Since writing the above Letter I have descended the Missouri, a
distance of six or seven hundred miles, in my little bark, with
Ba’tiste and Bogard, my old “_compagnons du voyage_,” and have much
to say of what we three did and what we saw on our way, which will be
given anon.
I am now in the heart of the country belonging to the numerous tribe
of Sioux or Dohcotas, and have Indian faces and Indian customs in
abundance around me. This tribe is one of the most numerous in North
America, and also one of the most vigorous and warlike tribes to be
found, numbering some forty or fifty thousand, and able undoubtedly
to muster, if the tribe could be moved simultaneously, at least eight
or ten thousand warriors, well mounted and well armed. This tribe
take vast numbers of the wild horses on the plains towards the Rocky
Mountains, and many of them have been supplied with guns; but the
greater part of them hunt with their bows and arrows and long lances,
killing their game from their horses’ backs while at full speed.
The name Sioux (pronounced _see-oo_) by which they are familiarly
called, is one that has been given to them by the French traders, the
meaning of which I never have learned; their own name being, in their
language, Dah-co-ta. The personal appearance of these people is very
fine and prepossessing, their persons tall and straight, and their
movements elastic and graceful. Their stature is considerably above
that of the Mandans and Riccarees, or Blackfeet; but about equal to
that of the Crows, Assinneboins and Minatarees, furnishing at least one
half of their warriors of six feet or more in height.
I am here living with, and enjoying the hospitality of a gentleman by
the name of _Laidlaw_, a Scotchman, who is attached to the American
Fur Company, and who, in company with Mr. M‘Kenzie (of whom I have
before spoken) and Lamont, has the whole agency of the Fur Company’s
transactions in the regions of the Upper Missouri and the Rocky
Mountains.
This gentleman has a finely-built Fort here, of two or three hundred
feet square, enclosing eight or ten of their factories, houses and
stores, in the midst of which he occupies spacious and comfortable
apartments, which are well supplied with the comforts and luxuries of
life and neatly and respectably conducted by a fine looking, modest,
and dignified Sioux woman, the kind and affectionate mother of his
little flock of pretty and interesting children.
[Illustration: 86]
This Fort is undoubtedly one of the most important and productive
of the American Fur Company’s posts, being in the centre of the
great Sioux country, drawing from all quarters an immense and almost
incredible number of buffalo robes, which are carried to the New York
and other Eastern markets, and sold at a great profit. This post
is thirteen hundred miles above St. Louis, on the west bank of the
Missouri, on a beautiful plain near the mouth of the Teton river which
empties into the Missouri from the West, and the Fort has received
the name of Fort Pierre, in compliment to Monsr. Pierre Chouteau, who
is one of the partners in the Fur Company, residing in St. Louis; and
to whose politeness I am indebted, as I have before mentioned, for my
passage in the Company’s steamer, on her first voyage to the Yellow
Stone; and whose urbane and gentlemanly society, I have before said, I
had during my passage.
The country about this Fort is almost entirely prairie, producing along
the banks of the river and streams only, slight skirtings of timber.
No site could have been selected more pleasing or more advantageous
than this; the Fort is in the centre of one of the Missouri’s most
beautiful plains, and hemmed in by a series of gracefully undulating,
grass-covered hills, on all sides; rising like a series of terraces, to
the summit level of the prairies, some three or four hundred feet in
elevation, which then stretches off in an apparently boundless ocean of
gracefully swelling waves and fields of green. On my way up the river
I made a painting of this lovely spot, taken from the summit of the
bluffs, a mile or two distant (+plate+ 85), shewing an encampment of
Sioux, of six hundred tents or skin lodges, around the Fort, where they
had concentrated to make their spring trade; exchanging their furs and
peltries for articles and luxuries of civilized manufactures.
The great family of Sioux who occupy so vast a tract of country,
extending from the banks of the Mississippi river to the base of
the Rocky Mountains, are everywhere a migratory or roaming tribe,
divided into forty-two bands or families, each having a chief who
all acknowledge a superior or head chief, to whom they all are held
subordinate. This subordination, however, I should rather record as
their _former_ and _native_ regulation, of which there exists no
doubt, than an _existing_ one, since the numerous innovations made
amongst these people by the Fur Traders, as well as by the proximity
of civilization along a great deal of their frontier, which soon upset
and change many native regulations, and particularly those relating to
their government and religion.
There is one principal and familiar division of this tribe into what
are called the _Mississippi_ and _Missouri_ Sioux. Those bordering
on the banks of the Mississippi, concentrating at Prairie du Chien
and Fort Snelling, for the purposes of trade, &c., are called the
Mississippi Sioux. These are somewhat advanced towards civilization,
and familiar with white people, with whom they have held intercourse
for many years, and are consequently excessive whiskey drinkers, though
constituting but a meagre proportion, and at the same time, but a very
unfair and imperfect sample of the great mass of this tribe who inhabit
the shores of the Missouri, and fearlessly roam on the vast plains
intervening between it and the Rocky Mountains, and are still living
entirely in their primitive condition.
There is no tribe on the Continent, perhaps, of finer looking men than
the Sioux; and few tribes who are better and more comfortably clad, and
supplied with the necessaries of life. There are no parts of the great
plains of America which are more abundantly stocked with buffaloes and
wild horses, nor any people more bold in destroying the one for food,
and appropriating the other to their use. There has gone abroad, from
the many histories which have been written of these people, an opinion
which is too current in the world, that the Indian is necessarily a
poor, drunken, murderous wretch; which account is certainly unjust
as regards the savage, and doing less than justice to the world for
whom such histories have been prepared. I have travelled several years
already amongst these people and I have not had my scalp taken, nor a
blow struck me; nor had occasion to raise my hand against an Indian;
nor has my property been stolen, as yet to my knowledge, to the value
of a shilling; and that in a country where no man is punishable by
law for the crime of stealing; still some of them steal, and murder
too; and if white men did not do the same, and that in defiance of
the laws of God and man, I might take satisfaction in stigmatizing
the Indian character as thievish and murderous. That the Indians in
their _native state_ are “_drunken_,” is false; for they are the only
temperance people, literally speaking, that ever I saw in my travels,
or ever expect to see. If the civilized world are startled at this,
it is the _fact_ that they must battle with, not with me; for these
people manufacture no spirituous liquor themselves, and know nothing
of it until it is brought into their country and tendered to them by
Christians. That these people are “_naked_” is equally untrue, and
as easily disproved; for I am sure that with the paintings I have
made amongst the Mandans and Crows, and other tribes; and with their
beautiful costumes which I have procured and shall bring home, I shall
be able to establish the fact that many of these people dress, not only
with clothes comfortable for any latitude, but that they also dress
with some considerable taste and elegance. Nor am I quite sure that
they are entitled to the name of “_poor_,” who live in a boundless
country of green fields, with good horses to ride; where they are
all joint tenants of the soil, together; where the Great Spirit has
supplied them with an abundance of food to eat—where they are all
indulging in the pleasures and amusements of a lifetime of idleness
and ease, with no business hours to attend to, or professions to
learn—where they have no notes in bank or other debts to pay—no taxes,
no tithes, no rents, nor beggars to touch and tax the sympathy of their
souls at every step they go. Such might be poverty in the Christian
world, but is sure to be a blessing where the pride and insolence of
comparative wealth are unknown.
[Illustration: 87]
[Illustration: 88]
I mentioned that this is the nucleus or place of concentration of the
numerous tribe of the Sioux, who often congregate here in great masses
to make their trades with the American Fur Company; and that on my way
up the river, some months since, I found here encamped, six hundred
families of Sioux, living in tents covered with buffalo hides. Amongst
these there were twenty or more of the different bands, each one with
their chief at their head, over whom was a _superior chief_ and leader,
a middle-aged man, of middling stature, with a noble countenance, and a
figure almost equalling the Apollo, and I painted his portrait (+plate+
86). The name of this chief is Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn) of the
Mee-ne-cow-e-gee band, who has risen rapidly to the highest honours
in the tribe, from his own extraordinary merits, even at so early an
age. He told me that he took the name of “One Horn” (or shell) from a
simple small shell that was hanging on his neck, which descended to
him from his father, and which, he said, he valued more than anything
he possessed; affording a striking instance of the living affection
which these people often cherish for the dead, inasmuch as he chose
to carry this name through life in preference to many others and more
honourable ones he had a right to have taken, from different battles
and exploits of his extraordinary life. He treated me with great
kindness and attention, considering himself highly complimented by the
signal and unprecedented honour I had conferred upon him by painting
his portrait, and that before I had invited any other. His costume was
a very handsome one, and will have a place in my +Indian Gallery+ by
the side of his picture. It is made of elk skins beautifully dressed,
and fringed with a profusion of porcupine quills and scalp-locks; and
his hair, which is very long and profuse, divided into two parts, and
lifted up and crossed, over the top of his head, with a simple tie,
giving it somewhat the appearance of a Turkish turban.
This extraordinary man, before he was raised to the dignity of chief,
was the renowned of his tribe for his athletic achievements. In the
chase he was foremost; he could run down a buffalo, which he often had
done, on his own legs, and drive his arrow to the heart. He was the
fleetest in the tribe; and in the races he had run, he had always taken
the prize.
It was proverbial in his tribe, that Ha-wan-je-tah’s bow never was
drawn in vain, and his wigwam was abundantly furnished with scalps that
he had taken from his enemies’ heads in battle.
Having descended the river thus far, then, and having hauled out
my canoe, and taken up my quarters for awhile with mine hospitable
host, Mr. Laidlaw, as I have before said; and having introduced my
readers to the country and the people, and more particularly to the
chief dignitary of the Sioux; and having promised in the beginning of
this Letter also, that I should give them some amusing and curious
information that we picked up, and incidents that we met with, on
our voyage from the Mandans to this place; I have again to beg that
they will pardon me for withholding from them yet awhile longer, the
incidents of that curious and most important part of my Tour, the
absence of which, at this time, seems to make a “hole in the ballad,”
though I promise my readers they are written, and will appear in the
book in a proper and appropriate place.
Taking it for granted then, that I will be indulged in this freak, I am
taking the liberty of presuming on my readers’ patience in proposing
another, which is to offer them here an extract from my Notes, which
were made on my journey of 1300 miles from St. Louis to this place,
where I stopped, as I have said, amongst several thousands of Sioux;
where I remained for some time, and painted my numerous portraits of
their chiefs, &c.; one of whom was the head and leader of the Sioux,
whom I have already introduced. On the long and tedious route that lies
between St. Louis and this place, I passed the Sacs and Ioways—the
Konzas—the Omahaws, and the Otoes (making notes on them all, which are
reserved for another place), and landed at the Puncahs, a small tribe
residing in one village, on the west bank of the river, 300 miles below
this, and 1000 from St. Louis.
The Puncahs are all contained in seventy-five or eighty lodges, made of
buffalo skins, in the form of tents; the frames for which are poles of
fifteen or twenty feet in length, with the butt ends standing on the
ground, and the small ends meeting at the top, forming a cone, which
sheds off the rain and wind with perfect success. This small remnant
of a tribe are not more than four or five hundred in numbers; and I
should think, at least, two-thirds of those are women. This disparity
in numbers having been produced by the continual losses which their
men suffer, who are penetrating the buffalo country for meat, for
which they are now obliged to travel a great way (as the buffaloes
have recently left their country), exposing their lives to their more
numerous enemies about them.
The chief of this tribe, whose name is Shoo-de-ga-cha (smoke), I
painted at full length (+plate+ 87), and his wife also, a young and
very pretty woman (+plate+ 88), whose name is Hee-la’h-dee (the
pure fountain); her neck and arms were curiously tattooed, which is
a very frequent mode of ornamenting the body amongst this and some
other tribes, which is done by pricking into the skin, gunpowder and
vermilion.
The chief, who was wrapped in a buffalo robe, is a noble specimen of
native dignity and philosophy. I conversed much with him; and from his
dignified manners, as well as from the soundness of his reasoning, I
became fully convinced that he deserved to be the sachem of a more
numerous and prosperous tribe. He related to me with great coolness
and frankness, the poverty and distress of his nation; and with the
method of a philosopher, predicted the certain and rapid extinction of
his tribe, which he had not the power to avert. Poor, noble chief; who
was equal to, and worthy of a greater empire! He sat upon the deck of
the steamer, overlooking the little cluster of his wigwams mingled
amongst the trees; and, like Caius Marius, weeping over the ruins
of Carthage, shed tears as he was descanting on the poverty of his
ill-fated little community, which he told me “had once been powerful
and happy; that the buffaloes which the Great Spirit had given them
for food, and which formerly spread all over their green prairies, had
all been killed or driven out by the approach of white men, who wanted
their skins; that their country was now entirely destitute of game,
and even of roots for their food, as it was one continued prairie;
and that his young men penetrating the countries of their enemies
for buffaloes, which they were obliged to do, were cut to pieces and
destroyed in great numbers. That his people had foolishly become fond
of _fire-water_ (whiskey), and had given away everything in their
country for it—that it had destroyed many of his warriors, and soon
would destroy the rest—that his tribe was too small, and his warriors
too few to go to war with the tribes around them; that they were met
and killed by the Sioux on the North, by the Pawnees on the West; and
by the Osages and Konzas on the South; and still more alarmed from the
constant advance of the pale faces—their enemies from the East, with
whiskey and small-pox, which already had destroyed four-fifths of his
tribe, and soon would impoverish, and at last destroy the remainder of
them.”
[Illustration: 89]
[Illustration: 90]
In this way did this shrewd philosopher lament over the unlucky destiny
of his tribe; and I pitied him with all my heart. I have no doubt of
the correctness of his representations; and I believe there is no tribe
on the frontier more in want, nor any more deserving of the sympathy
and charity of the government and Christian societies of the civilized
world.
The son of this chief, a youth of eighteen years, and whose portrait I
painted (+plate+ 90), distinguished himself in a singular manner the
day before our steamer reached their village, by taking to him _four
wives in one day_! This extraordinary and unprecedented freak of his,
was just the thing to make him the greatest sort of _medicine_ in the
eyes of his people; and probably he may date much of his success and
greatness through life, to this bold and original step, which suddenly
raised him into notice and importance.
The old chief Shoo-de-ga-cha, of whom I have spoken above, considering
his son to have arrived to the age of maturity, fitted him out for
house-keeping, by giving him a handsome wigwam to live in, and nine
horses, with many other valuable presents; when the boy, whose name
is Hongs-kay-de (the great chief), soon laid his plans for the proud
and pleasant epoch in his life, and consummated them in the following
ingenious and amusing manner.
Wishing to connect himself with, and consequently to secure the
countenance of some of the most influential men in the tribe, he had
held an interview with one of the most distinguished; and easily
(being the son of a chief), made an arrangement for the hand of his
daughter, which he was to receive on a certain day, and at a certain
hour, for which he was to give two horses, a gun, and several pounds
of tobacco. This was enjoined on the father as a profound secret, and
as a condition of the espousal. In like manner he soon made similar
arrangements with three other leading men of the tribe, each of whom
had a young and beautiful daughter, of marriageable age. To each of
the fathers he had promised two horses, and other presents similar
to those stipulated for in the first instance, and all under the
same injunctions of secrecy, until the hour approached, when he had
announced to the whole tribe that he was to be married. At the time
appointed, they all assembled, and all were in ignorance of the fair
hand that was to be placed in his on this occasion. He had got some
of his young friends who were prepared to assist him, to lead up
the eight horses. He took two of them by the halters, and the other
presents agreed upon in his other hand, and advancing to the first of
the parents, whose daughter was standing by the side of him, saying
to him, “you promised me the hand of your daughter on this day, for
which I was to give you two horses.” The father assented with a “ugh!”
receiving the presents, and giving his child; when some confusion
ensued from the simultaneous remonstrances, which were suddenly made by
the other three parents, who had brought their daughters forward, and
were shocked at this sudden disappointment, as well as by the mutual
declarations they were making, of similar contracts that each one had
entered into with him! As soon as they could be pacified, and silence
was restored, he exultingly replied, “You have all acknowledged in
public your promises with me, which I shall expect you to fulfil. I am
here to perform all the engagements which I have made, and I expect
you all to do the same”—No more was said. He led up the two horses for
each, and delivered the other presents; leading off to his wigwam his
four brides—taking two in each hand, and commenced at once upon his new
mode of life; reserving only one of his horses for his own daily use.
I visited the wigwam of this young installed _medicine-man_ several
times, and saw his four modest little wives seated around the fire,
where all seemed to harmonize very well; and for aught I could
discover, were entering very happily on the duties and pleasures of
married life. I selected one of them for her portrait, and painted it
(+plate+ 89), Mong-shong-shaw (the bending willow), in a very pretty
dress of deer skins, and covered with a young buffalo’s robe, which was
handsomely ornamented, and worn with much grace and pleasing effect.
Mr. Chouteau of the Fur Company, and Major Sanford, the agent for the
Upper Missouri Indians, were with me at this time; and both of these
gentlemen, highly pleased with so ingenious and _innocent_ a freak,
felt disposed to be liberal, and sent them many presents from the
steamer.
The ages of these young brides were probably all between twelve and
fifteen years, the season of life in which most of the girls in this
wild country contract marriage.
[Illustration: 91]
It is a surprising fact, that women mature in these regions at that
early age, and there have been some instances where marriage has taken
place, even at eleven; and the juvenile mother has been blest with her
first offspring at the age of twelve!
These facts are calculated to create surprise and almost incredulity
in the mind of the reader, but there are circumstances for his
consideration yet to be known, which will in a manner account for these
extraordinary facts.
There is not a doubt but there is a more early approach to maturity
amongst the females of this country than in civilized communities,
owing either to a natural and constitutional difference, or to the
exposed and active life they lead. Yet there is another and more
general cause of early marriages (and consequently apparent maturity),
which arises out of the modes and forms of the country, where most
of the marriages are contracted with the parents, hurried on by the
impatience of the applicant, and prematurely accepted and consummated
on the part of the parents, who are often impatient to be in receipt
of the presents they are to receive as the price of their daughters.
There is also the facility of dissolving the marriage contract in this
country, which does away with one of the most serious difficulties
which lies in the way in the civilized world, and calculated greatly
to retard its consummation, which is not an equal objection in Indian
communities. Education and accomplishments, again, in the fashionable
world, and also a time and a season to flourish and show them off,
necessarily engross that part of a young lady’s life, when the poor
Indian girl, who finds herself weaned from the familiar embrace of her
parents, with her mind and her body maturing, and her thoughts and her
passions straying away in the world for some theme or some pleasure
to cling to, easily follows their juvenile and ardent dictates,
prematurely entering on that system of life, consisting in reciprocal
dependence and protection.
In the instance above described, the young man was in no way censured
by his people, but most loudly applauded; for in this country polygamy
is allowed; and in this tribe, where there are two or three times the
number of women that there are of men, such an arrangement answers a
good purpose, whereby so many of the females are provided for and taken
care of; and particularly so, and to the great satisfaction of the
tribe, as well as of the parties and families concerned, when so many
fall to the lot of a chief, or the son of a chief, into whose wigwam it
is considered an honour to be adopted, and where they are the most sure
of protection.
LETTER—No. 27.