Fort Mandan on the NE bank of the Missouries 1600 Miles up Tuesday
January the 1st. 1805.—
The Day was ushered in by
the Descharge of two Cannon,
we Suffered 16 men with their Musick to visit
the 1st. Village
for the purpose of Danceing, by as
they Said the perticular
request of the Chiefs of that Village, about 11
oClock I with
an inturpeter & two men walked up to the Village, (my
views
were to alay Some little Miss understanding which had taken
place thro jelloucy and mortification as to our treatment
towards
them I found them much pleased at the Danceing
of our men,[2]
I ordered my
black Servent to Dance which
amused the Croud Verry much, and Somewhat
astonished
them, that So large a man should be active &c. &c. I
went
into the lodges of all the men of note. except two, whome I
heard had made Some expressions not favourable towards us,
in
Compareing us with the traders from the north,—those
Chiefs
observed (to us that) what they Sayed was in just (in
jest) & laftur. just as I was about to return,
the 2d. Chief
a(nd) the Black
man, also a Chief returnd from a Mission on
which they
had been Sent to meet a large party (150) of Gross
Ventres [3]
who were on their way down from their Camps 10
Miles above to revenge on the Shoe tribe an injury
which they
had received by a Shoe man Steeling a Gross
Ventres Girl,
those Chiefs gave the pipe [and] turned the party back,
after
Delivering up the Girl, which the Shoe Chief had taken and
given to them for that purpose." I returned in the evening,
at night the party except 6 returned, with 3
robes, an[d] 13
Strings of Corn which the indians had given them, The Day
was worm, Themt
r 34° above 0, Some fiew Drops of
rain
about Sunset, at Dark it began to Snow, and Snowed the
greater
part of the night, (the temp
tr. for Snow is about 0)
The Black Cat with his family visited us to day and brought a
little
meet
