the solitude of a prairie. The loneliness of a forest seems nothing to
it. There the view is shut in by trees, and the imagination is left free
to picture some livelier scene beyond. But here we have an immense
extent of landscape without a sign of human existence. We have the
consciousness of being far, far beyond the bounds of human habitation;
we feel as if moving in the midst of a desert world. As my horse lagged
slowly back over the scenes of our late scamper, and the delirium of the
chase had passed away, I was peculiarly sensible to these circumstances.
The silence of the waste was now and then broken by the cry of a distant
flock of pelicans, stalking like spectres about a shallow pool;
sometimes by the sinister croaking of a raven in the air, while
occasionally a scoundrel wolf would scour off from before me, and,
having attained a safe distance, would sit down and howl and whine with
tones that gave a dreariness to the surrounding solitude.
After pursuing my way for some time, I descried a horseman on the edge
of a distant hill, and soon recognized him to be the count. He had been
equally unsuccessful with myself; we were shortly afterwards rejoined by
our worthy comrade, the Virtuoso, who, with spectacles on nose, had made
two or three ineffectual shots from horseback.
We determined not to seek the camp until we had made one more effort.
Casting our eyes about the surrounding waste, we descried a herd of
buffalo about two miles distant, scattered apart, and quietly grazing
near a small strip of trees and bushes. It required but little stretch
of fancy to picture them as so many cattle grazing on the edge of a
common, and that the grove might shelter some lowly farm-house.
We now formed our plan to circumvent the herd, and by getting on the
other side of them, to hunt them in the direction where we knew our
camp to be situated; otherwise, the pursuit might take us to such a
distance as to render it impossible for us to find our way back before
night-fall. Taking a wide circuit, therefore, we moved slowly and
cautiously, pausing occasionally when we saw any of the herd desist from
grazing. The wind fortunately set from them, otherwise they might have
scented us and have taken the alarm. In this way we succeeded in getting
round the herd without disturbing it. It consisted of about forty head,
bulls, cows, and calves.
Separating to some distance from each other, we now approached slowly in
a parallel line, hoping by degrees to steal near without exciting
attention. They began, however, to move off quietly, stopping at every
step or two to graze, when suddenly a bull that, unobserved by us, had
been taking his siesta under a clump of trees to our left, roused
himself from his lair and hastened to join his companions. We were still
at a considerable distance, but the game had taken the alarm. We
quickened our pace, they broke into a gallop, and now commenced a full
chase.
As the ground was level, they shouldered along with great speed,
following each other in a line; two or three bulls bringing up the rear,
the last of whom, from his enormous size and venerable frontlet, and
beard of sun-burnt hair, looked like the patriarch of the herd, and as
if he might long have reigned the monarch of the prairie.
There is a mixture of the awful and the comic in the look of these huge
animals, as they bear their great bulk forward, with an up-and-down
motion of the unwieldy head and shoulders, their tail cocked up like the
queue of Pantaloon in a pantomime, the end whisking about in a fierce
yet whimsical style, and their eyes glaring venomously with an
expression of fright and fury.
For some time I kept parallel with the line without being able to force
my horse within pistol-shot, so much had he been alarmed by the assault
of the buffalo in the preceding chase. At length I succeeded, but was
again balked by my pistols missing fire. My companions, whose horses
were less fleet and more way-worn, could not overtake the herd; at
length Mr. L----, who was in the rear of the line and losing ground,
levelled his double-barrelled gun and fired a long raking shot. It
struck a buffalo just above the loins, broke its backbone, and brought
it to the ground. He stopped and alighted to despatch his prey, when,
borrowing his gun, which had yet a charge remaining in it, I put my
horse to his speed, and again overtook the herd, which was thundering
along, pursued by the count. With my present weapon there was no need of
urging my horse to such close quarters; galloping along parallel,
therefore, I singled out a buffalo, and by a fortunate shot brought it
down on the spot. The ball had struck a vital part; it would not move
from the place where it fell, but lay there struggling in mortal agony,
while the rest of the herd kept on their headlong career across the
prairie.
Dismounting, I now fettered my horse to prevent his straying, and
advanced to contemplate my victim. I am nothing of a sportsman: I had
been prompted to this unwonted exploit by the magnitude of the game and
the excitement of an adventurous chase. Now that the excitement was
over, I could but look with commiseration upon the poor animal that lay
struggling and bleeding at my feet. His very size and importance, which
had before inspired me with eagerness, now increased my compunction. It
seemed as if I had inflicted pain in proportion to the bulk of my
victim, and as if there were a hundred-fold greater waste of life than
there would have been in the destruction of an animal of inferior size.
To add to these after-qualms of conscience, the poor animal lingered in
his agony. He had evidently received a mortal wound, but death might be
long in coming. It would not do to leave him here to be torn piecemeal,
while yet alive, by the wolves that had already snuffed his blood, and
were skulking and howling at a distance, and waiting for my departure,
and by the ravens that were flapping about croaking dismally in the air.
It became now an act of mercy to give him his quietus and put him out of
his misery. I primed one of the pistols, therefore, and advanced close
up to the buffalo. To inflict a wound thus in cool blood I found a
totally different thing from firing in the heat of the chase. Taking
aim, however, just behind the fore shoulder, my pistol for once proved
true; the ball must have passed through the heart, for the animal gave
one convulsive throe and expired.
While I stood meditating and moralizing over the wreck I had so wantonly
produced, with my horse grazing near me, I was rejoined by my
fellow-sportsman the Virtuoso; who, being a man of universal adroitness,
and withal, more experienced and hardened in the gentle art of
"venerie," soon managed to carve out the tongue of the buffalo, and
delivered it to me to bear back to the camp as a trophy.
Our solicitude was now awakened for the young count. With his usual
eagerness and impetuosity he had persisted in urging his jaded horse in
pursuit of the herd, unwilling to return without having likewise killed
a buffalo. In this way he had kept on following them hither and thither,
and occasionally firing an ineffectual shot, until by degrees horseman
and herd became indistinct in the distance, and at length swelling
ground and strips of trees and thickets hid them entirely from sight.
By the time my friend, the amateur, joined me, the young count had been
long lost to view. We held a consultation on the matter. Evening was
drawing on. Were we to pursue him, it would be dark before we should
overtake him, granting we did not entirely lose trace of him in the
gloom. We should then be too much bewildered to find our way back to the
encampment; even now our return would be difficult. We determined,
therefore, to hasten to the camp as speedily as possible, and send out
our half-breeds and some of the veteran hunters, skilled in cruising
about the prairies, to search for our companion.
We accordingly set forward in what we supposed to be the direction of
the camp. Our weary horses could hardly be urged beyond a walk. The
twilight thickened upon us; the landscape grew gradually indistinct; we
tried in vain to recognize various landmarks which we had noted in the
morning. The features of a prairie are so similar as to baffle the eye
of any but an Indian or a practised woodsman. At length night closed in.
We hoped to see the distant glare of camp-fires; we listened to catch
the sound of the bells about the necks of the grazing horses. Once or
twice we thought we distinguished them: we were mistaken. Nothing was to
be heard but a monotonous concert of insects, with now and then the
dismal howl of wolves mingling with the night breeze. We began to think
of halting for the night and bivouacking under the lee of some thicket.
We had implements to strike a light; there was plenty of firewood at
hand, and the tongues of our buffaloes would furnish us with a repast.
Just as we were preparing to dismount we heard the report of a rifle,
and shortly after the notes of the bugle, calling up the night guard.
Pushing forward in that direction, the camp-fires soon broke on our
sight, gleaming at a distance from among the thick groves of an alluvial
bottom.
As we entered the camp, we found it a scene of rude hunters' revelry
and wassail. There had been a grand day's sport, in which all had taken
a part. Eight buffaloes had been killed; roaring fires were blazing on
every side; all hands were feasting upon roasted joints, broiled marrow
bones, and the juicy hump, far famed among the epicures of the prairies.
Right glad were we to dismount and partake of the sturdy cheer, for we
had been on our weary horses since morning without tasting food.
[It may be said in conclusion that the count--a young Swiss who
accompanied the party--failed to return, and the next day a
search for him had to be made, in which the Indians displayed
strikingly their surprising skill in following a trail. The
missing adventurer was at length found. He had spent the night
in a tree for fear of wolves, and was heartily glad to see the
face of his fellow-man again.]
IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
[The following selection, here attributed to Captain M. Lewis,
is taken from McVickar's abridgment of the journals of Lewis
and Clarke, the leaders of the celebrated expedition of 1804-6,
sent out by President Jefferson to explore the country which he
had obtained by treaty from France as part of the Louisiana
purchase. The explorers passed across the plains and the
Rocky Mountains while their pristine conditions were as yet
undisturbed by the "white man's foot," and their story is of
particular value from this fact. We take up their story in their
journey through the Sioux country, on the Missouri. They had
just passed a village of the Poncara tribe.]
Twenty miles farther on [continues the narrative] 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), which 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, although 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.
The following days they saw large herds of buffalo, and the copses of
timber appeared to contain elk and deer. Just below Cedar Island [adds
the journal], 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....
_September 17._--While 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 beyond 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 burned, and a young green
grass about four inches high covered the ground, which was enlivened by
herds of antelopes and buffalo, 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
a quadruped. 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, which 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 a
distance of three miles. He doubted whether they 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 race-horse. Among our acquisitions to-day
were a mule deer, a magpie, a common deer, and a buffalo. Captain Lewis
also saw a hare, and killed a rattlesnake near the burrows of the
barking squirrels.
_September 18._--Having everything in readiness, we proceeded, with the
boat much lightened, but the wind being from the northwest, 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 sand-bars, 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, buffalo, and the black-tailed deer; the
large wolves, too, are very numerous, and have long hair with coarse
fur, and are of a light color. 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 neighborhood....
On the 20th they arrived at the Grand Detour, or Great Bend, and two men
were despatched with the only horse, to hunt, and wait the arrival of
the boats beyond it. After proceeding twenty-seven and a half miles
farther, they encamped on a sand-bar in the river. Captain Clarke
[continues the narrative], 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 buffalo, 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.
Shortly after midnight the sleepers were startled by the sergeant on
guard crying out that the sand-bar was sinking, and the alarm was given;
for scarcely had they got off with the boats before the bank under which
they had been lying fell in; and by the time the opposite shore was
reached the ground on which they had been encamped sunk also. A man who
was sent to step off the distance across the head of the bend made it
but two thousand yards, while its circuit is thirty miles. On the 22d
they passed a creek and two islands, known by the name of the Three
Sisters, where a beautiful plain extended 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 its timber. On the south side of
this island is a fort and a large trading-house, built by a Mr. Loisel
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 picketed in with the same
materials.
The next day, in the evening, three boys of the Sioux nation swam across
the river, and informed them 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, they sent them back
with a present of two carrots of tobacco to their chiefs, whom they
invited to a conference in the morning.
_September 24._--At an island a few miles above Highwater Creek they
were joined by one of their hunters, who [proceeds the narrative]
procured four elk; but while 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 they knew nothing of the horse, but if he had
been taken he should be given up. We went on, and 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 pirogues, and encamped;
two-thirds of the party remained on board, and the rest went as a guard
on shore, with the cooks and one pirogue; 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 Tetons, we gave it the name of Teton
River.
[On the 25th they met a party of Indians who threatened
violence, and attempted to detain them by force, but were
induced to desist by a threatening attitude on the part of
the whites.]
_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 miles, a small willow
island and several sand-bars, 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 buffalo-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 in 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 buffalo-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, 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 buffalo-meat,
dried or jerked, and then pounded and mixed raw with grease and a kind
of ground potato, dressed like the preparation of Indian corn called
hommony, 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 potato, which we found good, but we could as yet
partake but sparingly of the dog.
We ate and smoked for an hour, when it became dark; everything 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 ball-room. The orchestra
was composed of about ten men, who played on a sort of tambourine,
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 connections.