 | CHAPTER XXVIII. Travels in the interior of North America. |  |
CHAPTER XXVIII.
WINTER SOJOURN AT FORT CLARKE, FROM NOVEMBER 8TH TO THE END OF 1833.
Present State of Fort Clarke—Mr. Mc Kenzie's Journey—Peace between the Mandans and the Yanktonans—Ravages of
the Cholera on the Lower Missouri—Mato-Topé—Sih-Chida—Return of my People to Fort Union—Sih-Sa—
Narrative of Dipauch—Completion of our New Dwelling—Visit to a Winter Village of the Manitaries—The Great
Buffalo Medicine Fête—Juggleries of the Manitari Women—Visit to the Winter Village of the Mandans—Festivity
on the Sale of the Dance of the Half-shorn Head—Hunting Excursion—Cold Snow-storms — Accounts from
St. Louis—Dance of the Ascho-Ochata—Violation of the Peace by the Sioux—Christmas Festivals—Dance of the
Women of the White Buffalo Cow—News from Fort Union—Scarcity of Provisions—Employment of the Dogs
for drawing Sledges—Dance of the Half-shorn Head in the Fort—Departure of Mr. Kipp to Fort Union—Increase
of the Cold.
No important change had taken place at Fort Clarke during our absence. We found there,
besides Mr. Kipp the director, and his family, two interpreters, Belhumeur for the Mandan
language, and Ortubize for the Sioux; the former was a half-breed Chippeway, and did not
speak the Mandan language as well as Mr. Kipp. Besides these men and their families there
were in the fort only six white engagés, one of whom was a smith: some of them were married
to Indian women. We unfortunately missed Mr. Mc Kenzie, who had left only four days before
to return to Fort Union. We had received, through him, a very welcome packet of letters from
Germany, which I found here. As I had written to Mr. Mc Kenzie, requesting him to provide
us with a winter residence at Fort Clarke, in order more closely to study the Indian tribes in the
neighbourhood, instead of accepting his invitation to pass that season with him at Fort Union,
where we should have been accommodated in a far more comfortable and agreeable manner,
he had had the kindness to give orders for completing a new building at Fort Clarke, in which
we were to reside. This order unfortunately came too late, and it was necessary to finish the
work in a hurry in the month of November, when the frost was very severe, particularly during
against the cold. The large crevices in the wood which formed the walls, were plastered
up with clay, but the frost soon cracked it, so that the bleak wind penetrated on all sides. Our
new house, which was one story high, consisted of two light, spacious apartments, with large
glass windows; we inhabited one of these rooms, while the other served for a workshop for the
carpenter and the joiner. Each room had a brick chimney, in which we burnt large blocks of
green poplar, because, for want of hands, no stock of dry wood had been laid in for the winter.
The consequence was, that we were obliged to send men every morning, with small carts or
sledges, for some miles into the forest, to fetch wood for the daily consumption, which in the
intense cold was a truly laborious task. An engagé who was employed in our service brought
the wood covered with ice and snow into our room, which considerably increased the cold which
we already experienced.
As our lodging was not habitable for some time after our arrival, and there was no other
room in the fort, Mr. Kipp received us in the small apartment which he himself inhabited with his
family, and, though our beds were removed in the morning, yet our presence made it more difficult
and troublesome to find accommodation for the numerous Indian visitors who came every
day. The stores of the fort were at this time well filled; there were goods to the value of 15,000
dollars, and, in the loft, from 600 to 800 bushels of maize, which a great number of Norway rats
assiduously laboured to reduce. Some changes had taken place among the Indians in the vicinity
of the fort. At the time of my first visit, in the summer of 1833, the Yanktonans had
expressed a wish to make peace with the Mandans and the Manitaries, in which they did not succeed
at that time, but accomplished it in September. Two hundred tents of those Sioux had then
been pitched in the prairie behind the village; they remained there three or four days, and some
traces of their camp still remained. There had been feasting and dances, and Fort Clarke was
crowded the whole day with Indians of the three tribes. At this time the prairie in the neighbourhood
of the fort was desolate and deserted; part of the Indians had already gone to their
winter villages in the forest; many, however, remained in the summer villages, and we had
plenty of Indian visitors during the whole winter.
Unpleasant news was received from the United States. The cholera had again broken out
at St. Louis, and carried off a great number of persons. It had been brought, by the steamboats,
to the trading-posts on the Lower Missouri; at Bellevue, Major Dougherty's post, seven of
the ten white inhabitants had died in a few days. The major himself had been very ill, but had
happily recovered. Several persons were likewise carried off at the post of Major Pilcher,
formerly that of Mr. Cabanné. This dangerous disease had not penetrated to that part of the
country where we were; but, as there was too much reason to apprehend that it might extend so
far, Mr. Mc Kenzie had taken a young physician with him to Fort Union.
Our first employment was to go on hunting excursions into the prairies round the fort,
which afforded us an opportunity of collecting the seeds of the dried plants of the prairie. On
one of these excursions, when Mr. Bodmer and Mr. Kipp had gone out together, they happened
to separate, when a couple of Indians approached the former with their bows bent, and uttering
the war-whoop; he cocked his double-barrelled gun, and prepared to defend himself, when Mr.
Kipp came up, and relieved him from these unwelcome visitors, the Indians taking flight as soon
as they perceived him. Fresh scaffoldings for the dead were erected in the vicinity of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush,
several Indians having died of the hooping-cough, which was very prevalent.
Every day we saw inhabitants of the summer villages removing, with much baggage,
laden horses and dogs, to the winter villages. Among other things they carried the strange
dresses belonging to the several bands, such as the buffalo heads of the band, Berock-Ochata, and
a live owl, which they keep as a fortune-teller. Other Indians dragged dead dogs by a strap, probably
as a bait to catch wolves or foxes. We heard, in the village, loud lamentations, and saw
the women working at the erection of a scaffold for a woman who had just died.
On the 13th of November, early in the morning, several Indians arrived, who related, with
much gravity, that in the preceding night they had observed an extraordinary number of falling
stars, all moving in a westerly direction, which they said was a sign of war, or of a great mortality,
and asked Mr. Kipp what he thought of it. Many other Indians visited us, of whom
several were in mourning, that is, rubbed over with white clay, and all of them spoke of the
ominous phenomenon. They were much pleased with Mr. Bodmer's Indian drawings, and asked
us many questions about their enemies, the Blackfeet. Among our most constant visitors were
the distinguished chief, Mato-Topé, and Sih-Chida (the yellow feather). The former came with
his wife and a pretty little boy, to whom he had given the name of Mato-Berocka (the male bear).
He brought his medicine drum, painted red and black (Plate XLVIII. Fig. 17), which he hung
up in our room, and so afforded Mr. Bodmer an opportunity of making a drawing of it. Sih-Chida,
a tall, stout young man, the son of a celebrated chief now dead, was an Indian who might
be depended on, who became one of our best friends, and visited us almost daily. He was very
polished in his manners, and possessed more delicacy of feeling than most of his countrymen.
He never importuned us by asking for anything; as soon as dinner was served he withdrew,
though he was not rich, and did not even possess a horse. He came almost every evening, when
his favourite employment was drawing, for which he had some talent, though his figures were
no better than those drawn by our little children. Ortubize, the interpreter, had moved, with
his family, to the post of Picotte, a trader among the Yanktonans, where he was to pass the
winter. The people who had been sent thither returned, on the 14th of November, with the
information that the Sioux were dispersed in the prairie, and that they had made capital bargains
with them for beavers' skins. At our post we had to encounter the mercantile opposition of Messrs.
armed men now consisted of seventeen engagés, Mr. Kipp went to work, and had my Mackinaw
boat drawn to land, and secured from the ice, a task which the people had much difficulty in
accomplishing. The 15th of November was the first day we saw ice in the Missouri; the sand
banks were covered with a wide, thick sheet of ice, and, although the river was still open, no
aquatic birds had been seen for a long time; while, on the other hand, small flights of Fringilla
linaria, which travels southward in the winter, appeared in the prairie.
On the 16th November Mr. Kipp sent the men who had come down with me back, on foot,
to Fort Union. They took with them two dogs, which drew well-laden travails (sledges), and hoped
to arrive there in about nine days. We had a visit from the wolf chief, Charata-Numakshi, accompanied
by half-a-dozen Manitaries, among whom was a tall, stout fellow, named Tichinga; his
hair was tied in a thick knot on his forehead; to this was attached a piece of leather, so ornamented
with fringes that his eyes were almost concealed, and he could hardly see. At midday I
saw the first flight of the snow bunting (Emberiza nivalis), on the Missouri. They pass the winter
here in the prairie bushes, and live upon such seeds as they can pick up. Sih-Sa (the red
feather), the young Mandan Indian who, during the day, takes charge of the horses belonging to
the fort in the prairie, came back to-day, having painted his whole body with spots of white clay.
I asked him why he had done this? to which he replied, that he was thereby enabled to run
faster. We likewise received a visit from a Mandan of half French extraction, named Kipsan-Nüka
(the little tortoise), whose father was a French Canadian. He affirmed that he had
formerly spoken French and English, but he had entirely forgotten both. Neither his features
nor his colour differed materially from the other Indians, whose manners, customs, and dress he
closely followed. Every evening brought me a visit from Dipauch, who came to tell me all the
legends and traditions, as well as the religious views of his people—conversations which interested
me much, and which frequently lasted till late at night. Among his auditors were several young
people, who sat listening with the most riveted attention to the disjointed sentences of our
narrator; while Mr. Kipp, with great patience, performed the office of interpreter.
On the 17th of November we were visited by an old chief, Ahda-Miga (the man without
arms), who, however, has no longer any influence among them. The bowl of his tobacco-pipe
was made of an old iron gun-barrel. Mr. Kipp had many similar bowls made by the smith,
which he sold to the Indians for six dollars. Dipauch and his friend, Berock-Itainu (the bull's
neck), who was his inseparable companion, were presented with bowls of this kind, made in the
form usual among the Indians. In the evening a white wolf approached so closely to the fort,
that he was fired at from the gate, and attacked by our dogs.
On the 22nd of November we took possession of our new apartment, which was now completed,
except that the whitewashed walls were still damp, and the constant wind generally
which we now applied with great assiduity, to make up for the time we had lost. The large
windows afforded a good light for drawing, and we had a couple of small tables and some benches
of poplar wood, and three shelves against the walls, on which we spread our blankets and
buffaloes' skins, and reposed during the night. The room was floored; the door was furnished
with bolts on the inside, and the fire-wood, covered with frozen snow, was piled up close to the
chimney. We all felt indisposed soon after we took up our abode in this lodging, and were obliged
to have recourse to medicine, but this was, probably, to be ascribed principally to the way of living
and the state of the weather; for Sih-Sa and other Indians had bowel complaints, catarrh, and
violent coughs, for which Mr. Kipp gave them medicines. I examined all the medical stock of the
fort, and found neither peppermint nor other herbs, which would have been serviceable at this
time; only a handful of elder flowers, and rather more of American camomile, which has a
different taste to the European. There were some common remedies, but unfortunately we
were without a medical man. Snow-storms, with a high west wind, had set in, and on the 23rd
the country was covered with snow, and the Missouri froze for the first time on that day, below
the village of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, and it is remarkable that it was frozen on the very same
day in the preceding year. We saw the Indian women, as soon as the river was covered with
ice, break holes in it, to wash their heads and the upper part of their bodies. The Indians
had brought many beaver skins for sale, of which Mr. Kipp purchased eleven large ones, in
exchange for a horse and some red cloth; the remainder, for which they demanded another
horse, they took back with them. We had a visit from a young Mandan who had a bag
made of the skin of the prairie dog, containing some pieces of a transparent selenite from which
these Indians extract a white colour by burning it in the fire. Mato-Topé had passed the evening
with us, and, when we went to bed, laid himself down before the fire, where he soon fell asleep.
On the following morning he rose early, washed himself, but left his two buffalo skins lying
carelessly on the floor, for us to gather them up, these Indians taking every opportunity to be
waited on by the Whites. As we were molested during the night by numerous rats, we put
my little tame prairie fox into the loft above us, where some maize was kept, and here he did
excellent service. This pretty little fox afforded us much amusement during the long winter
evenings. He was nearly a year old, but still liked to be caressed, and played all kinds of
antics to attract notice.
Several wolves, which the Indians had brought to me, were laid down near the fort, after
they had been stripped of their skins, but we did not succeed in alluring one of their species by
this bait. Dreidoppel, on his excursion, had killed a couple of wolves, which he allured by
imitating the voice of a hare, and then shot with his fowling-piece. The hares had now put on
their white winter coats, and could scarely be distinguished from the surrounding snow. They
snow on the prairie.
On the evening of the 25th of November we were alarmed by information that some hostile
Indians were near the fort. Dipauch and Berock-Itainu, who were called the soldiers of the fort,
immediately took their arms, cautiously opened the gate, and discovered a Manitari, who was
concealed near one of the block-houses, from which he was soon driven rather roughly. At this
time, Charbonneau came to invite us to a great medicine feast among the Manitaries, an
invitation which I gladly accepted.
On the morning of the 26th we had fine weather and a clear sky, very favourable for our
expedition. At nine o'clock, Bodmer, Charbonneau and myself set out, on foot, with our double-barrelled
guns and the requisite ammunition, accompanied by a young Manitari warrior. We
proceeded up the Missouri in a direction parallel with the river, leaving Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush
on our right hand, and taking the way to Ruhptare which runs along the edge of the high
Plateau, below which there is a valley extending to the Missouri, covered with the maize plantations
of the Mandans, with some willow thickets and high reeds. On the left hand the prairie
extended to the hills: it was covered with low, withered, yellowish grass, and presented a barren,
desolate appearance. After proceeding about an hour, we came to a stone, undoubtedly one of
those isolated blocks of granite which are scattered over the whole prairie, and which the Indians,
from some superstitious notion, paint with vermilion, and surround with little sticks, or rods, to
which were attached some feathers. This stone, and many similar ones in the prairie, are considered,
by many Indians, as medicine; but I was not able to learn what ideas they entertain
concerning the one here described. A little farther on, in a small ravine which crosses the path,
there was an elm, the trunk of which was painted in many places with vermilion; rags, stained
with vermilion, were suspended from it, together with a little bag containing some of the same
colour, as a sign that the tree was sacred or medicine. A covey of prairie hens rose, with loud
cries, from this ravine. At this spot 1000 or 1200 Sioux had attacked the united Mandans and
Manitaries thirty years before, but lost 100 of their people. One of those Indians was afraid to
proceed on this path, because he suspected that a wolf-pit, or trap, might be in the way; but the
partisan, or chief, wishing to shame him, went before, and actually fell into such a pit, with
sharpened stakes at the bottom, by which he was killed. From this place we came, in about
half an hour, to the Mandan village, Ruhptare, which is now totally abandoned. The construction
of the huts and medicines, the stages for the dead, everything, in short, is just the same
as at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, only a much greater number of the stages stood near the huts, and
flocks of ravens sat upon them. To the left of the village there is a little hill, which was quite
covered with these strange erections, and poles with offerings suspended from them.
We went through the village, in the centre of which there is a circular space, with the representation
of the ark of the first man, and the figure of Ochkih-Hadda on a pole before the
medicine lodge. We soon came to the bank of the river, and saw three Indians attempting to
cross the ice of the Missouri, which had scarcely been frozen over twenty-four hours. Charbonneau
went first, and we followed him on the path marked out by some poles stuck in the ice.
While we were proceeding, carefully examining the ice with the but-end of our guns, we were
overtaken by the old Mandan chief, Kahka-Chamahan (the little raven), who wore a round hat,
with a plume of feathers, and who now led the way. After we had passed the Missouri we met, on
the beach, some elegantly dressed Mandans, with whom we did not stop to converse. We turned
to the close willow thicket which skirted an extensive forest on the north bank of the river: the
path led through it, in many windings, till we reached the winter village, Ruhptare, which is
closely surrounded by a thicket of willow, poplar, ash, cornus, and elm. Here the chief took leave
of us, as we could not accept his invitation to his hut. We saw the women everywhere busy in
tanning skins, and carrying wood. Most of the high trees in the forest had been cut down; but
there was a shrub-like symphoria, with rounded elliptical leaves, and small bunches of whitish-green
berries, which, when quite ripe, are of a bluish-black colour. This plant grows in great
abundance as underwood in all the forests in these parts. Vitis, celastrus, and clematis, were
entwined about some of the trees, but the wild vine was nowhere thicker than a little finger.
There are many open spots in the wood, covered with thin grass and other kinds of plants, and
also reeds.
We followed the winding path through this intricate wilderness, to the hills which bound the
prairie, at the foot of which we proceeded parallel to the Missouri: they are partly clay hills, of
angular forms, from which marshy springs issue in many places, all which were at this time frozen
over. Several of these places were covered with extensive thickets of reeds, and at the foot of the
hills there were some bushes, among which the Indians had set fox-traps, which they endeavour
to conceal with brushwood and buffaloes' skulls laid on it. We here saw some Indians, and
heard the report of their guns. At the foot of the hills we saw the footsteps of the Virginian
deer, but we observed only a few birds, chiefly crows, ravens, snow buntings, and the coal titmouse.
When we had gone about half an hour, the hills receded from the river, and as soon as the wood
terminates, the wide prairie extends along the Missouri, where we lately visited, on our arrival,
Ita-Widahki-Hischa (the red shield). We proceeded for several hours through the desolate plain,
which was covered with yellow, withered grass, now and then broken by gentle eminences,
where bleached buffaloes' bones, especially skulls, are scattered about. We met with a couple of
Indians, heavily laden with skins, resting themselves, who immediately asked us for tobacco.
We had here an opportunity of seeing the wolf pits, in which the Indians fix sharp stakes, and the
began to be very painful, we sat down to rest near a stream, now almost dry, bordered with high
grass, which at this time was lying on the ground. As I was no longer accustomed to such long
journeys on foot, I had asked Mr. Kipp for horses for this journey, but there were none in the fort
at that time. Our European boots and shoes had wounded our feet, and it was with much pain
that we ascended the pretty steep hills which now again came nearer to the river. I obtained
from Charbonneau a pair of Indian shoes, in which I found it easier to walk, but the thorns of the
cactus, which grew on the hills, pierced through them, and caused me pain in another way.
Towards evening, when we descended from the hills to the river, we again came to an
extensive wood on the banks, in which one of the winter villages of the Manitaries is situated.
We had, however, to walk several miles along a very winding path before we reached it. Being
extremely tired, and our feet sore and wounded, it cost us some exertion to get over fallen trunks
of trees, sharp stones, &c., in the way. The scenes which are inseparable from the dwellings of
the Indians soon appeared; slender young men, galloping without saddle, who were driving their
horses home from the pasture; women cutting or carrying wood, and the like. A young Indian
joined us, who immediately offered, out of civility, to carry my gun, which I did not accept. He
was an Arikkara, who had been captured, when a child, by the Manitaries—a good-tempered,
well-behaved young man. He was tall and slender, with a pleasing countenance, long, narrow
eyes, and a slightly curved nose.
It was nearly nightfall when we reached the Manitari village, the large huts of which were
built so close to each other that it was sometimes difficult to pass between them. We heard loud
lamentations as we approached, and learnt that a child had just died, and that a corpse had been
deposited, a few days before, on poles placed in the boughs of a tree. At the farther end of the
village was the residence of Mr. Dougherty—a long, low, log-house, divided into three apartments,
of which that in the centre was used for a storehouse, the northern apartment being assigned to
the family, and the southern to the engagés. We were received with much kindness, and, being
thoroughly tired by a fatiguing journey of, at least, nine leagues, we were truly glad to rest our
weary limbs before a blazing fire. A number of Manitari Indians were assembled, who, however,
gradually retired whilst we took some refreshment, not having tasted anything since we breakfasted
at Fort Clarke. It being reported that herds of buffaloes were at no great distance, a party of
Indians resolved to give them chase on the following day, and to implore the blessing of heaven
upon their undertaking by a great medicine feast. Notwithstanding the pain I suffered in walking,
the prospect of witnessing so novel a scene was so exciting that I immediately set out about seven
o'clock in the evening, accompanied by Dougherty and Charbonneau, to see the Indian ceremony,
which was instituted by the women. Between the huts, in the centre of the village, an elliptical
of reeds and willow twigs inclining inwards. (See the woodcut.) An entrance was left at a;
the whole time. At e the elder and principal men had taken their seats; to the right sat the old
chief, Lachpitzi-Sihrisch (the yellow bear); some parts of his face were painted red, and a
bandage of yellow skin encircled his head. Places were assigned to us on the right hand of the
yellow bear. At f, close to the fence, the spectators, especially the women, were seated: the
men walked about, some of them handsomely dressed, others quite simply; children were seated
round the fires, which they kept alive by throwing twigs of willow trees into them. Soon after
Charbonnean had introduced us to this company, six elderly men advanced in a row from the
opposite hut, and stopped for a moment at the entrance of the great medicine lodge. They had
been chosen, by the young men, to represent buffalo bulls, for which they afterwards received
presents. Each of them carried a long stick, at the top of which three or four black feathers were
fastened; then, at regular intervals, the whole length of the stick was ornamented with small
bunches of the hoofs of buffalo calves, and at the lower end of the stick were some bells. In their
left hand they carried a battle-axe, or war club, and two of them had a stuffed skin which they
called a badger, and used as a drum. They stood at the entrance, rattled their sticks incessantly,
sang alternately, and imitated, with great perfection, the hoarse voice of the buffalo bull. They
were followed by a tall man, whose physiognomy strikingly resembled that of a Botocudo. He
wore a cap, trimmed with fur, because he had been formerly scalped in a battle. He represented
the director of the ceremony and the leader of the old bulls, behind whom he made his appearance.
The bulls now entered the medicine lodge and took their seats at c, near the fence, behind one of
the fires. In front of them they laid the badger, which is equivalent to what is called the tortoise
in the Okippe of the Mandans. Each of the bulls fixed his weapon in the ground before him;
two of them had clubs, with a head, on which a human face was carved. Several young men
before the guests. These dishes were handed to each person successively, who passed them on
after tasting a small quantity. Empty wooden dishes were frequently brought and placed at our
feet, the reason of which I could not, at first, comprehend, but soon learned from my neighbour,
the Yellow Bear. As soon as the provision bearer—a tall, handsome, very robust, and broad-shouldered
man, wearing only his breechcloth, ornamented at the back with long tufts of hair—
came to take away one of these empty dishes, the old chief held his hands before his face, sang,
and made a long speech, which seemed to me to be a prayer uttered in a low tone of voice, and
then gave him the dish. These speeches contained good wishes for success in hunting the
buffalo, and in war. They invoke the heavenly powers to favour the hunters and the warriors.
In this manner two dishes were sometimes placed before us, and we also exerted ourselves in
uttering good wishes in the English and German languages, which the Indians guessed from our
motions, though they could not understand our words. If the speech was lengthy, they were
specially gratified; the provision bearer stooped, listening very attentively, nodded his satisfaction,
and passed his hand over our right arm from the shoulder to the wrist, and sometimes over both
arms, and then again spoke a few words expressive of his thanks. In this manner the ceremony
of the repast lasted above an hour; every person present partook of it, and offered up their good
wishes for a successful buffalo chase. Meantime, the young men, in the centre of the space,
prepared the tobacco pipes, which they brought first to the old men and the visitors; they
presented the mouth-piece of the pipe to us in succession, going from right to left: we each took
a few whiffs, uttered, as before, a wish or prayer, and passed the pipe to our next neighbours.
Among those who carried the dishes and pipes, there was another young man who had been
scalped, and who also wore a cap; he had received many wounds in the attack made by the
Sioux on the Manitari villages, and had been left on the field as dead. The pipe bearers often
turned their pipes towards the cardinal points, and performed various superstitious manœuvres with
them. The six buffalo bulls, meantime, sitting behind the fire, sang, and rattled the medicine
sticks, while one of them constantly beat the badger skin. After a while they all stood up, bent
forward, and danced; that is, they leaped as high as they could with both their feet together,
continuing to sing and rattle their sticks, one of them beating time on the badger. Their song
was invariably the same, consisting of loud, broken notes and exclamations. When they had
danced for some time, they resumed their seats.
The whole was extremely interesting. The great number of red men, in a variety of
costumes, the singing, dancing, beating the drum, &c., while the lofty trees of the forest, illumined
by the fires, spread their branches against the dark sky, formed a tout ensemble so striking and
original, that I much regretted the impracticability of taking a sketch of it on the spot.
When the ceremony had continued a couple of hours, the women began to act their part. A
on under her robe; she then went up to one of the most distinguished men, passed her hand over
his arm, from the shoulder downwards, and then withdrew slowly from the lodge. The person
so summoned follows her to a solitary place in the forest; he may then buy himself off by presents,
which, however, few Indians do. This honour was offered to us, but we returned to the lodge,
after having made a present, on which pipes were again handed to us. The fires already burnt
dim, many Indians had retired, and we asked the old chief, whether we might be permitted to do
the same? At first he refused, but, on our repeating the question, he gave us leave. On other
occasions, when circumstances allow all the inhabitants of the village to unite, many additional
ceremonies take place; more dances are performed, and each of the bands dances that which is
peculiar to itself, which could not be done to-day. The dance of the old buffalo bulls, with entire
buffalo skulls, is said to be very interesting. This festival always continues for four successive
nights, and, even on this occasion, the rioting and noise continued uninterruptedly throughout the
night.
On the following morning, the 27th of November, the weather continued bright and clear.
I observed in the thickets near the dwelling of Dougherty, large numbers of the little coal
titmouse, but no other bird except the Picus pubescens. A number of Indians congregated very
early around our fire, one of them having even ventured to take up his night's quarters with us.
The Yellow Bear and the man who was scalped came early, the former to beg for some coffee;
he looked miserable and faint, as if he were in want of food, and had a black silk handkerchief
tied round his head. The scene outside was very animated: we observed many very handsome
young men, in fine new dresses, some of whom were playing the game called billiards, and on the
river, which was now quite frozen over, many children and young people were amusing themselves
with sliding and other gambols. Some women were bringing wood from the forest, others
cutting holes in the ice to procure water, and some playing with a leathern ball, which they flung
upon the ice, caught it, and then threw it into the air, catching it as it fell. At noon the thermometer
was at 47°, but a high wind arose, and we were obliged to pass the whole day under
shelter of Mr. Dougherty's roof, where we witnessed many very interesting scenes, the apartments
being visited by a succession of Indians throughout the day.
The following day was spent in the same manner. The younger people, half naked, again
played upon the ice, and I paid a visit, accompanied by Charbonneau, to the Yellow Bear. Mr.
Dougherty had formerly resided in the hut which he now inhabited, and for which he had to pay
80 or 100 dollars. The beds, consisting of square leathern cases, were placed along the sides of
this spacious hut, and the inmates sat round the fire variously occupied. The Yellow Bear,
wearing only his breechcloth, sat upon a bench made of willow boughs, covered with skin, and was
painting a new buffalo robe with figures in vermilion and black, having his colours standing by
substitute of a sharp pointed piece of wood. The robe was ornamented with the symbols of
valuable presents which he had made, and which had gained the Yellow Bear much reputation,
and made him a man of distinction.
About twenty Manitaries had gone to hunt buffaloes, and, as we had no meat, we waited
with no small degree of impatience for their return. Our fast was of longer duration than we
liked, for it was late before a few of our hunters arrived, and the scalped man brought us some
meat, so that we did not get our meal till evening. At nightfall, a handsome young man came to us,
accompanied by two girls, it being the custom of the Indian youths to stroll about in this manner.
They had not been long in our room, when somebody knocked at the door, on which the two girls
crept into Charbonneau's bed to hide themselves, as they suspected it was some of their friends
come to look after them; but it proved to be only a messenger from Charbonneau, who,
wishing to procure us a pleasant diversion for the evening, let us know that the women in a
certain hut were about to perform a medicine dance; and, availing ourselves of the intimation,
we hastened to the spot without loss of time.
On the left hand of the wooden screen at the door of the hut a fire was burning, and before it
were spread out skins upon some hay, on which five or six men were seated in a row, one of
whom beat the drum, and the other rattled the schischikué. They were more than usually
vehement in the performance of this music; the drummer especially exerted himself to the utmost,
and all the rest accompanied him with singing. Some elderly women were seated near the wall;
a tall, robust woman, however, especially attracted our attention; she was standing in the centre
of the hut; her dress consisted of a long yellow leather robe, trimmed with a quantity of fringes,
and ornamented with pieces of red and blue cloth. We took our places to the right of the
musicians, just in front of a number of spectators, consisting of women and children, who were
prevented from pressing forward by a young man, who made use of the official dignity of a stick,
with which he was invested for the occasion. The woman standing in the centre pretended that
she had a head of maize in her stomach, which she would conjure up, and again cause to disappear.
We had come rather too late, for the ear of maize had already disappeared; but Charbonneau
spoke to the people, to whom we gave ten carrots of tobacco, and the trick was repeated.
Our tobacco was thrown on a heap of roasted buffalo ribs, which were piled up on willow boughs,
and there it remained till the end of the ceremony, the object of which was to procure a good
crop of maize in the succeeding year. The din of the music now recommenced with renewed
vehemence, and four women began to move. They waddled like ducks, making short steps, with
their feet turned inwards, and keeping time to the quick beat of the drum; while their arms hung
down motionless by their sides. The medicine woman danced alone near the fire, to which she
move her arms backwards and forwards, and to use convulsive motions, which became more and
more violent. Now, as she threw her head backwards, we saw the top of a white head of maize
fill her mouth, and gradually came more forward, while her contortions greatly increased. When
the head of maize was half out of her mouth, the dancer seemed ready to sink down, when another
woman advanced, laid hold of her and seated her on the ground. Here, supported by her companion,
she fell into convulsions, and the music became overpoweringly violent. Other women
brushed the arm and breast of the performers with bunches of wormwood, and the head of maize
gradually disappeared; on which the juggleress rose, danced twice round the hut, and was
sncceeded by another female. After this second woman had danced in the same manner, a stream
of blood suddenly rushed from her mouth over her chin, which, however, she extracted from a
piece of leather that she held in her mouth. She, too, was cured of her convulsions as she lay
on the ground, and then danced around the fire. Other women came forward and danced behind
one another, which concluded the ceremony.
Almost all these people pretended that they had some animal in their stomach; some a
buffalo calf, others a deer, &c. The scalped man told us that he had a buffalo calf in his left
shoulder, and often felt it kick. Another, who pretended that he had three live lizards in his
inside, complained to Charbonneau that these animals gave him pain, on which Charbonneau
gave him a cup of coffee, but as this remedy did not relieve him, a cup of tea was given him,
and this produced the desired effect. Notions of this kind are so common among the Indians,
and they are said to have so firm a hold on the faith of the people, that it would be labour lost to
attempt to convince them of their folly.
On the 29th of November, during which we continued in the Manitari village, the whole
forest was covered with hoar frost; all the woods on the banks were clothed in white, and the
red youths were sporting on the ice; the whole forming an interesting and animated scene. Mr.
Bodmer painted several animals and birds for the Indians, such as cocks, eagles, &c., which they
pretended would make them proof against musket balls. In the evening Mr. Bodmer and Dougherty
again went to the medicine feast, but the women did not, on this occasion, make their
appearance, for which nobody, not even Charbonneau, who was so well acquainted with the
Indians, could assign any reason. After dark our house-door was twice forced open, and we
again observed how much more rude and savage the Manitaries are than the Mandans. Dougherty,
who did not yet possess a fort, and was obliged to live among the former, suffered greatly
from their importunity and rudeness; he was afraid even to give them a refusal, lest he might
thereby bring upon himself greater inconveniences, for a continued and close intercourse with
these people is always attended with danger. We had not been able to borrow horses to
a clerk of Messrs. Soublette and Campbell, who had arrived on horseback, returned with us,
and allowed Mr. Bodmer to ride with him.
At nine o'clock we took leave of our kind hosts, Dougherty and Charbonneau, and set
out on our return. In the forest-village belonging to the inhabitants of Ruhptare, we stopped
at a hut, in which Garreau, an old trader of Messrs. Soublette and Campbell, resided. There
was an abundance of meat hanging up in this hut, as they had had a very successful buffalo
hunt. From this place I sent back my horse; but Durand, though with great difficulty, got
his across the frozen river; the poor beast was nearly exhausted, it often slipped, and sometimes
fell down. At twilight we reached Fort Clarke, where, during our absence, good news
had been received of the cessation of the cholera in St. Louis and the neighbourhood.
During November the weather had, on the whole, been tolerably pleasant: a few days
were stormy, with some snow and slight frost; and this kind of weather continued at the
beginning of December. A high stage of strong posts was erected in our court-yard, where
a part of the stock of maize was deposited, thereby to protect it from the voracity of the rats.
It was defended from the rain by the leather covering of Indian tents.
The Mandan village near the fort was now entirely forsaken by the inhabitants. The
entrances to the huts were blocked with bundles of thorns; a couple of families only still remained,
one of which was that of Dipauch, whom Mr. Bodmer visited every day, in order to make a
drawing of the interior of the hut. (Plate XIX.) Instead of the numerous inhabitants, magpies
were flying about, and flocks of snow buntings were seen in the neighbourhood about the dry
plants of the prairie, where the Indian children set long rows of snares, made of horsehair, to
catch them alive.
Belhumeur had been sent several times to the prairie, and had brought back buffaloes' flesh;
but the animals were so far off that we could not always be supplied, and were forced to live on
hard dried meat and boiled maize; our beverage consisted of coffee and the water of the Missouri.
Dreidoppel had killed several wolves, prairie dogs, and prairie hens; the Indians had brought me
some white hares and other smaller animals. One of our dogs was shot in the foot by an Indian,
with an arrow. Neither the motive nor the perpetrator of this hostile act could be discovered.
Having been invited by the Indians to the winter village, to be present at a great medicine
feast, we proceeded thither, on the 3rd of December, in the afternoon. Mr. Kipp took his family
with him, and Mato-Topé and several other Indians accompanied us. We were all well armed,
because it was asserted that a band of hostile Indians had been seen among the prairie hills on the
preceding day. Our beds, blankets, and buffalo skins were laid on a horse, on which Mr. Kipp's
wife, a Mandan Indian, rode. Thus we passed, at a rapid pace, through the prairie, along the
Missouri, then below the hills, which are pretty high; and I cannot deny that, in the valleys and
anxiously to the right and left to see whether any enemies would issue from their ambush. We
had to pass a narrow gorge behind a little thick copse, where many Indians had been killed by
their enemies. After proceeding about an hour and a half we reached the village in the wood,
which is the winter residence of the inhabitants of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. We stopped at the
hut of Mr. Kipp's father-in-law, Mandeek-Suck-Choppenik (the medicine bird), who accommodated
us with a night's lodging. The description of this hut may serve for all the winter huts of these
Indians. It was about twenty paces in diameter, and circular: h is the fence or wall of the hut,
to let the smoke escape; g is the entrance, protected by two projecting walls covered above. At
f is the door, consisting of a piece of leather stretched on a frame. At d d there is a cross wall
of considerable height, made of reeds and osier twigs woven together, to keep off the draught of
air. At e e e there is another cross wall, only three feet high, behind which the horses stand; a is
the fireplace, round which, at c c c c, are the seats of the inmates, consisting of benches formed of
basket-work, covered with skins; b b b b are four strong pillars which bear the roof, and are very
well united above by cross beams. At i there was a large leather case for the beds in which the
family slept. A chain, with a large kettle, was suspended from the roof over the fire, to cook
our supper, consisting of very pleasant flavoured sweet maize. The master of the hut was
absent, but his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, received us very kindly. We had still a little time
before the commencement of the medicine feast, which consisted of the dance of the half-shorn
head, which the soldiers sold to the raven band. This feast was to last forty nights, and the
son-in-law of our host was among the sellers. We sat round the fire and smoked, while the drum
was beat in the village to call the two parties together. After seven o'clock we repaired to the
medicine lodge; it was entirely cleared, except that some women sat along the walls; the fire
burned in the centre, before which we took our seats, near the partition d d, with several distinguished
men of the band of the soldiers. At our left hand, the other soldiers, about twenty-five
in number, were seated in a row; some of them were handsomely dressed, though the majority
who beat the drum. On the right side of the fire stood the young men of the raven band, who
were the purchasers; they were obliged to satisfy the soldiers, who were the sellers, by making
them valuable presents, such as horses, guns, powder and ball, blankets of different colours,
kettles, &c.; to continue the feast forty nights; to regale them, for that time, with provisions and
tobacco, and offer their wives to them every evening. The soldiers had consented to these terms,
and the festival took place every evening in the following manner:—
We had all taken our seats before the band of the sellers arrived; but we soon heard them
singing, accompanied by the drum, and they entered with their insignia; these consisted of four
poles, or lances, seven or eight feet long, the iron points of which resembled sword blades, and
were held downwards; the rest of the instrument was wrapped round with broad bands of otter-skin,
like that of the Blackfeet, represented in the first woodcut, page 258, and decorated at the
point and other places with strips of skin: two of these poles are curved at the top. The others
were a club with an iron point, painted red and ornamented with feathers; then three lances,
decorated alternately with black and white feathers (see second woodcut, page 258); and, lastly,
a very beautifully ornamented bow and quiver. These nine insignia were brought in, the soldiers,
however, stopping, at first, near the door behind the cross wall. When they had remained for
some time in this position, singing and beating the drum with great violence, they entered, placed
the lances against the wall, and fixed the club in the ground near one of the pillars that supported
the hut; after which they all took their seats near the wall. While the singing and dancing were
continued alternately for some time, the purchasers filled their pipes and presented them to all
of us in succession. We took one or two whiffs; they did the same, and carried the pipe round
to the left hand, but offered it only to the visitors and to the sellers. This smoking continued a
long time, during which each of the guests received a small cake of sweet corn baked in fat. In
about half an hour two of the soldiers rose and danced opposite each other. One of them was a
tall, powerful man, with a weak, effeminate voice. He wore nothing but his robe and leggins,
but without any ornaments; he took the club and held it firmly in his left hand; his right hand
hung straight down; he bent his body forwards and danced, that is, he leaped with his feet close
together, keeping time with the music. The head and legs of the other dancer were very handsomely
ornamented, but the breast and shoulders were bare. He took one of the first four
lances, which he held in both hands, and the two men then danced, or leaped, opposite each
other. In a few minutes the first dancer put the lance aside and sat down, while all the other
members of this band uttered the war-whoop, accompanied by the quick beating of the drum, now
and then shouting aloud. Silence then ensued; the man with the club addressed the purchasers,
called them his sons, and enumerated some of his exploits; after which he presented to them
the war club. One of the purchasers called him his father, passed his hand along his arm, took
did the same, spoke of his exploits, and presented the lance to a man or son of the other band,
who received it with the same ceremony, and put it also in its place again. There were singing
and dancing in the intervals, but no schischikué was heard. Two other soldiers then rose, related
their deeds, how they had stolen horses, taken a medicine from the enemy, and the like, and presented
two of the insignia to the purchasers. When this had been done four or five times, the
women of the raven band rose; four of them threw aside their robes, snatched up the lances,
carried them successively out of the hut, and, some time after, brought them in again. They
hastened to pass by us, and some of them appeared to feel ashamed. This ceremony was
repeated twice: these women then came, passed their hands down the arms of the strangers and
of the fathers, took up their robes and went out, in the same manner as has been related in the
medicine feast of the Manitaries. When they returned the second time, Mr. Kipp rose to go
away, and I followed him. Some of the women were fat and corpulent, others very young, and
one but little past childhood.
This feast was continued in the same manner forty nights. During the purchase of the
dance of the half-shorn head, the buffalo medicine feast, which continues four nights, was
celebrated in another hut. We retired to the hut of the Medicine Bird, smoked our cigars, and
lay down in our clothes to sleep on buffalo skins spread on the floor. The weather was frosty,
and it was very cold even in the hut; the Indians set a watch, during the night, that they might
not be surprised by their enemies.
On the 4th of December, early in the morning, we left the village; we did not keep along
the hills, but took another path through the thickets, which led in some places over frozen
marshes, which were partly covered with reeds. The wood, which was spangled with hoar frost,
is very much cleared, and contains but few large trees. A high, cold south-east wind blew in the
prairie, and afterwards became violent. At eight o'clock we reached the fort, where we much
enjoyed a hot breakfast. Several Mandans came to see us, among whom was the strongest man
of this nation, named Beracha-Iruckcha (the broken pot), whom no one had yet been able to
overcome in wrestling, though he had been matched with white men, negroes, and Indians,
remarkable for their strength. Sih-Chida and Maksick-Karehde (the flying eagle), also visited us;
the latter was the tallest man among the Mandans, and belonged to the band of the soldiers.
(See Plate XX.; the figure in the back-ground represents the latter, and the one in front the former.)
Snow had already set in, yet still the buffaloes did not come nearer, and we were in want of
fresh meat, and of tallow to make candles; and all the meat we could get was obtained from
individual Indians returning from the chase. In the environs of the fort there were, at this time,
wolves, foxes, and a few hares, and during the night we heard the barking of the prairie wolves
(Canis latrans, Say), which prowled about, looking for any remnants of provisions. In our excursions
the streams, and set snares of iron wire, in order to learn what species of mice could bear this
winter weather. Our snares were often carried away by the wolves and foxes, but we frequently
caught the Mus leucopus, which is especially the prey of the weasel. If any one imitate the
voice of the hare, in order to attract the wolves, a number of magpies immediately come and
settle in the neighbourhood. Scarcely any kinds of birds were found in the forest but Pica
Hudsonica, Picus pubescens, Parus atracapillus, Fringilla linaria, and Tetrao phasianellus, of which
several were shot.
On the 10th of December, Charbonneau returned to the service of the American Fur Company,
and took up his quarters in the fort, which gave me an opportunity to have much conversation
with him respecting the Manitaries, with whom he was well acquainted. On the 11th,
Dreidoppel, with his rifle, shot a prairie wolf (Canis latrans) on the ice of the Missouri, which
crept into a burrow, where he could not get at it. He was returning to the fort, when a couple
of Indians called after him, who had dragged the animal alive from its retreat, and brought it to our
lodging, when Mr. Bodmer made a sketch of the head (see page 332). On the 13th of December,
when Fahrenheit's thermometer was at 17°, several birds of the species Bombycilla garrula
were brought to us: they are found in these parts during the summer also, and are said to breed
here, which I think is doubtful. I obtained many wolves from the quite white to the perfectly
grey, common variety, which the Indians sold for two rolls of tobacco a-piece. They also often
caught ermines in horsehair snares, which they sell dear. As we continued to be in want of fresh
meat and tallow, we had to send people for these necessaries to the Indian villages, and Mr. Kipp
likewise went thither in his sledge, in order to trade. On one occasion his horse broke through
the ice, so that it remained for an hour in the water, and was quite benumbed. An extremely
cold storm from the north had blown away the wooden screen from our chimney. On the 5th of
December, and on the preceding evening, we had a heavy fall of snow, which ceased when the
wind veered a little to the north. At eight o'clock the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer was
at 14°. The appearance of the prairie at this time was very remarkable, resembling the sea agitated
by a terrible storm. The extensive surface of the snow was carried by the wind in a cloud; it
was scarcely possible for the eye to bear the cold blast which drove the snow before it, and
enveloped us in a dense cloud, above which the sky was clear, and the tops of the prairie hills were
visible. We were, therefore, the more sensible of the enjoyment of our bright fire, seated about
which we passed our time agreeably in various occupations. About this time the enemy had
stolen six horses from the Manitaries. We had been for some time without meat, when the
Indians, hunting at a considerable distance, at the forks of Teton River, killed fifty-five buffaloes.
On this occasion, Mr. Kipp's horse was lost, which, bridled and saddled as it was, had joined a
herd of buffaloes; and two foals had perished in the cold.
On the 16th the mercury was at 2°, Fahrenheit, below zero. For some time past the water
in our room was frozen every day, notwithstanding the large fire which we kept up. Towards
the 19th of December, the weather was again fine; in a few days there was snow, and the
Missouri rose so high that it partly overflowed the ice that covered it. Some of Mr. Soublette's
people arrived from St. Louis, which they had left on the 14th of October, and confirmed the
accounts which we had already received of the cessation of the cholera. They told us that, in
October, the snow was fifteen inches deep on the banks of the Konzas River, and that the party
escorting the caravan from Santa Fé had been so closely hemmed in by the Indians (probably
Arikkaras), that they had been compelled, by want of provisions, to slaughter fourteen of their horses.
On the 22nd of December, a number of white maggots were found under a piece of poplar
bark, which were completely enclosed in ice, but all came to life when they were warmed at the
fire. On the 23rd, the mercury was at 10°, Fahrenheit, above zero; the sky was bright and
clear, the wind blew from the east, the icy covering of the river smoked, and the woods were
covered with hoar frost. The ravens came near to the fort to pick up food; the wolves, in consequence
of our frequent excursions, had retired to a greater distance.
On this day, at noon, we heard the drums of the Indians, and a crowd of their people filled
the fort. At their head were fourteen men of the band of the bulls, from Ruhptare, distinguished
by their strange costume (see subjoined woodcut):
The whole head was covered with a wig, consisting of long plaits of hair, which hung down
on every side, so that even the face was completely concealed. The appearance of these
men was very singular in the cold weather, for their breath issued from between the plaits of hair
like a dense vapour. They wore in their heads feathers of owls, ravens, and birds of prey, each
of which had at the tip a large white down feather. One of them had a very handsome fan of
white feathers on his head, doubtless the entire tail of a swan, each of the feathers having at the
tip a tuft of dyed horsehair. They were closely enveloped in their robes, and had bow-lances
ornamented with feathers, coloured cloth, beads, &c., and most of them had foxes' tails at their
heels. Some of these men beat the drum, while they all formed a circle, and imitated the
bellowing of the buffalo bulls. After they had danced awhile, some tobacco was thrown
to them, and they proceeded to the village in the forest further down the river, taking off their
wigs. The frozen Missouri was covered with Indians on this occasion, and presented an
interesting scene. At this time the Sioux stole from the prairie thirty-seven horses belonging
to the Mandans. On this day Dreidoppel had dragged the entrails of a hare about the prairie,
and then concealed himself; he soon saw six wolves follow the scent and approach him; but it
was so cold that he could not wait for them. Our cook, a negro, had a violent dispute with
an Indian from Ruhptare, who had taken a piece of meat out of his pot, and the affair might
have led to unpleasant consequences. The Indians of that village are the worst of the
Mandans. Several articles had been stolen, which was nothing uncommon among our worthy
neighbours, for even the wife of Mato-Topé had pilfered something in our room.
On the 24th of December, and on the preceding night, there was a very strong cold wind
from the north-west (Fahrenheit's thermometer + 12½°), which blew all the hoar frost from the
trees. Many Indians knocked violently at our door, and attempted to force it, as we did not
open it immediately. About four o'clock Papin and three other engagés, with seven horses,
arrived from Picotte's post among the Yanktonans, which they had left two days before, and
told us that they had there found 200 tents of the Yanktonans. At midnight the engagés of the
fort fired a volley to welcome Christmas day, which was repeated in the morning: the 25th of
December was a day of bustle in the fort. Mr. Kipp had given the engagés an allowance of
better provisions, and they were extremely noisy in their Canadian jargon. The poor fellows
had had no meat for some time, and had lived on maize, boiled in water, without any fat.
Pehriska-Ruhpa, a robust Manitari, who had long lived among the Mandans, visited us, and soon
afterwards Mato-Topé, but they took no notice of each other, as they were not on good terms,
and the former immediately withdrew. He promised to have his portrait taken in his handsome
dress.
At noon there was a concourse of Indians in the fort: the woman's band of the white buffalo
cow came to perform their dance. The company consisted of seventeen, mostly old women,
A stout elderly woman went first; she was wrapped in the hide of a white buffalo cow, and held,
in her right arm, a bundle of twigs in the form of a cornucopia, with down feathers at the top,
and at the lower end an eagle's wing, and a tin drinking vessel. Another woman carried a
similar bundle. All these women wore round their heads a piece of buffalo's skin in the form
of a hussar's cap, with a plume of owl's or raven's feathers in front, some of which were dyed red;
only two of them wore the skin of a polecat; all the men were bare-headed. The women were
uniformly painted; the left cheek and eye were vermilion, and they had two blue spots on the
temple near the right eye. (Vignette XXVIII). All except the first wore painted robes, and
two of them only had the hairy side outwards. When they had formed a circle the music began
in quick time; the men sung, and the women who were dancing responded in a loud shrill
voice. In their dances they rocked from side to side, always remaining on the same spot.
After they had been dancing for some time there was a pause, when the dance recommenced.
Only the oldest of these women, most of whom were exceedingly plain, had the tattooed stripes
on the chin which are peculiar to this band.
They had scarcely left us, after receiving a present, when three engagés arrived with letters
from Fort Union. They informed us that Mr. Mc Kenzie had built a new fort at the mouth of
the Rivière aux Trembles, which he had called Fort Jackson, and appointed Mr. Chardon director.
Up to the 15th, when these messengers left Fort Union, the weather had been very mild;
the river was quite free from ice, and no snow had fallen. Mr. Mc Kenzie invited me to
visit him at Fort Union, but the inclemency of the weather rendered such a journey extremely
unpleasant. The wind had blown down all the pickets at Fort Union, and some Indians, probably
Gros Ventres des Prairies, had shot a white man on the Yellow Stone. Information had been
brought by some Indians that Doucette, when on a journey from Fort Mc Kenzie to the Kutanas,
had been shot by the Blood Indians.
On the 26th of December the wind blew the snow into the air and obscured the sky. With
a temperature of 12°, Fahrenheit, early in the morning we observed a rainbow among the clouds
of snow, with a parhelion in the centre. We dispatched a number of letters, which were forwarded
on the 27th by engagés, from station to station, down the river. Four men, with two
sledges, and a number of horses, were sent from the fort, two of whom were to receive a supply
of fresh meat for us at the trading post of the Yanktonans, from which they were expected to
return in four days. Sih-Chida brought us the paper which his father, at that time the first
chief of the Mandans, had received from General Atkinson and Major O'Fallon, several years
before, when a treaty of friendship and commerce was concluded with the Indians. This document
was written on large paper in the English and Manitari languages. Most of the Indian
names, which were doubtless given by Charbonneau, were incorrectly written. As we had now
bean soup. Our people caught an Indian dog in the fort, intending to put him in a sledge,
but he was so wild and unruly, bit and howled so furiously, that it was long before they could
obtain the mastery. An engagé then knelt upon him to put on the harness, but when this was
done he discovered that he had killed the poor dog. These dogs, if they are not broken in, are
quite unfit for the sledge; when, however, they are accustomed to the work, they draw
a sledge over the snow more easily than the best horse. If the snow is frozen, they run
over it, where the horse sinks in, and they can hold out much longer. They can perform a
journey of thirty miles in one day; and if they have rested an hour on the snow, and had some
food, they are ready to set out again. A horse must have sufficient food, frequent rest, and a
good watering place, and when it is once tired it cannot be induced to proceed. I have been
assured by some persons that they had made long journeys, for eight successive days, with dogs,
during which time the animals did not taste any food. In the winter, when the Indians go to
hunt the buffalo, they drive, in light sledges, over the frozen snow, into the midst of the herd;
the Indian, with his bow and arrows, sits or kneels down in the sledge; and dogs that have
been trained cannot be held back when they perceive the buffalo herd. In the north, three good
dogs are seldom to be purchased for less than 100 dollars. A single dog, when it is very
good and strong, costs sixty or seventy dollars; on the Missouri, however, they are by no means
so dear.
On the 28th December, about noon, we again heard the Indian drums: several soldiers
announced the band which had lately purchased the dance of the half-shorn head. The
whole company, very gaily and handsomely dressed, soon afterwards entered the fort, followed
by a crowd of spectators. About twenty vigorous young men, with the upper part of the body
naked (having thrown off their robes which they wore at their entrance), painted and ornamented
in the most gaudy manner, formed a circle in the court-yard of the fort. Their long plaits of
hair were covered with reddish clay. One eagle's feather, or several other feathers, were fixed
transversely in the hair; others had a long plait hanging down, with five or six brass rosettes, in
the manner of the Sioux; several had a bunch of owl's feathers hanging down, necklaces of
bears' claws and otters' tails, wolves' tails at their heels, red cloth or leather leggins, often
painted, or with bells fixed to them; they had a looking-glass suspended from the wrist, or the
waist, and carried the several insignia of the dance, such as the long hooked sticks, or rods, adorned
with otter's skin and feathers, the straight rod, covered with red cloth (see woodcuts, page 256),
&c., and had guns or bow-lances in their hands. One of them wore a long feather cap, with
horns and strips of ermine on his head; another sat on horseback, and was daubed with yellow
clay, and bleeding wounds were painted on his body: he carried a bow and arrows, without a
quiver; his leggins were of red cloth, trimmed with a row of bells. His horse was likewise painted,
of the soldiers. They were dressed in shabby blanket robes. As soon as the drum was beat, the
dancers bent their bodies forward, leaped up with both feet together, holding their guns in their
hands, and the finger on the trigger, as if going to fire. In this manner they danced for about a
minute in a circle, then gave a loud shout, and, having rested a little, began the dance again, and
so on alternately. Some tobacco was thrown on the ground before them, after which they soon
broke up, took up their robes and went to Ruhptare, where they danced and passed the night,
and then exhibited their performances among the Manitaries. For the dance of this band, see
Vignette XXV.
Mr. Kipp had received orders from Mr. Mc Kenzie to go to Fort Union, and he accordingly
made the necessary preparations for this winter's journey. He purchased, from the Indians,
eighteen dogs; and the getting the sledges in readiness caused some bustle in the fort.
On the 29th of December, the thermometer, at eight o'clock in the morning, was at 19°
Fahrenheit, and the high north-west wind was so cutting that we could not hold it out long in the
prairie. Notwithstanding this, the dogs were collected, and harnessed with considerable difficulty,
as they made much resistance. Mr. Kipp travelled with five Indian sledges, with a sufficient
number of well-armed engagés. Charbonneau accompanied him on what is called a cariole (a convenient
wooden sledge, drawn by one horse), in order to purchase meat for us of the Indians.
The appearance of the caravan was very amusing, for many of the dogs, not trained to this
service, jumped from one side to the other, and could not be brought into order but by the use of
the whip. The three dogs which drew the principal sledge had, on their collars, a large double
bow, covered and ornamented with red, yellow, blue, and white fringe, to which a bell was
suspended.
About noon the snow storm increased, and it was so cold in our apartment that, notwithstanding
a good fire, we were unable to work. The high wind drove the snow through the
crevices in the walls and the doors, and the whole place was filled with smoke. The thermometer
at noon was 14° Fahrenheit. The night, too, was stormy, and on the 30th the hurricane from
In the prairie we could not keep our eyes open on account of the excessive glare: exposure to this
weather was painful both to man and beast. It was hoped, however, that it would soon cause the
herds of buffaloes to come nearer to us; but this expectation was not realized, though it was
said that there were many at the post of the Yanktonans. Our horses were obliged, during
this dreadful weather, to walk about the whole night in the court-yard of the fort, with a mass
of ice and snow on their backs. As Gautier, an old engagé, was bringing wood into the room, and
the door remained open a short time, Mr. Bodmer's colours and pencils froze, so that he could
not use them without hot water. Writing, too, was very difficult, because our ink was congealed;
and, while the side of our bodies which was turned to the fire was half roasted, the other was
quite benumbed, and we were often forced to rise in order to warm ourselves. The cook had his
ears frostbitten in going to the river to fetch water.
To add to our chapter of misfortunes, news was received that the Yanktonans had stolen
some horses from the Mandans, and killed several. This was the fourth time that these Indians
had broken the peace concluded in the preceding September, and the Mandans were so incensed
at their treachery that they were disposed to recommence the war.
This day Mr. Kipp got no further on his journey than the Manitari village, because some of
his dogs had broken loose and run away, and several of his people had their faces frostbitten.
The last day of the year was clear and cold: at eight o'clock in the morning the mercury was at
16½°, by Reaumur's thermometer, below freezing point: a vapour rose from the river. Towards
noon the wind again blew high, the frozen snow crackled, and no animals, not even wolves or
ravens, were to be seen. Before this weather set in, the Indians had ridden fifteen miles into
the prairie, where many of them were almost frozen to death, but were recovered by being
wrapped up in blankets, and laid before the fire.
| CHAPTER XXVIII. Travels in the interior of North America. | |