University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XIII.

VOYAGE FROM FORT PIÈRRE, ON THE TETON RIVER, TO FORT CLARKE, NEAR THE VILLAGES OF THE
MANDANS, FROM JUNE 5TH TO JUNE 19TH.

Our departure was delayed till ten o'clock on the 5th of June, when three guns were fired,
and we left the fort. The Assiniboin was perfectly equipped for the voyage up the river, and
had sixty men on board. Mr. Mc Kenzie had remained behind in the fort, but overtook us at
noon with Mr. Laidlow, who was desirous to accompany us a little way. We had stopped at an
island called, by the Canadians, Isle au Village de Terre, because, on the other side of the channel
which divides it from the continent, there was formerly a village of the Sioux. This island was
covered with an almost impenetrable thicket of narrow-leaved willows, which was so dense and
entangled, that one of our large dogs caught an elk calf alive; we heard its moaning, but were
not able to find it. The next morning the thermometer was at 66½°. We were obliged to unload
some goods, and to lighten our vessel, and our hunters brought us many interesting objects,
particularly several birds, among which was the grey butcher-bird (Lanius excubitoroides), of
which Richardson gives a representation, and which we had not met with before. Though
antelopes and a white wolf had approached very closely to them, our hunters had not been
able to kill any large animals. The addition to our Flora was very considerable. The hills all
consisted of clammy, greasy, sterile clay, which was burnt on the surface, and covered with pieces
of stone; and in many places we observed on them round masses, which looked as if they had been

melted and formed by fire. We stayed here till noon on the 7th of June, when we again proceeded
with an agreeable temperature of 77½°. We ran aground several times, and at last took in our
goods, which we had deposited on the left bank. This delay gave us time to make an excursion.
In company with Mr. Bodmer, I ascended the slippery, very steep eminences along the river, the
singular shapes of which often appeared to form perfect craters. The earth and stones everywhere
indicated that they had undergone change by fire. The earth was hard, friable, with many
crevices—the stones brown, blackish, and often looking like scoriæ. This clay, when wet, is
exceedingly clammy and tough. The conical summits, most of which were perfectly round and
pyramidal, were most singularly formed. At the top there were always very regular, parallel,
horizontal rings; the lower parts of the pyramid had perpendicular furrows, or clefts, as the
annexed woodcut shows. These conical hills have been evidently elevated by fire, so that many

[ILLUSTRATION]

crater-like hollows are seen between and near them. In the furrows and clefts of these singular
hills, many low plants grow, and form regular net-like green stripes on the bare black clay. These
lines, intersecting each other, divide the surface into regular beds. The lower part of these
eminences is generally covered with plants, particularly grasses, while the upper is bare, or merely
crossed with the transverse stripes of verdure, and often they are entirely bare. The climbing up
these high, slippery ascents in the heat of the day was rather fatiguing. When we came into the
clefts between the pyramids, we found the ground, in general, slimy, and so adhesive that we were
almost compelled to leave our shoes behind. In such places, some old red cedars, groups of the
bird cherry, ashes, roses, &c., were nourished by the moisture. Near the hills, and in the plain, a
cactus, with roundish, flat joints, grew in abundance. It was not yet in blossom, and I cannot say
whether it is the plant taken, by Nuttall, for Cactus opuntia; probably it is Cactus ferox. We
found many traces of antelopes and of herds of buffaloes. The latter had everywhere trodden
broad paths on their way to the river to drink. No beast of the chase presented itself as an
object for our rifles, and, as the sun was going down, we set out on our return. On the way we
found the horns of an elk, with twelve antlers, and it was late before we reached the Assiniboin.
On the 8th of June, in the morning, we received a farewell visit from Mr. Laidlow, and then saw
Mr. Fontenelle's party, consisting of sixty men and 185 horses, pass along over the hills. They
rode in our sight through the stream called, by the Anglo-Americans, Breechcloth Creek, and,
by the Sioux, Tscheh-ke-na-ka-oah-ta-pah. This stream, as well as most of the small rivers of the
prairie, not excepting even the Little Sioux River, have, in general, a brackish taste when the
water is low. Frequently taking soundings, we proceeded but slowly in the shallow Missouri,
and, early in the afternoon, reached the place where the timber for building Fort Pièrre had been
felled. From this place it is fifteen miles to the mouth of the Chayenne River. Finding some
cords of wood ready piled up, we took them on board. At sunset, a high wind arose, so that we
could not reach the mouth of the Chayenne till about seven o'clock on the following morning, after
passing Chayenne Island. The country about the mouth of this river is open, the chain of hills
low, and the banks covered with forests. At its mouth, and for some way up on both sides of
the Missouri, the Arikkaras formerly dwelt, till they were driven further up by the Sioux, and,
at length, wholly retired from the banks of the Missouri. If we follow the course of the
Chayenne for a couple of hundred miles up to the Black Hills, we come to the dwellings of the
Chayenne Indians, who are hostile to most of the tribes of the Missouri. They are said to be
tall, slender men, with long, narrow faces, and differing in their language from all the other tribes
in the country. They formerly lived at the mouth of Chayenne River. They affirm that they
came to the Missouri from the north-east. Dr. Morse states their number at 3,250 souls.

We made but slow progress to-day; and at two o'clock, after our boats had taken soundings
in all directions, we remained fast aground, and had burnt all our fuel, so that we had to send
wood-cutters into the forests on the left bank. In about half an hour the boats suddenly returned,
bringing word that hostile Indians had been seen in the forest, and the wood-cutters had, therefore,
refused to begin their work. To give them courage, and to protect them during their work,
all hands on board, that could be spared, armed themselves with rifles and muskets, and, to the
number of twenty-six persons, immediately went on shore. They formed a line of outposts
behind the trees, under whose protection the wood-cutters pursued their work. But they were
not disturbed, for the Indians had retired, or it had been a false alarm. We lay to for the night
on the west bank; a strong wind had risen, with a pretty high temperature, which continued till
the following morning, the 10th of June. Early on that day we reached an island, which appears
to be that called, by Lewis and Clarke, Caution Island, where a couple of white wolves gazed at
us without appearing to be at all afraid. In the afternoon, we came to the mouth of Little
Chayenne River, on the east bank. Elks are very numerous in these parts; on the following
morning we saw a herd of, at least, thirty of these large animals, as well as a great many wolves,
often three or four together, most of them white. The wood, on the high bank, bore marks of

the breaking up of the ice, the bark of the trees being peeled off eight or ten feet above ground.
At noon, Mr. Bodmer had shot a very large male antelope, which we despatched some of the
people to bring on board; other hunters, who had gone out early to the east bank, made signs
that they had killed some game; and the boat which we sent to them returned in the evening
with four large elks. In the thick forest, on the left bank, were many traces of beavers, which
are more numerous hereabouts than in most of the other parts on the Missouri, because the
trappers (beaver catchers) did not venture to place their traps in the territory of the hostile
Arikkara Indians.

Opposite to the mouth of Otter Creek, in the woods and thickets of the west bank, behind
which rose the green hills of the prairie, there were many elks, which were frightened by the noise
of the steamer. In this forest we found an uninhabited loghouse, 180 steps from which runs a
pretty river, called Moreau's River, from a man of that name who passed the night here with a
Chayenne Indian woman, who had been taken by the Arikkaras and escaped. She stabbed him
while he slept, and fled on his horse to her own nation. This river is called the southern boundary
of the territory of the Arikkaras, though they often make excursions far beyond it. We
stopped at the above-mentioned loghouse to cut wood, but it was found more convenient to pull
down part of the old building and take it away. On the morning of the 12th, our cannon, muskets
and rifles were loaded with ball, because we were approaching the villages of the hostile Arikkaras.
We came to Grand River, called in Lewis and Clarke's map Wetarko River. As we here
touched the bottom, we crossed to the east bank, and in half an hour reached Rampart
River, which issues from a narrow chain of hills, called Les Remparts; and soon afterwards
an island covered with willows, which, on the large special map of Lewis and Clarke, has an Arikkara
village, of which there are now no traces. From the hills we had a fine prospect over the
bend of the river, on which the villages of the Arikkaras are situated, and which we reached after
a short run of only two miles.

The two villages of this tribe are on the west bank, very near each other, but separated by a
small stream. They consist of a great number of clay huts, round at the top, with a square
entrance in front, and the whole surrounded with a fence of stakes, which were much decayed,
and in many places thrown down. It was not quite a year since these villages had been wholly
abandoned, because their inhabitants, who were extremely hostile to the Whites, killed so many
Americans, that they themselves foresaw that they would be severely chastised by the United States,
and therefore preferred to emigrate. To this cause was added, a dry, unproductive season, when
the crops entirely failed; as well as the absence of the herds of buffaloes, which hastened their
removal. It is said that these Indians now roam about on the road from St. Louis to Santa Fé,
and the late attacks on the caravans are ascribed to them. Mr. Bodmer made an accurate
drawing of these deserted villages. The principal chief of the Arikkaras, when they retired from

the Missouri, was called Starapat (the little hawk, with bloody claws), and generally La Main
pleine de Sang, who will be mentioned in the sequel.

The Arikkaras, or, as they are called by the Mandans, Rikkaras or Rees, Les Ris of the
Canadians, are a branch of the Pawnees, from whom they long since separated. Their
language, which is very easy for a German to pronounce, is said to be a proof of this affinity. Their
number is supposed to be still 4000 souls, among whom 500 or 600 are able to bear arms. The wife
of La Chapelle, the interpreter for that nation, was an Arikkara; she had a round full countenance,
and rather delicate small features, with a very light yellowish complexion. It is affirmed
that the women of this nation are the handsomest on the Missouri. Manoel Lisa, a well-known
fur trader, had formerly built a trading house in this country, of which nothing now remains;
though the place is still called Manoel Lisa's Fort. The prairie was to-day more verdant and
pleasant than yesterday. A mountain, with some remarkable summits, called La Butte au Grès,
gave it some diversity. Here we suddenly saw, on the bank, a man, who fired his musket three
times, and at first took him for an Indian; but another soon appeared, in a small leathern boat,
and we learnt that both were engagés or travellers of the Company, who were dispatched
from the Upper Missouri, with letters for Mr. Mc Kenzie. We took them in, and the little
leathern boat was left lying on the beach. In the distance, on the left, there was a chain of
mountains, with numerous summits, near which Cannon-ball River flows; and, nearer to the Missouri,
a chain of flat hills, level at the top, with many clefts, called La Butte de Chayenne. In
this neighbourhood we saw a high tree in a poplar wood, entirely covered with turkey buzzards,
as in Brazil; towards evening we passed Beaver Creek (Rivière au Castor), the Warananno of
Lewis and Clarke.[1]

On the 14th, in the morning, the sky was clouded, and the wind very bleak. On the
west bank of the river a ravine was shown us, where, seven or eight years before, the Arikkaras
had shot seven white men, who were towing a loaded Mackinaw boat up the river.

After we had passed an island, which is not marked in Lewis and Clarke's map, we observed
two isolated table mountains in the prairie, on the west bank, which are not far from Cannon-ball
River; and we then came to an aperture in the chain of hills, from which this river, which was very
high, issues. On the north side of the mouth, there was a steep, yellow clay wall; and on the
southern, a flat, covered with poplars and willows. This river has its name from the singular
regular sand-stone balls which are found in its banks, and in those of the Missouri in
its vicinity. They are of various sizes, from that of a musket ball to that of a large bomb, and
lie irregularly on the bank, or in the strata, from which they often project to half their thickness

when the river has washed away the earth; they then fall down, and are found in great numbers
on the bank. Such sand-stone balls are met with in many places on the Upper Missouri; and
former travellers have spoken of them. Many of them are rather elliptical, others are more
flattened, and others flat on one side, and rather convex on the other. Of the perfectly spherical
balls, I observed some two feet in diameter. On the steep bank of the Missouri we saw many such
balls projecting from the narrow strata of the yellow sand-stone. A mile above the mouth of the
Cannon-ball River, I saw no more of them. The Missouri had risen considerably; and, during
the night, our people were obliged to keep off, with long poles, the trunks of trees that came
floating down the river, without being able to prevent our receiving shocks which made the
whole vessel tremble.

On the 15th, the river had risen nine inches, and brought down much wood and foam, which
was expected, for it is reckoned that, in the month of June, the Missouri is twice much swollen
from the melting of the snow in the Rocky Mountains. The weather was serene and warm. As
early as half-past five o'clock we saw, on the eastern bank, a chain of table hills, quite flat at the
top, which extends to a pretty considerable distance. The river turns, to the westward, towards
this interesting chain, which is called the Mountains of the Old Mandan Village, because, at the
place where it is traversed by the river, such a village is said to have formerly stood. At nine
o'clock we stopped on the western bank to repair the damage the vessel had sustained, which
gave our hunters time to make an excursion a few miles into the prairie. Towards eleven o'clock
the bell gave the signal for departure. The current of the river was now very strong, so that
we could proceed but slowly. We came to the site of the old Mandan village, which was
situated, at the foot of the hills, in a fine meadow near the river; some poles, that were still
standing, were the only remains of it; there was no village here at the time of Lewis and Clarke's
journey. Dry, yellow grass now covered the place which had once been the scene of busy Indian
life: only a colony of swallows, that had built their nests in the neighbouring hills, gave some
animation to the scene. We were now in the territory of the Indian tribe of the Mandans. A
little further up, we saw four of our hunters sitting on the level ground, which was covered with
poplars; one of them, Ortubize, the Sioux interpreter, had killed a Virginian deer, and wounded
a large elk, which had escaped; soon after, Messrs. Bodmer and Harvey arrived quite fatigued
and heated; they had gone a great way, and very nearly missed the steamer. Mr. Harvey had
killed a black-tailed or mule deer.[2] They had met with four of these animals, and brought the

head and skin, with some of the flesh of the one killed. At the next place, where we reached the
hills, an isolated summit rose above the rest, which is called Bald Eagle Head; these hills were
beautifully illumined with the setting sun; we saw the white wolves trotting about on them, and
some swans were swimming in the river. On the eastern bank we saw the ruins of an old trading
house, and many traces of beavers. Near the mouth of Apple Creek we took in wood, and saw,
on the left hand, the continuation of a chain of hills, of very singular forms. The night swallows
flew over the river at an early hour, and a large beaver appeared among the willows, which we
shot at without success. The 16th of June set in with a high north-east wind, accompanied with
rain. We soon reached the mouth of Heart River, but the wind drove our vessel towards the
bank, and we were obliged to lay to at six o'clock; and it was not till the evening that the wind
so far abated as to allow us to continue our voyage. The next morning, early, we came in sight
of the Butte Carrée. In the willow thickets, on the bank, a very fine buffalo bull stood within
half musket-shot; our people fired, but to no purpose. Soon after, we saw, in the prairie, two
more very large animals of this species; and, in the course of the day, perceived a great number
of them. The river brought down several dead buffalo cows. A little before the mouth of
Lewis and Clarke's Hunting Creek, the Missouri is half a mile broad, but soon becomes narrower.
At eight o'clock we reached the place where a Mandan village had formerly stood. The Sioux,
from St. Peter's River, surprised it about forty years ago, killed most of the inhabitants, and
destroyed the huts. The prairie hills formed, in this part, long, flat, naked ridges, perfectly resembling
the walls of a fortress. The oaks and ashes, at the edge of the thickets, were but just

[ILLUSTRATION]

A

[ILLUSTRATION]

B

beginning to unfold their buds. It is probable, however, that they had suffered by a fire in the
prairie. After we had passed, alternately, prairies, with their hills, steep clay banks, and stripes
of forest, we prosecuted our voyage till dusk, and lay to near a large willow thicket, on the
eastern bank, when some musket shots were suddenly heard, the flashes of which were evidently
seen. Mr. Mc Kenzie immediately supposed that it was an Indian war party, which people, in
general, avoid, as they do not much trust them. We consulted what was to be done. Many
shots followed, which made a very loud report, it being the custom of the Indians to use a great
deal of powder; and we soon perceived, among the dark thickets, the figures of the Indians
in their white buffalo robes. As nobody knew the intentions of these people, we looked forward
to the meeting with some anxiety. The Indians broke silence first, calling out that they were
come with peaceable intentions, and wished to be taken on board. Ortubize, the interpreter,
telling us that they were Sioux, of the branch of the Yanktonans, we conferred some time with
them, while a kind of bridge of planks was thrown across to the shore. Twenty-three, for the
most part tall men, came on board, and were made to sit down, in a row, on one side of the
large cabin. They came from a camp of the Yanktonans, consisting of 300 tents, which was in
the neighbourhood; they generally lived on the banks of the Chayenne, which falls into the Red
River, near the Devil's Lake, and the sources of St. Peter's River. They had been hunting in
the neighbourhood, and shot some buffaloes. The Yanktonans are represented as the most perfidious
and dangerous of all the Sioux, and are stated frequently to have killed white men,
especially Englishmen, in these parts. They generally come to the Missouri in the winter, but
at this season it was a mere chance that we met with them. They were mostly robust, slender,
well-shaped men, with long dishevelled hair, in which some wore feathers as indications of their
exploits. The upper parts of their bodies were generally naked, merely covered with the buffalo's
skin, or blanket; but their whole dress was plain and indifferent, as they only came out for a
hunting excursion. The chief of these people was Tatanka-Kta (the dead buffalo), a man of
middling stature, with a very dark brown, expressive countenance, and his hair bound together
over the forehead in a thick knot; he was dressed in a uniform of red cloth, with blue facings
and collar, and ornamented with silver trimmings, such as the traders are used to give, or to sell,
to such chiefs as they desire to distinguish. In his hand he had the wing of an eagle for a fan.

After we had smoked with these Yanktonans all round, the chief opened, before Mr.
Mc Kenzie, a bag, with old pemmican (dry meat powdered), by way of present, and then rose
to make a speech. After shaking hands, successively, with all persons present, he said, with
much gesticulation, and in short sentences, between which he appeared to be reflecting, "that the
whole body of the 300 huts was under the principal chief, Jawitschahka; that his people had been
formerly on good terms with the Mandans, but had been at variance with them for about a year,
on account of the murder of a Sioux, and now wished to make peace again; that with this view

they had sent three of their people to the Mandan villages, but did not know the result; and,
therefore, were very desirous of the mediation of Mr. Mc Kenzie; that they happened to be near
the river, when they perceived their father's ship, and were come to visit him; that to be able to
supply the Fur Company with more beaver skins, they wished to have liberty to hunt on the
Missouri, and on that account peace with the Mandans was of importance to them. They hoped,
therefore, that Mr. Mc Kenzie would intercede for them, and allow them to accompany him."
The answer was—"That if, like the other tribes of their nation, who lived constantly on the Missouri,
they would, in future, conduct themselves properly, and never kill white men, he would
attempt all that lay in his power; but he bade them consider what would be the best for them,
whether to come on board with him, or to go alone by land to the Mandan villages, as he did
not know how they might be received by the young men of the Mandan tribe." These Indians
showed us a beautiful skin of a young, white, female buffalo, which they intended as a present for
the Mandans, by whom such skins are highly valued. They had already sent them a white
buffalo calf. Our visitors were afterwards taken into another apartment, where refreshments were
set before them, and they were lodged for the night. The next morning, however, they went
ashore, and proceeded to Fort Clarke on foot. During the night there was a violent tempest,
and the next morning, the 18th June, was gloomy, damp, and windy. We left at an early hour the
place of the meeting, from which it was twelve miles to Fort Clarke. The Yanktonans, keeping
in sight of us, walked through the prairie, where they frightened a herd of ten or twelve wolves,
which had long amused us by their gambols. At half-past seven we passed a roundish island
covered with willows, and reached then the wood on the western bank, in which the winter
dwellings of part of the Mandan Indians are situated; and saw, at a distance, the largest village
of this tribe, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, in the vicinity of which the whole prairie was covered with
riders and pedestrians. As we drew nearer the huts of that village, Fort Clarke, lying before
it, relieved by the back-ground of the blue prairie hills, came in sight, with the gay American
banner waving from the flag-staff. On a tongue of land on the left bank were four white men on
horseback; Indians, in their buffalo robes, sat in groups upon the bank, and the discharge of
cannon and musketry commenced to welcome us. The Assiniboin soon lay to before the fort,
against the gently sloping shore, where above 600 Indians were waiting for us. Close to the
beach, the chiefs and most distinguished warriors of the Mandan nation stood in front of the
assembly of red men, among whom the most eminent were Charata-Numakschi (the wolf chief),
Mato-Topé (the four bears), Dipauch (the broken arm), Berock-Itainu (the ox neck), Pehriska-Ruhpa
(the two ravens), and some others. They were all dressed in their finest clothes, to do us
honour. As soon as the vessel was moored, they came on board, and, after having given us their
hands, sat down in the stern cabin. The pipe went round, and the conversation began with the
Mandans, by the assistance of Mr. Kipp, clerk to the American Fur Company, and director of
the trading post at Fort Clarke; and with the Manitaries, by the help of the old interpreter,
Charbonneau, who had lived thirty-seven years in the villages of the latter people, near this place.
Mr. Mc Kenzie caused the proposal of the Yanktonans to be submitted to these Indians, but the
latter, after long deliberation, replied that they could not possibly accept these proposals of peace,
because the Yanktonans were much too treacherous; that, however, no harm should now be
done to them, and that they might depart unmolested.

Most of the Indians in our cabin were stout, tall men, except Mato-Topé, who was of middle
stature, and rather slim. I shall have occasion to say more, in the sequel, of this brave and distinguished
chief. They had their weapons, such as muskets, bows, war clubs, and battle axes, in
their hands, and also fans of eagles' wings, and wore buffalo robes, which, on the inner side, are
painted reddish-brown, or white, and adorned with coloured figures. They let their hair hang down
at length, considering it as an ornament. Sometimes it is divided into plaits, and daubed with a
reddish clay. However, I refrain, at present, from describing these Indians, of whom I shall have
occasion to speak more at length. The Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, of which tribe there
were now seventy tents about the fort, differ very little from each other in their appearance
and dress; they are, however, taller than the Indians on the Missouri whom we had before seen,
and their features more regular than those of the Sioux.

We soon went on shore, and examined the numerous assemblage of brown Indian figures, of
whom the women and children, in numerous groups, were sitting on the ground; the men, some
on horseback, some on foot, were collected around, and making their observations on the white
strangers. Here we saw remarkably tall and handsome men, and fine dresses, for they had
all done their utmost to adorn themselves. The haughty Crows rode on beautiful panther skins,
with red cloth under them, and, as they never wear spurs, had a whip of elk's horn in their hand.
These mounted warriors, with their diversely painted faces, feathers in their long hair, bow and
arrows slung across their backs, and with a musket or spear in their hands, the latter of which is
merely for show, were a novel and highly interesting scene. This remarkable assembly gazed at
the strangers with curiosity, and we conversed with them by signs, but soon proceeded to the
fort, which is built on a smaller scale, on a plan similar to that of all the other trading posts or forts
of the Company. It is about the size of the Sioux Agency, but more rudely constructed. Immediately
behind the fort there were, in the prairies, seventy leather tents of the Crows, which we
immediately visited. (Vignette XIII.)

The tents of the Crows are exactly like those of the Sioux, and are set up without any
regular order. On the poles, instead of scalps, there were small pieces of coloured cloth, chiefly
red, floating like streamers in the wind. We were struck with the number of wolf-like dogs of all
colours, of which there were certainly from 500 to 600 running about. They all fell upon the
strangers, and it was not without difficulty that we kept them off by throwing stones, in which

some old Indian women assisted us. We then proceeded about 300 paces in a north-west
direction from the fort, up the Missouri, to the principal village of the Mandans, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush.
(Plate XVI.) This village consisted of about sixty large hemispherical clay huts, and
was surrounded with a fence of stakes, at the four corners of which conical mounds were thrown
up, covered with a facing of wicker-work, and embrasures, which serve for defence, and command
the river and the plain. We were told that these cones or block-houses were not erected by the
Indians themselves, but by the Whites. Three miles further up the river, and on the same
bank, is the second village of the Mandans, called Ruhptare, consisting of about thirty-eight clay
huts, which we could not then visit for want of time. In the immediate vicinity of the principal
village, the stages on which these Indians, like the Sioux, place their dead, lay scattered. (See
the annexed woodcut.)

[ILLUSTRATION]

Around them were several high poles, with skins and other things hanging on them, as
offerings to the lord of life, Omahank-Numakshi, or to the first man, Numank-Machana. The
three villages of the Manitaries (gros ventre) nation, whose language is totally different from that
of the Mandans, are situated about fifteen miles higher up on the same side of the river, and
most of their inhabitants had come on this day to the Mandan villages.

The view of the prairie around Fort Clarke was at this time highly interesting. A great
number of horses were grazing all round; Indians of both sexes and all ages were in motion;
we were, every moment, stopped by them, obliged to shake hands, and let them examine us on
all sides. This was sometimes very troublesome. Thus, for example, a young warrior took hold
of my pocket compass which I wore suspended by a ribbon, and attempted to take it by force, to
hang as an ornament round his neck. I refused his request, but the more I insisted in my
refusal, the more importunate he became. He offered me a handsome horse for my compass,

and then all his handsome clothes and arms into the bargain, and as I still refused, he became
angry, and it was only by the assistance of old Charbonneau, that I escaped a disagreeable and,
perhaps, violent scene. On returning to the steamer we there found a numerous company of
Indians, some smoking, others wrapped in their blankets, and asleep on the floor.

Mr. Sandford, the sub-agent of the Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, had a conference with
Eripuass (the rotten belly), the distinguished chief of the latter. We accompanied Mr. Sandford
to this meeting. Eripuass, a fine tall man, with a pleasing countenance, had much influence over
his people; being in mourning he came to the fort in his worst dress, his hair cut close, and
daubed with clay. Charbonneau acted as interpreter in the Manitari language. Mr. Sandford
recommended to the chief continued good treatment of the white people who should come to his
territory, hung a medal round his neck, and, in the name of the government, made him a considerable
present of cloth, powder, ball, tobacco, &c., which this haughty man received without
any sign of gratitude; on the contrary, these people consider such presents as a tribute due to
them, and a proof of weakness. The Crows, in particular, as the proudest of the Indians, are
said to despise the Whites. They do not, however, kill them, but often plunder them. At nightfall
we visited Eripuass in his tent. The whole camp of the Crows was now filled with horses,
some with their foals, all which had been driven in, to prevent their being stolen. This nation,
consisting of 400 tents, is said to possess between 9,000 and 10,000 horses, some of which are very
fine. The dogs were partly taken into the tents, and we were less exposed to their attacks than
in the day time, yet still we had to fight our way through them. The interior of the tent itself
had a striking effect. A small fire in the centre gave sufficient light; the chief sat opposite the
entrance, and round him many fine tall men, placed according to their rank, all with no other
covering than a breech-cloth. Places were assigned to us on buffalo hides near the chief, who
then lighted his Sioux pipe, which had a long flat tube, ornamented with bright yellow nails,
made each of us take a few puffs, holding the pipe in his hand, and then passed it round to the
left hand. After Charbonneau had continued the conversation for some time in the Manitari
language, we suddenly rose and retired, according to the Indian customs.

The Crows are called by the Mandans, Hahderuka, by the Manitaries, Haideroka; they themselves
call their own tribe Apsaruka. The territory in which they move about is bounded, to the
north or north-west, by the Yellow Stone River, and extends round Bighorn River, towards the
sources of Chayenne River and the Rocky Mountains. These Indians are a wandering tribe of
hunters, who neither dwell in fixed villages, like the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras, nor
make any plantations except of tobacco, which, however, are very small. About six years
ago, the Crows are said to have had only 1,000 warriors, at present they are reckoned at 1,200.
They roam about with their leather tents, hunt the buffalo, and other wild animals, and have
many horses and dogs, which, however, they never use for food. They are said to possess more

horses than any other tribe of the Missouri, and to send them in the winter to Wind River, to
feed on a certain shrub, which soon fattens them. The Crow women are very skilful in various
kinds of work, and their shirts and dresses of bighorn leather, embroidered and ornamented with
dyed porcupine quills, are particularly handsome, as well as their buffalo robes, which are painted
and embroidered in the same manner. I shall speak, in the sequel, of their large caps of eagles'
feathers, and of their shields, which are ornamented with feathers and paintings (Plate XLVIII.
Figs. 5 and 6), and other articles. The men make their weapons very well, and with much taste,
especially their large bows, covered with the horn of the elk or bighorn, and often with the skin
of the rattle-snake. I have represented a beautiful quiver of this nation, adorned with rosettes
of porcupine quills, in Plate XLVIII. Fig. 10. In stature and dress these Indians correspond,
on the whole, with the Manitaries, both having been originally one and the same people, as the
affinity of their languages proves. Long hair is considered as a great beauty, and they take great
pains with it. The hair of one of their chiefs, called Long Hair, was ten feet long, some feet of
which trailed on the ground when he stood upright. The enemies of the Crows are the
Chayennes, the Blackfeet, and the Sioux; their allies are the Mandans and Manitaries. With
the latter they bartered their good horses for European goods, but the American Fur Company
has now established a separate trading post for them on the Yellow Stone River, which is called
Fort Cass.

Though the Crows look down with contempt upon the Whites, they treat them very
hospitably in their tents, yet their pride is singularly contrasted with a great propensity to
stealing and begging, which makes them very troublesome. They are said to have many more
superstitious notions than the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras; for instance, they never
smoke a pipe when a pair of shoes is hung up in their tent; when the pipe circulates none ever
takes more than three puffs, and then passes it in a certain manner to his left-hand neighbour.
They are skilful horsemen, and, in their attacks on horseback, are said to throw themselves off on
one side, as is done by many Asiatic tribes. They have many bardaches,[3] or hermaphrodites,
among them, and exceed all the other tribes in unnatural practices.

As among all the Missouri Indians, the Crows are divided into different bands or unions.
A certain price is paid for admission into these unions and their dances, of which each has one
peculiar to itself, like the other Missouri tribes; on which occasion the women are given up
to the will of the seller in the same manner, as will be more particularly mentioned when speaking
of the other tribes. Of the female sex, it is said of the Crows, that they, with the women
of the Arikkaras, are the most dissolute of all the tribes of the Missouri.

This people have a superstitious fear of a white buffalo cow; when a Crow meets one he
addresses the sun in the following words: "I will give her (i. e. the cow) to you." He then

endeavours to kill the animal, but leaves it untouched, and then says to the sun, "Take her; she
is yours." They never use the skin of these white buffalo cows, as the Mandans do, of which I
shall, by-and-by, speak at length. The most sacred objects in the eyes of this people are the
sun, the moon, and tobacco, that is, the leaves of the genuine tobacco (Nicotiana); and, therefore,
all their children wear a small portion of this herb, well wrapped up, round their necks, by way
of amulet.

They do not bury their dead in the ground, but, like the Mandans, Manitaries, Sioux, and
Assiniboins, lay them on stages in the prairie. (See the woodcut, p. 173.) A Crow woman, who
was on the point of death, was very apprehensive and uneasy in her mind lest she should be
interred in the ground, according to the custom of the Whites. This was her sole concern, though
she did not otherwise express any fear of death; as soon as she was made easy on this point, she
died perfectly satisfied.