leaving their camp forded the river "on a ripple, with a depth of
eighteen inches." The water was clear, with a pebbly bottom. That this
location was frequented by Indians was again indicated by the discovery
of another great group of "forts," as told in the narrative:
"Immediately above where we crossed, were about twenty Indian forts, or
lodges constructed of logs set up endwise, somewhat in the form of an
ordinary skin lodge, which had been erected among the timber by
different war-parties: they appeared to be very strong, and were
ball-proof." (Stansbury, (1), pp. 243-246.) These strongly constructed
lodges will at once recall the rather similar structures which stood at
some of the Siouan villages, on the Mississippi below the mouth of the
Minnesota, during the early years of the last century.
On September 27, when about midway across the present Albany County,
Wyoming, the expedition encountered a large number of Indians belonging
to a village a short distance beyond. These proved to be the Oglala, and
during the following day the village was visited by Stansbury, who wrote
in the journal: "This village was the largest and by far the
best-looking of any I had ever seen. It consisted of nearly one hundred
lodges, most of which were entirely new, pitched upon the level prairie
which borders on the verdant banks of the Laramie. No regular order
seemed to be observed in their position, but each builder appeared to
have selected the site for his habitation according to his own fancy.
"We rode at once to the lodge of the chief, which was painted in broad
horizontal stripes of alternate black and white, and, on the side
opposite to the entrance, was ornamented with large black crosses on a
white ground. We found the old fellow sitting on the floor of his lodge,
and his squaw busily engaged over a few coals, endeavouring to fry, or
rather boil, in a pan nearly filled with grease, some very
suspicious-looking lumps of dough, made doubtless from the flour they
had received from us yesterday.... After some further conversation,
another chief, named the 'Iron Heart,' rose up and invited us to a
feast at his lodge: we accordingly accompanied him, and found him
occupying the largest and most complete structure in the village,
although I was assured that the Sioux frequently make them much larger.
It was intended to be used whenever required, for the accommodation of
any casual trader that might come among them for the purpose of traffic,
and was accordingly called 'The Trader's Lodge.' It was made of
twenty-six buffalo-hides, perfectly new, and white as snow, which, being
sewed together without a wrinkle, were stretched over twenty-four new
poles, and formed a conical tent of thirty feet diameter upon the
ground, and thirty-five feet in height." This must have been a
magnificent example of the tipi of the plains tribes, and is one of the
largest of which any record has been preserved.
Moving in a southeastwardly direction from the great village, they
passed many mounted Indians killing buffalo, and later in the day passed
another Oglala village of some 50 lodges, moving southward. The surface
of the prairie for many miles was strewn with the remains of buffalo,
which had been killed by the Indians and from which only choice pieces
had been removed. (Op. cit., pp. 254-257.) They were now ascending the
western slopes of the Black Hills, and approaching the region dominated
by the Cheyenne, and two days later, September 29, 1850, were a short
distance south of a village of the latter tribe.
The region just mentioned, the southeastern part of Wyoming, was
traversed by a missionary who, July 24, 1835, encountered a party of 30
or 40 mounted Indians. "They were Ogallallahs, headed by eight of their
chiefs, clad in their war habiliments, and presenting somewhat of a
terrific appearance.... They told us their whole village was only a few
hours' travel ahead of us, going to the Black Hills for the purpose of
trading." Late the following day the party overtook the Indians,
"consisting of more than two thousand persons. These villages are not
stationary, but move from place to place, as inclination or convenience
may dictate. Their lodges are comfortable, and easily transported. They
are constructed of eight or ten poles about eighteen feet long, set up
in a circular form, the small ends fastened together, making an apex,
and the large ends are spread out so as to enclose an area of about
twenty feet in diameter. The whole is covered with their coarse skins,
which are elk, or buffalo, taken when they are not good for robes. A
fire is made in the centre, a hole being left in the top of the lodge
for the smoke to pass out. All that they have for household furniture,
clothing, and skins for beds, is deposited around according to their
ideas of propriety and convenience. Generally not more than one family
occupies a lodge." (Parker, (1), pp. 66-67.)
Fort Laramie was reached by the Stansbury expedition on July 12, 1849,
after advancing about 100 miles beyond the Oglala villages passed six
days before. The fort stood on the emigrant road, and was likewise a
great gathering place of the neighboring Indians. An interesting account
of the visit of a party of emigrants just four years before is
preserved: "Our camp is stationary to-day; part of the emigrants are
shoeing their horses and oxen; others are trading at the fort and with
the Indians.... In the afternoon we gave the Indians a feast, and held a
long _talk_ with them. Each family, as they could best spare it,
contributed a portion of bread, meat, coffee or sugar, which being
cooked, a table was set by spreading buffalo skins upon the ground, and
arranging the provisions upon them. Around this attractive board, the
Indian chiefs and their principal men seated themselves, occupying one
fourth of the circle; the remainder of the male Indians made out the
semi-circle; the rest of the circle was completed by the whites. The
squaws and younger Indians formed an outer semi-circular row immediately
behind their dusky lords and fathers." (Palmer, (1), pp. 25-26.) This
was June 25, 1845, and the account of the gathering of emigrants and
Indians is followed by a brief description of the fort itself which is
of equal interest; "Here are two forts. Fort Laramie, situated upon the
west side of Laramie's fork, two miles from Platte river, belongs to the
North American Fur Company. The fort is built of _adobes_. The walls are
about two feet thick, and twelve or fourteen feet high, the tops being
picketed or spiked. Posts are planted in these walls, and support the
timber for the roof. They are then covered with mud. In the centre is an
open square, perhaps twenty-five yards each way, along the sides of
which are ranged the dwellings, store rooms, smith shop, carpenter's
shop, offices, &c., all fronting upon the inner area. There are two
principal entrances; one at the north, the other at the south." (Op.
cit., pp. 27-28.) Outside the fort proper, on the eastern side, stood
the stables, and a short distance away was a field of about 4 acres
where corn was planted, "by way of experiment." About 1 mile distant was
a similar though smaller structure called Fort John. It was then owned
and occupied by a company from St. Louis, but a few months later it was
purchased by the North American Fur Company and destroyed. Such were the
typical "forts," on and beyond the frontier during the past century.
The Indians would gather about the fort, their skin tipis standing in
clusters over the surrounding prairie. Such groups are shown in plate
24, _a_, _b_. These two very interesting photographs were made during
the visit of the Indian Peace Commission to Fort Laramie in 1868, and it
is highly probable the tipis shown in the pictures were occupied by
some of the Indians with whom the commissioners treated.
The Black Hills lay north and west of the region then occupied by the
Oglala, and although it is known that the broken country was often
visited and frequented by parties of Indians in quest of poles for their
tipis, yet it seems doubtful if any permanent settlements ever stood
within the region. Dodge, in discussing this question, said:
"My opinion is, that the Black Hills have never been a permanent home
for any Indians. Even now small parties go a little way into the Hills
to cut spruce lodge-poles, but all the signs indicate that these are
mere sojourns of the most temporary character.
"The 'teepe,' or lodge, may be regarded as the Indian's house, the
wickup as his tent. One is his permanent residence, the other the
make-shift shelter for a night. Except in one single spot, near the head
of Castle Creek, I saw nowhere any evidence whatever of a lodge having
been set up, while old wickups were not unfrequent in the edge of the
Hills. There is not one single teepe or lodge-pole trail, from side to
side of the Hills, in any direction, and these poles, when dragged in
the usual way by ponies, soon make a trail as difficult to obliterate as
a wagon road, visible for many years, even though not used." (Dodge,
(1), pp. 136-137.)
Col. R. I. Dodge, from whose work the preceding quotation has been made,
was in command of the military escort which formed part of the
expedition into the Black Hills during the summer of 1875. The traces of
the lodges which had stood near the head of Castle Creek, as mentioned
in 1875, undoubtedly marked the position of the small encampment
encountered by the Ludlow party the previous year. In the journal of
that expedition, dated July 26, 1874, is to be found this brief mention:
"In the afternoon occurred the first rencontre with Indians. A village
of seven lodges, containing twenty-seven souls, was found in the valley.
The men were away peacefully engaged in hunting; the squaws in camp
drying meat, cooking, and other camp avocations. Red Cloud's daughter
was the wife of the head-man, whose name was One Stab. General Custer
was desirous they should remain and introduce us to the hills, but the
presence among our scouts of a party of Rees, with whom the Sioux wage
constant war, rendered them very uneasy, and toward night-fall,
abandoning their camp, they made the escape. Old One Stab was at
headquarters when the flight was discovered, and retained both as guide
and hostage.... The high limestone ridges surrounding the camp had
weathered into castellated forms of considerable grandeur and beauty and
suggested the name of Castle Valley." (Ludlow, (1), p. 13.) Red Cloud,
whose daughter is mentioned above, was one of the greatest chiefs and
warriors of the Oglala; born in 1822 near the forks of the Platte, and
lived until December, 1909.
Although there may never have been any large permanent camps within the
Black Hills district, nevertheless it is quite evident the region was
frequented and traversed by bands of Indians, who left well-defined
trails. Such were discovered by an expedition in 1875, and after
referring to small trees which had been bent down by the weight of snow
the narrative continued: "The snow must be sometimes deep enough to hide
trails and landmarks, as the main Indian trails leading through the
Hills were marked by stones placed in the forks of the trees or by one
or more sets of blazes, the oldest almost overgrown by the bark."
(Newton and Jenney, (1), p. 302.) And in the same work (p. 323), when
treating of the timber of the Hills, it was said: "The small slender
spruce-trees are much sought after by the Indians, who visit the Hills
in the spring for the purpose of procuring them for lodge-poles."
In another work Dodge described the customs of the tribes with whom he
had been in close contact for many years. The book is illustrated with
engravings made from original drawings by the French artist Griset, and
one sketch shows a few Indians, several tipis, and frames from which are
hanging quantities of buffalo meat in the process of being dried.
(Dodge, (2), p. 353.) This suggests the scene at Red Cloud's camp. The
original drawing is now reproduced as plate 1, the frontispiece.
ASSINIBOIN.
The Assiniboin were, until comparatively recent times, a part of the
Yanktonai, from whom they may have separated while living in the forest
region of the northern section of the present State of Minnesota.
Leaving the parent stock, they joined the Cree, then living to the
northward, with whom they remained in close alliance. Gradually they
moved to the valleys of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboin Rivers and here
were encountered by Alexander Henry in 1775. Interesting though brief
notes on the structures of the Assiniboin as they appeared in 1775 and
1776 are contained in the narrative of Henry's travels through the great
northern country. In 1775, when west of Lake Winnipeg, Henry wrote: "At
eighty leagues above Fort de Bourbon, at the head of a stream which
falls into the Sascatchiwaine, and into which we had turned, we found
the Pasquayah village. It consisted of thirty families, lodged in tents
of a circular form, and composed of dressed ox-skins, stretched upon
poles twelve feet in length, and leaning against a stake driven into the
ground in the centre. On our arrival, the chief, named Chatique, or the
Pelican, came down upon the beach, attended by thirty followers, all
armed with bows and arrows and with spears." (Henry, (1), pp.
256-257.) Fort de Bourbon stood at the northwest corner of Lake
Winnipeg, and the Assiniboin village of Pasquayah was on the present
Carrot River, which flows parallel with the Saskatchewan before joining
the larger stream. This was in the eastern part of the province of
Saskatchewan.
Early the following year Henry made a visit to an Assiniboin village, to
reach which he crossed many miles of the frozen wilderness. He was
accompanied by a party of Indians and the short account of the journey
contains much of interest. They left Fort des Prairies, "built on the
margin of the Pasquayah, or Sascatchiwaine," February 5, 1776, and, as
is recorded in the journal, "At noon, we crossed a small river, called
Moose-river, flowing at the feet of very lofty banks. Moose-river is
said to fall into Lake Dauphin. Beyond this stream, the wood grows still
more scanty, and the land more and more level. Our course was southerly.
The snow lay four feet deep. The Indians travelled swiftly; and, in
keeping pace with them, my companions and myself had too much exercise,
to suffer from the coldness of the atmosphere; but, our snow-shoes being
of a broader make than those of the Indians, we had much fatigue in
following their track. The women led, and we marched till sunset, when
we reached a small coppice of wood, under the protection of which we
encamped. The baggage of the Indians was drawn by dogs, who kept pace
with the women, and appeared to be under their command. As soon as we
halted, the women set up the tents, which were constructed, and covered,
like those of the Cristinaux.
"The tent, in which I slept, contained fourteen persons, each of whom
lay with his feet to the fire, which was in the middle; but, the night
was so cold, that even this precaution, with the assistance of our
_buffalo-robes_ was insufficient to keep us warm. Our supper was made on
the tongues of the wild ox, or buffalo, boiled in my kettle, which was
the only one in the camp."
On the morning of February 7, "I was still asleep, when the women began
their noisy preparations for our march. The striking of the tents, the
tongues of the women, and the cries of the dogs, were all heard at once.
At the first dawn of day, we commenced our journey. Nothing was visible
but the snow and sky; and the snow was drifted into ridges, resembling
waves.
"Soon after sunrise, we descried a herd of oxen, extending a mile and a
half in length, and too numerous to be counted. They travelled, not one
after another, as, in the snow, other animals usually do, but, in a
broad phalanx, slowly, and sometimes stopping to feed."
One week was required to reach their destination, and during the morning
of the 12th of February the party arrived at a small wood, in which the
Assiniboin village stood. And "at the entrance of the wood, we were met
by a large band of Indians, having the appearance of a guard; each man
being armed with his bow and spear, and having his quiver filled with
arrows.... Forming themselves in regular file, on either side of us,
they escorted us to the lodge, or tent, which was assigned us. It was of
a circular form, covered with leather, and not less than twenty feet in
diameter. On the ground within, ox-skins were spread, for beds and
seats."
Later, the same day of their arrival, they were invited to a feast in
the tent of the chief. An Indian appeared. "We followed him accordingly,
and he carried us to the tent of the great chief, which we found neither
more ornamented, nor better furnished, than the rest." And another feast
followed in the evening, "Every thing was nearly as before, except that
in the morning all the guests were men, and now half were women. All the
women were seated on one side of the floor of the tent, and all the men
on the other, with a fire placed between them."
The village consisted of about 200 tents, "each tent containing from two
to four families." And here "I saw, for the first time, one of those
herds of horses which the Osinipoilles possess in numbers. It was
feeding on the skirts of the plain." (Henry, (1), pp. 275-289.) Such was
a great Assiniboin village nearly a century and a half ago.
The entire village was to return to Fort des Prairies, and so, on the
morning of February 20, 1776, the tents were struck, and "Soon after
sunrise, the march began. In the van were twenty-five soldiers, who were
to beat the path, so that the dogs might walk. They were followed by
about twenty men, apparently in readiness for contingent services; and
after these went the women, each driving one or two, and some, five
loaded dogs. The number of these animals, actually drawing loads,
exceeded five hundred. After the baggage, marched the main body of men,
carrying only their arms. The rear was guarded by about forty soldiers.
The line of march certainly exceeded three miles in length." (Op. cit.,
p. 309.)
It is easy to visualize this great body of Indians passing over the
frozen plain, camping at night under the scant protection of a small
cluster of trees. The hundreds of dogs carrying the skin lodges of the
villages, the men and women moving forward on snowshoes, undoubtedly
stopping to kill buffalo and thus to obtain food for all. An exciting
and animated scene it must have been, but only typical and
characteristic, not unusual.
The preceding description of the movement of an entire village suggests
a passage in the journal of La Verendrye, treating of the same people a
generation earlier. Late in the autumn of 1738 a small party of French,
accompanied by a numerous band of Assiniboin, set out from the village
of the latter to visit the Mandan, who lived many leagues distant. La
Verendrye, the leader of the expedition, wrote: "I observed to M. de la
Marque the good order in which the Assiniboins march to prevent
surprise, marching always on the prairies, the hillsides and valleys
from the first mountain, which did not make them fatigued by mounting
and descending often in their march during the day. There are
magnificent plains of three or four leagues. The march of the
Assiniboins, especially when they are numerous, is in three columns,
having skirmishers in front, with a good rear guard, the old and lame
march in the middle, forming the central column.... If the skirmishers
discovered herds of cattle on the road, as often happens, they raise a
cry which is soon returned by the rear guard, and all the most active
men in the columns join the vanguard to hem in the cattle, of which they
secure a number, and each takes what flesh he wants. Since that stops
the march, the vanguard marks out the encampment which is not to be
passed; the women and dogs carry all the baggage, the men are burdened
only with their arms; they make the dogs even carry wood to make the
fires, being often obliged to encamp in the open prairie, from which the
clumps of wood may be at a great distance." (La Verendrye, (1), p. 13.)
The Assiniboin appear to have possessed a great fondness for visiting
other tribes, and many narratives of journeys in the upper Missouri
Valley contain references to meeting with such parties.
The size of the Assiniboin camps was often mentioned by the early
writers. Thus Tanner wrote: "When we came from the Little Saskawjawun
into the Assinneboin river, we came to the rapids, where was a village
of one hundred and fifty lodges of Assinneboins, and some Crees."
(James, (2), p. 57.) This was a century ago, when the villages retained
their primitive appearance, and so it is to be regretted that no
detailed description was prepared of this large group of skin-covered
tipis.
The two associated tribes extended their wanderings to the southward,
reaching the Missouri, a large gathering of the allies being encountered
by Lewis and Clark at the Mandan towns in November, 1804. In their
journal, on November 14, appears this entry: "The river rose last night
half an inch, and is now filled with floating ice. This morning was
cloudy with some snow: about seventy lodges of Assiniboins and some
Knistenaux are at the Mandan village, and this being the day of adoption
and exchange of property between them all, it is accompanied by a dance,
which prevents our seeing more than two Indians to-day: these Knistenaux
are a band of Chippeways whose language they speak; they live on the
Assiniboin and Saskashawan rivers, and are about two hundred and forty
men...." And on the following day: "The ceremony of yesterday seem to
continue still, for we were not visited by a single Indian. The swan are
still passing to the south." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, p. 127.)
As will be recalled, the expedition under command of Lewis and Clark
wintered near the Mandan towns, and on April 7, 1805, proceeded on their
journey up the Missouri. On the 13th of April they arrived at a small
creek which entered the Missouri about 20 miles above the mouth of the
Little Missouri. They ascended the creek and at a distance of about
1-1/2 miles reached a pond "which seemed to have been once the bed of
the Missouri: near this lake were the remains of forty-three temporary
lodges which seem to belong to the Assiniboins, who are now on the river
of the same name." The following day, April 14, 1805, after advancing
about 15 miles beyond the creek entered on the 13th, "we passed timbered
low grounds and a small creek: in these low grounds are several
uninhabited lodges built with the boughs of the elm, and the remains of
two recent encampments, which from the hoops of small kegs found in them
we judged could belong to Assiniboins only, as they are the only
Missouri Indians who use spirituous liquors: of these they are so
passionately fond that it forms their chief inducement to visit the
British on the Assiniboin." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 185-186.)
During the days following many Assiniboin camps were discovered.
From these brief statements recorded in 1804 and 1805 it will be
understood that when a large party of the Assiniboin moved, or when on a
visit to another tribe, they carried with them their skin lodges, but
when on a hunting trip they raised temporary shelters of brush and
boughs, and the same custom was undoubtedly followed by war parties.