_The river Missouri._
Previously to the commencement of the expedition commanded by Mr. Pike,
the government of the United States had directed arrangements to be made
for examining the Missouri, from its mouth to its source; thence
exploring the vast and dreary range of mountains, which form the highest
land in the centre of that part of the American continent; and
afterwards, of descending, by some one of the rivers which flow
westward, to the Pacific ocean. This formidable undertaking was
committed to captains Lewis and Clarke, two officers, in the American
army, who were, in every respect, qualified for the arduous duties which
it required; and who had, under their command, a party of forty-two
soldiers and boatmen. Its professed object was to ascertain the
possibility of opening an inland communication, between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans; but the American government had also in view the
obtaining of information, respecting the country of Louisiana, which
they were desirous of possessing, and which has since been ceded to
them by France.
_Narrative of a voyage from St. Louis to the source of the Missouri.
From the travels of Captains_ LEWIS _and_ CLARKE.
The party having embarked in three boats, set out from St. Louis, on the
14th of May, 1804; and, for several days, they proceeded without
interruption. Early in the morning of the twenty-fourth, they ascended a
difficult rapid, called the _Devil's Race-ground_, and narrowly escaped
having one of their boats upset. Beyond this place, they met two canoes,
laden with furs, which had been eight weeks on their voyage from the
Mahar nation, about seven hundred miles distant. On the banks of the
river was much timber, consisting of cotton-wood, sycamore, hickory, and
white walnut.
On the 1st of June, they passed the mouth of the _Osage river_, which
falls into the Missouri, at the distance of a hundred and thirty-three
miles from its junction with the Mississippi. This stream gives name to
a nation of Indians which inhabit its banks. The _Osage Indians_ are, in
their persons, well formed: they reside in villages, and, having made
considerable progress in agriculture, they seem less addicted to war
than their northern neighbours.
Beyond the Osage river, the southern bank of the Missouri was low, and
covered with rushes; and occasionally with oak, ash, and walnut-trees.
On the north, the land was, in some places, rich, and well adapted to
agriculture. Near the mouth of _Big Manitou Creek_, the voyagers met a
raft, formed of two canoes joined together. On this, two French traders
were descending, from the river Kanzes: it was laden with beaver-skins,
which they had collected during the winter. Not long afterwards,
captains Lewis and Clarke landed, to examine a singular limestone rock,
which was nearly covered with inscriptions and uncouth paintings of
animals; but they found the place occupied by a nest of rattlesnakes,
and left it. In several parts of their voyage, they passed canoes,
boats, and rafts laden with furs.
In many places the river was bordered with prairies or swampy meadows,
on which grew several kinds of fruit, such as mulberries, plums, wild
apples, raspberries, and strawberries. Numerous herds of deer were seen,
pasturing in the plains, or feeding on the young willows of the river.
Near the mouth of the _Kanzes_, the Missouri is about five hundred yards
wide. On the south, the hills or highlands approach within a mile and
half of the shore; but, on the north, they are several miles distant;
and the country, on all sides, is fine. In some places the navigation
was interrupted by sand-banks, and in others, by the remains of trees
which had fallen into the water. On the second of July, the whole
surface of the stream, for a considerable distance, was covered with
drift wood. This had probably been occasioned by the giving way of some
sand-bank, which had before detained the wood, as it floated down the
stream.
The weather was now so hot that some of the men experienced from it
great inconvenience; but the air was occasionally cooled by showers. In
the evenings the voyagers often landed and encamped, for the purpose of
passing the night on shore. In that part of the river at which they
arrived on the 16th, the width, from bank to bank, was about a mile; but
the water was so shallow that they could perceive the remains of fallen
timber scattered quite across the bottom. The Missouri is here wider
than it is below, where the timber, which grows on its banks, resists
the power of the current.
On the 21st of July the voyagers reached the mouth of the great _river
Platte_. Captains Lewis and Clarke ascended it for about a mile, and
found the current very rapid; rolling over sands, and divided into
several channels, none of which, however, appeared to be more than five
or six feet deep.
At this place they encamped for several days, in order to dry their
provisions, make some oars, prepare an account and make maps of the
country through which they had passed. The game they saw here were
chiefly deer, turkeys, and grouse; and they obtained an abundance of
ripe grapes. During the nights they were much annoyed by wolves. The
country behind their camp was a plain, about five miles in extent, one
half covered with wood, and the other dry and elevated.
Not far from this place was a settlement of the _Pawnee Indians_; a race
which had once been extremely numerous, but which now consisted of only
four bands, comprising, in the whole, about one thousand four hundred
persons.
On the 30th of July, the commanders of the expedition directed an
encampment to be formed on the southern bank of the river, for the
purpose of their waiting the arrival of the chiefs of the Ottoe Indians,
with whom an interview had been appointed to take place. From an
elevated station near the camp, they had a beautiful view of the river
and of the adjoining country. The hunters abundantly supplied them with
deer, turkeys, geese, and beavers; and they were well supplied with
fish.
A party of fourteen _Ottoe_ and _Missouri Indians_, came, at sunset, on
the 2d of August, accompanied by a Frenchman who had resided among them
and acted as an interpreter. The next morning an awning was formed with
the mainsail of the largest vessel; and, under this, Captains Lewis and
Clarke received them. A speech was made to these Indians, announcing
that the territory which they inhabited had been ceded to the American
government, and advising them respecting their future conduct towards
the Americans. They promised obedience, requested permission to trade
with the Americans, asked for a supply of arms, and solicited the
mediation of the voyagers, between them and the Mahars, with whom they
were then at war. The chiefs were each presented with a medal, to be
worn round his neck, some paint, garters, and cloth ornaments of dress:
to these were added a canister of gunpowder, a bottle of whiskey, and a
few other articles.
Not long after the ceremonies of the council had concluded, the voyagers
again embarked. The hills which now extended along the river, were
nearly fifteen miles asunder: those on the north were clad with a
considerable quantity of timber; but those on the south had only some
scattered trees in the ravines or narrow valleys.
On the 5th of August they passed round a peninsula; and, having encamped
on the north side of it, Captain Clarke, in pursuing some game, about
three hundred and seventy yards from the camp, found himself at a point
of the river which they had already passed, and which, by water, was
distant nearly twelve miles. Some miles beyond this, on traversing a
part of the country, to reach one of the Indian villages, the vegetation
was so luxuriant, that the men, who had been sent to explore it, were
forced to break their way through grass, sunflowers, thistles, and other
plants, more than ten feet high. This village had once consisted of
three hundred huts; but, about four years before the voyagers were here,
it had been burnt, in consequence of the small-pox having destroyed four
hundred of the men, and a great number of women and children. On a hill
behind the village were seen the graves of the nation.
The accounts which the voyagers received of the effects of the small-pox
among these Indians, were most distressing. They had been a military and
a powerful people; but, when they saw their strength wasting before a
malady which they were unable to resist, their phrensy was extreme. They
burnt their village; and many of them put to death their wives and
children, in order to save them from so cruel an affliction, and that
they might all go together to the unknown and better country.
A party of _Ottoe_ and _Missouri Indians_ with whom the voyagers had an
interview after this, were almost naked, having no covering, except a
cloth round their middle, and a loose blanket or buffalo robe thrown
over their shoulders.
In one place Captain Lewis noticed that the hills which extended to the
edge of the river on the south side, contained alum, copperas, cobalt,
(having the appearance of soft isinglass,) pyrites, and sand-stone: the
two first very pure. In another cliff, seven miles distant, he observed
an alum rock, of dark brown colour, containing, in its crevices, great
quantities of cobalt, cemented shells, and red earth. The appearance of
these mineral substances enabled him to account for some disorders of
the stomach with which his men had of late been much afflicted. They had
been in the habit of dipping up the water of the river inadvertently,
and drinking it; and he had now no doubt but the sickness was occasioned
by a scum which covered its surface along the southern shore. Always
after this the men agitated the water, so as to disperse the scum,
before they drank of it, and these disorders ceased.
The soil of a plain over which the two commanders and some of the men
walked, on the 25th, was exceedingly fine; and was encumbered with but
little timber, except immediately on the banks of the Missouri. They
found delicious plums, grapes, and blue currants. The musquitoes, and
other insects which here abounded, seem, however, to have occasioned
them some inconvenience.
On the 29th they were joined by five chiefs and seventy men of the
_Yanktons_, a tribe belonging to the Sioux Indians. The camps or huts of
this people are of a conical form: they are covered with buffalo robes,
painted with various figures and colours, and have an aperture at the
top for the smoke to pass through. Each hut is calculated to contain
from ten to fifteen persons, and the interior arrangement is compact and
handsome: the kitchen or place for cooking is always detached. Captain
Lewis delivered to these people a speech containing, as he says, the
usual advice and counsel with regard to their future conduct towards the
government and the "great father" (as the Indians are taught to call the
president) of the United States. He gave to the grand chief a flag, a
medal, a certificate, a laced uniform coat of the United States
artillery corps, a cocked hat and a red feather; and to the other chiefs
medals, tobacco, and clothing. Among the inferior men were distributed
knives, tobacco, bells, tape, binding, and other articles of trifling
value. After this the Indian chiefs, and Captains Lewis and Clarke,
smoked together the pipes of peace. These chiefs begged the strangers to
have pity on them, as they were very poor; to send traders to them, as
they wanted powder and ball: they were also anxious to be supplied with
some of "the great father's milk," by which they meant rum, or other
ardent spirits. This people are stout and well proportioned, and have a
peculiar air of dignity and boldness: they are fond of decorations, and
use, for this purpose, paint, porcupine-quills, and feathers. Some of
them wear a kind of necklace of white bear's claws, three inches long,
and closely strung together round their necks. They had among them a few
fowling-pieces, but they were, in general, armed with bows and arrows.
Beyond the village of the Yanktons the country, on both sides of the
river, was low, and, for the most part, destitute of timber; but, in
some places, it was covered with cotton-wood, elm, and oak. The weather
had been intensely hot; but, in the beginning of September, the wind was
violent, and the weather cold and rainy. On the second of this month,
the hunters killed four elks, and the whole party was supplied with an
abundance of grapes and plums, which grew wild near the river. They this
day observed, on the south side of the Missouri, the remains of an
ancient Indian fortification, formed chiefly of walls of earth.
On the 7th of September the weather was very cold. The voyagers, this
evening, encamped at the foot of a round mountain, about three hundred
feet in height, which, at a distance, had the appearance of a dome. In
this part of the country the hunters chiefly killed elks, deer, and
squirrels: and they occasionally brought in beavers, porcupines, and
foxes. On the 12th they passed an island covered with timber; and they
had great difficulty in struggling through the sand-bars, the water
being both rapid and shallow. The weather was now becoming so cold, that
it was requisite to give out flannel-shirts to the men; and several
animals were killed, for the sake of their skins to cover the boats. In
many places the strong current of the river had worn away the banks, to
considerable extent.
An interview took place, on the 25th, with some chiefs of the _Tetons_,
a tribe of the Sioux Indians: nearly the same ceremonies and agreements
were used and entered into, as with the preceding tribes; and similar
presents were made. They promised obedience to the "great father," but
they soon showed how little dependance could be placed on the promises
of uncivilized nations. As they were going away, a party of them
endeavoured to seize one of the boats, declaring that they had not
received presents enough. On being told they should receive no more,
they drew their arrows from their quivers, and were bending their bows,
when the swivel-gun in one of the boats was levelled at them. Perceiving
from this that the most determined resistance would be made, they at
length ceased from their claims.
On the ensuing day these Indians approached the banks of the river,
accompanied by their wives and children, and by a great number of their
friends. Their disposition now seemed friendly, and the voyagers
accepted an invitation to remain, during the night, on shore, to witness
a dance which was preparing for their entertainment.
When Captains Lewis and Clarke landed, they were met by ten young men,
who took each of them up in a robe highly decorated, and carried him to
a large council-house, where he was placed on a dressed buffalo-skin,
by the side of the grand chief. The hall or council-room was in the
shape of three quarters of a circle, and covered, at the top and sides,
with skins sewed together. Under this sate about seventy men, forming a
circle round the chief. In the vacant part of the circle, between these
men and the chief, the pipe of peace was raised, on two forked sticks,
six or eight inches from the ground, and having the down of the swan
scattered beneath it. At a little distance was a fire, at which some of
the attendants were employed in cooking provisions. As soon as Captains
Lewis and Clarke were seated, an old man rose up, and stating that he
approved of what they had done, begged of their visitors to take pity on
them. Satisfactory assurances of amity were made by both parties; and
the chief, after some previous ceremony, held up the pipe of peace,
first pointed it toward the heavens, then to the four quarters of the
globe, and then to the earth, made a short speech, lighted it, and
presented it to the strangers. They smoked it, and he harangued his
people, after which the repast was served up. It consisted of the body
of a dog, a favourite dish among the Sioux; to this was added a dish
made of buffalo-meat dried, pounded, and mixed raw with grease, and a
kind of potatoe. Of this the strangers ate freely, but they could not
relish the roasted dog. The party ate and smoked till it was dark, when
every thing was cleared away for the dance. A large fire was lighted in
the centre of the room, for the purpose of giving, at the same time,
light and warmth. The music was partly vocal and partly instrumental.
The instruments consisted chiefly of a sort of tambourine, formed of
skin stretched across a hoop; and a small skin bag with pebbles in it.
The women then came forward, highly decorated: some with poles in their
hands, on which were hung the scalps of their enemies; and others with
guns, spears, or different trophies, taken in war by their husbands,
brothers, or connexions. Having arranged themselves in two columns, one
on each side of the fire, they danced towards each other till they met
in the centre, when the rattles were shaken, and they all shouted and
returned to their places. They had no step, but shuffled along the
ground. The music appeared to be nothing more than a confusion of
noises, distinguished only by hard or gentle blows upon the skin; and
the song was extemporaneous. In the pauses of the dance, any man in the
company, who chose it, came forward and recited, in a sort of low
guttural tone, some story or incident: this was taken up by the
orchestra and the dancers, who repeated it in a higher strain, and
danced to it. These amusements continued till midnight, when the
voyagers retired on board their vessels, accompanied by four of the
chiefs.
In their persons these Indians were rather ugly and ill made, their legs
and arms being peculiarly slender, their cheek-bones high, and their
eyes projecting. The females, with the same character of form, were
somewhat more handsome. Both sexes appeared cheerful and sprightly, but
afforded many indications of being both cunning and vicious. The men
shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top, which
they suffer to grow, so as to wear it in plats over the shoulders. In
full dress, the principal chiefs wear a hawk's feather, worked with
porcupine-quills, and fastened to the top of the head. Their face and
body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. The hair
of the women is suffered to grow long, and is parted from the forehead,
across the head; at the back of which it is either collected into a kind
of bag, or hangs down over the shoulders. This people seem fond of
finery. Their lodges are very neatly constructed: they consist of about
one hundred cabins, made of white buffalo hides, supported on poles
fifteen or twenty feet high; and, having a larger cabin in the centre,
for councils and for dances. These lodges may be taken to pieces, packed
up, and carried from place to place. The beasts of burden are dogs. Some
of these Indians had their heads shaved, and others had arrows stuck
through their flesh above and below the elbow: these were indications of
mourning.
On Friday the 28th of September, Captains Lewis and Clarke pursued their
voyage up the river; and on the ensuing day, they passed a spot where a
band of _Ricara Indians_ had had a village, about five years before: but
there were now no remains of it, except a mound which encircled the
town.
Beyond this, the country, on the north side of the river, presented an
extensive range of low prairie, covered with timber: on the south were
high and barren hills; but, afterwards, the land assumed the same
character as that on the opposite side. A great number of Indians were
discovered on the hills at a distance: they approached the river, and
proved to be _Tetons_, belonging to the band which the voyagers had just
left. In the course of this day the navigation was much impeded by logs
and sand-bars. The weather was now very cold. The voyagers next passed
the _Chayenne river_, which flowed from the south-west, and the mouth of
which was four hundred yards wide. On both sides of the Missouri, near
this river, are richly timbered lowlands, with naked hills behind them.
In this part of the country the hunters observed a great numbers of
goats, white bears, prairie-cocks or grouse; and a species of quadrupeds
described to resemble a small elk, but to have large, circular horns.
For many successive days Indians were observed on the shores; and, if
they had been more numerous, some of them seemed inclined to molest the
voyagers. On the sand-bars, which here very much obstructed the course
of the river, great number of geese, swans, brants, and ducks of
different kinds were seen.
On the 9th of October, the voyagers received visits from three chiefs of
the _Ricara Indians_; and, though the wind was violent, and the waves
ran very high, two or three squaws or females rowed off to them, in
little canoes, each made of a single buffalo-skin, stretched over a
frame of boughs, interwoven like a basket. These Indians did not use
spirituous liquors; and had even rejected, with disgust, all attempts
which the traders had hitherto made to introduce them: they said they
were surprised that their "father," meaning the president of the United
States, should present to them a liquor which would make them fools.
Captains Lewis and Clarke visited two of the villages, where they were
presented with corn and beans boiled; and also with bread made of corn
and beans. The Ricara Indians are tall and well proportioned. The men
wear skins round their legs, a cloth round their middle, and they
occasionally have a buffalo robe thrown over their shoulders: their
hair, arms, and ears, are decorated with ornaments of different kinds.
The women, who are handsome and lively, wear long shirts made of goats'
skin, generally white and fringed, and tied round the waist; and, in
addition to these, they have a buffalo robe dressed without the hair.
The lodges of the Ricara Indians are of a circular or octagonal form,
and generally thirty or forty feet in diameter. They are made by placing
forked posts, each about six feet high, round the circumference of a
circle; joining these, by poles lying upon the forks; forming a sloping
roof; interweaving the whole with branches and grass, and covering it
with mud or clay. Before the door there is a sort of entrance about ten
feet from the lodge. This people cultivate maize or Indian corn, beans,
pumpkins, water-melons, and a species of tobacco which is peculiar to
themselves. They are well armed with guns, and carry on a considerable
traffic in furs.
For many successive days the voyagers continued to see Indians every
day. They had occasionally wet and unpleasant weather. In one place they
saw, on the bank of the river, a great number of goats; and, soon
afterwards, large flocks of these animals were driven into the river by
a party of Indians, who gradually lined the shore, so as to prevent
their escape, and fired on them, and beat them down with clubs, with so
much success, that, in a short time, they killed more than fifty. Many
buffaloes, elks, and deer were seen; and a great number of snakes.
On Thursday the 18th, they passed the mouth of _Le Boulet_, or
_Cannon-ball river_, the channel of which is about one hundred and forty
yards wide. This stream, (which is indebted for its name to a great
number of large stones, that are perfectly round and lie scattered about
the shore and on the eminences above,) rises in the Black Mountains, and
falls into the Missouri on the south. Great numbers of goats were
observed to cross the river, and direct their course towards the west.
The country, in general, was level and fine, with broken, short, high
grounds, low timbered mounds near the river, and a range of rugged hills
at a distance. The low grounds had here much more timber than had been
observed lower down the river. So numerous are wild animals in this part
of the country, that the voyagers counted, at a single view, fifty-two
herds of buffaloes, and three of elks.
On the 20th the weather was so cold, that the rain which fell froze on
the ground; and, in the course of the night, the ground was covered with
snow. A Ricara chief told Captain Lewis that, at some distance up one of
the rivers, there was a large rock which was held in great veneration by
the Indians, and was often consulted by them, as to their own, or their
nations' destinies; all of which they imagine they are able to discern,
in some rude figures or paintings, with which it is covered.
The voyagers passed, on each side of the river, the ruins of several
villages of _Mandan Indians_; and, on an island of the river, they found
a Mandan chief, who, with some of his men, was on a hunting excursion.
As they proceeded, several parties of Mandans, both on foot and on
horseback, approached the shore to view them. The vessels here got
aground several times, among the sand-bars and rocks. In this part of
their voyage they saw two Europeans, belonging to the Hudson's Bay
company. These men had arrived about nine days before, to trade for
horses and buffalo robes.
From one of the villages of the Mandans, a crowd of men, women, and
children, came to see the strangers. Some of the chiefs had lost the two
joints of their little fingers; for, with this people, it is customary
to express grief for the death of relations, by some corporeal
suffering, and the usual mode is to cut off the joints of the little
fingers.
There were, in this part of the country, many Indian villages, and
Captains Lewis and Clarke held, with the chiefs, a council, similar in
its nature to those already mentioned; and afterwards presented them
with flags, medals, uniform-coats, and other articles.