"When he sat down, Mahtoree, or White Crane, rose:

"I have listened," said he, "to what our father's words were yesterday;

and I am, to-day, glad to see how you have dressed our old chief. I am a

young man, and do not wish to take much: my fathers have made me a

chief: I had much sense before, but now I think I have more than ever.

What the old chief has declared I will confirm, and do whatever he and

you please: but I wish that you would take pity on us, for we are very

poor."

Another chief, called Pawnawneahpahbe, then said;

"I am a young man, and know but little: I cannot speak well; but I have

listened to what you have told the old chief, and will do whatever you

agree."

The same sentiments were then repeated by Aweawechache.

We were surprised at finding that the first of these titles means

"Struck by the Pawnee," and was occasioned by some blow which the chief

had received in battle, from one of the Pawnee tribe. The second is, in

English, "Half Man," which seems a singular name for a warrior, till it

was explained to have its origin, probably, in the modesty of the chief;

who, on being told of his exploits, would say, "I am no warrior: I am

only half a man." The other chiefs spoke very little; but after they had

finished, one of the warriors delivered a speech, in which he declared

he would support them. They promised to make peace with the Ottoes and

Missouris, the only nations with whom they are at war. All these

harangues concluded by describing the distress of the nation: they

begged us to have pity on them: to send them traders: that they wanted

powder and ball; and seemed anxious that we should supply them with some

of their great father's milk, the name by which they distinguish ardent

spirits. We then gave some tobacco to each of the chiefs, and a

certificate to two of the warriors who attended the chief. We prevailed

on Mr. Durion to remain here, and accompany as many of the Sioux chiefs

as he could collect, down to the seat of government. We also gave his

son a flag, some clothes, and provisions, with directions to bring about

a peace between the surrounding tribe, and to convey some of their

chiefs to see the president. In the evening they left us, and encamped

on the opposite bank, accompanied by the two Durions. During the evening

and night we had much rain, and observed that the river rises a little.

The Indians, who have just left us, are the Yanktons, a tribe of the

great nation of Sioux. These Yanktons are about two hundred men in

number; and inhabit the Jacques, Desmoines, and Sioux rivers. In person

they are stout, well proportioned, and have a certain air of dignity and

boldness. In their dress they differ nothing from the other bands of the

nation whom we saw, and will describe afterwards: they are fond of

decorations, and use paint, and porcupine quills, and feathers. Some of

them wore a kind of necklace of white bear's claws, three inches long,

and closely strung together round their necks. They have only a few

fowling pieces, being generally armed with bows and arrows, in which,

however, they do not appear as expert as the more northern Indians. What

struck us most was an institution, peculiar to them, and to the Kite

Indians, further to the westward, from whom it is said to have been

copied. It is an association of the most active and brave young men, who

are bound to each other by attachment, secured by a vow, never to

retreat before any danger, or give way to their enemies. In war they go

forward without sheltering themselves behind trees, or aiding their

natural valour by any artifice. This punctilious determination, not to

be turned from their course, became heroic, or ridiculous, a short time

since, when the Yanktons were crossing the Missouri on the ice. A hole

lay immediately in their course, which might easily have been avoided,

by going round. This the foremost of the band disdained to do; but went

straight forward, and was lost. The others would have followed his

example, but were forcibly prevented by the rest of the tribe. These

young men sit, and encamp, and dance together, distinct from the rest of

the nation: they are generally about thirty or thirty-five years old;

and such is the deference paid to courage, that their seats in council

are superior to those of the chiefs, and their persons more respected.

But, as may be supposed, such indiscreet bravery will soon diminish the

numbers of those who practise it; so that the band is now reduced to

four warriors, who were among our visitors. These were the remains of

twenty-two, who composed the society not long ago; but, in a battle with

the Kite Indians, of the Black Mountains, eighteen of them were killed,

and these four were dragged from the field by their companions.

Whilst these Indians remained with us we made very minute inquiries

relative to their situation and numbers, and trade, and manners. This we

did very satisfactorily, by means of two different interpreters; and

from their accounts, joined to our interviews with other bands of the

same nation, and much intelligence acquired since, we were enabled to

understand, with some accuracy, the condition of the Sioux hitherto so

little known.

The Sioux, or Dacorta Indians, originally settled on the Mississippi,

and called by Carver, Madowesians, are now subdivided into tribes, as

follow:

First, The Yanktons: this tribe inhabits the Sioux, Desmoines, and

Jacques rivers, and number about two hundred warriors.

Second, The Tetons of the burnt woods. This tribe numbers about three

hundred men, who rove on both sides of the Missouri, the White, and

Teton rivers.

Third. The Tetons Okandandas, a tribe consisting of about one hundred

and fifty men, who inhabit both sides of the Missouri below the Chayenne

river.

Fourth, Tetons Minnakenozzo, a nation inhabiting both sides of the

Missouri, above the Chayenne river, and containing about two hundred and

fifty men.

Fifth, Tetons Saone; these inhabit both sides of the Missouri below the

Warreconne river, and consist of about three hundred men.

Sixth, Yanktons of the Plains, or Big Devils; who rove on the heads of

the Sioux, Jacques, and Red river; the most numerous of all the tribes,

and number about five hundred men.

Seventh, Wahpatone; a nation residing on the St. Peter's, just above the

mouth of that river, and numbering two hundred men.

Eighth, Mindawarcarton, or proper Dacorta or Sioux Indians. These

possess the original seat of the Sioux, and are properly so denominated.

They rove on both sides of the Mississippi, about the falls of St.

Anthony, and consist of three hundred men.

Ninth, The Wahpatoota, or Leaf Beds. This nation inhabits both sides of

the river St. Peter's, below Yellow-wood river, amounting to about one

hundred and fifty men.

Tenth, Sistasoone: this nation numbers two hundred men, and reside at

the head of the St. Peter's. Of these several tribes, more particular

notice will be taken hereafter.

Saturday, September 1, 1804. We proceeded this morning under a light

southern breeze, and passed the Calumet bluffs; these are composed of a

yellowish red, and brownish clay as hard as chalk, which it much

resembles, and are one hundred and seventy, or one hundred and eighty

feet high. At this place the hills on each side come to the verge of the

river, those on the south being higher than on the north. Opposite the

bluffs is a large island covered with timber; above which the highlands

form a cliff over the river on the north side, called White Bear cliff;

an animal of that kind being killed in one of the holes in it, which are

numerous and apparently deep. At six miles we came to a large sand

island covered with cottonwood; the wind was high, and the weather rainy

and cloudy during the day. We made fifteen miles to a place on the north

side, at the lower point of a large island called Bonhomme, or Goodman's

island. The country on both sides has the same character of prairies,

with no timber; with occasional lowlands covered with cottonwood, elm

and oak: our hunters had killed an elk and a beaver: the catfish too are

in great abundance.

September 2. It rained last night, and this morning we had a high wind

from the N.W. We went three miles to the lower part of an ancient

fortification on the south side, and passed the head of Bonhomme island,

which is large and well timbered: after this the wind became so violent,

attended by a cold rain, that we were compelled to land at four miles on

the northern side, under a high bluff of yellow clay, about one hundred

and ten feet in height. Our hunters supplied us with four elk; and we

had grapes and plums on the banks: we also saw the beargrass and rue, on

the side of the bluffs. At this place there are highlands on both sides

of the river which become more level at some distance back, and

contain but few streams of water. On the southern bank, during this day,

the grounds have not been so elevated. Captain Clarke crossed the river

to examine the remains of the fortification we had just passed.

[Illustration: Fortification]

This interesting object is on the south side of the Missouri, opposite

the upper extremity of Bonhomme island, and in a low level plain, the

hills being three miles from the river. It begins by a wall composed of

earth, rising immediately from the bank of the river and running in a

direct course S. 76°, W. ninety six yards; the base of this wall or

mound is seventy-five feet, and its height about eight. It then diverges

in a course S. 84° W. and continues at the same height and depth to the

distance of fifty-three yards, the angle being formed by a sloping

descent; at the junction of these two is an appearance of a hornwork of

the same height with the first angle: the same wall then pursues a

course N. 69° W. for three hundred yards: near its western extremity is

an opening or gateway at right angles to the wall, and projecting

inwards; this gateway is defended by two nearly semicircular walls

placed before it, lower than the large walls; and from the gateway there

seems to have been a covered way communicating with the interval between

these two walls: westward of the gate, the wall becomes much larger,

being about one hundred and five feet at its base, and twelve feet high:

at the end of this high ground the wall extends for fifty-six yards on a

course N. 32° W; it then turns N. 23° W. for seventy-three yards: these

two walls seems to have had a double or covered way; they are from ten

to fifteen feet eight inches in height, and from seventy-five to one

hundred and five feet in width at the base; the descent inwards being

steep, whilst outwards it forms a sort of glacis. At the distance of

seventy-three yards, the wall ends abruptly at a large hollow place much

lower than the general level of the plain, and from which is some

indication of a covered way to the water. The space between them is

occupied by several mounds scattered promiscuously through the gorge, in

the centre of which is a deep round hole. From the extremity of the last

wall, in a course N. 32° W. is a distance of ninety-six yards over the

low ground, where the wall recommences and crosses the plain in a course

N. 81° W. for eighteen hundred and thirty yards to the bank of the

Missouri. In this course its height is about eight feet, till it enters,

at the distance of five hundred and thirty-three yards, a deep circular

pond of seventy-three yards diameter; after which it is gradually lower,

towards the river: it touches the river at a muddy bar, which bears

every mark of being an encroachment of the water, for a considerable

distance; and a little above the junction, is a small circular redoubt.

Along the bank of the river, and at eleven hundred yards distance, in a

straight line from this wall, is a second, about six feet high, and of

considerable width: it rises abruptly from the bank of the Missouri, at

a point where the river bends, and goes straight forward, forming an

acute angle with the last wall, till it enters the river again, not far

from the mounds just described, towards which it is obviously tending.

At the bend the Missouri is five hundred yards wide; the ground on the

opposite side highlands, or low hills on the bank; and where the river

passes between this fort and Bonhomme island, all the distance from the

bend, it is constantly washing the banks into the stream, a large

sandbank being already taken from the shore near the wall. During the

whole course of this wall, or glacis, it is covered with trees, among

which are many large cotton trees, two or three feet in diameter.

Immediately opposite the citadel, or the part most strongly fortified,

on Bonhomme island, is a small work in a circular form, with a wall

surrounding it, about six feet in height. The young willows along the

water, joined to the general appearance of the two shores, induce a

belief that the bank of the island is encroaching, and the Missouri

indemnifies itself by washing away the base of the fortification. The

citadel contains about twenty acres, but the parts between the long

walls must embrace nearly five hundred acres.

These are the first remains of the kind which we have had an opportunity

of examining; but our French interpreters assure us, that there are

great numbers of them on the Platte, the Kanzas, the Jacques, &c. and

some of our party say, that they observed two of those fortresses on the

upper side of the Petit Arc creek, not far from its mouth; that the wall

was about six feet high, and the sides of the angles one hundred yards

in length.

September 3. The morning was cold, and the wind from the northwest. We

passed at sunrise, three large sandbars, and at the distance of ten

miles reached a small creek, about twelve yards wide, coming in from the

north, above a white bluff: this creek has obtained the name of Plum

creek, from the number of that fruit which are in the neighbourhood, and

of a delightful quality. Five miles further, we encamped on the south

near the edge of a plain; the river is wide, and covered with sandbars

to-day: the banks are high and of a whitish colour; the timber scarce,

but an abundance of grapes. Beaver houses too have been observed in

great numbers on the river, but none of the animals themselves.

September 4. We set out early, with a very cold wind from S.S.E. and at

one mile and a half, reached a small creek, called Whitelime creek, on

the south side. Just above this is a cliff, covered with cedar trees,

and at three miles a creek, called Whitepaint creek, of about thirty

yards wide: on the same side, and at four and a half miles distance from

the Whitepaint creek, is the Rapid river, or, as it is called by the

French, la Riverequi Court; this river empties into the Missouri, in a

course S.W. by W. and is one hundred and fifty-two yards wide, and four

feet deep at the confluence. It rises in the Black mountains, and passes

through a hilly country, with a poor soil. Captain Clark ascended three

miles to a beautiful plain, on the upper side, where the Pawnees once

had a village: he found that the river widened above its mouth, and

much divided by sands and islands, which, joined to the great rapidity

of the current, makes the navigation very difficult, even for small

boats. Like the Platte its waters are of a light colour; like that river

too it throws out into the Missouri, great quantities of sand, coarser

even than that of the Platte, which form sandbars and shoals near its

mouth.

We encamped just above it, on the south, having made only eight miles,

as the wind shifted to the south, and blew so hard that in the course of

the day we broke our mast: we saw some deer, a number of geese, and shot

a turkey and a duck: the place in which we halted is a fine low-ground,

with much timber, such as red cedar, honeylocust, oak, arrowwood, elm

and coffeenut.

September 5, Wednesday. The wind was again high from the south. At five

miles, we came to a large island, called Pawnee island, in the middle of

the river; and stopped to breakfast at a small creek on the north, which

has the name of Goat creek, at eight and a half miles. Near the mouth of

this creek the beaver had made a dam across so as to form a large pond,

in which they built their houses. Above this island the river Poncara

falls into the Missouri from the south, and is thirty yards wide at the

entrance. Two men whom we despatched to the village of the same name,

returned with information that they had found it on the lower side of

the creek; but as this is the hunting season, the town was so completely

deserted that they had killed a buffaloe in the village itself. This

tribe of Poncaras, who are said to have once numbered four hundred men,

are now reduced to about fifty, and have associated for mutual

protection with the Mahas, who are about two hundred in number. These

two nations are allied by a similarity of misfortune; they were once

both numerous, both resided in villages, and cultivated Indian corn;

their common enemies, the Sioux and small-pox, drove them from their

towns, which they visit only occasionally for the purposes of trade;

and they now wander over the plains on the sources of the Wolf and

Quieurre rivers. Between the Pawnee island and Goat creek on the north,

is a cliff of blue earth, under which are several mineral springs,

impregnated with salts: near this we observed a number of goats, from

which the creek derives its name. At three and a half miles from the

creek, we came to a large island on the south, along which we passed to

the head of it, and encamped about four o'clock. Here we replaced the

mast we had lost, with a new one of cedar: some bucks and an elk were

procured to-day, and a black tailed deer was seen near the Poncara's

village.

Thursday, September 6. There was a storm this morning from the N.W. and

though it moderated, the wind was still high, and the weather very cold;

the number of sandbars too, added to the rapidity of the current,

obliged us to have recourse to the towline: with all our exertions we

did not make more than eight and a half miles, and encamped on the

north, after passing high cliffs of soft, blue, and red coloured stone,

on the southern shore. We saw some goats, and great numbers of buffaloe,

in addition to which the hunters furnished us with elk, deer, turkies,

geese, and one beaver: a large catfish too was caught in the evening.

The ground near the camp, was a low prarie, without timber, though just

below is a grove of cottonwood.

Friday, September 7. The morning was very cold and the wind southeast.

At five and a half miles, we reached and encamped at the foot of a round

mountain, on the south, having passed two small islands. This mountain,

which is about three hundred feet at the base, forms a cone at the top,

resembling a dome at a distance, and seventy feet or more above the

surrounding highlands. As we descended from this dome, we arrived at a

spot, on the gradual descent of the hill, nearly four acres in extent,

and covered with small holes: these are the residence of a little

animal, called by the French, petit chien (little dog) who sit erect

near the mouth, and make a whistling noise, but when alarmed take refuge

in their holes. In order to bring them out, we poured into one of the

holes five barrels of water without filling it, but we dislodged and

caught the owner. After digging down another of the holes for six feet,

we found, on running a pole into it, that we had not yet dug half way to

the bottom: we discovered, however, two frogs in the hole, and near it

we killed a dark rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie dog:

we were also informed, though we never witnessed the fact, that a sort

of lizard, and a snake, live habitually with these animals. The petit

chien are justly named, as they resemble a small dog in some

particulars, though they have also some points of similarity to the

squirrel. The head resembles the squirrel in every respect, except that

the ear is shorter, the tail like that of the ground-squirrel, the

toe-nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray.

Saturday, September 8. The wind still continued from the southeast, but

moderately. At seven miles we reached a house on the north side, called

the Pawnee house, where a trader, named Trudeau, wintered in the year

1796-7: behind this, hills, much higher than usual, appear to the north,

about eight miles off. Before reaching this house, we came by three

small islands, on the north side, and a small creek on the south; and

after leaving it, reached another, at the end of seventeen miles, on

which we encamped, and called it Boat island: we here saw herds of

buffaloe, and some elk, deer, turkies, beaver, a squirrel, and a prairie

dog. The party on the north represent the country through which they

passed, as poor, rugged, and hilly, with the appearance of having been

lately burnt by the Indians; the broken hills, indeed, approach the

river on both sides, though each is bordered by a strip of woodland near

the water.

Sunday, September 9. We coasted along the island on which we had

encamped, and then passed three sand and willow islands, and a number of

smaller sandbars. The river is shallow, and joined by two small creeks

from the north, and one from the south. In the plains, to the south,

are great numbers of buffaloe, in herds of nearly five hundred; all

the copses of timber appear to contain elk or deer. We encamped on a

sandbar, on the southern shore, at the distance of fourteen and a

quarter miles.

September 10, Monday. The next day we made twenty miles. The morning was

cloudy and dark, but a light breeze from the southeast carried us past

two small islands on the south, and one on the north; till, at the

distance of ten and a half miles, we reached an island, extending for

two miles in the middle of the river, covered with red cedar, from which

it derives its name of Cedar island. Just below this island, on a hill,

to the south, is the backbone of a fish, forty-five feet long, tapering

towards the tail, and in a perfect state of petrifaction, fragments of

which were collected and sent to Washington. On both sides of the river

are high dark-coloured bluffs. About a mile and a half from the island,

on the southern shore, the party on that side discovered a large and

very strong impregnated spring of water; and another, not so strongly

impregnated, half a mile up the hill. Three miles beyond Cedar island is

a large island on the north, and a number of sandbars. After which is

another, about a mile in length, lying in the middle of the river, and

separated by a small channel, at its extremity, from another above it,

on which we encamped. These two islands are called Mud islands. The

river is shallow during this day's course, and is falling a little. The

elk and buffaloe are in great abundance, but the deer have become

scarce.

September 11, Tuesday. At six and a half miles we passed the upper

extremity of an island on the south; four miles beyond which is another

on the same side of the river; and about a quarter of a mile distant we

visited a large village of the barking-squirrel. It was situated on a

gentle declivity, and covered a space of nine hundred and seventy yards

long, and eight hundred yards wide; we killed four of them. We then

resumed our course, and during five and a half miles passed two islands

on the north, and then encamped at the distance of sixteen miles, on the

south side of the river, and just above a small run. The morning had

been cloudy, but in the afternoon it began raining, with a high

northwest wind, which continued during the greater part of the night.

The country seen to-day consists of narrow strips of lowland, rising

into uneven grounds, which are succeeded, at the distance of three

miles, by rich and level plains, but without any timber. The river

itself is wide, and crowded with sandbars. Elk, deer, squirrels, a

pelican, and a very large porcupine, were our game this day; some foxes

too were seen, but not caught.

In the morning we observed a man riding on horseback down towards the

boat, and we were much pleased to find that it was George Shannon, one

of our party, for whose safety we had been very uneasy. Our two horses

having strayed from us on the 26th of August, he was sent to search for

them. After he had found them he attempted to rejoin us, but seeing some

other tracks, which must have been those of Indians, and which he

mistook for our own, he concluded that we were ahead, and had been for

sixteen days following the bank of the river above us. During the first

four days he exhausted his bullets, and was then nearly starved, being

obliged to subsist, for twelve days, on a few grapes, and a rabbit which

he killed by making use of a hard piece of stick for a ball. One of his

horses gave out, and was left behind; the other he kept as a last

resource for food. Despairing of overtaking us, he was returning down

the river, in hopes of meeting some other boat; and was on the point of

killing his horse, when he was so fortunate as to join us.

Wednesday, September 12. The day was dark and cloudy; the wind from the

northwest. At a short distance we reached an island in the middle of the

river, which is covered with timber, a rare object now. We with great

difficulty were enabled to struggle through the sandbars, the water

being very rapid and shallow, so that we were several hours in making a

mile. Several times the boat wheeled on the bar, and the men were

obliged to jump out and prevent her from upsetting; at others, after

making a way up one channel, the shoalness of the water forced us back

to seek the deep channel. We advanced only four miles in the whole day

and encamped on the south. Along both sides of the river are high

grounds; on the southern side particularly, they form dark bluffs, in

which may be observed slate and coal intermixed. We saw also several

villages of barking-squirrels; great numbers of growse, and three foxes.

September 13, Thursday. We made twelve miles to-day through a number of

sandbars, which make it difficult to find the proper channel. The hills

on each side are high, and separated from the river by a narrow plain on

its borders. On the north, these lowlands are covered in part with

timber, and great quantities of grapes, which are now ripe: on the south

we found plenty of plums, but they are not yet ripe; and near the dark

bluffs, a run tainted with allum and copperas; the southern side being

more strongly impregnated with minerals than the northern. Last night

four beaver were caught in the traps; a porcupine was shot as it was

upon a cottontree, feeding on its leaves and branches. We encamped on

the north side, opposite to a small willow island. At night the

musquitoes were very troublesome, though the weather was cold and rainy

and the wind from the northwest.

Friday, September 14. At two miles we reached a round island on the

northern side; at about five, a run on the south; two and a half miles

further, a small creek; and at nine miles encamped near the month of a

creek, on the same side. The sandbars are very numerous, and render the

river wide and shallow, and obliged the crew to get into the water and

drag the boat over the bars several times. During the whole day we

searched along the southern shore, and at some distance into the

interior, to find an ancient volcano which we heard at St. Charles was

somewhere in this neighbourhood; but we could not discern the slightest

appearance of any thing volcanic. In the course of their search the

party shot a buck-goat and a hare. The hills, particularly on the south,

continue high, but the timber is confined to the islands and banks of

the river. We had occasion here to observe the rapid undermining of

these hills by the Missouri: the first attacks seem to be on the hills

which overhang the river; as soon as the violence of the current

destroys the grass at the foot of them, the whole texture appears

loosened, and the ground dissolves and mixes with the water: the muddy

mixture is then forced over the low-grounds, which it covers sometimes

to the depth of three inches, and gradually destroys the herbage; after

which it can offer no resistance to the water, and becomes at last

covered with sand.

Saturday, September 15. We passed, at an early hour, the creek near our

last night's encampment; and at two miles distance reached the mouth of

White river, coming in from the south. We ascended a short distance, and

sent a sergeant and another man to examine it higher up. This river has

a bed of about three hundred yards, though the water is confined to one

hundred and fifty: in the mouth is a sand island, and several sandbars.

The current is regular and swift, with sandbars projecting from the

points. It differs very much from the Platte, and Quieurre, in throwing

out, comparatively, little sand, but its general character is like that

of the Missouri. This resemblance was confirmed by the sergeant, who

ascended about twelve miles; at which distance it was about the same

width as near the mouth, and the course, which was generally west, had

been interrupted by islands and sandbars. The timber consisted chiefly

of elm; they saw pine burrs, and sticks of birch were seen floating down

the river; they had also met with goats, such as we have heretofore

seen; great quantities of buffaloe, near to which were wolves, some

deer, and villages of barking squirrels. At the confluence of White

river with the Missouri is an excellent position for a town; the land

rising by three gradual ascents, and the neighbourhood furnishing more

timber than is usual in this country. After passing high dark bluffs on

both sides, we reached the lower point of an island towards the south,

at the distance of six miles. The island bears an abundance of grapes,

and is covered with red cedar: it also contains a number of rabbits. At

the end of this island, which is small, a narrow channel separates it

from a large sand island, which we passed, and encamped, eight miles on

the north, under a high point of land opposite a large creek to the

south, on which we observe an unusual quantity of timber. The wind was

from the northwest this afternoon, and high, the weather cold, and its

dreariness increased by the howlings of a number of wolves around us.

September 16, Sunday. Early this morning, having reached a convenient

spot on the south side, and at one mile and a quarter distance, we

encamped just above a small creek, which we called Corvus, having killed

an animal of that genus near it. Finding that we could not proceed over

the sandbars, as fast as we desired, while the boat was so heavily

loaded, we concluded not to send back, as we originally intended, our

third periogue, but to detain the soldiers until spring, and in the mean

time lighten the boat by loading the periogue: this operation, added to

that of drying all our wet articles, detained us during the day. Our

camp is in a beautiful plain, with timber thinly scattered for three

quarters of a mile, and consisting chiefly of elm, cottonwood, some ash

of an indifferent quality, and a considerable quantity of a small

species of white oak: this tree seldom rises higher than thirty feet,

and branches very much; the bark is rough, thick and of a light colour;

the leaves small, deeply indented, and of a pale green; the cup which

contains the acorn is fringed on the edges, and embraces it about one

half: the acorn itself, which grows in great profusion, is of an

excellent flavour, and has none of the roughness which most other acorns

possess; they are now falling, and have probably attracted the number of

deer which we saw on this place, as all the animals we have seen are

fond of that food. The ground having been recently burnt by the Indians,

is covered with young green grass, and in the neighbourhood are great

quantities of fine plums. We killed a few deer for the sake of their

skins, which we wanted to cover the periogues, the meat being too poor

for food: the cold season coming on, a flannel shirt was given to each

man, and fresh powder to those who had exhausted their supply.

Monday, September 16. Whilst some of the party were engaged in the same

way as yesterday, others were employed in examining the surrounding

country. About a quarter of a mile behind our camp, and at an elevation

of twenty feet above it, a plain extends nearly three miles parallel to

the river, and about a mile back to the hills, towards which it

gradually ascends. Here we saw a grove of plum-trees loaded with fruit,

now ripe, and differing in nothing from those of the Atlantic states,

except that the tree is smaller and more thickly set. The ground of the

plain is occupied by the burrows of multitudes of barking squirrels, who

entice hither the wolves of a small kind, hawks, and polecats, all of

which animals we saw, and presumed that they fed on the squirrel. This

plain is intersected nearly in its whole extent by deep ravines and

steep irregular rising grounds from one to two hundred feet. On

ascending the range of hills which border the plain, we saw a second

high level plain stretching to the south as far as the eye could reach.

To the westward, a high range of hills about twenty miles distant runs

nearly north and south, but not to any great extent, as their rise and

termination is embraced by one view, and they seemed covered with a

verdure similar to that of the plains. The same view extended over the

irregular hills which border the northern side of the Missouri; all

around the country had been recently burnt, and a young green grass

about four inches high covered the ground, which was enlivened by herds

of antelopes and buffaloe; the last of which were in such multitudes,

that we cannot exaggerate in saying that at a single glance we saw three

thousand of them before us. Of all the animals we had seen the antelope

seems to possess the most wonderful fleetness: shy and timorous they

generally repose only on the ridges, which command a view of all the

approaches of an enemy: the acuteness of their sight distinguishes the

most distant danger, the delicate sensibility of their smell defeats the

precautions of concealment, and when alarmed their rapid career seems

more like the flight of birds than the movements of an earthly being.

After many unsuccessful attempts, captain Lewis at last, by winding

around the ridges, approached a party of seven, which were on an

eminence, towards which the wind was unfortunately blowing. The only

male of the party frequently encircled the summit of the hill, as if to

announce any danger to the females, who formed a group at the top.

Although they did not see captain Lewis, the smell alarmed them, and

they fled when he was at the distance of two hundred yards: he

immediately ran to the spot where they had been, a ravine concealed them

from him, but the next moment they appeared on a second ridge at the

distance of three miles. He doubted whether it could be the same, but

their number and the extreme rapidity with which they continued their

course, convinced him that they must have gone with a speed equal to

that of the most distinguished racehorse. Among our acquisitions to-day

was a mule-deer, a magpie, the common deer, and buffaloe: captain Lewis

also saw a hare, and killed a rattlesnake near the burrows of the

barking squirrels.

Tuesday, September 18. Having everything in readiness we proceeded,

with the boat much lightened, but the wind being from the N.W. we made

but little way. At one mile we reached an island in the middle of the

river, nearly a mile in length, and covered with red cedar; at its

extremity a small creek comes in from the north; we then met some

sandbars, and the wind being very high and ahead, we encamped on the

south, having made only seven miles. In addition to the common deer,

which were in great abundance, we saw goats, elk, buffaloe, the black

tailed deer; the large wolves too are very numerous, and have long hair

with coarse fur, and are of a light colour. A small species of wolf

about the size of a gray fox was also killed, and proved to be the

animal which we had hitherto mistaken for a fox: there are also many

porcupines, rabbits, and barking squirrels in the neighbourhood.

September 19. We this day enjoyed a cool clear morning, and a wind from

the southeast. We reached at three miles a bluff on the south, and four

miles farther, the lower point of Prospect island, about two and a half

miles in length; opposite to this are high bluffs, about eighty feet

above the water, beyond which are beautiful plains gradually rising as

they recede from the river: these are watered by three streams which

empty near each other; the first is about thirty-five yards wide, the

ground on its sides high and rich, with some timber; the second about

twelve yards wide, but with less timber; the third is nearly of the same

size, and contains more water, but it scatters its waters over the large

timbered plain, and empties itself into the river at three places. These

rivers are called by the French Les trois rivieres des Sioux, the three

Sioux rivers; and as the Sioux generally cross the Missouri at this

place, it is called the Sioux pass of the three rivers. These streams

have the same right of asylum, though in a less degree than Pipestone

creek already mentioned.

Two miles from the island we passed a creek fifteen yards wide; eight

miles further, another twenty yards wide; three miles beyond which, is a

third of eighteen yards width, all on the south side: the second which

passes through a high plain we called Elm creek; to the third we gave

the name of Night creek, having reached it late at night. About a mile

beyond this is a small island on the north side of the river, and is

called Lower island, as it is situated at the commencement of what is

known by the name of the Grand Detour, or Great Bend of the Missouri.

Opposite is a creek on the south about ten yards wide, which waters a

plain where there are great numbers of the prickley pear, which name we

gave to the creek. We encamped on the south, opposite the upper

extremity of the island, having made an excellent day's sail of twenty

six and a quarter miles. Our game this day consisted chiefly of deer, of

these four were black tails, one a buck with two main prongs of horns on

each side and forked equally. Large herds of buffaloe, elk and goats,

were also seen.

Thursday, September 20. Finding we had reached the Big Bend, we

despatched two men with our only horse across the neck, to hunt there

and wait our arrival at the first creek beyond it. We then set out with

fair weather and the wind from S.E. to make the circuit of the bend.

Near the lower island the sandbars are numerous, and the river shallow.

At nine and a half miles is a sand island, on the southern side. About

ten miles beyond it is a small island on the south, opposite to a small

creek on the north. This island, which is near the N.W. extremity of the

bend, is called Solitary island. At about eleven miles further, we

encamped on a sandbar, having made twenty-seven and a half miles.

Captain Clarke, who early this morning had crossed the neck of the bend,

joined us in the evening. At the narrowest part, the gorge is composed

of high and irregular hills of about one hundred and eighty or one

hundred and ninety feet in elevation; from this descends an unbroken

plain over the whole of the bend, and the country is separated from it

by this ridge. Great numbers of buffaloe, elk, and goats are wandering

over these plains, accompanied by grouse and larks. Captain Clarke saw a

hare also, on the Great Bend. Of the goats killed to-day, one is a

female differing from the male in being smaller in size; its horns too

are smaller and straighter, having one short prong, and no black about

the neck: none of these goats have any beard, but are delicately formed,

and very beautiful.

Friday, September 21. Between one and two o'clock the serjeant on guard

alarmed us, by crying that the sandbar on which we lay was sinking; we

jumped up, and found that both above and below our camp the sand was

undermined and falling in very fast: we had scarcely got into the boats

and pushed off, when the bank under which they had been lying, fell in,

and would certainly have sunk the two periogues if they had remained

there. By the time we reached the opposite shore the ground of our

encampment sunk also. We formed a second camp for the rest of the night;

and at daylight proceeded on to the gorge or throat of the Great Bend,

where we breakfasted. A man, whom we had despatched to step off the

distance across the bend, made it two thousand yards: the circuit is

thirty miles. During the whole course, the land of the bend is low, with

occasional bluffs; that on the opposite side, high prairie ground, and

long ridges of dark bluffs. After breakfast, we passed through a high

prairie on the north side, and a rich cedar lowland and cedar bluff on

the south, till we reached a willow island below the mouth of a small

creek. This creek, called Tyler's river, is about thirty-five yards

wide, comes in on the south, and is at the distance of six miles from

the neck of the Great Bend. Here we found a deer, and the skin of a

white wolf, left us by our hunters ahead: large quantities of different

kinds of plover and brants are in this neighbourhood, and seen

collecting and moving towards the south; the catfish are small, and not

in such plenty as we had found them below this place. We passed several

sandbars, which make the river very shallow and about a mile in width,

and encamped on the south, at the distance of eleven and a half miles.

On each side the shore is lined with hard rough gulleystones, rolled

from the hills and small brooks. The most common timber is the cedar,

though, in the prairies, there are great quantities of the prickly pear.

From this place we passed several sandbars, which make the river

shallow, and about a mile in width. At the distance of eleven and a half

miles, we encamped on the north at the lower point of an ancient island,

which has since been connected with the main land by the filling up of

the northern channel, and is now covered with cottonwood. We here saw

some tracks of Indians, but they appeared three or four weeks old. This

day was warm.

September 22. A thick fog detained us until seven o'clock; our course

was through inclined prairies on each side of the river, crowded with

buffaloe. We halted at a point on the north side, near a high bluff on

the south, and took a meridian altitude, which gave us the latitude of

44° 11' 33-3/10". On renewing our course, we reached first a small

island on the south, at the distance of four and a half miles,

immediately above which is another island opposite to a creek fifteen

yards wide. This creek, and the two islands, one of which is half a mile

long, and the second three miles, are called the Three Sisters: a

beautiful plain extending on both sides of the river. This is followed

by an island on the north, called Cedar island, about one mile and a

half in length and the same distance in breadth, and deriving its name

from the quality of the timber. On the south side of this island, is a

fort and a large trading house, built by a Mr. Loisel, who wintered here

during the last year, in order to trade with the Sioux, the remains of

whose camps are in great numbers about this place. The establishment is

sixty or seventy feet square, built with red cedar and picketted in

with the same materials. The hunters who had been sent ahead joined us

here. They mention that the hills are washed in gullies, in passing over

which, some mineral substances had rotted and destroyed their moccasins;

they had killed two deer and a beaver. At sixteen miles distance we came

to on the north side at the mouth of a small creek. The large stones

which we saw yesterday on the shores are now some distance in the river,

and render the navigation dangerous. The musquitoes are still numerous

in the low grounds.

Sunday, September 23. We passed, with a light breeze from the southeast,

a small island on the north, called Goat island; above which is a small

creek, called by the party Smoke creek, as we observed a great smoke to

the southwest on approaching it. At ten miles we came to the lower point

of a large island, having passed two small willow islands with sandbars

projecting from them. This island, which we called Elk island, is about

two and a half miles long, and three quarters of a mile wide, situated

near the south, and covered with cottonwood, the red currant, and

grapes. The river is here almost straight for a considerable distance,

wide and shallow, with many sandbars. A small creek on the north, about

sixteen yards wide, we called Reuben's creek; as Reuben Fields, one of

our men, was the first of the party who reached it. At a short distance

above this we encamped for the night, having made twenty miles. The

country, generally, consists of low, rich, timbered ground on the north,

and high barren lands on the south: on both sides great numbers of

buffaloe are feeding. In the evening three boys of the Sioux nation swam

across the river, and informed us that two parties of Sioux were

encamped on the next river, one consisting of eighty, and the second of

sixty lodges, at some distance above. After treating them kindly we sent

them back with a present of two carrots of tobacco to their chiefs, whom

we invited to a conference in the morning.

Monday, September 24. The wind was from the east, and the day fair; we

soon passed a handsome prairie on the north side, covered with ripe

plums, and the mouth of a creek on the south, called Highwater creek, a

little above our encampment. At about five miles we reached an island

two and a half miles in length, and situated near the south. Here we

were joined by one of our hunters, who procured four elk, but whilst he

was in pursuit of the game the Indians had stolen his horse. We left the

island, and soon overtook five Indians on the shore: we anchored and

told them from the boat we were friends and wished to continue so, but

were not afraid of any Indians; that some of their young men had stolen

the horse which their great father had sent for their great chief, and

that we could not treat with them until he was restored. They said that

they knew nothing of the horse, but if he had been taken he should be

given up. We went on, and at eleven and a half miles, passed an island

on the north, which we called Good-humoured island; it is about one and

a half miles long, and abounds in elk. At thirteen and a half miles, we

anchored one hundred yards off the mouth of a river on the south side,

where we were joined by both the periogues and encamped; two thirds of

the party remained on board, and the rest went as a guard on shore with

the cooks and one periogue; we have seen along the sides of the hills on

the north a great deal of stone; besides the elk, we also observed a

hare; the five Indians whom we had seen followed us, and slept with the

guard on shore. Finding one of them was a chief we smoked with him, and

made him a present of tobacco. This river is about seventy yards wide,

and has a considerable current. As the tribe of the Sioux which inhabit

it are called Teton, we gave it the name of Teton river.

CHAP. IV.

Council held with the Tetons--Their manners, dances, &c.--Chayenne

River--Council held with the Ricara Indians--Their manners and

habits--Strange instance of Ricara idolatry--Another

instance--Cannonball river--Arrival among the Mandans--Character of

the surrounding country, and of the creeks, islands, &c.

September 25. The morning was fine, and the wind continued from the

southeast. We raised a flagstaff and an awning, under which we assembled

at twelve o'clock, with all the party parading under arms. The chiefs

and warriors from the camp two miles up the river, met us, about fifty

or sixty in number, and after smoking delivered them a speech; but as

our Sioux interpreter, Mr. Durion, had been left with the Yanktons, we

were obliged to make use of a Frenchman who could not speak fluently,

and therefore we curtailed our harangue. After this we went through the

ceremony of acknowledging the chiefs, by giving to the grand chief a

medal, a flag of the United States, a laced uniform coat, a cocked hat

and feather: to the two other chiefs a medal and some small presents;

and to two warriors of consideration certificates. The name of the great

chief is Untongasabaw, or Black Buffaloe; the second Tortohonga, or the

Partisan; the third Tartongawaka, or Buffaloe Medicine: the name of one

of the warriors was Wawzinggo; that of the second Matocoquepa, or Second

Bear. We then invited the chiefs on board, and showed them the boat, the

airgun, and such curiosities as we thought might amuse them: In this we

succeeded too well; for after giving them a quarter of a glass of

whiskey, which they seemed to like very much, and sucked the bottle, it

was with much difficulty that we could get rid of them. They at last

accompanied captain Clarke on shore in a periogue with five men; but it

seems they had formed a design to stop us; for no sooner had the party

landed than three of the Indians seized the cable of the periogue, and

one of the soldiers of the chief put his arms round the mast: the second

chief who affected intoxication, then said, that we should not go on,

that they had not received presents enough from us; captain Clarke told

him that he would not be prevented from going on; that we were not

squaws, but warriors; that we were sent by our great father, who could

in a moment exterminate them: the chief replied, that he too had

warriors, and was proceeding to offer personal violence to captain

Clarke, who immediately drew his sword, and made a signal to the boat to

prepare for action. The Indians who surrounded him, drew their arrows

from their quivers and were bending their bows, when the swivel in the

boat was instantly pointed towards them, and twelve of our most

determined men jumped into the periogue and joined captain Clarke. This

movement made an impression on them, for the grand chief ordered the

young men away from the periogue, and they withdrew and held a short

council with the warriors. Being unwilling to irritate them, captain

Clarke then went forward and offered his hand to the first and second

chiefs, who refused to take it. He then turned from them and got into

the periogue, but had not gone more than ten paces when both the chiefs

and two of the warriors waded in after him, and he brought them on

board. We then proceeded on for a mile and anchored off a willow island,

which from the circumstances which had just occurred, we called

Badhumoured island.

Wednesday, September 26. Our conduct yesterday seemed to have inspired

the Indians with fear of us, and as we were desirous of cultivating

their acquaintance, we complied with their wish that we should give them

an opportunity of treating us well, and also suffer their squaws and

children to see us and our boat, which would be perfectly new to them.

Accordingly, after passing at one and a half mile a small willow island

and several sandbars, we came to on the south side, where a crowd of

men, women and children were waiting to receive us. Captain Lewis went

on shore and remained several hours, and observing that their

disposition was friendly we resolved to remain during the night to a

dance, which they were preparing for us. Captains Lewis and Clarke, who

went on shore one after the other, were met on landing by ten well

dressed young men, who took them up in a robe highly decorated and

carried them to a large council house, where they were placed on a

dressed buffaloe skin by the side of the grand chief. The hall or

council-room was in the shape of three quarters of a circle, covered at

the top and sides with skins well dressed and sewed together. Under this

shelter sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before

whom were placed a Spanish flag and the one we had given them yesterday.

This left a vacant circle of about six feet diameter, in which the pipe

of peace was raised on two forked sticks, about six or eight inches from

the ground, and under it the down of the swan was scattered: a large

fire, in which they were cooking provisions, stood near, and in the

centre about four hundred pounds of excellent buffaloe meat as a present

for us. As soon as we were seated, an old man got up, and after

approving what we had done, begged us to take pity on their unfortunate

situation. To this we replied with assurances of protection. After he

had ceased, the great chief rose and delivered an harangue to the same

effect: then with great solemnity he took some of the most delicate

parts of the dog, which was cooked for the festival, and held it to the

flag by way of sacrifice: this done, he held up the pipe of peace, and

first pointed it towards the heavens, then to the four quarters of the

globe, and then to the earth, made a short speech, lighted the pipe, and

presented it to us. We smoked, and he again harangued his people, after

which the repast was served up to us. It consisted of the dog which they

had just been cooking, this being a great dish among the Sioux and used

on all festivals; to this were added, pemitigon, a dish made of buffaloe

meat, dried or jerked, and then pounded and mixed raw with grease and a

kind of ground potatoe, dressed like the preparation of Indian corn

called hominy, to which it is little inferior. Of all these luxuries

which were placed before us in platters with horn spoons, we took the

pemitigon and the potatoe, which we found good, but we could as yet

partake but sparingly of the dog. We eat and smoked for an hour, when it

became dark: every thing was then cleared away for the dance, a large

fire being made in the centre of the house, giving at once light and

warmth to the ballroom. The orchestra was composed of about ten men, who

played on a sort of tambourin, formed of skin stretched across a hoop;

and made a jingling noise with a long stick to which the hoofs of deer

and goats were hung; the third instrument was a small skin bag with

pebbles in it: these, with five or six young men for the vocal part,

made up the band. The women then came forward highly decorated; some

with poles in their hands, on which were hung the scalps of their

enemies; 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, as soon as the music began

they danced towards each other till they met in the centre, when the

rattles were shaken, and they all shouted and returned back to their

places. They have no step, but shuffle along the ground; nor does the

music appear to be any thing more than a confusion of noises,

distinguished only by hard or gentle blows upon the buffaloe skin: the

song is perfectly extemporaneous. In the pauses of the dance, any man of

the company comes forward and recites, in a sort of low guttural tone,

some little story or incident, which is either martial or ludicrous; or,

as was the case this evening, voluptuous and indecent; this is taken up

by the orchestra and the dancers, who repeat it in a higher strain and

dance to it. Sometimes they alternate; the orchestra first performing,

and when it ceases, the women raise their voices and make a music more

agreeable, that is, less intolerable than that of the musicians. The

dances of the men, which are always separate from those of the women,

are conducted very nearly in the same way, except that the men jump up

and down instead of shuffling; and in the war dances the recitations are

all of a military cast. The harmony of the entertainment had nearly been

disturbed by one of the musicians, who thinking he had not received a

due share of the tobacco we had distributed during the evening, put

himself into a passion, broke one of the drums, threw two of them into

the fire, and left the band. They were taken out of the fire: a buffaloe

robe held in one hand and beaten with the other, by several of the

company, supplied the place of the lost drum or tambourin, and no notice

was taken of the offensive conduct of the man. We staid till twelve

o'clock at night, when we informed the chiefs that they must be fatigued

with all these attempts to amuse us, and retired accompanied by four

chiefs, two of whom spent the night with us on board.

While on shore we saw twenty-five squaws, and about the same number of

children, who had been taken prisoners two weeks ago, in a battle with

their countrymen the Mahas. In this engagement the Sioux destroyed forty

lodges, killed seventy-five men, of which we saw many of the scalps, and

took these prisoners; their appearance is wretched and dejected; the

women too seem low in stature, coarse and ugly; though their present

condition may diminish their beauty. We gave them a variety of small

articles, such as awls and needles, and interceded for them with the

chiefs, to whom we recommended to follow the advice of their great

father, to restore the prisoners and live in peace with the Mahas, which

they promised to do.

The tribe which we this day saw, are a part of the great Sioux nation,

and are known by the name of the Teton Okandandas: they are about two

hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides of the

Missouri, between the Chayenne and Teton rivers. In their persons they

are rather ugly and ill made, their legs and arms being too small, their

cheekbones high, and their eyes projecting. The females, with the same

character of form, are more handsome; and both sexes appear cheerful and

sprightly; but in our intercourse with them we discovered that they were

cunning and vicious.

The men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top,

which they suffer to grow and wear in plaits over the shoulders; to this

they seem much attached, as the loss of it is the usual sacrifice at the

death of near relations. In full dress, the men of consideration wear

a hawk's feather, or calumet feather worked with porcupine quills, and

fastened to the top of the head, from which it falls back. The face and

body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. Over the

shoulders is a loose robe or mantle of buffaloe skin dressed white,

adorned with porcupine quills loosely fixed so as to make a gingling

noise when in motion, and painted with various uncouth figures

unintelligible to us, but to them emblematic of military exploits, or

any other incident; the hair of the robe is worn next the skin in fair

weather, but when it rains the hair is put outside, and the robe is

either thrown over the arm, or wrapped round the body, all of which it

may cover. Under this in the winter season they wear a kind of shirt

resembling ours, and made either of skin or cloth, and covering the arms

and body. Round the middle is fixed a girdle of cloth or procured

dressed elk-skin, about an inch in width and closely tied to the body,

to this is attached a piece of cloth or blanket or skin about a foot

wide, which passes between the legs and is tucked under the girdle both

before and behind; from the hip to the ancle he is covered by leggings

of dressed antelope skins, with seams at the sides two inches in width,

and ornamented by little tufts of hair the produce of the scalps they

have made in war, which are scattered down the leg. The winter moccasins

are of dressed buffaloe-skin, the hair being worn inwards, and soaled

with thick elk-skin parchment: those for summer are of deer or elk-skin,

dressed without the hair, and with soals of elk-skin. On great

occasions, or wherever they are in full dress, the young men drag after

them the entire skin of a polecat fixed to the heel of the moccasin.

Another skin of the same animal is either tucked into the girdle or

carried in the hand, and serves as a pouch for their tobacco, or what

the French traders call the bois roule: this is the inner bark of a

species of red willow, which being dried in the sun or over the fire, is

rubbed between the hands and broken into small pieces, and is used alone

or mixed with tobacco. The pipe is generally of red earth, the stem made

of ash, about three or four feet long, and highly decorated with

feathers, hair and porcupine quills.

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. Their moccasins

are like those of the men, as are also the leggings, which do not

however reach beyond the knee, where it is met by a long loose shift of

skin which reaches nearly to the ancles: this is fastened over the

shoulders by a string and has no sleeves, but a few pieces of the skin

hang a short distance down the arm. Sometimes a girdle fastens this skin

round the waist, and over all is thrown a robe like that worn by the

men. They seem fond of dress. Their lodges are very neatly constructed,

in the same form as those of the Yanktons; they consist of about one

hundred cabins, made of white buffaloe hide dressed, with a larger one

in the centre for holding councils and dances. They are built round with

poles about fifteen or twenty feet high, covered with white skins; these

lodges may be taken to pieces, packed up, and carried with the nation

wherever they go, by dogs which bear great burdens. The women are

chiefly employed in dressing buffaloe skins: they seem perfectly well

disposed, but are addicted to stealing any thing which they can take

without being observed. This nation, although it makes so many ravages

among its neighbours, is badly supplied with guns. The water which they

carry with them is contained chiefly in the paunches of deer and other

animals, and they make use of wooden bowls. Some had their heads shaved,

which we found was a species of mourning for relations. Another usage,

on these occasions, is to run arrows through the flesh both above and

below the elbow.

While on shore to-day we witnessed a quarrel between two squaws, which

appeared to be growing every moment more boisterous, when a man came

forward, at whose approach every one seemed terrified and ran. He took

the squaws, and without any ceremony whipped them severely; on inquiring

into the nature of such summary justice, we learnt that this man was an

officer well known to this and many other tribes. His duty is to keep

the peace, and the whole interior police of the village is confided to

two or three of these officers, who are named by the chief and remain in

power some days, at least till the chief appoints a successor; they seem

to be a sort of constable or sentinel, since they are always on the

watch to keep tranquillity during the day, and guarding the camp in the

night. The short duration of their office is compensated by its

authority: his power is supreme, and in the suppression of any riot or

disturbance no resistance to him is suffered: his person is sacred, and

if in the execution of his duty he strikes even a chief of the second

class, he cannot be punished for this salutary insolence. In general

they accompany the person of the chief, and when ordered to any duty,

however dangerous, it is a point of honour rather to die than to refuse

obedience. Thus, when they attempted to stop us yesterday, the chief

ordered one of these men to take possession of the boat: he immediately

put his arms round the mast, and, as we understood, no force except the

command of the chief would have induced him to release his hold. Like

the other men their bodies are blackened, but their distinguishing mark

is a collection of two or three raven skins fixed to the girdle behind

the back in such a way, that the tails stick out horizontally from the

body. On his head too is a raven skin split into two parts, and tied so

as to let the beak project from the forehead.

Thursday September 27. We rose early, and the two chiefs took off, as a

matter of course and according to their custom, the blanket on which

they had slept. To this we added a peck of corn as a present to each.

Captain Lewis and the chiefs went on shore to see a part of the nation

that was expected, but did not come. He returned at two o'clock, with

four of the chiefs and a warrior of distinction, called Wadrapa, (or on

his guard); they examined the boat and admired whatever was strange,

during half an hour, when they left it with great reluctance. Captain

Clarke accompanied them to the lodge of the grand chief, who invited

them to a dance, where, being joined by captain Lewis, they remained

till a late hour. The dance was very similar to that of yesterday. About

twelve we left them, taking the second chief and one principal warrior

on board: as we came near the boat the man who steered the periogue, by

mistake, brought her broadside against the boat's cable, and broke it.

We called up all hands to their oars; but our noise alarmed the two

Indians: they called out to their companions, and immediately the whole

camp crowded to the shore; but after half an hour they returned, leaving

about sixty men near us. The alarm given by the chiefs was said to be

that the Mahas had attacked us, and that they were desirous of assisting

us to repel it; but we suspected that they were afraid we meant to set

sail, and intended to prevent us from doing so; for in the night the

Maha prisoners had told one of our men, who understood the language,

that we were to be stopped. We therefore, without giving any indication

of our suspicion, prepared every thing for an attack, as the loss of our

anchor obliged to come to near a falling bank, very unfavourable for

defence. We were not mistaken in these opinions; for when in the

morning,

Friday, September 28, after dragging unsuccessfully for the anchor, we

wished to set sail, it was with great difficulty that we could make the

chiefs leave the boat. At length we got rid of all except the great

chief; when just as we were setting out, several of the chief's soldiers

sat on the rope which held the boat to the shore. Irritated at this we

got every thing ready to fire on them if they persisted, but the great

chief said that these were his soldiers and only wanted some tobacco. We

had already refused a flag and some tobacco to the second chief, who had

demanded it with great importunity; but willing to leave them without

going to extremities, we threw him a carrot of tobacco, saying to him,

"You have told us that you were a great man, and have influence; now

show your influence, by taking the rope from those men, and we will then

go without any further trouble." This appeal to his pride had the

desired effect; he went out of the boat, gave the soldiers the tobacco,

and pulling the rope out of their hands delivered it on board, and we

then set sail under a breeze from the S.E. After sailing about two miles

we observed the third chief beckoning to us: we took him on board, and

he informed us that the rope had been held by the order of the second

chief, who was a double-faced man. A little farther on we were joined by

the son of the chief, who came on board to see his father. On his return

we sent a speech to the nation, explaining what we had done, and

advising them to peace; but if they persisted in their attempts to stop

us, we were willing and able to defend ourselves. After making six

miles, during which we passed a willow island on the south and one

sandbar, we encamped on another in the middle of the river. The country

on the south-side was a low prairie, that on the north highland.

September 29. We set out early, but were again impeded by sandbars,

which made the river shallow; the weather was however fair; the land on

the north side low and covered with timber contrasted with the bluffs to

the south. At nine o'clock we saw the second chief and two women and

three men on shore, who wished us to take two women offered by the

second chief to make friends, which was refused; he then requested us to

take them to the other band of their nation, who were on the river not

far from us: this we declined; but in spite of our wishes they followed

us along shore. The chief asked us to give them some tobacco; this we

did, and gave more as a present for that part of the nation which we did

not see. At seven and a half miles we came to a small creek on the

southern side, where we saw great numbers of elk, and which we called

Notimber creek from its bare appearance. Above the mouth of this stream,

a Ricara band of Pawnees had a village five years ago: but there are no

remains of it except the mound which encircled the town. Here the second

chief went on shore. We then proceeded, and at the distance of eleven

miles encamped on the lower part of a willow island, in the middle of

the river, being obliged to substitute large stones in the place of the

anchor which we lost.

September 30. The wind was this morning very high from the southeast, so

that we were obliged to proceed under a double-reefed mainsail, through

the rain. The country presented a large low prairie covered with timber

on the north side; on the south, we first had high barren hills, but

after some miles it became of the same character as that on the opposite

side. We had not gone far when an Indian ran after us, and begged to be

carried on board as far as the Ricaras, which we refused: soon after, we

discovered on the hills at a distance, a great number of Indians, who

came towards the river and encamped ahead of us. We stopped at a

sandbar, at about eleven miles, and after breakfasting proceeded on a

short distance to their camp, which consisted of about four hundred

souls. We anchored one hundred yards from the shore, and discovering

that they were Tetons belonging to the band which we had just left: we

told them that we took them by the hand, and would make each chief a

present of tobacco; that we had been badly treated by some of their

band, and that having waited for them two days below, we could not stop

here, but referred them to Mr. Durion for our talk and an explanation of

our views: they then apologized for what had past, assured us that they

were friendly, and very desirous that we should land and eat with them:

this we refused, but sent the periogue on shore with the tobacco, which

was delivered to one of the soldiers of the chief, whom we had on board.

Several of them now ran along the shore after us, but the chief threw

them a twist of tobacco, and told them to go back and open their ears to

our counsels; on which they immediately returned to their lodges. We

then proceeded past a continuation of the low prairie on the north,

where we had large quantities of grapes, and on the south saw a small

creek and an island. Six miles above this, two Indians came to the bank,

looked at us about half an hour, and then went without speaking over the

hills to the southwest. After some time, the wind rose still higher, and

the boat struck a log, turned, and was very near taking in water. The

chief became so much terrified at the danger, that he hid himself in the

boat, and as soon as we landed got his gun and told us that he wanted to

return, that we would now see no more Tetons, and that we might proceed

unmolested: we repeated the advice we had already given, presented him

with a blanket, a knife, some tobacco, and after smoking with him he set

out. We then continued to a sandbar on the north side, where we

encamped, having come twenty and a half miles. In the course of the day

we saw a number of sandbars which impede the navigation. The only

animal which we observed was the white gull, then in great abundance.

October 1st, 1804. The weather was very cold and the wind high from the

southeast during the night, and continued so this morning. At three

miles distance, we had passed a large island in the middle of the river,

opposite to the lower end of which the Ricaras once had a village on the

south side of the river: there are, however, no remnants of it now,

except a circular wall three or four feet in height, which encompassed

the town. Two miles beyond this island is a river coming in from the

southwest, about four hundred yards wide; the current gentle, and

discharging not much water, and very little sand: it takes its rise in

the second range of the Cote Noire or Black mountains, and its general

course is nearly east; this river has been occasionally called Dog

river, under a mistaken opinion that its French name was Chien, but its

true appellation is Chayenne, and it derives this title from the

Chayenne Indians: their history is the short and melancholy relation of

the calamities of almost all the Indians. They were a numerous people

and lived on the Chayenne, a branch of the Red river of Lake Winnipeg.

The invasion of the Sioux drove them westward; in their progress they

halted on the southern side of the Missouri below the Warreconne, where

their ancient fortifications still exist; but the same impulse again

drove them to the heads of the Chayenne, where they now rove, and

occasionally visit the Ricaras. They are now reduced, but still number

three hundred men.

Although the river did not seem to throw out much sand, yet near and

above its mouth we find a great many sandbars difficult to pass. On both

sides of the Missouri, near the Chayenne, are rich thinly timbered

lowlands, behind which are bare hills. As we proceeded, we found that

the sandbars made the river so shallow, and the wind was so high, that

we could scarcely find the channel, and at one place were forced to drag

the boat over a sandbar, the Missouri being very wide and falling a

little. At seven and a half miles we came to at a point, and remained

three hours, during which time the wind abated: we then passed within

four miles two creeks on the south, one of which we called Centinel

creek, and the other Lookout creek. This part of the river has but

little timber; the hills are not so high as we have hitherto seen, and

the number of sandbars extends the river to more than a mile in breadth.

We continued about four and a half miles further, to a sandbar in the

middle of the river, where we spent the night, our progress being

sixteen miles. On the opposite shore, we saw a house among the willows

and a boy to whom we called, and brought him on board. He proved to be a

young Frenchman in the employ of a Mr. Valle a trader, who is now here

pursuing his commerce with the Sioux.

Tuesday, October 2. There had been a violent wind from S.E. during the

night, which having moderated we set sail with Mr. Valle, who visited us

this morning and accompanied us for two miles. He is one of three French

traders who have halted here, expecting the Sioux who are coming down

from the Ricaras, where they now are, for the purposes of traffic. Mr.

Valle tells us that he passed the last winter three hundred leagues up

the Chayenne under the Black mountains. That river he represents as very

rapid, liable to sudden swells, the bed and shores formed of course

gravel, and difficult of ascent even for canoes. One hundred leagues

from its mouth it divides into two branches, one coming from the south,

the other at forty leagues from the junction enters the Black mountains.

The land which it waters from the Missouri to the Black mountains,

resembles the country on the Missouri, except that the former has even

less timber, and of that the greater proportion is cedar. The Chayennes

reside chiefly on the heads of the river, and steal horses from the

Spanish settlement, a plundering excursion which they perform in a

month's time. The Black mountains he observes are very high, covered

with great quantities of pine, and in some parts the snow remains during

the summer. There are also great quantities of goats, white bear,

prairie cocks, and a species of animal which from his description must

resemble a small elk, with large circular horns.

At two and a half miles we had passed a willow island on the south, on

the north side of the river were dark bluffs, and on the south low rich

prairies. We took a meridian altitude on our arrival at the upper end of

the isthmus of the bend, which we called the Lookout bend, and found the

latitude to be 44° 19' 36". This bend is nearly twenty miles round, and

not more than two miles across.

In the afternoon we heard a shot fired, and not long after observed some

Indians on a hill: one of them came to the shore and wished us to land,

as there were twenty lodges of Yanktons or Boisbrule there; we declined

doing so, telling him that we had already seen his chiefs, and that they

might learn from Mr. Durion the nature of the talk we had delivered to

them. At nine miles we came to the lower point of a long island on the

north, the banks of the south side of the river being high, those of the

north forming a low rich prairie. We coasted along this island, which we

called Caution island, and after passing a small creek on the south

encamped on a sandbar in the middle of the river, having made twelve

miles. The wind changed to the northwest, and became very high and cold.

The current of the river is less rapid, and the water though of the same

colour contains less sediment than below the Chayenne, but its width

continues the same. We were not able to hunt to-day; for as there are so

many Indians in the neighbourhood, we were in constant expectation of

being attacked, and were therefore forced to keep the party together and

be on our guard.

Wednesday, October 3. The wind continued so high from the northwest,

that we could not set out till after seven: we then proceeded till

twelve o'clock, and landed on a bar towards the south, where we

examined the periogues, and the forecastle of the boat, and found that

the mice had cut several bags of corn, and spoiled some of our clothes:

about one o'clock an Indian came running to the shore with a turkey on

his back: several others soon joined him, but we had no intercourse with

them. We then went on for three miles, but the ascent soon became so

obstructed by sandbars and shoal water, that after attempting in vain

several channels, we determined to rest for the night under some high

bluffs on the south, and send out to examine the best channel. We had

made eight miles along high bluffs on each side. The birds we saw were

the white gulls and the brant which were flying to the southward in

large flocks.

Thursday, 4th. On examination we found that there was no outlet

practicable for us in this channel, and that we must retread our steps.

We therefore returned three miles, and attempted another channel in

which we were more fortunate. The Indians were in small numbers on the

shore, and seemed willing had they been more numerous to molest us. They

called to desire that we would land, and one of them gave three yells

and fired a ball ahead of the boat: we however took no notice of it, but

landed on the south to breakfast. One of these Indians swam across and

begged for some powder, we gave him a piece of tobacco only. At eight

and a half miles we had passed an island in the middle of the river,

which we called Goodhope island. At one and a half mile we reached a

creek on the south side about twelve yards wide, to which we gave the

name of Teal creek. A little above this is an island on the north side

of the current, about one and a half mile in length and three quarters

of a mile in breadth. In the centre of this island is an old village of

the Ricaras, called Lahoocat; it was surrounded by a circular wall,

containing seventeen lodges. The Ricaras are known to have lived therein

1797, and the village seems to have been deserted about five years

since; it does not contain much timber. We encamped on a sandbar making

out from the upper end of this island; our journey to-day being twelve

miles.

Friday, October 5. The weather was very cold: yesterday evening and this

morning there was a white frost. We sailed along the highlands on the

north side, passing a small creek on the south, between three and four

miles. At seven o'clock we heard some yells and saw three Indians of the

Teton band, who asked us to come on shore and begged for some tobacco,

to all which we gave the same answer as hitherto. At eight miles we

reached a small creek on the north. At fourteen we passed an island on

the south, covered with wild rye, and at the head a large creek comes in

from the south, which we named Whitebrant creek, from seeing several

white brants among flocks of dark-coloured ones. At the distance of

twenty miles we came to on a sandbar towards the north side of the

river, with a willow island opposite; the hills or bluffs come to the

banks of the river on both sides, but are not so high as they are below:

the river itself however continues of the same width, and the sandbars

are quite as numerous. The soil of the banks is dark coloured, and many

of the bluffs have the appearance of being on fire. Our game this day

was a deer, a prairie wolf, and some goats out of a flock that was

swimming across the river.

Saturday, October 6. The morning was still cold, the wind being from the

north. At eight miles we came to a willow island on the north, opposite

a point of timber, where there are many large stones near the middle of

the river, which seem to have been washed from the hills and high plains

on both sides, or driven from a distance down the stream. At twelve

miles we halted for dinner at a village which we suppose to have

belonged to the Ricaras; it is situated in a low plain on the river, and

consists of about eighty lodges, of an octagon form, neatly covered with

earth, placed as close to each other as possible, and picketed round.

The skin canoes, mats, buckets, and articles of furniture found in the

lodges, induce us to suppose that it had been left in the spring. We

found three different sorts of squashes growing in the village; we also

killed an elk near it, and saw two wolves. On leaving the village the

river became shallow, and after searching a long time for the main

channel, which was concealed among sandbars, we at last dragged the boat

over one of them rather than go back three miles for the deepest

channel. At fourteen and a half miles we stopped for the night on a

sandbar, opposite a creek on the north, called Otter creek, twenty-two

yards in width, and containing more water than is common for creeks of

that size. The sides of the river during the day are variegated with

high bluffs and low timbered grounds on the banks: the river is very

much obstructed by sandbars. We saw geese, swan, brants and ducks of

different kinds on the sandbars, and on shore numbers of the prairie

hen; the magpie too is very common, but the gulls and plover, which we

saw in such numbers below, are now quite rare.

Sunday, October 7. There was frost again last evening, and this morning

was cloudy and attended with rain. At two miles we came to the mouth of

a river; called by the Ricaras, Sawawkawna, or Pork river; the party who

examined it for about three miles up, say that its current is gentle,

and that it does not seem to throw out much sand. Its sources are in the

first range of the Black mountains, and though it has now only water of

twenty yards width, yet when full it occupies ninety. Just below the

mouth is another village or wintering camp of the Ricaras, composed of

about sixty lodges, built in the same form as those passed yesterday,

with willow and straw mats, baskets and buffaloe-skin canoes remaining

entire in the camp. We proceeded under a gentle breeze from the

southwest: at ten o'clock we saw two Indians on the north side, who told

us they were a part of the lodge of Tartongawaka, or Buffaloe Medicine,

the Teton chief whom we had seen on the twenty-fifth, that they were on

the way to the Ricaras, and begged us for something to eat, which we of

course gave them. At seven and a half miles is a willow island on the

north, and another on the same side five miles beyond it, in the middle

of the river between highlands on both sides. At eighteen and a half

miles is an island called Grouse island, on which are the walls of an

old village; the island has no timber, but is covered with grass and

wild rye, and owes its name to the number of grouse that frequent it. We

then went on till our journey for the day was twenty-two miles: the

country presented the same appearance as usual. In the low timbered

ground near the mouth of the Sawawkawna, we saw the tracks of large

white bear, and on Grouse island killed a female blaireau, and a deer of

the black-tailed species, the largest we have ever seen.

Monday, October 8. We proceeded early with a cool northwest wind, and at

two and a half miles above Grouse island, reached the mouth of a creek

on the south, then a small willow island, which divides the current

equally; and at four and a half miles came to a river on the southern

side where we halted. This river, which our meridian altitude fixes at

45° 39' 5" north latitude, is called by the Ricaras Wetawhoo; it rises

in the Black mountains, and its bed which flows at the mouth over a low

soft slate stone, is one hundred and twenty yards wide, but the water is

now confined within twenty yards, and is not very rapid, discharging mud

with a small proportion of sand: here as in every bend of the river, we

again observe the red berries resembling currants, which we mentioned

before. Two miles above the Wetawhoo, and on the same side, is a small

river called Maropa by the Indians; it is twenty yards in width, but so

dammed up by mud that the stream creeps through a channel of not more

than an inch in diameter, and discharges no sand. One mile further we

reached an island close to the southern shore, from which it is

separated by a deep channel of sixty yards. About half way a number of

Ricara Indians came out to see us. We stopped and took a Frenchman on

board, who accompanied us past the island to our camp on the north side

of the river, which is at the distance of twelve miles from that of

yesterday. Captain Lewis then returned with four of the party to see the

village; it is situated in the centre of the island, near the southern

shore, under the foot of some high, bald, uneven hills, and contains

about sixty lodges. The island itself is three miles long, and covered

with fields in which the Indians raise corn, beans, and potatoes.

Several Frenchmen living among these Indians as interpreters, or

traders, came back with captain Lewis, and particularly a Mr.

Gravelines, a man who has acquired the language. On setting out we had a

low prairie covered with timber on the north, and on the south

highlands, but at the mouth of the Wetawhoo the southern country

changes, and a low timbered plain extends along the south, while the

north has a ridge of barren hills during the rest of the day's course.

Tuesday, 9th. The wind was so cold and high last night and during all

the day, that we could not assemble the Indians in council; but some of

the party went to the village. We received the visits of the three

principal chiefs with many others, to whom we gave some tobacco, and

told them that we would speak to them to-morrow. The names of these

chiefs were first, Kakawissassa or Lighting Crow; second chief Pocasse

or Hay; third chief Piaheto or Eagle's Feather. Notwithstanding the high

waves, two or three squaws rowed to us in little canoes made of a single

buffaloe skin, stretched over a frame of boughs interwoven like a

basket, and with the most perfect composure. The object which appeared

to astonish the Indians most, was captain Clark's servant York, a

remarkable stout strong negro. They had never seen a being of that

colour, and therefore flocked round him to examine the extraordinary

monster. By way of amusement he told them that he had once been a wild

animal, and caught and tamed by his master, and to convince them, showed

them feats of strength which added to his looks made him more terrible

than we wished him to be. Opposite our camp is a small creek on the

south, which we distinguished by the name of the chief Kakawissassa.

Wednesday, 10th. The weather was this day fine, and as we were desirous

of assembling the whole nation at once, we despatched Mr. Gravelines,

who with Mr. Tabeau another French trader had breakfeasted with us, to

invite the chiefs of the two upper villages to a conference. They all

assembled at one o'clock, and after the usual ceremonies we addressed

them in the same way in which we had already spoken to the Ottoes and

Sioux: we then made or acknowledged three chiefs, one for each of the

three villages; giving to each a flag, a medal, a red coat, a cocked hat

and feather, also some goods, paint and tobacco, which they divided

among themselves: after this the airgun was exhibited, very much to

their astonishment, nor were they less surprised at the colour and

manner of York. On our side we were equally gratified at discovering

that these Ricaras made use of no spirituous liquors of any kind, the

example of the traders who bring it to them so far from tempting having

in fact disgusted them. Supposing that it was as agreeable to them as to

the other Indians, we had at first offered them whiskey; but they

refused it with this sensible remark, that they were surprised that

their father should present to them a liquor which would make them

fools. On another occasion they observed to Mr. Tabeau, that no man

could be their friend who tried to lead them into such follies. The

council being over they retired to consult on their answer, and the next

morning,

Thursday, 11th, at eleven o'clock we again met in council at our camp.

The grand chief made a short speech of thanks for the advice we had

given, and promised to follow it; adding that the door was now open and

no one dare shut it, and that we might depart whenever we pleased,

alluding to the treatment we had received from the Sioux: they also

brought us some corn, beans, and dried squashes, and in return we gave

them a steel mill with which they were much pleased. At one o'clock we

left our camp with the grand chief and his nephew on board, and at about

two miles anchored below a creek on the south, separating the second and

third village of the Ricaras, which are about half a mile distant from

each other. We visited both the villages, and sat conversing with the

chiefs for some time, during which they presented us with a bread made

of corn and beans, also corn and beans boiled, and a large rich bean

which they take from the mice of the prairie, who discover and collect

it. These two villages are placed near each other in a high smooth

prairie; a fine situation, except that having no wood the inhabitants

are obliged to go for it across the river to a timbered lowland opposite

to them. We told them that we would speak to them in the morning at

their villages separately.

Thursday, 12th. Accordingly after breakfast we went on shore to the

house of the chief of the second village named Lassel, where we found

his chiefs and warriors. They made us a present of about seven bushels

of corn, a pair of leggings, a twist of their tobacco, and the seeds of

two different species of tobacco. The chief then delivered a speech

expressive of his gratitude for the presents and the good counsels which

we had given him; his intention of visiting his great father but for

fear of the Sioux; and requested us to take one of the Ricara chiefs up

to the Mandans and negociate a peace between the two nations. To this we

replied in a suitable way, and then repaired to the third village. Here

we were addressed by the chief in nearly the same terms as before, and

entertained with a present of ten bushels of corn, some beans, dried

pumpkins, and squashes. After we had answered and explained the

magnitude and power of the United States, the three chiefs came with us

to the boat. We gave them some sugar, a little salt, and a sunglass. Two

of them then left us, and the chief of the third, by name Ahketahnasha

or Chief of the Town, accompanied us to the Mandans. At two o'clock we

left the Indians, who crowded to the shore to take leave of us, and

after making seven and a half miles landed on the north side, and had a

clear, cool, pleasant evening.

The three villages which we have just left, are the residence of a

nation called the Ricaras. They were originally colonies of Pawnees, who

established themselves on the Missouri, below the Chayenne, where the

traders still remember that twenty years ago they occupied a number of

villages. From that situation a part of the Ricaras emigrated to the

neighbourhood of the Mandans, with whom they were then in alliance. The

rest of the nation continued near the Chayenne till the year 1797, in

the course of which, distressed by their wars with the Sioux, they

joined their countrymen near the Mandans. Soon after a new war arose

between the Ricaras and the Mandans, in consequence of which the former

came down the river to their present position. In this migration those

who had first gone to the Mandans kept together, and now live in the two

lower villages, which may thence be considered as the Ricaras proper.

The third village was composed of such remnants of the villages as had

survived the wars, and as these were nine in number a difference of

pronunciation and some difference of language may be observed between

them and the Ricaras proper, who do not understand all the words of

these wanderers. The villages are within the distance of four miles of

each other, the two lower ones consisting of between one hundred and

fifty and two hundred men each, the third of three hundred. The Ricaras

are tall and well proportioned, the women handsome and lively, and as

among other savages to them falls all the drudgery of the field and the

labours of procuring subsistence, except that of hunting: both sexes are

poor, but kind and generous, and although they receive with thankfulness

what is given to them, do not beg as the Sioux did, though this praise

should be qualified by mentioning that an axe was stolen last night

from our cooks. The dress of the men is a simple pair of moccasins,

legings, and a cloth round the middle, over which a buffaloe robe is

occasionally thrown, with their hair, arms and ears decorated with

different ornaments. The women wear moccasins, legings, a long shirt

made of goats' skins, generally white and fringed, which is tied round

the waist; to those they add, like the men, a buffaloe robe without the

hair, in summer. These women are handsomer than the Sioux; both of them

are however, disposed to be amorous, and our men found no difficulty in

procuring companions for the night by means of the interpreters. These

interviews were chiefly clandestine, and were of course to be kept a

secret from the husband or relations. The point of honour indeed, is

completely reversed among the Ricaras; that the wife or the sister

should submit to a stranger's embraces without the consent of her

husband or brother, is a cause of great disgrace and offence, especially

as for many purposes of civility or gratitude the husband and brother

will themselves present to a stranger these females, and be gratified by

attentions to them. The Sioux had offered us squaws, but while we

remained there having declined, they followed us with offers of females

for two days. The Ricaras had been equally accommodating; we had equally

withstood their temptation; but such was their desire to oblige that two

very handsome young squaws were sent on board this evening, and

persecuted us with civilities. The black man York participated largely

in these favours; for instead of inspiring any prejudice, his colour

seemed to procure him additional advantages from the Indians, who

desired to preserve among them some memorial of this wonderful stranger.

Among other instances of attention, a Ricara invited him into his house

and presenting his wife to him, retired to the outside of the door:

while there one of York's comrades who was looking for him came to the

door, but the gallant husband would permit no interruption before a

reasonable time had elapsed.

The Ricara lodges are in a circular or octagonal form, and generally

about thirty or forty feet in diameter: they are made by placing forked

posts about six feet high round the circumference of the circle; these

are joined by poles from one fork to another, which are supported also

by other forked poles slanting from the ground: in the centre of the

lodge are placed four higher forks, about fifteen feet in length,

connected together by beams; from these to the lower poles the rafters

of the roof are extended so as to leave a vacancy in the middle for the

smoke: the frame of the building is then covered with willow branches,

with which is interwoven grass, and over this mud or clay: the aperture

for the door is about four feet wide, and before it is a sort of entry

about ten feet from the lodge. They are very warm and compact.

They cultivate maize or Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, watermelons,

squashes, and a species of tobacco peculiar to themselves.

Their commerce is chiefly with the traders who supply them with goods in

return for peltries, which they procure not only by their own hunting,

but in exchange for corn from their less civilized neighbours. The

object chiefly in demand seemed to be red paint, but they would give any

thing they had to spare for the most trifling article. One of the men

to-day gave an Indian a hook made out of a pin, and he gave him in

return a pair of moccasins.

They express a disposition to keep at peace with all nations, but they

are well armed with fusils, and being much under the influence of the

Sioux, who exchanged the goods which they get from the British for

Ricara corn, their minds are sometimes poisoned and they cannot be

always depended on. At the present moment they are at war with the

Mandans. We are informed by Mr. Gravelines, who had passed through that

country, that the Yankton or Jacques river rises about forty miles to

the east or northeast of this place, the Chayenne branch of the Red

river about twenty miles further, passing the Sioux, and the St. Peter's

about eighty.

Saturday, 13th. In the morning our visitors left us, except the brother

of the chief who accompanies us and one of the squaws. We passed at an

early hour a camp of Sioux on the north bank, who merely looked at us

without saying a word, and from the character of the tribe we did not

solicit a conversation. At ten and a half miles we reached the mouth of

a creek on the north, which takes its rise from some ponds a short

distance to the northeast: to this stream we gave the name of Stoneidol

creek, for after passing a willow and sand island just above its mouth,

we discovered that a few miles back from the Missouri there are two

stones resembling human figures, and a third like a dog; all which are

objects of great veneration among the Ricaras. Their history would adorn

the metamorphoses of Ovid. A young man was deeply enamoured with a girl

whose parents refused their consent to the marriage. The youth went out

into the fields to mourn his misfortunes; a sympathy of feeling led the

lady to the same spot, and the faithful dog would not cease to follow

his master. After wandering together and having nothing but grapes to

subsist on, they were at last converted into stone, which beginning at

the feet gradually invaded the nobler parts leaving nothing unchanged

but a bunch of grapes which the female holds in her hands to this day.

Whenever the Ricaras pass these sacred stones, they stop to make some

offering of dress to propitiate these deities. Such is the account given

by the Ricara chief which we had no mode of examining, except that we

found one part of the story very agreeably confirmed; for on the river

near where the event is said to have occurred, we found a greater

abundance of fine grapes than we had yet seen. Above this is a small

creek four and a half miles from Stoneidol creek, which is fifteen yards

wide, comes in from the south, and received from us the name of Pocasse

or Hay creek, in honour of the chief of the second village. Above the

Ricara island, the Missouri becomes narrow and deeper, the sandbars

being generally confined to the points; the current too is much more

gentle; the timber on the lowlands is also in much greater quantities,

though the high grounds are still naked. We proceeded on under a fine

breeze from the southeast, and after making eighteen miles encamped on

the north near a timbered low plain, after which we had some rain and

the evening was cold. The hunters killed one deer only.

Sunday, 14th. We set out in the rain which continued during the day. At

five miles we came to a creek on the south, about fifteen yards wide,

and named by us Piaheto or Eagle's Feather, in honour of the third chief

of the Ricaras. After dinner we stopped on a sandbar, and executed the

sentence of a court martial which inflicted corporal punishment on one

of the soldiers. This operation affected the Indian chief very sensibly,

for he cried aloud during the punishment: we explained the offence and

the reasons of it. He acknowledged that examples were necessary, and

that he himself had given them by punishing with death; but his nation

never whipped even children from their birth. After this we continued

with the wind from the northeast, and at the distance of twelve miles,

encamped in a cove of the southern bank. Immediately opposite our camp

on the north side are the ruins of an ancient fortification, the greater

part of which is washed into the river: nor could we distinguish more

than that the walls were eight or ten feet high. The evening is wet and

disagreeable, and the river which is somewhat wider than yesterday,

continues to have an unusual quantity of timber. The country was level

on both sides in the morning, but afterwards we passed some black bluffs

on the south.

Monday, 15th. We stopped at three miles on the north a little above a

camp of Ricaras who are hunting, where we were visited by about thirty

Indians. They came over in their skin canoes, bringing us meat, for

which we returned them beads and fishhooks. About a mile higher we found

another encampment of Ricaras on the south, consisting of eight lodges:

here we again ate and exchanged a few presents. As we went we discerned

numbers of other Indians on both sides of the river; and at about nine

miles we came to a creek on the south, where we saw many high hills

resembling a house with a slanting roof; and a little below the creek an

old village of the Sharha or Chayenne Indians. The morning had been

cloudy, but the evening became pleasant, the wind from the northeast,

and at sunset we halted, after coming ten miles over several sandbars

and points, above a camp of ten Ricara lodges on the north side. We

visited their camp, and smoked and eat with several of them; they all

appeared kind and pleased with our attentions, and the fair sex received

our men with more than hospitality. York was here again an object of

astonishment; the children would follow him constantly, and if he

chanced to turn towards them, run with great terror. The country of

to-day is generally low and covered with timber on both sides, though in

the morning we passed some barren hills on the south.

Tuesday, 16th. At this camp the squaw who accompanied the chief left us;

two others were very anxious to go on with us. Just above our camp we

passed a circular work or fort where the Sharha or Chayennes formerly

lived: and a short distance beyond, a creek which we called Chayenne

creek. At two miles is a willow island with a large sandbar on both

sides above it, and a creek, both on the south, which we called Sohaweh,

the Ricara name for girl; and two miles above a second creek, to which

we gave the name of Chapawt, which means woman in the same language.

Three miles further is an island situated in a bend to the north, about

a mile and a half long, and covered with cottonwood. At the lower end of

this island comes in a small creek from the north, called

Keetooshsahawna or Place of Beaver. At the upper extremity of the island

a river empties itself from the north: it is called Warreconne, or Elk

Shed their Horns, and is about thirty-five yards wide: the island itself

is named Carp island by Evans, a former traveller. As we proceeded there

were great numbers of goats on the banks of the river, and we soon after

saw large flocks of them in the water: they had been gradually driven

into the river by the Indians who now lined the shore so as to prevent

their escape, and were firing on them, while sometimes boys went into

the river and killed them with sticks: they seemed to be very

successful, for we counted fifty-eight which they had killed. We

ourselves killed some, and then passing the lodges to which these

Indians belonged, encamped at the distance of half a mile on the south,

having made fourteen and a half miles. We were soon visited by numbers

of these Ricaras, who crossed the river hallooing and singing: two of

them then returned for some goats' flesh and buffaloe meat dried and

fresh, with which they made a feast that lasted till late at night, and

caused much music and merriment.

Wednesday 17th. The weather was pleasant: we passed a low ground covered

with small timber on the south, and barren hills on the north which come

close to the river; the wind from the northwest then become so strong

that we could not move after ten o'clock, until late in the afternoon,

when we were forced to use the towline, and we therefore made only six

miles. We all went out hunting and examining the country. The goats, of

which we see large flocks coming to the north bank of the river, spend

the summer, says Mr. Gravelines, in the plains east of the Missouri, and

at the present season are returning to the Black mountains, where they

subsist on leaves and shrubbery during the winter, and resume their

migrations in the spring. We also saw buffaloe, elk, and deer, and a

number of snakes; a beaver house too was seen, and we caught a

whippoorwill of a small and uncommon kind: the leaves are fast falling;

the river wider than usual and full of sandbars: and on the sides of the

hills are large stones, and some rock of a brownish colour in the

southern bend below us. Our latitude by observation was 46° 23' 57".

Thursday 18. After three miles we reached the mouth of Le Boulet or

Cannonball river: this stream rises in the Black mountains, and falls

into the Missouri on the south; its channel is about one hundred and

forty yards wide, though the water is now confined within forty, and its

name is derived from the numbers of perfectly round large stones on the

shore and in the bluffs just above. We here met with two Frenchmen in

the employ of Mr. Gravelines, who had been robbed by the Mandans of

their traps, furs, and other articles, and were descending the river in

a periogue, but they turned back with us in expectation of obtaining

redress through our means. At eight miles is a creek on the north, about

twenty-eight yards wide, rising in the northeast, and called Chewah or

Fish river; one mile above this is another creek on the south: we

encamped on a sandbar to the south, at the distance of thirteen miles,

all of which we had made with oars and poles. Great numbers of goats are

crossing the river and directing their course to the westward; we also

saw a herd of buffaloe and of elk; a pelican too was killed, and six

fallow deer, having found, as the Ricaras informed us, that there are

none of the black-tail species as high up as this place. The country is

in general level and fine, with broken short high grounds, low timbered

mounds on the river, and a rugged range of hills at a distance.

Friday 19. We set sail with a fine morning, and a southeast wind, and at

two and a half miles passed a creek on the north side: at eleven and a

half miles we came to a lake or large pond on the same side, in which

were some swans. On both banks of the Missouri are low grounds which

have much more timber than lower down the river: the hills are at one or

two miles distance from the banks, and the streams which rise in them

are brackish, and the mineral salts appear on the sides of the hills

and edges of the runs. In walking along the shore we counted fifty-two

herds of buffaloe, and three of elk, at a single view. Besides these we

also observed elk, deer, pelicans, and wolves. After seventeen and a

half miles we encamped on the north, opposite to the uppermost of a

number of round hills, forming a cone at the top, one being about

ninety, another sixty feet in height, and some of less elevation. Our

chief tells us that the calumet bird lives in the holes formed by the

filtration of the water from the top of these hills through the sides.

Near to one of these moles, on a point of a hill ninety feet above the

plain, are the remains of an old village which is high, strong, and has

been fortified; this our chief tells us is the remains of one of the

Mandan villages, and are the first ruins which we have seen of that

nation in ascending the Missouri: opposite to our camp is a deep bend to

the south, at the extremity of which is a pond.

Saturday 30. We proceeded early with a southeast wind, which continued

high all day, and came to a creek on the north at two miles distance,

twenty yards wide. At eight miles we reached the lower point of an

island in the middle of the river, though there is no current on the

south. This island is covered with willows and extends about two miles,

there being a small creek coming in from the south at its lower

extremity. After making twelve miles we encamped on the south, at the

upper part of a bluff containing stone-coal of an inferior quality;

immediately below this bluff and on the declivity of a hill, are the

remains of a village covering six or eight acres, formerly occupied by

the Mandans, who, says our Ricara chief, once lived in a number of

villages on each side of the river, till the Sioux forced them forty

miles higher; whence after a few years residence, they moved to their

present position. The country through, which we passed has wider bottoms

and more timber than those we have been accustomed to see, the hills

rising at a distance and by gradual ascents. We have seen great numbers

of elk, deer, goats, and buffaloe, and the usual attendants of these

last, the wolves, who follow their movements and feed upon those who die

by accident, or who are too poor to keep pace with the herd; we also

wounded a white bear, and saw some fresh tracks of those animals which

are twice as large as the track of a man.

Sunday 21. Last night the weather was cold, the wind high from the

northeast, and the rain which fell froze on the ground. At daylight it

began to snow, and continued till the afternoon, when it remained cloudy

and the ground was covered with snow. We however, set out early, and

just above our camp came to a creek on the south, called Chisshetaw,

about thirty yards wide and with a considerable quantity of water. Our

Ricara chief tells us, that at some distance up this river is situated a

large rock which is held in great veneration, and visited by parties who

go to consult it as to their own or their nations' destinies, all of

which they discern in some sort of figures or paintings with which it is

covered. About two miles off from the mouth of the river the party on

shore saw another of the objects of Ricara superstition: it is a large

oak tree, standing alone in the open prairie, and as it alone has

withstood the fire which has consumed every thing around, the Indians

naturally ascribe to it extraordinary powers. One of their ceremonies is

to make a hole in the skin of their necks through which a string is

passed and the other end tied to the body of the tree; and after

remaining in this way for some time they think they become braver. At

two miles a from our encampment we came to the ruins of a second Mandan

village, which was in existence at the same time with that just

mentioned. It is situated on the north at the foot of a hill in a

beautiful and extensive plain, which is now covered with herds of

buffaloe: nearly opposite are remains of a third village on the south of

the Missouri; and there is another also about two miles further on the

north, a little off the river. At the distance of seven miles we

encamped on the south, and spent a cold night. We procured to-day a

buffaloe and an otter only. The river is wide and the sandbars numerous,

and a low island near our encampment.

Monday 22. In the morning we passed an old Mandan village on the south,

near our camp; at four miles another on the same side. About seven

o'clock we came to at a camp of eleven Sioux of the Teton tribe, who are

almost perfectly naked, having only a piece of skin or cloth round the

middle, though we are suffering from the cold. From their appearance,

which is warlike, and from their giving two different accounts of

themselves, we believe that they are either going to or returning from

the Mandans, to which nations the Sioux frequently make excursions to

steal horses. As their conduct displeased as, we gave them nothing. At

six we reached an island about one mile in length, at the head of which

is a Mandan village on the north in ruins, and two miles beyond a bad

sandbar. At eight miles are remains of another Mandan village on the

south; and at twelve miles encamped on the south. The hunters brought in

a buffaloe bull, and mentioned that of about three hundred which they

had seen, there was not a single female. The beaver is here in plenty,

and the two Frenchmen who are returning with us catch several every

night.

These villages which are nine in number are scattered along each side of

the river within a space of twenty miles; almost all that remains of

them is the wall which surrounded them, the fallen heaps of earth which

covered the houses, and occasionally human skulls and the teeth and

bones of men, and different animals, which are scattered on the surface

of the ground.

Tuesday 23. The weather was cloudy and we had some snow; we soon arrived

at five lodges where the two Frenchmen had been robbed, but the Indians

had left it lately as we found the fires still burning. The country

consists as usual of timbered low grounds, with grapes, rushes, and

great quantities of a small red acid fruit, known among the Indians by

a name signifying rabbitberries, and called by the French graisse de

buffle or buffaloe fat. The river too, is obstructed by many sandbars.

At twelve miles we passed an old village on the north, which was the

former residence of the Ahnahaways who now live between the Mandans and

Minnetarees. After making thirteen miles we encamped on the south.

Wednesday 24. The day was again dark and it snowed a little in the

morning. At three miles we came to a point on the south, where the river

by forcing a channel across a former bend has formed a large island on

the north. On this island we found one of the grand chiefs of the

Mandans, who with five lodges was on a hunting excursion. He met his

enemy the Ricara chief, with great ceremony and apparent cordiality, and

smoked with him. After visiting his lodges, the grand chief and his

brother came on board our boat for a short time; we then proceeded and

encamped on the north, at seven miles from our last night's station and

below the old village of the Mandans and Ricaras. Here four Mandans came

down from a camp above, and our Ricara chief returned with them to their

camp, from which we auger favourably of their pacific views towards each

other. The land is low and beautiful, and covered with oak and

cottonwood, but has been too recently hunted to afford much game.

25th. The morning was cold and the wind gentle from the southeast: at

three miles we passed a handsome high prairie on the south, and on an

eminence about forty feet above the water and extending back for several

miles in a beautiful plain, was situated an old village of the Mandan

nation which has been deserted for many years. A short distance above

it, on the continuation of the same rising ground are two old villages

of Ricaras, one on the top of the hill, the other in the level plain,

which have been deserted only five years ago. Above these villages is an

extensive low ground for several miles, in which are situated, at three

or four miles from the Ricara villages, three old villages of Mandans

near together. Here the Mandans lived when the Ricaras came to them for

protection, and from this they moved to their present situation above.

In the low ground the squaws raised their corn, and the timber, of which

there was little near the villages, was supplied from the opposite side

of the river, where it was and still is abundant.

As we proceeded several parties of Mandans both on foot and horseback

came along the river to view us, and were very desirous that we should

land and talk to them: this we could not do on account of the sandbreaks

on the shore, but we sent our Ricara chief to them in a periogue. The

wind too having shifted to the southwest and being very high it required

all our precautions on board, for the river was full of sandbars which

made it very difficult to find the channel. We got aground several

times, and passed a very bad point of rocks, after which we encamped on

a sandpoint to the north, above a handsome plain covered with timber,

and opposite to a high hill on the south side at the distance of eleven

miles. Here we were joined by our Ricara chief, who brought an Indian to

the camp where he remained all night.