captain of the 1st Dragoons. He died Feb. 7, 1847, of wounds received
three days before in the assault on Pueblo de Taos, New Mexico.--E. C.
[274] The question of the specific identity of the American and
European Magpies has been much discussed. Ornithologists now generally
compromise the case by considering our bird to be subspecifically
distinct, under the name of _Pica pica hudsonica_.--E. C.
[275] No doubt Thomas C. Madison of Virginia, appointed Assist. Surg.
U.S.A., Feb. 27, 1840. He served as a surgeon of the Confederacy
during our Civil War, and died Nov. 7, 1866.--E. C.
[276] Council Bluff, so named by Lewis and Clark on Aug. 3, 1804, on
which day they and their followers, with a number of Indians,
including six chiefs, held a council here, to make terms with the
Ottoe and Missouri Indians. The account of the meeting ends thus: "The
incident just related induced us to give to this place the name of the
Council-bluff; the situation of it is exceedingly favorable for a fort
and trading factory, as the soil is well calculated for bricks, there
is an abundance of wood in the neighborhood, and the air is pure and
healthy." In a foot-note Dr. Coues says: "It was later the site of
Fort Calhoun, in the present Washington Co., Neb. We must also
remember, in attempting to fix this spot, how much the Missouri has
altered its course since 1804." ("Expedition of Lewis and Clark,"
1893, p. 65.)
[277] This Wolf is to be distinguished from the Prairie Wolf, _Canis
latrans_, which Audubon has already mentioned. It is the common large
Wolf of North America, of which Audubon has much to say in the sequel;
and wherever he speaks of "Wolves" without specification, we are to
understand that this is the animal meant. It occurs in several
different color-variations, from quite blackish through different
reddish and brindled grayish shades to nearly white. The variety above
mentioned is that named by Dr. Richardson _griseo-albus_, commonly
known in the West as the Buffalo Wolf and the Timber Wolf. Mr. Thomas
Say named one of the dark varieties _Canis nubilus_ in 1823; and
naturalists who consider the American Wolf to be specifically distinct
from _Canis lupus_ of Europe now generally name the brindled variety
_C. nubilus griseo-albus_.--E. C.
[278] Little Sioux River of present geography, in Harrison Co., Iowa:
see "Lewis and Clark," ed. of 1893, p. 69.--E. C.
[279] Otherwise known as the Mule Deer, from the great size of the
ears, and the peculiar shape of the tail, which is white with a black
tuft at the tip, and suggests that of the Mule. It is a fine large
species, next to the Elk or Wapiti in stature, and first became
generally known from the expedition of Lewis and Clark. It is the
_Cervus macrotis_ of Say, figured and described under this name by
Aud. and Bach. Quad. N.A. ii., 1851, p. 206, pl. 78, and commonly
called by later naturalists _Cariacus macrotis_. But its first
scientific designation is _Damelaphus hemionus_, given by C. S.
Rafinesque in 1817.--E. C.
[280] Wood's Bluff has long ceased to be known by this name, but there
is no doubt from what Audubon next says of Blackbird Hill, that the
bluff in question is that on the west or right bank of the river, at
and near Decatur, Burt Co., Neb.; the line between Burt and Blackbird
counties cuts through the bluff, leaving most of it in the latter
county. See Lewis and Clark, ed. of 1893, p. 71, date of Aug. 10,
1804, where "a cliff of yellow stone on the left" is mentioned. This
is Wood's Bluff; the situation is 750 miles up the river by the
Commission Charts.--E. C.
[281] Blackbird Hill. "Aug. 11 [1804].... We halted on the south side
for the purpose of examining a spot where one of the great chiefs of
the Mahas [Omahas], named Blackbird, who died about four years ago, of
the smallpox, was buried. A hill of yellow soft sandstone rises from
the river in bluffs of various heights, till it ends in a knoll about
300 feet above the water; on the top of this a mound, of twelve feet
diameter at the base, and six feet high, is raised over the body of
the deceased king, a pole about eight feet high is fixed in the
centre, on which we placed a white flag, bordered with red, blue, and
white. Blackbird seems to have been a person of great consideration,
for ever since his death he has been supplied with provisions, from
time to time, by the superstitious regard of the Mahas." ("Expedition
of Lewis and Clark," by Elliott Coues, 1893, p. 71.)
"The 7th of May (1833) we reached the chain of hills on the left bank;
... these are called Wood's Hills, and do not extend very far. On one
of them we saw a small conical mound, which is the grave of the
celebrated Omaha chief Washinga-Sabba (the Blackbird). In James'
'Narrative of Major Long's Expedition,' is a circumstantial account of
this remarkable and powerful chief, who was a friend to the white man;
he contrived, by means of arsenic, to make himself feared and dreaded,
and passed for a magician.... An epidemical smallpox carried him off,
with a great part of his nation, in 1800, and he was buried, sitting
upright, upon a live mule, at the top of a green hill on Wakonda
Creek. When dying he gave orders they should bury him on that hill,
with his face turned to the country of the whites." ("Travels in North
America," Maximilian, Prince of Wied.)
Irving, in chap. xvi. of "Astoria," gives a long account of Blackbird,
based on Bradbury and Brackenridge, but places his death in 1802,
incorrectly; and ends: "The Missouri washes the base of the
promontory, and after winding and doubling in many links and mazes,
returns to within nine hundred yards of its starting-place; so that
for thirty miles the voyager finds himself continually near to this
singular promontory, as if spell bound. It was the dying command of
Blackbird, that his tomb should be on the summit of this hill, in
which he should be interred, seated on his favorite horse, that he
might overlook his ancient domain, and behold the backs of the white
men as they came up the river to trade with his people."
[282] "Aug. 20th, 1804. Here we had the misfortune to lose one of our
sergeants, Charles Floyd.... He was buried on the top of the bluff
with the honors due to a brave soldier; the place of his interment was
marked by a cedar post, on which his name and the day of his death
were inscribed." ("Expedition of Lewis and Clark," by Elliott Coues,
p. 79.)
"On the following day [May 8, 1833] we came to Floyd's grave, where
the sergeant of that name was buried by Lewis and Clark. The bank on
either side is low. The left is covered with poplars; on the right,
behind the wood, rises a hill like the roof of a building, at the top
of which Floyd is buried. A short stick marks the place where he is
laid, and has often been renewed by travellers, when the fires in the
prairie have destroyed it." ("Travels in North America," p. 134,
Maximilian, Prince of Wied.)--M. R. A.
Floyd's grave became a landmark for many years, and is noticed by most
of the travellers who have written of voyaging on the Missouri. In
1857 the river washed away the face of the bluff to such an extent
that the remains were exposed. These were gathered and reburied about
200 yards further back on the same bluff. This new grave became
obliterated in the course of time, but in 1895 it was rediscovered
after careful search. The bones were exhumed by a committee of
citizens of Sioux City; and on Aug. 20 of that year, the 91st
anniversary of Floyd's death, were reburied in the same spot with
imposing ceremonies, attended by a concourse of several hundred
persons. A large flat stone slab, with suitable inscription, now marks
the spot, and the Floyd Memorial Association, which was formed at the
time of the third burial, proposes to erect a monument to Floyd in a
park to be established on the bluff.--E. C.
[283] Which separates Iowa from South Dakota. Here the Missouri ceases
to separate Nebraska from Iowa, and begins to separate Nebraska from
South Dakota. Audubon is therefore at the point where these three
States come together. He is also just on the edge of Sioux City, Iowa,
which extends along the left bank of the Missouri from the vicinity of
Floyd's Bluff to the Big Sioux River.--E. C.
[284] This is Captain Joseph La Barge, the oldest living pilot on the
Missouri, and probably now the sole survivor of the "Omega" voyage of
1843. He was born Oct. 1, 1815, of French parentage, his father having
come to St. Louis, Mo., from Canada, and his mother from lower
Louisiana. The family has been identified with the navigation of the
Western rivers from the beginning of the century, and in 1850 there
were seven licensed pilots of that name in the port of St. Louis.
Captain Joseph La Barge still lives in St. Louis, at the age of
eighty-two, and has a vivid recollection of Audubon's voyage of 1843,
some incidents of which he has kindly communicated through Captain H.
M. Chittenden, U.S. army.
[285] Vermilion is still the name of this river, and also of the town
at its mouth which has replaced old Fort Vermilion, and is now the
seat of Clay County, South Dakota. On the opposite side of the
Missouri is Dixon Co., Nebraska. The stream was once known as
Whitestone River, as given in "Lewis and Clark."--E. C.
[286] As Audubon thus gently chides the extravagant statements of
George Catlin, the well-known painter and panegyrist of the Indian, it
may be well to state here that his own account of the putridity of
drowned buffalo which the Indians eat with relish is not in the least
exaggerated. Mr. Alexander Henry, the fur-trader of the North West
Company, while at the Mandans in 1806, noticed the same thing that
Audubon narrates, and described it in similar terms.
[287] "The Puncas, as they are now universally called, or as some
travellers formerly called them, Poncaras, or Poncars, the Pons of the
French, were originally a branch of the Omahas, and speak nearly the
same language. They have, however, long been separated from them, and
dwell on both sides of Running-water River (L'Eau qui Court) and on
Punca Creek, which Lewis and Clark call Poncara. They are said to have
been brave warriors, but have been greatly reduced by war and the
small-pox. According to Dr. Morse's report, they numbered in 1822
1,750 in all; at present the total number is estimated at about 300."
("Travels in North America," Maximilian, Prince of Wied, p. 137.)
"Poncar, Poncha, Ponca or Ponka, Punka, Puncah, etc. 'The remnant of a
nation once respectable in point of numbers. They formerly [before
1805] resided on a branch of the Red River of Lake Winnipie; being
oppressed by the Sioux, they removed to the west side of the Missouri
on Poncar River ... and now reside with the Mahas, whose language they
speak." ("Lewis and Clark," p. 109, ed. 1893.)
[288] Wm. Laidlaw was a member of the Columbia Fur Company at the time
of its absorption by the Western Department of the American Fur
Company, his service with the latter being mainly at Fort Pierre. With
the exception, perhaps, of Kenneth McKenzie, also of the Columbia Fur
Company, Laidlaw was the ablest of the Upper Missouri traders.
[289] This is Andrew Dripps, one of the early traders, long associated
with Lucien Fontenelle, under the firm name of Fontenelle and Dripps,
in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade. In later years he was appointed
Indian Agent, and was serving in that capacity during the "Omega"
voyage of 1843.--E. C.
[290] This is the largest river which enters the Missouri thus far
above Big Sioux River, coming from the north through South Dakota. The
origin of the name, as given by Audubon, is known to few persons.
_Jacques_ is French for "James," and the stream has oftener been known
as James River. Another of its names was Yankton River, derived from
that of a tribe of the Sioux. But it is now usually called Dakota
River, and will be found by this name on most modern maps.--E. C.
[291] It is not difficult to identify these five streams, though only
one of them is of considerable size. See "Lewis and Clark," ed. of
1893, pp. 106-108.
1st. "Manuel" River is Plum Creek of Lewis and Clark, falling into the
Missouri at Springfield, Bonhomme Co., S.D. It is Wananri River of
Nicollet and of Warren; to be found on the General Land Office maps as
Emanuel Creek, named for Manuel da Lisa, a noted trader on the
Missouri in early days.
2d. "Basil" River is White Paint Creek of Lewis and Clark, falling in
on the Nebraska side, a little below the mouth of the Niobrara, at the
935th mile point of the Missouri. The modern name is variously spelled
Bazile, Basille, Bozzie, etc.
3d. L'Eau qui Court is of course the well-known Niobrara River.
4th. Ponca River falls in a mile or two above the Niobrara, on the
same side of the Missouri.
5th. Chouteau Creek is present name of the stream next above, on the
other side of the Missouri, at the 950th mile point.--E. C.
[292] L'Eau qui Court River has been called Rapid River, Spreading
Water, Running Water, and Quicourt. "This river rises in the Black
Hills, near the sources of Tongue River, and discharges itself into
the Missouri about 1,000 miles from its mouth. The mouth is said to be
150 paces broad, and its current very rapid. There are said to be hot
springs in this neighborhood, such as are known to exist in several
places on the banks of the Missouri." ("Travels in North America,"
Maximilian, Prince of Wied, p. 141.)
[293] "'Cedar' is the name which has been applied by various authors
to several different islands, many miles apart, in this portion of the
river.... 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." ("Lewis and Clark," ed. of 1893.)
"Cedar Island is said to be 1075 miles from the mouth of the Missouri.
On the steep banks of this long, narrow island which lies near the
southwest bank, there were thickets of poplars, willows, and
buffalo-berry; the rest of the island is covered with a dark forest of
red cedars, of which we immediately felled a goodly number. The notes
of numerous birds were heard in the gloom of the cedar forest, into
which no ray of sun could penetrate. Here, too, we found everywhere
traces of the elks and stags, and saw where they had rubbed off the
bark with their antlers." ("Travels in North America," Maximilian,
Prince of Wied, p. 144.)
[294] Translating the usual French name (_pomme blanche_) of the
_Psoralea esculenta_.
[295] This is Audubon's first mention of the Western Meadow Lark,
which he afterward decided to be a distinct species and named
_Sturnella neglecta_, B. of Am. vii., 1844, p. 339, pl. 487. It is
interesting to find him noting the difference in the song from that of
the Eastern species before he had had an opportunity of examining the
bird itself.--E. C.
[296] "Grand Town" is perhaps the large prairie-dog village which once
covered several acres on the right bank of the Missouri, in the
vicinity of the butte known as the Dome, or Tower, between Yankton and
Fort Randall.--E. C.
[297] May 24 is the date given by Audubon, B. Amer. viii., p. 338, as
that on which Mr. Bell shot the specimen which became type of
_Emberiza Le Conteii_, figured on plate 488. This bird is now
_Ammodramus_ (_Coturniculus_) _lecontei_; it long remained an extreme
rarity.--E. C.
[298] The common Prairie Hare, _Lepus campestris_, for which see a
previous note.--E. C.
[299] La Riviere Blanche of the French, also sometimes called White
Earth River, and Mankizitah River; a considerable stream which falls
into the right bank of the Missouri in Lyman Co., South Dakota, at the
1056 mile point of the Commission charts.--E. C.
[300] So called from its size, in distinction from the Cedar Island
already mentioned on p. 505. This is Second Cedar Island of Warren's
and Nicollet's maps, noticed by Lewis and Clark, Sept. 18, 1804, as
"nearly a mile in length and covered with red cedar." It was once the
site of an establishment called Fort Recovery. The position is near
the 1070th-mile point of the Missouri.--E. C.
[301] Audubon probably refers to the brief description in his own
Synopsis of 1839, p. 103, a copy of which no doubt accompanied him up
the Missouri. He had described and figured what he supposed to be
_Emberiza pallida_ in the Orn. Biogr. v., 1839, p. 66, pl. 398, fig.
2; B. Amer. iii., 1841, p. 71, pl. 161, from specimens taken in the
Rocky Mts. by J. K. Townsend, June 15, 1834. But this bird was not the
true _pallida_ of Swainson, being that afterwards called _Spizella
breweri_ by Cassin, Pr. Acad. Philad., 1856, p. 40. The true _pallida_
of Swainson is what Audubon described as _Emberiza shattuckii_, B.
Amer. vii., 1844, p. 347, pl. 493, naming it for Dr. Geo. C. Shattuck,
of Boston, one of his Labrador companions. He speaks of it as
"abundant throughout the country bordering the upper Missouri;" and
all mention in the present Journal of the "Clay-colored Bunting," or
"_Emberiza pallida_," refers to what Audubon later named Shattuck's
Bunting--not to what he gives as _Emberiza pallida_ in the Orn. Biog.
and Synopsis of 1839; for the latter is _Spizella breweri_.--E. C.
[302] Situated on the right bank of the Missouri, in Presho Co., South
Dakota. See "Lewis and Clark," ed. of 1893, p. 127.--E. C.
[303] This "cabin on the opposite shore" was somewhere in the vicinity
of Rousseau, at or near the mouth of present Little Medicine Creek
(formerly East Medicine Knoll River, originally named Reuben's Creek
by Lewis and Clark, after Reuben Fields, one of their men).--E. C.
[304] Or Antelope Creek, then as now the name of the small stream
which falls into the Missouri on the right bank, about 10 miles below
the mouth of the Teton. It has also been known as Cabri Creek, Katota
Tokah, and High-water Creek, the latter being the designation
originally bestowed by Lewis and Clark, Sept. 24, 1804. It runs in
Presho Co., S. Dak.--E. C.
[305] The _old_ fort of this name was three miles above the mouth of
the Teton River; this was abandoned, and another fort built, higher
up, on the west bank of the Missouri. The Prince of Wied reached this
fort on the fifty-first day of his voyage up the Missouri, and Audubon
on the thirty-third of his; a gain in time which may possibly be
attributed both to better weather and to the improvement in steamboats
during ten years. The Prince says: "Fort Pierre is one of the most
considerable settlements of the Fur Company on the Missouri, and forms
a large quadrangle surrounded by pickets. Seven thousand buffalo skins
and other furs were put on board our boat to take to St. Louis.... The
leather tents of the Sioux Indians, the most distinguished being that
of the old interpreter, Dorion (or Durion), a half Sioux, who is
mentioned by many travellers, and resides here with his Indian family.
His tent was large, and painted red; at the top of the poles composing
the frame, several scalps hung." ("Travels in North America," p. 156,
Maximilian, Prince of Wied.)
[306] W. G. Bakewell was Audubon's brother-in-law; James Hall, brother
of Mrs. John W. Audubon; J. W. H. Page, of New Bedford. Thomas Mayo
Brewer, who became a noted ornithologist, edited the 12mo edition of
Wilson, wrote Part I. of the "Ooelogy of North America," which was
published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1857, and was one of the
authors of Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway's "History of North American
Birds." He died in Boston Jan. 23, 1880, having been born there Nov.
21, 1814. He is notorious for his mistaken zeal in introducing the
English Sparrow in this country.--E. C.
[307] The Teton, or Bad River, has long ceased to be known as the
Little Missouri,--a name now applied to another branch of the
Missouri, which falls in from the south much higher up, about 23 miles
above present Fort Berthold. Teton River was so named by Lewis and
Clark, Sept. 24, 1804, from the tribe of Sioux found at its mouth: see
the History of the Expedition, ed. of 1893, p. 131, and compare p.
267. The Indian name was Chicha, Schicha, or Shisha.--E. C.
[308] Wilson's Meadow Mouse. This is the name used by Aud. and Bach.
Quad. N. Am. i., 1849, p. 341, pl. 45, for the _Arvicola riparius_ of
Ord, now known as _Microtus riparius_. But the specimen brought to
Audubon can only be very doubtfully referred to this species.--E. C.
[309] This is spelt thus in the Journal, and also on Tanner's map of
1829: see also Lewis and Clark, ed. of 1893, p. 152. The "Moroe" River
of the above text is present Moreau River, falling into the Missouri
from the west in Dewey Co., S. Dak. Grand River was also known by its
Arikara name, Weterhoo, or Wetarhoo. Rampart River is about two miles
above Grand River; it was also called Maropa River.--E. C.