admission into these unions and their dances, of which each has one peculiar to itself, like the other Missouri tribes; on which occasion the women are given up to the will of the seller in the same manner, as will be more particularly mentioned when speaking of the other tribes. Of the female s.e.x, it is said of the Crows, that they, with the women of the Arikkaras, are the most dissolute of all the tribes of the Missouri.

This people have a superst.i.tious fear of a white buffalo cow; when a Crow meets one he addresses the sun in the following words: "I will give her (_i.e._ the cow) to you." He then [pg. 176] endeavours to kill the animal, but leaves it untouched, and then says to the sun, "Take her; she is yours." They never use the skin of these white buffalo cows, as the Mandans do, of which I shall, by-and-by, speak at length.

The most sacred objects in the eyes of this people are the sun, the moon, and tobacco, that is, the leaves of the genuine tobacco (_Nicotiana_); and, therefore, all their children wear a small portion of this herb, well wrapped up, round their necks, by way of amulet.

They do not bury their dead in the ground, but, like the Mandans, Manitaries, Sioux, and a.s.siniboins, lay them on stages in the prairie.[334] A Crow woman, who was on the point of death, was very apprehensive and uneasy in her mind lest she should be interred in the ground, according to the custom of the Whites. This was her sole concern, though she did not otherwise express any fear of death; as soon as she was made easy on this point, she died perfectly satisfied.

FOOTNOTES:

[293] See p. 323, for ill.u.s.tration of hill of baked clay.--ED.

[294] Called "No Timber Creek," by Lewis and Clark. It is now Chantier in Stanley County, a term clipped from its Siouan name.--ED.

[295] For the Cheyenne River see our volume v, p. 126, note 81.

Cheyenne Island, about three miles long, below the river's embouchment, was called "Pania" by Lewis and Clark. They note also an old Arikara village, of which only a circular wall remained.--ED.

[296] For the Cheyenne, see our volume v, p. 140, note 88. Their migration was from the northeast, the habitat of the Algonquian stock.--ED.

[297] Coues, in his edition of Biddle's Lewis and Clark, identifies the island called "Caution" by the explorers, as the present Plum Island. The Little Cheyenne is a prairie stream coming into the Mission from the northeast, in Potter County, South Dakota.--ED.

[298] Called Beaver (or Otter) Creek by Lewis and Clark; probably the present Swan Creek, in Walworth County, with the town of Lebeau at its mouth.--ED.

[299] For this stream, see our volume v, p. 127, note 82.--ED.

[300] For these rivers, see our volume v, p. 127, note 83.--ED.

[301] In Lewis and Clark's time there were three Arikara villages on the Missouri. The lower village on the island, headed by the chief Kakawissa.s.sa, had been abandoned by 1811. See Bradbury's _Travels_, our volume v, p. 127.--ED.

[302] A party returning from Santa Fe in the winter of 1832-33, was attacked January 1, on the Canadian River, lost all of their property, and had one man killed. The Arikara apparently never reoccupied their village permanently. Audubon found them in 1843 in one village with the Mandan, where they lived until removed to Fort Berthold reservation.--ED.

[303] Known to the traders as "Old Star" present at Fort Clark in 1847; see _Larpenteur's Journal_, ii, p. 246.--ED.

[304] For the Arikara and Lisa see our volume v, p. 113, note 76, and p. 97, note 64, respectively. Fort Manuel, Lisa's post, erected in 1800, was near the Arikara villages, the site not being definitely determined.--ED.