[Illustration: _b._ Grass-covered lodge, about 1880
WICHITA HABITATIONS]
In addition to the earth-covered lodges found in the permanent villages,
they had skin tents which were occupied when away from their towns on
war or hunting expeditions. Like the great majority of the native
tribes, the Arikara would move about during certain seasons of the year.
Hayden, writing about the year 1855, referred to this custom: "At the
commencement of the winter the Arikaras leave their village in quest of
buffalo, which seldom approach near enough to be killed in the vicinity
of their cabins. They then encamp in skin tents, in various directions
from the Missouri or along its banks, wherever the buffalo may chance to
range. They pass the winter in hunting, and return to their permanent
village early in the spring, bringing with them their skins in an
unprepared state, with a great supply of meat." (Hayden, (1), p. 354.)
Such were the hunting parties often met by the traders and explorers, as
that mentioned by Sergeant Gass on October 15, 1804. That they were
skilled agriculturists is attested by a note referring to the time they
were still living in the old Mandan village below Fort Clark, October
11, 1853. In the journal of a party at that time descending the Missouri
from Fort Benton to St. Louis appears this entry:
"Arrived at Fort Clark, or Aricaree's village. It is situated on the top
of a very high bluff on the bank of the river.... The Rees are not
friendly to the whites, and are kept from open hostilities only by fear.
They are a large tribe, and on the fertile meadows they occupy, raise a
great amount of corn and pumpkins, which they exchange with the Crows
and Dacotahs for dried buffalo meat and robes. They exported five
thousand bushels of excellent corn this year...." (Saxton, (1), p. 265.)
And it must be remembered that the principal implement was the primitive
hoe, formed of a scapula of a buffalo attached to a wooden handle.
WICHITA.
Like the other members of this linguistic family, whose villages have
already been described, the Wichita had two forms of dwellings, which
they occupied under different conditions. One served as the structure in
their permanent villages, the other being of a more temporary nature.
But, instead of the earth-covered lodges used farther north, their fixed
villages were composed of groups of high circular structures, entirely
thatched from bottom to top. Their movable camps, when away from home on
war or hunting expeditions, consisted of the skin-covered tents of the
plains.
The peculiar thatched structures were first seen and described by
Europeans in the year 1541, when Coronado crossed the vast rolling
prairies and reached the Quivira (the Wichita) about the northeastern
part of the present State of Kansas. Here extensive village sites, with
innumerable traces of occupancy, undoubtedly indicate the positions of
the ancient settlements.
In the narrative of the expedition led by Coronado, prepared by one of
the Spanish officers, Juan Jaramillo, appears an interesting though very
brief description of the thatched dwellings of the people of Quivira:
"The houses which these Indians have were of straw, and most of them
round, and the straw reached down to the ground like a wall, so that
they did not have the symmetry or the style of these here [referring to
pueblos]; they have something like a chapel or sentry box outside and
around these, with an entry, where the Indians appear seated or
reclining." (Winship, (1), p. 591.) Castaneda, writing of the same
villages, said: "The houses are round, without a wall, and they have one
story like a loft, under the roof, where they sleep and keep their
belongings. The roofs are of straw." (Winship, (1), pp. 528-529.) This
evidently referred to structures similar to that shown on the right of
the lodge in plate 55, _a_.
A photograph of a large Wichita dwelling, of the form mentioned, is
reproduced in plate 55, _b_. The picture was probably made about the
year 1880. The door in front is open, and there appears to be another on
the extreme left, which would be 90 deg. from the former; therefore there
were evidently four entrances. This is explained in the following
account of the construction and arrangement of such a dwelling:
"Its construction was begun by drawing a circle on the ground, and on
the outline setting a number of crotched posts, in which beams were
laid. Against these, poles were set very closely in a row so as to lean
inward; these in turn were laced with willow rods and their tops brought
together and securely-fastened so as to form a peak. Over this frame a
heavy thatch of grass was laid and bound down by slender rods, and at
each point where the rods joined an ornamental tuft of grass was tied.
Two poles, laid at right angles, jutting out in four projecting points,
were fastened to the apex of the roof, and over the center, where they
crossed, rose a spire, 2 ft. high or more, made of bunches of grass.
Four doors, opening to each point of the compass, were formerly made,
but now, except when the house is to be used for ceremonial purposes,
only two are provided, one on the east to serve for the morning, and one
on the west to go in and out of when the sun is in that quarter. The
fireplace was a circular excavation in the center of the floor, and the
smoke found egress through a hole left high up in the roof toward the E.
The four projecting beams at the peak pointed toward and were symbolic
of the four points of the compass, where were the paths down which the
powers descended to help man. The spire typified the abode in the zenith
of the mysterious permeating force that animates all nature. The
fireplace was accounted sacred; it was never treated lightly even in the
daily life of the family. The couches of the occupants were placed
against the wall. They consisted of a framework on which was fitted a
woven covering of reeds. Upon this robes or rush mats were spread. The
grass house is a comely structure. Skill is required to build it, and it
has an attractive appearance both within and without." (Fletcher, (1).)
An interesting photograph made some 30 or 40 years ago, near Anadarko,
Caddo County, Oklahoma, is reproduced in plate 55, _a_. This shows a
grass lodge of the usual form, and to the right of it appears to be an
arbor or shelter, having a thatched roof but open on the sides. This
second structure may be of the form which was seen by the Spaniards
nearly four centuries ago, a place "where the Indians appear seated or
reclining." It undoubtedly served as a gathering place, out of doors,
and gave protection from the rays of the sun.
WACO.
On August 23, 1853, the expedition under command of Lieut. A. W. Whipple
camped at some point in the southwestern portion of the present McClain
County, Oklahoma, and that evening were visited by two Indians, "the one
tall and straight, the other ill-looking. Their dress consisted of a
blue cotton blanket wrapped around the waist, a head-dress of eagles'
feathers, brass wire bracelets, and moccasins. The outer cartilages of
their ears were cut through in various places, and short sticks inserted
in place of rings. They were painted with vermilion, and carried bows of
bois d'arc three feet long, and cow-skin quivers filled with arrows. The
latter were about twenty-six inches in length, with very sharp steel
heads, tastefully and skillfully made. The feathers with which they were
tipped, and the sinews which bound them, were prettily tinted with red,
blue, and green. The shafts were colored red, and said to be poisoned."
(Whipple, (1), p. 22.) Unable to converse with the two strangers, the
interpreter proceeded to interview them by signs. "The graceful motions
of the hands seemed to convey ideas faster than words could have done,
and with the whole operation we were highly amused and interested. Our
visitors now said that they were not Kichais, but Huecos, and that they
were upon a hunting expedition." Referring to the same two Indians
another member of the expedition wrote:
"The newcomers belonged to the tribe of Wakos, or Waekos, neighbours of
the Witchita Indians, who live to the east of the Witchita Mountains, in
a village situated on the bank of a small river rising in that
direction. They were now on a journey to the Canadian, to meet a
barter-trader there, but having heard of our expedition, had turned out
of their way to pay us a visit. The Wakos and Witchitas differ only in
name, and in some slight varieties of dialect; their villages are built
in the same style, and are only about a thousand yards from one another.
Their wigwams, of which the Witchitas count forty-two, and the Wakos
only twenty, look a good deal like haycocks, and are constructed with
pliable poles, eighteen or twenty feet long, driven into the ground in a
circle of twenty-five feet diameter; the poles are then bent together
and fastened to one another at the top, and the spaces between filled
with plaited willow twigs and turf, a low aperture being left for a
door, and one above for a chimney. A place is hollowed out in the centre
for a fireplace, and around this, and a little raised, are placed the
beds of the inhabitants of the hut; which, when covered with good
buffalo skins, make tolerable resting-places. Each of these wigwams is
generally occupied by two families; and the Wako tribe is reckoned at
about two hundred, that of the Witchitas at not less than eight hundred
members. These Indians practise agriculture; and beans, peas, maize,
gourds, and melons are seen prospering very well round their villages."
(Moellhausen, (1), I, pp. 115-116.)
CADDO.
The "Caddo proper," or Cenis as they were called by Joutel, early
occupied the southwestern part of the present State of Arkansas, the Red
River Valley, and adjacent region to the south and west.
La Salle was murdered near the banks of the Trinity, in eastern Texas,
March 20, 1687. Joutel and several others of the party pushed on, and
nine days later, when traversing the valley of the Red River, arrived at
a village of the Cenis. Fortunately a very good account of the people
and their homes is preserved in Joutel's narrative, and from it the
following quotations are made:
"The _Indian_ that was with us conducted us to their Chief's Cottage.
By the Way, we saw many other Cottages, and the Elders coming to meet us
in their Formalities, which consisted in some Goat Skins dress'd and
painted of several Colours, which they wore on their Shoulders like
Belts, and Plumes of Feathers of several Colours, on their Heads, like
Coronets.... All their Faces were daub'd with black or red. There were
twelve Elders, who walk'd in the Middle, and the Youth and Warriors in
Ranks, on the Sides of those old Men." After remaining a short time with
the chief "They led us to a larger Cottage, a Quarter of a League from
thence, being the Hut in which they have their public Rejoycings, and
the great Assemblies. We found it furnish'd with Mats for us to sit on.
The Elders seated themselves round about us, and they brought us to eat,
some _Sagamite_, which is their Pottage, little Beans, Bread made of
_Indian_ Corn, and another Sort they make with boil'd Flower, and at
last they made us smoke."
They proceeded to another village not far away, and, so the narrative
continues: "By the Way, we saw several Cottages at certain Distances,
stragling up and down, as the Ground happens to be fit for Tillage. The
Field lies about the Cottage, and at other Distances there are other
large Huts, not inhabited, but only serving for publick Assemblies,
either upon Occasion of Rejoycing, or to consult about Peace and War.
"The Cottages that are inhabited, are not each of them for a private
Family, for in some of them are fifteen or twenty, each of which has its
Nook or Corner, Bed and other Utensils to its self: but without any
Partition to separate it from the rest: However, they have Nothing in
Common besides the Fire, which is in the Midst of the Hut, and never
goes out. It is made of great Trees, the Ends whereof are laid together,
so that when once lighted, it lasts a long Time, and the first Comer
takes Care to keep it up." Here follows a brief description of the
appearance of the structures of the village, the dwellings resembling
those later mentioned as being typical of the Wichita. "The Cottages are
round at the Top, after the manner of a Bee-Hive, or a Reek of Hay. Some
of them are sixty Foot Diameter." There follows a brief account of the
method of constructing such a house. "In order to build them, they plant
Trees as thick as a Man's thigh, tall and strait, and placing them in a
Circle, and joyning the Tops together, from the Dome, or round Top, then
they lash and cover them with Weeds. When they remove their Dwellings,
they generally burn the Cottages they leave, and build new on the Ground
they design to inhabit. Their Moveables are some Bullocks Hides and
Goats Skins well cur'd, some Mats close wove, wherewith they adorn their
Huts, and some Earthen Vessels, which they are very skilful at making,
and wherein they boil their Flesh or Roots, or _Sagamite_, which, as has
been said, is their Pottage. They have also some small Baskets made of
Canes, serving to put in their Fruit and other Provisions. Their Beds
are made of Canes, rais'd two or three Foot above the Ground, handsomely
fitted with Mats and Bullocks Hides, or Goats Skins well cur'd, which
serve them for Feather Beds, or Quilts and Blankets; and those Beds are
parted one from another by Mats hung up." (Joutel, (1), pp. 106-109.)
The preceding is probably the clearest description of the furnishings of
a native structure standing beyond the Mississippi during the last
quarter of the seventeenth century that has been preserved. The large
circular structures served as the dwelling place of many individuals.
The beds were placed, so it may be assumed, in a line around the wall,
each separated from its neighbor by a mat. A large fire burned in the
center of the space. In many respects the large dwellings of the Caddo
must have closely resembled the great round structures which stood north
of St. Augustine, Florida, about the year 1700. (Bushnell, (1), pp.
84-86.)
Brief accounts of the many small tribes living south of the Arkansas
River soon after the transfer of Louisiana contain references to the
numerous villages, but fail, unfortunately, to describe the structures
in detail. (Sibley, (1), pp. 721-725.) The dwellings probably resembled
those already mentioned as standing a century and more before.
CONCLUSION.
The references brought together and presented on the preceding pages
will reveal the nature of the dwellings and the appearance of the camps
and villages which stood, so short a time ago, in the region between the
Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. First encountered in the southern
part of the country by the Spanish expeditions led by De Soto and
Coronado before the middle of the sixteenth century, and by the French
who entered the upper and central portions of the Mississippi Valley
during the latter part of the seventeenth century, all types of
structures continued to be reared and occupied until the latter half of
the nineteenth century, while some forms are even now in use, although
it is highly probable that within another generation these, too, will
have disappeared.
Various writers during the eighteenth century mentioned the tribes of
the Upper Missouri Valley, but all accounts prepared at that time are
rather vague, as was their knowledge of conditions on and in the region
bordering the Great Plains. And not until after the transfer of
Louisiana to the United States, and as a result of the several
expeditions sent out by the Government to explore the newly acquired
territories, did the various groups of tribes, with their peculiar
characteristics, become known with a degree of certainty. But with the
transfer of Louisiana conditions rapidly changed. Hunters and traders
soon penetrated the wilderness where few had gone before. Fort Crawford,
at the mouth of the Wisconsin; Fort Snelling, just below the Falls of
St. Anthony; and Leavenworth, on the Missouri, were established before
the close of the first quarter of the century. Towns were built farther
and farther beyond the old frontier, and on April 18, 1851, Kurz wrote
in his journal:
"St Joseph, formerly the trading post of Joseph Robidoux, is at the foot
of the Blacksnake hills, on the left bank of the Missouri.... The
streets are crowded with traders and emigrants on their way to
California and Oregon. Many Indians of the tribes of the Pottowatomis,
Foxes (Musquakees), Kikapoos, Iowas, and Otoes are continually in the
town.... In summer the _Bourgeois_, or Chiefs, the clerks and _Engages_
of the fur companies enliven the streets.... St. Joseph is now what St
Louis was formerly--their gathering place." Thus the Indian in his
primitive state was doomed, as were the vast herds of buffalo which then
roamed, unopposed, over the far-reaching prairies.
In studying the various types of structures it is interesting to learn
how the natural environments influenced the form of dwellings erected by
the tribes of a particular section. Thus in the densely timbered country
of the north, about the headwaters of the Mississippi and far beyond,
the mat and bark covered wigwams were developed and employed practically
to the exclusion of all other forms of habitations. But on the plains,
and in the regions bordering the great buffalo ranges, the skin-covered
conical tipis predominated, although other forms were sometimes
constructed by the same people. The earth lodges as erected by certain
tribes of the Missouri Valley were the most interesting native
structures east of the Rocky Mountains, and these at once suggest the
_Rotundas_, or great council houses once built by the Cherokees and
Creeks east of the Mississippi.
In treating of the habitations and villages of the several tribes
references have been made, incidentally, to the manners and ways of life
of the people who once claimed and occupied so great a part of the
present United States.
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