University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXIII.

VOYAGE FROM FORT UNION TO FORT CLARKE, FROM OCTOBER 30TH TO NOVEMBER 8TH.

On the 30th of October, the weather being fine, we left Fort Union, and stopped for a
moment at Fort William, opposite the mouth of the Yellow Stone, to take leave of Mr. Campbell.
The thicket of willows on the steep bank of the river had been cut down, in order to open a
view to the yet unfinished fort, which is about 300 paces from the bank. Mr. Campbell presented
me with some specimens of natural history, and furnished me with cigars, of which we had long been
deprived; they really are a great comfort on a long voyage. We took charge of his letters,
and having taken leave, proceeded on our voyage. As the provisions for my people consisted of
bad old bacon, and my own stock was limited to a ham which had been obligingly left to me, from
the very scanty stock of provisions at Fort Union, with some coffee, sugar, and ship biscuit, we
were very desirous of obtaining some game, and went on shore on a tongue of land, on the south
bank, where we soon saw several wolves, and a troop of seven deer, but could not get near enough
to fire at them. Great clouds of smoke rose from several parts of the prairie, doubtless caused by
the wood-cutters of Fort William, the hunters of which we likewise perceived at a distance. The
thickets were quite stripped of their foliage; the buffalo berry bushes alone yet bore some sere
yellow leaves. Prairie hens, magpies, and the coal titmouse, the latter sitting among the willow
bushes, were the only specimens of the feathered tribe which we observed. Numerous tracks of

animals were visible on the beach, and among them the small delicate footprint of two different
kinds of mice. We proceeded till eight o'clock in the evening, when we lay to, as it grew too
dark to venture farther. Afterwards, however, the moon rose in great splendour, and towards
morning we had a sharp frost.

Very early on the 31st we saw numerous flights of prairie hens crossing the river in companies
of thirty or forty, and heard the whistling of the elk stag, which, at times, like that of our European
stags, is heard at a late hour. When we lay to for breakfast, we were in a thick forest, with the
same underwood as we have before mentioned, especially buffalo berries, in great abundance. They
were of a beautiful bright red colour, and very palatable, for, like our sloes, they require a touch
of the frost before they are good eating, yet they were still astringent and acid; mixed with sugar,
however, they were not unpleasant. With this fruit we refreshed our bears and my little fox, to
which they afforded an agreeable variety in their food, but we did not fare so well ourselves, having
hitherto tried, whenever it was possible, to obtain game, but in vain. Everywhere we found
traces of beavers, gnawed trunks of trees, abattis and paths trodden smooth. The willow
thickets were frequented by the coal mouse and magpie. As our firing had been ineffectual
upon a flock of white swans and some wild geese, we again lay to near the Rivière Bourbeuse
(White Earth River of Lewis and Clarke), and some of our hunters traversed the country,
while the boat remained fastened under the steep bank. Flakes of ice already floated down the
Missouri, and broke, with much noise, against the snags in the water. This ice comes from the
tributary rivers; in this place it came from the Rivière Bourbeuse, and the noise occasioned by it
is increased by that of the banks falling in, the dashing of the waves, and the high wind. My live
animals, which would not eat pork, were half famished, and the bears especially made an incessant
growling, which was in every respect highly disagreeable. Our hopes were disappointed;
the hunters had missed two head of game; and, at four in the afternoon, I continued the voyage,
though very slowly, because my people complained of fatigue. If the Canadians are not always
well fed, there is no depending upon their perseverance. We lay to early for the evening, and
the people dispersed in the forest to hunt. At the spot where we now were, we saw many traces
of all kinds of game. Beyond a close thicket of young poplars (cotton wood), were sand hills
covered with yellow grass, and yet further distant, a forest of lofty poplars, beneath which the
ground was clothed with a dark red undergrowth of cornus, rose, and buffalo berry bushes, entwined
round their stems with clematis and vine; a few grapes were still hanging on the branches, but
they were very small and indifferent, and did not suit the taste of even my little fox. The
hunters were again unsuccessful: they had seen nothing but the usual species of birds; and as
for me, I found only a small flock of Fringilla linaria, which were so tame that they almost settled
upon our fowling-pieces. Our supper was extremely frugal; but on the morning of the following
day, the 1st of November, when we lay to at a scattered forest, Morrin was so fortunate as to kill

a large elk, which quite revived our sunken spirits. In this forest there were deeply trodden
paths of wild animals, and great numbers of prairie hens, which, however, were extremely shy;
when they were roused, they uttered a note almost like that of our snipes, not, however,
fainter towards the close, but louder and stronger. The ground was so dry, and the withered
leaves rustled so beneath our feet as we trod upon them, that we could not get near them. The
small striped squirrel was pretty frequent here. Another elk was afterwards shot, so that we were
well provided for several days, and the lamentations of my hungry animals were put a stop to.
As we proceeded on our voyage we frequently saw game, and the prairie hens, like all birds of
that kind, flew about us with the swiftness of an arrow.

The singular red, burnt, conical summits of the hills attracted our attention, till we lay to, at
a little before four o'clock, near an extensive forest on the south bank, to dress our dinner. The
poplar wood was thin, near the bank, but had a thick undergrowth of roses, in which were a
greater number of traces of wild animals than we had yet seen, a sight which instantly set our
hunters in motion. I found the pretty little four-striped squirrel (Tamias quadrivittatus), in great
numbers, which ran quickly along the ground, and up the trees, with the fruit of the rose in its
mouth. My people caught one of these delicate creatures alive, which, to my great regret, afterwards
made its escape. On account of the dry leaves we could not closely approach large game,
though we heard the noise of considerable herds of them; and all our hunters returned before
dark, except Mr. Bodmer, whom we looked for in vain. Night came on, we called, fired our
pieces, but could obtain no intelligence of our fellow-traveller. We waited till eight o'clock, in
no small anxiety, till at length we heard a shot higher up the river, which we immediately
answered. Dreidoppel and Hugron instantly proceeded in that direction, and at length happily
returned with our lost companion. In pursuing a stag, Mr. Bodmer had often changed his direction,
and at last got quite bewildered; he had walked eight or ten miles, had been entangled in
terrible thorny thickets, and got into a morass. At length he reached the prairie, where he perceived
a troop of about twenty Indians, and hastened back into the forest; then, notwithstanding
the Indians were so near, he fired six shots as signals of distress, and at length had the pleasure
of descrying, from a hill, the shining surface of the river; thitherward he worked his way, directly
through the thickets. As soon as he had been refreshed with some food, we loosened from the
bank, where our presence had been betrayed by so many shots. We, however, lay to at a sand
bank a little further down on the opposite side, and there passed a cold night, without fire or
covering, in a high wind.

Next day, the 2nd November, was cold and bleak, and the tempestuous wind so unfavourable
that we could only pass one tongue of land, and were compelled to stop nearly the whole
day. A boat, laden with maize, belonging to Mr. Campbell, here passed us; it had left the
Mandan villages a fortnight before. We had made our fire in a close thicket of poplars, under a

high steep bank, sheltered from the wind. Our hunters dispersed in different directions, and I
soon heard a shot not far distant, on which I advanced. Dreidoppel had roused two Virginian
deer, and wounded one of them. We followed the trace of this animal, which we killed, and I
succeeded in shooting the other deer, which would not abandon its companion. This success
afforded us some fresh game, and my people employed themselves in cooking all the remainder
of the day, nor would anything induce them to stir from the spot. We found, in the forest,
traces of large bears, saw the prairie fox come out of its burrow, and found no other animals,
except the small striped squirrel and one species of birds, the coal mouse, which defies the severe
winter in these parts. In the afternoon we hoped to shoot wolves or foxes that might be
attracted by the entrails of the deer we had killed, and, therefore, concealed ourselves; but only
crows, ravens, and magpies, were lured by the bait. At six in the evening it grew dark; we
increased our fire for the night, about which we sat till nine o'clock, while my engagés lay snoring
on the ground. The surrounding wood was pitch dark; the wolves howled incessantly on
both sides of the river, till the moon rose, and the wind abated, so that we were able to proceed
before daybreak on the 3rd of November.

We again observed the black strata of the bituminous coal, and found fine fragments, which
had fallen down, together with the pieces of the grey sand-stone of the adjoining strata. I
increased my collections with the most interesting series of the rocks of the Upper Missouri, which,
I regret to say, have not reached Europe, as they were irrecoverably lost. On this voyage down
the river I had better opportunities of examining the singular red, burnt, and conical tops of the
summits of the bank, and they afforded me much interest. The rocky walls, and the red hills,
covered with fragments burnt red, exactly resembled the refuse of our brick kilns, and they
emitted, when struck, a clear sound, like that of the best Dutch clinkers. Under those red cones
we generally saw a stratum of the bituminous coal; both often appeared together. I observed
several slight hollows, resembling craters, surrounded by pyramids of the red rock. Caverns and
holes, too, frequently appeared in this clay and sand-stone; and the remarkable light grey rocks,
marked with darker transverse stripes, and with bright red tops, which now were pink, or different
shades of crimson, as the faint rays of the sun here and there tinged them, and gave them a
highly picturesque appearance. The swallows' nests fixed against the perpendicular walls, of which
the Prince de Musignano made a drawing, were now completely deserted by their tenants. At noon
we lay to at a prairie, which we explored while my people were cooking their dinner; but we found
only ravens, crows, magpies, and prairie hens. The ground between the yellow, sere grass, was
so dry that the dust rose at every step; it was, in some places, overgrown with rose bushes, from
two to four feet high, symphoria, and groups of poplars. We did not encounter any buffaloes
till we reached Fort Clarke; they appeared to have retired from the river; very frequently,
however, we saw the paths and traces of other animals. Flocks of prairie hens, forty or more

together, seemed particularly to choose, as their resort, the drift-wood on the banks of the river.
A magpie was so tame that it settled on the rudder of the boat, while Morrin was at the helm.
Towards evening we lay to, on the steep bank, where the kingfisher, the magpie, and the wren
(doubtless, Troglodytes hyemalis), had taken up their abode, the latter among the dry drift-wood.
Here we kindled our fire, in a tall poplar forest, where stems two feet thick nearly formed a
circle. As we had passed the territory of the most dangerous Indians, and the nights became
more and more cold, we constantly kept up a fire at our bivouac, and on this evening again
began our night-watches, because we were approaching a very numerous Indian tribe near the
Missouri. Mr. Bodmer amused himself with taking a sketch of our bivouac in the forest, where
we leaned against the trees, sat round the fire and smoked our pipes, amidst the concert of the
howling wolves and the screeching owls. (See Vignette XXIII.)

On the 4th of November, we passed, at noon, the mouth of White Earth River (Rivière
Blanche), or Goat Penn River of Lewis and Clarke. At this spot there was, formerly, a fort,
which was abandoned in 1829, when Fort Union was built. A little below the mouth of this
river, the high wind obliged us to lay to; woods and thickets, with high dry grass, and prairies,
either bare or covered with artemisia, formed an extensive wilderness, traversed by the paths of
stags and buffaloes, where we found many deer's horns and other remains of these animals, as
well as tracks of enormous bears (Ursus ferox). We did not, however, see any large game, but
only prairie hens, and a few stray blackbirds and flocks of the small finches (Fringilla linaria),
which were picking up the seeds of the plants among the grass. It appeared that this wilderness
had been visited by Indians a short time before. After a considerable halt we proceeded at
two o'clock, passed the Butte Carrée, and lay to, in the evening, near a narrow strip of wood on
the steep southern bank, behind which extended the prairie. The night was clear, the wind cold,
and the moon rose at twelve o'clock.

The morning of the 5th of November was bleak and chilly, and the wind numbed the
fasting travellers, till we lay to, at eight o'clock, at a prairie overgrown with thick bushes, where
we prepared our breakfast, and where the number of prairie hens immediately induced our
hunters to bestir themselves. I had unluckily loaded my piece with small shot, for a Virginian
deer ran close by me from out of a thicket, which I might otherwise have very easily shot. We
saw a troop of elks, and our little friend, the striped squirrel, which, however, is not yet found
so low down the river as the Mandan villages. At eleven o'clock we proceeded on our voyage,
in which we were protected by the high banks from the bleak wind, and enlivened and cheered
by the sun. A herd of antelopes crossed the Missouri before us, and we in vain attempted to
intercept them. These pretty animals generally leave the Missouri at this time, and hasten, on
the approach of winter, to the Black Hills. A magpie alighted on the rudder, uttering its note,
"twit, twit," which is quite different from that of the European magpie. We saw but few ducks

and other water fowl, which had before afforded us so much amusement; doubtless, because they
found more subsistence on the lakes, which were not yet frozen. We lay to, for the night, on
the southern bank, where the forest was completely laid waste by the beavers. They had felled
a number of large trees, chips of which were scattered about on the ground. Most of the trees
were half gnawed through, broken down, or dead, and in this manner a bare place was formed
in the forest. Not far off we saw in the river a beaver den, or, as the Americans call it, a beaver
lodge, to which there was a very well trodden and smooth path, which we availed ourselves of,
to go to and from our boat. Nature appears to have peculiarly adapted these remarkable
animals to the large thickets of poplar and willow of the interior of North America, where the
Whites, on their first arrival, found them in immense numbers, and soon hastened to sacrifice these
harmless creatures to their love of gain. Numerous tracks of animals of all kinds, especially elks,
bears, and wolves, were observed; the wolves prowled around us at no great distance, and at
ten o'clock, when I had the watch, they came between our bright fire and the boat, which was
only forty paces distant, being attracted by the smell of the meat.

On the next day, the 6th, we likewise met with many gnawed trees, which proved that
the number of the beavers was still pretty considerable. Morrin had shot in the morning a fat
fawn, which was gladly welcomed by us. We had traversed a forest admirably suited to the
chase, when we met with a great deal of game, but, on account of the dry leaves, could not get
near enough. Besides the animals which I have often mentioned, we saw some new species of
birds, of which, however, I was quite unable to obtain a specimen.

At noon we passed the Little Missouri, at the mouth of which there were now extensive
sand banks; we stopped a little below it, and found a spot very favourable for the chase, in
a forest alternating with morass, high grass, and various plants, where we followed some fresh
traces of large elks, without, however, being able to overtake them. We proceeded on our
voyage till late in the night, and slept at a spot in the forest which was so dense, that we were
compelled to hew down the bushes to make a space for our fire and resting-place. The night
was dark, and the loud howling of the wolves was our never-ceasing music. Towards the
morning there was a sharp frost, and the sky was partially clouded with the west wind. Our
good genius had made us set out unusually early on the 7th November, for we had scarcely left
the bank in the morning twilight, when we heard several shot, and soon after, at the very place
where we had halted and slept, the loud voices of the Indians calling to us to return. They
were, probably, a hunting party of Manitaries, who had been attracted in the early morning by
the light of our fire. Being very happy at having, weak as we were, escaped visitors so little
to be trusted, our engagés rowed with all their might, and there was soon a good distance
between us. Our breakfast was prepared at nine o'clock, when we lay to on the north bank, in
a narrow strip of forest, where we found some old Indian hunting lodges, built, in a conical

form, of dry timber. They had, doubtless, been left by the Manitaries, who had come thus far
on their hunting excursions. The lower part of the huts, or lodges, was covered with the bark
of trees; the entrance was square, and bones were scattered in all directions. We proceeded
with a bleak, high wind, saw the singular clay tops of the hills, and, in the forest, the stages
made of poles, where the Indian hunters dry the flesh of the animals they have taken in the
chase. About twelve o'clock we came to the spot where some stakes indicated the former site
of a Mandan village. Manoel Lisa, the Spanish fur dealer, had formerly a trading post at this
place. Rather further on, after we had turned a point of land, we saw a white horse on the
bank, and soon after a group of Indians, with their horses, which they had brought to the
river to water. In the wood, close by them, was a winter village of the Manitaries, or Gros
Ventres, to which they had removed only two days previous, from their summer dwellings,
and whose present chief was Itsichaicha, which the Canadians translate, Monkey-face. They
hailed us, but I would not stop, and, the current being strong, we rapidly passed them. An Indian
woman, with a handsome brown hound, probably of the European race, stood on the bank, and
formed a very interesting object in the wild winter scene. We were now in the centre of the
territory of the Manitaries, and were in momentary expectation of meeting with these Indians; in
fact, we soon saw several of them on foot and on horseback. We had just doubled a point of
land, and were looking for a sheltered spot for landing, when we observed some huts in a lofty
wood of poplars, and were immediately called to by some Whites and Indians. We recognised
old Charbonneau, and landed at once. It appeared that Messrs. Soublette and Campbell had
founded a trading post in the Manitari villages, and that their people, together with these Indians,
had arrived but yesterday at the winter village, situated at no great distance. The clerk, who
had the management of the business here, was Mr. Dougherty, brother to the Indian agent, who
had likewise accompanied Major Long in his expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and who had,
at present, old Charbonneau as interpreter. The latter had lately quitted the American Fur
Company, but subsequently returned into their service. The Indians, under their principal chief,
Lachpitzi-Sihrish (the yellow bear), had arrived, as I have said, but yesterday, in the winter
village; and Dougherty, with Charbonneau and several engagés, lived in some huts hastily erected
on the bank of the river, while a better and more substantial house was building in the Indian
village. Mr. Dougherty, to whom we delivered letters from Mr. Campbell, would not suffer us to
proceed, and entertained us with much hospitality. It gave us much pleasure to be again in human
society, after having been so long deprived of it. While we were chatting and smoking our cigars,
we perceived, near where we were sitting, a row of large casks, and learned that they were all
filled with gunpowder, which, considering the high wind that blew directly into the hut, was a
great want of prudence. Many interesting Indians came successively, among whom was the old
chief, who was particularly struck with our long beards, from which these people have a kind of
aversion. The night was stormy and very dark: some of us slept in the boat; Dreidoppel and
our engagés in the huts on shore.

The morning of the 8th November was bleak, cold, and frosty. I left the place early, accompanied
by Charbonneau, and, after proceeding four miles, landed on the southern bank, to look
for a petrified trunk of a tree, which Charbonneau had mentioned to me. While my people were
taking their breakfast in a poplar wood, we proceeded alternately through thickets and open
plains, towards the neighbouring hills, to the Fontaine Rouge, which was now a marsh covered with
ice: not far from this was the tree, which is supposed to be part of an old cedar (juniperus); it
is the lower part of a hollow trunk, with a portion of the roots; and, though this mass still perfectly
shows the formation of the wood, it is now converted into a sounding stone. As the whole
of this interesting specimen was much too ponderous to be removed, I carried off a good many
fragments, without, however, disfiguring the tree, which will, doubtless, some day, find a place in
some museum in the United States. This kind of petrified wood is not, by any means, unfrequent
on the Missouri. Of the many interesting specimens of this kind which I had collected, very few
have found their way to Europe.

After breakfast we continued our voyage, at eleven o'clock, and came to the spot where Mr.
Pilcher's residence formerly stood, about eleven miles from Fort Clarke. At twelve o'clock we
were opposite the first Manitari summer village, and saw, on the other side, many Indians, who
hallooed to Charbonneau. They had some smooth-haired hounds, spotted brown and white, with
hanging ears, which were, doubtless, of European race. The invitations to land became more
vociferous and numerous, and Charbonneau advised us to comply with them, which we did: we
were immediately conducted, by a distinguished man, Ita-Widahki-Hisha (the red shield), to his
tent, which stood apart on the prairie, on the summit of the bank. The white leather tent was
new, spacious, and handsomely ornamented with tufts of hair of various colours, and at each side
of the entrance finished with a stripe and rosettes of dyed porcupine quills, very neatly executed.
It had been well warmed by a good fire, a most refreshing sight to us. We took our seats around
it, with the numerous family, the brother and uncle of the chief, young men, women, and children.
The chief had rather a long beard, like the Punca chief, Shudegacheh, and his right breast was
tattooed with black stripes. The old uncle had a very ugly countenance; he was fat, and his dress
negligent and slovenly. The wife of the chief held a child in her lap, with a thick hare lip. A
large dish of boiled maize and beans was immediately set before us; it was very tender and well
dressed, and three of us eat out of the dish with spoons made of the horn of buffalo, or bighorn;
after which the red Dacota pipe went round. Our people had likewise obtained refreshments,
and presented the Indians, in return, with some tobacco and gunpowder. After we had conversed
half an hour, through Charbonneau, with these friendly people, and given them an account of our
battle with the Assiniboins, their enemies, we took leave and proceeded on our voyage. The

Indians accompanied us to the river-side, and on our way thither we saw the skin of a large white
wolf hung on a tree, doubtless, by way of medicine, or offering. We left at one o'clock, and at
two reached the Manitari village, Awachawi, which lay close to the bank; a couple of women,
n their round leather boats, set us across the river; they had hung some wood to their vessel,
and rowed with great rapidity; some others were proceeding towards the river, with their boats
hanging on their heads and down their backs. I shall describe these boats in the sequel.[1] At
three o'clock we reached the Mandan village of Ruhptare, where a number of Indians came to
the bank to greet their friends; Charbonneau hid himself, that they might not recognise him
and invite him ashore. He had five names among these Indians—the chief of the little village;
the man who possesses many gourds; the great horse from abroad; the forest bear; and
fifth, which, as often happens among these Indians, is not very refined. After we had passed the
bend in the river, we saw the second Mandan village, Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, and, at no great
distance beyond it, Fort Clarke, which we reached at four o'clock, and were welcomed on the
shore by Mr. Kipp, the director and clerk of the Fur Company, who led us to his house.