VOYAGE FROM FORT UNION TO FORT CLARKE, FROM OCTOBER 30TH TO NOVEMBER 8TH
Last Visit to Fort William--Flakes of Ice in the Missouri--Bad
Condition of our Larder--Relief from this Distress--Mr.
Bodmer misses his Way in the Forest--Loss of our Geological
Collections--Conical Red Hills--Departure of the
Antelopes--Tameness of the Magpies--Destruction of the Woods
by the Beavers--Escape of a Visit from the Indians--Winter
Village of the Manitaries--Unexpected Meeting with Dougherty
and Charbonneau--The Manitari Chief, Lachpitzi-Sihrish--The
Fontaine-Rouge, with the Petrified Trees--Visit to the Tent
of Pare-Flêche-Rouge--Arrival at Fort Clarke.
On the 30th of October, the weather being fine, we left Fort Union,
and stopped for a moment at Fort William, opposite the mouth of the
Yellow Stone, to take leave of Mr. Campbell. The thicket of willows
on the steep bank of the river had been cut down, in order to open a
view to the yet unfinished fort, which is about 300 paces from the
bank. Mr. Campbell presented me with some specimens of natural history,
and furnished me with cigars, of which we had long been deprived;
they really are a great comfort on a long voyage. We took charge of
his letters, and having taken leave, proceeded on our voyage. As the
provisions for my people consisted of bad old bacon, and my own stock
was limited to a ham which had been obligingly left to me, from the
very scanty stock of provisions at Fort Union, with some coffee, sugar,
and ship biscuit, we were very desirous of obtaining some game, and
went on shore on a tongue of land, on the south bank, where we soon
saw several wolves, and a troop of seven deer, but could not get near
enough to fire at them. Great clouds of smoke rose from several parts
of the prairie, doubtless caused by the woodcutters of Fort William,
the hunters of which we likewise perceived at a distance. The thickets
were quite stripped of their foliage; the buffalo berry bushes alone
yet bore some sere yellow leaves. Prairie hens, magpies, and the coal
titmouse, the latter sitting among the willow bushes, were the only
specimens of the feathered tribe which we observed. Numerous tracks
of {310} animals were visible on the beach, and among them the small
delicate footprint of two different kinds of mice. We proceeded till
eight o'clock in the evening, when we lay to, as it grew too dark to
venture farther. Afterwards, however, the moon rose in great splendour,
and towards morning we had a sharp frost.
Very early on the 31st we saw numerous flights of prairie hens crossing
the river in companies of thirty or forty, and heard the whistling of
the elk stag, which, at times, like that of our European stags, is
heard at a late hour. When we lay to for breakfast, we were in a thick
forest, with the same underwood as we have before mentioned, especially
buffalo berries, in great abundance. They were of a beautiful bright
red colour, and very palatable, for, like our sloes, they require
a touch of the frost before they are good eating, yet they were
still astringent and acid; mixed with sugar, however, they were not
unpleasant. With this fruit we refreshed our bears and my little fox,
to which they afforded an agreeable variety in their food, but we did
not fare so well ourselves, having hitherto tried, whenever it was
possible, to obtain game, but in vain. Everywhere we found traces of
beavers, gnawed trunks of trees, abattis and paths trodden smooth. The
willow thickets were frequented by the coal mouse and magpie. As our
firing had been ineffectual upon a flock of white swans and some wild
geese, we again lay to near the Rivière Bourbeuse (White Earth River
of Lewis and Clarke),[162] and some of our hunters traversed the
country, while the boat remained fastened under the steep bank. Flakes
of ice already floated down the Missouri, and broke, with much noise,
against the snags in the water. This ice comes from the tributary
rivers; in this place it came from the Rivière Bourbeuse, and the
noise occasioned by it is increased by that of the banks falling in,
the dashing of the waves, and the high wind. My live animals, which
would not eat pork, were half famished, and the bears especially made
an incessant growling, which was in every respect highly disagreeable.
Our hopes were disappointed; the hunters had missed two head of game;
and, at four in the afternoon, I continued the voyage, though very
slowly, because my people complained of fatigue. If the Canadians are
not always well fed, there is no depending upon their perseverance. We
lay to early for the evening, and the people dispersed in the forest to
hunt. At the spot where we now were, we saw many traces of all kinds
of game. Beyond a close thicket of young poplars (cotton wood), were
sand hills covered with yellow grass, and yet further distant, a forest
of lofty poplars, beneath which the ground was clothed with a dark
red undergrowth of cornus, rose, and buffalo berry bushes, entwined
round their stems with clematis and vine; a few grapes were still
hanging on the branches, but they were very small and indifferent, and
did not suit the taste of even my little fox. The hunters were again
unsuccessful: they had seen nothing but the usual species of birds;
and as for me, I found only a small flock of _Fringilla linaria_,
which were so tame that they almost settled upon our fowling-pieces.
Our supper was extremely frugal; but on the morning of the following
day, the 1st of November, when we lay to at a scattered forest, Morrin
was so fortunate as to kill {311} a large elk, which quite revived
our sunken spirits. In this forest there were deeply trodden paths of
wild animals, and great numbers of prairie hens, which, however, were
extremely shy; when they were roused, they uttered a note almost like
that of our snipes, not, however, fainter towards the close, but louder
and stronger. The ground was so dry, and the withered leaves rustled
so beneath our feet as we trod upon them, that we could not get near
them. The small striped squirrel was pretty frequent here. Another elk
was afterwards shot, so that we were well provided for several days,
and the lamentations of my hungry animals were put a stop to. As we
proceeded on our voyage we frequently saw game, and the prairie hens,
like all birds of that kind, flew about us with the swiftness of an
arrow.
The singular red, burnt, conical summits of the hills attracted our
attention, till we lay to, at a little before four o'clock, near an
extensive forest on the south bank, to dress our dinner. The poplar
wood was thin, near the bank, but had a thick undergrowth of roses, in
which were a greater number of traces of wild animals than we had yet
seen, a sight which instantly set our hunters in motion. I found the
pretty little four-striped squirrel (_Tamias quadrivittatus_), in great
numbers, which ran quickly along the ground, and up the trees, with the
fruit of the rose in its mouth. My people caught one of these delicate
creatures alive, which, to my great regret, afterwards made its escape.
On account of the dry leaves we could not closely approach large game,
though we heard the noise of considerable herds of them; and all our
hunters returned before dark, except Mr. Bodmer, whom we looked for in
vain. Night came on, we called, fired our pieces, but could obtain no
intelligence of our fellow-traveller. We waited till eight o'clock,
in no small anxiety, till at length we heard a shot higher up the
river, which we immediately answered. Dreidoppel and Hugron instantly
proceeded in that direction, and at length happily returned with our
lost companion. In pursuing a stag, Mr. Bodmer had often changed his
direction, and at last got quite bewildered; he had walked eight or
ten miles, had been entangled in terrible thorny thickets, and got
into a morass. At length he reached the prairie, where he perceived
a troop of about twenty Indians, and hastened back into the forest;
then, notwithstanding the Indians were so near, he fired six shots as
signals of distress, and at length had the pleasure of descrying, from
a hill, the shining surface of the river; thitherward he worked his
way, directly through the thickets. As soon as he had been refreshed
with some food, we loosened from the bank, where our presence had been
betrayed by so many shots. We, however, lay to at a sand bank a little
further down on the opposite side, and there passed a cold night,
without fire or covering, in a high wind.
Next day, the 2nd November, was cold and bleak, and the tempestuous
wind so unfavourable that we could only pass one tongue of land, and
were compelled to stop nearly the whole day. A boat, laden with maize,
belonging to Mr. Campbell, here passed us; it had left the Mandan
villages a fortnight before. We had made our fire in a close thicket
of poplars, under a {312} high steep bank, sheltered from the wind.
Our hunters dispersed in different directions, and I soon heard a
shot not far distant, on which I advanced. Dreidoppel had roused two
Virginian deer, and wounded one of them. We followed the trace of
this animal, which we killed, and I succeeded in shooting the other
deer, which would not abandon its companion. This success afforded us
some fresh game, and my people employed themselves in cooking all the
remainder of the day, nor would anything induce them to stir from the
spot. We found, in the forest, traces of large bears, saw the prairie
fox come out of its burrow, and found no other animals, except the
small striped squirrel and one species of birds, the coal mouse,
which defies the severe winter in these parts. In the afternoon we
hoped to shoot wolves or foxes that might be attracted by the entrails
of the deer we had killed, and, therefore, concealed ourselves; but
only crows, ravens, and magpies, were lured by the bait. At six in the
evening it grew dark; we increased our fire for the night, about which
we sat till nine o'clock, while my _engagés_ lay snoring on the ground.
The surrounding wood was pitch dark; the wolves howled incessantly on
both sides of the river, till the moon rose, and the wind abated, so
that we were able to proceed before daybreak on the 3rd of November.
We again observed the black strata of the bituminous coal, and found
fine fragments, which had fallen down, together with the pieces
of the grey sand-stone of the adjoining strata. I increased my
collections with the most interesting series of the rocks of the Upper
Missouri, which, I regret to say, have not reached Europe, as they
were irrecoverably lost. On this voyage down the river I had better
opportunities of examining the singular red, burnt, and conical tops
of the summits of the bank, and they afforded me much interest. The
rocky walls, and the red hills, covered with fragments burnt red,
exactly resembled the refuse of our brick kilns, and they emitted,
when struck, a clear sound, like that of the best Dutch clinkers.
Under those red cones we generally saw a stratum of the bituminous
coal; both often appeared together. I observed several slight hollows,
resembling craters, surrounded by pyramids of the red rock. Caverns
and holes, too, frequently appeared in this clay and sand-stone;
and the remarkable light grey rocks, marked with darker transverse
stripes, and with bright red tops, which now were pink, or different
shades of crimson, as the faint rays of the sun here and there tinged
them, and gave them a highly picturesque appearance. The swallows'
nests fixed against the perpendicular walls, of which the Prince
de Musignano[163] made a drawing, were now completely deserted by
their tenants. At noon we lay to at a prairie, which we explored
while my people were cooking their dinner; but we found only ravens,
crows, magpies, and prairie hens. The ground between the yellow,
sere grass, was so dry that the dust rose at every step; it was, in
some places, overgrown with rose bushes, from two to four feet high,
symphoria, and groups of poplars. We did not encounter any buffaloes
till we reached Fort Clarke; they appeared to have retired from the
river; very frequently, however, we saw the paths and traces of other
animals. Flocks of prairie hens, forty or more {313} together, seemed
particularly to choose, as their resort, the drift-wood on the banks of
the river. A magpie was so tame that it settled on the rudder of the
boat, while Morrin was at the helm. Towards evening we lay to, on the
steep bank, where the kingfisher, the magpie, and the wren (doubtless,
_Troglodytes hyemalis_), had taken up their abode, the latter among
the dry drift-wood. Here we kindled our fire, in a tall poplar forest,
where stems two feet thick nearly formed a circle. As we had passed the
territory of the most dangerous Indians, and the nights became more and
more cold, we constantly kept up a fire at our bivouac, and on this
evening again began our night-watches, because we were approaching a
very numerous Indian tribe near the Missouri. Mr. Bodmer amused himself
with taking a sketch of our bivouac in the forest, where we leaned
against the trees, sat round the fire and smoked our pipes, amidst the
concert of the howling wolves and the screeching owls.[164]
On the 4th of November, we passed, at noon, the mouth of White Earth
River (_Rivière Blanche_), or Goat Penn River of Lewis and Clarke. At
this spot there was, formerly, a fort, which was abandoned in 1829,
when Fort Union was built.[165] A little below the mouth of this river,
the high wind obliged us to lay to; woods and thickets, with high dry
grass, and prairies, either bare or covered with artemisia, formed an
extensive wilderness, traversed by the paths of stags and buffaloes,
where we found many deer's horns and other remains of these animals, as
well as tracks of enormous bears (_Ursus ferox_). We did not, however,
see any large game, but only prairie hens, and a few stray blackbirds
and flocks of the small finches (_Fringilla linaria_), which were
picking up the seeds of the plants among the grass. It appeared that
this wilderness had been visited by Indians a short time before. After
a considerable halt we proceeded at two o'clock, passed the Butte
Carrée, and lay to, in the evening, near a narrow strip of wood on the
steep southern bank, behind which extended the prairie. The night was
clear, the wind cold, and the moon rose at twelve o'clock.
The morning of the 5th of November was bleak and chilly, and the wind
numbed the fasting travellers, till we lay to, at eight o'clock, at a
prairie overgrown with thick bushes, where we prepared our breakfast,
and where the number of prairie hens immediately induced our hunters to
bestir themselves. I had unluckily loaded my piece with small shot, for
a Virginian deer ran close by me from out of a thicket, which I might
otherwise have very easily shot. We saw a troop of elks, and our little
friend, the striped squirrel, which, however, is not yet found so low
down the river as the Mandan villages. At eleven o'clock we proceeded
on our voyage, in which we were protected by the high banks from the
bleak wind, and enlivened and cheered by the sun. A herd of antelopes
crossed the Missouri before us, and we in vain attempted to intercept
them. These pretty animals generally leave the Missouri at this time,
and hasten, on the approach of winter, to the Black Hills. A magpie
alighted on the rudder, uttering its note, "twit, twit," which is quite
different from that of the European magpie. We saw but few ducks {314}
and other water fowl, which had before afforded us so much amusement;
doubtless, because they found more subsistence on the lakes, which were
not yet frozen. We lay to, for the night, on the southern bank, where
the forest was completely laid waste by the beavers. They had felled
a number of large trees, chips of which were scattered about on the
ground. Most of the trees were half gnawed through, broken down, or
dead, and in this manner a bare place was formed in the forest. Not
far off we saw in the river a beaver den, or, as the Americans call
it, a beaver lodge, to which there was a very well trodden and smooth
path, which we availed ourselves of, to go to and from our boat. Nature
appears to have peculiarly adapted these remarkable animals to the
large thickets of poplar and willow of the interior of North America,
where the Whites, on their first arrival, found them in immense
numbers, and soon hastened to sacrifice these harmless creatures to
their love of gain. Numerous tracks of animals of all kinds, especially
elks, bears, and wolves, were observed; the wolves prowled around us
at no great distance, and at ten o'clock, when I had the watch, they
came between our bright fire and the boat, which was only forty paces
distant, being attracted by the smell of the meat.
On the next day, the 6th, we likewise met with many gnawed trees, which
proved that the number of the beavers was still pretty considerable.
Morrin had shot in the morning a fat fawn, which was gladly welcomed
by us. We had traversed a forest admirably suited to the chase, when we
met with a great deal of game, but, on account of the dry leaves, could
not get near enough. Besides the animals which I have often mentioned,
we saw some new species of birds, of which, however, I was quite unable
to obtain a specimen.
At noon we passed the Little Missouri, at the mouth of which there
were now extensive sand banks; we stopped a little below it, and found
a spot very favourable for the chase, in a forest alternating with
morass, high grass, and various plants, where we followed some fresh
traces of large elks, without, however, being able to overtake them.
We proceeded on our voyage till late in the night, and slept at a spot
in the forest which was so dense, that we were compelled to hew down
the bushes to make a space for our fire and resting-place. The night
was dark, and the loud howling of the wolves was our never-ceasing
music. Towards the morning there was a sharp frost, and the sky was
partially clouded with the west wind. Our good genius had made us set
out unusually early on the 7th November, for we had scarcely left the
bank in the morning twilight, when we heard several shot, and soon
after, at the very place where we had halted and slept, the loud voices
of the Indians calling to us to return. They were, probably, a hunting
party of Manitaries, who had been attracted in the early morning by the
light of our fire. Being very happy at having, weak as we were, escaped
visitors so little to be trusted, our _engagés_ rowed with all their
might, and there was soon a good distance between us. Our breakfast was
prepared at nine o'clock, when we lay to on the north bank, in a narrow
strip of forest, where we found some old Indian hunting lodges, built,
in a conical {315} form, of dry timber. They had, doubtless, been left
by the Manitaries, who had come thus far on their hunting excursions.
The lower part of the huts, or lodges, was covered with the bark
of trees; the entrance was square, and bones were scattered in all
directions. We proceeded with a bleak, high wind, saw the singular clay
tops of the hills, and, in the forest, the stages made of poles, where
the Indian hunters dry the flesh of the animals they have taken in
the chase. About twelve o'clock we came to the spot where some stakes
indicated the former site of a Mandan village. Manoel Lisa, the Spanish
fur dealer, had formerly a trading post at this place.[166] Rather
further on, after we had turned a point of land, we saw a white horse
on the bank, and soon after a group of Indians, with their horses,
which they had brought to the river to water. In the wood, close by
them, was a winter village of the Manitaries, or Gros Ventres, to which
they had removed only two days previous, from their summer dwellings,
and whose present chief was Itsichaicha, which the Canadians translate,
Monkey-face. They hailed us, but I would not stop, and, the current
being strong, we rapidly passed them. An Indian woman, with a handsome
brown hound, probably of the European race, stood on the bank, and
formed a very interesting object in the wild winter scene. We were now
in the centre of the territory of the Manitaries, and were in momentary
expectation of meeting with these Indians; in fact, we soon saw several
of them on foot and on horseback. We had just doubled a point of land,
and were looking for a sheltered spot for landing, when we observed
some huts in a lofty wood of poplars, and were immediately called to by
some Whites and Indians. We recognized old Charbonneau, and landed at
once. It appeared that Messrs. Soublette and Campbell had founded a
trading post in the Manitari villages, and that their people, together
with these Indians, had arrived but yesterday at the winter village,
situated at no great distance. The clerk, who had the management of the
business here, was Mr. Dougherty, brother to the Indian agent,[167]
who had likewise accompanied Major Long in his expedition to the Rocky
Mountains, and who had, at present, old Charbonneau as interpreter. The
latter had lately quitted the American Fur Company, but subsequently
returned into their service. The Indians, under their principal chief,
Lachpitzi-Sihrish (the yellow bear), had arrived, as I have said, but
yesterday, in the winter village; and Dougherty, with Charbonneau and
several _engagés_, lived in some huts hastily erected on the bank of
the river, while a better and more substantial house was building
in the Indian village. Mr. Dougherty, to whom we delivered letters
from Mr. Campbell, would not suffer us to proceed, and entertained us
with much hospitality. It gave us much pleasure to be again in human
society, after having been so long deprived of it. While we were
chatting and smoking our cigars, we perceived, near where we were
sitting, a row of large casks, and learned that they were all filled
with gunpowder, which, considering the high wind that blew directly
into the hut, was a great want of prudence. Many interesting Indians
came successively, among whom was the old chief, who was particularly
struck with our long beards, from which these people have a kind of
{316} aversion. The night was stormy and very dark: some of us slept in
the boat; Dreidoppel and our _engagés_ in the huts on shore.
The morning of the 8th November was bleak, cold, and frosty. I left
the place early, accompanied by Charbonneau, and, after proceeding four
miles, landed on the southern bank, to look for a petrified trunk of
a tree, which Charbonneau had mentioned to me. While my people were
taking their breakfast in a poplar wood, we proceeded alternately
through thickets and open plains, towards the neighbouring hills, to
the Fontaine Rouge, which was now a marsh covered with ice: not far
from this was the tree, which is supposed to be part of an old cedar
(_juniperus_); it is the lower part of a hollow trunk, with a portion
of the roots; and, though this mass still perfectly shows the formation
of the wood, it is now converted into a sounding stone. As the whole
of this interesting specimen was much too ponderous to be removed, I
carried off a good many fragments, without, however, disfiguring the
tree, which will, doubtless, some day, find a place in some museum in
the United States. This kind of petrified wood is not, by any means,
unfrequent on the Missouri. Of the many interesting specimens of this
kind which I had collected, very few have found their way to Europe.
After breakfast we continued our voyage, at eleven o'clock, and came
to the spot where Mr. Pilcher's residence formerly stood, about eleven
miles from Fort Clarke.[168] At twelve o'clock we were opposite the
first Manitari summer village, and saw, on the other side, many
Indians, who hallooed to Charbonneau. They had some smooth-haired
hounds, spotted brown and white, with hanging ears, which were,
doubtless, of European race. The invitations to land became more
vociferous and numerous, and Charbonneau advised us to comply with
them, which we did: we were immediately conducted, by a distinguished
man, Ita-Widahki-Hisha (the red shield),[169] to his tent, which stood
apart on the prairie, on the summit of the bank. The white leather
tent was new, spacious, and handsomely ornamented with tufts of hair
of various colours, and at each side of the entrance finished with a
stripe and rosettes of dyed porcupine quills, very neatly executed. It
had been well warmed by a good fire, a most refreshing sight to us.
We took our seats around it, with the numerous family, the brother
and uncle of the chief, young men, women, and children. The chief had
rather a long beard, like the Punca chief, Shudegacheh, and his right
breast was tattooed with black stripes. The old uncle had a very ugly
countenance; he was fat, and his dress negligent and slovenly. The wife
of the chief held a child in her lap, with a thick hare lip. A large
dish of boiled maize and beans was immediately set before us; it was
very tender and well dressed, and three of us eat out of the dish with
spoons made of the horn of buffalo, or bighorn; after which the red
Dacota pipe went round. Our people had likewise obtained refreshments,
and presented the Indians, in return, with some tobacco and gunpowder.
After we had conversed half an hour, through Charbonneau, with
these friendly people, and given them an account of our battle with
the Assiniboins, their enemies, we took leave and proceeded on our
voyage. The {317} Indians accompanied us to the river-side, and on
our way thither we saw the skin of a large white wolf hung on a tree,
doubtless, by way of medicine, or offering. We left at one o'clock,
and at two reached the Manitari village, Awachawi, which lay close to
the bank;[170] a couple of women, in their round leather boats, set us
across the river; they had hung some wood to their vessel, and rowed
with great rapidity; some others were proceeding towards the river,
with their boats hanging on their heads and down their backs. I shall
describe these boats in the sequel.[171] At three o'clock we reached
the Mandan village of Ruhptare, where a number of Indians came to the
bank to greet their friends; Charbonneau hid himself, that they might
not recognise him and invite him ashore. He had five names among these
Indians--the chief of the little village; the man who possesses many
gourds; the great horse from abroad; the forest bear; and fifth, which,
as often happens among these Indians, is not very refined. After we
had passed the bend in the river, we saw the second Mandan village,
Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, and, at no great distance beyond it, Fort Clarke,
which we reached at four o'clock, and were welcomed on the shore by
Mr. Kipp, the director and clerk of the Fur Company, who led us to his
house.
FOOTNOTES:
[162] On his outward journey Maximilian gives this river the English
form of its name--the Muddy. See our volume xxii, p. 372, note 348.--ED.
[163] Charles Lucien Bonaparte, prince de Musignano and Canino, for
whom see our volume xxii, p. 39, note 15.--ED.
[164] See Plate 23, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.
[165] See our volume xxii, p. 369, note 345. The post was one built in
1825-26 by James Kipp (see our volume xxii, p. 345, note 319), for the
Columbia Fur Company. This was transferred (1827) with other property
to the American Fur Company, who maintained it, as Maximilian says,
until the establishment of the Yellowstone post.--ED.
[166] This post of Manoel Lisa was the one visited in 1811 by Bradbury
and Brackenridge, who found Reuben, brother of Meriwether Lewis, in
charge. See our volume v, pp. 152-167; vi, pp. 135-142. It was on the
west bank of the Missouri about twelve miles above Knife River, near
Emanuel Creek.--ED.
[167] Probably Joseph L. Dougherty, who was in 1839 farmer at the
Council Bluffs agency. His brother John accompanied Maximilian as far
as Bellevue on the outward journey. The opposition of Soublette and
Campbell to the American Fur Company was spirited though brief; consult
Chittenden, _Fur-Trade_, i, pp. 350-354. The rival post was just below
the former post of Lisa (see our volume xxii, p. 364), and above Fort
Clark.--ED.
[168] For Joshua Pilcher see James' _Long's Expedition_, in our volume
xiv, p. 269, note 193. For his post consult our volume xxii, p. 364,
note 335.--ED.
[169] Red Shield was a young chief at the time of Lewis and Clark's
visit; see _Original Journals_, i, p. 230. He is said to have been the
slayer of Le Borgne, the famous Minitaree tyrant; see our volume v, p.
162, note 90.--ED.
[170] For the location of this Minitaree village, see our volume xxii,
p. 357, note 333.--ED.
[171] See the view of the village Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, Plate 49 [in
the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv] where one of these boats is
introduced.--MAXIMILIAN.