22nd.. of November
Thursday 1804—
a fine morning Dispatched a perogue and 5
men under the
Derection of Sergeant Pryor to the 2nd.
Village for 100 bushels
of Corn in ears which Mr.
Jessomme, let us have [did not get
more than 30
bushels]. I was allarmed about 10 oClock by
the Sentinal, who
informed that an Indian was about to kill
his wife in the interpeters fire
about 60 yards below the works,
I went down and Spoke to the fellow about
the rash act which
he was like to commit and forbid any act of the kind
near the
fort. Some misunderstanding took place between this man &
his fife [wife] about 8 days ago, and she came to this place,
&
continued with the Squars of the interpeters, (he might lawfully
have killed her for running away) 2
days ago She returned
to the vill'ge. in the
evening of the Same day She
came to the interpeters fire appearently much
beat, & Stabed
in 3 places. We Derected that no man of this party have
any intercourse with this woman under the penalty of Punishment.
he the Husband observed that one of
our Serjeants
Slept with his wife & if he wanted her he would give her
to
him, We derected the Serjeant (Odway) to give the man
Some
articles, at which time I told the Indian that I believed
not one man of
the party had touched his wife except the one
he had given the use of her
for a nite, in his own bed, no
man of the party Should touch his squar, or
the wife of any
Indian, nor did I believe they touch a woman if they knew
her to be the wife of another man, and advised him to take his
squar
home and live hapily together in future, at this time
the Grand Chief of
the nation arrived, & lectured him, and
they both went off apparently
dis (dissatisfied)
The Grand Chief continued (with
us) all day, a warm Day
fair afternoon many Indian aneckdotes our
Chief & his family
stay all night.
