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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Illustrations of the manners, customs,
+& condition of the North American Indians, Vol. I (of 2), by George
+Catlin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North
+       American Indians, Vol. I (of 2)
+       With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and
+       adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now
+       existing
+
+Author: George Catlin
+
+Release Date: August 16, 2022 [eBook #68768]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: Richard Hulse, Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+             produced from images generously made available by The
+             Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNERS,
+CUSTOMS, & CONDITION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, VOL. I (OF 2) ***
+
+
+
+[Illustration: _G. Catlin_
+
+  _The Author painting a Chief at the base of the Rocky Mountains._]
+
+
+
+
+                             ILLUSTRATIONS
+                                 OF THE
+                    _MANNERS, CUSTOMS, & CONDITION_
+                                 OF THE
+                        NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
+
+                       =With Letters and Notes=,
+
+     +Written during Eight Years of Travel and Adventure among the
+           Wildest and most Remarkable Tribes now Existing+.
+
+                          +By+ GEORGE CATLIN.
+
+                                  WITH
+             _THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS_
+                 FROM THE AUTHOR’S ORIGINAL PAINTINGS.
+
+                             [Illustration]
+
+                        IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I.
+
+                               =London:=
+                      CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY.
+                                 1876.
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+                      PRINTED BY J. OGDEN AND CO.,
+                       172, ST. JOHN STREET, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+                                   OF
+                           THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
++Frontispiece+:—_The Author painting a Chief in an Indian Village._
+
++Map+ _of_ +Indian Localities+ _embraced within the Author’s Travels_.
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 1.
+
+Wyöming, birth-place of the Author, p. 2.—His former Profession—First
+  cause of his Travels to the Indian Country—Delegation of Indians in
+  Philadelphia—First start to the Far West, in 1832, p. 3.—Design of
+  forming a National Gallery—Numbers of Tribes visited, and number of
+  Paintings and other things collected, p. 4.—Probable extinction of
+  the Indians, p. 5.—Former and present numbers of—The proper mode of
+  approaching them, and estimating their character, p. 5–10.
+
++Certificates+ _of Government Officers, Indian Agents and others, as to
+  the fidelity of the Portraits and other Paintings_, p. 11–13.
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 2.
+
+Mouth of Yellow Stone, p. 14, pl. 3.—Distance from St.
+  Louis—Difficulties of the Missouri—Politeness of Mr. Chouteau and
+  Major Sanford—Fur Company’s Fort—Indian Epicures—New and true School
+  for the Arts—Beautiful Models, p. 14–16.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 3, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Character of Missouri River, p. 18, pl. 4.—Beautiful prairie shores, p.
+  19, pl. 5.—Picturesque clay bluffs, p. 19, pl. 6.—First appearance of
+  a steamer at the Yellow Stone, and curious conjectures of the Indians
+  about it, p. 20.—Fur Company’s Establishment at the mouth of Yellow
+  Stone—M‘Kenzie—His table and politeness, p. 21.—Indian tribes in this
+  vicinity, p. 22.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 4, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Upper Missouri Indians—General character, p. 23.—Buffaloes—Description
+  of, p. 24, pls. 7, 8.—Modes of killing them—Buffalo-hunt, p.
+  25.—Chardon’s Leap, p. 26, pl. 9.—Wounded bull, p. 26, pl.
+  10.—Extraordinary feat of Mr. M‘Kenzie, p. 27.—Return from the chase,
+  p. 28.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 5, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Author’s painting-room, and characters in it, p. 29.—Blackfoot
+  chief, p. 29, pl. 11.—Other Blackfoot chiefs, and their costumes,
+  p. 30.—Blackfoot woman and child, p. 30, pls. 12, 13;—Scalps,
+  and objects for which taken—red pipes, and pipe-stone quarry, p.
+  31.—Blackfoot bows, shields, arrows and lances, p. 32, 33, pl.
+  18.—Several distinguished Blackfeet, p. 34, pls. 14, 15, 16, 17.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 6, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Medicines or mysteries—medicine-bag—origin of the word medicine,
+  p. 35.—Mode of forming the medicine-bag, p. 36.—Value of the
+  medicine-bag to the Indian, and materials for their construction,
+  p. 37, pl. 18.—Blackfoot doctor or medicine-man—his mode of curing
+  the sick, p. 39, pl. 19.—Different offices and importance of
+  medicine-men, p. 41.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 7, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Crews and Blackfeet—General character and appearance, p. 42.—Killing
+  and drying meat, p. 43, pl. 22.—Crow lodge or wigwam, p. 43, pl.
+  20.—Striking their tents and encampment moving, p. 44, pl. 21.—Mode
+  of dressing and smoking skins, p. 45.—Crows—Beauty of their
+  dresses—Horse-stealing or capturing—Reasons why they are called
+  rogues and robbers of the first order, &c. p. 46.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 8, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Further remarks on the Crows—Extraordinary length of hair, p.
+  49.—Peculiarities of the Crow head, and several portraits, p. 50,
+  pls. 24, 25, 26, 27.—Crow and Blackfeet women—Their modes of dressing
+  and painting, p. 51.—Differences between the Crow and Blackfoot
+  languages, p. 51.—Different hands—Different languages, and numbers
+  of the Blackfeet, p. 52.—Knisteneaux—Assinneboins, and Ojibbeways,
+  p. 53.—Assinneboins a part of the Sioux—Their mode of boiling meat,
+  p. 54.—Pipe-dance, p. 55, pl. 52.—Wi-jun-jon (a chief) and wife,
+  pls. 28, 29.—His visit to Washington, p. 56.—Dresses of women
+  and children of the Assinneboins, p. 57, pl. 34.—Knisteneaux (or
+  Crees)—character and numbers, and several portraits, p. 57, pls. 30,
+  31.—Ojibbeways—Chief and wife, p. 58, pls. 35, 36.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 9, Mouth of Yellow Stone+.
+
+Contemplations of the Great Far West and its customs, p. 59.—Old
+  acquaintance, p. 60.—March and effects of civilization, p. 60.—The
+  “Far West”—The Author in search of it, p. 62.—Meeting with
+  “Ba’tiste,” a free trapper, p. 63, 64.
+
+
+            LETTER—+No. 10, Mandan Village, Upper Missouri+.
+
+A strange place—Voyage from Mouth of Yellow Stone down the river to
+  Mandans—Commencement—Leave M‘Kenzie’s Fort, p. 66.—Assinneboins
+  encamped on the river Wi-jun-jon lecturing on the customs of white
+  people—Mountain-sheep, p. 67,—War-eagles—Grizzly bears, p. 68.—Clay
+  bluffs, “brick-kilns,” volcanic remains, p. 69, pls. 37, 38.—Red
+  pumice stone—A wild stroll—Mountaineer’s sleep, p. 70.—Grizzly bear
+  and cubs—Courageous attack—Canoe robbed, p. 71.—Eating our meals
+  on a pile of drift-wood—Encamping in the night—Voluptuous scene of
+  wild flowers, buffalo bush and berries, p. 72.—Adventure after an
+  elk—War-party discovered, p. 74.—Magnificent scenery in the “Grand
+  Détour”—Stupendous clay bluffs—Table land, p. 75, pl. 39.—Antelope
+  shooting, p. 76, pl. 40.—“Grand Dome”—Prairie dogs—Village—Fruitless
+  endeavours to shoot them, p. 77, pl. 42.—Pictured bluff and the Three
+  Domes, p. 78, pls. 43, 44.—Arrival at the Mandan village, p. 79.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 11, Mandan Village+.
+
+Location—Village, p. 80, pl. 45.—Former locations fortification of
+  their village—Description of village and mode of constructing their
+  wigwams, p. 81, 82.—Description of interior—Beds—Weapons—Family
+  groups, p. 82, 83, pl. 46.—Indian garrulity—Jokes—Fire-side fun and
+  story-telling, p. 84.—Causes of Indian taciturnity in civilized
+  society, p. 85.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 12, Mandan Village+.
+
+Bird’s-eye view of the village, p. 87, pl. 47.—The “big
+  canoe”—Medicine-lodge—A strange medley, p. 88.—Mode of depositing
+  the dead on scaffolds, p. 89.—Respect to the dead—Visiting the
+  dead—Feeding the dead—Converse with the dead—Bones of the dead, p.
+  90, pl. 48.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 13, Mandan Village+.
+
+The wolf-chief—Head-chief of the tribe, p. 92, pl.
+  49.—Several portraits, p. 92, pls. 50, 51, 52, 53.—Personal
+  appearance—Peculiarities—Complexion, p. 93.—“Cheveux gris,” p.
+  94.—Hair of the men—Hair of the women, p. 95, pl. 54.—Bathing and
+  swimming, p. 96.—Mode of swimming—Sudatories or vapour-baths, p.
+  97–8, pl. 71.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 14, Mandan Village+.
+
+Costumes of the Mandans—High value set upon them—Two horses for
+  a head-dress—Made of war-eagles’ quills and ermine, p. 100,
+  101.—Head-dresses with horns, p. 103.—A Jewish custom, p. 104.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 15, Mandan Village+.
+
+Astonishment of the Mandans at the operation of the Author’s
+  brush, p. 105.—The Author installed medicine or medicine-man,
+  p. 106.—Crowds around the Author—Curiosity to see and to touch
+  him, p. 107.—Superstitious fears for those who were painted, p.
+  168.—Objections raised to being painted, p. 109.—The Author’s
+  operations opposed by a Mandan doctor, or medicine-man, and how
+  brought over, p. 110, pl. 55.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 16, Mandan Village+.
+
+An Indian beau or dandy, p. 112.—A fruitless endeavour to paint one, p.
+  113.—Mah-to-toh-pa (the four bears), second chief of the tribe—The
+  Author feasted in his wigwam, p. 114, pl. 62.—Viands of the feast, p.
+  115.—Pemican and marrow-fat—Mandan pottery—Robe presented, p. 116.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 17, Mandan Village+.
+
+Polygamy—Reasons and excuses for it, p. 118.—Marriages, how
+  contracted—Wives bought and sold, p. 120.—Paternal and filial
+  affection—Virtue and modesty of women—Early marriages—Slavish lives
+  and occupations of the Indian women, p. 121.—Pomme blanche—Dried
+  meat—Caches—Modes of cooking, and times of eating—Attitudes in
+  eating, p. 122.—Separation of males and females in eating—the Indians
+  moderate eaters—Some exceptions, p. 123.—Curing meat in the sun,
+  without smoke or salt—The wild Indians eat no salt, p. 124.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 18. Mandan Village+.
+
+Indian dancing—“Buffalo dance,” p. 127, pl. 56.—Discovery of
+  buffaloes—Preparations for the chase—Start—A decoy—A retreat—Death
+  and scalping, p. 129.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 19, Mandan Village+.
+
+Sham fight and sham scalp dance of the Mandan boys, p. 131, pl.
+  57.—Game of Tchung-kee, p. 132, pl. 59.—Feasting—Fasting and
+  sacrificing—White buffalo robe—Its value p. 133, pl. 47.—Rain makers
+  and rain stoppers, p. 131.—Rain making, p. 135, pl. 58.—“The thunder
+  boat”—The big double medicine, p. 140.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 20, Mandan Village+.
+
+Mandan archery—“Game of the arrow,” p. 141, pl. 60.—Wild
+  horses—Horse-racing, p. 142, pl. 61.—Foot war-party in council, p.
+  143, pl. 63.
+
+
+            LETTER—+No. 21, Mandan Village, Upper Missouri+.
+
+Mah-to-toh-pa, (the Four Bears)—His costume and his portrait, p. 145,
+  pl. 64.—The robe of Mah-to-toh-pa, with all the battles of his life
+  painted on it, p. 148, pl. 65.
+
+
+                    LETTER—+No. 22, Mandan Village+.
+
+Mandan religious ceremonies—Mandan religious creed, p. 156.—Three
+  objects of the ceremony, p. 157.—Place of holding the ceremony—Big
+  canoe—Season of commencing—and manner, p. 158.—Opening the medicine
+  lodge—Sacrifices to the water, p. 159.—Fasting scene for four
+  days and nights, p. 161, pl. 66.—Bei-lohck-nah-pick, (the bull
+  dance), p. 164, pl. 67.—Pohk-hong (the cutting or torturing scene),
+  p. 169, pl. 68.—Ah-ke-nah-ka-nah-pick, (the last race) p. 173,
+  pl. 69.—Extraordinary instances of cruelty in self-torture, p.
+  175.—Sacrificing to the water, p. 176.—Certificates of the Mandan
+  ceremonies—Inferences drawn from these horrible cruelties, with
+  traditions, p. 177.—Tradition of O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit), p.
+  179.—Mandans can be civilized, p. 183.
+
+
+                  LETTER—+No. 23, Minataree Village+.
+
+Location and numbers—Origin, p. 185.—Principal village, pl. 70.—Vapour
+  baths, pl. 71.—Old chief, Black Moccasin, p. 186, pl. 72.—Two
+  portraits, man and woman, pls. 73, 74.—Green corn dance, p. 189, pl.
+  75.
+
+
+                  LETTER—+No. 24, Minataree Village+.
+
+Crows, in the Minataree village, p. 191.—Crow chief on horseback,
+  in full dress, p. 192, pl. 76.—Peculiarities of the Crows—Long
+  hair—Semi-lunar faces, p. 193, pls. 77, 78.—Rats in the Minataree
+  village, p. 195.—Crossing Knife River in “bull boat”—Swimming of
+  Minataree girls, p. 196.—Horse-racing—A banter—Riding a “naked horse,”
+  p. 197.—Grand buffalo surround, p. 199, pl. 79.—Cutting up and
+  carrying in meat, p. 201.
+
+
+        LETTER—+No. 25, Little Mandan Village, Upper Missouri+.
+
+An Indian offering himself for a pillow, p. 203.—Portraits of
+  Riccarees, p. 204, pls. 83, 84, 82, 81.—Riccaree village, p. 204, pl.
+  80.—Origin of the Mandans—Welsh colony—Expedition of Madoc, p. 206–7.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 26, Mouth of Teton River+.
+
+Sioux or (Dah-co-ta), p. 208.—Fort Pierre, pl. 85.—Mississippi
+  and Missouri Sioux, p. 209.—Ha-wan-je-tah (chief), p. 211, pl.
+  86.—Puncahs, Shoo-de-ga-cha (chief) and wife, p. 212, pls. 87,
+  88.—Four wives taken at once, p. 213, pl. 90.—Portrait of one of the
+  wives, p. 214, pl. 89.—Early marriages—Causes of, p. 215.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 27, Mouth of Teton River+.
+
+Custom of exposing the aged, p. 216.—A tedious march on foot, p.
+  218.—Level prairies—“Out of sight of land”—Mirage—Looming of the
+  prairies, p. 218.—Turning the toes in—Bijou hills—Salt meadows,
+  p. 219.—Arrive at Fort Pierre—Great assemblage of Sioux—Paint the
+  portrait of the chief—Superstitious objections—Opposed by the
+  doctors, p. 220.—Difficulty settled—Death of Ha-wan-je-tah (the
+  chief)—Mode of, p. 221.—Portraits of other Sioux chiefs—Wampum,
+  p. 222–3, pls. 91, 92.—Beautiful Sioux women—Daughter of Black
+  Rock—Chardon, his Indian wife, p. 224–5, pls. 94, 95.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 28, Mouth of Teton River+.
+
+Difficulty of painting Indian women, p. 226.—Indian vanity—Watching
+  their portraits—Arrival of the first steamer amongst the Sioux, p.
+  227.—Dog-feast, p. 228, pl. 96.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 29, Mouth of Teton River.+
+
+Voluntary torture, “looking at the sun,” p. 232, pl. 97.—Religious
+  ceremony, p. 233.—Smoking “k’nick-k’neck”—Pipes, p. 234. pl.
+  98.—Calumets or pipes of peace, p. 235.—Tomahawks and scalping knives,
+  p. 235–6, pl. 99.—Dance of the chiefs, p. 237, pl. 100.—Scalps—Mode
+  of taking, and object, p. 238–9.—Modes of carrying and using the
+  scalps, p. 240, pl. 101.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 30, Mouth of Teton River+.
+
+Indian weapons and instruments of music, p. 241, pl.
+  101½.—Quiver and shield—Smoking the shield, p. 241.—Tobacco
+  pouches—Drums—Rattles—Whistles—Lutes, p. 242, pl. 101½.—Bear dance,
+  p. 244, pl. 102.—Beggars’ dance—Scalp dance, p. 245, pls. 103, 104.
+
+
+                 LETTER—+No. 31, Mouth of Teton River+.
+
+Bisons (or buffaloes) description of, p. 247.—Habits of, p. 248.—Bulls’
+  fighting—Buffalo wallows—Fairy circles, p. 249, pls. 105,
+  106.—Running the buffaloes, and throwing the arrow, p. 251, pl.
+  107.—Buffalo chase—Use of the laso, p. 253, pls. 108, 109.—Hunting
+  under masque of white wolfskins, p. 254, pl. 110.—Horses destroyed
+  in buffalo hunting, p. 255, pl. 111.—Buffalo calf—Mode of catching
+  and bringing in, p. 255, pl. 112.—Immense and wanton destruction of
+  buffaloes—1,400 killed, p. 256.—White wolves attacking buffaloes, p.
+  257–8, pls. 113, 114.—Contemplations on the probable extinction of
+  buffaloes and Indians, p. 258, 264.
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+                              OUTLINE MAP
+                                  _OF_
+                           INDIAN LOCALITIES
+                               _in 1833_.
+
+                         In Vol. 2. see Map of
+                          _LOCALITIES in 1840,
+                       since all the tribes have
+                     been removed from the States,
+                         W. of the Mississippi_
+]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                              LETTER—No. 1.
+
+
+As the following pages have been hastily compiled, at the urgent
+request of a number of my friends, from a series of Letters and Notes
+written by myself during several years’ residence and travel amongst
+a number of the wildest and most remote tribes of the North American
+Indians, I have thought it best to make this page the beginning of my
+book; dispensing with Preface, and even with Dedication, other than
+that which I hereby make of it, with all my heart, to those who will
+take the pains to read it.
+
+If it be necessary to render any apology for beginning thus
+unceremoniously my readers will understand that I had no space in
+these, my first volumes, to throw away; nor much time at my disposal,
+which I could, in justice, use for introducing myself and my works to
+the world.
+
+Having commenced thus abruptly then, I will venture to take upon myself
+the sin of calling this one of the series of Letters of which I have
+spoken; although I am writing it several years later, and placing it
+at the beginning of my book; by which means I will be enabled briefly
+to introduce myself to my readers (who, as yet, know little or nothing
+of me), and also the subjects of the following epistles, with such
+explanations of the customs described in them, as will serve for a
+key or glossary to the same, and prepare the reader’s mind for the
+information they contain.
+
+Amidst the multiplicity of books which are, in this enlightened age,
+flooding the world, I feel it my duty, as early as possible, to beg
+pardon for making a book at all; and in the next (if my readers should
+become so much interested in my narrations, as to censure me for the
+brevity of the work) to take some considerable credit for not having
+trespassed too long upon their time and patience.
+
+Leaving my readers, therefore, to find out what is in the book, without
+promising them anything, I proceed to say—of _myself_, that I was born
+in Wyöming, in North America, some thirty or forty years since, of
+parents who entered that beautiful and famed valley soon after the
+close of the revolutionary war, and the disastrous event of the “Indian
+massacre.”
+
+The early part of my life was whiled away, apparently, somewhat
+in vain, with books reluctantly held in one hand, and a rifle or
+fishing-pole firmly and affectionately grasped in the other.
+
+At the urgent request of my father, who was a practising lawyer,
+I was prevailed upon to abandon these favourite themes, and also
+my occasional dabblings with the brush, which had secured already
+a corner in my affections; and I commenced reading the law for a
+profession, under the direction of Reeve and Gould, of Connecticut.
+I attended the lectures of these learned judges for two years—was
+admitted to the bar—and practised the law, as a sort of _Nimrodical_
+lawyer, in my native land, for the term of two or three years; when
+I very deliberately sold my law library and all (save my rifle and
+fishing-tackle), and converting their proceeds into brushes and paint
+pots; I commenced the art of painting in Philadelphia, without teacher
+or adviser.
+
+I there closely applied my hand to the labours of the art for several
+years; during which time my mind was continually reaching for some
+branch or enterprise of the art, on which to devote a whole life-time
+of enthusiasm; when a delegation of some ten or fifteen noble and
+dignified-looking Indians, from the wilds of the “Far West,” suddenly
+arrived in the city, arrayed and equipped in all their classic
+beauty,—with shield and helmet,—with tunic and manteau,—tinted and
+tasselled off, exactly for the painter’s palette!
+
+In silent and stoic dignity, these lords of the forest strutted about
+the city for a few days, wrapped in their pictured robes, with their
+brows plumed with the quills of the war-eagle, attracting the gaze
+and admiration of all who beheld them. After this, they took their
+leave for Washington City, and I was left to reflect and regret, which
+I did long and deeply, until I came to the following deductions and
+conclusions.
+
+Black and blue cloth and civilization are destined, not only to
+veil, but to obliterate the grace and beauty of Nature. Man, in the
+simplicity and loftiness of his nature, unrestrained and unfettered
+by the disguises of art, is surely the most beautiful model for the
+painter,—and the country from which he hails is unquestionably the best
+study or school of the arts in the world: such I am sure, from the
+models I have seen, is the wilderness of North America. And the history
+and customs of such a people, preserved by pictorial illustrations,
+are themes worthy the life-time of one man, and nothing short of the
+loss of my life, shall prevent me from visiting their country, and of
+becoming their historian.
+
+There was something inexpressibly delightful in the above resolve,
+which was to bring me amidst such living models for my brush: and at
+the same time to place in my hands again, for my living and protection,
+the objects of my heart above-named; which had long been laid by to
+rust and decay in the city, without the remotest prospect of again
+contributing to my amusement.
+
+I had fully resolved—I opened my views to my friends and relations,
+but got not one advocate or abettor. I tried fairly and faithfully,
+but it was in vain to reason with those whose anxieties were ready to
+fabricate every difficulty and danger that could be imagined, without
+being able to understand or appreciate the extent or importance of
+my designs, and I broke from them all,—from my wife and my aged
+parents,—myself my only adviser and protector.
+
+With these views firmly fixed—armed, equipped, and supplied, I started
+out in the year 1832, and penetrated the vast and pathless wilds
+which are familiarly denominated the great “Far West” of the North
+American Continent, with a light heart, inspired with an enthusiastic
+hope and reliance that I could meet and overcome all the hazards
+and privations of a life devoted to the production of a literal and
+graphic delineation of the living manners, customs, and character of an
+interesting race of people, who are rapidly passing away from the face
+of the earth—lending a hand to a dying nation, who have no historians
+or biographers of their own to pourtray with fidelity their native
+looks and history; thus snatching from a hasty oblivion what could be
+saved for the benefit of posterity, and perpetuating it, as a fair and
+just monument, to the memory of a truly lofty and noble race.
+
+I have spent about eight years already in the pursuit above-named,
+having been for the most of that time immersed in the Indian country,
+mingling with red men, and identifying myself with them as much as
+possible, in their games and amusements; in order the better to
+familiarize myself with their superstitions and mysteries, which are
+the keys to Indian life and character.
+
+It was during the several years of my life just mentioned, and whilst I
+was in familiar participation with them in their sports and amusements,
+that I penned the following series of epistles; describing only such
+glowing or curious scenes and events as passed under my immediate
+observation; leaving their early history, and many of their traditions,
+language, &c. for a subsequent and much more elaborate work, for which
+I have procured the materials, and which I may eventually publish.
+
+I set out on my arduous and perilous undertaking with the determination
+of reaching, ultimately, every tribe of Indians on the Continent
+of North America, and of bringing home faithful portraits of their
+principal personages, both men and women, from each tribe; views of
+their villages, games, &c. and full notes on their character and
+history. I designed, also, to procure their costumes, and a complete
+collection of their manufactures and weapons, and to perpetuate them in
+a _Gallery unique_, for the use and instruction of future ages.
+
+I claim whatever merit there may have been in the originality of such
+a design, as I was undoubtedly the first artist who ever set out upon
+such a work, designing to carry his canvass to the Rocky Mountains;
+and a considerable part of the following Letters were written and
+published in the New York Papers, as early as the years 1832 and 1833;
+long before the Tours of Washington Irving, and several others, whose
+interesting narratives are before the world.
+
+I have, as yet, by no means visited _all_ the tribes; but I have
+progressed a very great way with the enterprise, and with far greater
+and more complete success than I expected.
+
+I have visited forty-eight different tribes, the greater part of which
+I found speaking different languages, and containing in all 400,000
+souls. I have brought home safe, and in good order, 310 portraits in
+oil, all painted in their native dress, and in their own wigwams;
+and also 200 other paintings in oil, containing views of their
+villages—their wigwams—their games and religious ceremonies—their
+dances—their ball plays—their buffalo hunting, and other amusements
+(containing in all, over 3000 full-length figures); and the landscapes
+of the country they live in, as well as a very extensive and curious
+collection of their costumes, and all their other manufactures, from
+the size of a wigwam down to the size of a quill or a rattle.
+
+A considerable part of the above-named paintings, and Indian
+manufactures, will be found amongst the very numerous illustrations
+in the following pages; having been, in every instance, faithfully
+copied and reduced by my own hand, for the engraver, from my original
+paintings; and the reader of this book who will take the pains to step
+in to “+Catlin’s North American Indian Gallery+,” will find nearly
+every scene and custom which is described in this work, as well as many
+others, carefully and correctly delineated, and displayed upon the
+walls, and every weapon (and every “Sachem” and every “Sagamore” who
+has wielded them) according to the tenor of the tales herein recited.
+
+So much of _myself_ and of my _works_, which is all that I wish to say
+at present.
+
+Of the +Indians+, I have much more to say, and to the following
+delineations of them, and their character and customs, I shall make no
+further apology for requesting the attention of my readers.
+
+The Indians (as I shall call them), the savages or red men of the
+forests and prairies of North America, are at this time a subject of
+great interest and some importance to the civilized world; rendered
+more particularly so in this age, from their relative position to, and
+their rapid declension from, the civilized nations of the earth. A
+numerous nation of human beings, whose origin is beyond the reach of
+human investigation,—whose early history is lost—whose term of national
+existence is nearly expired—three-fourths of whose country has fallen
+into the possession of civilized man within the short space of 250
+years—twelve millions of whose bodies have fattened the soil in the
+mean time; who have fallen victims to whiskey, the small-pox, and the
+bayonet; leaving at this time but a meagre proportion to live a short
+time longer, in the certain apprehension of soon sharing a similar fate.
+
+The writer who would undertake to embody the whole history of such a
+people, with all their misfortunes and calamities, must needs have
+much more space than I have allotted to this epitome; and he must
+needs begin also (as I am doing) with those who are _living_, or he
+would be very apt to dwell upon the preamble of his work, until the
+present living remnants of the race should have passed away; and their
+existence and customs, like those of ages gone bye, become subjects of
+doubt and incredulity to the world for whom his book was preparing.
+Such an historian also, to do them justice, must needs correct many
+theories and opinions which have, either ignorantly or maliciously,
+gone forth to the world in indelible characters; and gather and arrange
+a vast deal which has been but imperfectly recorded, or placed to
+the credit of a people who have not had the means of recording it
+themselves; but have entrusted it, from necessity, to the honesty and
+punctuality of their enemies.
+
+In such an history should be embodied, also, a correct account of their
+treatment, and the causes which have led to their rapid destruction;
+and a plain and systematical prophecy as to the time and manner of
+their final extinction, based upon the causes and the ratio of their
+former and present declension.
+
+So Herculean a task may fall to my lot at a future period, or it
+may not: but I send forth these volumes at this time, fresh and
+full of their living deeds and customs, as a familiar and unstudied
+introduction (at least) to them and their native character; which I
+confidently hope will repay the readers who read for information and
+historical facts, as well as those who read but for amusement.
+
+The world know generally, that the Indians of North America are
+copper-coloured; that their eyes and their hair are black, &c.; that
+they are mostly uncivilized, and consequently unchristianized; that
+they are nevertheless human beings, with features, thoughts, reason,
+and sympathies like our own; but few yet know how they _live_, how they
+_dress_, how they _worship_, what are their actions, their customs,
+their religion, their amusements, &c. as they practise them in the
+uncivilized regions of their uninvaded country, which it is the main
+object of this work, clearly and distinctly to set forth.
+
+It would be impossible at the same time, in a book of these dimensions,
+to explain _all_ the manners and customs of these people; but as far
+as they are narrated, they have been described by my pen, upon the
+spot, as I have seen them transacted; and if some few of my narrations
+should seem a _little too highly coloured_, I trust the world will be
+ready to extend to me that pardon which it is customary to yield to all
+artists whose main faults exist in the vividness of their colouring,
+rather than in the drawing of their pictures; but there is nothing else
+in them, I think, that I should ask pardon for, even though some of
+them should stagger credulity, and incur for me the censure of those
+critics, who sometimes, unthinkingly or unmercifully, sit at home at
+their desks, enjoying the luxury of wine and a good cigar, over the
+simple narration of the honest and weather-worn traveller (who shortens
+his half-starved life in catering for the world), to condemn him and
+his work to oblivion, and his wife and his little children to poverty
+and starvation; merely because he describes scenes which they have not
+beheld, and which, consequently, they are unable to believe.
+
+The Indians of North America, as I have before said, are
+copper-coloured, with long black hair, black eyes, tall, straight, and
+elastic forms—are less than two millions in number—were originally
+the undisputed owners of the soil, and got their title to their lands
+from the Great Spirit who created them on it,—were once a happy and
+flourishing people, enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of life
+which they knew of, and consequently cared for:—were sixteen millions
+in numbers, and sent that number of daily prayers to the Almighty,
+and thanks for his goodness and protection. Their country was entered
+by white men, but a few hundred years since; and thirty millions of
+these are now scuffling for the goods and luxuries of life, over
+the bones and ashes of twelve millions of red men; six millions of
+whom have fallen victims to the small-pox, and the remainder to the
+sword, the bayonet, and whiskey; all of which means of their death and
+destruction have been introduced and visited upon them by acquisitive
+white men; and by white men, also, whose forefathers were welcomed
+and embraced in the land where the poor Indian met and fed them with
+“ears of green corn and with pemican.” Of the two millions remaining
+alive at this time, about 1,400,000, are already the miserable living
+victims and dupes of white man’s cupidity, degraded, discouraged and
+lost in the bewildering maze that is produced by the use of whiskey and
+its concomitant vices; and the remaining number are yet unroused and
+unenticed from their wild haunts or their primitive modes, by the dread
+or love of white man and his allurements.
+
+It has been with these, mostly, that I have spent my time, and of
+these, chiefly, and their customs, that the following Letters treat.
+Their habits (and their’s alone) as we can see them transacted, are
+native, and such as I have wished to fix and preserve for future ages.
+
+Of the dead, and of those who are dying, of those who have suffered
+death, and of those who are now trodden and kicked through it, I may
+speak more fully in some deductions at the close of this book; or at
+some future time, when I may find more leisure, and may be able to
+speak of these scenes without giving offence to the world, or to any
+body in it.
+
+Such a portrait then as I have set forth in the following pages (taken
+by myself from the free and vivid realities of life, instead of the
+vague and uncertain imagery of recollection, or from the haggard
+deformities and distortions of disease and death), I offer to the world
+for their amusement, as well as for their information; and I trust they
+will pardon me, if it should be thought that I have over-estimated the
+Indian character, or at other times descended too much into the details
+and minutiæ of Indian mysteries and absurdities.
+
+The reader, then, to understand me rightly, and draw from these Letters
+the information which they are intended to give, must follow me a vast
+way from the civilized world; he must needs wend his way from the city
+of New York, over the Alleghany, and far beyond the mighty Missouri,
+and even to the base and summit of the Rocky Mountains, some two or
+three thousand miles from the Atlantic coast. He should forget many
+theories he has read in the books of Indian barbarities, of wanton
+butcheries and murders; and divest himself, as far as possible of the
+deadly prejudices which he has carried from his childhood, against this
+most unfortunate and most abused part of the race of his fellow-man.
+
+He should consider, that if he has seen the savages of North America
+without making such a tour, he has fixed his eyes upon and drawn his
+conclusions (in all probability) only from those who inhabit the
+frontier; whose habits have been changed—whose pride has been cut
+down—whose country has been ransacked—whose wives and daughters have
+been shamefully abused—whose lands have been wrested from them—whose
+limbs have become enervated and naked by the excessive use of
+whiskey—whose friends and relations have been prematurely thrown into
+their graves—whose native pride and dignity have at last given way to
+the unnatural vices which civilized cupidity has engrafted upon them,
+to be silently nurtured and magnified by a burning sense of injury and
+injustice, and ready for that cruel vengeance which often falls from
+the hand that is palsied by refined abuses, and yet unrestrained by the
+glorious influences of refined and moral cultivation.—That if he has
+laid up what he considers well-founded knowledge of these people, from
+books which he has read, and from newspapers only, he should pause at
+least, and withhold his sentence before he passes it upon the character
+of a people, who are dying at the hands of their enemies, without the
+means of recording their own annals—struggling in their nakedness with
+their simple weapons, against guns and gunpowder—against whiskey and
+steel, and disease, and mailed warriors who are continually trampling
+them to the earth, and at last exultingly promulgating from the very
+soil which they have wrested from the poor savage, the history of his
+cruelties and barbarities, whilst his bones are quietly resting under
+the very furrows which their ploughs are turning.
+
+So great and unfortunate are the disparities between savage and civil,
+in numbers—in weapons and defences—in enterprise, in craft, and in
+education, that the former is almost universally the sufferer either in
+peace or in war; and not less so after his pipe and his tomahawk have
+retired to the grave with him, and his character is left to be entered
+upon the pages of history, and that justice done to his memory which
+from necessity, he has intrusted to his enemy.
+
+Amongst the numerous historians, however, of these strange people, they
+have had some friends who have done them justice; yet as a part of all
+systems of justice whenever it is meted to the poor Indian, it comes
+invariably too late, or is administered at an ineffectual distance; and
+that too when his enemies are continually about him, and effectually
+applying the means of his destruction.
+
+Some writers, I have been grieved to see, have written down the
+character of the North American Indian, as dark, relentless, cruel and
+murderous in the last degree; with scarce a quality to stamp their
+existence of a higher order than that of the brutes:—whilst others
+have given them a high rank, as I feel myself authorized to do, as
+honourable and highly-intellectual beings; and others, both friends and
+foes to the red men, have spoken of them as an “anomaly in nature!”
+
+In this place I have no time or inclination to reply to so
+unaccountable an assertion as this; contenting myself with the belief,
+that the term would be far more correctly applied to that part of the
+human family who have strayed farthest from nature, than it could be to
+those who are simply moving in, and filling the sphere for which they
+were designed by the Great Spirit who made them.
+
+From what I have seen of these people I feel authorized to say, that
+there is nothing very strange or unaccountable in their character; but
+that it is a simple one, and easy to be learned and understood, if the
+right means be taken to familiarize ourselves with it. Although it has
+its dark spots, yet there is much in it to be applauded, and much to
+recommend it to the admiration of the enlightened world. And I trust
+that the reader, who looks through these volumes with care, will be
+disposed to join me in the conclusion that the North American Indian in
+his native state, is an honest, hospitable, faithful, brave, warlike,
+cruel, revengeful, relentless,—yet honourable, contemplative and
+religious being.
+
+If such be the case, I am sure there is enough in it to recommend it
+to the fair perusal of the world, and charity enough in all civilized
+countries, in this enlightened age, to extend a helping hand to a
+dying race; provided that prejudice and fear can be removed, which
+have heretofore constantly held the civilized portions in dread of the
+savage—and away from that familiar and friendly embrace, in which alone
+his true native character can be justly appreciated.
+
+I am fully convinced, from a long familiarity with these people, that
+the Indian’s misfortune has consisted chiefly in our ignorance of their
+true native character and disposition, which has always held us at a
+distrustful distance from them; inducing us to look upon them in no
+other light than that of a hostile foe, and worthy only of that system
+of continued warfare and abuse that has been for ever waged against
+them.
+
+There is no difficulty in approaching the Indian and getting acquainted
+with him in his wild and unsophisticated state, and finding him an
+honest and honourable man; with feelings to meet feelings, if the above
+prejudice and dread can be laid aside, and any one will take the pains,
+as I have done, to go and see him in the simplicity of his native
+state, smoking his pipe under his own humble roof, with his wife and
+children around him, and his faithful dogs and horses hanging about his
+hospitable tenement.—So the world _may_ see him and smoke his friendly
+pipe, which will be invariably extended to them; and share, with a
+hearty welcome, the best that his wigwam affords for the appetite,
+which is always set out to a stranger the next moment after he enters.
+
+But so the mass of the world, most assuredly, will _not_ see these
+people; for they are too far off, and approachable to those only whose
+avarice or cupidity alone lead them to those remote regions, and whose
+shame prevents them from publishing to the world the virtues which they
+have thrown down and trampled under foot.
+
+The very use of the word savage, as it is applied in its general sense,
+I am inclined to believe is an abuse of the word, and the people to
+whom it is applied. The word, in its true definition, means no more
+than _wild_, or _wild man_; and a wild man may have been endowed by his
+Maker with all the humane and noble traits that inhabit the heart of a
+tame man. Our ignorance and dread or fear of these people, therefore,
+have given a new definition to the adjective; and nearly the whole
+civilized world apply the word _savage_, as expressive of the most
+ferocious, cruel, and murderous character that can be described.
+
+The grizzly bear is called savage, because he is blood-thirsty,
+ravenous and cruel; and so is the tiger, and they, like the poor red
+man, have been feared and dreaded (from the distance at which ignorance
+and prejudice have kept us from them, or from resented abuses which we
+have practised when we have come in close contact with them), until Van
+Amburgh shewed the world, that even these ferocious and unreasoning
+animals wanted only the friendship and close embrace of their master,
+to respect and to love him.
+
+As evidence of the hospitality of these ignorant and benighted people,
+and also of their honesty and honour, there will be found recorded
+many striking instances in the following pages. And also, as an offset
+to these, many evidences of the dark and cruel, as well as ignorant
+and disgusting excesses of passions, unrestrained by the salutary
+influences of laws and Christianity.
+
+I have roamed about from time to time during seven or eight years,
+visiting and associating with some three or four hundred thousand of
+these people, under an almost infinite variety of circumstances; and
+from the very many and decided voluntary acts of their hospitality
+and kindness, I feel bound to pronounce them, by nature, a kind and
+hospitable people. I have been welcomed generally in their country,
+and treated to the best that they could give me, without any charges
+made for my board; they have often escorted me through their enemies’
+country at some hazard to their own lives, and aided me in passing
+mountains and rivers with my awkward baggage; and under all of these
+circumstances of exposure, no Indian ever betrayed me, struck me a
+blow, or stole from me a shilling’s worth of my property that I am
+aware of.
+
+This is saying a great deal, (and proving it too, if the reader will
+believe me) in favour of the virtues of these people; when it is borne
+in mind, as it should be, that there is no law in their land to punish
+a man for theft—that locks and keys are not known in their country—that
+the commandments have never been divulged amongst them; nor can any
+human retribution fall upon the head of a thief, save the disgrace
+which attaches as a stigma to his character, in the eyes of his people
+about him.
+
+And thus in these little communities, strange as it may seem, in the
+absence of all systems of jurisprudence, I have often beheld peace
+and happiness, and quiet, reigning supreme, for which even kings and
+emperors might envy them. I have seen rights and virtue protected,
+and wrongs redressed; and I have seen conjugal, filial and paternal
+affection in the simplicity and contentedness of nature. I have
+unavoidably, formed warm and enduring attachments to some of these
+men which I do not wish to forget—who have brought me near to their
+hearts, and in our final separation have embraced me in their arms, and
+commended me and my affairs to the keeping of the Great Spirit.
+
+For the above reasons, the reader will be disposed to forgive me for
+dwelling so long and so strong on the justness of the claims of these
+people; and for my occasional expressions of sadness, when my heart
+bleeds for the fate that awaits the remainder of their unlucky race;
+which is long to be outlived by the rocks, by the beasts, and even
+birds and reptiles of the country they live in;—set upon by their
+fellow-man, whose cupidity, it is feared, will fix no bounds to the
+Indian’s earthly calamity, short of the grave.
+
+I cannot help but repeat, before I close this Letter, that the tribes
+of the red men of North America, as a nation of human beings, are on
+their wane; that (to use their own very beautiful figure) “they are
+fast travelling to the shades of their fathers, towards the setting
+sun;” and that the traveller who would see these people in their native
+simplicity and beauty, must needs be hastily on his way to the prairies
+and Rocky Mountains, or he will see them only as they are now seen on
+the frontiers, as a basket of _dead game_,—harassed, chased, bleeding
+and dead; with their plumage and colours despoiled; to be gazed
+amongst in vain for some system or moral, or for some scale by which
+to estimate their true native character, other than that which has too
+often recorded them but a dark and unintelligible mass of cruelty and
+barbarity.
+
+Without further comments I close this Letter, introducing my readers
+at once to the heart of the Indian country, only asking their
+forgiveness for having made it so long, and their patience whilst
+travelling through the following pages (as I journeyed through those
+remote realms) in search of information and rational amusement; in
+tracing out the true character of that “_strange anomaly_” of man in
+the simple elements of his nature, undissolved or compounded into the
+mysteries of enlightened and fashionable life.
+
+
+                             ————————————
+
+                                 NOTE.
+
+_As the singular manners of the Country set forth in the following
+pages, and the extraordinary scenes represented in the very numerous
+illustrations, are of such a character as to require all possible aids
+for the satisfaction of the readers; I hope they will excuse me for
+intruding in this place the numerous Certificates which follow, and
+which have been voluntarily furnished me by men whose lives, it will
+be seen, have been spent, in great part, in the Indian Country, and in
+familiarity with the men and manners set forth in the work_:
+
+
+                             CERTIFICATES.
+
+“I hereby certify, that the persons whose signatures are affixed to the
+certificates here below, by Mr. +Catlin+, are officers in the service
+of the United States, as herein set forth; and that their opinions
+of the accuracy of the likenesses, and correctness of the views, &c.
+exhibited by him in his ‘+Indian Gallery+,’ are entitled to full credit.
+
+                       “J. R. POINSETT, _Secretary of War, Washington_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“With regard to the gentlemen whose names are affixed to certificates
+below, I am fully warranted in saying, that no individuals have had
+better opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of the persons, habits,
+costumes, and sports of the Indian tribes, or possess stronger claims
+upon the public confidence in the statements they make, respecting the
+correctness of delineations, &c. of Mr. +Catlin’s Indian Gallery+; and
+I may add my own testimony, with regard to many of those Indians whom
+I have seen, and whose likenesses are in the collection, and sketched
+with fidelity and correctness.
+
+           “C. A. HARRIS, _Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“I have seen Mr. +Catlin’s+ Collection of Portraits of Indians,
+east of the Rocky Mountains many of which were familiar to me, and
+painted in my presence: and as far as they have included Indians of
+my acquaintance, the _likenesses_ are easily recognized, bearing
+the most striking resemblance to the originals, as well as faithful
+representations of their costumes.
+
+              “W. CLARK, _Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St. Louis_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“I have examined Mr. +Catlin’s+ Collection of the Upper Missouri
+Indians to the Rocky Mountains, all of which I am acquainted with;
+and indeed most of them were painted when I was present, and I do
+not hesitate to pronounce them correct likenesses, and readily to be
+recognized. And I consider the _costumes_, as painted by him, to be the
+_only correct representations_ I have ever seen.
+
+                            “JOHN F. A. SANFORD,
+               “_U. SS. Indian Agent for Mandans, Rickarees, Minatarees,
+                    Crows, Knisteneaux, Assinneboins, Blackfeet, &c._”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“We have seen Mr. +Catlin’s+ Portraits of Indians east of the Rocky
+Mountains, many of which are familiar to us; the likenesses are easily
+recognized, bearing a strong resemblance to the originals, as well as a
+faithful representation of their costumes.
+
+                                         “J. DOUGHERTY, _Indian Agent_.
+  “_November 27th, 1837._                 J. GANTT.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“We hereby certify, that the Portraits of the Grand Pawnees, Republican
+Pawnees, Pawnee Loups, Tappage Pawnees, Otoes, Omahaws, and Missouries,
+which are in Mr. +Catlin’s Indian Gallery+, were painted from life by
+Mr. +Geo. Catlin+, and that the individuals sat to him in the costumes
+precisely in which they are painted.
+
+                “J. DOUGHERTY, _I. A. for Pawnees, Omahaws, and Otoes_.
+  “_New York, 1837._    J. GANTT.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“I have seen Mr. +Catlin’s+ Collection of Indian Portraits, many
+of which were familiar to me, and painted in my presence at their
+own villages. I have spent the greater part of my life amongst the
+tribes and individuals he has represented, and I do not hesitate to
+pronounce them correct likenesses, and easily recognized: also his
+sketches of their _manners_ and _customs_, I think, are excellent; and
+the _landscape views_ on the Missouri and Mississippi, are correct
+representations.
+
+              “K. M‘KENZIE, _of the Am. Fur Co. Mouth of Yellow Stone_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“We hereby certify, that the Portraits of Seminoles and Euchees, in
+Mr. +Catlin’s Gallery+, were painted by him, from the life, at Fort
+Moultrie; that the Indians sat or stood in the costumes precisely in
+which they are painted, and that the likenesses are remarkably good.
+
+  “P. MORRISON, Capt. 4th Inft.          H. WHARTON, 2d. Lieut. 6th Inft.
+   J. S. HATHAWAY, 2d Lieut. 1st Art.    F. WEEDON, Assistant Surgeon.
+  _Fort Moultrie, Jan. 26, 1838._”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“Having examined Mr. +Catlin’s+ Collection of Portraits of Indians
+of the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, I have no hesitation in
+pronouncing them, so far as I am acquainted with the Individuals,
+to be the best I have ever seen, both as regards the expression of
+countenance, and the exact and complete manner in which the costume has
+been painted by him.
+
+                            “J. L. BEAN, _S. Agent for Indian Affairs_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“I have been for many years past in familiar acquaintance with the
+Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and also
+with the landscape and other scenes represented in Mr. +Catlin’s+
+Collection; and it gives me great pleasure to assure the world, that on
+looking them over, I found the likenesses of my old friends easily to
+be recognized; and his sketches of Manners and Customs to be pourtrayed
+with singular truth and correctness.
+
+                       “J. PILCHER, _Agent for Upper Missouri Indians_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“It gives me great pleasure in being enabled to add my name to the list
+of those who have spontaneously expressed their approbation of Mr.
++Catlin’s+ Collection of Indian Paintings. His Collection of materials
+place it in his power to throw much light on the Indian character,
+and his portraits, so far as I have seen them, are drawn with great
+fidelity as to character and likeness.
+
+               “H. SCHOOLCRAFT, _Indian Agent for Wisconsin Territory_.”
+
+“Having lived and dealt with the Black Feet Indians for five years
+past, I was enabled to recognize _every one_ of the Portraits of
+those people, and of the Crows also, which Mr. +Catlin+ has in his
+Collection, from the faithful likenesses they bore to the originals.
+
+  “_St. Louis, 1835._ “J. E. BRAZEAU.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“Having spent sixteen years in the continual acquaintance with the
+Indians of the several tribes of the Missouri, represented in Mr.
++Catlin’s+ Gallery of Indian Paintings, I was enabled to judge of the
+correctness of the likenesses, and I _instantly recognized every one of
+them_, when I looked them over, from the striking resemblance they bore
+to the originals—so also, of the Landscapes on the Missouri.
+
+                                                       “HONORE PICOTTE.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“The Portraits, in the possession of Mr. +Catlin+, of Pawnee Picts,
+Kioways, Camanches, Wecos, and Osages, were painted by him _from life_,
+when on a tour to their country, with the United States Dragoons. The
+_likenesses_ are good, very easily to be recognized, and the _costumes_
+faithfully represented.
+
+  “HENRY DODGE, Col. of Drag.        D. PERKINS. Capt. of Drag.
+   R. H. MASON, Major of Ditto.      M. DUNCAN,     Ditto.
+   D. HUNTER, Capt.      Ditto.      T. B. WHEELOCK, Lieut. Drag.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“The Landscapes, Buffalo-Hunting scenes, &c. above-mentioned, I have
+seen, and although it has been thirty years since I travelled over that
+country; yet a considerable number of them I recognized as faithful
+representations, and the remainder of them are so much in the peculiar
+character of that country as to seem entirely familiar to me.
+
+                        “WM. CLARK, _Superintendent of Indian Affairs_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“The Landscape Views on the Missouri, Buffalo Hunts, and other scenes,
+taken by my friend Mr. +Catlin+, are correct delineations of the scenes
+they profess to represent, as I am perfectly well acquainted with the
+country, having passed through it more than a dozen times. And further,
+I know, that they were taken on the spot, from nature, as I was present
+when Mr. +Catlin+ visited that country.
+
+                            “JOHN F. A. SANFORD, _U. SS. Indian Agent_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“It gives me great pleasure to be able to pronounce the Landscape
+Views, Views of Hunting, and other scenes, taken on the Upper Missouri
+by Mr. +Catlin+, to be correct delineations of the scenery they profess
+to represent; and although I was not present when they were taken in
+the field, I was able to identify almost every one between St. Louis
+and the grand bend of the Missouri.
+
+                             “J. L. BEAN, _S. Agent of Indian Affairs_.”
+
+                             ————————————
+
+“I have examined a series of paintings by Mr. +Catlin+, representing
+_Indian Buffalo Hunts, Landscapes, &c._, and from an acquaintance
+of twenty-seven years with such scenes as are represented, I feel
+qualified to judge them, and do unhesitatingly pronounce them good and
+unexaggerated representations.
+
+      “JNO. DOUGHERTY, _Indian Agent for Pawnees, Omahaws, and Otoes_.”
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 2.
+
+             MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_, 1832.
+
+
+I arrived at this place yesterday in the steamer “Yellow Stone,”
+after a voyage of nearly three months from St. Louis, a distance of
+two thousand miles, the greater part of which has never before been
+navigated by steam; and the almost insurmountable difficulties which
+continually oppose the _voyageur_ on this turbid stream, have been
+by degrees overcome by the indefatigable zeal of Mr. Chouteau, a
+gentleman of great perseverance, and part proprietor of the boat. To
+the politeness of this gentleman I am indebted for my passage from St.
+Louis to this place, and I had also the pleasure of his _company_, with
+that of Major Sanford, the government agent for the Missouri Indians.
+
+The American Fur Company have erected here, for their protection
+against the savages, a very substantial Fort, 300 feet square, with
+bastions armed with ordnance (+plate+ 3); and our approach to it under
+the continued roar of cannon for half an hour, and the shrill yells of
+the half-affrighted savages who lined the shores, presented a scene
+of the most thrilling and picturesque appearance. A voyage so full of
+incident, and furnishing so many novel scenes of the picturesque and
+romantic, as we have passed the numerous villages of the “astonished
+natives,” saluting them with the puffing of steam and the thunder of
+artillery, would afford subject for many epistles; and I cannot deny
+myself the pleasure of occasionally giving you some little sketches of
+scenes that I have witnessed, and _am witnessing_; and of the singular
+feelings that are excited in the breast of the stranger travelling
+through this interesting country. Interesting (as I have said) and
+_luxurious_, for this is truly the land of Epicures; we are invited by
+the savages to feasts of _dog’s meat_, as the most honourable food that
+can be presented to a stranger, and glutted with the more delicious
+food of beavers’ tails, and buffaloes’ tongues. You will, no doubt, be
+somewhat surprised on the receipt of a Letter from me, so far strayed
+into the Western World; and still more startled, when I tell you that I
+am here in the full enthusiasm and practice of my art. That enthusiasm
+alone has brought me into this remote region, 3500 miles from my native
+soil; the last 2000 of which have furnished me with almost unlimited
+models, both in landscape and the human figure, exactly suited to
+my feelings. I am now in the full possession and enjoyments of
+those conditions, on which alone I was induced to pursue the art as a
+profession; and in anticipation of which alone, my admiration for the
+art could ever have been kindled into a pure flame. I mean the free use
+of nature’s undisguised models, with the privilege of selecting for
+myself. If I am here losing the benefit of the fleeting fashions of the
+day, and neglecting that elegant polish, which the world say an artist
+should draw from a continual intercourse with the polite world; yet
+have I this consolation, that in this country, I am entirely divested
+of those dangerous steps and allurements which beset an artist in
+fashionable life; and have little to steal my thoughts away from the
+contemplation of the beautiful models that are about me. If, also, I
+have not here the benefit of that feeling of emulation, which is the
+life and spur to the arts, where artists are associates together; yet
+am I surrounded by living models of such elegance and beauty, that I
+feel an unceasing excitement of a much higher order—the certainty that
+I am drawing knowledge from the true source. My enthusiastic admiration
+of man in the honest and elegant simplicity of nature, has always fed
+the warmest feelings of my bosom, and shut half the avenues to my
+heart against the specious refinements of the accomplished world. This
+feeling, together with the desire to study my art, independently of the
+embarrassments which the ridiculous fashions of civilized society have
+thrown in its way, has led me to the wilderness for a while, as the
+true school of the arts.
+
+[Illustration: 3]
+
+[Illustration: 4]
+
+I have for a long time been of opinion, that the wilderness of our
+country afforded models equal to those from which the Grecian sculptors
+transferred to the marble such inimitable grace and beauty; and I am
+now more confirmed in this opinion, since I have immersed myself in
+the midst of thousands and tens of thousands of these knights of the
+forest; whose whole lives are lives of chivalry, and whose daily feats,
+with their naked limbs, might vie with those of the Grecian youths in
+the beautiful rivalry of the Olympian games.
+
+No man’s imagination, with all the aids of description that can be
+given to it, can ever picture the beauty and wildness of scenes that
+may be daily witnessed in this romantic country; of hundreds of these
+graceful youths, without a care to wrinkle, or a fear to disturb
+the full expression of pleasure and enjoyment that beams upon their
+faces—their long black hair mingling with their horses’ tails, floating
+in the wind, while they are flying over the carpeted prairie, and
+dealing death with their spears and arrows, to a band of infuriated
+buffaloes; or their splendid procession in a war-parade, arrayed in all
+their gorgeous colours and trappings, moving with most exquisite grace
+and manly beauty, added to that bold defiance which man carries on his
+front, who acknowledges no superior on earth, and who is amenable to no
+laws except the laws of God and honour.
+
+In addition to the knowledge of human nature and of my art, which I
+hope to acquire by this toilsome and expensive undertaking, I have
+another in view, which, if it should not be of equal service to me,
+will be of no less interest and value to posterity. I have, for many
+years past, contemplated the noble races of red men who are now spread
+over these trackless forests and boundless prairies, melting away
+at the approach of civilization. Their rights invaded, their morals
+corrupted, their lands wrested from them, their customs changed, and
+therefore lost to the world; and they at last sunk into the earth,
+and the ploughshare turning the sod over their graves, and I have
+flown to their rescue—not of their lives or of their race (for they
+are “_doomed_” and must perish), but to the rescue of their looks and
+their modes, at which the acquisitive world may hurl their poison and
+every besom of destruction, and trample them down and crush them to
+death; yet, phœnix-like, they may rise from the “stain on a painter’s
+palette,” and live again upon canvass, and stand forth for centuries
+yet to come, the living monuments of a noble race. For this purpose,
+I have designed to visit every tribe of Indians on the Continent, if
+my life should be spared; for the purpose of procuring portraits of
+distinguished Indians, of both sexes in each tribe, painted in their
+native costume; accompanied with pictures of their villages, domestic
+habits, games, mysteries, religious ceremonies, &c. with anecdotes,
+traditions, and history of their respective nations.
+
+If I should live to accomplish my design, the result of my labours will
+doubtless be interesting to future ages; who will have little else left
+from which to judge of the original inhabitants of this simple race of
+beings, who require but a few years more of the march of civilization
+and death, to deprive them of all their native customs and character.
+I have been kindly supplied by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and
+the Secretary of War, with letters to the commander of every military
+post, and every Indian agent on the Western Frontier, with instructions
+to render me all the facilities in their power, which will be of great
+service to me in so arduous an undertaking. The opportunity afforded me
+by familiarity with so many tribes of human beings in the simplicity of
+nature, devoid of the deformities of art; of drawing fair conclusions
+in the interesting sciences of physiognomy and phrenology; of manners
+and customs, rites, ceremonies, &c.; and the opportunity of examining
+the geology and mineralogy of this western, and yet unexplored
+country, will enable me occasionally to entertain you with much new
+and interesting information, which I shall take equal pleasure in
+communicating by an occasional Letter in my clumsy way.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 3.
+
+                MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Since the date of my former Letter, I have been so much engaged in
+the amusements of the country, and the use of my brush, that I have
+scarcely been able to drop you a line until the present moment.
+
+Before I let you into the amusements and customs of this delightful
+country however, (and which, as yet, are secrets to most of the world),
+I must hastily travel with you over the tedious journey of 2000 miles,
+from St. Louis to this place; over which distance one is obliged to
+pass, before he can reach this wild and lovely spot.
+
+The Missouri is, perhaps, different in appearance and character
+from all other rivers in the world; there is a terror in its manner
+which is sensibly felt, the moment we enter its muddy waters from
+the Mississippi. From the mouth of the Yellow Stone River, which is
+the place from whence I am now writing, to its junction with the
+Mississippi, a distance of 2000 miles, the Missouri, with its boiling,
+turbid waters, sweeps off, in one unceasing current; and in the whole
+distance there is scarcely an eddy or resting-place for a canoe. Owing
+to the continual falling in of its rich alluvial banks, its water is
+always turbid and opaque; having, at all seasons of the year, the
+colour of a cup of chocolate or coffee, with sugar and cream stirred
+into it. To give a better definition of its density and opacity, I
+have tried a number of simple experiments with it at this place, and
+at other points below, at the results of which I was exceedingly
+surprised. By placing a piece of silver (and afterwards a piece of
+shell, which is a much whiter substance) in a tumbler of its water,
+and looking through the side of the glass, I ascertained that those
+substances could not be seen through the eighth part of an inch; this,
+however, is in the spring of the year, when the freshet is upon the
+river, rendering the water, undoubtedly, much more turbid than it would
+be at other seasons; though it is always muddy and yellow, and from its
+boiling and wild character and uncommon colour, a stranger would think,
+even in its lowest state, that there was a freshet upon it.
+
+For the distance of 1000 miles above St. Louis, the shores of this
+river (and, in many places, the whole bed of the stream) are filled
+with snags and raft, formed of trees of the largest size, which have
+been undermined by the falling banks and cast into the stream;
+their roots becoming fastened in the bottom of the river, with their
+tops floating on the surface of the water, and pointing down the
+stream, forming the most frightful and discouraging prospect for the
+adventurous voyageur. (See +plate+ 4.)
+
+Almost every island and sand-bar is covered with huge piles of these
+floating trees, and when the river is flooded, its surface is almost
+literally covered with floating raft and drift wood which bid positive
+defiance to keel-boats and steamers, on their way up the river.
+
+With what propriety this “Hell of waters” might he denominated the
+“River Styx,” I will not undertake to decide; but nothing could be more
+appropriate or innocent than to call it the River _of Sticks_.
+
+The scene is not, however, all so dreary; there is a redeeming beauty
+in the green and carpeted shores, which hem in this huge and terrible
+deformity of waters. There is much of the way though, where the mighty
+forests of stately cotton wood stand, and frown in horrid dark and
+coolness over the filthy abyss below; into which they are ready to
+plunge headlong, when the mud and soil in which they were germed and
+reared have been washed out from underneath them, and with the rolling
+current are mixed, and on their way to the ocean.
+
+The greater part of the shores of this river, however, are without
+timber, where the eye is delightfully relieved by wandering over the
+beautiful prairies; most of the way gracefully sloping down to the
+water’s edge, carpeted with the deepest green, and, in distance,
+softening into velvet of the richest hues, entirely beyond the reach
+of the artist’s pencil. Such is the character of the upper part of the
+river especially; and as one advances towards its source, and through
+its upper half, it becomes more pleasing to the eye, for snags and raft
+are no longer to be seen; yet the current holds its stiff and onward
+turbid character.
+
+It has been, heretofore, very erroneously represented to the world,
+that the scenery on this river was monotonous, and wanting in
+picturesque beauty. This intelligence is surely incorrect, and that
+because it has been brought perhaps, by men who are not the best
+judges in the world, of Nature’s beautiful works; and if they were,
+they always pass them by, in pain or desperate distress, in toil and
+trembling fear for the safety of their furs and peltries, or for their
+lives, which are at the mercy of the yelling savages who inhabit this
+delightful country.
+
+One thousand miles or more of the upper part of the river, was, to
+my eye, like fairy-land; and during our transit through that part of
+our voyage, I was most of the time rivetted to the deck of the boat,
+indulging my eyes in the boundless and tireless pleasure of roaming
+over the thousand hills, and bluffs, and dales, and ravines; where the
+astonished herds of buffaloes, of elks, and antelopes, and sneaking
+wolves, and mountain-goats, were to be seen bounding up and down and
+over the green fields; each one and each tribe, band, and gang, taking
+their own way, and using their own means to the greatest advantage
+possible, to leave the sight and sound of the puffing of our boat;
+which was, for the first time, saluting the green and wild shores of
+the Missouri with the din of mighty steam.
+
+From St. Louis to the falls of the Missouri, a distance of 2600 miles,
+is one continued prairie; with the exception of a few of the bottoms
+formed along the bank of the river, and the streams which are falling
+into it, which are often covered with the most luxuriant growth of
+forest timber.
+
+The summit level of the great prairies stretching off to the west and
+the east from the river, to an almost boundless extent, is from two to
+three hundred feet above the level of the river; which has formed a bed
+or valley for its course, varying in width from two to twenty miles.
+This channel or valley has been evidently produced by the force of the
+current, which has gradually excavated, in its floods and gorges, this
+immense space, and sent its débris into the ocean. By the continual
+overflowing of the river, its deposits have been lodged and left with a
+horizontal surface, spreading the deepest and richest alluvion over the
+surface of its meadows on either side; through which the river winds
+its serpentine course, alternately running from one bluff to the other,
+which present themselves to its shores in all the most picturesque
+and beautiful shapes and colours imaginable—some with their green
+sides gracefully slope down in the most lovely groups to the water’s
+edge (+plate+ 5); whilst others, divested of their verdure, present
+themselves in immense masses of clay of different colours, which arrest
+the eye of the traveller, with the most curious views in the world.
+
+These strange and picturesque appearances have been produced by the
+rains and frosts, which are continually changing the dimensions, and
+varying the thousand shapes of these denuded hills, by washing down
+their sides and carrying them into the river.
+
+Amongst these groups may be seen tens and hundreds of thousands of
+different forms and figures, of the sublime and the picturesque; in
+many places for miles together, as the boat glides along, there is
+one continued appearance, before and behind us, of some ancient and
+boundless city in ruins—ramparts, terraces, domes, towers, citadels and
+castles may be seen,—cupolas, and magnificent porticos, and here and
+there a solitary column and crumbling pedestal, and even spires of clay
+which stand alone—and glistening in distance, as the sun’s rays are
+refracted back by the thousand crystals of gypsum which are imbedded in
+the clay of which they are formed (+plate+ 6). Over and through these
+groups of domes and battlements (as one is compelled to imagine them),
+the sun sends his long and gilding rays, at morn or in the evening;
+giving life and light, by aid of shadows cast, to the different glowing
+colours of these clay-built ruins; shedding a glory over the solitude
+of this wild and pictured country, which no one can realize unless he
+travels here and looks upon it.
+
+It is amidst these wild and quiet haunts that the mountain-sheep, and
+the fleet-bounding antelope sport and live in herds, secure from their
+enemies, to whom the sides and slopes of these bluffs (around which
+they fearlessly bound) are nearly inaccessible.
+
+The grizzly bear also has chosen these places for his abode; he
+sullenly sneaks through the gulphs and chasms, and ravines, and frowns
+away the lurking Indian; whilst the mountain-sheep and antelope are
+bounding over and around the hill tops, safe and free from harm of man
+and beast.
+
+Such is a hasty sketch of the river scenes and scenery for 2000 miles,
+over which we tugged, and puffed, and blowed, and toiled for three
+months, before we reached this place. Since we arrived here, the
+steamer has returned and left me here to explore the country and visit
+the tribes in this vicinity, and then descend the river from this place
+to St. Louis; which Tour, if I live through it, will furnish material
+for many a story and curious incident, which I may give you in detail
+in future epistles, and when I have more leisure than I have at the
+present moment. I will then undertake to tell how we astonished the
+natives, in many an instance, which I can in this Letter but just
+hint at and say adieu. If anything did ever literally and completely
+“astonish (and astound) the natives,” it was the appearance of our
+steamer, puffing and blowing, and paddling and rushing by their
+villages which were on the banks of the river.
+
+These poor and ignorant people for the distance of 2000 miles, had
+never before seen or heard of a steam-boat, and in some places they
+seemed at a loss to know what to do, or how to act; they could not,
+as the Dutch did at Newburgh, on the Hudson River, take it to be a
+“_floating saw-mill_”—and they had no name for it—so it was, like
+every thing else (with them), which is mysterious and unaccountable,
+called _medicine_ (mystery). We had on board one twelve-pound cannon
+and three or four eight-pound swivels, which we were taking up to
+arm the Fur Company’s Fort at the mouth of Yellow Stone, and at the
+approach to every village they were all discharged several times in
+rapid succession, which threw the inhabitants into utter confusion and
+amazement—some of them laid their faces to the ground, and cried to
+the Great Spirit—some shot their horses and dogs, and sacrificed them
+to appease the Great Spirit, whom they conceived was offended—some
+deserted their villages and ran to the tops of the bluffs some miles
+distant; and others, in some places, as the boat landed in front of
+their villages, came with great caution, and peeped over the bank of
+the river to see the fate of their chiefs whose duty it was (from the
+nature of their office) to approach us, whether friends or foes, and
+to go on board. Sometimes, in this plight, they were instantly thrown
+‘neck and heels’ over each other’s heads and shoulders—men, women
+and children, and dogs—sage, sachem, old and young—all in a mass, at
+the frightful discharge of the steam from the escape-pipe, which the
+captain of the boat let loose upon them for his own fun and amusement.
+
+There were many curious conjectures amongst their wise men, with regard
+to the nature and powers of the steam-boat. Amongst the Mandans, some
+called it the “big thunder canoe;” for when in distance below the
+village, they saw the lightning flash from its sides, and heard the
+thunder come from it; others called it the “big medicine canoe with
+eyes;” it was _medicine_ (mystery) because they could not understand
+it; and it must have eyes, for said they, “it sees its own way, and
+takes the deep water in the middle of the channel.”
+
+[Illustration: 5]
+
+[Illustration: 6]
+
+They had no idea of the boat being steered by the man at the wheel, and
+well they might have been astonished at its taking the deepest water. I
+may (if I do not forget it) hereafter give you an account of some other
+curious incidents of this kind, which we met with in this voyage; for
+we met many, and some of them were really laughable.
+
+The Fort in which I am residing was built by Mr. M‘Kenzie, who now
+occupies it. It is the largest and best-built establishment of the kind
+on the river, being the great or principal head-quarters and depôt
+of the Fur Company’s business in this region. A vast stock of goods
+is kept on hand at this place; and at certain times of the year the
+numerous out-posts concentrate here with the returns of their season’s
+trade, and refit out with a fresh supply of goods to trade with the
+Indians.
+
+The site for the Fort is well selected, being a beautiful prairie
+on the bank near the junction of the Missouri with the Yellow Stone
+rivers; and its inmates and its stores well protected from Indian
+assaults.
+
+Mr. M‘Kenzie is a kind-hearted and high-minded Scotchman; and seems to
+have charge of all the Fur Companies’ business in this region, and from
+this to the Rocky Mountains. He lives in good and comfortable style,
+inside of the Fort, which contains some eight or ten log-houses and
+stores, and has generally forty or fifty men, and one hundred and fifty
+horses about him.
+
+He has, with the same spirit of liberality and politeness with
+which Mons. Pierre Chouteau treated me on my passage up the river,
+pronounced me welcome at his table, which groans under the luxuries of
+the country; with buffalo meat and tongues, with beavers’ tails and
+marrow-fat; but _sans_ coffee, _sans_ bread and butter. Good cheer and
+good living we get at it however, and good wine also; for a bottle of
+Madeira and one of excellent Port are set in a pail of ice every day,
+and exhausted at dinner.
+
+At the hospitable board of this gentleman I found also another, who
+forms a happy companion for _mine host_; and whose intellectual and
+polished society has added not a little to _my_ pleasure and amusement
+since I arrived here.
+
+The gentleman of whom I am speaking is an Englishman, by the name
+of Hamilton, of the most pleasing and entertaining conversation,
+whose mind seems to be a complete store-house of ancient and modern
+literature and art; and whose free and familiar acquaintance with the
+manners and men of his country gives him the stamp of a gentleman, who
+has had the curiosity to bring the embellishments of the enlightened
+world, to contrast with the rude and the wild of these remote regions.
+
+We three _bons vivants_ form the group about the dinner-table, of which
+I have before spoken, and crack our jokes and fun over the bottles of
+Port and Madeira, which I have named; and a considerable part of which,
+this gentleman has brought with great and precious care from his own
+country.
+
+This post is the general rendezvous of a great number of Indian tribes
+in these regions, who are continually concentrating here for the
+purpose of trade; sometimes coming, the whole tribe together, in a
+mass. There are now here, and encamped about the Fort, a great many,
+and I am continually at work with my brush; we have around us at this
+time the Knisteneaux, Crows, Assinneboins and Blackfeet, and in a few
+days are to have large accessions.
+
+The finest specimens of Indians on the Continent are in these regions;
+and before I leave these parts, I shall make excursions into their
+respective countries, to their own native fire-sides; and there study
+their looks and peculiar customs; enabling me to drop you now and then
+an interesting Letter. The tribes which I shall be enabled to see and
+study by my visit to this region, are the Ojibbeways, the Assinneboins,
+Knisteneaux, Blackfeet, Crows, Shiennes, Grosventres, Mandans, and
+others; of whom and their customs, their history, traditions, costumes,
+&c., I shall in due season, give you further and minute accounts.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 4.
+
+                         MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE.
+
+
+The several tribes of Indians inhabiting the regions of the Upper
+Missouri, and of whom I spoke in my last Letter, are undoubtedly the
+finest looking, best equipped, and most beautifully costumed of any on
+the Continent. They live in a country well-stocked with buffaloes and
+wild horses, which furnish them an excellent and easy living; their
+atmosphere is pure, which produces good health and long life; and they
+are the most independent and the happiest races of Indians I have met
+with: they are all entirely in a state of primitive wildness, and
+consequently are picturesque and handsome, almost beyond description.
+Nothing in the world, of its kind, can possibly surpass in beauty and
+grace, some of their games and amusements—their gambols and parades, of
+which I shall speak and paint hereafter.
+
+As far as my travels have yet led me into the Indian country, I have
+more than realized my former predictions that those Indians who could
+be found most entirely in a state of nature, with the least knowledge
+of civilized society, would be found to be the most cleanly in their
+persons, elegant in their dress and manners, and enjoying life to the
+greatest perfection. Of such tribes, perhaps the Crows and Blackfeet
+stand first; and no one would be able to appreciate the richness and
+elegance (and even taste too), with which some of these people dress,
+without seeing them in their own country. I will do all I can, however,
+to make their looks as well as customs known to the world; I will paint
+with my brush and scribble with my pen, and bring their plumes and
+plumage, dresses, weapons, &c., and every thing but the Indian himself,
+to prove to the world the assertions which I have made above.
+
+Every one of these red sons of the forest (or rather of the prairie)
+is a knight and lord—his squaws are his slaves; the only things which
+he deems worthy of his exertions are to mount his snorting steed, with
+his bow and quiver slung, his arrow-shield upon his arm, and his long
+lance glistening in the war-parade; or, divested of all his plumes and
+trappings, armed with a simple bow and quiver, to plunge his steed
+amongst the flying herds of buffaloes, and with his sinewy bow, which
+he seldom bends in vain, to drive deep to life’s fountain the whizzing
+arrow.
+
+The buffalo herds, which graze in almost countless numbers on these
+beautiful prairies, afford them an abundance of meat; and so much is
+it preferred to all other, that the deer, the elk, and the antelope
+sport upon the prairies in herds in the greatest security; as the
+Indians seldom kill them, unless they want their skins for a dress.
+The buffalo (or more correctly speaking bison) is a noble animal,
+that roams over the vast prairies, from the borders of Mexico on the
+south, to Hudson’s Bay on the north. Their size is somewhat above
+that of our common bullock, and their flesh of a delicious flavour,
+resembling and equalling that of fat beef. Their flesh which is easily
+procured, furnishes the savages of these vast regions the means of a
+wholesome and good subsistence, and they live almost exclusively upon
+it—converting the skins, horns, hoofs and bones, to the construction
+of dresses, shields, bows, &c. The buffalo bull is one of the most
+formidable and frightful looking animals in the world when excited to
+resistance; his long shaggy mane hangs in great profusion over his neck
+and shoulders and often extends quite down to the ground (+plate+ 7).
+The cow is less in stature, and less ferocious; though not much less
+wild and frightful in her appearance (+plate+ 8).
+
+The mode in which these Indians kill this noble animal is spirited and
+thrilling in the extreme; and I must in a future epistle, give you
+a minute account of it. I have almost daily accompanied parties of
+Indians to see the fun, and have often shared in it myself; but much
+oftener ran my horse by their sides, to see how the thing was done—to
+study the modes and expressions of these splendid scenes, which I am
+industriously putting upon the canvass.
+
+They are all (or nearly so) killed with arrows and the lance, while at
+full speed; and the reader may easily imagine, that these scenes afford
+the most spirited and picturesque views of the sporting kind that can
+possibly be seen.
+
+At present, I will give a little sketch of a bit of fun I joined in
+yesterday, with Mr. M‘Kenzie and a number of his men, without the
+company or aid of Indians.
+
+I mentioned the other day, that M‘Kenzie’s table from day to day
+groans under the weight of buffalo tongues and beavers’ tails, and
+other luxuries of this western land. He has within his Fort a spacious
+ice-house, in which he preserves his meat fresh for any length of time
+required; and sometimes, when his larder runs low. he starts out,
+rallying some five or six of his best hunters (not to hunt, but to “go
+for meat”). He leads the party, mounted on his favourite buffalo horse
+(_i. e._ the horse amongst his whole group which is best trained to run
+the buffalo), trailing a light and short gun in his hand, such an one
+as he can most easily reload whilst his horse is at full speed.
+
+Such was the condition of the ice-house yesterday morning, which caused
+these self-catering gentlemen to cast their eyes with a wishful look
+over the prairies; and such was the plight in which our host took
+the lead, and I, and then Mons. Chardon, and Ba’tiste Défonde and
+Tullock (who is a trader amongst the Crows, and is here at this time,
+with a large party of that tribe), and there were several others whose
+names I do not know.
+
+[Illustration: 7]
+
+[Illustration: 8]
+
+As we were mounted and ready to start, M‘Kenzie called up some four
+or five of his men, and told them to follow immediately on our trail,
+with as many one-horse carts, which they were to harness up, to bring
+home the meat; “ferry them across the river in the scow,” said he,
+“and following our trail through the bottom, you will find us on the
+plain yonder, between the Yellow Stone and the Missouri rivers, with
+meat enough to load you home. My watch on yonder bluff has just told
+us by his signals, that there are cattle a plenty on that spot, and
+we are going there as fast as possible.” We all crossed the river,
+and galloped away a couple of miles or so, when we mounted the bluff;
+and to be sure, as was said, there was in full view of us a fine herd
+of some four or five hundred buffaloes, perfectly at rest, and in
+their own estimation (probably) perfectly secure. Some were grazing,
+and others were lying down and sleeping; we advanced within a mile or
+so of them in full view, and came to a halt. Mons. Chardon “tossed
+the feather” (a custom always observed, to try the course of the
+wind), and we commenced “stripping” as it is termed (_i. e._ every
+man strips himself and his horse of every extraneous and unnecessary
+appendage of dress, &c. that might be an incumbrance in running): hats
+are laid off, and coats—and bullet pouches; sleeves are rolled up,
+a handkerchief tied tightly around the head, and another around the
+waist—cartridges are prepared and placed in the waistcoat pocket, or
+a half dozen bullets “throwed into the mouth,” &c., &c., all of which
+takes up some ten or fifteen minutes, and is not, in appearance or in
+effect, unlike a council of war. Our leader lays the whole plan of the
+chase, and preliminaries all fixed, guns charged and ramrods in our
+hands, we mount and start for the onset. The horses are all trained for
+this business, and seem to enter into it with as much enthusiasm, and
+with as restless a spirit as the riders themselves. While “stripping”
+and mounting, they exhibit the most restless impatience; and when
+“approaching”—(which is, all of us abreast, upon a slow walk, and
+in a straight line towards the herd, until they discover us and
+run), they all seem to have caught entirely the spirit of the chase,
+for the laziest nag amongst them prances with an elasticity in his
+step—champing his bit—his ears erect—his eyes strained out of his head,
+and fixed upon the game before him, whilst he trembles under the saddle
+of his rider. In this way we carefully and silently marched, until
+within some forty or fifty rods; when the herd discovering us, wheeled
+and laid their course in a mass. At this instant we started! (and
+all _must_ start, for no one could check the fury of those steeds at
+that moment of excitement,) and away all sailed, and over the prairie
+flew, in a cloud of dust which was raised by their trampling hoofs.
+M‘Kenzie was foremost in the throng, and soon dashed off amidst the
+dust and was out of sight—he was after the fattest and the fastest. I
+had discovered a huge bull whose shoulders towered above the whole
+band, and I picked my way through the crowd to get alongside of him. I
+went not for “meat,” but for a _trophy_; I wanted his head and horns. I
+dashed along through the thundering mass, as they swept away over the
+plain, scarcely able to tell whether I was on a buffalo’s back or my
+horse—hit, and hooked, and jostled about, till at length I found myself
+alongside of my game, when I gave him a shot, as I passed him. I saw
+guns flash in several directions about me, but I heard them not. Amidst
+the trampling throng, Mons. Chardon had wounded a stately bull, and at
+this moment was passing him again with his piece levelled for another
+shot; they were both at full speed and I also, within the reach of the
+muzzle of my gun, when the bull instantly turned and receiving the
+horse upon his horns, and the ground received poor Chardon, who made a
+frog’s leap of some twenty feet or more over the bull’s back (+plate+
+9), and almost under my horse’s heels. I wheeled my horse as soon as
+possible and rode back, where lay poor Chardon, gasping to start his
+breath again; and within a few paces of him his huge victim, with his
+heels high in the air, and the horse lying across him. I dismounted
+instantly, but Chardon was raising himself on his hands, with his eyes
+and mouth full of dirt, and feeling for his gun, which lay about thirty
+feet in advance of him. “Heaven spare you! are you hurt, Chardon?”
+“hi—hic——hic———hic————hic—————hic——————no,——hic———no——no, I believe
+not. Oh! this is not much, Mons. Cataline—this is nothing new—but this
+is a d——d hard piece of ground here—hic—oh! hic!” At this the poor
+fellow fainted, but in a few moments arose, picked up his gun, took his
+horse by the bit; which then opened _its_ eyes, and with a _hic_ and a
+_ugh_—+UGHK+! sprang upon its feet—shook off the dirt—and here we were,
+all upon our legs again, save the bull, whose fate had been more sad
+than that of either.
+
+I turned my eyes in the direction where the herd had gone, and
+our companions in pursuit, and nothing could be seen of them, nor
+indication, except the cloud of dust which they left behind them.
+At a little distance on the right, however, I beheld my huge victim
+endeavouring to make as much head-way as he possibly could, from this
+dangerous ground, upon three legs. I galloped off to him, and at my
+approach he wheeled around—and bristled up for battle; he seemed to
+know perfectly well that he could not escape from me, and resolved to
+meet his enemy and death as bravely as possible.
+
+I found that my shot had entered him a little too far forward, breaking
+one of his shoulders, and lodging in his breast, and from his very
+great weight it was impossible for him to make much advance upon me.
+As I rode up within a few paces of him, he would bristle up with fury
+enough in his _looks_ alone, almost to annihilate me (+plate+ 10); and
+making one lunge at me, would fall upon his neck and nose, so that I
+found the sagacity of my horse alone enough to keep me out of reach of
+danger: and I drew from my pocket my sketch-book, laid my gun across
+my lap, and commenced taking his likeness. He stood stiffened up, and
+swelling with awful vengeance, which was sublime for a picture, but
+which he could not vent upon me. I rode around him and sketched him
+in numerous attitudes, sometimes he would lie down, and I would then
+sketch him; then throw my cap at him, and rousing him on his legs,
+rally a new expression, and sketch him again.
+
+[Illustration: 9]
+
+[Illustration: 10]
+
+In this way I added to my sketch-book some invaluable sketches of
+this grim-visaged monster, who knew not that he was standing for his
+likeness.
+
+No man on earth can imagine what is the look and expression of such a
+subject before him as this was. I defy the world to produce another
+animal than can look so frightful as a huge buffalo bull, when wounded
+as he was, turned around for battle, and swelling with rage;—his eyes
+bloodshot, and his long shaggy mane hanging to the ground,—his mouth
+open, and his horrid rage hissing in streams of smoke and blood from
+his mouth and through his nostrils, as he is bending forward to spring
+upon his assailant.
+
+After I had had the requisite time and opportunity for using my pencil,
+M‘Kenzie and his companions came walking their exhausted horses back
+from the chase, and in our rear came four or five carts to carry home
+the meat. The party met from all quarters around me and my buffalo
+bull, whom I then shot in the head and finished. And being seated
+together for a few minutes, each one took a smoke of the pipe, and
+recited his exploits, and his “coups” or deaths; when all parties had
+a hearty laugh at me, as a novice, for having aimed at an old bull,
+whose flesh was not suitable for food, and the carts were escorted on
+the trail, to bring away the meat. I rode back with Mr. M‘Kenzie, who
+pointed out five cows which he had killed, and all of them selected
+as the fattest and slickest of the herd. This astonishing feat was
+all performed within the distance of one mile—all were killed at full
+speed, and every one shot through the heart. In the short space of time
+required for a horse under “full whip,” to run the distance of one
+mile, he had discharged his gun five, and loaded it four times—selected
+his animals, and killed at every shot! There were six or eight others
+killed at the same time, which altogether furnished, as will be seen,
+abundance of freight for the carts; which returned, as well as several
+packhorses, loaded with the choicest parts which were cut from the
+animals, and the remainder of the carcasses left a prey for the wolves.
+
+Such is the mode by which white men live in this country—such the way
+in which they get their food, and such is one of their delightful
+amusements—at the hazard of every bone in one’s body, to feel the fine
+and thrilling exhilaration of the chase for a moment, and then as often
+to upbraid and blame himself for his folly and imprudence.
+
+From this scene we commenced leisurely wending our way back; and
+dismounting at the place where we had stripped, each man dressed
+himself again, or slung his extra articles of dress, &c. across
+his saddle, astride of which he sat; and we rode back to the Fort,
+reciting as we rode, and for twenty-four hours afterwards, deeds of
+chivalry and chase, and hair’s-breadth escapes which each and either
+had fought and run on former occasions. M‘Kenzie, with all the true
+character and dignity of a leader, was silent on these subjects; but
+smiled, while those in his train were reciting for him the astonishing
+and almost incredible deeds of his sinewy arms, which they had
+witnessed in similar scenes; from which I learned (as well as from
+my own observations), that he was reputed (and actually _was_) the
+most distinguished of all the white men who have flourished in these
+regions, in the pursuit and death of the buffalo.
+
+On our return to the Fort, a bottle or two of wine were set forth
+upon the table, and around them a half dozen parched throats were
+soon moistened, and good cheer ensued. Ba’tiste Défonde, Chardon,
+&c., retired to their quarters, enlarging smoothly upon the events
+of our morning’s work; which they were reciting to their wives and
+sweethearts; when about this time the gate of the Fort was thrown open,
+and the procession of carts and packhorses laden with buffalo meat made
+its entrée; gladdening the hearts of a hundred women and children,
+and tickling the noses of as many hungry dogs and puppies, who were
+stealing in and smelling at the tail of the procession. The door of the
+ice-house was thrown open, the meat was discharged into it, and I being
+fatigued, went to sleep.
+
+[Illustration: 11]
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 5.
+
+                MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+In my former epistle I told you there were encamped about the Fort
+a host of wild, incongruous spirits—chiefs and sachems—warriors,
+braves, and women and children of different tribes—of Crows and
+Blackfeet—Ojibbeways—Assinneboins—and Crees or Knisteneaux. Amongst
+and in the midst of them am I, with my paint pots and canvass, snugly
+ensconced in one of the bastions of the Fort, which I occupy as a
+painting-room. My easel stands before me, and the cool breech of a
+twelve-pounder makes me a comfortable seat, whilst her muzzle is
+looking out at one of the port-holes. The operations of my brush are
+_mysteries_ of the highest order to these red sons of the prairie, and
+my room the earliest and latest place of concentration of these wild
+and jealous spirits, who all meet here to be amused and pay me signal
+honours; but gaze upon each other, sending their sidelong looks of
+deep-rooted hatred and revenge around the group. However, whilst in the
+Fort, their weapons are placed within the arsenal, and naught but looks
+and thoughts can be breathed here; but death and grim destruction will
+visit back those looks upon each other, when these wild spirits again
+are loose and free to breathe and act upon the plains.
+
+I have this day been painting a portrait of the head chief of the
+Blackfoot nation; he is a good-looking and dignified Indian, about
+fifty years of age, and superbly dressed (+plate+ 11); whilst sitting
+for his picture he has been surrounded by his own braves and warriors,
+and also gazed at by his enemies, the Crows and the Knisteneaux,
+Assinneboins and Ojibbeways; a number of distinguished personages of
+each of which tribes, have laid all day around the sides of my room;
+reciting to each other the battles they have fought, and pointing to
+the scalp-locks, worn as proofs of their victories, and attached to
+the seams of their shirts and leggings. This is a curious scene to
+witness, when one sits in the midst of such inflammable and combustible
+materials, brought together, unarmed, for the first time in their
+lives; peaceably and calmly recounting over the deeds of their lives,
+and smoking their pipes upon it, when a few weeks or days will bring
+them on the plains again, where the war-cry will be raised, and their
+deadly bows will again be drawn on each other.
+
+The name of this dignitary, of whom I have just spoken, is
+Stu-mick-o-sucks (the buffalo’s back fat), _i. e._ the “hump” or
+“fleece,” the most delicious part of the buffalo’s flesh. I have
+also painted, of the Blackfeet, Pe-toh-pee-kiss (the eagle ribs),
+and Mix-ke-mote-skin-na (the iron horn), and Wun-nes-tou (the
+white buffalo), and Tcha-aes-sa-ko-mah-pee (the bear’s child), and
+In-ne-o-cose (the buffalo’s child), and half-a-dozen others, and all in
+rich and costly dresses.
+
+There is no tribe, perhaps, on the Continent, who dress more
+comfortably, and more gaudily, than the Blackfeet, unless it be
+the tribe of Crows. There is no great difference, however, in the
+costliness or elegance of their costumes; nor in the materials of which
+they are formed; though there is a distinctive mode in each tribe, of
+stitching or ornamenting with the porcupine quills, which constitute
+one of the principal ornaments to all their fine dresses; and which
+can be easily recognized, by any one a little familiar with their
+modes, as belonging to such or such a tribe. The dress, for instance of
+the chief whom I have just mentioned, and whose portrait I have just
+painted, consists of a shirt or tunic, made of two deer skins finely
+dressed, and so placed together with the necks of the skins downwards,
+and the skins of the hind legs stitched together, the seams running
+down on each arm, from the neck to the knuckles of the hand; this
+seam is covered with a band of two inches in width, of very beautiful
+embroidery of porcupine quills, and suspended from the under edge of
+this, from the shoulders to the hands, is a fringe of the locks of
+black hair, which he has taken from the heads of victims slain by his
+own hand in battle. The leggings are made also of the same material;
+and down the outer side of the leg, from the hip to the feet, extends
+also a similar band or belt of the same width; and wrought in the same
+manner, with porcupine quills, and fringed with scalp locks. These
+locks of hair are procured from scalps, and worn as trophies.
+
+The wife (or squaw) of this dignitary Eeh-nis-kin (the crystal stone),
+I have also placed upon my canvass (+plate+ 13); her countenance is
+rather pleasing, which is an uncommon thing amongst the Blackfeet—her
+dress is made of skins, and being the youngest of a bevy of six or
+eight, and the last one taken under his guardianship, was smiled upon
+with great satisfaction, whilst he exempted her from the drudgeries of
+the camp; and keeping her continually in the halo of his own person,
+watched and guarded her as the apple of his eye. The grandson also
+of this sachem, a boy of six years of age, and too young as yet to
+have acquired a name, has stood forth like a tried warrior; and I
+have painted him at full length (+plate+ 12), with his bow and quiver
+slung, and his robe made of a racoon skin. The history of this child is
+somewhat curious and interesting; his father is dead, and in case of
+the death of the chief, of whom I have spoken, he becomes hereditary
+chief of the tribe. This boy has been twice stolen away by the Crows
+by ingenious stratagems, and twice re-captured by the Blackfeet, at
+considerable sacrifice of life, and at present he is lodged with Mr.
+M‘Kenzie, for safe keeping and protection, until he shall arrive at the
+proper age to take the office to which he is to succeed, and able to
+protect himself.
+
+[Illustration: 13]
+
+[Illustration: 12]
+
+The scalp of which I spoke above, is procured by cutting out a piece
+of the skin of the head, the size of the palm of the hand or less,
+containing the very centre or crown of the head, the place where the
+hair radiates from a point, and exactly over what the phrenologists
+call self-esteem. This patch then is kept and dried with great care, as
+proof positive of the death of an enemy, and evidence of a man’s claims
+as a warrior; and after having been formally “danced,” as the saying
+is, (_i. e._ after it has been stuck up upon a pole or held up by an
+“old woman,” and the warriors have danced around it for two or three
+weeks at intervals,) it is fastened to the handle of a lance, or the
+end of a war-club, or divided into a great many small locks and used
+to fringe and ornament the victor’s dress. When these dresses are seen
+bearing such trophies, it is of course a difficult matter to purchase
+them of the Indian, for they often hold them above all price. I shall
+hereafter take occasion to speak of the scalp-dance; describing it in
+all its parts, and giving a long Letter, at the same time on scalps
+and scalping, an interesting and general custom amongst all the North
+American Indians.
+
+In the chief’s dress, which I am describing, there are his moccasins,
+made also of buckskin, and ornamented in a corresponding manner. And
+over all, his robe, made of the skin of a young buffalo bull, with
+the hair remaining on; and on the inner or flesh side, beautifully
+garnished with porcupine quills, and the battles of his life very
+ingeniously, though rudely, pourtrayed in pictorial representations.
+In his hand he holds a very beautiful pipe, the stem of which is four
+or five feet long, and two inches wide, curiously wound with braids
+of the porcupine quills of various colours; and the bowl of the pipe
+ingeniously carved by himself from a piece of red steatite of an
+interesting character, and which they all tell me is procured somewhere
+between this place and the Falls of St. Anthony, on the head waters of
+the Mississippi.
+
+This curious stone has many peculiar qualities, and has, undoubtedly,
+but one origin in this country, and perhaps in the world. It is found
+but in the hands of the savage, and every tribe, and nearly every
+individual in the tribe has his pipe made of it. I consider this stone
+a subject of great interest, and curiosity to the world; and I shall
+most assuredly make it a point, during my Indian rambles, to visit the
+place from whence it is brought. I have already got a number of most
+remarkable traditions and stories relating to the “sacred quarry;”
+of pilgrimages performed there to procure the stone, and of curious
+transactions that have taken place on that ground. It seems, from all
+I can learn, that all the tribes in these regions, and also of the
+Mississippi and the Lakes, have been in the habit of going to that
+place, and meeting their enemies there, whom they are obliged to treat
+as friends, under an injunction of the Great Spirit.
+
+So then is this sachem (the buffalo’s back fat) dressed; and in a
+very similar manner, and almost the same, is each of the others above
+named; and all are armed with bow and quiver, lance and shield. These
+north-western tribes are all armed with the bow and lance, and
+protected with the shield or arrow fender, which is carried outside of
+the left arm, exactly as the Roman and Grecian shield was carried, and
+for the same purpose.
+
+There is an appearance purely classic in the plight and equipment of
+these warriors and “knights of the lance.” They are almost literally
+always on their horses’ backs, and they wield these weapons with
+desperate effect upon the open plains; where they kill their game
+while at full speed, and contend in like manner in battles with their
+enemy. There is one prevailing custom in these respects, amongst all
+the tribes who inhabit the great plains or prairies of these western
+regions. These plains afford them an abundance of wild and fleet
+horses, which are easily procured; and on their backs at full speed,
+they can come alongside of any animal, which they easily destroy.
+
+The bow with which they are armed is small, and apparently an
+insignificant weapon, though one of great and almost incredible power
+in the hands of its owner, whose sinews have been from childhood
+habituated to its use and service. The length of these bows is
+generally about three feet, and sometimes not more than two and a half
+(+plate+ 18 _a_). They have, no doubt, studied to get the requisite
+power in the smallest compass possible, as it is more easily and
+handily used on horseback than one of greater length. The greater
+number of these bows are made of ash, or of “bois d’arc” (as the
+French call it), and lined on the back with layers of buffalo or
+deer’s sinews, which are inseparably attached to them, and give them
+great elasticity. There are very many also (amongst the Blackfeet
+and the Crows) which are made of bone, and others of the horn of the
+mountain-sheep. Those made of bone are decidedly the most valuable, and
+cannot in this country be procured of a good quality short of the price
+of one or two horses. About these there is a mystery yet to be solved,
+and I advance my opinion against all theories that I have heard in the
+country where they are used and made. I have procured several very fine
+specimens, and when purchasing them have inquired of the Indians, what
+bone they were made of? and in every instance, the answer was, “That’s
+medicine,” meaning that it was a mystery to them, or that they did not
+wish to be questioned about them. The bone of which they are made is
+certainly not the bone of any animal now grazing on the prairies, or
+in the mountains between this place and the Pacific Ocean; for some
+of these bows are three feet in length, of a solid piece of bone, and
+that as close-grained—as hard—as white, and as highly polished as
+any ivory; it cannot, therefore be made from the elks’ horn (as some
+have supposed), which is of a dark colour and porous: nor can it come
+from the buffalo. It is my opinion, therefore, that the Indians on
+the Pacific coast procure the bone from the jaw of the sperm whale,
+which is often stranded on that coast, and bringing the bone into the
+mountains, trade it to the Blackfeet and Crows, who manufacture it into
+these bows without knowing any more than we do, from what source it has
+been procured.
+
+[Illustration: 14]
+
+One of these little bows in the hands of an Indian, on a fleet and
+well-trained horse, with a quiver of arrows slung on his back, is a
+most effective and powerful weapon in the open plains. No one can
+easily credit the force with which these missiles are thrown, and the
+sanguinary effects produced by their wounds, until he has rode by
+the side of a party of Indians in chase of a herd of buffaloes, and
+witnessed the apparent ease and grace with which their supple arms have
+drawn the bow, and seen these huge animals tumbling down and gushing
+out their hearts’ blood from their mouths and nostrils.
+
+Their bows are often made of bone and sinews, and their arrows headed
+with flints or with bones, of their own construction (+plate+ 18, _c_),
+or with steel, as they are now chiefly furnished by the Fur Traders
+quite to the Rocky Mountains (+plate+ 18, _d_). The quiver, which is
+uniformly carried on the back, and made of the panther or otter skins
+(+plate+ 18, _e_) is a magazine of these deadly weapons, and generally
+contains two varieties. The one to be drawn upon an enemy, generally
+poisoned, and with long flukes or barbs, which are designed to hang the
+blade in the wound after the shaft is withdrawn, in which they are but
+slightly glued;—the other to be used for their game, with the blade
+firmly fastened to the shaft, and the flukes inverted; that it may
+easily be drawn from the wound, and used on a future occasion.
+
+Such is the training of men and horses in this country, that this work
+of death and slaughter is simple and easy. The horse is trained to
+approach the animals on the _right_ side, enabling its rider to throw
+his arrows to the left; it runs and approaches without the use of the
+halter, which is hanging loose upon its neck bringing the rider within
+three or four paces of the animal, when the arrow is thrown with great
+ease and certainty to the heart; and instances sometimes occur, where
+the arrow passes entirely through the animal’s body.
+
+An Indian, therefore, mounted on a fleet and well-trained horse, with
+his bow in his hand, and his quiver slung on his back, containing an
+hundred arrows, of which he can throw fifteen or twenty in a minute, is
+a formidable and dangerous enemy. Many of them also ride with a lance
+of twelve or fourteen feet in length (+plate+ 18, _b_), with a blade
+of polished steel; and all of them (as a protection for their vital
+parts), with a shield or arrow-fender made of the skin of the buffalo’s
+neck, which has been smoked, and hardened with glue extracted from the
+hoofs (+plate+ 18). These shields are arrow-proof, and will glance off
+a rifle shot with perfect effect by being turned obliquely, which they
+do with great skill.
+
+This shield or arrow-fender is, in my opinion, made of similar
+materials, and used in the same way, and for the same purpose, as was
+the clypeus or small shield in the Roman and Grecian cavalry. They were
+made in those days as a means of defence on horseback only—made small
+and light, of bull’s hides; sometimes single, sometimes double and
+tripled. Such was Hector’s shield, and of most of the Homeric heroes of
+the Greek and Trojan wars. In those days also were darts or javelins
+and lances; the same were also used by the Ancient Britons; and such
+exactly are now in use amongst the Arabs and the North American Indians.
+
+In this wise then, are all of these wild red knights of the prairie,
+armed and equipped,—and while nothing can possibly be more picturesque
+and thrilling than a troop or war-party of these fellows, galloping
+over these green and endless prairies; there can be no set of mounted
+men of equal numbers, so effective and so invincible in this country
+as they would be, could they be inspired with confidence of their own
+powers and their own superiority; yet this never can be done;—for the
+Indian, as far as the name of white man has travelled, and long before
+he has to try his strength with him, is trembling with fright and fear
+of his approach; he hears of white man’s arts and artifice—his tricks
+and cunning, and his hundred instruments of death and destruction—he
+dreads his approach, shrinks from him with fear and trembling—his
+heart sickens, and his pride and courage wither, at the thoughts of
+contending with an enemy, whom he thinks may war and destroy with
+weapons of _medicine_ or mystery.
+
+Of the Blackfeet, whom I mentioned in the beginning of this Letter, and
+whose portraits are now standing in my room, there is another of whom
+I must say a few words; Pe-toh-pee-kiss, the eagle ribs (+plate+ 14).
+This man is one of the extraordinary men of the Blackfoot tribe; though
+not a chief, he stands here in the Fort, and deliberately boasts of
+eight scalps, which he says he has taken from the heads of trappers and
+traders with his own hand. His dress is really superb, almost literally
+covered with scalp-locks, of savage and civil.
+
+I have painted him at full length, with a head-dress made entirely
+of ermine skins and horns of the buffalo. This custom of wearing
+horns beautifully polished and surmounting the head-dress, is a very
+curious one, being worn only by the bravest of the brave; by the most
+extraordinary men in the nation. Of their importance and meaning, I
+shall say more in a future epistle. When he stood for his picture, he
+also held a lance and two “medicine-bags” in his hand; of lances I have
+spoken,—but “medicine-bags” and “medicine” will be the text for my next
+Letter.
+
+Besides the chiefs and warriors above-named, I have also transferred
+to my canvass the “looks and very resemblance” of an aged chief,
+who combines with his high office, the envied title of mystery or
+medicine-man, _i. e._ doctor—magician—prophet—soothsayer—jongleur—and
+high priest, all combined in one person, who necessarily is looked
+upon as “Sir Oracle” of the nation. The name of this distinguished
+functionary is Wun-nes-tou, the white buffalo (+plate+ 15); and on
+his left arm he presents his mystery-drum or tambour, in which are
+concealed the hidden and sacred mysteries of his healing art.
+
+And there is also In-ne-o-cose, the iron-horn (+plate+ 16), at full
+length, in a splendid dress, with his “medicine-bag” in his hand;
+and Ah-kay-ee-pix-en, the woman who strikes many (+plate+ 17), in a
+beautiful dress of the mountain-goats’ skin, and her robe of the young
+buffalo’s hide.
+
+[Illustration: 15]
+
+[Illustration: 17]
+
+[Illustration: 16]
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 6.
+
+                MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Now for medicines or mysteries—for doctors, high-priests, for hocus
+pocus, witchcraft, and animal magnetism!
+
+In the last Letter I spoke of Pe-toh-pee-kiss (the eagle ribs), a
+Blackfoot brave, whose portrait I had just painted at full length, in
+a splendid dress. I mentioned also, that he held two medicine-bags in
+his hand; as they are represented in the picture; both of them made of
+the skins of otters, and curiously ornamented with ermine, and other
+strange things.
+
+I must needs stop here—my painting and every thing else, until I can
+explain the word “_medicine_,” and “_medicine-bag_;” and also some
+_medicine operations_, which I have seen transacted at this place
+within a few days past. “Medicine” is a great word in this country; and
+it is very necessary that one should know the meaning of it, whilst he
+is scanning and estimating the Indian character, which is made up, in a
+great degree, of mysteries and superstitions.
+
+The word medicine, in its common acceptation here, means _mystery_, and
+nothing else; and in that sense I _shall_ use it very frequently in my
+Notes on Indian Manners and Customs.
+
+The Fur Traders in this country, are nearly all French; and in their
+language, a doctor or physician, is called “_Medecin_.” The Indian
+country is full of doctors; and as they are all magicians, and skilled,
+or profess to be skilled, in many mysteries, the word “medecin” has
+become habitually applied to every thing mysterious or unaccountable;
+and the English and Americans, who are also trading and passing through
+this country, have easily and familiarly adopted the same word, with
+a slight alteration, conveying the same meaning; and to be a little
+more explicit, they have denominated these personages “medicine-men,”
+which means something more than merely a doctor or physician. These
+physicians, however, are all _medicine-men_, as they are all supposed
+to deal more or less in mysteries and charms, which are aids and
+handmaids in their practice. Yet it was necessary to give the word or
+phrase a still more comprehensive meaning—as there were many personages
+amongst them, and also amongst the white men who visit the country,
+who could deal in mysteries, though not skilled in the application of
+drugs and medicines; and they all range now, under the comprehensive
+and accommodating phrase of “medicine-men.” For instance, I am a
+“medicine-man” of the highest order amongst these superstitious
+people, on account of the art which I practice; which is a strange and
+unaccountable thing to them, and of course, called the greatest of
+“medicine.” My gun and pistols, which have percussion-locks, are great
+medicine; and no Indian can be prevailed on to fire them off, for they
+say they have nothing to do with white man’s medicine.
+
+The Indians do not use the word medicine, however; but in each tribe
+they have a word of their own construction, synonimous with mystery or
+mystery-man.
+
+The “medicine-bag” then, is a mystery-bag; and its meaning and
+importance necessary to be understood, as it may be said to be the
+key to Indian life and Indian character. These bags are constructed
+of the skins of animals, of birds, or of reptiles, and ornamented and
+preserved in a thousand different ways, as suits the taste or freak of
+the person who constructs them. These skins are generally attached to
+some part of the clothing of the Indian, or carried in his hand—they
+are oftentimes decorated in such a manner as to be exceedingly
+ornamental to his person, and always are stuffed with grass, or moss,
+or something of the kind; and generally without drugs or medicines
+within them, as they are religiously closed and sealed, and seldom, if
+ever, to be opened. I find that every Indian in his primitive state,
+carries his medicine-bag in some form or other, to which he pays the
+greatest homage, and to which he looks for safety and protection
+through life—and in fact, it might almost be called a species of
+idolatry; for it would seem in some instances, as if he actually
+worshipped it. Feasts are often made, and dogs and horses sacrificed,
+to a man’s medicine; and days, and even weeks, of fasting and penance
+of various kinds are often suffered, to appease his medicine, which he
+imagines he has in some way offended.
+
+This curious custom has principally been done away with along the
+frontier, where white men laugh at the Indian for the observance of so
+ridiculous and useless a form; but in this country it is in full force,
+and every male in the tribe carries this, his supernatural charm or
+guardian, to which he looks for the preservation of his life, in battle
+or in other danger; at which times it would be considered ominous of
+bad luck and an ill fate to be without it.
+
+The manner in which this curious and important article is instituted
+is this: a boy, at the age of fourteen or fifteen years, is said to
+be making or “forming his medicine,” when he wanders away from his
+father’s lodge, and absents himself for the space of two or three, and
+sometimes even four or five, days; lying on the ground in some remote
+or secluded spot, crying to the Great Spirit, and fasting the whole
+time. During this period of peril and abstinence, when he falls asleep,
+the first animal, bird, or reptile, of which he dreams (or pretends to
+have dreamed, perhaps), he considers the Great Spirit has designated
+for his mysterious protector through life. He then returns home to his
+father’s lodge, and relates his success; and after allaying his thirst,
+and satiating his appetite, he sallies forth with weapons or traps,
+until he can procure the animal or bird, the skin of which he preserves
+entire, and ornaments it according to his own fancy, and carries
+it with him through life, for “good luck” (as he calls it); as his
+strength in battle—and in death his guardian _Spirit_, that is buried
+with him, and which is to conduct him safe to the beautiful hunting
+grounds, which he contemplates in the world to come.
+
+The value of the medicine-bag to the Indian is beyond all price; for
+to sell it, or give it away, would subject him to such signal disgrace
+in his tribe, that he could never rise above it; and again, his
+superstition would stand in the way of any such disposition of it, for
+he considers it the gift of the Great Spirit. An Indian carries his
+_medicine-bag_ into battle, and trusts to it for his protection; and
+if he loses it thus, when fighting ever so bravely for his country,
+he suffers a disgrace scarcely less than that which occurs in case he
+sells or gives it away; his enemy carries it off and displays it to his
+own people as a trophy; whilst the loser is cut short of the respect
+that is due to other young men of his tribe, and for ever subjected
+to the degrading epithet of “a man without medicine,” or “he who has
+lost his medicine,” until he can replace it again; which can only be
+done, by rushing into battle and plundering one from an enemy whom he
+slays with his own hand. This done, his medicine is restored, and he
+is reinstated again in the estimation of his tribe; and even higher
+than before, for such is called the best of medicine, or “_medicine
+honourable_.”
+
+It is a singular fact, that a man can institute his mystery or
+medicine, but once in his life; and equally singular that he can
+reinstate himself by the adoption of the medicine of his enemy; both
+of which regulations are strong and violent inducements for him to
+fight bravely in battle: the first, that he may protect and preserve
+his medicine; and the second, in case he has been so unlucky as to
+lose it, that he may restore it, and his reputation also, while he is
+desperately contending for the protection of his community.
+
+During my travels thus far, I have been unable to buy a medicine-bag of
+an Indian, although I have offered them extravagant prices for them;
+and even on the frontier, where they have been induced to abandon the
+practice, though a white man may induce an Indian to relinquish his
+medicine, yet he cannot _buy_ it of him—the Indian in such case will
+bury it, to please a white man, and save it from his sacrilegious
+touch; and he will linger around the spot and at regular times visit it
+and pay it his devotions, as long as he lives.
+
+These curious appendages to the persons or wardrobe of an Indian
+(+plate+ 18, _g_), are sometimes made of the skin of an otter, a
+beaver, a musk-rat, a weazel, a racoon, a pole-cat, a snake, a frog,
+a toad, a bat, a mouse, a mole, a hawk, an eagle, a magpie, or a
+sparrow:—sometimes of the skin of an animal so large as a wolf; and
+at others, of the skins of the lesser animals, so small that they
+are hidden under the dress, and very difficult to be found, even if
+searched for.
+
+Such then is the medicine-bag—such its meaning and importance; and when
+its owner dies, it is placed in his grave and decays with his body.
+
+In the case of the portrait of which I spoke in the beginning
+of this Letter, there are seen two medicine-bags in the hand of
+Pe-toh-pee-kiss; the one was of his own instituting, and the other was
+taken from his enemy, whom he had slain in battle; both of these he has
+a right to display and boast of on such an occasion. This is but the
+beginning or incipient stage of “medicines,” however, in this strange
+and superstitious country; and if you have patience, I will carry you
+a few degrees further into the mysteries of conjuration, before I
+close this Letter. Sit still then and read, until I relate a scene of
+a tragic, and yet of the most grotesque character, which took place in
+this Fort a few days since, and to all of which I was an eye-witness.
+The scene I will relate as it transpired precisely; and call it the
+story of the “doctor,” or the “Blackfoot medicine-man.”
+
+Not many weeks since, a party of Knisteneaux came here from the north,
+for the purpose of making their summer’s trade with the Fur Company;
+and, whilst here, a party of Blackfeet, their natural enemies (the
+same who are here now), came from the west, also to trade. These two
+belligerent tribes encamped on different sides of the Fort, and had
+spent some weeks here in the Fort and about it, in apparently good
+feeling and fellowship; unable in fact to act otherwise, for, according
+to a regulation of the Fort their arms and weapons were all locked up
+by M‘Kenzie in his “arsenal,” for the purpose of preserving the peace
+amongst these fighting-cocks.
+
+The Knisteneaux had completed their trade, and loitered about the
+premises, until all, both Indians and white men, were getting tired of
+their company, wishing them quietly off. When they were ready to start,
+with their goods packed upon their backs, their arms were given them,
+and they started; bidding everybody, both friends and foes, a hearty
+farewell. They went out of the Fort, and though the party gradually
+moved off, one of them undiscovered, loitered about the Fort, until he
+got an opportunity to poke the muzzle of his gun through between the
+piquets; when he fired it at one of the chiefs of the Blackfeet, who
+stood within a few paces, talking with Mr. M‘Kenzie, and shot him with
+two musket bullets through the centre of his body! The Blackfoot fell,
+and rolled about upon the ground in the agonies of death. The Blackfeet
+who were in the Fort seized their weapons and ran in a mass out of the
+Fort, in pursuit of the Knisteneaux, who were rapidly retreating to the
+bluffs. The Frenchmen in the Fort, also, at so flagrant and cowardly
+an insult, seized their guns and ran out, joining the Blackfeet in
+the pursuit. I, at that moment, ran to my painting-room in one of the
+bastions overlooking the plain, where I had a fair view of the affair;
+many shots were exchanged back and forward, and a skirmish ensued
+which lasted half an hour; the parties, however, were so far apart
+that little effect was produced; the Knisteneaux were driven off over
+the bluffs, having lost one man and had several others wounded. The
+Blackfeet and Frenchmen returned into the Fort, and then, I saw what
+I never before saw in my life—I saw a “_medicine-man_” performing his
+mysteries over a dying man. The man who had been shot was still living,
+though two bullets had passed through the centre of his body, about two
+inches apart from each other; he was lying on the ground in the agonies
+of death, and no one could indulge the slightest hope of his recovery;
+yet the _medicine-man_ must needs be called (for such a personage they
+had in their party), and hocus pocus applied to the dying man, as the
+dernier resort, when all drugs and all specifics were useless, and
+after all possibility of recovery was extinct!
+
+[Illustration: 18]
+
+I have mentioned that all tribes have their physicians, who are also
+medicine (or mystery) men. These professional gentlemen are worthies
+of the highest order in all tribes. They are regularly called and paid
+as physicians, to prescribe for the sick; and many of them acquire
+great skill in the medicinal world, and gain much celebrity in their
+nation. Their first prescriptions are roots and herbs, of which they
+have a great variety of species; and when these have all failed, their
+last resort is to “_medicine_” or mystery; and for this purpose,
+each one of them has a strange and unaccountable dress, conjured up
+and constructed during a life-time of practice, in the wildest fancy
+imaginable, in which he arrays himself, and makes his last visit to
+his dying patient,—dancing over him, shaking his frightful rattles,
+and singing songs of incantation, in hopes to cure him by a charm.
+There are some instances, of course, where the exhausted patient
+unaccountably recovers, under the application of these absurd forms;
+and in such cases, this ingenious son of _Indian_ Esculapius will be
+seen for several days after, on the top of a wigwam, with his right arm
+extended and waving over the gaping multitude, to whom he is vaunting
+forth, without modesty, the surprising skill he has acquired in his
+art, and the undoubted efficacy of his medicine or mystery. But if, on
+the contrary, the patient dies, he soon changes his dress, and joins in
+doleful lamentations with the mourners; and easily, with his craft, and
+the ignorance and superstition of his people, protects his reputation
+and maintains his influence over them; by assuring them, that it was
+the will of the Great Spirit that his patient should die, and when sent
+for, his feeble efforts must cease.
+
+Such was the case, and such the extraordinary means resorted to in
+the instance I am now relating. Several hundred spectators, including
+Indians and traders, were assembled around the dying man, when it was
+announced that the “_medicine-man_” was coming; we were required to
+“form a ring,” leaving a space of some thirty or forty feet in diameter
+around the dying man, in which the doctor could perform his wonderful
+operations; and a space was also opened to allow him free room to pass
+through the crowd without touching any one. This being done, in a
+few moments his arrival was announced by the death-like “hush——sh——”
+through the crowd; and nothing was to be heard, save the light and
+casual tinkling of the rattles upon his dress, which was scarcely
+perceptible to the ear, as he cautiously and slowly moved through the
+avenue left for him; which at length brought him into the ring, in view
+of the pitiable object over whom his mysteries were to be performed.
+
+Readers! you may have seen or read of the witch of Endor—or you may
+imagine all the ghosts, and spirits, and furies, that ever ranked
+amongst the “rank and file” of demonology; and yet you must see my
+painting of this strange scene before you can form a just conception of
+real frightful ugliness and Indian conjuration—yes, and even more: you
+must see the magic _dress_ of this Indian “big bug” (which I have this
+day procured in all its parts), placed upon the back of some person who
+can imitate the strides, and swells, the grunts, and spring the rattles
+of an Indian magician.
+
+His entrée and his garb were somewhat thus:—he approached the ring
+with his body in a crouching position (+plate+ 19), with a slow and
+tilting step—his body and head were entirely covered with the skin of
+a yellow bear, the head of which (his own head being inside of it)
+served as a mask; the huge claws of which also, were dangling on his
+wrists and ancles; in one hand he shook a frightful rattle, and in the
+other brandished his medicine-spear or magic wand; to the rattling din
+and discord of all of which, he added the wild and startling jumps
+and yelps of the Indian, and the horrid and appalling grunts, and
+snarls, and growls of the grizzly bear, in ejaculatory and guttural
+incantations to the Good and Bad Spirits, in behalf of his patient; who
+was rolling and groaning in the agonies of death, whilst he was dancing
+around him, jumping over him, and pawing him about, and rolling him in
+every direction.
+
+In this wise, this strange operation proceeded for half an hour, to the
+surprise of a numerous and death-like silent audience, until the man
+died; and the medicine-man danced off to his quarters, and packed up,
+and tied and secured from the sight of the world, his mystery dress and
+equipments.
+
+This dress, in all its parts, is one of the greatest curiosities in the
+whole collection of Indian manufactures which I have yet obtained in
+the Indian country. It is the strangest medley and mixture, perhaps of
+the mysteries of the animal and vegetable kingdoms that ever was seen.
+Besides the skin of the yellow bear (which being almost an anomaly in
+that country, is out of the regular order of nature, and, of course,
+great medicine, and converted to a medicine use), there are attached to
+it the skins of many animals, which are also anomalies or deformities,
+which render them, in their estimation, _medicine_; and there are also
+the skins of snakes, and frogs, and bats,—beaks and toes and tails of
+birds,—hoofs of deer, goats, and antelopes; and, in fact, the “odds
+and ends,” and fag ends, and tails, and tips of almost everything that
+swims, flies, or runs, in this part of the wide world.
+
+Such is a medicine-man or a physician, and such is one of his wild
+and ridiculous manœuvres, which I have just witnessed in this strange
+country.
+
+These men, as I before remarked, are valued as dignitaries in the
+tribe, and the greatest respect is paid to them by the whole community;
+not only for their skill in their “materia medica;” but more
+especially for their tact in magic and mysteries, in which they all
+deal to a very great extent. I shall have much more to say of these
+characters and their doings in future epistles, and barely observe in
+the present place, that no tribe is without them;—that in all tribes
+their doctors are conjurors—are magicians—are sooth-sayers, and I had
+like to have said, high-priests, inasmuch as they superintend and
+conduct all their religious ceremonies;—they are looked upon by all
+as oracles of the nation. In all councils of war and peace, they have
+a seat with the chiefs—are regularly consulted before any public step
+is taken, and the greatest deference and respect is paid to their
+opinions.
+
+[Illustration: 19]
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 7.
+
+                MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+The Letter which I gave you yesterday, on the subject of “medicines”
+and “medicine-men,” has somewhat broken the “thread of my discourse;”
+and left my painting-room (in the bastion), and all the Indians in it,
+and portraits, and buffalo hunts, and landscapes of these beautiful
+regions, to be taken up and discussed; which I will now endeavour to
+do, beginning just where I left (or digressed) off.
+
+I was seated on the cool breech of a twelve-pounder, and had my easel
+before me, and Crows and Blackfeet, and Assinneboins, whom I was
+tracing upon the canvass. And so I have been doing to-day, and shall
+be for several days to come. My painting-room has become so great a
+lounge, and I so great a “medicine-man,” that all other amusements are
+left, and all other topics of conversation and gossip are postponed
+for future consideration. The chiefs have had to place “soldiers”
+(as they are called) at my door, with spears in hand to protect me
+from the throng, who otherwise would press upon me; and none but the
+worthies are allowed to come into my medicine apartments, and none to
+be painted, except such as are decided by the chiefs to be worthy of so
+high an honour.
+
+The Crows and Blackfeet who are here together, are enemies of the
+most deadly kind while out on the plains; but here they sit and smoke
+quietly together, yet with a studied and dignified reserve.
+
+The Blackfeet are, perhaps, one of the most (if not entirely the most)
+numerous and warlike tribes on the Continent. They occupy the whole of
+the country about the sources of the Missouri, from this place to the
+Rocky Mountains; and their numbers, from the best computations, are
+something like forty or fifty thousand—they are (like all other tribes
+whose numbers are sufficiently large to give them boldness) warlike and
+ferocious, _i. e._ they are predatory, are roaming fearlessly about the
+country, even into and through every part of the Rocky Mountains, and
+carrying war amongst their enemies, who are, of course, every tribe who
+inhabit the country about them.
+
+The Crows who live on the head waters of Yellow Stone, and extend from
+this neighbourhood also to the base of the Rocky Mountains, are similar
+in the above respects to the Blackfeet; roaming about a great part of
+the year—and seeking their enemies wherever they can find them.
+
+They are a much smaller tribe than the Blackfeet, with whom they are
+always at war, and from whose great numbers they suffer prodigiously
+in battle; and probably will be in a few years entirely destroyed by
+them.
+
+[Illustration: 20]
+
+The Crows have not, perhaps, more than 7000 in their nation, and
+probably not more than eight hundred warriors or fighting men. Amongst
+the more powerful tribes, like the Sioux and Blackfeet, who have been
+enabled to preserve their warriors, it is a fair calculation to count
+one in five as warriors; but among the Crows and Minatarees, and
+Puncahs, and several other small but warlike tribes, this proportion
+cannot exist; as in some of these I have found two or three women to
+a man in the nation; in consequence of the continual losses sustained
+amongst their men in war, and also whilst pursuing the buffaloes on the
+plains for food, where their lives are exceedingly exposed.
+
+The Blackfeet and the Crows, like the Sioux and Assinneboins, have
+nearly the same mode of constructing their wigwam or lodge; in which
+tribes it is made of buffalo skins sewed together, after being dressed,
+and made into the form of a tent; supported within by some twenty
+or thirty pine poles of twenty-five feet in height, with an apex or
+aperture at the top, through which the smoke escapes and the light
+is admitted. These lodges, or tents, are taken down in a few minutes
+by the squaws, when they wish to change their location, and easily
+transported to any part of the country where they wish to encamp;
+and they generally move some six or eight times in the course of the
+summer; following the immense herds of buffaloes, as they range over
+these vast plains, from east to west, and north to south. The objects
+for which they do this are two-fold,—to procure and dress their skins,
+which are brought in, in the fall and winter, and sold to the Fur
+Company, for white man’s luxury; and also for the purpose of killing
+and drying buffalo meat (+plate+ 22), which they bring in from their
+hunts, packed on their horses’ backs, in great quantities; making
+pemican, and preserving the marrow-fat for their winter quarters; which
+are generally taken up in some heavy-timbered bottom, on the banks of
+some stream, deep imbedded within the surrounding bluffs, which break
+off the winds, and make their long and tedious winter tolerable and
+supportable. They then sometimes erect their skin lodges amongst the
+timber, and dwell in them during the winter months; but more frequently
+cut logs and make a miserable and rude sort of log cabin, in which they
+can live much warmer and better protected from the assaults of their
+enemies, in case they are attacked; in which case a log cabin is a
+tolerable fort against Indian weapons.
+
+The Crows, of all the tribes in this region, or on the Continent,
+make the most beautiful lodge. As I have before mentioned, they
+construct them as the Sioux do, and make them of the same material;
+yet they oftentimes dress the skins of which they are composed almost
+as white as linen, and beautifully garnish them with porcupine
+quills, and paint and ornament them in such a variety of ways, as
+renders them exceedingly picturesque and agreeable to the eye. I have
+procured a very beautiful one of this description (+plate+ 20),
+highly-ornamented, and fringed with scalp-locks, and sufficiently large
+for forty men to dine under. The poles which support it are about
+thirty in number, of pine, and all cut in the Rocky Mountains, having
+been some hundred years, perhaps, in use. This tent, when erected, is
+about twenty-five feet high, and has a very pleasing effect; with the
+Great or Good Spirit painted on one side, and the Evil Spirit on the
+other. If I can ever succeed in transporting it to New York and other
+eastern cities, it will be looked upon as a beautiful and exceedingly
+interesting specimen.
+
+The manner in which an encampment of Indians strike their tents and
+transport them is curious, and to the traveller in this country a very
+novel and unexpected sight, when he first beholds it. Whilst ascending
+the river to this place, I saw an encampment of Sioux, consisting of
+six hundred of these lodges, struck, and all things packed and on the
+move in a very few minutes. The chief sends his runners or criers (for
+such all chiefs keep in their employment) through the village, a few
+hours before they are to start; announcing his determination to move,
+and the hour fixed upon, and the necessary preparations are in the
+meantime making; and at the time announced, the lodge of the chief is
+seen flapping in the wind, a part of the poles having been taken out
+from under it; this is the signal, and in one minute, six hundred of
+them (on a level and beautiful prairie), which before had been strained
+tight and fixed, were seen waving and flapping in the wind, and in one
+minute more all were flat upon the ground. Their horses and dogs, of
+which they had a vast number, had all been secured upon the spot, in
+readiness; and each one was speedily loaded with the burthen allotted
+to it, and ready to fall into the grand procession.
+
+For this strange cavalcade, preparation is made in the following
+manner: the poles of a lodge are divided into two bunches, and the
+little ends of each bunch fastened upon the shoulders or withers of a
+horse, leaving the butt ends to drag behind on the ground on either
+side. Just behind the horse, a brace or pole is tied across, which
+keeps the poles in their respective places; and then upon that and
+the poles behind the horse, is placed the lodge or tent, which is
+rolled up, and also numerous other articles of household and domestic
+furniture, and on the top of all, two, three, and even (sometimes) four
+women and children! Each one of these horses has a conductress, who
+sometimes walks before and leads it, with a tremendous pack upon her
+own back; and at others she sits astride of its back, with a child,
+perhaps, at her breast, and another astride of the horse’s back behind
+her, clinging to her waist with one arm, while it affectionately
+embraces a sneaking dog-pup in the other.
+
+In this way five or six hundred wigwams, with all their furniture
+(+plate+ 21), may be seen drawn out for miles, creeping over the
+grass-covered plains of this country; and three times that number of
+men, on good horses, strolling along in front or on the flank; and, in
+some tribes, in the rear of this heterogeneous caravan, at least five
+times that number of dogs, which fall into the rank, and follow in
+the train and company of the women, and every cur of them, who is large
+enough, and not too cunning to be enslaved, is encumbered with a car or
+sled (or whatever it may be better called), on which he patiently drags
+his load—a part of the household goods and furniture of the lodge to
+which he belongs. Two poles, about fifteen feet long, are placed upon
+the dog’s shoulder, in the same manner as the lodge poles are attached
+to the horses, leaving the larger ends to drag upon the ground behind
+him; on which is placed a bundle or wallet which is allotted to him to
+carry, and with which he trots off amid the throng of dogs and squaws;
+faithfully and cheerfully dragging his load ’till night, and by the way
+loitering and occasionally
+
+    “Catching at little bits of fun and glee
+     That’s played on dogs enslaved by dog that’s free.”
+
+[Illustration: 21]
+
+[Illustration: 22]
+
+The Crows, like the Blackfeet, are beautifully costumed, and perhaps
+with somewhat more of taste and elegance; inasmuch as the skins of
+which their dresses are made are more delicately and whitely dressed.
+The art of dressing skins belongs to the Indians in all countries;
+and the Crows surpass the civilized world in the beauty of their
+skin-dressing. The art of tanning is unknown to them, so far as
+civilized habits and arts have not been taught them; yet the art of
+dressing skins, so far as we have it in the civilized world, has been
+(like hundreds of other ornamental and useful customs which we are
+practising), borrowed from the savage; without our ever stopping to
+enquire from whence they come, or by whom invented.
+
+The usual mode of dressing the buffalo, and other skins, is by
+immersing them for a few days under a lye from ashes and water, until
+the hair can be removed; when they are strained upon a frame or upon
+the ground, with stakes or pins driven through the edges into the
+earth; where they remain for several days, with the brains of the
+buffalo or elk spread upon and over them; and at last finished by
+“graining,” as it is termed, by the squaws; who use a sharpened bone,
+the shoulder-blade or other large bone of the animal, sharpened at the
+edge, somewhat like an adze; with the edge of which they scrape the
+fleshy side of the skin; bearing on it with the weight of their bodies,
+thereby drying and softening the skin, and fitting it for use.
+
+The greater part of these skins, however, go through still another
+operation afterwards, which gives them a greater value, and renders
+them much more serviceable—that is, the process of smoking. For this,
+a small hole is dug in the ground, and a fire is built in it with
+rotten wood, which will produce a great quantity of smoke without
+much blaze; and several small poles of the proper length stuck in the
+ground around it, and drawn and fastened together at the top, around
+which a skin is wrapped in form of a tent, and generally sewed together
+at the edges to secure the smoke within it; within this the skins
+to be smoked are placed, and in this condition the tent will stand a
+day or so, enclosing the heated smoke; and by some chemical process
+or other, which I do not understand, the skins thus acquire a quality
+which enables them, after being ever so many times wet, to dry soft
+and pliant as they were before, which secret I have never yet seen
+practiced in my own country; and for the lack of which, all of our
+dressed skins when once wet, are, I think, chiefly ruined.
+
+An Indian’s dress of deer skins, which is wet a hundred times upon his
+back, dries soft; and his lodge also, which stands in the rains, and
+even through the severity of winter, is taken down as soft and as clean
+as when it was first put up.
+
+A Crow is known wherever he is met by his beautiful white dress, and
+his tall and elegant figure; the greater part of the men being six
+feet high. The Blackfeet on the other hand, are more of the Herculean
+make—about middling stature, with broad shoulders, and great expansion
+of chest; and the skins of which their dresses are made, are chiefly
+dressed black, or of a dark brown colour; from which circumstance, in
+all probability, they having black leggings or moccasins, have got the
+name of Blackfeet.
+
+The Crows are very handsome and gentlemanly Indians in their personal
+appearance: and have been always reputed, since the first acquaintance
+made with them, very civil and friendly.
+
+These people to be sure, have in some instances plundered and robbed
+trappers and travellers in their country; and for that I have sometimes
+heard them called rascals and thieves, and rogues of the first order,
+&c.; yet they do not consider themselves such; for thieving in their
+estimation is a high crime, and considered the most disgraceful act
+that a man can possibly do. They call this _capturing_, where they
+sometimes run off a Trader’s horses, and make their boast of it;
+considering it a kind of retaliation or summary justice, which they
+think it right and honourable that they should administer. And why
+not? for the unlicensed trespass committed through their country from
+one end to the other, by mercenary white men, who are destroying the
+game, and catching all the beaver and other rich and valuable furs
+out of their country, without paying them an equivalent, or, in fact,
+anything at all, for it; and this too, when they have been warned time
+and again of the danger they would be in, if they longer persisted in
+the practice. Reader, I look upon the Indian as the most honest and
+honourable race of people that I ever lived amongst in my life; and in
+their native state, I pledge you my honour they are the last of all
+the human family to pilfer or to steal, if you trust to their honour;
+and for this never-ending and boundless system of theft and plunder,
+and debauchery, that is practiced off upon these rightful owners of
+the soil, by acquisitive white men, I consider the infliction, or
+retaliation, by driving off and appropriating a few horses, but a
+lenient punishment, which those persons at least should expect; and
+which, in fact, none but a very honourable and high-minded people
+could inflict, instead of a much severer one; which they could easily
+practice upon the few white men in their country, without rendering
+themselves amenable to any law.
+
+Mr. M‘Kenzie has repeatedly told me, within the four last weeks, while
+in conversation relative to the Crows, that they were friendly and
+honourable in their dealing with the whites, and that he considered
+them the finest Indians of his acquaintance.
+
+I recollect whilst in St. Louis, and other places at the East, to have
+heard it often said, that the Crows were a rascally and thieving set of
+vagabonds, highway robbers, &c. &c.; and I have been told since, that
+this information has become current in the world, from the fact that
+they made some depredations upon the camp of Messrs. Crooks and Hunt of
+the Fur Company; and drove off a number of their horses, when they were
+passing through the Crow country, on their way to Astoria. This was no
+doubt true; and equally true, would these very Indians tell us, was the
+fact, that they had a good and sufficient reason for it.
+
+These gentlemen, with their party, were crossing the Crow country
+with a large stock of goods, of guns, and ammunition, of knives, and
+spears, arrowheads, &c.; and stopped for some time and encamped in the
+midst of the Crow country (and I think wintered there), when the Crows
+assembled in large numbers about them, and treated them in a kind and
+friendly manner; and at the same time proposed to trade with them for
+guns and ammunition, &c. (according to these gentlemen’s own account,)
+of which they were in great want, and for which they brought a great
+many horses, and offered them repeatedly in trade; which they refused
+to take, persisting in their determination of carrying their goods
+to their destined place, across the mountains; thereby disappointing
+these Indians, by denying them the arms and weapons which were in
+their possession, whilst they were living upon them, and exhausting
+the game and food of their country. No doubt, these gentlemen told the
+Crows, that these goods were going to Astoria, of which place they knew
+nothing; and of course, it was enough for them that they were going to
+take them farther west; which they would at once suppose was to the
+Blackfeet, their principal enemy, having eight or ten warriors to one
+of the Crows; where they supposed the white men could get a greater
+price for their weapons, and arm their enemies in such a way as would
+enable them to turn upon the Crows, and cut them to pieces without
+mercy. Under these circumstances, the Crows rode off, and to show their
+indignation, drove off some of the Company’s horses, for which they
+have ever since been denominated a band of thieves and highway robbers.
+It is a custom, and a part of the system of jurisprudence amongst all
+savages, to revenge upon the person or persons who give the offence,
+if they can; and if not, to let that punishment fall upon the head of
+the first white man who comes in their way, provided the offender was a
+white man. And I would not be surprised, therefore, if I get robbed of
+my horse; and you too, readers, if you go into that country, for that
+very (supposed) offence.
+
+I have conversed often and much with Messrs. Sublette and Campbell,
+two gentlemen of the highest respectability, who have traded with the
+Crows for several years, and they tell me they are one of the most
+honourable, honest, and high-minded races of people on earth; and with
+Mr. Tullock, also, a man of the strictest veracity, who is now here
+with a party of them; and, he says, they never steal,—have a high
+sense of honour,—and being fearless and proud, are quick to punish or
+retaliate.
+
+So much for the character of the Crows for the present, a subject which
+I shall assuredly take up again, when I shall have seen more of them
+myself.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 8.
+
+                MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Since my last Letter, nothing of great moment has transpired at this
+place; but I have been continually employed in painting my portraits
+and making notes on the character and customs of the wild folks who
+are about me. I have just been painting a number of the Crows, fine
+looking and noble gentlemen. They are really a handsome and well-formed
+set of men as can be seen in any part of the world. There is a sort of
+ease and grace added to their dignity of manners, which gives them the
+air of gentlemen at once. I observed the other day, that most of them
+were over six feet high, and very many of these have cultivated their
+natural hair to such an almost incredible length, that it sweeps the
+ground as they walk; there are frequent instances of this kind amongst
+them, and in some cases, a foot or more of it will drag on the grass
+as they walk, giving exceeding grace and beauty to their movements.
+They usually oil their hair with a profusion of bear’s grease every
+morning, which is no doubt one cause of the unusual length to which
+their hair extends; though it cannot be the sole cause of it, for the
+other tribes throughout this country use the bear’s grease in equal
+profusion without producing the same results. The Mandans, however, and
+the Sioux, of whom I shall speak in future epistles, have cultivated
+a very great growth of the hair, as many of them are seen whose hair
+reaches near to the ground.
+
+This extraordinary length of hair amongst the Crows is confined to the
+men alone; for the women, though all of them with glossy and beautiful
+hair, and a great profusion of it, are unable to cultivate it to so
+great a length; or else they are not allowed to compete with their
+lords in a fashion so ornamental (and on which the men so highly pride
+themselves), and are obliged in many cases to cut it short off.
+
+The fashion of long hair amongst the men, prevails throughout all the
+Western and North Western tribes, after passing the Sacs and Foxes; and
+the Pawnees of the Platte, who, with two or three other tribes only,
+are in the habit of shaving nearly the whole head.
+
+The present chief of the Crows, who is called “Long-hair,” and has
+received his name as well as his office from the circumstance of
+having the longest hair of any man in the nation, I have not yet
+seen: but I hope I yet may, ere I leave this part of the country.
+This extraordinary man is known to several gentlemen with whom I am
+acquainted, and particularly to Messrs. Sublette and Campbell, of whom
+I have before spoken, who told me they had lived in his hospitable
+lodge for months together; and assured me that they had measured his
+hair by a correct means, and found it to be ten feet and seven inches
+in length; closely inspecting every part of it at the same time, and
+satisfying themselves that it was the natural growth.
+
+On ordinary occasions it is wound with a broad leather strap, from his
+head to its extreme end, and then folded up into a budget or block, of
+some ten or twelve inches in length, and of some pounds weight; which
+when he walks is carried under his arm, or placed in his bosom, within
+the folds of his robe; but on any great parade or similar occasion, his
+pride is to unfold it, oil it with bear’s grease and let it drag behind
+him, some three or four feet of it spread out upon the grass, and black
+and shining like a raven’s wing.
+
+It is a common custom amongst most of these upper tribes, to splice or
+add on several lengths of hair, by fastening them with glue; probably
+for the purpose of imitating the Crows, upon whom alone Nature has
+bestowed this conspicuous and signal ornament.
+
+Amongst the Crows of distinction now at this place, I have painted the
+portraits of several, who exhibit some striking peculiarities. Amongst
+whom is Chah-ee-chopes, the four wolves (+plate+ 24); a fine looking
+fellow, six feet in stature, and whose natural hair sweeps the grass
+as he walks; he is beautifully clad, and carries himself with the most
+graceful and manly mien—he is in mourning for a brother; and according
+to their custom, has cut off a number of locks of his long hair, which
+is as much as a man can well spare of so valued an ornament, which he
+has been for the greater part of his life cultivating; whilst a woman
+who mourns for a husband or child, is obliged to crop her hair short to
+her head, and so remain till it grows out again; ceasing gradually to
+mourn as her hair approaches to its former length.
+
+Duhk-pits-a-ho-shee, the red bear (+plate+ 26), a distinguished
+warrior; and Oo-je-en-a-he-ha, the woman who lives in the bear’s den
+(+plate+ 25). I have also painted Pa-ris-ka-roo-pa (two crows) the
+younger (+plate+ 27), one of the most extraordinary men in the Crow
+nation; not only for his looks, from the form of his head, which seems
+to be distortion itself—and curtailed of all its fair proportions; but
+from his extraordinary sagacity as a counsellor and orator, even at an
+early stage of his life.
+
+There is something very uncommon in this outline, and sets forth the
+striking peculiarity of the Crow tribe, though rather in an exaggerated
+form. The semi-lunar outline of the Crow head, with an exceedingly low
+and retreating forehead, is certainly a very peculiar and striking
+characteristic; and though not so strongly marked in most of the tribe
+as in the present instance, is sufficient for their detection whenever
+they are met; and will be subject for further comment in another place.
+
+The Crow women (and Blackfeet also) are not handsome, and I shall at
+present say but little of them. They are, like all other Indian
+women, the slaves of their husbands: being obliged to perform all the
+domestic duties and drudgeries of the tribe, and not allowed to join
+in their religious rites or ceremonies, nor in the dance or other
+amusements.
+
+[Illustration: 24 25]
+
+[Illustration: 26 27]
+
+The women in all these upper and western tribes are decently dressed,
+and many of them with great beauty and taste; their dresses are all of
+deer or goat skins, extending from their chins quite down to the feet;
+these dresses are in many instances trimmed with ermine, and ornamented
+with porcupine quills and beads with exceeding ingenuity.
+
+The Crow and Blackfeet women, like all others I ever saw in any Indian
+tribe, divide the hair on the forehead, and paint the separation or
+crease with vermilion or red earth. For what purpose this little, but
+universal, custom is observed, I never have been able to learn.
+
+The men amongst the Blackfeet tribe, have a fashion equally simple, and
+probably of as little meaning, which seems strictly to be adhered to
+by every man in the tribe; they separate the hair in two places on the
+forehead, leaving a lock between the two, of an inch or two in width,
+which is carefully straightened down on to the bridge of the nose, and
+there cut square off. It is more than probable that this is done for
+the purpose of distinction; that they may thereby be free from the
+epithet of effeminacy, which might otherwise attach to them.
+
+These two tribes, whom I have spoken of connectedly, speak two distinct
+and entirely dissimilar languages; and the language of each is
+different, and radically so, from that of all other tribes about them.
+As these people are always at war, and have been, time out of mind,
+they do not intermarry or hold converse with each other, by which any
+knowledge of each other’s language could be acquired. It would be the
+work of a man’s life-time to collect the languages of all the different
+tribes which I am visiting; and I shall, from necessity, leave this
+subject chiefly for others, who have the time to devote to them, to
+explain them to the world. I have, however, procured a brief vocabulary
+of their words and sentences in these tribes; and shall continue to do
+so amongst the tribes I shall visit, which will answer as a specimen
+or sample in each; and which, in the sequel to these Letters (if they
+should ever be published), will probably be arranged.
+
+The Blackfeet are, perhaps, the most powerful tribe of Indians on
+the Continent; and being sensible of their strength, have stubbornly
+resisted the Traders in their country, who have been gradually forming
+an acquaintance with them, and endeavouring to establish a permanent
+and profitable system of trade. Their country abounds in beaver and
+buffalo, and most of the fur-bearing animals of North America; and
+the American Fur Company, with an unconquerable spirit of trade and
+enterprize, has pushed its establishments into their country; and the
+numerous parties of trappers are tracing up their streams and rivers,
+rapidly destroying the beavers which dwell in them. The Blackfeet
+have repeatedly informed the Traders of the Company, that if their
+men persisted in trapping beavers in their country, they should kill
+them whenever they met them. They have executed their threats in many
+instances, and the Company loses some fifteen or twenty men annually,
+who fall by the hands of these people, in defence of what they deem
+their property and their rights. Trinkets and whiskey, however, will
+soon spread their charms amongst these, as they have amongst other
+tribes; and white man’s voracity will sweep the prairies and the
+streams of their wealth, to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean;
+leaving the Indians to inhabit, and at last to starve upon, a dreary
+and solitary waste.
+
+The Blackfeet, therefore, having been less traded with, and less seen
+by white people than most of the other tribes, are more imperfectly
+understood; and it yet remains a question to be solved—whether there
+are twenty, or forty or fifty thousand of them? for no one, as yet, can
+correctly estimate their real strength. From all I can learn, however,
+which is the best information that can be got from the Traders, there
+are not far from 40,000 Indians (altogether), who range under the
+general denomination of Blackfeet.
+
+From our slight and imperfect knowledge of them, and other tribes
+occupying the country about the sources of the Missouri, there is no
+doubt in my mind, that we are in the habit of bringing more Indians
+into the computation, than are entitled justly to the appellation of
+“Blackfeet.”
+
+Such, for instance, are the “Grosventres de Prairie” and Cotonnés,
+neither of which speak the Blackfeet language; but hunt, and eat,
+and fight, and intermarry with the Blackfeet; living therefore in a
+state of confederacy and friendship with them, but speaking their own
+language, and practicing their own customs.
+
+The Blackfeet proper are divided into four bands or families, as
+follow:—the “Pe-a-gans,” of 500 lodges; the “Blackfoot” band, of 450
+lodges; the “Blood” band, of 450 lodges; and the “Small Robes,” of 250
+lodges. These four bands constituting about 1650 lodges, averaging ten
+to the lodge, amount to about 16,500 souls.
+
+There are then of the other tribes above-mentioned (and whom we,
+perhaps, incorrectly denominate Blackfeet), Grosventres des Prairies,
+430 lodges, with language entirely distinct; Circees, of 220 lodges,
+and Cotonnés, of 250 lodges, with language also distinct from either.[1]
+
+There is in this region a rich and interesting field for the linguist
+of the antiquarian; and stubborn facts, I think, if they could be well
+procured, that would do away the idea which many learned gentlemen
+entertain, that the Indian languages of North America can all be
+traced to two or three roots. The language of the Dohcotas is entirely
+and radically distinct from that of the Mandans, and theirs equally so
+from the Blackfoot and the Crows. And from the lips of Mr. Brazeau, a
+gentleman of education and strict observation, who has lived several
+years with the Blackfeet and Shiennes, and who speaks the language of
+tribes on either side of them, assures me that these languages are
+radically distinct and dissimilar, as I have above stated; and also,
+that although he has been several years amongst those tribes, he has
+not been able to trace the slightest resemblance between the Circee,
+Cotonné, and Blackfoot, and Shienne, and Crow, and Mandan tongues; and
+from a great deal of corroborating information, which I have got from
+other persons acquainted with these tribes, I am fully convinced of the
+correctness of his statements.
+
+Besides the Blackfeet and Crows, whom I told you were assembled at
+this place, are also the Knisteneaux (or Crees, as they are commonly
+called), a very pretty and pleasing tribe of Indians, of about 3000
+in number, living on the north of this, and also the Assinneboins and
+Ojibbeways; both of which tribes also inhabit the country to the north
+and north-east of the mouth of Yellow Stone.
+
+The Knisteneaux are of small stature, but well-built for strength and
+activity combined; are a people of wonderful prowess for their numbers,
+and have waged an unceasing warfare with the Blackfeet, who are their
+neighbours and enemies on the west. From their disparity in numbers
+they are rapidly thinning the ranks of their warriors, who bravely
+sacrifice their lives in contentions with their powerful neighbours.
+This tribe occupy the country from the mouth of the Yellow Stone, in
+a north-western direction, far into the British territory, and trade
+principally at the British N. W. Company’s Posts.
+
+The Assinneboins of seven thousand, and the Ojibbeways of six thousand,
+occupy a vast extent of country, in a north-eastern direction from
+this; extending also into the British possessions as high north as
+Lake Winnepeg; and trading principally with the British Company. These
+three tribes are in a state of nature, living as neighbours, and are
+also on terms of friendship with each other. This friendship, however,
+is probably but a temporary arrangement, brought about by the Traders
+amongst them; and which, like most Indian peace establishments, will be
+of short duration.
+
+The Ojibbeways are, undoubtedly, a part of the tribe of Chippeways,
+with whom we are more familiarly acquainted, and who inhabit the
+south-west shore of Lake Superior. Their language is the same, though
+they are separated several hundred miles from any of them, and seem to
+have no knowledge of them, or traditions of the manner in which, or of
+the time when, they became severed from each other.
+
+The Assinneboins are a part of the Dohcotas, or Sioux, undoubtedly; for
+their personal appearance as well as their language is very similar.
+
+At what time, or in what manner, these two parts of a nation got
+strayed away from each other is a mystery; yet such cases have often
+occurred, of which I shall say more in future. Large parties who
+are straying off in pursuit of game, or in the occupation of war,
+are oftentimes intercepted by their enemy; and being prevented from
+returning, are run off to a distant region, where they take up their
+residence and establish themselves as a nation.
+
+There is a very curious custom amongst the Assinneboins, from which
+they have taken their name; a name given them by their neighbours,
+from a singular mode they have of boiling their meat, which is done in
+the following manner:—when they kill meat, a hole is dug in the ground
+about the size of a common pot, and a piece of the raw hide of the
+animal, as taken from the back, is put over the hole, and then pressed
+down with the hands close around the sides, and filled with water. The
+meat to be boiled is then put in this hole or pot of water; and in a
+fire, which is built near by, several large stones are heated to a red
+heat, which are successively dipped and held in the water until the
+meat is boiled; from which singular and peculiar custom, the Ojibbeways
+have given them the appellation of Assinneboins or stone boilers.
+
+This custom is a very awkward and tedious one, and used only as an
+ingenious means of boiling their meat, by a tribe who was too rude and
+ignorant to construct a kettle or pot.
+
+The Traders have recently supplied these people with pots; and even
+long before that, the Mandans had instructed them in the secret of
+manufacturing very good and serviceable earthen pots; which together
+have entirely done away the custom, excepting at public festivals;
+where they seem, like all others of the human family, to take pleasure
+in cherishing and perpetuating their ancient customs.
+
+Of these three tribes, I have also lined my painting-room with a number
+of very interesting portraits of the distinguished and brave men; and
+also representations of their games and ceremonies, which will be found
+in my +Indian Gallery+, if I live, and they can be preserved until I
+get home.
+
+The Assinneboins, or stone boilers, are a fine and noble looking race
+of Indians; bearing, both in their looks and customs, a striking
+resemblance to the Dohcotas or Sioux, from whom they have undoubtedly
+sprung. The men are tall, and graceful in their movements; and wear
+their pictured robes of the buffalo hide with great skill and pleasing
+effect. They are good hunters, and tolerably supplied with horses;
+and living in a country abounding with buffaloes, are well supplied
+with the necessaries of Indian life, and may be said to live well.
+Their games and amusements are many, of which the most valued one is
+the ball-play; and in addition to which, they have the game of the
+moccasin, horse-racing, and dancing; some one of which, they seem to be
+almost continually practicing, and of all of which I shall hereafter
+give the reader (as well as of many others of their amusements) a
+minute account.
+
+Their dances, which were frequent and varied, were generally exactly
+the same as those of the Sioux, of which I have given a faithful
+account in my Notes on the Sioux, and which the reader will soon
+meet with. There was one of these scenes, however, that I witnessed
+the other day, which appeared to me to be peculiar to this tribe,
+and exceedingly picturesque in its effect; which was described to me
+as the _pipe-dance_, and was as follows:—On a hard-trodden pavement
+in front of their village, which place is used for all their public
+meetings, and many of their amusements, the young men, who were to
+compose the dance, had gathered themselves around a small fire (+plate+
+32), and each one seated on a buffalo-robe spread upon the ground.
+In the centre and by the fire, was seated a dignitary, who seemed
+to be a chief (perhaps a doctor or medicine-man), with a long pipe
+in his hand, which he lighted at the fire and smoked incessantly,
+grunting forth at the same time, in half-strangled gutturals, a sort
+of song, which I did not get translated to my satisfaction, and which
+might have been susceptible of none. While this was going on, another
+grim-visaged fellow in another part of the group, commenced beating
+on a drum or tambourine, accompanied by his voice; when one of the
+young men seated, sprang instantly on his feet, and commenced singing
+in time with the taps of the drum, and leaping about on one foot and
+the other in the most violent manner imaginable. In this way he went
+several times around the circle, bowing and brandishing his fists in
+the faces of each one who was seated, until at length he grasped one of
+them by the hands, and jerked him forcibly up upon his feet; who joined
+in the dance for a moment, leaving the one who had pulled him up, to
+continue his steps and his song in the centre of the ring; whilst he
+danced around in a similar manner, jerking up another, and then joining
+his companion in the centre; leaving the third and the fourth, and
+so on to drag into the ring, each one his man, until all were upon
+their feet; and at last joined in the most frightful gesticulations
+and yells that seemed almost to make the earth quake under our feet.
+This strange manœuvre, which I did but partially understand, lasted
+for half or three-quarters of an hour; to the great amusement of the
+gaping multitude who were assembled around, and broke up with the most
+piercing yells and barks like those of so many affrighted dogs.
+
+The Assinneboins, somewhat like the Crows, cultivate their hair to
+a very great length, in many instances reaching down nearly to the
+ground; but in most instances of this kind, I find the great length is
+produced by splicing or adding on several lengths, which are fastened
+very ingeniously by means of glue, and the joints obscured by a sort
+of paste of red earth and glue, with which the hair is at intervals of
+every two or three inches filled, and divided into locks and slabs of
+an inch or so in breadth, and falling straight down over the back to
+the heels.
+
+I have painted the portrait of a very distinguished young man, and son
+of the chief (+plate+ 28); his dress is a very handsome one, and in
+every respect answers well to the descriptions I have given above. The
+name of this man is Wi-jun-jon (the pigeon’s egg head), and by the side
+of him (+plate+ 29) will be seen the portrait of his wife, Chin-cha-pee
+(the fire bug that creeps), a fine looking squaw, in a handsome dress
+of the mountain-sheep skin, holding in her hand a stick curiously
+carved, with which every woman in this country is supplied; for the
+purpose of digging up the “Pomme Blanche,” or prairie turnip, which is
+found in great quantities in these northern prairies, and furnishes the
+Indians with an abundant and nourishing food. The women collect these
+turnips by striking the end of the stick into the ground, and prying
+them out; after which they are dried and preserved in their wigwams for
+use during the season.
+
+I have just had the satisfaction of seeing this travelled-gentleman
+(Wi-jun-jon) meet his tribe, his wife and his little children; after an
+absence of a year or more, on his journey of 6000 miles to Washington
+City, and back again (in company with Major Sanford, the Indian agent);
+where he has been spending the winter amongst the fashionables in the
+polished circles of civilized society. And I can assure you, readers,
+that his entrée amongst his own people, in the dress and with the airs
+of a civilized beau, was one of no ordinary occurrence; and produced no
+common sensation amongst the red-visaged Assinneboins, or in the minds
+of those who were travellers, and but spectators to the scene.
+
+On his way home from St. Louis to this place, a distance of 2000 miles,
+I travelled with this gentleman, on the steamer Yellow-Stone; and
+saw him step ashore (on a beautiful prairie, where several thousands
+of his people were encamped), with a complete suit _en militaire_,
+a colonel’s uniform of blue, presented to him by the President of
+the United States, with a beaver hat and feather, with epaulettes of
+gold—with sash and belt, and broad sword; with high-heeled boots—with
+a keg of whiskey under his arm, and a blue umbrella in his hand. In
+this plight and metamorphose, he took his position on the bank, amongst
+his friends—his wife and other relations; not one of whom exhibited,
+for an half-hour or more, the least symptoms of recognition, although
+they knew well who was before them. He also gazed upon them—upon his
+wife and parents, and little children, who were about, as if they were
+foreign to him, and he had not a feeling or thought to interchange with
+them. Thus the mutual gazings upon and from this would-be-stranger,
+lasted for full half an hour; when a gradual, but cold and exceedingly
+formal recognition began to take place, and an acquaintance ensued,
+which ultimately and smoothly resolved itself, without the least
+apparent emotion, into its former state; and the mutual kindred
+intercourse seemed to flow on exactly where it had been broken off,
+as if it had been but for a moment, and nothing had transpired in the
+interim to check or change its character or expression.
+
+Such is one of the stoic instances of a custom which belongs to all the
+North American Indians, forming one of the most striking features in
+their character; valued, cherished and practiced, like many others
+of their strange notions, for reasons which are difficult to be learned
+or understood; and which probably will never be justly appreciated by
+others than themselves.
+
+[Illustration: 29 28]
+
+[Illustration: 30 31]
+
+[Illustration: 32]
+
+This man, at this time, is creating a wonderful sensation amongst
+his tribe, who are daily and nightly gathered in gaping and listless
+crowds around him, whilst he is descanting upon what he has seen in the
+fashionable world; and which to them is unintelligible and beyond their
+comprehension; for which I find they are already setting him down as a
+liar and impostor.
+
+What may be the final results of his travels and initiation into the
+fashionable world, and to what disasters his incredible narrations
+may yet subject the poor fellow in this strange land, time only will
+develop.
+
+He is now in disgrace, and spurned by the leading men of the tribe, and
+rather to be pitied than envied, for the advantages which one might
+have supposed would have flown from his fashionable tour. More of this
+curious occurrence and of this extraordinary man, I will surely give in
+some future epistles.
+
+The women of this tribe are often comely, and sometimes pretty;
+in +plate+ 34, will be seen a fair illustration of the dresses of
+the women and children, which are usually made of the skins of the
+mountain-goat, and ornamented with porcupine’s quills and rows of elk’s
+teeth.
+
+The Knisteneaux (or Crees, as they are more familiarly called in this
+country) are a very numerous tribe, extending from this place as high
+north as the shores of Lake Winnepeg; and even much further in a
+north-westerly direction, towards, and even through, a great part of
+the Rocky Mountains.
+
+I have before said of these, that they were about 3000 in numbers—by
+that, I meant but a small part of this extensive tribe, who are in the
+habit of visiting the American Fur Company’s Establishment, at this
+place, to do their trading; and who themselves, scarcely know anything
+of the great extent of country over which this numerous and scattered
+family range. Their customs may properly be said to be primitive, as no
+inroads of civilized habits have been as yet successfully made amongst
+them. Like the other tribes in these regions, they dress in skins, and
+gain their food, and conduct their wars in a very similar manner. They
+are a very daring and most adventurous tribe; roaming vast distances
+over the prairies and carrying war into their enemy’s country. With the
+numerous tribe of Blackfeet, they are always waging an uncompromising
+warfare; and though fewer in numbers and less in stature, they have
+shewn themselves equal in sinew, and not less successful in mortal
+combats.
+
+Amongst the foremost and most renowned of their warriors, is
+Bro-cas-sie, the broken arm (+plate+ 30), in a handsome dress; and by
+the side of him (+plate+ 31), his wife, a simple and comely looking
+woman. In +plate+ 33, will be seen the full length portrait of a young
+woman with a child on her back, shewing fairly the fashion of cutting
+and ornamenting the dresses of the females in this tribe; which,
+without further comment, is all I shall say at this time, of the
+valorous tribe of Crees or Knisteneaux.
+
+The Ojibbeways I have briefly mentioned in a former place, and of them
+should say more; which will be done at a proper time, after I shall
+have visited other branches of this great and scattered family.
+
+The chief of that part of the Ojibbeway tribe who inhabit these
+northern regions (+plate+ 35), and whose name is Sha-co-pay (the Six),
+is a man of huge size; with dignity of manner, and pride and vanity,
+just about in proportion to his bulk. He sat for his portrait in a most
+beautiful dress, fringed with scalp locks in profusion; which he had
+snatched, in his early life from his enemies’ heads, and now wears as
+proud trophies and proofs of what his arm has accomplished in battles
+with his enemies. His shirt of buckskin is beautifully embroidered and
+painted in curious hieroglyphics, the history of his battles and charts
+of his life. This, and also each and every article of his varied dress,
+had been manufactured by his wives, of which he had several; and one,
+though not the most agreeable (+plate+ 36), is seen represented by his
+side.
+
+I have much to see of these people yet, and much consequently to write;
+so for the present I close my book.
+
+  [1] Several years since writing the above, I held a conversation
+  with Major Pilcher (a strictly correct and honourable man, who was
+  then the agent for these people, who has lived amongst them, and is
+  at this time superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis), who
+  informed me, much to my surprise, that the Blackfeet were not far
+  from 60,000 in numbers, including all the confederacy of which I
+  have just spoken.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 9.
+
+                MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Since the dates of my other Letters from this place, I have been taking
+some wild rambles about this beautiful country of green fields; jolted
+and tossed about, on horseback and on foot, where pen, ink, and paper
+never thought of going; and of course the most that I saw and have
+learned, and would tell to the world, is yet to be written. It is not
+probable, however, that I shall again date a letter at this place, as I
+commence, in a few days, my voyage down the river in a canoe; but yet
+I may give you many a retrospective glance at this fairy land and its
+amusements.
+
+A traveller on his tour through such a country as this, has no time to
+write, and scarcely time enough to moralize. It is as much as he can
+_well_ do to “look out for his _scalp_,” and “for _something to eat_.”
+Impressions, however, of the most vivid kind, are rapidly and indelibly
+made by the fleeting incidents of savage life; and for the mind that
+can ruminate upon them with pleasure, there are abundant materials
+clinging to it for its endless entertainment in driving the quill
+when he gets back. The mind susceptible of such impressions catches
+volumes of incidents which are easy to write—it is but to unfold a web
+which the fascinations of this _shorn_ country and its allurements
+have spun over the soul—it is but to paint the splendid panorama of a
+world entirely different from anything seen or painted before; with its
+thousands of miles, and tens of thousands of grassy hills and dales,
+where nought but silence reigns, and where the soul of a contemplative
+mould is seemingly lifted up to its Creator. What man in the world,
+I would ask, ever ascended to the pinnacle of one of Missouri’s
+green-carpeted bluffs, a thousand miles severed from his own familiar
+land, and giddily gazed over the interminable and boundless ocean of
+grass-covered hills and valleys which lie beneath him, where the gloom
+of _silence_ is complete—where not even the voice of the sparrow or
+cricket is heard—without feeling a sweet melancholy come over him,
+which seemed to drown his sense of everything beneath and on a level
+with him?
+
+It is but to paint a vast country of green fields, where the _men_
+are all _red_—where _meat_ is the staff of life—where no _laws_, but
+those of _honour_, are known—where the oak and the pine give way
+to the cotton-wood and peccan—where the buffaloes range, the elk,
+mountain-sheep, and the fleet-bounding antelope—where the magpie and
+chattering parroquettes supply the place of the red-breast and the
+blue-bird—where wolves are white and bears grizzly—where pheasants are
+hens of the prairie, and frogs have horns!—where the rivers are yellow,
+and white men are turned savages in looks. Through the whole of this
+strange land the dogs are all wolves—women all slaves—men all lords.
+The _sun_ and _rats_ alone (of all the list of old acquaintance), could
+be recognised in this country of strange metamorphose. The former shed
+everywhere his familiar rays; and Monsr. Ratapon was hailed as an old
+acquaintance, which it gave me pleasure to meet; though he had grown a
+little more _savage_ in his look.
+
+In traversing the immense regions of the _classic_ West, the mind of
+a philanthropist is filled to the brim with feelings of admiration;
+but to reach this country, one is obliged to descend from the light
+and glow of civilized atmosphere, through the different grades of
+civilization, which gradually sink to the most deplorable condition
+along the extreme frontier; thence through the most pitiable misery
+and wretchedness of savage degradation; where the genius of natural
+liberty and independence have been blasted and destroyed by the
+contaminating vices and dissipations introduced by the immoral part of
+_civilized_ society. Through this dark and sunken vale of wretchedness
+one hurries, as through a pestilence, until he gradually rises again
+into the proud and chivalrous pale of savage society, in its state of
+original nature, beyond the reach of civilized contamination; here he
+finds much to fix his enthusiasm upon, and much to admire. Even here,
+the predominant passions of the savage breast, of ferocity and cruelty,
+are often found; yet _restrained_, and frequently _subdued_, by the
+noblest traits, of honour and magnanimity,—a race of men who live and
+enjoy life and its luxuries, and practice its virtues, very far beyond
+the usual estimation of the world, who are apt to judge the savage and
+his virtues from the poor, degraded, and humbled specimens which alone
+can be seen along our frontiers. From the first settlements of our
+Atlantic coast to the present day, the bane of this _blasting frontier_
+has regularly crowded upon them, from the northern to the southern
+extremities of our country; and, like the fire in a prairie, which
+destroys everything where it passes, it has blasted and sunk them, and
+all but their names, into oblivion, wherever it has travelled. It is to
+this tainted class alone that the epithet of “poor, naked, and drunken
+savage,” can be, with propriety, applied; for all those numerous tribes
+which I have visited, and are yet uncorrupted by the vices of civilized
+acquaintance, are well clad, in many instances cleanly, and in the
+full enjoyment of life and its luxuries. It is for the character and
+preservation of these noble fellows that I am an enthusiast; and it is
+for these uncontaminated people that I would be willing to devote the
+energies of my life. It is a sad and melancholy truth to contemplate,
+that all the numerous tribes who inhabited our vast Atlantic States
+_have not_ “fled to the West;”—that they are not to be found here—that
+they have been blasted by the fire which has passed over them—have
+sunk into their graves, and everything but their names travelled into
+oblivion.
+
+[Illustration: 33]
+
+[Illustration: 34]
+
+[Illustration: 35]
+
+[Illustration: 36]
+
+The distinctive character of all these Western Indians, as well as
+their traditions relative to their ancient locations, prove beyond a
+doubt, that they have been for a very long time located on the soil
+which they now possess; and in most respects, distinct and unlike those
+nations who formerly inhabited the Atlantic coast, and who (according
+to the erroneous opinion of a great part of the world), have fled to
+the West.
+
+It is for these inoffensive and unoffending people, yet unvisited by
+the vices of civilized society, that I would proclaim to the world,
+that it is time, for the honour of our country—for the honour of
+every citizen of the republic—and for the sake of humanity, that our
+government should raise her strong arm to save the remainder of them
+from the pestilence which is rapidly advancing upon them. We have
+gotten from them territory enough, and the country which they now
+inhabit is most of it too barren of timber for the use of civilized
+man; it affords them, however, the means and luxuries of savage life;
+and it is to be hoped that our government will not acquiesce in the
+continued wilful destruction of these happy people.
+
+My heart has sometimes almost bled with pity for them, while amongst
+them, and witnessing their innocent amusements, as I have contemplated
+the inevitable bane that was rapidly advancing upon them; without that
+check from the protecting arm of government, and which alone could
+shield them from destruction.
+
+What degree of happiness these sons of Nature may attain to in the
+world, in their own way; or in what proportion they may relish the
+pleasures of life, compared to the sum of happiness belonging to
+civilized society, has long been a subject of much doubt, and one which
+I cannot undertake to decide at this time. I would say thus much,
+however, that if the thirst for knowledge has entailed everlasting
+miseries on mankind from the beginning of the world; if refined
+and intellectual pains increase in proportion to our intellectual
+pleasures, I do not see that we gain much advantage over them on that
+score; and judging from the full-toned enjoyment which beams from their
+happy faces, I should give it as my opinion, that their lives were
+much more happy than ours; that is, if the word happiness is properly
+applied to the enjoyments of those who have not experienced the light
+of the Christian religion. I have long looked with the eye of a critic,
+into the jovial faces of these sons of the forest, unfurrowed with
+cares—where the agonizing feeling of poverty had never stamped distress
+upon the brow. I have watched the bold, intrepid step—the proud, yet
+dignified deportment of Nature’s man, in fearless freedom, with a soul
+unalloyed by mercenary lusts, too great to yield to laws or power
+except from God. As these independent fellows are all joint-tenants of
+the soil, they are all rich, and none of the steepings of comparative
+poverty can strangle their just claims to renown. Who (I would ask)
+can look without admiring, into a society where peace and harmony
+prevail—where virtue is cherished—where rights are protected, and
+wrongs are redressed—with no laws, but the laws of honour, which are
+the supreme laws of their land. Trust the boasted virtues of civilized
+society for awhile, with all its intellectual refinements, to such a
+tribunal, and then write down the degradation of the “lawless savage,”
+and our trancendent virtues.
+
+As these people have no laws, the sovereign right of summary redress
+lies in the breast of the party (or friends of the party) aggrieved;
+and infinitely more dreaded is the certainty of cruel revenge from
+the licensed hands of an offended savage, than the slow and uncertain
+vengeance of the law.
+
+If you think me _enthusiast_, be it so; for I deny it not. It has
+ever been the predominant passion of my soul to seek Nature’s wildest
+haunts, and give my hand to Nature’s men. Legends of _these_, and
+visits to _those_, filled the earliest page of my juvenile impressions.
+
+The tablet has stood, and I am an enthusiast for God’s works as He left
+them.
+
+The sad tale of my native “valley,”[2] has been beautifully sung; and
+from the flight of “Gertrude’s” soul, my young imagination closely
+traced the savage to his deep retreats, and gazed upon him in dreadful
+horror, until pity pleaded, and admiration worked a charm.
+
+A journey of 4000 miles from the Atlantic shore, regularly receding
+from the centre of civilized society to the extreme wilderness of
+Nature’s original work, and back again, opens a book for many an
+interesting tale to be sketched; and the mind which lives, but to
+relish the works of Nature, reaps a reward on such a tour of a much
+higher order than can arise from the selfish expectations of pecuniary
+emolument. Notwithstanding all that has been written and said, there is
+scarcely any subject on which the _knowing_ people of the East, are yet
+less informed and instructed than on the character and amusements of
+the West: by this I mean the “Far West;”—the country whose fascinations
+spread a charm over the mind almost dangerous to civilized pursuits.
+Few people even know the true definition of the term “West;” and where
+is its location?—phantom-like it flies before us as we travel, and on
+our way is continually gilded, before us, as we approach the setting
+sun.
+
+In the commencement of my Tour, several of my travelling companions
+from the city of New York, found themselves at a frightful distance
+to the West, when we arrived at Niagara Falls; and hastened back to
+amuse their friends with tales and scenes of the West. At Buffalo a
+steam-boat was landing with 400 passengers, and twelve days out—“Where
+from?” “From the West.” In the rich state of Ohio, hundreds were
+selling their farms and going—to the West. In the beautiful city of
+Cincinnati, people said to me, “Our town has passed the days of its
+most rapid growth, it is not far enough West.”—In St. Louis, 1400 miles
+west of New York, my landlady assured me that I would be pleased with
+her boarders, for they were nearly all merchants from the “West.” I
+there asked,—“Whence come those steam-boats, laden with pork, honey,
+hides, &c.?”
+
+From the West.
+
+Whence those ponderous bars of silver, which those men have been for
+hours shouldering and putting on board that boat?
+
+They come from Santa Fee, from the West.
+
+Where goes this steam-boat so richly laden with dry goods,
+steam-engines, &c.?
+
+She goes to Jefferson city.
+
+Jefferson city?—Where is that?
+
+Far to the West.
+
+And where goes that boat laden down to her gunnels, the Yellow Stone?
+
+She goes still farther to the West—“Then,” said I, “I’ll go to the
+West.”
+
+I went on the Yellow Stone— *    *    *    *
+
+*    *    *    Two thousand miles on her, and we were at the mouth of
+Yellow Stone river—at the West. What! invoices, bills of lading, &c., a
+wholesale establishment so far to the West! And those strange looking,
+long-haired gentlemen, who have just arrived, and are relating the
+adventures of their long and tedious journey. Who are they?
+
+Oh! they are some of our merchants just arrived from the West.
+
+And that keel-boat, that Mackinaw-boat, and that formidable caravan,
+all of which are richly laden with goods.
+
+These, Sir, are outfits starting for the _West_.
+
+Going to the _West_, ha? “Then” said I, “I’ll try it again. I will try
+and see if I can go to the West.”
+
+  *    *    *    What, a Fort here, too?
+
+Oui, Monsieur—oui, Monsieur (as a dauntless, and
+_semibarbarian_-looking, jolly fellow, dashed forth in advance of his
+party on his wild horse to meet me.)
+
+What distance are you west of Yellow Stone here, my good fellow?
+
+Comment?
+
+What distance?—(stop)—quel distance?
+
+Pardón, Monsieur, je ne sais pas, Monsieur.
+
+Ne parlez vous l’Anglais?
+
+Non, Monsr. I speaks de French and de Americaine; mais je ne parle pas
+l’Anglais.
+
+“Well then, my good fellow, I will speak English, and you may speak
+Americaine.”
+
+Pardón, pardón, Monsieur.
+
+Well, then we will both speak Americaine.
+
+Val, sare, je suis bien content, pour for I see dat you speaks putty
+coot Americaine.
+
+What may I call your name?
+
+Ba’tiste, Monsieur.
+
+What Indians are those so splendidly dressed, and with such fine
+horses, encamped on the plain yonder?
+
+Ils sont Corbeaux.
+
+Crows, ha?
+
+Yes, sare, Monsieur.
+
+We are then in the Crow country?
+
+Non, Monsieur, not putty éxact; we are in de coontrae of de dam Pieds
+noirs.
+
+Blackfeet, ha?
+
+Oui.
+
+What blue mountain is that which we see in the distance yonder?
+
+Ha, quel Montaigne? cela est la Montaigne du (pardón).
+
+Du Rochers, I suppose?
+
+Oui, Monsieur, de Rock Montaigne.
+
+You live here, I suppose?
+
+Non, Monsieur, I comes fair from de West.
+
+What, from the West! Where under the heavens is that?
+
+Wat, diable! de West? well you shall see, Monsieur, he is putty fair
+off, súppose. Monsieur Pierre Chouteau can give you de histoire de ma
+vie—il bien sait que je prends les castors, very fair in de West.
+
+You carry goods, I suppose, to trade with the Snake Indians beyond the
+mountains, and trap beaver also?
+
+Oui, Monsieur.
+
+Do you see anything of the “Flat-heads” in your country?
+
+Non, Monsieur, ils demeurent very, _very_ fair to de West.
+
+Well, Ba’tiste, I’ll lay my course back again for the present, and at
+some future period, endeavour to go to the “West.” But you say you
+trade with the Indians and trap beavers; you are in the employment of
+the American Fur Company, I suppose?
+
+Non, Monsieur, not quite éxact; mais, súppose, I am “_free trappare_,”
+free, Monsr. free.
+
+Free trapper, what’s that? I don’t understand you, Ba’tiste.
+
+Well, Monsr. súppose he is easy pour understand—you shall know all.
+In de first place, I am enlist for tree year in de Fur Comp in St.
+Louis—for bounté—pour bounté, eighty dollare (understand, ha?) den I
+am go for wages, et I ave come de Missouri up, et I am trap castors
+putty much for six years, you see, until I am learn very much; and den
+you see, Monsr. M‘Kenzie is give me tree horse—one pour ride, et two
+pour pack (mais he is not buy, him not give, he is lend), and he is
+lend twelve trap; and I ave make start into de Rocky Montaigne, et I am
+live all álone on de leet rivares pour prendre les castors. Sometime
+six months—sometime five month, and I come back to Yel Stone, et Monsr.
+M‘Kenzie is give me coot price pour all.
+
+So Mr. M‘Kenzie fits you out, and takes your beaver of you at a certain
+price?
+
+Oui, Monsr. oui.
+
+What price does he pay you for your beaver, Ba’tiste?
+
+Ha! súppose one dollare pour one beavare.
+
+A dollar per skin, ah?
+
+Oui.
+
+Well, you must live a lonesome and hazardous sort of life; can you make
+anything by it?
+
+Oh! oui, Monsr. putty coot, mais if it is not pour for de dam rascalité
+Riccaree, et de dam Pieds noirs, de Blackfoot Ingin, I am make very
+much monnair, mais (sacré), I am rob—rob—rob too much!
+
+What, do the Blackfeet rob you of your furs?
+
+Oui, Monsr. rob, súppose, five time! I am been free trappare seven
+year, et I am rob five time—I am someting left not at all—he is take
+all; he is take all de horse—he is take my gun—he is take all my
+clothes—he is takee de castors—et I am come back with foot. So in
+de Fort, some cloths is cost putty much monnair, et some whiskey is
+give sixteen dollares pour gall; so you see I am owe de Fur Comp 600
+dollare, by Gar!
+
+Well, Ba’tiste, this then is what you call being a free trapper is it?
+
+Oui, Monsr. “free trappare,” free!
+
+You seem to be going down towards the Yellow Stone, and probably have
+been out on a trapping excursion.
+
+Oui, Monsr. c’est vrai.
+
+Have you been robbed this time, Ba’tiste?
+
+Oui, Monsr. by de dam Pieds noirs—I am loose much; I am loose all—very
+all——eh bien——pour le dernier—c’est le dernier fois, Monsr. I am go to
+Yel Stone—I am go le Missouri down, I am go to St. Louis.
+
+Well, Ba’tiste, I am to figure about in this part of the world a few
+weeks longer, and then I shall descend the Missouri from the mouth of
+Yellow Stone, to St. Louis; and I should like exceedingly to employ
+just such a man as you are as a voyageur with me—I will give you good
+wages, and pay all your expenses; what say you?
+
+Avec tout mon cour, Monsr. remercie, remercie.
+
+It’s a bargain then, Ba’tiste; I will see you at the mouth of Yellow
+Stone.
+
+Oui, Monsr. in de Yel Stone, bon soir, bon soir, Monsr.
+
+But stop, Ba’tiste, you told me those were Crows encamped yonder.
+
+Oui, Monsieur, oui, des Corbeaux.
+
+And I suppose you are their interpreter?
+
+Non, Monsieur.
+
+But you speak the Crow language?
+
+Ouis, Monsieur.
+
+Well then, turn about; I am going to pay them a visit, and you can
+render me a service.—Bien, Monsieur, allons.
+
+  [2] Wyöming.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 10.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Soon after the writing of my last Letter, which was dated at the Mouth
+of Yellow Stone, I embarked on the river for this place, where I landed
+safely; and have resided for a couple of weeks, a guest in this almost
+subterraneous city—the strangest place in the world; where one sees
+in the most rapid succession, scenes which force him to mirth—to pity
+and compassion—to admiration—disgust; to fear and astonishment. But
+before I proceed to reveal them, I must give you a brief sketch of my
+voyage down the river from the Mouth of the Yellow Stone river to this
+place, a distance of 200 miles; and which my little note-book says, was
+performed somewhat in the following manner:
+
+When I had completed my rambles and my sketches in those regions, and
+Ba’tiste and Bogard had taken their last spree, and fought their last
+battles, and forgotten them in the final and affectionate embrace and
+farewell (all of which are habitual with these game-fellows, when
+settling up their long-standing accounts with their fellow-trappers
+of the mountain streams); and after Mr. M‘Kenzie had procured for me
+a snug little craft, that was to waft us down the mighty torrent; we
+launched off one fine morning, taking our leave of the Fort, and the
+friends within it; and also, for ever, of the beautiful green fields,
+and hills, and dales, and prairie bluffs, that encompass the enchanting
+shores of the Yellow Stone.
+
+Our canoe, which was made of green timber, was heavy and awkward; but
+our course being with the current, promised us a fair and successful
+voyage. Ammunition was laid in in abundance—a good stock of dried
+buffalo tongues—a dozen or two of beavers’ tails—and a good supply of
+pemican. Bogard and Ba’tiste occupied the middle and bow, with their
+paddles in their hands; and I took my seat in the stern of the boat,
+at the steering oar. Our larder was as I have said; and added to that,
+some few pounds of fresh buffalo meat.
+
+Besides which, and ourselves, our little craft carried several
+packs of Indian dresses and other articles, which I had purchased
+of the Indians; and also my canvass and easel, and our culinary
+articles, which were few and simple; consisting of three tin cups, a
+coffee-pot—one plate—a frying-pan—and a tin kettle.
+
+Thus fitted out and embarked, we swept off at a rapid rate under the
+shouts of the savages, and the cheers of our friends, who lined the
+banks as we gradually lost sight of them, and turned our eyes towards
+St. Louis, which was 2000 miles below us, with nought intervening, save
+the widespread and wild regions, inhabited by the roaming savage.
+
+At the end of our first day’s journey, we found ourselves handily
+encamping with several thousand Assinneboins, who had pitched their
+tents upon the bank of the river, and received us with every mark of
+esteem and friendship.
+
+In the midst of this group, was my friend Wi-jun-jon (the pigeon’s
+egg head), still lecturing on the manners and customs of the “pale
+faces.” Continuing to relate without any appearance of exhaustion, the
+marvellous scenes which he had witnessed amongst the white people, on
+his tour to Washington City.
+
+Many were the gazers who seemed to be the whole time crowding around
+him, to hear his recitals; and the plight which he was in rendered his
+appearance quite ridiculous. His beautiful military dress, of which I
+before spoke, had been so shockingly tattered and metamorphosed, that
+his appearance was truly laughable.
+
+His keg of whiskey had dealt out to his friends all its charms—his
+frock-coat, which his wife had thought was of no earthly use below
+the waist, had been cut off at that place, and the nether half of it
+supplied her with a beautiful pair of leggings; and his silver-laced
+hat-band had been converted into a splendid pair of garters for the
+same. His umbrella the poor fellow still affectionately held on to,
+and kept spread at all times. As I before said, his theme seemed to
+be exhaustless, and he, in the estimation of his tribe, to be an
+unexampled liar.
+
+Of the village of Assinneboins we took leave on the following morning,
+and rapidly made our way down the river. The rate of the current
+being four or five miles per hour, through one continued series of
+picturesque grass-covered bluffs and knolls, which everywhere had the
+appearance of an old and highly-cultivated country, with houses and
+fences removed.
+
+There is, much of the way, on one side or the other, a bold and abrupt
+precipice of three or four hundred feet in elevation, presenting itself
+in an exceedingly rough and picturesque form, to the shore of the
+river; sloping down from the summit level of the prairies above, which
+sweep off from the brink of the precipice, almost level, to an unknown
+distance.
+
+It is along the rugged and wild fronts of these cliffs, whose sides are
+generally formed of hard clay, that the mountain-sheep dwell, and are
+often discovered in great numbers. Their habits are much like those
+of the goat; and in every respect they are like that animal, except
+in the horns, which resemble those of the ram; sometimes making two
+entire circles in their coil; and at the roots, each horn is, in some
+instances, from five to six inches in breadth.
+
+On the second day of our voyage we discovered a number of these
+animals skipping along the sides of the precipice, always keeping
+about equi-distant between the top and bottom of the ledge; leaping
+and vaulting in the most extraordinary manner from point to point, and
+seeming to cling actually, to the sides of the wall, where neither man
+nor beast could possibly follow them.
+
+We landed our canoe, and endeavoured to shoot one of these sagacious
+animals; and after he had led us a long and fruitless chase, amongst
+the cliffs, we thought we had fairly entrapped him in such a way as to
+be sure to bring him, at last, within the command of our rifles; when
+he suddenly bounded from his narrow foot-hold in the ledge, and tumbled
+down a distance of more than a hundred feet, amongst the fragments of
+rocks and clay, where I thought we must certainly find his carcass
+without further trouble; when, to my great surprise, I saw him bounding
+off, and he was almost instantly out of my sight.
+
+Bogard, who was an old hunter, and well acquainted with these
+creatures, shouldered his rifle, and said to me—“the game is up; and
+you now see the use of those big horns; when they fall by accident, or
+find it necessary to quit their foot-hold in the crevice, they fall
+upon their head at a great distance unharmed, even though it should be
+on the solid rock.”
+
+Being on shore, and our canoe landed secure, we whiled away the greater
+part of this day amongst the wild and ragged cliffs, into which we had
+entered; and a part of our labours were vainly spent in the pursuit
+of a war-eagle. This noble bird is the one which the Indians in these
+regions, value so highly for their tail feathers, which are used as
+the most valued plumes for decorating the heads and dresses of their
+warriors. It is a beautiful bird, and, the Indians tell me, conquers
+all other varieties of eagles in the country; from which circumstance,
+the Indians respect the bird, and hold it in the highest esteem, and
+value its quills. I am unable so say to what variety it belongs; but
+I am sure it is not to be seen in any of our museums; nor is it to be
+found in America (I think), until one gets near to the base of the
+Rocky Mountains. This bird has often been called the calumet eagle and
+war-eagle; the last of which appellations I have already accounted
+for; and the other has arisen from the fact, that the Indians almost
+invariably ornament their calumets or pipes of peace with its quills.
+
+Our day’s loitering brought us through many a wild scene; occasionally
+across the tracks of the grizzly bear, and, in sight merely of a band
+of buffaloes; “which got the wind of us,” and were out of the way,
+leaving us to return to our canoe at night, with a mere speck of good
+luck. Just before we reached the river, I heard the crack of a rifle,
+and in a few moments Bogard came in sight, and threw down from his
+shoulders a fine antelope; which added to our larder, and we were
+ready to proceed. We embarked and travelled until nightfall, when
+we encamped on a beautiful little prairie at the base of a series of
+grass-covered bluffs; and the next morning cooked our breakfast and
+ate it, and rowed on until late in the afternoon; when we stopped at
+the base of some huge clay bluffs, forming one of the most curious
+and romantic scenes imaginable. At this spot the river expands itself
+into the appearance somewhat of a beautiful lake; and in the midst of
+it, and on and about its sand-bars, floated and stood, hundreds and
+thousands of white swans and pelicans.
+
+Though the scene in front of our encampment at this place was placid
+and beautiful; with its flowing water—its wild fowl—and its almost
+endless variety of gracefully sloping hills and green prairies in the
+distance; yet it was not less wild and picturesque in our rear, where
+the rugged and various coloured bluffs were grouped in all the wildest
+fancies and rudeness of Nature’s accidental varieties.
+
+The whole country behind us seemed to have been dug and thrown up into
+huge piles, as if some giant mason had been there mixing his mortar
+and paints, and throwing together his rude models for some sublime
+structure of a colossal city;—with its walls—its domes—its ramparts—its
+huge porticos and galleries—its castles—its fosses and ditches;—and in
+the midst of his progress, he had abandoned his works to the destroying
+hand of time, which had already done much to tumble them down, and
+deface their noble structure; by jostling them together, with all their
+vivid colours, into an unsystematic and unintelligible mass of sublime
+ruins.
+
+To this group of clay bluffs, which line the river for many miles in
+distance, the voyageurs have very appropriately given the name of “the
+Brick-kilns;” owing to their red appearance, which may be discovered in
+a clear day at the distance of many leagues.
+
+By the action of water, or other power, the country seems to have been
+graded away; leaving occasionally a solitary mound or bluff, rising in
+a conical form to the height of two or three hundred feet, generally
+pointed or rounded at the top, and in some places grouped together
+in great numbers; some of which having a tabular surface on the top,
+and covered with a green turf. This fact (as all of those which are
+horizontal on their tops, and corresponding exactly with the summit
+level of the wide-spreading prairies in distance) clearly shows, that
+their present isolated and rounded forms have been produced by the
+action of waters: which have carried away the intervening earth, and
+left them in the picturesque shapes in which they are now seen.
+
+A similar formation (or _de_formation) may be seen in hundreds of
+places on the shores of the Missouri river, and the actual progress
+of the operation by which it is produced; leaving yet for the
+singularity of this place, the peculiar feature, that nowhere else
+(to my knowledge) occurs; that the superstratum, forming the tops of
+these mounds (where they remain high enough to support anything of
+the original surface) is composed, for the depth of fifteen feet, of
+red pumice; terminating at its bottom, in a layer of several feet of
+sedimentary deposite, which is formed into endless conglomerates of
+basaltic crystals.
+
+This strange feature in the country arrests the eye of a traveller
+suddenly, and as instantly brings him to the conclusion, that he stands
+in the midst of the ruins of an extinguished volcano.
+
+As will be seen in the drawings (+plate+ 37, a near view, and +plate+
+38, a distant view), the sides of these conical bluffs (which are
+composed of strata of different coloured clays), are continually
+washing down by the effect of the rains and melting of the frost; and
+the superincumbent masses of pumice and basalt are crumbling off, and
+falling down to their bases; and from thence, in vast quantities, by
+the force of the gorges of water which are often cutting their channels
+between them—carried into the river, which is close by; and wafted for
+thousands of miles, floating as light as a cork upon its surface, and
+lodging in every pile of drift-wood from this place to the ocean.
+
+The upper part of this layer of pumice is of a brilliant red; and when
+the sun is shining upon it, is as bright and vivid as vermilion. It is
+porous and open, and its specific gravity but trifling. These curious
+bluffs must be seen as they are in nature; or else in a painting, where
+their colours are faithfully given, or they lose their picturesque
+beauty, which consists in the variety of their vivid tints. The strata
+of clay are alternating from red to yellow—white—brown and dark blue;
+and so curiously arranged, as to form the most pleasing and singular
+effects.
+
+During the day that I loitered about this strange scene, I left my
+men stretched upon the grass, by the canoe; and taking my rifle and
+sketch-book in my hand, I wandered and clambered through the rugged
+defiles between the bluffs; passing over and under the immense blocks
+of the pumice, that had fallen to their bases; determined, if possible,
+to find the crater, or source, from whence these strange phenomena
+had sprung; but after clambering and squeezing about for some time,
+I unfortunately came upon the enormous tracks of a grizzly bear,
+which, apparently, was travelling in the same direction (probably for
+a very different purpose) but a few moments before me; and my ardour
+for exploring was instantly so cooled down, that I hastily retraced
+my steps, and was satisfied with making my drawings, and collecting
+specimens of the lava and other minerals in its vicinity.
+
+After strolling about during the day, and contemplating the beauty of
+the scenes that were around me, while I sat upon the pinnacles of these
+pumice-capped mounds; most of which time, Bogard and Ba’tiste laid
+enjoying the pleasure of a “mountaineer’s nap”—we met together—took
+our coffee and dried buffalo tongues—spread our buffalo robes upon the
+grass, and enjoyed during the night the luxury of sleep, that belongs
+so peculiarly to the tired voyageur in these realms of pure air and
+dead silence.
+
+[Illustration: 37]
+
+[Illustration: 38]
+
+In the morning, and before sunrise, as usual, Bogard (who was a Yankee,
+and a “wide-awake-fellow,” just retiring from a ten years’ siege of
+hunting and trapping in the Rocky Mountains,) thrust his head out from
+under the robe, rubbing his eyes open, and exclaiming as he grasped
+for his gun, “By darn, look at old Cale! will you!” Ba’tiste, who was
+more fond of his dreams, snored away, muttering something that I could
+not understand, when Bogard seized him with a grip, that instantly
+shook off his iron slumbers. I rose at the same time, and all eyes
+were turned at once upon _Caleb_ (as the grizzly bear is familiarly
+called by the trappers in the Rocky Mountains—or more often “Cale,” for
+brevity’s sake), who was sitting up in the dignity and fury of her sex,
+within a few rods, and gazing upon us, with her two little cubs at her
+side! here was a “_fix_,” and a subject for the painter; but I had no
+time to sketch it—I turned my eyes to the canoe which had been fastened
+at the shore a few paces from us; and saw that everything had been
+pawed out of it, and all eatables had been without ceremony devoured.
+My packages of dresses and Indian curiosities had been drawn out upon
+the bank, and deliberately opened and inspected. Every thing had been
+scraped and pawed out, to the bottom of the boat; and even the rawhide
+thong, with which it was tied to a stake, had been chewed, and no doubt
+swallowed, as there was no trace of it remaining. Nor was this peep
+into the secrets of our luggage enough for her insatiable curiosity—we
+saw by the prints of her huge paws, that were left in the ground, that
+she had been perambulating our humble mattresses, smelling at our toes
+and our noses, without choosing to molest us; verifying a trite saying
+of the country, “That man lying down is _medicine_ to the grizzly
+bear;” though it is a well-known fact, that man and beast, upon their
+feet, are sure to be attacked when they cross the path of this grizzly
+and grim monster, which is the terror of all this country; often
+growing to the enormous size of eight hundred or one thousand pounds.
+
+Well—whilst we sat in the dilemma which I have just described, each
+one was hastily preparing his weapons for defence, when I proposed the
+mode of attack; by which means I was in hopes to destroy her—capture
+her young ones, and bring her skin home as a trophy. My plans, however,
+entirely failed, though we were well armed; for Bogard and Ba’tiste
+both remonstrated with a vehemence that was irresistible; saying that
+the standing rule in the mountains was “never to fight Caleb, except
+in self-defence.” I was almost induced, however, to attack her alone,
+with my rifle in hand, and a pair of heavy pistols; with a tomahawk
+and scalping-knife in my belt; when Ba’tiste suddenly thrust his arm
+over my shoulder and pointing in another direction, exclaimed in an
+emphatic tone, “Voila! voila un corps de reserve—Monsr. Cataline—voila
+sa mari! allons—allons! déscendons la riviére, toute de suite! toute
+de suite! Monsr.” to which Bogard added, “these darned animals are too
+much for us, and we had better be off;” at which my courage cooled, and
+we packed up and re-embarked as fast as possible; giving each one of
+them the contents of our rifles as we drifted off in the current; which
+brought the she-monster, in all her rage and fury, to the spot where
+we, a few moments before, had passed our most prudent resolve.
+
+During the rest of this day, we passed on rapidly, gazing upon and
+admiring the beautiful shores, which were continually changing, from
+the high and ragged cliffs, to the graceful and green slopes of the
+prairie bluffs; and then to the wide expanded meadows, with their long
+waving grass, enamelled with myriads of wild flowers.
+
+The scene was one of enchantment the whole way; our chief conversation
+was about grizzly bears and hair’s-breadth escapes; of the histories
+of which my companions had volumes in store.—Our breakfast was a late
+one—cooked and eaten about five in the afternoon; at which time our
+demolished larder was luckily replenished by the unerring rifle of
+Bogard, which brought down a fine antelope, as it was innocently gazing
+at us, from the bank of the river. We landed our boat, and took in
+our prize; but there being no wood for our fire, we shoved off, and
+soon ran upon the head of an island, that was covered with immense
+quantities of raft and drift wood, where we easily kindled a huge fire
+and ate our delicious meal from a clean peeled log, astride of which
+we comfortably sat, making it answer admirably the double purpose of
+chairs and a table. After our meal was finished, we plied the paddles,
+and proceeded several miles further on our course; leaving our fire
+burning, and dragging our canoe upon the shore, in the dark, in a wild
+and unknown spot; and silently spreading our robes for our slumbers,
+which it is not generally considered prudent to do by the side of our
+fires, which might lead a war-party upon us, who often are prowling
+about and seeking an advantage over their enemy.
+
+The scenery of this day’s travel, as I have before said, was
+exceedingly beautiful; and our canoe was often run to the shore,
+upon which we stepped to admire the endless variety of wild flowers,
+“wasting their sweetness on the desert air,” and the abundance of
+delicious fruits that were about us. Whilst wandering through the high
+grass, the wild sun-flowers and voluptuous lilies were constantly
+taunting us by striking our faces; whilst here and there, in every
+direction, there were little copses and clusters of plum trees and
+gooseberries, and wild currants, loaded down with their fruit; and
+amongst these, to sweeten the atmosphere and add a charm to the
+effect, the wild rose bushes seemed planted in beds and in hedges, and
+everywhere were decked out in all the glory of their delicate tints,
+and shedding sweet aroma to every breath of the air that passed over
+them.
+
+In addition to these, we had the luxury of service-berries, without
+stint; and the buffalo bushes, which are peculiar to these northern
+regions, lined the banks of the river and defiles in the bluffs,
+sometimes for miles together; forming almost impassable hedges,
+so loaded with the weight of their fruit, that their boughs were
+everywhere gracefully bending down and resting on the ground.
+
+This last shrub (_shepperdia_), which may be said to be the most
+beautiful ornament that decks out the wild prairies, forms a striking
+contrast to the rest of the foliage, from the blue appearance of its
+leaves, by which it can be distinguished for miles in distance. The
+fruit which it produces in such incredible profusion, hanging in
+clusters to every limb and to every twig, is about the size of ordinary
+currants, and not unlike them in colour and even in flavour; being
+exceedingly acid, and almost unpalatable, until they are bitten by the
+frost of autumn, when they are sweetened, and their flavour delicious;
+having, to the taste, much the character of grapes, and I am inclined
+to think, would produce excellent wine.
+
+The shrub which bears them resembles some varieties of the thorn,
+though (as I have said) differs entirely in the colour of its leaves.
+It generally grows to the height of six or seven feet, and often to
+ten or twelve; and in groves or hedges, in some places, for miles in
+extent. While gathering the fruit, and contemplating it as capable of
+producing good wine, I asked my men this question, “Suppose we three
+had ascended the river to this point in the spring of the year, and in
+a timbered bottom had pitched our little encampment; and one of you two
+had been a boat-builder, and the other a cooper—the one to have got out
+your staves and constructed the wine casks, and the other to have built
+a mackinaw-boat, capable of carrying fifty or a hundred casks; and I
+had been a good hunter, capable of supplying the little encampment with
+meat; and we should have started off about this time, to float down
+the current, stopping our boat wherever we saw the finest groves of
+the buffalo bush, collecting the berries and expressing the juice, and
+putting it into our casks for fermentation while on the water for two
+thousand miles; how many bushels of these berries could you two gather
+in a day, provided I watched the boat and cooked your meals? and how
+many barrels of good wine do you think we could offer for sale in St.
+Louis when we should arrive there?”
+
+This idea startled my two men exceedingly, and Ba’tiste gabbled so
+fast in French, that I could not translate; and I am almost willing
+to believe, that but for the want of the requisite tools for the
+enterprize, I should have lost the company of Bogard and Ba’tiste; or
+that I should have been under the necessity of submitting to one of the
+unpleasant alternatives which are often regulated by the _majority_, in
+this strange and singular wilderness.
+
+I at length, however, got their opinions on the subject; when they
+mutually agreed that they could gather thirty bushels of this fruit
+per day; and I gave it then, and I offer it now, as my own also,
+that their estimate was not out of the way, and judged so from the
+experiments which we made in the following manner:—We several times
+took a large mackinaw blanket which I had in the canoe, and spreading
+it on the ground under the bushes, where they were the most abundantly
+loaded with fruit; and by striking the stalk of the tree with a club,
+we received the whole contents of its branches in an instant on the
+blanket, which was taken up by the corners, and not unfrequently would
+produce us, from one blow, the eighth part of a bushel of this fruit;
+when the boughs relieved of their burden, instantly flew up to their
+native position.
+
+Of this beautiful native, which I think would form one of the loveliest
+ornamental shrubs for a gentleman’s park or pleasure grounds, I
+procured a number of the roots; but which, from the many accidents and
+incidents that our unlucky bark was subjected to on our rough passage,
+I lost them (and almost the recollection of them) as well as many other
+curiosities I had collected on our way down the river.
+
+On the morning of the next day, and not long after we had stopped and
+taken our breakfast, and while our canoe was swiftly gliding along
+under the shore of a beautiful prairie, I saw in the grass, on the
+bank above me, what I supposed to be the back of a fine elk, busy at
+his grazing. I let our craft float silently by for a little distance,
+when I communicated the intelligence to my men, and slily ran in, to
+the shore. I pricked the priming of my firelock, and taking a bullet
+or two in my mouth, stepped ashore, and trailing my rifle in my hand,
+went back under the bank, carefully crawling up in a little ravine,
+quite sure of my game; when, to my utter surprise and violent alarm,
+I found the elk to be no more nor less than an Indian pony, getting
+his breakfast! and a little beyond him, a number of others grazing;
+and nearer to me, on the left, a war-party reclining around a little
+fire; and yet nearer, and within twenty paces of the muzzle of my gun,
+the naked shoulders if a brawny Indian, who seemed busily engaged in
+cleaning his gun. From this critical dilemma, the reader can easily
+imagine that I vanished with all the suddenness and secrecy that was
+possible, bending my course towards my canoe. Bogard and Ba’tiste
+correctly construing the expression of my face, and the agitation of
+my hurried retreat, prematurely unmoored from the shore; and the force
+of the current carrying them around a huge pile of drift wood, threw
+me back for some distance upon my own resources; though they finally
+got in, near the shore, and I into the boat, with the steering oar in
+my hand; when we plied our sinews with effect and in silence, till we
+were wafted far from the ground which we deemed critical and dangerous
+to our lives; for we had been daily in dread of meeting a war-party of
+the revengeful Riccarees, which we had been told was on the river, in
+search of the Mandans. From and after this exciting occurrence, the
+entries in my journal for the rest of the voyage to the village of the
+Mandans, were as follow:—
+
+Saturday, fifth day of our voyage from the mouth of Yellow Stone, at
+eleven o’clock.—Landed our canoe in the Grand Détour (or Big Bend) as
+it is called, at the base of a stately clay mound, and ascended, all
+hands, to the summit level, to take a glance at the picturesque and
+magnificent works of Nature that were about us. Spent the remainder
+of the day in painting a view of this grand scene; for which purpose
+Ba’tiste and Bogard carried my easel and canvass to the top of a huge
+mound, where they left me at my work; and I painted my picture (+plate+
+39), whilst they amused themselves with their rifles, decoying a flock
+of antelopes, of which they killed several, and abundantly added to the
+stock of our provisions.
+
+Scarcely anything in nature can be found, I am sure, more exceedingly
+picturesque than the view from this place; exhibiting the wonderful
+manner in which the gorges of the river have cut out its deep channel
+through these walls of clay on either side, of two or three hundred
+feet in elevation; and the imposing features of the high table-lands
+in distance, standing as a perpetual anomaly in the country, and
+producing the indisputable, though astounding evidence of the fact,
+that there has been at some ancient period, a _super_ surface to this
+country, corresponding with the elevation of these tabular hills, whose
+surface, for half a mile or more, on their tops, is perfectly level;
+being covered with a green turf, and yet one hundred and fifty or two
+hundred feet elevated above what may now be properly termed the summit
+level of all this section of country; as will be seen stretching off at
+their base, without furnishing other instances in hundreds of miles,
+of anything rising one foot above its surface, excepting the solitary
+group which is shewn in the painting.
+
+The fact, that _there_ was once the summit level of this great valley,
+is a stubborn one, however difficult it may be to reconcile it with
+reasonable causes and results; and the mind of feeble man is at once
+almost paralyzed in endeavouring to comprehend the process by which the
+adjacent country, from this to the base of the Rocky Mountains, as well
+as in other directions, could have been swept away; and equally so, for
+knowledge of the place where its mighty deposits have been carried.
+
+I recollect to have seen on my way up the river, at the distance of
+six or eight hundred miles below, a place called “the Square Hills,”
+and another denominated “the Bijou Hills;” which are the only features
+on the river, seeming to correspond with this strange _remain_, and
+which, on my way down, I shall carefully examine; and not fail to
+add their testimonies (if I am not mistaken in their character) to
+further speculations on this interesting feature of the geology of the
+great valley of the Missouri. Whilst my men were yet engaged in their
+sporting excursions, I left my easel and travelled to the base and
+summit of these tabular hills; which, to my great surprise, I found to
+be several miles from the river, and a severe journey to accomplish
+getting back to our encampment at nightfall. I found by their sides
+that they were evidently of an alluvial deposite, composed of a great
+variety of horizontal layers of clays of different colours—of granitic
+sand and pebbles (many of which furnished me beautiful specimens of
+agate, jasper and carnelians), and here and there large fragments of
+pumice and cinders, which gave, as instances above-mentioned, evidences
+of volcanic remains.
+
+The mode by which Bogard and Ba’tiste had been entrapping the timid
+and sagacious antelopes was one which is frequently and successfully
+practised in this country; and on this day had afforded them fine
+sport.
+
+The antelope of this country, I believe to be different from all
+other known varieties, and forms one of the most pleasing, living
+ornaments to this western world. They are seen in some places in great
+numbers sporting and playing about the hills and dales; and often, in
+flocks of fifty or a hundred, will follow the boat of the descending
+voyageur, or the travelling caravan, for hours together; keeping off
+at a safe distance, on the right or left, galloping up and down the
+hills, snuffing their noses and stamping their feet; as if they were
+endeavouring to remind the traveller of the wicked trespass he was
+making on their own hallowed ground.
+
+This little animal seems to be endowed, like many other gentle and
+sweet-breathing creatures, with an undue share of curiosity, which
+often leads them to destruction; and the hunter who wishes to entrap
+them, saves himself the trouble of travelling after them. When he has
+been discovered, he has only to elevate above the tops of the grass,
+his red or yellow handkerchief on the end of his gun-rod (+plate+ 40),
+which he sticks in the ground, and to which they are sure to advance,
+though with great coyness and caution; whilst he lies close, at a
+little distance, with his rifle in hand; when it is quite an easy
+matter to make sure of two or three at a shot, which he gets in range
+of his eye, to be pierced with one bullet.
+
+On Sunday, departed from our encampment in the Grand Détour; and having
+passed for many miles, through a series of winding and ever-varying
+bluffs and fancied ruins, like such as have already been described, our
+attention was more than usually excited by the stupendous scene (+plate+
+41), called by the voyageurs “the Grand Dome,” which was lying in full
+view before us.
+
+Our canoe was here hauled ashore, and a day whiled away again, amongst
+these clay built ruins.
+
+We clambered to their summits and enjoyed the distant view of the
+Missouri for many miles below, wending its way through the countless
+groups of clay and grass-covered hills; and we wandered back on the
+plains, in a toilsome and unsuccessful pursuit of a herd of buffaloes,
+which we discovered at some distance. Though we were disappointed
+in the results of the chase; yet we were in a measure repaid in
+amusements, which we found in paying a visit to an extensive village of
+prairie dogs, and of which I should render some account.
+
+I have subjoined a sketch (+plate+ 42) of one of these _sub-terra_
+communities; though it was taken in a former excursion, when my party
+was on horseback, and near the mouth of the Yellow Stone River; yet
+it answers for this place as well as any other, for their habits are
+one and the same wherever they are found; their houses or burrows
+are all alike, and as their location is uniformly on a level and
+desolate prairie, without timber, there is little room for variety or
+dissimilarity.
+
+The prairie dog of the American Prairies is undoubtedly a variety
+of the marmot; and probably not unlike those which inhabit the vast
+Steppes of Asia. It bears no resemblance to any variety of dogs,
+except in the sound of its voice, when excited by the approach of
+danger, which is something like that of a very small dog, and still
+much more resembling the barking of a grey squirrel.
+
+[Illustration: 39]
+
+[Illustration: 40]
+
+The size of these curious little animals is not far from that of a
+very large rat, and they are not unlike in their appearance. As I have
+said, their burrows, are uniformly built in a lonely desert; and away,
+both from the proximity of timber and water. Each individual, or each
+family, dig their hole in the prairie to the depth of eight or ten
+feet, throwing up the dirt from each excavation, in a little pile, in
+the form of a cone, which forms the only elevation for them to ascend;
+where they sit, to bark and chatter when an enemy is approaching their
+village. These villages are sometimes of several miles in extent;
+containing (I would almost say) myriads of their excavations and little
+dirt hillocks, and to the ears of their visitors, the din of their
+barkings is too confused and too peculiar to be described.
+
+In the present instance, we made many endeavours to shoot them, but
+finding our efforts to be entirely in vain. As we were approaching them
+at a distance, each one seemed to be perched up, on his hind feet,
+on his appropriate domicil, with a significant jerk of his tail at
+every bark, positively disputing our right of approach. I made several
+attempts to get near enough to “draw a bead” upon one of them; and
+just before I was ready to fire (and as if they knew the utmost limits
+of their safety), they sprang down into their holes, and instantly
+turning their bodies, shewed their ears and the ends of their noses, as
+they were peeping out at me; which position they would hold, until the
+shortness of the distance subjected their scalps to danger again, from
+the aim of a rifle; when they instantly disappeared from our sight,
+and all was silence thereafter, about their premises, as I passed them
+over; until I had so far advanced by them, that their ears were again
+discovered, and at length themselves, at full length, perched on the
+tops of their little hillocks and threatening as before; thus gradually
+sinking and rising like a wave before and behind me.
+
+The holes leading down to their burrows, are four or five inches in
+diameter, and run down nearly perpendicular; where they undoubtedly
+communicate into something like a subterraneous city (as I have
+formerly learned from fruitless endeavours to dig them out), undermined
+and vaulted; by which means, they can travel for a great distance under
+the ground, without danger from pursuit.
+
+Their food is simply the grass in the immediate vicinity of their
+burrows, which is cut close to the ground by their flat, shovel teeth;
+and, as they sometimes live twenty miles from any water, it is to be
+supposed that they get moisture enough from the dew on the grass, on
+which they feed chiefly at night; or that (as is generally supposed)
+they sink wells from their under-ground habitations, by which they
+descend low enough to get their supply. In the winter, they are for
+several months invisible; existing, undoubtedly, in a torpid state,
+as they certainly lay by no food for that season—nor can they procure
+any. These curious little animals belong to almost every latitude in
+the vast plains of prairie in North America; and their villages, which
+I have sometimes encountered in my travels, have compelled my party to
+ride several miles out of our way to get by them; for their burrows are
+generally within a few feet of each other, and dangerous to the feet
+and the limbs of our horses.
+
+The sketch of the bluffs denominated “the Grand Dome,” of which I spoke
+but a few moments since, is a faithful delineation of the lines and
+character of that wonderful scene; and the reader has here a just and
+striking illustration of the ruin-like appearances, as I have formerly
+described, that are so often met with on the banks of this mighty river.
+
+This is, perhaps, one of the most grand and beautiful scenes of the
+kind to be met with in this country, owing to the perfect appearance
+of its several huge domes, turrets, and towers, which were everywhere
+as precise and as perfect in their forms as they are represented in
+the illustration. These stupendous works are produced by the continual
+washing down of the sides of these clay-formed hills; and although, in
+many instances, their sides, by exposure, have become so hardened, that
+their change is very slow; yet they are mostly subjected to continual
+phases, more or less, until ultimately their decomposition ceases,
+and their sides becoming seeded and covered with a green turf, which
+protects and holds them (and will hold them) unalterable: with carpets
+of green, and enamelled with flowers, to be gazed upon with admiration,
+by the hardy voyageur and the tourist, for ages and centuries to come.
+
+On Monday, the seventh day from the mouth of the Yellow Stone River,
+we floated away from this noble scene; looking back again and again
+upon it, wondering at its curious and endless changes, as the swift
+current of the river, hurried us by, and gradually out of sight of
+it. We took a sort of melancholy leave of it—but at every bend and
+turn in the stream, we were introduced to others—and others—and yet
+others, almost as strange and curious. At the base of one of these,
+although we had passed it, we with difficulty landed our canoe, and I
+ascended to its top, with some hours’ labour; having to cut a foot-hold
+in the clay with my hatchet for each step, a great part of the way up
+its sides. So curious was this solitary bluff, standing alone as it
+did, to the height of 250 feet (+plate+ 43), with its sides washed
+down into hundreds of variegated forms—with large blocks of indurated
+clay, remaining upon pedestals and columns as it were, and with such
+a variety of tints; that I looked upon it as a beautiful picture, and
+devoted an hour or two with my brush, in transferring it to my canvass.
+
+In the after part of this day we passed another extraordinary scene,
+which is denominated “the Three Domes” (+plate+ 44), forming an
+exceedingly pleasing group, though requiring no further description for
+the reader, who is now sufficiently acquainted with these scenes to
+understand them.
+
+[Illustration: 41]
+
+[Illustration: 42]
+
+[Illustration: 43]
+
+[Illustration: 44]
+
+On this day, just before night, we landed our little boat in front of
+the Mandan village; and amongst the hundreds and thousands who flocked
+towards the river to meet and to greet us, was Mr. Kipp, the agent of
+the American Fur Company, who has charge of their Establishment at this
+place. He kindly ordered my canoe to be taken care of, and my things to
+be carried to his quarters, which was at once done; and I am at this
+time reaping the benefits of his genuine politeness, and gathering the
+pleasures of his amusing and interesting society.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 11.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+I said that I was here in the midst of a strange people, which is
+literally true; and I find myself surrounded by subjects and scenes
+worthy the pens of Irving or Cooper—of the pencils of Raphael or
+Hogarth; rich in legends and romances, which would require no aid of
+the imagination for a book or a picture.
+
+The Mandans (or See-pohs-kah-nu-mah-kah-kee, “people of the pheasants,”
+as they call themselves), are perhaps one of the most ancient tribes
+of Indians in our country. Their origin, like that of all the other
+tribes is from necessity, involved in mystery and obscurity. Their
+traditions and peculiarities I shall casually recite in this or future
+epistles; which when understood, will at once, I think, denominate them
+a peculiar and distinct race. They take great pride in relating their
+traditions, with regard to their origin; contending that they were the
+_first_ people created on earth. Their existence in these regions has
+not been from a very ancient period; and, from what I could learn of
+their traditions, they have, at a former period, been a very numerous
+and powerful nation; but by the continual wars which have existed
+between them and their neighbours, they have been reduced to their
+present numbers.
+
+This tribe is at present located on the west bank of the Missouri,
+about 1800 miles above St. Louis, and 200 below the Mouth of Yellow
+Stone river. They have two villages only, which are about two miles
+distant from each other; and number in all (as near as I can learn),
+about 2000 souls. Their present villages are beautifully located, and
+judiciously also, for defence against the assaults of their enemies.
+The site of the lower (or principal) town, in particular (+plate+
+45), is one of the most beautiful and pleasing that can be seen
+in the world, and even more beautiful than imagination could ever
+create. In the very midst of an extensive valley (embraced within a
+thousand graceful swells and parapets or mounds of interminable green,
+changing to blue, as they vanish in distance) is built the city, or
+principal town of the Mandans. On an extensive plain (which is covered
+with a green turf, as well as the hills and dales, as far as the eye
+can possibly range, without tree or bush to be seen) are to be seen
+rising from the ground, and towards the heavens, domes—(not “of gold,”
+but) of dirt—and the thousand spears (not “spires”) and scalp-poles,
+&c. &c., of the semi-subterraneous village of the hospitable and
+gentlemanly Mandans.
+
+[Illustration: 45]
+
+[Illustration: 46]
+
+These people formerly (and within the recollection of many of their
+oldest men) lived fifteen or twenty miles farther down the river, in
+ten contiguous villages; the marks or ruins of which are yet plainly
+to be seen. At that period, it is evident, as well from the number of
+lodges which their villages contained, as from their traditions, that
+their numbers were much greater than at the present day.
+
+There are other, and very interesting, traditions and historical facts
+relative to a still prior location and condition of these people,
+of which I shall speak more fully on a future occasion. From these,
+when they are promulged, I think there may be a pretty fair deduction
+drawn, that they formerly occupied the lower part of the Missouri, and
+even the Ohio and Muskingum, and have gradually made their way up the
+Missouri to where they now are.
+
+There are many remains on the river below this place (and, in fact,
+to be seen nearly as low down as St. Louis), which shew clearly the
+peculiar construction of Mandan lodges, and consequently carry a strong
+proof of the above position. While descending the river, however, which
+I shall commence in a few weeks, in a canoe, this will be a subject of
+interest; and I shall give it close examination.
+
+The ground on which the Mandan village is at present built, was
+admirably selected for defence; being on a bank forty or fifty feet
+above the bed of the river. The greater part of this bank is nearly
+perpendicular, and of solid rock. The river, suddenly changing its
+course to a right-angle, protects two sides of the village, which is
+built upon this promontory or angle; they have therefore but one side
+to protect, which is effectually done by a strong piquet, and a ditch
+inside of it, of three or four feet in depth. The piquet is composed
+of timbers of a foot or more in diameter, and eighteen feet high, set
+firmly in the ground at sufficient distances from each other to admit
+of guns and other missiles to be fired between them. The ditch (unlike
+that of civilized modes of fortification) is inside of the piquet, in
+which their warriors screen their bodies from the view and weapons of
+their enemies, whilst they are reloading and discharging their weapons
+through the piquets.
+
+The Mandans are undoubtedly secure in their villages, from the attacks
+of any Indian nation, and have nothing to fear, except when they meet
+their enemy on the prairie. Their village has a most novel appearance
+to the eye of a stranger; their lodges are closely grouped together,
+leaving but just room enough for walking and riding between them; and
+appear from without, to be built entirely of dirt; but one is surprised
+when he enters them, to see the neatness, comfort, and spacious
+dimensions of these earth-covered dwellings. They all have a circular
+form, and are from forty to sixty feet in diameter. Their foundations
+are prepared by digging some two feet in the ground, and forming the
+floor of earth, by levelling the requisite size for the lodge. These
+floors or foundations are all perfectly circular, and varying in size
+in proportion to the number of inmates, or of the quality or standing
+of the families which are to occupy them. The superstructure is then
+produced, by arranging, inside of this circular excavation, firmly
+fixed in the ground and resting against the bank, a barrier or wall of
+timbers, some eight or nine inches in diameter, of equal height (about
+six feet) placed on end, and resting against each other, supported by
+a formidable embankment of earth raised against them outside; then,
+resting upon the tops of these timbers or piles, are others of equal
+size and equal in numbers, of twenty or twenty-five feet in length,
+resting firmly against each other, and sending their upper or smaller
+ends towards the centre and top of the lodge; rising at an angle of
+forty-five degrees to the apex or sky-light, which is about three or
+four feet in diameter, answering as a chimney and a sky-light at the
+same time. The roof of the lodge being thus formed, is supported by
+beams passing around the inner part of the lodge about the middle of
+these poles or timbers, and themselves upheld by four or five large
+posts passing down to the floor of the lodge. On the top of, and over
+the poles forming the roof, is placed a complete mat of willow-boughs,
+of half a foot or more in thickness, which protects the timbers from
+the dampness of the earth, with which the lodge is covered from bottom
+to top, to the depth of two or three feet; and then with a hard or
+tough clay, which is impervious to water, and which with long use
+becomes quite hard, and a lounging place for the whole family in
+pleasant weather—for sage—for wooing lovers—for dogs and all; an airing
+place—a look-out—a place for gossip and mirth—a seat for the solitary
+gaze and meditations of the stern warrior, who sits and contemplates
+the peaceful mirth and happiness that is breathed beneath him, fruits
+of his hard-fought battles, on fields of desperate combat with
+bristling Red Men.
+
+The floors of these dwellings are of earth, but so hardened by use,
+and swept so clean, and tracked by bare and moccassined feet, that
+they have almost a polish, and would scarcely soil the whitest linen.
+In the centre, and immediately under the sky-light (+plate+ 46) is the
+fire-place—a hole of four or five feet in diameter, of a circular form,
+sunk a foot or more below the surface, and curbed around with stone.
+Over the fire-place, and suspended from the apex of diverging props or
+poles, is generally seen the pot or kettle, filled with buffalo meat;
+and around it are the family, reclining in all the most picturesque
+attitudes and groups, resting on their buffalo-robes and beautiful mats
+of rushes. These cabins are so spacious, that they hold from twenty
+to forty persons—a family and all their connexions. They all sleep on
+bedsteads similar in form to ours, but generally not quite so high;
+made of round poles rudely lashed together with thongs. A buffalo skin,
+fresh stripped from the animal, is stretched across the bottom poles,
+and about two feet from the floor; which, when it dries, becomes much
+contracted, and forms a perfect sacking-bottom. The fur side of this
+skin is placed uppermost, on which they lie with great comfort, with
+a buffalo-robe folded up for a pillow, and others drawn over them
+instead of blankets. These beds, as far as I have seen them (and I have
+visited almost every lodge in the village), are uniformly screened with
+a covering of buffalo or elk skins, oftentimes beautifully dressed
+and placed over the upright poles or frame, like a suit of curtains;
+leaving a hole in front, sufficiently spacious for the occupant to pass
+in and out, to and from his or her bed. Some of these coverings or
+curtains are exceedingly beautiful, being cut tastefully into fringe,
+and handsomely ornamented with porcupine’s quills and picture writings
+or hieroglyphics.
+
+From the great number of inmates in these lodges, they are necessarily
+very spacious, and the number of beds considerable. It is no uncommon
+thing to see these lodges fifty feet in diameter inside (which is an
+immense room), with a row of these curtained beds extending quite
+around their sides, being some ten or twelve of them, placed four or
+five feet apart, and the space between them occupied by a large post,
+fixed quite firm in the ground, and six or seven feet high, with large
+wooden pegs or bolts in it, on which are hung and grouped, with a wild
+and startling taste, the arms and armour of the respective proprietor;
+consisting of his whitened shield, embossed and emblazoned with the
+figure of his protecting _medicine_ (or mystery), his bow and quiver,
+his war-club or battle-axe, his dart or javelin—his tobacco pouch and
+pipe—his medicine-bag—and his eagle—ermine or raven head-dress; and
+over all, and on the top of the post (as if placed by some conjuror
+or Indian magician, to guard and protect the spell of wildness that
+reigns in this strange place), stands forth and in full relief the head
+and horns of a buffalo, which is, by a village regulation, owned and
+possessed by every man in the nation, and hung at the head of his bed,
+which he uses as a mask when called upon by the chiefs, to join in the
+buffalo-dance, of which I shall say more in a future epistle.
+
+This arrangement of beds, of arms, &c., combining the most vivid
+display and arrangement of colours, of furs, of trinkets—of barbed and
+glistening points and steel—of mysteries and hocus pocus, together
+with the sombre and smoked colour of the roof and sides of the
+lodge; and the wild, and rude and red—the graceful (though uncivil)
+conversational, garrulous, story-telling and happy, though ignorant
+and untutored groups, that are smoking their pipes—wooing their
+sweethearts, and embracing their little ones about their peaceful and
+endeared fire-sides; together with their pots and kettles, spoons,
+and other culinary articles of their own manufacture, around them;
+present altogether, one of the most picturesque scenes to the eye of a
+stranger, that can be possibly seen; and far more wild and vivid than
+could ever be imagined.
+
+Reader, I said these people were garrulous, story-telling and happy;
+this is true, and literally so; and it belongs to me to establish the
+fact, and correct the error which seems to have gone forth to the world
+on this subject.
+
+As I have before observed, there is no subject that I know of within
+the scope and reach of human wisdom, on which the civilized world in
+this enlightened age are more incorrectly informed, than upon that
+of the true manners and customs, and moral condition, rights and
+abuses, of the North American Indians; and that, as I have also before
+remarked, chiefly on account of the difficulty of our cultivating a
+fair and honourable acquaintance with them, and doing them the justice,
+and ourselves the credit, of a fair and impartial investigation of
+their true character. The present age of refinement and research has
+brought every thing else that I know of (and a vast deal more than
+the most enthusiastic mind ever dreamed of) within the scope and fair
+estimation of refined intellect and of science; while the wild and
+timid savage, with his interesting customs and modes has vanished, or
+his character has become changed, at the approach of the enlightened
+and intellectual world; who follow him like a phantom for awhile, and
+in ignorance of his true character at last turn back to the common
+business and social transactions of life.
+
+Owing to the above difficulties, which have stood in the way, the world
+have fallen into many egregious errors with regard to the true modes
+and meaning of the savage, which I am striving to set forth and correct
+in the course of these epistles. And amongst them all, there is none
+more common, nor more entirely erroneous, nor more easily refuted,
+than the current one, that “the Indian is a sour, morose, reserved and
+taciturn man.” I have heard this opinion advanced a thousand times and
+I believed it; but such certainly, is not uniformly nor generally the
+case.
+
+I have observed in all my travels amongst the Indian tribes, and
+more particularly amongst these unassuming people, that they are a
+far more talkative and conversational race than can easily be seen
+in the civilized world. This assertion, like many others I shall
+occasionally make, will somewhat startle the folks at the East, yet
+it is true. No one can look into the wigwams of these people, or into
+any little momentary group of them, without being at once struck with
+the conviction that small-talk, gossip, garrulity, and story-telling,
+are the leading passions with them, who have little else to do in
+the world, but to while away their lives in the innocent and endless
+amusement of the exercise of those talents with which Nature has
+liberally endowed them, for their mirth and enjoyment.
+
+One has but to walk or ride about this little town and its environs
+for a few hours in a pleasant day, and overlook the numerous games and
+gambols, where their notes and yelps of exultation are unceasingly
+vibrating in the atmosphere; or peep into their wigwams (and watch
+the glistening fun that’s beaming from the noses, cheeks, and chins,
+of the crouching, cross-legged, and prostrate groups around the fire;
+where the pipe is passed, and jokes and anecdote, and laughter are
+excessive) to become convinced that it is natural to laugh and be
+merry. Indeed it would be strange if a race of people like these, who
+have little else to do or relish in life, should be curtailed in that
+source of pleasure and amusement; and it would be also strange, if a
+life-time of indulgence and practice in so innocent and productive a
+mode of amusement, free from the cares and anxieties of business or
+professions, should not advance them in their modes, and enable them to
+draw far greater pleasure from such sources, than we in the civilized
+and business world can possibly feel. If the uncultivated condition of
+their minds curtails the number of their enjoyments; yet they are free
+from, and independent of, a thousand cares and jealousies, which arise
+from mercenary motives in the civilized world; and are yet far a-head
+of us (in my opinion) in the real and uninterrupted enjoyment of their
+simple natural faculties.
+
+They live in a country and in communities, where it is not customary
+to look forward into the future with concern, for they live without
+incurring the expenses of life, which are absolutely necessary and
+unavoidable in the enlightened world; and of course their inclinations
+and faculties are solely directed to the enjoyment of the present day,
+without the sober reflections on the past or apprehensions of the
+future.
+
+With minds thus unexpanded and uninfluenced by the thousand passions
+and ambitions of civilized life, it is easy and natural to concentrate
+their thoughts and their conversation upon the little and trifling
+occurrences of their lives. They are fond of fun and good cheer, and
+can laugh easily and heartily at a slight joke, of which their peculiar
+modes of life furnish them an inexhaustible fund, and enable them to
+cheer their little circle about the wigwam fire-side with endless
+laughter and garrulity.
+
+It may be thought, that I am taking a great deal of pains to establish
+this fact, and I am dwelling longer upon it than I otherwise should,
+inasmuch as I am opposing an error that seems to have become current
+through the world; and which, if it be once corrected, removes a
+material difficulty, which has always stood in the way of a fair and
+just estimation of the Indian character. For the purpose of placing
+the Indian in a proper light before the world, as I hope to do in
+many respects, it is of importance to me—it is but justice to the
+savage—and justice to my readers also, that such points should be
+cleared up as I proceed; and for the world who enquire for correct and
+just information, they must take my words for the truth, or else come
+to this country and look for themselves, into these grotesque circles
+of never-ending laughter and fun, instead of going to Washington
+City to gaze on the poor embarrassed Indian who is called there by
+his “Great Father,” to contend with the sophistry of the learned and
+acquisitive world, in bartering away his lands with the graves and the
+hunting grounds of his ancestors. There is not the proper place to
+study the Indian character; yet it is the place where the sycophant and
+the scribbler go to gaze and frown upon him—to learn his character,
+and write his history! and because he does not speak, and quaffs the
+delicious beverage which he receives from white men’s hands, “he’s a
+speechless brute and a drunkard.” An Indian is a beggar in Washington
+City, and a white man is almost equally so in the Mandan village. An
+Indian in Washington is mute, is dumb and embarrassed; and so is a
+white man (and for the very same reasons) in this place—he has nobody
+to talk to.
+
+A wild Indian, to reach the civilized world, must needs travel
+some thousands of miles in vehicles of conveyance, to which he is
+unaccustomed—through latitudes and longitudes which are new to
+him—living on food that he is unused to—stared and gazed at by the
+thousands and tens of thousands whom he cannot talk to—his heart
+grieving and his body sickening at the exhibition of white men’s wealth
+and luxuries, which are enjoyed on the land, and over the bones of
+his ancestors. And at the end of his journey he stands (like a caged
+animal) to be scanned—to be criticised—to be pitied—and heralded to the
+world as a mute—as a brute, and a beggar.
+
+A white man, to reach this village, must travel by steam-boat—by
+canoes—on horseback and on foot; swim rivers—wade quagmires—fight
+mosquitoes—patch his moccasins, and patch them again and again, and his
+breeches; live on meat alone—sleep on the ground the whole way, and
+think and dream of his friends he has left behind; and when he gets
+here, half-starved, and half-naked, and more than half sick, he finds
+himself a beggar for a place to sleep, and for something to eat; a
+mute amongst thousands who flock about him, to look and to criticise,
+and to laugh at him for his jaded appearance, and to speak of him as
+they do of all white men (without distinction) as liars. These people
+are in the habit of seeing no white men in their country but Traders,
+and know of no other; deeming us all alike, and receiving us all under
+the presumption that we come to trade or barter; applying to us all,
+indiscriminately, the epithet of “liars” or Traders.
+
+The reader will therefore see, that we mutually suffer in each other’s
+estimation from the unfortunate ignorance, which distance has chained
+us in; and (as I can vouch, and the Indian also, who has visited
+the civilized world) that the historian who would record justly and
+correctly the character and customs of a people, must go and live among
+them.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 12.
+
+                    MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.
+
+
+In my last, I gave some account of the village, and the customs, and
+appearances of this strange people,—and I will now proceed to give
+further details on that subject.
+
+I have this morning, perched myself upon the top of one of the
+earth-covered lodges, which I have before described, and having the
+whole village beneath and about me (+plate+ 47), with its sachems—its
+warriors—its dogs—and its horses in motion—its medicines (or mysteries)
+and scalp-poles waving over my head—its piquets—its green fields and
+prairies, and river in full view, with the din and bustle of the
+thrilling panorama that is about me. I shall be able, I hope, to give
+some sketches more to the life than I could have done from any effort
+of recollection.
+
+I said that the lodges or wigwams were covered with earth—were of forty
+or sixty feet in diameter, and so closely grouped that there was but
+just room enough to walk and ride between them,—that they had a door by
+which to enter them, and a hole in the top for the admission of light,
+and for the smoke to escape,—that the inmates were at times grouped
+upon their tops in conversations and other amusements, &c.; and yet
+you know not exactly how they look, nor what is the precise appearance
+of the strange world that is about me. There is really a newness
+and rudeness in every thing that is to be seen. There are several
+hundred houses or dwellings about me, and they are purely unique—they
+are all covered with dirt—the people are all red, and yet distinct
+from all other red folks I have seen. The horses are wild—every dog
+is a wolf—the whole moving mass are strangers to me: the living, in
+everything, carry an air of intractable wildness about them, and the
+dead are not buried, but dried upon scaffolds.
+
+The groups of lodges around me present a very curious and pleasing
+appearance, resembling in shape (more nearly than anything else I
+can compare them to) so many potash-kettles inverted. On the tops
+of these are to be seen groups standing and reclining, whose wild
+and picturesque appearance it would be difficult to describe. Stern
+warriors, like statues, standing in dignified groups, wrapped in their
+painted robes, with their heads decked and plumed with quills of the
+war-eagle; extending their long arms to the east or the west, the
+scenes of their battles, which they are recounting over to each other.
+In another direction, the wooing lover, softening the heart of his fair
+Taih-nah-tai-a with the notes of his simple lute. On other lodges, and
+beyond these, groups are engaged in games of the “moccasin,” or the
+“platter.” Some are to be seen manufacturing robes and dresses, and
+others, fatigued with amusements or occupations, have stretched their
+limbs to enjoy the luxury of sleep, whilst basking in the sun. With
+all this wild and varied medley of living beings are mixed their dogs,
+which seem to be so near an Indian’s heart, as almost to constitute a
+material link of his existence.
+
+In the centre of the village is an open space, or public area, of 150
+feet in diameter, and circular in form, which is used for all public
+games and festivals, shews and exhibitions; and also for their “annual
+religious ceremonies,” which are soon to take place, and of which I
+shall hereafter give some account. The lodges around this open space
+front in, with their doors towards the centre; and in the middle of
+this circle stands an object of great religious veneration, as I am
+told, on account of the importance it has in the conduction of those
+annual religious rites.
+
+This object is in form of a large hogshead, some eight or ten feet
+high, made of planks and hoops, containing within it some of their
+choicest medicines or mysteries, and religiously preserved unhacked or
+scratched, as a symbol of the “Big Canoe,” as they call it.
+
+One of the lodges fronting on this circular area, and facing this
+strange object of their superstition, is called the “Medicine Lodge,”
+or council house. It is in this sacred building that these wonderful
+ceremonies, in commemoration of the flood, take place. I am told by the
+Traders that the cruelties of these scenes are frightful and abhorrent
+in the extreme; and that this huge wigwam, which is now closed, has
+been built exclusively for this grand celebration. I am every day
+reminded of the near approach of the season for this strange affair,
+and as I have not yet seen any thing of it, I cannot describe it; I
+know it only from the relations of the Traders who have witnessed parts
+of it; and their descriptions are of so extraordinary a character, that
+I would not be willing to describe until I can see for myself,—which
+will, in all probability, be in a few days.
+
+In ranging the eye over the village from where I am writing, there
+is presented to the view the strangest mixture and medley of
+unintelligible trash (independent of the living beings that are in
+motion), that can possibly be imagined. On the roofs of the lodges,
+besides the groups of living, are buffaloes’ skulls, skin canoes,
+pots and pottery; sleds and sledges—and suspended on poles, erected
+some twenty feet above the doors of their wigwams, are displayed in a
+pleasant day, the scalps of warriors, preserved as trophies; and thus
+proudly exposed as evidence of their warlike deeds. In other parts are
+raised on poles the warriors’ pure and whitened shields and quivers,
+with medicine-bags attached; and here and there a sacrifice of red
+cloth, or other costly stuff, offered up to the Great Spirit, over
+the door of some benignant chief, in humble gratitude for the blessings
+which he is enjoying. Such is a part of the strange medley that is
+before and around me; and amidst them and the blue streams of smoke
+that are rising from the tops of these hundred “coal-pits,” can be
+seen in distance, the green and boundless, treeless, bushless prairie;
+and on it, and contiguous to the piquet which encloses the village, a
+hundred scaffolds on which their “dead live,” as they term it.
+
+[Illustration: 47]
+
+[Illustration: 48]
+
+These people never bury the dead, but place the bodies on slight
+scaffolds just above the reach of human hands, and out of the way of
+wolves and dogs; and they are there left to moulder and decay. This
+cemetery, or place of deposite for the dead, is just back of the
+village, on a level prairie (+plate+ 48); and with all its appearances,
+history, forms, ceremonies, &c. is one of the strangest and most
+interesting objects to be described in the vicinity of this peculiar
+race.
+
+Whenever a person dies in the Mandan village, and the customary honours
+and condolence are paid to his remains, and the body dressed in its
+best attire, painted, oiled, feasted, and supplied with bow and quiver,
+shield, pipe and tobacco—knife, flint and steel, and provisions enough
+to last him a few days on the journey which he is to perform; a fresh
+buffalo’s skin, just taken from the animal’s back, is wrapped around
+the body, and tightly bound and wound with thongs of raw hide from head
+to foot. Then other robes are soaked in water, till they are quite
+soft and elastic, which are also bandaged around the body in the same
+manner, and tied fast with thongs, which are wound with great care and
+exactness, so as to exclude the action of the air from all parts of the
+body.
+
+There is then a separate scaffold erected for it, constructed of four
+upright posts, a little higher than human hands can reach; and on the
+tops of these are small poles passing around from one post to the
+others; across which a number of willow-rods just strong enough to
+support the body, which is laid upon them on its back, with its feet
+carefully presented towards the rising sun.
+
+There are a great number of these bodies resting exactly in a similar
+way; excepting in some instances where a chief, or medicine-man, may
+be seen with a few yards of scarlet or blue cloth spread over his
+remains, as a mark of public respect and esteem. Some hundreds of these
+bodies may be seen reposing in this manner in this curious place, which
+the Indians call, “the village of the dead;” and the traveller, who
+visits this country to study and learn, will not only be struck with
+the novel appearance of the scene; but if he will give attention to
+the respect and devotions that are paid to this sacred place, he will
+draw many a moral deduction that will last him through life: he will
+learn, at least, that filial, conjugal, and paternal affection are not
+necessarily the results of civilization; but that the Great Spirit
+has given them to man in his native state; and that the spices and
+improvements of the enlightened world have never refined upon them.
+
+There is not a day in the year in which one may not see in this place
+evidences of this fact, that will wring tears from his eyes, and kindle
+in his bosom a spark of respect and sympathy for the poor Indian, if
+he never felt it before. Fathers, mothers, wives, and children, may
+be seen lying under these scaffolds, prostrated upon the ground, with
+their faces in the dirt, howling forth incessantly the most piteous
+and heart-broken cries and lamentations for the misfortunes of their
+kindred; tearing their hair—cutting their flesh with their knives,
+and doing other penance to appease the spirits of the dead, whose
+misfortunes they attribute to some sin or omission of their own, for
+which they sometimes inflict the most excruciating self-torture.
+
+When the scaffolds on which the bodies rest, decay and fall to the
+ground, the nearest relations having buried the rest of the bones,
+take the skulls, which are perfectly bleached and purified, and place
+them in circles of an hundred or more on the prairie—placed at equal
+distances apart (some eight or nine inches from each other), with the
+faces all looking to the centre; where they are religiously protected
+and preserved in their precise positions from year to year, as objects
+of religious and affectionate veneration (+plate+ 48).
+
+There are several of these “Golgothas” or circles of twenty or thirty
+feet in diameter, and in the centre of each ring or circle is a
+little mound of three feet high, on which uniformly rest two buffalo
+skulls (a male and female); and in the centre of the little mound is
+erected a “medicine pole,” about twenty feet high, supporting many
+curious articles of mystery and superstition, which they suppose have
+the power of guarding and protecting this sacred arrangement. Here
+then, to this strange place do these people again resort, to evince
+their further affections for the dead—not in groans and lamentations
+however, for several years have cured the anguish; but fond affections
+and endearments are here renewed, and conversations are here held and
+cherished with the dead.
+
+Each one of these skulls is placed upon a bunch of wild sage, which
+has been pulled and placed under it. The wife knows (by some mark or
+resemblance) the skull of her husband or her child, which lies in this
+group; and there seldom passes a day that she does not visit it, with
+a dish of the best cooked food that her wigwam affords, which she sets
+before the skull at night, and returns for the dish in the morning.
+As soon as it is discovered that the sage on which the skull rests is
+beginning to decay, the woman cuts a fresh bunch, and places the skull
+carefully upon it, removing that which was under it.
+
+Independent of the above-named duties, which draw the women to this
+spot, they visit it from inclination, and linger upon it to hold
+converse and company with the dead. There is scarcely an hour in a
+pleasant day, but more or less of these women may be seen sitting or
+laying by the skull of their child or husband—talking to it in the most
+pleasant and endearing language that they can use (as they were wont
+to do in former days) and seemingly getting an answer back. It is not
+unfrequently the case, that the woman brings her needle-work with her,
+spending the greater part of the day, sitting by the side of the skull
+of her child, chatting incessantly with it, while she is embroidering
+or garnishing a pair of moccasins; and perhaps, overcome with fatigue,
+falls asleep, with her arms encircled around it, forgetting herself for
+hours; after which she gathers up her things and returns to the village.
+
+There is something exceedingly interesting and impressive in these
+scenes, which are so strikingly dissimilar, and yet within a few rods
+of each other; the one is the place where they pour forth the frantic
+anguish of their souls—and afterwards pay their visits to the other, to
+jest and gossip with the dead.
+
+The great variety of shapes and characters exhibited in these groups
+of crania, render them a very interesting study for the craniologist
+and phrenologist; but I apprehend that it would be a matter of great
+difficulty (if not of impossibility) to procure them at this time, for
+the use and benefit of the scientific world.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 13.
+
+                    MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.
+
+
+In several of my former Letters I have given sketches of the village,
+and some few of the customs of these peculiar people; and I have many
+more yet in store; some of which will induce the readers to laugh, and
+others almost dispose them to weep. But at present, I drop them, and
+introduce a few of the wild and gentlemanly Mandans themselves; and
+first, Ha-na-tah-nu-mauh, the wolf chief (+plate+ 49). This man is
+head-chief of the nation, and familiarly known by the name of “Chef
+de Loup,” as the French Traders call him; a haughty, austere, and
+overbearing man, respected and feared by his people rather than loved.
+The tenure by which this man holds his office, is that by which the
+head-chiefs of most of the tribes claim, that of inheritance. It is
+a general, though not an infallible rule amongst the numerous tribes
+of North American Indians, that the office of chief belongs to the
+eldest son of a chief; provided he shews himself, by his conduct, to be
+equally worthy of it as any other in the nation: making it hereditary
+on a very proper condition—in default of which requisites, or others
+which may happen, the office is elective.
+
+The dress of this chief was one of great extravagance, and some beauty;
+manufactured of skins, and a great number of quills of the raven,
+forming his stylish head-dress.
+
+The next and second chief of the tribe, is Mah-to-toh-pa (the four
+bears). This extraordinary man, though second in office is undoubtedly
+the first and most popular man in the nation. Free, generous, elegant
+and gentlemanly in his deportment—handsome, brave and valiant; wearing
+a robe on his back, with the history of his battles emblazoned on it;
+which would fill a book of themselves, if properly translated. This,
+readers, is the most extraordinary man, perhaps, who lives at this day,
+in the atmosphere of Nature’s noblemen; and I shall certainly tell you
+more of him anon.
+
+After him, there are Mah-tahp-ta-ha, he who rushes through the middle
+(+plate+ 50); Seehk-hee-da, the mouse-coloured feather (+plate+ 51);
+San-ja-ka-ko-kah (the deceiving wolf); Mah-to-he-ha (the old bear), and
+others, distinguished as chiefs and warriors—and there are belles also;
+such as Mi-neek-e-sunk-te-ca, the mink (+plate+ 53); and the little
+gray-haired Sha-ko-ka, mint (+plate+ 52); and fifty others, who are
+famous for their conquests, not with the bow or the javelin, but
+with their small black eyes, which shoot out from under their unfledged
+brows, and pierce the boldest, fiercest chieftain to the heart.
+
+[Illustration: 49]
+
+[Illustration: 50 51]
+
+[Illustration: 52 53]
+
+The Mandans are certainly a very interesting and pleasing people in
+their personal appearance and manners; differing in many respects, both
+in looks and customs, from all other tribes which I have seen. They
+are not a warlike people; for they seldom, if ever, carry war into
+their enemies’ country; but when invaded, shew their valour and courage
+to be equal to that of any people on earth. Being a small tribe, and
+unable to contend on the wide prairies with the Sioux and other roaming
+tribes, who are ten times more numerous; they have very judiciously
+located themselves in a permanent village, which is strongly fortified,
+and ensures their preservation. By this means they have advanced
+further in the arts of manufacture; have supplied their lodges more
+abundantly with the comforts, and even luxuries of life, than any
+Indian nation I know of. The consequence of this is, that this tribe
+have taken many steps ahead of other tribes in manners and refinements
+(if I may be allowed to apply the word refinement to Indian life); and
+are therefore familiarly (and correctly) denominated, by the Traders
+and others, who have been amongst them, “the polite and friendly
+Mandans.”
+
+There is certainly great justice in the remark; and so forcibly have
+I been struck with the peculiar ease and elegance of these people,
+together with the diversity of complexions, the various colours of
+their hair and eyes; the singularity of their language, and their
+peculiar and unaccountable customs, that I am fully convinced that
+they have sprung from some other origin than that of the other North
+American tribes, or that they are an amalgam of natives with some
+civilized race.
+
+Here arises a question of very great interest and importance for
+discussion; and, after further familiarity with their character,
+customs, and traditions, if I forget it not, I will eventually give it
+further consideration. Suffice it then, for the present, that their
+_personal appearance_ alone, independent of their modes and customs,
+pronounces them at once, as more or less, than savage.
+
+A stranger in the Mandan village is first struck with the different
+shades of complexion, and various colours of hair which he sees in a
+crowd about him; and is at once almost disposed to exclaim that “these
+are not Indians.”
+
+There are a great many of these people whose complexions appear as
+light as half breeds; and amongst the women particularly, there are
+many whose skins are almost white, with the most pleasing symmetry
+and proportion of features; with hazel, with grey, and with blue
+eyes,—with mildness and sweetness of expression, and excessive modesty
+of demeanour, which render them exceedingly pleasing and beautiful.
+
+Why this diversity of complexion I cannot tell, nor can they
+themselves account for it. Their traditions, so far as I have yet
+learned them, afford us no information of their having had any
+knowledge of white men before the visit of Lewis and Clarke, made to
+their village thirty-three years ago. Since that time there have been
+but very few visits from white men to this place, and surely not enough
+to have changed the complexions and the customs of a nation. And I
+recollect perfectly well that Governor Clarke told me, before I started
+for this place, that I would find the Mandans a strange people and half
+white.
+
+The diversity in the colour of hair is also equally as great as that
+in the complexion; for in a numerous group of these people (and more
+particularly amongst the females, who never take pains to change its
+natural colour, as the men often do), there may be seen every shade and
+colour of hair that can be seen in our own country, with the exception
+of red or auburn, which is not to be found.
+
+And there is yet one more strange and unaccountable peculiarity, which
+can probably be seen nowhere else on earth; nor on any rational grounds
+accounted for,—other than it is a freak or order of Nature, for which
+she has not seen fit to assign a reason. There are very many, of both
+sexes, and of every age, from infancy to manhood and old age, with hair
+of a bright silvery grey; and in some instances almost perfectly white.
+
+This singular and eccentric appearance is much oftener seen among the
+women than it is with the men; for many of the latter who have it,
+seem ashamed of it, and artfully conceal it, by filling their hair
+with glue and black and red earth. The women, on the other hand, seem
+proud of it, and display it often in an almost incredible profusion,
+which spreads over their shoulders and falls as low as the knee. I have
+ascertained, on a careful enquiry, that about one in ten or twelve of
+the whole tribe are what the French call “cheveux gris,” or greyhairs;
+and that this strange and unaccountable phenomenon is not the result of
+disease or habit; but that it is unquestionably a hereditary character
+which runs in families, and indicates no inequality in disposition or
+intellect. And by passing this hair through my hands, as I often have,
+I have found it uniformly to be as coarse and harsh as a horse’s mane;
+differing materially from the hair of other colours, which amongst the
+Mandans, is generally as fine and as soft as silk.
+
+The reader will at once see, by the above facts, that there is enough
+upon the faces and heads of these people to stamp them peculiar,—when
+he meets them in the heart of this almost boundless wilderness,
+presenting such diversities of colour in the complexion and hair; when
+he knows from what he has seen, and what he has read, that all other
+primitive tribes known in America, are dark copper-coloured, with jet
+black hair.
+
+From these few facts alone, the reader will see that I am amongst a
+strange and interesting people, and know how to pardon me, if I lead
+him through a maze of novelty and mysteries to the knowledge of a
+strange, yet kind and hospitable, people, whose fate, like that of all
+their race is sealed;— whose doom is fixed, to live just long enough
+to be imperfectly known, and then to fall before the fell disease or
+sword of civilizing devastation.
+
+The stature of the Mandans is rather below the ordinary size of
+man, with beautiful symmetry of form and proportion, and wonderful
+suppleness and elasticity; they are pleasingly erect and graceful,
+both in their walk and their attitudes; and the hair of the men,
+which generally spreads over their backs, falling down to the hams,
+and sometimes to the ground, is divided into plaits or slabs of two
+inches in width, and filled with a profusion of glue and red earth or
+vermilion, at intervals of an inch or two, which becoming very hard,
+remains in and unchanged from year to year.
+
+This mode of dressing the hair is curious, and gives to the Mandans the
+most singular appearance. The hair of the men is uniformly all laid
+over from the forehead backwards; carefully kept above and resting on
+the ear, and thence falling down over the back, in these flattened
+bunches, and painted red, extending oftentimes quite on to the calf
+of the leg, and sometimes in such profusion as almost to conceal the
+whole figure from the person walking behind them. In the portrait
+of San-ja-ka-ko-kah (the deceiving wolf, +plate+ 54), where he is
+represented at full length, with several others of his family around
+him in a group, there will be seen a fair illustration of these and
+other customs of these people.
+
+The hair of the women is also worn as long as they can possibly
+cultivate it, oiled very often, which preserves on it a beautiful gloss
+and shows its natural colour. They often braid it in two large plaits,
+one falling down just back of the ear, on each side of the head; and
+on any occasion which requires them to “put on their best looks,” they
+pass their fingers through it, drawing it out of braid, and spreading
+it over their shoulders. The Mandan women observe strictly the same
+custom, which I observed amongst the Crows and Blackfeet (and, in fact,
+all other tribes I have seen, without a single exception), of parting
+the hair on the forehead, and always keeping the crease or separation
+filled with vermilion or other red paint. This is one of the very few
+little (and apparently trivial) customs which I have found amongst the
+Indians, without being able to assign any cause for it, other than that
+“they are Indians,” and that this is an Indian fashion.
+
+In mourning, like the Crows and most other tribes the women are obliged
+to crop their hair all off; and the usual term of that condolence is
+until the hair has grown again to its former length.
+
+When a man mourns for the death of a near relation the case is quite
+different; his long, valued tresses, are of much greater importance,
+and only a lock or two can be spared. Just enough to tell of his grief
+to his friends, without destroying his most valued ornament, is doing
+just reverence and respect to the dead.
+
+To repeat what I have said before, the Mandans are a pleasing and
+friendly race of people, of whom it is proverbial amongst the Traders
+and all who ever have known them that their treatment of white men
+in their country has been friendly and kind ever since their first
+acquaintance with them—they have ever met and received them, on the
+prairie or in their villages, with hospitality and honour.
+
+They are handsome, straight and elegant in their forms—not tall,
+but quick and graceful; easy and polite in their manners, neat in
+their persons and beautifully clad. When I say “neat in person and
+beautifully clad,” however, I do not intend my readers to understand
+that such is the case with them all, for among them and most other
+tribes, as with the enlightened world, there are different grades of
+society—those who care but little for their personal appearance, and
+those who take great pains to please themselves and their friends.
+Amongst this class of personages, such as chiefs and braves, or
+warriors of distinction, and their families, and dandies or exquisites
+(a class of beings of whom I shall take due time to speak in a future
+Letter), the strictest regard to decency, and cleanliness and elegance
+of dress is observed; and there are few people, perhaps, who take more
+pains to keep their persons neat and cleanly than they do.
+
+At the distance of half a mile or so above the village, is the
+customary place where the women and girls resort every morning in the
+summer months, to bathe in the river. To this spot they repair by
+hundreds, every morning at sunrise, where, on a beautiful beach, they
+can be seen running and glistening in the sun, whilst they are playing
+their innocent gambols and leaping into the stream. They all learn to
+swim well, and the poorest swimmer amongst them will dash fearlessly
+into the boiling and eddying current of the Missouri, and cross it with
+perfect ease. At the distance of a quarter of a mile back from the
+river, extends a terrace or elevated prairie, running north from the
+village, and forming a kind of semi-circle around this bathing-place;
+and on this terrace, which is some twenty or thirty feet higher than
+the meadow between it and the river, are stationed every morning
+several sentinels, with their bows and arrows in hand, to guard and
+protect this sacred ground from the approach of boys or men from any
+directions.
+
+At a little distance below the village, also, is the place where
+the men and boys go to bathe and learn to swim. After this morning
+ablution, they return to their village, wipe their limbs dry, and use a
+profusion of bear’s grease through their hair and over their bodies.
+
+The art of swimming is known to all the American Indians; and perhaps
+no people on earth have taken more pains to learn it, nor any who turn
+it to better account. There certainly are no people whose avocations
+of life more often call for the use of their limbs in this way; as
+many of the tribes spend their lives on the shores of our vast lakes
+and rivers, paddling about from their childhood in their fragile bark
+canoes, which are liable to continual accidents, which often throw the
+Indian upon his natural resources for the preservation of his life.
+
+There are many times also, when out upon their long marches in the
+prosecution of their almost continued warfare, when it becomes
+necessary to plunge into and swim across the wildest streams and
+rivers, at times when they have no canoes or craft in which to cross
+them. I have as yet seen no tribe where this art is neglected. It is
+learned at a very early age by both sexes, and enables the strong and
+hardy muscles of the squaws to take their child upon the back, and
+successfully to pass any river that lies in their way.
+
+[Illustration: 54]
+
+The mode of swimming amongst the Mandans, as well as amongst most of
+the other tribes, is quite different from that practiced in those parts
+of the civilized world, which I have had the pleasure yet to visit. The
+Indian, instead of parting his hands simultaneously under the chin, and
+making the stroke outward, in a horizontal direction, causing thereby
+a serious strain upon the chest, throws his body alternately upon the
+left and the right side, raising one arm entirely above the water and
+reaching as far forward as he can, to dip it, whilst his whole weight
+and force are spent upon the one that is passing under him, and like a
+paddle propelling him along; whilst this arm is making a half circle,
+and is being raised out of the water behind him, the opposite arm is
+describing a similar arch in the air over his head, to be dipped in the
+water as far as he can reach before him, with the hand turned under,
+forming a sort of bucket, to act most effectively as it passes in its
+turn underneath him.
+
+By this bold and powerful mode of swimming, which may want the grace
+that many would wish to see, I am quite sure, from the experience I
+have had, that much of the fatigue and strain upon the breast and spine
+are avoided, and that a man will preserve his strength and his breath
+much longer in this alternate and rolling motion, than he can in the
+usual mode of swimming, in the polished world.
+
+In addition to the modes of bathing which I have above described,
+the Mandans have another, which is a much greater luxury, and often
+resorted to by the sick, but far more often by the well and sound, as
+a matter of luxury only, or perhaps for the purpose of hardening their
+limbs and preparing them for the thousand exposures and vicissitudes
+of life to which they are continually liable. I allude to their vapour
+baths, or _sudatories_, of which each village has several, and which
+seem to be a kind of public property—accessible to all, and resorted to
+by all, male and female, old and young, sick and well.
+
+In every Mandan lodge is to be seen a crib or basket, much in the shape
+of a bathing-tub, curiously woven with willow boughs, and sufficiently
+large to receive any person of the family in a reclining or recumbent
+posture; which, when any one is to take a bath, is carried by the squaw
+to the sudatory for the purpose, and brought back to the wigwam again
+after it has been used.
+
+These sudatories are always near the village, above or below it, on
+the bank of the river. They are generally built of skins (in form of
+a Crow or Sioux lodge which I have before described), covered with
+buffalo skins sewed tight together, with a kind of furnace in the
+centre; or in other words, in the centre of the lodge are two walls of
+stone about six feet long and two and a half apart, and about three
+feet high; across and over this space, between the two walls, are laid
+a number of round sticks, on which the bathing crib is placed (vide
++plate+ 71). Contiguous to the lodge, and outside of it, is a little
+furnace something similar, in the side of the bank, where the woman
+kindles a hot fire, and heats to a red heat a number of large stones,
+which are kept at these places for this particular purpose; and having
+them all in readiness, she goes home or sends word to inform her
+husband or other one who is waiting, that all is ready; when he makes
+his appearance entirely naked, though with a large buffalo robe wrapped
+around him. He then enters the lodge and places himself in the crib or
+basket, either on his back or in a sitting posture (the latter of which
+is generally preferred), with his back towards the door of the lodge;
+when the squaw brings in a large stone red hot, between two sticks
+(lashed together somewhat in the form of a pair of tongs) and, placing
+it under him, throws cold water upon it, which raises a profusion of
+vapour about him. He is at once enveloped in a cloud of steam, and a
+woman or child will sit at a little distance and continue to dash water
+upon the stone, whilst the matron of the lodge is out, and preparing to
+make her appearance with another heated stone: or he will sit and dip
+from a wooden bowl, with a ladle made of the mountain-sheep’s horn, and
+throw upon the heated stones, with his own hands, the water which he is
+drawing through his lungs and pores, in the next moment, in the most
+delectable and exhilarating vapours, as it distils through the mat of
+wild sage and other medicinal and aromatic herbs, which he has strewed
+over the bottom of his basket, and on which he reclines.
+
+During all this time the lodge is shut perfectly tight, and he quaffs
+this delicious and renovating draught to his lungs with deep drawn
+sighs, and with extended nostrils, until he is drenched in the most
+profuse degree of perspiration that can be produced; when he makes a
+kind of strangled signal, at which the lodge is opened, and he darts
+forth with the speed of a frightened deer, and plunges headlong into
+the river, from which he instantly escapes again, wraps his robe around
+him and “leans” as fast as possible for home. Here his limbs are wiped
+dry, and wrapped close and tight within the fur of the buffalo robes,
+in which he takes his nap, with his feet to the fire; then oils his
+limbs and hair with bear’s grease, dresses and plumes himself for a
+visit—a feast—a parade, or a council; or slicks down his long hair,
+and rubs his oiled limbs to a polish, with a piece of soft buckskin,
+prepared to join in games of bail or Tchung-kee.
+
+Such is the sudatory or the vapour bath of the Mandans, and as I before
+observed, it is resorted to both as an every-day luxury by those who
+have the time and energy or industry to indulge in it; and also used
+by the sick as a remedy for nearly all the diseases which are known
+amongst them. Fevers are very rare, and in fact almost unknown amongst
+these people: but in the few cases of fever which have been known, this
+treatment has been applied, and without the fatal consequences which
+we would naturally predict. The greater part of their diseases are
+inflammatory rheumatisms, and other chronic diseases; and for these,
+this mode of treatment, with their modes of life, does admirably well.
+This custom is similar amongst nearly all of these Missouri Indians,
+and amongst the Pawnees, Omahas, and Punchas and other tribes, who have
+suffered with the small-pox (the dread destroyer of the Indian race),
+this mode was practiced by the poor creatures, who fled by hundreds
+to the river’s edge, and by hundreds died before they could escape
+from the waves, into which they had plunged in the heat and rage of a
+burning fever. Such will yet be the scourge, and such the misery of
+these poor unthinking people, and each tribe to the Rocky Mountains,
+as it has been with every tribe between here and the Atlantic
+Ocean. White men—whiskey—tomahawks—scalping knives—guns, powder and
+ball—small-pox—debauchery—extermination.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER No. 14.
+
+                    MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.
+
+
+The Mandans in many instances dress very neatly, and some of them
+splendidly. As they are in their native state, their dresses are all
+of their own manufacture; and of course, altogether made of skins of
+different animals belonging to those regions. There is, certainly,
+a reigning and striking similarity of costume amongst most of the
+North Western tribes; and I cannot say that the dress of the Mandans
+is decidedly distinct from that of the Crows or the Blackfeet, the
+Assinneboins or the Sioux; yet there are modes of stitching or
+embroidering, in every tribe, which may at once enable the traveller,
+who is familiar with their modes, to detect or distinguish the dress
+of any tribe. These differences consist generally in the fashions of
+constructing the head-dress, or of garnishing their dresses with the
+porcupine quills, which they use in great profusion.
+
+Amongst so many different and distinct nations, always at war with
+each other, and knowing nothing at all of each other’s languages; and
+amongst whom, fashions in dress seldom if ever change; it may seem
+somewhat strange that we should find these people so nearly following,
+or imitating each other, in the forms and modes of their dress and
+ornaments. This must however, be admitted, and I think may be accounted
+for in a manner, without raising the least argument in favour of the
+theory of their having all sprung from one stock or one family; for in
+their continual warfare, when chiefs or warriors fall, their clothes
+and weapons usually fall into the possession of the victors, who wear
+them; and the rest of the tribe would naturally more or less often
+copy from or imitate them; and so also in their repeated councils or
+treaties of peace, such articles of dress and other manufactures are
+customarily exchanged, which are equally adopted by the other tribe;
+and consequently, eventually lead to the similarity which we find
+amongst the modes of dress, &c. of the different tribes.
+
+The tunic or shirt of the Mandan men is very similar in shape to that
+of the Blackfeet—made of two skins of deer or mountain-sheep, strung
+with scalp-locks, beads, and ermine. The leggings, like those of the
+other tribes, of whom I have spoken, are made of deer skins, and shaped
+to fit the leg, embroidered with porcupine quills, and fringed with
+scalps from their enemies heads. Their moccasins are made of buckskin,
+and neatly ornamented with porcupine quills—over their shoulders (or
+in other words, over one shoulder and passing under the other), they
+very gracefully wear a robe from the young buffalo’s back, oftentimes
+cut down to about half its original size, to make it handy and easy
+for use. Many of these are also fringed on one side with scalp-locks;
+and the flesh side of the skin curiously ornamented with pictured
+representations of the creditable events and battles of their lives.
+
+Their head-dresses are of various sorts, and many of them exceedingly
+picturesque and handsome; generally made of war-eagles’ or ravens
+quills and ermine. These are the most costly part of an Indian’s dress
+in all this country, owing to the difficulty of procuring the quills
+and the fur. The war-eagle being the “_rara avis_,” and the ermine the
+rarest animal that is found in the country. The tail of a war-eagle
+in this village, provided it is a perfect one, containing some six or
+eight quills, which are denominated first-rate plumes, and suitable to
+arrange in a head-dress, will purchase a tolerable good horse (horses,
+however, are much cheaper here than they are in most other countries).
+I have had abundant opportunities of learning the great value which
+these people sometimes attach to such articles of dress and ornament,
+as I have been purchasing a great many, which I intend to exhibit in
+my Gallery of Indian Paintings, that the world may examine them for
+themselves, and thereby be enabled to judge of the fidelity of my
+works, and the ingenuity of Indian manufactures.
+
+In these purchases I have often been surprised at the prices demanded
+by them; and perhaps I could not recite a better instance of the kind,
+than one which occurred here a few days since:—One of the chiefs, whom
+I had painted at full length, in a beautiful costume, with head-dress
+of war-eagles’ quills and ermine, extending quite down to his feet;
+and whom I was soliciting for the purchase of his dress complete, was
+willing to sell to me all but the head-dress; saying, that “he could
+not part with that, as he would never be able to get quills and ermine
+of so good a quality to make another like it.” I agreed with him,
+however, for the rest of the dress, and importuned him, from day to
+day, for the head-dress, until he at length replied, that, if I must
+have it, he must have two horses for it; the bargain was instantly
+struck—the horses were procured of the Traders at twenty-five dollars
+each, and the head-dress secured for my Collection.
+
+There is occasionally, a chief or a warrior of so extraordinary renown,
+that he is allowed to wear horns on his head-dress, which give to his
+aspect a strange and majestic effect. These are made of about a third
+part of the horn of a buffalo bull; the horn having been split from end
+to end, and a third part of it taken and shaved thin and light, and
+highly polished. These are attached to the top of the head-dress on
+each side, in the same place that they rise and stand on the head of
+a buffalo; rising out of a mat of ermine skins and tails, which hang
+over the top of the head-dress, somewhat in the form that the large and
+profuse locks of hair hang and fall over the head of a buffalo bull.
+See head-dress in +plates+ 14, 64, and 91, of three different tribes.
+
+The same custom I have found observed amongst the Sioux,—the Crows—the
+Blackfeet and Assinneboins, and it is one of so striking a character
+as needs a few more words of observation. There is a peculiar meaning
+or importance (in their estimation) to this and many other curious and
+unaccountable appearances in the habits of Indians, upon which the
+world generally look as things that are absurd and ridiculous, merely
+because they are beyond the world’s comprehension, or because we do not
+stop to enquire or learn their uses or meaning.
+
+I find that the principal cause why we underrate and despise the
+savage, is generally because we do not understand him; and the reason
+why we are ignorant of him and his modes, is that we do not stop to
+investigate—the world have been too much in the habit of looking
+upon him as altogether inferior—as a beast, a brute; and unworthy
+of more than a passing notice. If they stop long enough to form
+an acquaintance, it is but to take advantage of his ignorance and
+credulities—to rob him of the wealth and resources of his country;—to
+make him drunk with whiskey, and visit him with abuses which in his
+ignorance he never thought of. By this method his first visitors
+entirely overlook and never understand the meaning of his thousand
+interesting and characteristic customs; and at the same time, by
+changing his native modes and habits of life, blot them out from the
+view of the enquiring world for ever.
+
+It is from the observance of a thousand little and apparently trivial
+modes and tricks of Indian life, that the Indian character must be
+learned; and, in fact, it is just the same with us if the subject were
+reversed: excepting that the system of civilized life would furnish
+ten apparently useless and ridiculous trifles to one which is found in
+Indian life; and at least twenty to one which are purely nonsensical
+and unmeaning.
+
+The civilized world look upon a group of Indians, in their classic
+dress, with their few and simple oddities, all of which have their
+moral or meaning, and laugh at them excessively, because they are not
+like ourselves—we ask, “why do the silly creatures wear such great
+bunches of quills on their heads?—Such loads and streaks of paint upon
+their bodies—and bear’s grease? abominable!” and a thousand other
+equally silly questions, without ever stopping to think that Nature
+taught them to do so—and that they all have some definite importance
+or meaning which an Indian could explain to us at once, if he were
+asked and felt disposed to do so—that each quill in his head stood,
+in the eyes of his whole tribe, as the symbol of an enemy who had
+fallen by his hand—that every streak of red paint covered a wound
+which he had got in honourable combat—and that the bear’s grease with
+which he carefully anoints his body every morning, from head to foot,
+cleanses and purifies the body, and protects his skin from the bite of
+mosquitoes, and at the same time preserves him from colds and coughs
+which are usually taken through the pores of the skin.
+
+At the same time, an Indian looks among the civilized world, no doubt,
+with equal, if not much greater, astonishment, at our apparently, as
+well as _really_, ridiculous customs and fashions; but he laughs not,
+nor ridicules, nor questions,—for his natural good sense and good
+manners forbid him,—until he is reclining about the fire-side of his
+wigwam companions, when he vents forth his just criticisms upon the
+learned world, who are a rich and just theme for Indian criticism and
+Indian gossip.
+
+An Indian will not ask a white man the reason why he does not oil his
+skin with bears’ grease, or why he does not paint his body—or why he
+wears a hat on his head, or why he has buttons on the back part of
+his coat, where they never can be used—or why he wears whiskers, and
+a shirt collar up to his eyes—or why he sleeps with his head towards
+the fire instead of his feet—why he walks with his toes out instead of
+turning them in—or why it is that hundreds of white folks will flock
+and crowd round a table to see an Indian eat—but he will go home to his
+wigwam fire-side, and “make the welkin ring” with jokes and fun upon
+the ignorance and folly of the knowing world.
+
+A wild Indian thrown into the civilized atmosphere will see a man
+occasionally moving in society, wearing a cocked hat; and another with
+a laced coat and gold or silver epaulettes upon his shoulders, without
+knowing or enquiring the meaning of them, or the objects for which they
+are worn. Just so a white man travels amongst a wild and untaught tribe
+of Indians, and sees occasionally one of them parading about their
+village, with a head-dress of eagles’ quills and ermine, and elevated
+above it a pair of beautifully polished buffalo horns; and just as
+ignorant is he also, of their meaning or importance; and more so, for
+the first will admit the presumption that epaulettes and cocked hats
+amongst the civilized world, are made for some important purpose,—but
+the latter will presume that horns on an Indian’s head are nothing more
+nor less (nor can they be in their estimation), than Indian nonsense
+and stupidity.
+
+This brings us to the “corned crest” again, and if the poor Indian
+scans epaulettes and cocked hats, without enquiring their meaning,
+and explaining them to his tribe, it is no reason why I should have
+associated with the noble dignitaries of these western regions, with
+horns and ermine on their heads, and then to have introduced the
+subject without giving some further clue to their importance and
+meaning. For me, this negligence would be doubly unpardonable, as I
+travel, not to _trade_ but to _herald_ the Indian and his dying customs
+to posterity.
+
+This custom then, which I have before observed belongs to all the
+north-western tribes, is one no doubt of very ancient origin, having
+a purely classic meaning. No one wears the head-dress surmounted with
+horns except the dignitaries who are very high in authority, and whose
+exceeding valour, worth, and power is admitted by all the nation.
+
+He may wear them, however, who is not a _chief_; but a brave, or
+warrior of such remarkable character, that he is esteemed universally
+in the tribe, as a man whose “voice is as loud in council” as that of a
+chief of the first grade, and consequently his _power_ as great.
+
+This head-dress with horns is used only on certain occasions, and they
+are very seldom. When foreign chiefs, Indian agents, or other important
+personages visit a tribe; or at war parades, at the celebration of
+a victory, at public festivals, &c. they are worn; but on no other
+occasions—unless, sometimes, when a chief sees fit to lead a war-party
+to battle, he decorates his head with this symbol of power, to
+stimulate his men; and throws himself into the foremost of the battle,
+inviting his enemy to concentrate their shafts upon him.
+
+The horns on these head-dresses are but loosely attached at the bottom,
+so that they easily fall back or forward, according as the head is
+inclined forward or backward; and by an ingenious motion of the head,
+which is so slight as to be almost imperceptible—they are made to
+balance to and fro, and sometimes, one backward and the other forward
+like a horse’s ears, giving a vast deal of expression and force of
+character, to the appearance of the chief who is wearing them. This,
+reader, is a remarkable instance (like hundreds of others), for its
+striking similarity to _Jewish customs_, to the kerns (or keren, in
+Hebrew), the horns worn by the Abysinian chiefs and Hebrews, as a
+_symbol of power_ and command; worn at great parades and celebrations
+of victories.
+
+“The false prophet Zedekiah, made him horns of iron” (1 Kings xxii.
+11). “Lift not your horns on high; speak not with a stiff neck” (Ps.
+lxxv. 5).
+
+This last citation seems so exactly to convey to my mind the mode of
+raising and changing the position of the horns by a motion of the head,
+as I have above described, that I am irresistibly led to believe that
+this custom is now practiced amongst these tribes very nearly as it
+was amongst the Jews; and that it has been, like many other customs of
+which I shall speak more in future epistles, handed down and preserved
+with very little innovation or change from that ancient people.
+
+The reader will see this custom exemplified in the portrait of
+Mah-to-toh-pa (+plate+ 64). This man, although the second chief, was
+the only man in the nation who was allowed to wear the horns; and
+all, I found, looked upon him as the leader, who had the power to
+lead all the warriors in time of war; and that, in consequence of the
+extraordinary battles which he had fought.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 15.
+
+                    MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.
+
+
+A week or more has elapsed since the date of my last Letter, and
+nothing as yet of the great and curious event—or the _Mandan religious
+ceremony_. There is evidently much preparation making for it,
+however; and from what I can learn, no one in the nation, save the
+_medicine-men_, have any knowledge of the exact day on which it is to
+commence. I am informed by the chiefs, that it takes place as soon as
+the willow-tree is in full leaf; for, say they, “the twig which the
+bird brought in was a willow bough, and had full-grown leaves on it.”
+So it seems that this celebration has some relation to the Flood.
+
+This great occasion is close at hand, and will, undoubtedly, commence
+in a few days; in the meantime I will give a few notes and memorandums,
+which I have made since my last.
+
+I have been continually at work with my brush, with fine and
+picturesque subjects before me; and from the strange, whimsical,
+and superstitious notions which they have of an art so novel and
+unaccountable to them, I have been initiated into many of their
+mysteries—have witnessed many very curious incidents, and preserved
+several anecdotes, some of which I must relate.
+
+Perhaps nothing ever more completely astonished these people than the
+operations of my _brush_. The art of portrait-painting was a subject
+entirely new to them, and of course, unthought of; and my appearance
+here has commenced a new era in the arcana of _medicine_ or mystery.
+Soon after arriving here, I commenced and finished the portraits of
+the two principal chiefs. This was done without having awakened the
+curiosity of the villagers, as they had heard nothing of what was going
+on, and even the chiefs themselves seemed to be ignorant of my designs,
+until the pictures were completed. No one else was admitted into my
+lodge during the operation; and when finished, it was exceedingly
+amusing to see them mutually recognizing each other’s likeness, and
+assuring each other of the striking resemblance which they bore to the
+originals. Both of these pressed their hand over their mouths awhile
+in dead silence (a custom amongst most tribes, when anything surprises
+them very much); looking attentively upon the portraits and myself, and
+upon the palette and colours with which these unaccountable effects had
+been produced.
+
+They then walked up to me in the most gentle manner, taking me in
+turn by the hand, with a firm grip; with head and eyes inclined
+downwards, and in a tone a little above a whisper—pronounced the words
+“te-ho-pe-nee Wash-ee!” and walked off.
+
+Readers, at that moment I was christened with a new and a great
+name—one by which I am now familiarly hailed, and talked of in this
+village; and no doubt will be, as long as traditions last in this
+strange community.
+
+That moment conferred an honour on me, which you as yet do not
+understand. I took the degree (not of Doctor of Laws, nor Bachelor of
+Arts) of Master of Arts—of mysteries—of magic, and of hocus pocus.
+I was recognized in that short sentence as a “great _medicine white
+man_;” and since that time, have been regularly installed _medicine_ or
+mystery, which is the most honourable degree that could be conferred
+upon me here; and I now hold a place amongst the most eminent and
+envied personages, the doctors and conjurati of this titled community.
+
+Te-ho-pe-nee Wash-ee (or medicine white man) is the name I now go by,
+and it will prove to me, no doubt, of more value than gold, for I have
+been called upon and feasted by the doctors, who are all mystery-men;
+and it has been an easy and successful passport already to many strange
+and mysterious places; and has put me in possession of a vast deal of
+curious and interesting information, which I am sure I never should
+have otherwise learned. I am daily growing in the estimation of the
+medicine-men and the chiefs; and by assuming all the gravity and
+circumspection due from so high a dignitary (and even considerably
+more); and endeavouring to perform now and then some art or trick that
+is unfathomable, I am in hopes of supporting my standing, until the
+great annual ceremony commences; on which occasion, I may possibly be
+allowed a seat in the _medicine-lodge_ by the doctors, who are the sole
+conductors of this great source and fountain of all priestcraft and
+conjuration in this country.
+
+After I had finished the portraits of the two chiefs, and they had
+returned to their wigwams, and deliberately seated themselves by their
+respective fire-sides, and silently smoked a pipe or two (according
+to an universal custom), they gradually began to tell what had taken
+place; and at length crowds of gaping listeners, with mouths wide open,
+thronged their lodges; and a throng of women and girls were about my
+house, and through every crack and crevice I could see their glistening
+eyes, which were piercing my hut in a hundred places, from a natural
+and restless propensity, a curiosity to see what was going on within.
+An hour or more passed in this way, and the soft and silken throng
+continually increased, until some hundreds of them were clung, and
+piled about my wigwam like a swarm of bees hanging on the front and
+sides of their hive.
+
+During this time, not a man made his appearance about the
+premises—after awhile, however, they could be seen, folded in their
+robes, gradually _siding_ up towards the lodge, with a silly look upon
+their faces, which confessed at once that curiosity was leading them
+reluctantly, where their pride checked and forbade them to go. The
+rush soon after became general, and the chiefs and medicine-men took
+possession of my room, placing _soldiers_ (braves with spears in their
+hands) at the door, admitting no one, but such as were allowed by the
+chiefs, to come in.
+
+Monsr. Kipp (the agent of the Fur Company, who has lived here eight
+years, and to whom, for his politeness and hospitality, I am much
+indebted), at this time took a seat with the chiefs, and, speaking
+their language fluently, he explained to them my views and the objects
+for which I was painting these portraits; and also expounded to them
+the manner in which they were made,—at which they seemed all to be very
+much pleased. The necessity at this time of exposing the portraits to
+the view of the crowds who were assembled around the house, became
+imperative, and they were held up together over the door, so that
+the whole village had a chance to see and recognize their chiefs.
+The effect upon so mixed a multitude, who as yet had heard no way of
+accounting for them, was novel and really laughable. The likenesses
+were instantly recognized, and many of the gaping multitude commenced
+yelping; some were stamping off in the jarring dance—others were
+singing, and others again were crying—hundreds covered their mouths
+with their hands and were mute; others, indignant, drove their spears
+frightfully into the ground, and some threw a reddened arrow at the
+sun, and went home to their wigwams.
+
+The pictures seen,—the next curiosity was to see the man who made them,
+and I was called forth. Readers! if you have any imagination, save me
+the trouble of painting this scene.    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
+*    *    I stepped forth, and was instantly hemmed in in the throng.
+Women were gaping and gazing—and warriors and braves were offering me
+their hands,—whilst little boys and girls, by dozens, were struggling
+through the crowd to touch me with the ends of their fingers; and
+whilst I was engaged, from the waist upwards, in fending off the throng
+and shaking hands, my legs were assailed (not unlike the nibbling of
+little fish, when I have been standing in deep water) by children, who
+were creeping between the legs of the bystanders for the curiosity or
+honour of touching me with the end of their finger. The eager curiosity
+and expression of astonishment with which they gazed upon me, plainly
+shewed that they looked upon me as some strange and unaccountable
+being. They pronounced me the greatest _medicine-man_ in the world;
+for they said I had made _living beings_,—they said they could see
+their chiefs alive, in two places—those that I had made were a _little_
+alive—they could see their eyes move—could see them smile and laugh,
+and that if they could laugh they could certainly speak, if they should
+try, and they must therefore have _some life_ in them.
+
+The squaws generally agreed, that they had discovered life enough in
+them to render my _medicine_ too great for the Mandans; saying that
+such an operation could not be performed without taking away from the
+original something of his existence, which I put in the picture, and
+they could see it move, could see it stir.
+
+This curtailing of the natural existence, for the purpose of
+instilling life into the secondary one, they decided to be an useless
+and destructive operation, and one which was calculated to do great
+mischief in their happy community; and they commenced a mournful and
+doleful chaunt against me, crying and weeping bitterly through the
+village, proclaiming me a most “dangerous man; one who could make
+living persons by looking at them; and at the same time, could, as
+a matter of course, destroy life in the same way, if I chose. That
+my medicine was dangerous to their lives, and that I must leave the
+village immediately. That bad luck would happen to those whom I
+painted—that I was to take a part of the existence of those whom I
+painted, and carry it home with me amongst the white people, and that
+when they died they would never sleep quiet in their graves.”
+
+In this way the women and some old quack medicine-men together,
+had succeeded in raising an opposition against me; and the reasons
+they assigned were so plausible and so exactly suited for their
+superstitious feelings, that they completely succeeded in exciting
+fears and a general panic in the minds of a number of chiefs who had
+agreed to sit for their portraits, and my operations were, of course,
+for several days completely at a stand. A grave council was held on
+the subject from day to day, and there seemed great difficulty in
+deciding what was to be done with me and the dangerous art which I was
+practicing; and which had far exceeded their original expectations.
+I finally got admittance to their sacred conclave, and assured them
+that I was but a man like themselves,—that my art had no _medicine_ or
+mystery about it, but could be learned by any of them if they would
+practice it as long as I had—that my intentions towards them were of
+the most friendly kind, and that in the country where I lived, brave
+men never allowed their squaws to frighten them with their foolish
+whims and stories. They all immediately arose, shook me by the hand,
+and dressed themselves for their pictures. After this, there was no
+further difficulty about sitting; all were ready to be painted,—the
+squaws were silent, and my painting-room a continual resort for the
+chiefs, and braves, and medicine-men; where they waited with impatience
+for the completion of each one’s picture,—that they could decide as to
+the likeness as it came from under the brush; that they could laugh,
+and yell, and sing a new song, and smoke a fresh pipe to the health and
+success of him who had just been safely delivered from the hands and
+the mystic operation of the “_white medicine_.”
+
+In each of these operations, as they successfully took place, I
+observed that a pipe or two were well filled, and as soon as I
+commenced painting, the chiefs and braves, who sat around the sides
+of the lodge, commenced smoking for the success of the picture (and
+probably as much or more so for the safe deliverance of the sitter from
+harm while under the operation); and so they continued to pass the
+pipe around until the portrait was completed.
+
+In this way I progressed with my portraits, stopping occasionally
+very suddenly as if something was wrong, and taking a tremendous puff
+or two at the pipe, and streaming the smoke through my nostrils,
+exhibiting in my looks and actions an evident relief; enabling me to
+proceed with more facility and success,—by flattering and complimenting
+each one on his good looks after I had got it done, and taking them
+according to rank, or standing, making it a matter of honour with them,
+which pleased them exceedingly, and gave me and my art the stamp of
+respectability at once.
+
+I was then taken by the arm by the chiefs, and led to their lodges,
+where feasts were prepared for me in elegant style, _i. e._ in the
+best manner which this country affords; and being led by the arm, and
+welcomed to them by _gentlemen_ of high and exalted feelings, rendered
+them in my estimation truly elegant.
+
+I was waited upon in due form and ceremony by the _medicine-men_, who
+received me upon the old adage, “Similis simili gaudet.” I was invited
+to a feast, and they presented me a _she-shee-quoi_, or a doctor’s
+rattle, and also a magical wand, or a doctor’s staff, strung with
+claws of the grizzly bear, with hoofs of the antelope—with ermine—with
+wild sage and bat’s wings—and perfumed withal with the _choice_ and
+_savoury_ odour of the pole-cat—a dog was sacrificed and hung by
+the legs over my wigwam, and I was therefore and thereby initiated
+into (and countenanced in the practice of) the arcana of medicine
+or mystery, and considered a Fellow of the Extraordinary Society of
+_Conjurati_.
+
+Since this signal success and good fortune in my operations, things
+have gone on very pleasantly, and I have had a great deal of amusement.
+Some altercation has taken place, however, amongst the chiefs and
+braves, with regard to standing or rank, of which they are exceedingly
+jealous; and they must sit (if at all) in regular order, according to
+that rank; the trouble is all settled at last, however, and I have had
+no want of subjects, though a great many have become again alarmed,
+and are unwilling to sit, for fear, as some say, that they will die
+prematurely if painted; and as others say, that if they are painted,
+the picture will live after they are dead, and they cannot sleep quiet
+in their graves.
+
+I have had several most remarkable occurrences in my painting-room, of
+this kind, which have made me some everlasting enemies here; though
+the minds and feelings of the chiefs and medicine-men have not been
+affected by them. There has been three or four instances where proud
+and aspiring young men have been in my lodge, and after gazing at the
+portraits of the head chief across the room (which sits looking them
+in the eyes), have raised their hands before their faces and walked
+around to the side of the lodge, on the right or left, from whence to
+take a long and fair side-look at the chief, instead of staring him
+full in the face (which is a most unpardonable offence in all Indian
+tribes); and after having got in that position, and cast their eyes
+again upon the portrait which was yet looking them full in the face,
+have thrown their robes over their heads and bolted out of the wigwam,
+filled equally with astonishment and indignation; averring, as they
+always will in a sullen mood, that they “saw the eyes move,”—that as
+they walked around the room “the eyes of the portrait followed them.”
+With these unfortunate gentlemen, repeated efforts have been made by
+the Traders, and also by the chiefs and doctors, who understand the
+illusion, to convince them of their error, by explaining the mystery;
+but they will not hear to any explanation whatever; saying, that “what
+they see with their eyes is always evidence enough for them;” that they
+always “believe their own eyes sooner than a hundred tongues,” and all
+efforts to get them a second time to my room, or into my company in any
+place, have proved entirely unsuccessful.
+
+I had trouble brewing also the other day from another source; one of
+the “_medicines_” commenced howling and haranguing around my domicil,
+amongst the throng that was outside, proclaiming that all who were
+inside and being painted were fools and would soon die; and very
+materially affecting thereby my popularity. I however sent for him
+and called him in the next morning, when I was alone, having only the
+interpreter with me; telling him that I had had my eye upon him for
+several days, and had been so well pleased with his looks, that I had
+taken great pains to find out his history, which had been explained by
+all as one of a most extraordinary kind, and his character and standing
+in his tribe as worthy of my particular notice; and that I had several
+days since resolved that as soon as I had practiced my hand long enough
+upon the others, to get the stiffness out of it (after paddling my
+canoe so far as I had) and make it to work easily and successfully,
+I would begin on his portrait, which I was then prepared to commence
+on that day, and that I felt as if I could do him justice. He shook
+me by the hand, giving me the “Doctor’s grip,” and beckoned me to sit
+down, which I did, and we smoked a pipe together. After this was over,
+he told me, that “he had no inimical feelings towards me, although he
+had been telling the chiefs that they were all fools, and all would
+die who had their portraits painted—that although he had set the old
+women and children all crying, and even made some of the young warriors
+tremble, yet he had no unfriendly feelings towards me, nor any fear
+or dread of my art.” “I know you are a good man (said he), I know you
+will do no harm to any one, your medicine is great and you are a great
+‘medicine-man.’ I would like to see myself very well—and so would all
+of the chiefs; but they have all been many days in this medicine-house,
+and they all know me well, and they have not asked me to come in and be
+_made alive_ with paints—my friend, I am glad that my people have told
+you who I am—my heart is glad—I will go to my wigwam and eat, and in
+a little while I will come, and you may go to work;”—another pipe was
+lit and smoked, and he got up and went off. I prepared my canvass and
+palette, and whistled away the time until twelve o’clock, before he
+made his appearance; having used the whole of the fore-part of the day
+at his toilette, arranging his dress and ornamenting his body for his
+picture.
+
+[Illustration: 55]
+
+At that hour then, bedaubed and streaked with paints of various
+colours, with bear’s grease and charcoal, with medicine-pipes in his
+hands and foxes tails attached to his heels, entered Mah-to-he-ha (the
+old bear, +plate+ 55), with a train of his own profession, who seated
+themselves around him; and also a number of boys, whom it was requested
+should remain with him, and whom I supposed it possible might have been
+pupils, whom he was instructing in the mysteries of _materia medica_
+and _hoca poca_. He took his position in the middle of the room, waving
+his eagle calumets in each hand, and singing his medicine-song which
+he sings over his dying patient, looking me full in the face until I
+completed his picture, which I painted at full length. His vanity has
+been completely gratified in the operation; he lies for hours together,
+day after day, in my room, in front of his picture, gazing intensely
+upon it; lights my pipe for me while I am painting—shakes hands with
+me a dozen times on each day, and talks of me, and enlarges upon my
+_medicine_ virtues and my talents, wherever he goes; so that this new
+difficulty is now removed, and instead of preaching against me, he
+is one of my strongest and most enthusiastic friends and aids in the
+country.
+
+There is yet to be described another sort of personage, that is often
+seen stalking about in all Indian communities, a kind of nondescript,
+with whom I have been somewhat annoyed, and still more amused, since I
+came to this village, of whom (or of _which_) I shall give some account
+in my next epistle.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 16.
+
+                    MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.
+
+
+Besides chiefs, and braves and doctors, of whom I have heretofore
+spoken, there is yet another character of whom I must say a few words
+before I proceed to other topics. The person I allude to, is the one
+mentioned at the close of my last Letter, and familiarly known and
+countenanced in every tribe as an Indian _beau_ or _dandy_. Such
+personages may be seen on every pleasant day, strutting and parading
+around the village in the most beautiful and unsoiled dresses, without
+the honourable trophies however of scalp locks and claws of the grizzly
+bear, attached to their costume, for with such things they deal not.
+They are not peculiarly anxious to hazard their lives in equal and
+honourable combat with the one, or disposed to cross the path of the
+other; but generally remain about the village, to take care of the
+women, and attire themselves in the skins of such animals as they can
+easily kill, without seeking the rugged cliffs for the war-eagle,
+or visiting the haunts of the grizzly bear. They plume themselves
+with swan’s-down and quills of ducks, with braids and plaits of
+sweet-scented grass and other harmless and unmeaning ornaments, which
+have no other merit than they themselves have, that of looking pretty
+and ornamental.
+
+These clean and elegant gentlemen, who are very few in each tribe, are
+held in very little estimation by the chiefs and braves; inasmuch as it
+is known by all, that they have a most horrible aversion to arms, and
+are denominated “faint hearts” or “old women” by the whole tribe, and
+are therefore but little respected. They seem, however, to be tolerably
+well contented with the appellation, together with the celebrity
+they have acquired amongst the women and children for the beauty and
+elegance of their personal appearance; and most of them seem to take
+and enjoy their share of the world’s pleasures, although they are
+looked upon as drones in society.
+
+These gay and tinselled bucks may be seen in a pleasant day in all
+their plumes, astride of their pied or dappled ponies, with a fan in
+the right hand, made of a turkey’s tail—with whip and a fly-brush
+attached to the wrist of the same hand, and underneath them a white and
+beautiful and soft pleasure-saddle, ornamented with porcupine quills
+and ermine, parading through and lounging about the village for an hour
+or so, when they will cautiously bend their course to the suburbs of
+the town, where they will sit or recline upon their horses for an hour
+or two, overlooking the beautiful games where the braves and the young
+aspirants are contending in manly and athletic amusements;—when they
+are fatigued with this severe effort, they wend their way back again,
+lift off their fine white saddle of doe’s-skin, which is wadded with
+buffalo’s hair, turn out their pony—take a little refreshment, smoke a
+pipe, fan themselves to sleep, and doze away the rest of the day.
+
+Whilst I have been painting, from day to day, there have been two or
+three of these fops continually strutting and taking their attitudes
+in front of my door; decked out in all their finery, without receiving
+other benefit or other information, than such as they could discover
+through the cracks and seams of my cabin. The chiefs, I observed,
+passed them by without notice, and of course, without inviting them
+in; and they seemed to figure about my door from day to day in their
+best dresses and best attitudes, as if in hopes that I would select
+them as models, for my canvass. It was natural that I should do so,
+for their costume and personal appearance was entirely more beautiful
+than anything else to be seen in the village. My plans were laid,
+and one day when I had got through with all of the head men, who
+were willing to sit to be painted, and there were two or three of
+the chiefs lounging in my room, I stepped to the door and tapped one
+of these fellows on the shoulder, who took the hint, and stepped in,
+well-pleased and delighted with the signal and honourable notice I had
+at length taken of him and his beautiful dress. Readers, you cannot
+imagine what was the expression of gratitude which beamed forth in
+this poor fellow’s face, and how high his heart beat with joy and
+pride at the idea of my selecting him to be immortal, alongside of the
+chiefs and worthies whose portraits he saw arranged around the room;
+and by which honour he, undoubtedly, considered himself well paid for
+two or three weeks of regular painting, and greasing, and dressing,
+and standing alternately on one leg and the other at the door of my
+premises.
+
+Well, I placed him before me, and a canvass on my easel, and “chalked
+him out” at full length. He was truly a beautiful subject for the
+brush, and I was filled with enthusiasm—his dress from head to foot was
+of the skins of the mountain-goat, and dressed so neatly, that they
+were almost as soft and as white as Canton crape—around the bottom and
+the sides it was trimmed with ermine, and porcupine quills of beautiful
+dyes garnished it in a hundred parts;—his hair which was long, and
+spread over his back and shoulders, extending nearly to the ground, was
+all combed back and parted on his forehead like that of a woman. He
+was a tall and fine figure, with ease and grace in his movements, that
+were well worthy of a man of better caste. In his left hand he held a
+beautiful pipe—and in his right hand he plied his fan, and on his wrist
+was still attached his whip of elk’s horn, and his fly-brush, made of
+the buffalo’s tail. There was nought about him of the terrible, and
+nought to shock the finest, chastest intellect.
+
+I had thus far progressed, with high-wrought feelings of pleasure,
+when the two or three chiefs, who had been seated around the lodge,
+and whose portraits I had before painted, arose suddenly, and wrapping
+themselves tightly in their robes, crossed my room with a quick and
+heavy step, and took an informal leave of my cabin. I was apprehensive
+of their displeasure, though I continued my work; and in a few moments
+the interpreter came furiously into my room, addressing me thus:—“My
+God, Sir! this never will do; you have given great offence to the
+chiefs—they have made complaint of your conduct to me—they tell me
+this is a worthless fellow—a man of no account in the nation, and if
+you paint his picture, you must instantly destroy theirs; you have no
+alternative, my dear Sir—and the quicker this chap is out of your lodge
+the better.”
+
+The same matter was explained to my sitter by the interpreter, when
+he picked up his robe, wrapped himself in it, plied his fan nimbly
+about his face, and walked out of the lodge in silence, but with quite
+a consequential smile, taking his old position in front of the door
+for awhile, after which he drew himself quietly off without further
+exhibition. So highly do Mandan braves and worthies value the honour
+of being painted; and so little do they value a man, however lavishly
+Nature may have bestowed her master touches upon him, who has not the
+pride and noble bearing of a warrior.
+
+I spoke in a former Letter of Mah-to-toh-pa (the four bears), the
+second chief of the nation, and the most popular man of the Mandans—a
+high-minded and gallant warrior, as well as a polite and polished
+gentleman. Since I painted his portrait, as I before described, I
+have received at his hands many marked and signal attentions; some
+of which I must name to you, as the very relation of them will put
+you in possession of many little forms and modes of Indian life, that
+otherwise might not have been noted.
+
+About a week since, this noble fellow stepped into my painting-room
+about twelve o’clock in the day, in full and splendid dress, and
+passing his arm through mine, pointed the way, and led me in the most
+gentlemanly manner, through the village and into his own lodge, where
+a feast was prepared in a careful manner and waiting our arrival. The
+lodge in which he dwelt was a room of immense size, some forty or fifty
+feet in diameter, in a circular form, and about twenty feet high—with a
+sunken curb of stone in the centre, of five or six feet in diameter and
+one foot deep, which contained the fire over which the pot was boiling.
+I was led near the edge of this curb, and seated on a very handsome
+robe, most ingeniously garnished and painted with hieroglyphics; and he
+seated himself gracefully on another one at a little distance from me;
+with the feast prepared in several dishes, resting on a beautiful rush
+mat, which was placed between us (+plate+ 62).
+
+The simple feast which was spread before us consisted of three dishes
+only, two of which were served in wooden bowls, and the third in
+an earthen vessel of their own manufacture, somewhat in shape of a
+bread-tray in our own country. This last contained a quantity of
+_pem-i-can_ and _marrow-fat_; and one of the former held a fine
+brace of buffalo ribs, delightfully roasted; and the other was filled
+with a kind of paste or pudding, made of the flour of the “_pomme
+blanche_,” as the French call it, a delicious turnip of the prairie,
+finely flavoured with the buffalo berries, which are collected in great
+quantities in this country, and used with divers dishes in cooking,
+as we in civilized countries use dried currants, which they very much
+resemble.
+
+[Illustration: 62]
+
+A handsome pipe and a tobacco-pouch made of the otter skin, filled with
+k’nick-k’neck (Indian tobacco), laid by the side of the feast; and when
+we were seated, mine host took up his pipe, and deliberately filled
+it; and instead of lighting it by the fire, which he could easily have
+done, he drew from his pouch his flint and steel, and raised a spark
+with which he kindled it. He drew a few strong whiffs through it, and
+presented the stem of it to my mouth, through which I drew a whiff or
+two while he held the stem in his hands. This done, he laid down the
+pipe, and drawing his knife from his belt, cut off a very small piece
+of the meat from the ribs, and pronouncing the words “Ho-pe-ne-chee
+wa-pa-shee” (meaning a _medicine_ sacrifice), threw it into the fire.
+
+He then (by signals) requested me to eat, and I commenced, after
+drawing out from my belt my knife (which it is supposed that every man
+in this country carries about him, for at an Indian feast a knife is
+never offered to a guest). Reader, be not astonished that I sat and ate
+my dinner _alone_, for such is the custom of this strange land. In all
+tribes in these western regions it is an invariable rule that a chief
+never eats with his guests invited to a feast; but while they eat, he
+sits by, at their service, and ready to wait upon them; deliberately
+charging and lighting the pipe which is to be passed around after the
+feast is over. Such was the case in the present instance, and while
+I was eating, Mah-to-toh-pa sat cross-legged before me, cleaning his
+pipe and preparing it for a cheerful smoke when I had finished my meal.
+For this ceremony I observed he was making unusual preparation, and I
+observed as I ate, that after he had taken enough of the k’nick-k’neck
+or bark of the red willow, from his pouch, he rolled out of it also a
+piece of the “_castor_,” which it is customary amongst these folks to
+carry in their tobacco-sack to give it a flavour; and, shaving off a
+small quantity of it, mixed it with the bark, with which he charged his
+pipe. This done, he drew also from his sack a small parcel containing a
+fine powder, which was made of dried buffalo dung, a little of which he
+spread over the top, (according also to custom,) which was like tinder,
+having no other effect than that of lighting the pipe with ease and
+satisfaction. My appetite satiated, I straightened up, and with a whiff
+the pipe was lit, and we enjoyed together for a quarter of an hour the
+most delightful exchange of good feelings, amid clouds of smoke and
+pantomimic signs and gesticulations.
+
+The dish of “pemican and marrow-fat,” of which I spoke, was thus:—The
+first, an article of food used throughout this country, as familiarly
+as we use bread in the civilized world. It is made of buffalo meat
+dried very hard, and afterwards pounded in a large wooden mortar until
+it is made nearly as fine as sawdust, then packed in this dry state in
+bladders or sacks of skin, and is easily carried to any part of the
+world in good order. “Marrow-fat” is collected by the Indians from
+the buffalo bones which they break to pieces, yielding a prodigious
+quantity of marrow, which is boiled out and put into buffalo bladders
+which have been distended; and after it cools, becomes quite hard like
+tallow, and has the appearance, and very nearly the flavour, of the
+richest yellow butter. At a feast, chunks of this marrow-fat are cut
+off and placed in a tray or bowl, with the pemican, and eaten together;
+which we civilized folks in these regions consider a very good
+substitute for (and indeed we generally so denominate it) “bread and
+butter.” In this dish laid a spoon made of the buffalo’s horn, which
+was black as jet, and beautifully polished; in one of the others there
+was another of still more ingenious and beautiful workmanship, made of
+the horn of the mountain-sheep, or “Gros corn,” as the French trappers
+call them; it was large enough to hold of itself two or three pints,
+and was almost entirely transparent.
+
+I spoke also of the earthen dishes or bowls in which these viands were
+served out; they are a familiar part of the culinary furniture of
+every Mandan lodge, and are manufactured by the women of this tribe
+in great quantities, and modelled into a thousand forms and tastes.
+They are made by the hands of the women, from a tough black clay, and
+baked in kilns which are made for the purpose, and are nearly equal in
+hardness to our own manufacture of pottery; though they have not yet
+got the art of glazing, which would be to them a most valuable secret.
+They make them so strong and serviceable, however, that they hang them
+over the fire as we do our iron pots, and boil their meat in them with
+perfect success. I have seen some few specimens of such manufacture,
+which have been dug up in Indian mounds and tombs in the southern and
+middle states, placed in our Eastern Museums and looked upon as a great
+wonder, when here this novelty is at once done away with, and the whole
+mystery; where women can be seen handling and using them by hundreds,
+and they can be seen every day in the summer also, moulding them into
+many fanciful forms, and passing them through the kiln where they are
+hardened.
+
+Whilst sitting at this feast the wigwam was as silent as death,
+although we were not alone in it. This chief, like most others, had a
+plurality of wives, and all of them (some six or seven) were seated
+around the sides of the lodge, upon robes or mats placed upon the
+ground, and not allowed to speak, though they were in readiness to obey
+his orders or commands, which were uniformly given by signs manual, and
+executed in the neatest and most silent manner.
+
+When I arose to return, the pipe through which we had smoked was
+presented to me; and the robe on which I had sat, he gracefully raised
+by the corners and tendered it to me, explaining by signs that the
+paintings which were on it were the representations of the battles of
+his life, where he had fought and killed with his own hand fourteen
+of his enemies; that he had been two weeks engaged in painting it for
+me, and that he had invited me here on this occasion to present it to
+me. The robe, readers, which I shall describe in a future epistle, I
+took upon my shoulder, and he took me by the arm and led me back to my
+painting-room.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 17.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+I mentioned in the foregoing epistle, that the chiefs of the Mandans
+frequently have a plurality of wives. Such is the custom amongst all of
+these North Western tribes, and a few general remarks on this subject
+will apply to them all, and save the trouble of repeating them.
+
+Polygamy is countenanced amongst all of the North American Indians, so
+far as I have visited them; and it is no uncommon thing to find a chief
+with six, eight, or ten, and some with twelve or fourteen wives in his
+lodge. Such is an ancient custom, and in their estimation is right as
+well as necessary. Women in a savage state, I believe, are always held
+in a rank inferior to that of the men, in relation to whom in many
+respects they stand rather in the light of menials and slaves than
+otherwise; and as they are the “hewers of wood and drawers of water,”
+it becomes a matter of necessity for a chief (who must be liberal,
+keep open doors, and entertain, for the support of his popularity) to
+have in his wigwam a sufficient number of such handmaids or menials to
+perform the numerous duties and drudgeries of so large and expensive an
+establishment.
+
+There are two other reasons for this custom which operate with
+equal, if not with greater force than the one above assigned. In the
+first place, these people, though far behind the civilized world in
+acquisitiveness, have still more or less passion for the accumulation
+of wealth, or, in other words, for the luxuries of life; and a
+chief, excited by a desire of this kind, together with a wish to be
+able to furnish his lodge with something more than ordinary for the
+entertainment of his own people, as well as strangers who fall upon his
+hospitality, sees fit to marry a number of wives, who are kept at hard
+labour during most of the year; and the avails of that labour enable
+him to procure those luxuries, and give to his lodge the appearance
+of respectability which is not ordinarily seen. Amongst those tribes
+who trade with the Fur Companies, this system is carried out to a
+great extent, and the women are kept for the greater part of the
+year, dressing buffalo robes and other skins for the market; and the
+brave or chief, who has the greatest number of wives, is considered
+the most affluent and envied man in the tribe; for his table is most
+bountifully supplied, and his lodge the most abundantly furnished with
+the luxuries of civilized manufacture, who has at the year’s end the
+greatest number of robes to vend to the Fur Company.
+
+The manual labour amongst savages is all done by the women; and as
+there are no daily labourers or persons who will “_hire out_” to labour
+for another, it becomes necessary for him who requires more than the
+labour or services of one, to add to the number by legalizing and
+compromising by the ceremony of marriage, his stock of labourers; who
+can thus, and thus alone, be easily enslaved, and the results of their
+labour turned to good account.
+
+There is yet the other inducement, which probably is more effective
+than either; the natural inclination which belongs to man, who
+stands high in the estimation of his people and wields the sceptre
+of power—surrounded by temptations which he considers it would be
+unnatural to resist, where no law or regulation of society stands
+in the way of his enjoyment. Such a custom amongst savage nations
+can easily be excused too, and we are bound to excuse it, when
+we behold man in a state of nature, as he was made, following a
+natural inclination, which is sanctioned by ancient custom and by
+their religion, without a law or regulation of their society to
+discountenance it; and when, at the same time, such an accumulation of
+a man’s household, instead of quadrupling his expenses (as would be
+the case in the civilized world), actually becomes his wealth, as the
+results of their labour abundantly secure to him all the necessaries
+and luxuries of life.
+
+There are other and very rational grounds on which the propriety
+of such a custom may be urged, one of which is as follows:—as all
+nations of Indians in their natural condition are unceasingly at war
+with the tribes that are about them, for the adjustment of ancient
+and never-ending feuds, as well as from a love of glory, to which in
+Indian life the battle-field is almost the only road, their warriors
+are killed off to that extent, that in many instances two and sometimes
+three women to a man are found in a tribe. In such instances I have
+found that the custom of polygamy has kindly helped the community to an
+evident relief from a cruel and prodigious calamity.
+
+The instances of which I have above spoken, are generally confined to
+the chiefs and medicine-men; though there is no regulation prohibiting
+a poor or obscure individual from marrying several wives, other than
+the personal difficulties which lie between him and the hand which he
+wishes in vain to get, for want of sufficient celebrity in society, or
+from a still more frequent objection, that of his inability (from want
+of worldly goods) to deal in the customary way with the fathers of the
+girls whom he would appropriate to his own household.
+
+There are very few instances indeed, to be seen in these regions, where
+a poor or ordinary citizen has more than one wife; but amongst chiefs
+and braves of great reputation, and doctors, it is common to see some
+six or eight living under one roof, and all apparently quiet and
+contented; seemingly harmonizing, and enjoying the modes of life and
+treatment that falls to their lot.
+
+Wives in this country are mostly treated for with the father, as in all
+instances they are regularly bought and sold. In many cases the bargain
+is made with the father alone, without ever consulting the inclinations
+of the girl, and seems to be conducted on his part as a mercenary
+contract entirely, where he stands out for the highest price he can
+possibly command for her. There are other instances to be sure, where
+the parties approach each other, and from the expression of a mutual
+fondness, make their own arrangements, and pass their own mutual vows,
+which are quite as sacred and inviolable as similar assurances when
+made in the civilized world. Yet even in such cases, the marriage is
+never consummated without the necessary form of making presents to the
+father of the girl.
+
+It becomes a matter of policy and almost of absolute necessity, for the
+white men who are Traders in these regions to connect themselves in
+this way, to one or more of the most influential families in the tribe,
+which in a measure identifies their interest with that of the nation,
+and enables them, with the influence of their new family connexions,
+to carry on successfully their business transactions with them. The
+young women of the best families only can aspire to such an elevation;
+and the most of them are exceedingly ambitious for such a connexion,
+inasmuch as they are certain of a delightful exemption from the slavish
+duties that devolve upon them when married under other circumstances;
+and expect to be, as they generally are, allowed to lead a life of ease
+and idleness, covered with mantles of blue and scarlet cloth—with beads
+and trinkets, and ribbons, in which they flounce and flirt about, the
+envied and tinselled belles of every tribe.
+
+These connexions, however, can scarcely be called marriages, for I
+believe they are generally entered into without the form or solemnizing
+ceremony of a marriage, and on the part of the father of the girls,
+conducted purely as a mercenary or business transaction; in which
+they are very expert, and practice a deal of shrewdness in exacting
+an adequate price from a purchaser whom they consider possessed of
+so large and so rich a stock of the world’s goods; and who they deem
+abundantly able to pay liberally for so delightful a commodity.
+
+Almost every Trader and every clerk who commences in the business of
+this country, speedily enters into such an arrangement, which is done
+with as little ceremony as he would bargain for a horse, and just as
+unceremoniously do they annul and abolish this connexion when they
+wish to leave the country, or change their positions from one tribe to
+another; at which time the woman is left, a fair and proper candidate
+for matrimony or speculation, when another applicant comes along, and
+her father equally desirous for another horse or gun, &c. which he can
+easily command at her second espousal.
+
+From the enslaved and degraded condition in which the women are held in
+the Indian country, the world would naturally think that theirs must
+be a community formed of incongruous and unharmonizing materials; and
+consequently destitute of the fine, reciprocal feelings and attachments
+which flow from the domestic relations in the civilized world; yet it
+would be untrue, and doing injustice to the Indians, to say that they
+were in the least behind us in conjugal, in filial, and in paternal
+affection. There is no trait in the human character which is more
+universal than the attachments which flow from these relations, and
+there is no part of the human species who have a stronger affection and
+a higher regard for them than the North American Indians.
+
+There is no subject in the Indian character of more importance to be
+rightly understood than this, and none either that has furnished me
+more numerous instances and more striking proofs, of which I shall
+make use on a future occasion, when I shall say a vast deal more of
+marriage—of divorce—of polygamy—and of Indian domestic relations. For
+the present I am scribbling about the looks and usages of the Indians
+who are about me and under my eye; and I must not digress too much into
+general remarks, lest I lose sight of those who are near me, and the
+first to be heralded.
+
+Such, then, are the Mandans—their women are beautiful and modest,—and
+amongst the respectable families, virtue is as highly cherished and
+as inapproachable, as in any society whatever; yet at the same time a
+chief may marry a dozen wives if he pleases, and so may a white man;
+and if either wishes to marry the most beautiful and modest girl in the
+tribe, she is valued only equal, perhaps, to two horses, a gun with
+powder and ball for a year, five or six pounds of beads, a couple of
+gallons of whiskey, and a handful of awls.
+
+The girls of this tribe, like those of most of these north-western
+tribes, marry at the age of twelve or fourteen, and some at the age of
+eleven years; and their beauty, from this fact, as well as from the
+slavish life they lead, soon after marriage vanishes. Their occupations
+are almost continual, and they seem to go industriously at them, as if
+from choice or inclination, without a murmur.
+
+The principal occupations of the women in this village, consist in
+procuring wood and water, in cooking, dressing robes and other skins,
+in drying meat and wild fruit, and raising corn (maize). The Mandans
+are somewhat of agriculturists, as they raise a great deal of corn and
+some pumpkins and squashes. This is all done by the women, who make
+their hoes of the shoulder-blade of the buffalo or the elk, and dig the
+ground over instead of ploughing it, which is consequently done with a
+vast deal of labour. They raise a very small sort of corn, the ears of
+which are not longer than a man’s thumb. This variety is well adapted
+to their climate, as it ripens sooner than other varieties, which would
+not mature in so cold a latitude. The green corn season is one of great
+festivity with them, and one of much importance. The greater part of
+their crop is eaten during these festivals, and the remainder is
+gathered and dried on the cob, before it has ripened, and packed away
+in “_caches_” (as the French call them), holes dug in the ground, some
+six or seven feet deep, the insides of which are somewhat in the form
+of a jug, and tightly closed at the top. The corn, and even dried meat
+and pemican, are placed in these _caches_, being packed tight around
+the sides., with prairie grass, and effectually preserved through the
+severest winters.
+
+Corn and dried meat are generally laid in in the fall, in sufficient
+quantities to support them through the winter. These are the principal
+articles of food during that long and inclement season; and in addition
+to them, they oftentimes have in store great quantities of dried
+squashes and dried “_pommes blanches_,” a kind of turnip which grows in
+great abundance in these regions, and of which I have before spoken.
+These are dried in great quantities, and pounded into a sort of meal,
+and cooked with the dried meat and corn. Great quantities also of wild
+fruit of different kinds are dried and laid away in store for the
+winter season, such as buffalo berries, service berries, strawberries,
+and wild plums.
+
+The buffalo meat, however, is the great staple and “staff of life” in
+this country, and seldom (if ever) fails to afford them an abundant and
+wholesome means of subsistence. There are, from a fair computation,
+something like 250,000 Indians in these western regions, who live
+almost exclusively on the flesh of these animals, through every part of
+the year. During the summer and fall months they use the meat fresh,
+and cook it in a great variety of ways, by roasting, broiling, boiling,
+stewing, smoking, &c.; and by boiling the ribs and joints with the
+marrow in them, make a delicious soup, which is universally used, and
+in vast quantities. The Mandans, I find, have no regular or stated
+times for their meals, but generally eat about twice in the twenty-four
+hours. The pot is always boiling over the fire, and any one who is
+hungry (either of the household or from any other part of the village)
+has a right to order it taken off, and to fall to eating as he pleases.
+Such is an unvarying custom amongst the North American Indians, and I
+very much doubt, whether the civilized world have in their institutions
+any system which can properly be called more humane and charitable.
+Every man, woman, or child in Indian communities is allowed to enter
+any one’s lodge, and even that of the chief of the nation, and eat when
+they are hungry, provided misfortune or necessity has driven them to
+it. Even so can the poorest and most worthless drone of the nation; if
+he is too lazy to hunt or to supply himself, he can walk into any lodge
+and everyone will share with him as long as there is anything to eat.
+He, however, who thus begs when he is able to hunt, pays dear for his
+meat, for he is stigmatized with the disgraceful epithet of a poltroon
+and a beggar.
+
+The Mandans, like all other tribes, sit at their meals cross-legged,
+or rather with their ancles crossed in front of them, and both feet
+drawn close under their bodies; or, which is very often the case also,
+take their meals in a reclining posture, with the legs thrown out, and
+the body resting on one elbow and fore-arm, which are under them. The
+dishes from which they eat are invariably on the ground or floor of
+the lodge, and the group resting on buffalo robes or mats of various
+structure and manufacture.
+
+The position in which the women sit at their meals and on other
+occasions is different from that of the men, and one which they
+take and rise from again, with great ease and much grace, by merely
+bending the knees both together, inclining the body back and the head
+and shoulders quite forward, they squat entirely down to the ground,
+inclining both feet either to the right or the left. In this position
+they always rest while eating, and it is both modest and graceful, for
+they seem, with apparent ease, to assume the position and rise out of
+it, without using their hands in any way to assist them.
+
+These women, however, although graceful and civil, and ever so
+beautiful or ever so hungry, are not allowed to sit in the same group
+with the men while at their meals. So far as I have yet travelled in
+the Indian country, I never have seen an Indian woman eating with
+her husband. Men form the first group at the banquet, and women, and
+children and dogs all come together at the next, and these gormandize
+and glut themselves to an enormous extent, though the men very seldom
+do.
+
+It is time that an error on this subject, which has gone generally
+abroad in the world, was corrected. It is everywhere asserted, and
+almost universally believed, that the Indians are “enormous eaters;”
+but comparatively speaking, I assure my readers that this is an error.
+I venture to say that there are no persons on earth who practice
+greater prudence and self-denial, than the men do (amongst the wild
+Indians), who are constantly in war and in the chase, or in their
+athletic sports and exercises; for all of which they are excited by
+the highest ideas of pride and honour, and every kind of excess is
+studiously avoided; and for a very great part of their lives, the most
+painful abstinence is enforced upon themselves, for the purpose of
+preparing their bodies and their limbs for these extravagant exertions.
+Many a man who has been a few weeks along the frontier, amongst the
+drunken, naked and beggared part of the Indian race, and run home
+and written a book on Indians, has, no doubt, often seen them eat to
+beastly excess; and he has seen them also guzzle whiskey (and perhaps
+_sold_ it to them) till he has seen them glutted and besotted, without
+will or energy to move; and many and thousands of such things can
+always be seen, where white people have made beggars of them, and they
+have nothing to do but lie under a fence and beg a whole week to get
+meat and whiskey enough for one feast and one carouse; but amongst the
+wild Indians in this country there are no beggars—no drunkards—and
+every man, from a beautiful natural precept, studies to keep his body
+and mind in such a healthy shape and condition as will at all times
+enable him to use his weapons in self-defence, or struggle for the
+prize in their manly games.
+
+As I before observed, these men generally eat but twice a day, and many
+times not more than once, and those meals are light and simple compared
+with the meals that are swallowed in the civilized world; and by the
+very people also, who sit at the festive board three times a day,
+making a jest of the Indian for his eating, when they actually guzzle
+more liquids, besides their eating, than would fill the stomach of an
+Indian.
+
+There are, however, many seasons and occasions in the year with all
+Indians, when they fast for several days in succession; and others
+where they can _get_ nothing to eat; and at such times (their habits
+are such) they may be seen to commence with an enormous meal, and
+because they do so, it is an insufficient reason why we should for ever
+remain under so egregious an error with regard to a single custom of
+these people.
+
+I have seen so many of these, and lived with them, and travelled with
+them, and oftentimes felt as if I should starve to death on an equal
+allowance, that I am fully convinced I am correct in saying that the
+North American Indians, taking them in the aggregate, even where they
+have an abundance to subsist on, eat less than any civilized population
+of equal numbers, that I have ever travelled amongst.
+
+Their mode of curing and preserving the buffalo meat is somewhat
+curious, and in fact it is almost incredible also; for it is all cured
+or dried in the sun, without the aid of salt or smoke! The method of
+doing this is the same amongst all the tribes, from this to the Mexican
+Provinces, and is as follows:—The choicest parts of the flesh from the
+buffalo are cut out by the squaws, and carried home on their backs or
+on horses, and there cut “_across the grain_,” in such a manner as will
+take alternately the layers of lean and fat; and having prepared it
+all in this way, in strips about half an inch in thickness, it is hung
+up by hundreds and thousands of pounds on poles resting on crotches,
+out of the reach of dogs or wolves, and exposed to the rays of the sun
+for several days, when it becomes so effectually dried, that it can
+be carried to any part of the world without damage. This seems almost
+an unaccountable thing, and the more so, as it is done in the hottest
+months of the year, and also in all the different latitudes of an
+Indian country.
+
+So singular a fact as this can only be accounted for, I consider, on
+the ground of the extraordinary rarity and purity of the air which
+we meet with in these vast tracts of country, which are now properly
+denominated “the great buffalo plains,” a series of exceedingly
+elevated plateaus of _steppes_ or _prairies_, lying at and near the
+base of the Rocky Mountains.
+
+It is a fact then, which I presume will be new to most of the world,
+that meat can be cured in the sun without the aid of smoke or salt;
+and it is a fact equally true and equally surprising also, that none
+of these tribes use salt in any way, although their country abounds
+in salt springs; and in many places, in the frequent walks of the
+Indian, the prairie may be seen, for miles together, covered with an
+incrustation of salt as white as the drifted snow.
+
+I have, in travelling with Indians, encamped by such places, where they
+have cooked and eaten their meat, when I have been unable to prevail on
+them to use salt in any quantity whatever. The Indians cook their meat
+more than the civilized people do, and I have long since learned, from
+necessity, that meat thus cooked can easily be eaten and relished too,
+without salt or other condiment.
+
+The fact above asserted applies exclusively to those tribes of Indians
+which I have found in their primitive state, living entirely on meat;
+but everywhere along our Frontier, where the game of the country
+has long since been chiefly destroyed, and these people have become
+semi-civilized, raising and eating, as we do, a variety of vegetable
+food, they use (and no doubt require), a great deal of salt; and in
+many instances use it even to destructive excess.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 18.
+
+                    MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.
+
+
+The Mandans, like all other tribes, lead lives of idleness and
+leisure; and of course, devote a great deal of time to their sports
+and amusements, of which they have a great variety. Of these, dancing
+is one of the principal, and may be seen in a variety of forms: such
+as the buffalo dance, the boasting dance, the begging dance, the scalp
+dance, and a dozen other kinds of dances, all of which have their
+peculiar characters and meanings or objects.
+
+These exercises are exceedingly grotesque in their appearance, and to
+the eye of a traveller who knows not their meaning or importance, they
+are an uncouth and frightful display of starts, and jumps, and yelps,
+and jarring gutturals, which are sometimes truly terrifying. But when
+one gives them a little attention, and has been lucky enough to be
+initiated into their mysterious meaning, they become a subject of the
+most intense and exciting interest. Every dance has its peculiar step,
+and every step has its meaning; every dance also has its peculiar song,
+and that is so intricate and mysterious oftentimes, that not one in ten
+of the young men who are dancing and singing it, know the meaning of
+the song which they are chanting over. None but the medicine-men are
+allowed to understand them; and even they are generally only initiated
+into these secret arcana, on the payment of a liberal stipend for their
+tuition, which requires much application and study. There is evidently
+a set song and sentiment for every dance, for the songs are perfectly
+measured, and sung in exact time with the beat of the drum; and always
+with an uniform and invariable set of sounds and expressions, which
+clearly indicate certain sentiments, which are expressed by the voice,
+though sometimes not given in any known language whatever.
+
+They have other dances and songs which are not so mystified, but which
+are sung and understood by every person in the tribe, being sung in
+their own language, with much poetry in them, and perfectly metred, but
+without rhyme. On these subjects I shall take another occasion to say
+more; and will for the present turn your attention to the style and
+modes in which some of these curious transactions are conducted.
+
+My ears have been almost continually ringing since I came here, with
+the din of yelping and beating of the drums; but I have for several
+days past been peculiarly engrossed, and my senses almost confounded
+with the stamping, and grunting, and bellowing of the _buffalo dance_,
+which closed a few days since at sunrise (thank Heaven), and which I
+must needs describe to you.
+
+Buffaloes, it is known, are a sort of roaming creatures, congregating
+occasionally in huge masses, and strolling away about the country from
+east to west, or from north to south, or just where their whims or
+strange fancies may lead them; and the Mandans are sometimes, by this
+means, most unceremoniously left without any thing to eat; and being a
+small tribe, and unwilling to risk their lives by going far from home
+in the face of their more powerful enemies, are oftentimes left almost
+in a state of starvation. In any emergency of this kind, every man
+musters and brings out of his lodge his mask (the skin of a buffalo’s
+head with the horns on), which he is obliged to keep in readiness
+for this occasion; and then commences the buffalo dance, of which I
+have above spoken, which is held for the purpose of making “buffalo
+come” (as they term it), of inducing the buffalo herds to change the
+direction of their wanderings, and bend their course towards the Mandan
+village, and graze about on the beautiful hills and bluffs in its
+vicinity, where the Mandans can shoot them down and cook them as they
+want them for food.
+
+For the most part of the year, the young warriors and hunters, by
+riding out a mile or two from the village, can kill meat in abundance;
+and sometimes large herds of these animals may be seen grazing in
+full view of the village. There are other seasons also when the young
+men have ranged about the country as far as they are willing to risk
+their lives, on account of their enemies, without finding meat. This
+sad intelligence is brought back to the chiefs and doctors, who sit in
+solemn council, and consult on the most expedient measures to be taken,
+until they are sure to decide upon the old and only expedient which
+“never has failed.”
+
+The chief issues his order to his runners or criers, who proclaim it
+through the village—and in a few minutes the dance begins. The place
+where this strange operation is carried on is in the public area in the
+centre of the village, and in front of the great medicine or mystery
+lodge. About ten or fifteen Mandans at a time join in the dance, each
+one with the skin of the buffalo’s head (or mask) with the horns on,
+placed over his head, and in his hand his favourite bow or lance, with
+which he is used to slay the buffalo.
+
+I mentioned that this dance always had the desired effect, that it
+never fails, nor can it, for it cannot be stopped (but is going
+incessantly day and night) until “buffalo come.” Drums are beating and
+rattles are shaken, and songs and yells incessantly are shouted, and
+lookers-on stand ready with masks on their heads, and weapons in hand,
+to take the place of each one as he becomes fatigued, and jumps out of
+the ring.
+
+During this time of general excitement, spies or “_lookers_” are kept
+on the hills in the neighbourhood of the village, who, when they
+discover buffaloes in sight, give the appropriate signal, by “throwing
+their robes,” which is instantly seen in the village, and understood by
+the whole tribe. At this joyful intelligence there is a shout of thanks
+to the Great Spirit, and more especially to the mystery-man, and the
+dancers, _who have been the immediate cause of their success_! There is
+then a brisk preparation for the chase—a grand hunt takes place. The
+choicest pieces of the victims are sacrificed to the Great Spirit, and
+then a surfeit and a carouse.
+
+These dances have sometimes been continued in this village two and
+three weeks without stopping an instant, until the joyful moment when
+buffaloes made their appearance. So they _never fail_; and they think
+they have been the means of bringing them in.
+
+Every man in the Mandan village (as I have before said) is obliged by
+a village regulation, to keep the mask of the buffalo, hanging on a
+post at the head of his bed, which he can use on his head whenever he
+is called upon by the chiefs, to dance for the coming of buffaloes.
+The mask is put over the head, and generally has a strip of the skin
+hanging to it, of the whole length of the animal, with the tail
+attached to it, which, passing down over the back of the dancer, is
+dragging on the ground (+plate+ 56). When one becomes fatigued of the
+exercise, he signifies it by bending quite forward, and sinking his
+body towards the ground; when another draws a bow upon him and hits
+him with a blunt arrow, and he falls like a buffalo—is seized by the
+bye-standers, who drag him out of the ring by the heels, brandishing
+their knives about him; and having gone through the motions of skinning
+and cutting him up, they let him off, and his place is at once supplied
+by another, who dances into the ring with his mask on; and by this
+taking of places, the scene is easily kept up night and day, until the
+desired effect has been produced, that of “making buffalo come.”
+
+The day before yesterday however, readers, which, though it commenced
+in joy and thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for the signal success
+which had attended their several days of dancing and supplication,
+ended in a calamity which threw the village of the Mandans into
+mourning and repentant tears, and that at a time of scarcity and great
+distress. The signal was given into the village on that morning from
+the top of a distant bluff, that a band of buffaloes were in sight,
+though at a considerable distance off, and every heart beat with joy,
+and every eye watered and glistened with gladness.
+
+The dance had lasted some three or four days, and now, instead of the
+doleful tap of the drum and the begging chaunts of the dancers, the
+stamping of horses was heard as they were led and galloped through the
+village—young men were throwing off their robes and their shirts,—were
+seen snatching a handful of arrows from their quivers, and stringing
+their sinewy bows, glancing their eyes and their smiles at their
+sweethearts, and mounting their ponies.    *    *    *
+
+   *    *    A few minutes there had been of bustle and boasting,
+whilst bows were twanging and spears were polishing by running their
+blades into the ground—every face and every eye was filled with joy and
+gladness—horses were pawing and snuffing in fury for the outset, when
+Louison Frénié, an interpreter of the Fur Company, galloped through the
+village with his rifle in his hand and his powder-horn at his side; his
+head and waist were bandaged with handkerchiefs, and his shirt sleeves
+rolled up to his shoulders—the hunter’s yell issued from his lips and
+was repeated through the village; he flew to the bluffs, and behind
+him and over the graceful swells of the prairie, galloped the emulous
+youths, whose hearts were beating high and quick for the onset.
+
+[Illustration: 56]
+
+In the village, where hunger had reigned, and starvation was almost
+ready to look them in the face, all was instantly turned to joy and
+gladness. The chiefs and doctors who had been for some days dealing
+out minimum rations to the community from the public crib, now spread
+before their subjects the contents of their own private _caches_, and
+the last of every thing that could be mustered, that they might eat a
+thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for his goodness in sending them a
+supply of buffalo meat. A general carouse of banqueting ensued, which
+occupied the greater part of the day; and their hidden stores which
+might have fed an emergency for several weeks, were pretty nearly used
+up on the occasion—bones were half picked, and dishes half emptied and
+then handed to the dogs. _I_ was not forgotten neither, in the general
+surfeit; several large and generous wooden bowls of pemican and other
+palatable food were sent to my painting-room, and I received them in
+this time of scarcity with great pleasure.
+
+After this general indulgence was over, and the dogs had licked the
+dishes, their usual games and amusements ensued—and hilarity and mirth,
+and joy took possession of, and reigned in, every nook and corner of
+the village; and in the midst of this, screams and shrieks were heard!
+and echoed everywhere. Women and children scrambled to the tops of
+their wigwams, with their eyes and their hands stretched in agonizing
+earnestness to the prairie, whilst blackened warriors ran furiously
+through every winding maze of the village, and issuing their jarring
+gutturals of vengeance, as they snatched their deadly weapons from
+their lodges, and struck the reddened post as they furiously passed
+it by! Two of their hunters were bending their course down the sides
+of the bluff towards the village, and another broke suddenly out of a
+deep ravine, and yet another was seen dashing over and down the green
+hills, and all were goading on their horses at full speed! and then
+came another, and another, and all entered the village amid shouts and
+groans of the villagers who crowded around them; the story was told
+in their looks, for one was bleeding, and the blood that flowed from
+his naked breast had crimsoned his milk white steed as it had dripped
+over him; another grasped in his left hand a scalp that was reeking in
+blood—and in the other his whip—another grasped nothing, save the reins
+in one hand and the mane of the horse in the other, having thrown his
+bow and his arrows away, and trusted to the fleetness of his horse
+for his safety; yet the story was audibly told, and the fatal tragedy
+recited in irregular and almost suffocating ejaculations—the names
+of the dead were in turns pronounced and screams and shrieks burst
+forth at their recital—murmurs and groans ran through the village, and
+this happy little community were in a moment smitten with sorrow and
+distraction.
+
+Their proud band of hunters who had started full of glee and mirth in
+the morning, had been surrounded by their enemy, the Sioux, and eight
+of them killed. The Sioux, who had probably reconnoitred their village
+during the night, and ascertained that they were dancing for buffaloes,
+laid a stratagem to entrap them in the following manner:—Some six
+or eight of them appeared the next morning (on a distant bluff, in
+sight of their sentinel) under the skins of buffaloes, imitating the
+movements of those animals whilst grazing; and being discovered by
+the sentinel, the intelligence was telegraphed to the village, which
+brought out their hunters as I have described. The masked buffaloes
+were seen grazing on the top of a high bluff, and when the hunters had
+approached within half a mile or so of them, they suddenly disappeared
+over the hill. Louison Frénié, who was leading the little band of
+hunters, became at that moment suspicious of so strange a movement, and
+came to a halt    *    *    *
+
+   * “Look”! (said a Mandan, pointing to a little ravine to the right, and
+at the foot of the hill, from which suddenly broke some forty or fifty
+furious Sioux, on fleet horses and under full whip, who were rushing
+upon them); they wheeled, and in front of them came another band more
+furious from the other side of the hill! they started for home (poor
+fellows), and strained every nerve; but the Sioux were too fleet for
+them; and every now and then, the whizzing arrow and the lance were
+heard to rip the flesh of their naked backs, and a grunt and a groan,
+as they tumbled from their horses. Several miles were run in this
+desperate race; and Frénié got home, and several of the Mandans, though
+eight of them were killed and scalped by the way.
+
+So ended that day and the hunt; but many a day and sad, will last the
+grief of those whose hearts were broken on that unlucky occasion.
+
+_This_ day, though, my readers, has been one of a more joyful kind, for
+the Great Spirit, who was indignant at so flagrant an injustice, has
+sent the Mandans an abundance of buffaloes; and all hearts have joined
+in a general thanksgiving to Him for his goodness and justice.
+
+[Illustration: 57]
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 19.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+In my last Letter I gave an account of the buffalo dance, and in future
+epistles may give some descriptions of a dozen other kinds of dance,
+which these people have in common with other tribes; but in the present
+Letter I shall make an endeavour to confine my observations to several
+other customs and forms, which are very curious and peculiar to the
+Mandans.
+
+Of these, one of the most pleasing is the _sham-fight_ and sham
+scalp-dance of the Mandan boys, which is a part of their regular
+exercise, and constitutes a material branch of their education.
+During the pleasant mornings of the summer, the little boys between
+the age of seven and fifteen are called out, to the number of several
+hundred, and being divided into two companies, each of which is headed
+by some experienced warrior, who leads them on, in the character
+of a teacher; they are led out into the prairie at sunrise, where
+this curious discipline is regularly taught them (+plate+ 57). Their
+bodies are naked, and each one has a little bow in his left hand and
+a number of arrows made of large spears of grass, which are harmless
+in their effects. Each one has also a little belt or girdle around
+his waist, in which he carries a knife made of a piece of wood and
+equally harmless—on the tops of their heads are slightly attached
+small tufts of grass, which answer as scalps, and in this plight,
+they follow the dictates of their experienced leaders, who lead them
+through the judicious evolutions of Indian warfare—of feints—of
+retreats—of attacks—and at last to a general fight. Many manœuvres are
+gone through, and eventually they are brought up face to face, within
+fifteen or twenty feet of each other, with their leaders at their head
+stimulating them on. Their bows are bent upon each other and their
+missiles flying, whilst they are dodging and fending them off.
+
+If any one is struck with an arrow on any vital part of his body, he is
+obliged to fall, and his adversary rushes up to him, places his foot
+upon him, and snatching from his belt his wooden knife, grasps hold of
+his victim’s scalp-lock of grass, and making a feint at it with his
+wooden knife, twitches it off and puts it into his belt, and enters
+again into the ranks and front of battle.
+
+This mode of training generally lasts an hour or more in the morning,
+and is performed on an empty stomach, affording them a rigid and
+wholesome exercise, whilst they are instructed in the important science
+of war. Some five or six miles of ground are run over during these
+evolutions, giving suppleness to their limbs and strength to their
+muscles, which last and benefit them through life.
+
+After this exciting exhibition is ended, they all return to their
+village, where the chiefs and braves pay profound attention to their
+vaunting, and applaud them for their artifice and valour.
+
+Those who have taken scalps then step forward, brandishing them and
+making their boast as they enter into the _scalp-dance_ (in which
+they are also instructed by their leaders or teachers), jumping and
+yelling—brandishing their scalps, and reciting their _sanguinary
+deeds_, to the great astonishment of their tender aged sweethearts, who
+are gazing with wonder upon them.
+
+The games and amusements of these people are in most respects like
+those of the other tribes, consisting of ball plays—game of the
+moccasin, of the platter—feats of archery—horse-racing, &c.; and they
+have yet another, which may be said to be their favourite amusement,
+and unknown to the other tribes about them. The game of Tchung-kee, a
+beautiful athletic exercise, which they seem to be almost unceasingly
+practicing whilst the weather is fair, and they have nothing else
+of moment to demand their attention. This game is decidedly their
+favourite amusement, and is played near to the village on a pavement
+of clay, which has been used for that purpose until it has become as
+smooth and hard as a floor. For this game two champions form their
+respective parties, by choosing alternately the most famous players,
+until their requisite numbers are made up. Their bettings are then
+made, and their stakes are held by some of the chiefs or others
+present. The play commences (+plate+ 59) with two (one from each
+party), who start off upon a trot, abreast of each other, and one of
+them rolls in advance of them, on the pavement, a little ring of two
+or three inches in diameter, cut out of a stone; and each one follows
+it up with his “tchung-kee” (a stick of six feet in length, with
+little bits of leather projecting from its sides of an inch or more in
+length), which he throws before him as he runs, sliding it along upon
+the ground after the ring, endeavouring to place it in such a position
+when it stops, that the ring may fall upon it, and receive one of the
+little projections of leather through it, which counts for game, one,
+or two, or four, according to the position of the leather on which the
+ring is lodged. The last winner always has the rolling of the ring,
+and both start and throw the tchung-kee together; if either fails to
+receive the ring or to lie in a certain position, it is a forfeiture
+of the amount of the number he was nearest to, and he loses his throw;
+when another steps into his place. This game is a very difficult one
+to describe, so as to give an exact idea of it, unless one can see it
+played—it is a game of great beauty and fine bodily exercise, and these
+people become excessively fascinated with it; often gambling away every
+thing they possess, and even sometimes, when everything else was gone,
+have been known to stake their liberty upon the issue of these games,
+offering themselves as slaves to their opponents in case they get
+beaten.
+
+_Feasting_ and _fasting_ are important customs observed by the Mandans,
+as well as by most other tribes, at stated times and for particular
+purposes. These observances are strictly religious and rigidly
+observed. There are many of these forms practiced amongst the Mandans,
+some of which are exceedingly interesting, and important also, in
+forming a correct estimate of the Indian character; and I shall at a
+future period take particular pains to lay them before my readers.
+
+_Sacrificing_ is also a religious custom with these people, and is
+performed in many different modes, and on numerous occasions. Of
+this custom I shall also speak more fully hereafter, merely noticing
+at present, some few of the hundred modes in which these offerings
+are made to the Good and Evil Spirits. Human sacrifices have never
+been made by the Mandans, nor by any of the north western tribes (so
+far as I can learn), excepting the Pawnees of the Platte; who have,
+undoubtedly, observed such an inhuman practice in former times, though
+they have relinquished it of late. The Mandans sacrifice their fingers
+to the Great Spirit, and of their worldly goods, the best and the most
+costly; if a horse or a dog, it must be the favourite one; if it is
+an arrow from their quiver, they will select the most perfect one as
+the most effective gift; if it is meat, it is the choicest piece cut
+from the buffalo or other animal; if it is anything from the stores of
+the Traders, it is the most costly—it is blue or scarlet cloth, which
+costs them in this country an enormous price, and is chiefly used for
+the purpose of hanging over their wigwams to decay, or to cover the
+scaffolds where rest the bones of their departed relations.
+
+Of these kinds of sacrifices there are three of an interesting nature,
+erected over the great medicine-lodge in the centre of the village—they
+consist of ten or fifteen yards of blue and black cloth each, purchased
+from the Fur Company at fifteen or twenty dollars per yard, which are
+folded up so as to resemble human figures, with quills in their heads
+and masks on their faces. These singular-looking figures, like “_scare
+crows_” (+plate+ 47), are erected on poles about thirty feet high, over
+the door of the mystery-lodge, and there are left to decay. There hangs
+now by the side of them another, which was added to the number a few
+days since, of the skin of a white buffalo, which will remain there
+until it decays and falls to pieces.
+
+This beautiful and costly skin, when its history is known, will
+furnish a striking proof of the importance which they attach to these
+propitiatory offerings. But a few weeks since, a party of Mandans
+returned from the Mouth of the Yellow Stone, two hundred miles above,
+with information that a party of Blackfeet were visiting that place on
+business with the American Fur Company; and that they had with them
+a white buffalo robe for sale. This was looked upon as a subject of
+great importance by the chiefs, and one worthy of public consideration.
+A white buffalo robe is a great curiosity, even in the country of
+buffaloes, and will always command an almost incredible price, from its
+extreme scarcity; and then, from its being the most costly article of
+traffic in these regions, it is usually converted into a _sacrifice_,
+being offered to the Great Spirit, as the most acceptable gift that can
+be procured. Amongst the vast herds of buffaloes which graze on these
+boundless prairies, there is not one in an hundred thousand, perhaps,
+that is white; and when such an one is obtained, it is considered great
+_medicine_ or mystery.
+
+On the receipt of the intelligence above-mentioned, the chiefs convened
+in council, and deliberated on the expediency of procuring the white
+robe from the Blackfeet; and also of appropriating the requisite means,
+and devising the proper mode of procedure for effecting the purchase.
+At the close of their deliberations, eight men were fitted out on eight
+of their best horses, who took from the Fur Company’s store, on the
+credit of the chiefs, goods exceeding even the value of their eight
+horses; and they started for the Mouth of the Yellow Stone, where
+they arrived in due time, and made the purchase, by leaving the eight
+horses and all the goods which they carried; returning on foot to their
+own village, bringing home with them the white robe, which was looked
+upon by all eyes of the villagers as a thing that was vastly curious,
+and containing (as they express it) something of the Great Spirit.
+This wonderful anomaly laid several days in the chief’s lodge, until
+public curiosity was gratified; and then it was taken by the doctors or
+high-priests, and with a great deal of form and mystery consecrated,
+and raised on the top of a long pole over the _medicine-lodge_; where
+it now stands in a group with the others, and will stand as an offering
+to the Great Spirit, until it decays and falls to the ground.
+
+This Letter, as I promised in its commencement, being devoted to some
+of the customs peculiar to the Mandans, and all of which will be new
+to the world, I shall close, after recording in it an account of a
+laughable farce, which was enacted in this village when I was on my
+journey up the river, and had stopped on the way to spend a day or two
+in the Mandan village.
+
+Readers, did you ever hear of “_Rain Makers_?” If not, sit still, and
+read on; but laugh not—keep cool and sober, or else you may laugh in
+the _beginning_, and cry at the _end_ of my story. Well, I introduce
+to you a new character—not a _doctor_ or a _high-priest_, yet a
+_medicine-man_, and one of the highest and most respectable order, a
+“_Rain Maker_!” Such dignitaries live in the Mandan nation, aye, and
+“_rain stoppers_” too; and even those also amongst their _conjurati_,
+who, like Joshua of old, have even essayed to stop the sun in his
+course; but from the inefficiency of their medicine or mystery, have
+long since descended into insignificance.
+
+Well, the story begins thus:—The Mandans, as I have said in a former
+Letter, raise a great deal of corn; and sometimes a most disastrous
+drought will be visited on the land, destructive to their promised
+harvest. Such was the case when I arrived at the Mandan village
+on the steam-boat, Yellow-Stone. Rain had not fallen for many a day,
+and the dear little girls and the ugly old squaws, altogether (all of
+whom had fields of corn), were groaning and crying to their lords, and
+imploring them to intercede for rain, that their little respective
+patches, which were now turning pale and yellow, might not be withered,
+and they be deprived of the pleasure of their customary annual
+festivity, and the joyful occasion of the “roasting ears,” and the
+“green corn dance.”
+
+[Illustration: 58]
+
+[Illustration: 59]
+
+The chiefs and doctors sympathized with the plaints of the women, and
+recommended patience. Great deliberation, they said, was necessary in
+these cases; and though they resolved on making the attempt to produce
+rain for the benefit of the corn; yet they very wisely resolved that
+to begin too soon might ensure their entire defeat in the endeavour;
+and that the longer they put it off, the more certain they would
+feel of ultimate success. So, after a few days of further delay,
+when the importunities of the women had become clamorous, and even
+mournful, and almost insupportable, the _medicine-men_ assembled in
+the council-house, with all their mystery apparatus about them—with an
+abundance of wild sage, and other aromatic herbs, with a fire prepared
+to burn them, that their savoury odours might be sent forth to the
+Great Spirit. The lodge was closed to all the villagers, except some
+ten or fifteen young men, who were willing to hazard the dreadful
+alternative of making it rain, or suffer the everlasting disgrace of
+having made a fruitless essay.
+
+They, only, were allowed as witnesses to the _hocus pocus_ and
+_conjuration_ devised by the doctors inside of the medicine-lodge; and
+they were called up by lot, each one in his turn, to spend a day upon
+the top of the lodge, to test the potency of his medicine; or, in other
+words, to see how far his voice might be heard and obeyed amongst the
+clouds of the heavens; whilst the doctors were burning incense in the
+wigwam below, and with their songs and prayers to the Great Spirit for
+success, were sending forth grateful fumes and odours to Him “who lives
+in the sun and commands the thunders of Heaven.” Wah-kee (the shield)
+was the first who ascended the wigwam at sunrise; and he stood all day,
+and looked foolish, as he was counting over and over his string of
+mystery-beads—the whole village were assembled around him, and praying
+for his success. Not a cloud appeared—the day was calm and hot; and at
+the setting of the sun, he descended from the lodge and went home—“his
+_medicine_ was not good,” nor can he ever be a _medicine-man_.
+
+Om-pah (the elk) was the next; he ascended the lodge at sunrise the
+next morning. His body was entirely naked, being covered with yellow
+clay. On his left arm he carried a beautiful shield, and a long lance
+in his right; and on his head the skin of a raven, the bird that soars
+amidst the clouds, and above the lightning’s glare—he flourished his
+shield and brandished his lance, and raised his voice, but in vain; for
+at sunset the ground was dry and the sky was clear; the squaws were
+crying, and their corn was withering at its roots.
+
+War-rah-pa (the beaver) was the next; he also spent his breath in vain
+upon the empty air, and came down at night—and Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (the
+white buffalo’s hair) took the stand the next morning. He is a small,
+but beautifully proportioned young man. He was dressed in a tunic and
+leggings of the skins of the mountain-sheep, splendidly garnished
+with quills of the porcupine, and fringed with locks of hair taken
+by his own hand from the heads of his enemies. On his arm he carried
+his shield, made of the buffalo’s hide—its boss was the head of the
+war-eagle—and its front was ornamented with “red chains of lightning.”
+In his left hand he clenched his sinewy bow and one single arrow. The
+villagers were all gathered about him; when he threw up a feather to
+decide on the course of the wind, and he commenced thus:—“My friends!
+people of the pheasants! you see me here a sacrifice—I shall this
+day relieve you from great distress, and bring joy amongst you; or I
+shall descend from this lodge when the sun goes down, and live amongs
+the dogs and old women all my days. My friends! you saw which way the
+feather flew, and I hold my shield this day in the direction where the
+wind comes—the lightning on my shield will draw a great cloud, and
+this arrow, which is selected from my quiver, and which is feathered
+with the quill of the white swan, will make a hole in it. My friends!
+this hole in the lodge at my feet, shows me the medicine-men, who
+are seated in the lodge below me and crying to the Great Spirit; and
+through it comes and passes into my nose delightful odours, which
+you see rising in the smoke to the Great Spirit above, who rides in
+the clouds and commands the winds! Three days they have sat here, my
+friends, and nothing has been done to relieve your distress. On the
+first day was Wah-kee (the shield), he could do nothing; he counted his
+beads and came down—his medicine was not good—his name was bad, and
+it kept off the rain. The next was Om-pah (the elk); on his head the
+raven was seen, who flies _above_ the storm, and he failed. War-rah-pa
+(the beaver) was the next, my friends; the beaver lives _under_ the
+_water_, and he never wants it to rain. My friends! I see you are in
+great distress, and nothing has yet been done; this shield belonged to
+my father the White Buffalo; and the lightning you see on it is red; it
+was taken from a black cloud, and that cloud will come over us to-day.
+I am the white buffalo’s hair—and I am the son of my father.”
+
+In this manner flourished and manœuvred Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (the white
+buffalo’s hair), alternately addressing the audience and the heaven—and
+holding converse with the winds and the “_je-bi_” (spirits) that are
+floating about in them—stamping his foot over the heads of the _magi_,
+who were involved in mysteries beneath him, and invoking the spirits of
+darkness and light to send rain, to gladden the hearts of the Mandans.
+
+It happened on this memorable day about noon, that the steam-boat
+Yellow Stone, on her first trip up the Missouri River, approached and
+landed at the Mandan Village, as I have described in a former epistle.
+I was lucky enough to be a passenger on this boat, and helped to fire
+a salute of twenty guns of twelve pounds calibre, when we first came
+in sight of the village, some three or four miles below. These guns
+introduced a _new sound_ into this strange country, which the Mandans
+at first supposed to be thunder; and the young man upon the lodge, who
+turned it to good account, was gathering fame in rounds of applause,
+which were repeated and echoed through the whole village; all eyes
+were centred upon him—chiefs envied him—mothers’ hearts were beating
+high whilst they were decorating and leading up their fair daughters
+to offer him in marriage, on his signal success. The medicine-men had
+left the lodge, and came out to bestow upon him the envied title of
+“_medicine-man_,” or “_doctor_,” which he had so deservedly won—wreaths
+were prepared to decorate his brows, and eagle’s plumes and calumets
+were in readiness for him; his friends were all rejoiced—his enemies
+wore on their faces a silent gloom and hatred; and his old sweethearts,
+who had formerly cast him off, gazed intensely upon him, as they glowed
+with the burning fever of repentance.
+
+During all this excitement, Wak-a-dah-ha-hee kept his position,
+assuming the most commanding and threatening attitudes; brandishing his
+shield in the direction of the thunder (+plate+ 58), although there
+was not a cloud to be seen, until he (poor fellow), being elevated
+above the rest of the village, espied, to his inexpressible amazement,
+the steam-boat ploughing its way up the windings of the river below;
+puffing her steam from her pipes, and sending forth the thunder from
+a twelve-pounder on her deck!    *    *    *    The White Buffalo’s
+Hair stood motionless and turned pale, he looked awhile, and turned to
+the chief and to the multitude, and addressed them with a trembling
+lip—“My friends, we will get no rain!—there are, you see, no clouds;
+but my medicine is great—I have brought a _thunder boat_! look and see
+it! the thunder you hear is out of her mouth, and the lightning which
+you see is on the waters!”
+
+At this intelligence, the whole village flew to the tops of their
+wigwams, or to the bank of the river, from whence the steamer was in
+full view, and ploughing along, to their utter dismay and confusion.
+
+In this promiscuous throng of chiefs, doctors, women, children and
+dogs, was mingled Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (the white buffalo’s hair), having
+descended from his high place to mingle with the frightened throng.
+
+Dismayed at the approach of so strange and unaccountable an object, the
+Mandans stood their ground but a few moments; when, by an order of the
+chiefs, all hands were ensconced within the piquets of their village,
+and all the warriors armed for desperate defence. A few moments brought
+the boat in front of the village, and all was still and quiet as death;
+not a Mandan was to be seen upon the banks. The steamer was moored, and
+three or four of the chiefs soon after, walked boldly down the bank and
+on to her deck, with a spear in one hand and the calumet or pipe of
+peace in the other. The moment they stepped on board they met (to their
+great surprise and joy) their old friend, Major Sanford, their agent,
+which circumstance put an instant end to all their fears. The villagers
+were soon apprized of the fact, and the whole race of the beautiful and
+friendly Mandans was paraded on the bank of the river, in front of the
+steamer.
+
+The “rain maker,” whose apprehensions of a public calamity brought
+upon the nation by his extraordinary _medicine_, had, for the better
+security of his person from apprehended vengeance, secreted himself in
+some secure place, and was the last to come forward, and the last to
+be convinced that this visitation was a friendly one from the white
+people; and that his _medicine_ had not in the least been instrumental
+in bringing it about. This information, though received by him with
+much caution and suspicion, at length gave him great relief, and
+quieted his mind as to his danger. Yet still in his breast there was a
+rankling thorn, though he escaped the dreaded vengeance which he had a
+few moments before apprehended as at hand; as he had the mortification
+and disgrace of having failed in his mysterious operations. He set
+up, however (during the day, in his conversation about the strange
+arrival), his _medicines_, as the cause of its approach; asserting
+everywhere and to everybody, that he knew of its coming, and that he
+had by his magic brought the occurrence about. This plea, however, did
+not get him much audience; and in fact, everything else was pretty
+much swallowed up in the guttural talk, and bustle, and gossip about
+the mysteries of the “thunder-boat;” and so passed the day, until just
+at the approach of evening, when the “White Buffalo’s Hair” (more
+watchful of such matters on this occasion than most others) observed
+that a black cloud had been jutting up in the horizon, and was almost
+directly over the village! In an instant his shield was on his arm, and
+his bow in his hand, and he again upon the lodge! stiffened and braced
+to the last sinew, he stood, with his face and his shield presented to
+the cloud, and his bow drawn. He drew the eyes of the whole village
+upon him as he vaunted forth his super-human powers, and at the same
+time commanding the cloud to come nearer, that he might draw down
+its contents upon the heads and the corn-fields of the Mandans! In
+this wise he stood, waving his shield over his head, stamping his
+foot and frowning as he drew his bow and threatened the heavens,
+commanding it to rain—his bow was bent, and the arrow drawn to its
+head, was sent to the cloud, and he exclaimed, “My friends, it is done!
+Wak-a-dah-ha-hee’s arrow has entered that black cloud, and the Mandans
+will be wet with the water of the skies!” His predictions were true;—in
+a few moments the cloud was over the village, and the rain fell in
+torrents. He stood for some time wielding his weapons and presenting
+his shield to the sky, while he boasted of his power and the efficacy
+of his _medicine_, to those who had been about him, but were now driven
+to the shelter of their wigwams. He, at length, finished his vaunts and
+his threats, and descended from his high place (in which he had been
+perfectly drenched), prepared to receive the honours and the homage
+that were due to one so potent in his mysteries; and to receive the
+style and title of “_medicine-man_.” This is one of a hundred different
+modes in which a man in Indian countries acquires the honourable
+appellation.
+
+This man had “made it rain,” and of course was to receive more than
+usual honours, as he had done much more than ordinary men could do. All
+eyes were upon him, and all were ready to admit that he was skilled
+in the magic art; and must be so nearly allied to the Great or Evil
+Spirit, that he must needs be a man of great and powerful influence in
+the nation, and well entitled to the style of doctor or _medicine-man_.
+
+Readers, there are two facts relative to these strange transactions,
+which are infallibly true, and should needs be made known. The first
+is, that when the Mandans undertake to make it rain, _they never fail
+to succeed_, for their ceremonies never stop until rain begins to fall.
+The second is equally true, and is this:—that he who has once “_made
+it rain_,” never attempts it again; his medicine is undoubted—and on
+future occasions of the kind, he stands aloof, who has once done it in
+presence of the whole village, giving an opportunity to other young men
+who are ambitious to signalize themselves in the same way.
+
+During the memorable night of which I have just spoken, the steam-boat
+remained by the side of the Mandan village, and the rain that had
+commenced falling continued to pour down its torrents until midnight;
+black thunder roared, and livid lightning flashed until the heavens
+appeared to be lit up with one unceasing and appalling glare. In
+this frightful moment of consternation, a flash of lightning buried
+itself in one of the earth-covered lodges of the Mandans, and killed a
+beautiful girl. Here was food and fuel fresh for their superstitions;
+and a night of vast tumult and excitement ensued. The dreams of the
+new-made medicine-man were troubled, and he had dreadful apprehensions
+for the coming day—for he knew that he was subject to the irrevocable
+decree of the chiefs and doctors, who canvass every strange and
+unaccountable event, with close and superstitious scrutiny, and let
+their vengeance fall without mercy upon its immediate cause.
+
+He looked upon his well-earned fame as likely to be withheld from him;
+and also considered that his life might perhaps be demanded as the
+forfeit for this girl’s death, which would certainly be charged upon
+him. He looked upon himself as culpable, and supposed the accident
+to have been occasioned by his criminal desertion of his post, when
+the steam-boat was approaching the village. Morning came, and he soon
+learned from some of his friends, the opinions of the wise men; and
+also the nature of the tribunal that was preparing for him; he sent to
+the prairie for his three horses, which were brought in, and he mounted
+the _medicine-lodge_, around which, in a few moments, the villagers
+were all assembled. “My friends! (said he) I see you all around me, and
+I am before you; my medicine, you see, is great—it is _too great_—I
+am young, and I was too fast—I knew not when to stop. The wigwam of
+Mah-sish is laid low, and many are the eyes that weep for Ko-ka (the
+antelope;) Wak-a-dah-ha-hee gives three horses to gladden the hearts of
+those who weep for Ko-ka; his medicine was great—his arrow pierced the
+black cloud, and the lightning came, and the _thunder-boat_ also! who
+says the medicine of Wak-a-dah-ha-hee is not strong?”
+
+At the end of this sentence an unanimous shout of approbation ran
+through the crowd, and the “Hair of the White Buffalo” descended
+amongst them, where he was greeted by shakes of the hand; and amongst
+whom he now lives and thrives under the familiar and honourable
+appellation of the “+Big Double Medicine+.”
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 20.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+This day has been one of unusual mirth and amusement amongst the
+Mandans, and whether on account of some annual celebration or not, I
+am as yet unable to say, though I think such is the case; for these
+people have many days which, like this, are devoted to festivities and
+amusements.
+
+Their lives, however, are lives of idleness and ease, and almost all
+their days and hours are spent in innocent amusements. Amongst a people
+who have no office hours to attend to—no professions to study, and of
+whom but very little time is required in the chase, to supply their
+families with food, it would be strange if they did not practice many
+games and amusements, and also become exceedingly expert in them.
+
+I have this day been a spectator of games and plays until I am fatigued
+with looking on; and also by lending a hand, which I have done; but
+with so little success as only to attract general observation, and
+as generally to excite the criticisms and laughter of the squaws and
+little children.
+
+I have seen a fair exhibition of their archery this day, in a favourite
+amusement which they call the “_game of the arrow_” (see +plate+ 60),
+where the young men who are the most distinguished in this exercise,
+assemble on the prairie at a little distance from the village, and
+having paid, each one, his “entrance-fee,” such as a shield, a robe,
+a pipe, or other article, step forward in turn, shooting their arrows
+into the air, endeavouring to see who can get the greatest number
+flying in the air at one time, thrown from the same bow. For this, the
+number of eight or ten arrows are clenched in the left hand with the
+bow, and the first one which is thrown is elevated to such a degree
+as will enable it to remain the longest time possible in the air, and
+while it is flying, the others are discharged as rapidly as possible;
+and he who succeeds in getting the greatest number up at once, is
+“best,” and takes the goods staked.
+
+In looking on at this amusement, the spectator is surprised; not at
+the great distance to which the arrows are actually sent; but at
+the quickness of fixing them on the string, and discharging them in
+succession; which is no doubt, the result of great practice, and
+enables the most expert of them to get as many as eight arrows up
+before the first one reaches the ground.
+
+For the successful use of the bow, as it is used through all this
+region of country on horseback, and that invariably at full speed, the
+great object of practice is to enable the bowman to draw the bow with
+suddenness and instant effect; and also to repeat the shots in the most
+rapid manner. As their game is killed from their horses’ backs while
+at the swiftest rate—and their enemies fought in the same way; and as
+the horse is the swiftest animal of the prairie, and always able to
+bring his rider alongside, within a few paces of his victim; it will
+easily be seen that the Indian has little use in throwing his arrow
+more than a few paces; when he leans quite low on his horse’s side, and
+drives it with astonishing force, capable of producing instant death
+to the buffalo, or any other animal in the country. The bows which are
+generally in use in these regions I have described in a former Letter,
+and the effects produced by them at the distance of a few paces is
+almost beyond belief, considering their length, which is not often over
+three,—and sometimes not exceeding two and a half feet. It can easily
+be seen, from what has been said, that the Indian has little use or
+object in throwing the arrow to any great distance. And as it is very
+seldom that they can be seen shooting at a target, I doubt very much
+whether their skill in such practice would compare with that attained
+to in many parts of the civilized world; but with the same weapon,
+and dashing forward at fullest speed on the wild horse, without the
+use of the rein, when the shot is required to be made with the most
+instantaneous effect, I scarcely think it possible that any people can
+be found more skilled, and capable of producing more deadly effects
+with the bow.
+
+The horses which the Indians ride in this country are invariably the
+wild horses, which are found in great numbers on the prairies; and
+have, unquestionably, strayed from the Mexican borders, into which they
+were introduced by the Spanish invaders of that country; and now range
+and subsist themselves, in winter and summer, over the vast plains of
+prairie that stretch from the Mexican frontiers to Lake Winnipeg on
+the North, a distance of 3000 miles. These horses are all of small
+stature, of the pony order; but a very hardy and tough animal, being
+able to perform for the Indians a continual and essential service.
+They are taken with the _laso_, which is a long halter or thong, made
+of rawhide, of some fifteen or twenty yards in length, and which the
+Indians throw with great dexterity; with a noose at one end of it,
+which drops over the head of the animal they wish to catch, whilst
+running at full speed—when the Indian dismounts from his own horse, and
+holding to the end of the laso, choaks the animal down, and afterwards
+tames and converts him to his own use.
+
+Scarcely a man in these regions is to be found, who is not the owner of
+one or more of these horses; and in many instances of eight, ten, or
+even twenty, which he values as his own personal property.
+
+[Illustration: 60]
+
+[Illustration: 61]
+
+The Indians are hard and cruel masters; and, added to their cruelties
+is the sin that is familiar in the Christian world, of sporting with
+the limbs, and the lives of these noble animals. _Horse-racing_ here,
+as in all more enlightened communities, is one of the most exciting
+amusements, and one of the most extravagant modes of gambling.
+
+I have been this day a spectator to scenes of this kind, which have
+been enacted in abundance, on a course which they have, just back of
+their village; and although I never had the least taste for this cruel
+amusement in my own country, yet, I must say, I have been not a little
+amused and pleased with the thrilling effect which these exciting
+scenes have produced amongst so wild and picturesque a group.
+
+I have made a sketch of the ground and the group, as near as I could
+(+plate+ 61); shewing the manner of “starting” and “coming out,” which
+vary a little from the customs of the _knowing_ world; but in other
+respects, I believe, a horse-race is the same all the world over.
+
+Besides these, many have been the amusements of this day, to which I
+have been an eye-witness; and since writing the above, I have learned
+the cause of this unusual expression of hilarity and mirth; which was
+no more nor less than the safe return of a small war-party, who had
+been so long out without any tidings having been received of them—that
+they had long since been looked upon as sacrificed to the fates of
+war and lost. This party was made up of the most distinguished and
+desperate young men of the tribe, who had sallied out against the
+Riccarees, and taken the most solemn oath amongst themselves never
+to return without achieving a victory. They had wandered long and
+faithfully about the country, following the trails of their enemy; when
+they were attacked by a numerous party, and lost several of their men
+and all their horses. In this condition, to evade the scrutiny of their
+enemy, who were closely investing the natural route to their village;
+they took a circuitous range of the country, to enable them to return
+with their lives, to their village.
+
+In this plight, it seems, I had dropped my little canoe alongside of
+them, while descending from the Mouth of Yellow Stone to this place,
+not many weeks since; where they had bivouacked or halted, to smoke
+and consult on the best and safest mode of procedure. At the time of
+meeting them, not knowing anything of their language, they were unable
+to communicate their condition to me, and more probably were afraid
+to do so even if they could have done it, from apprehension that we
+might have given some account of them to their enemies. I rested my
+canoe an hour or so with them, during which time they treated us with
+an indifferent reserve, yet respectfully; and we passed on our way,
+without further information of them or their plans than the sketch that
+I there made (+plate+ 63), and which I shall preserve and value as one
+of the most pleasing groups I ever have had the pleasure to see. Seated
+on their buffalo robes, which were spread upon the grass, with their
+respective weapons laying about them, and lighting their pipes at a
+little fire which was kindled in the centre—the chief or leader of the
+party, with his arms stacked behind him, and his long head-dress of
+war-eagles’ quills and ermine falling down over his back, whilst he sat
+in a contemplative and almost desponding mood, was surely one of the
+most striking and beautiful illustrations of a natural hero that I ever
+looked upon.
+
+These gallant fellows got safely home to their village, and the
+numerous expressions of joy for their return, which I have this day
+witnessed, have much fatigued me that I write brief, and close my
+Letter here.
+
+[Illustration: 63]
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 21.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+In a former Letter I gave some account of Mah-to-toh-pa (the four
+bears), second chief of the Mandans, whom I said I had painted at
+full length, in a splendid costume. I therein said, also, that “this
+extraordinary man, though second in office, is undoubtedly the first
+and most popular man in the nation. Free, generous, elegant, and
+gentlemanly in his deportment—handsome, brave and valiant; wearing a
+robe on his back, with the history of all his battles painted on it,
+which would fill a book of themselves if they were properly enlarged
+and translated.”
+
+I gave you also, in another epistle, an account of the manner in
+which he invited me to a feast in his hospitable wigwam, at the same
+time presenting me a beautifully garnished robe; and I promised to
+say more of him on a future occasion. My readers will therefore
+pardon me for devoting a Letter or two at this time, to a sketch of
+this extraordinary man, which I will give in as brief a manner as
+possible, by describing the costume in which I painted his portrait;
+and afterwards reciting the most remarkable incidents of his life,
+as I had them from the Traders and the Indian agents, and afterwards
+corroborated by his own words, translated to me as he spoke, whilst I
+was writing them down.
+
+The dress of Mah-to-toh-pa then, the greater part of which I have
+represented in his full-length portrait, and which I shall now
+describe, was purchased of him after I had painted his picture; and
+every article of it can be seen in my Indian Gallery by the side of
+the portrait, provided I succeed in getting them home to the civilized
+world without injury.
+
+Mah-to-toh-pa had agreed to stand before me for his portrait at an
+early hour of the next morning, and on that day I sat with my palette
+of colours prepared, and waited till twelve o’clock, before he could
+leave his toilette with feelings of satisfaction as to the propriety of
+his looks and the arrangement of his equipments; and at that time it
+was announced, that “Mah-to-toh-pa was coming in full dress!” I looked
+out of the door of the wigwam, and saw him approaching with a firm and
+elastic step, accompanied by a great crowd of women and children, who
+were gazing on him with admiration, and escorting him to my room. No
+tragedian ever trod the stage, nor gladiator ever entered the Roman
+Forum, with more grace and manly dignity than did Mah-to-toh-pa enter
+the wigwam, where I was in readiness to receive him. He took his
+attitude before me (+plate+ 64), and with the sternness of a Brutus
+and the stillness of a statue, he stood until the darkness of night
+broke upon the solitary stillness. His dress, which was a very splendid
+one, was complete in all its parts, and consisted of a shirt or tunic,
+leggings, moccasins, head-dress, necklace, shield, bow and quiver,
+lance, tobacco-sack, and pipe; robe, belt, and knife; medicine-bag,
+tomahawk, and war-club, or _po-ko-mo-kon_.
+
+The shirt, of which I have spoken, was made of two skins of the
+mountain-sheep, beautifully dressed, and sewed together by seams which
+rested upon the arms; one skin hanging in front, upon the breast, and
+the other falling down upon the back; the head being passed between
+them, and they falling over and resting on the shoulders. Across each
+shoulder, and somewhat in the form of an epaulette, was a beautiful
+band; and down each arm from the neck to the hand was a similar one,
+of two inches in width (and crossing the other at right angles on the
+shoulder) beautifully embroidered with porcupine quills worked on the
+dress, and covering the seams. To the lower edge of these bands the
+whole way, at intervals of half an inch, were attached long locks of
+black hair, which he had taken with his own hand from the heads of
+his enemies whom he had slain in battle, and which he thus wore as a
+trophy, and also as an ornament to his dress. The front and back of
+the shirt were curiously garnished in several parts with porcupine
+quills and paintings of the battles he had fought, and also with
+representations of the victims that had fallen by his hand. The bottom
+of the dress was bound or hemmed with ermine skins, and tassels of
+ermines’ tails were suspended from the arms and the shoulders.
+
+The _Leggings_, which were made of deer skins, beautifully dressed,
+and fitting tight to the leg, extended from the feet to the hips, and
+were fastened to a belt which was passed around the waist. These, like
+the shirt, had a similar band, worked with porcupine quills of richest
+dyes, passing down the seam on the outer part of the leg, and fringed
+also the whole length of the leg, with the scalp-locks taken from his
+enemies’ heads.
+
+The _Moccasins_ were of buckskin, and covered in almost every part with
+the beautiful embroidery of porcupines’ quills.
+
+The _Head-dress_, which was superb and truly magnificent, consisted
+of a crest of war-eagles’ quills, gracefully falling back from the
+forehead over the back part of the head, and extending quite down to
+his feet; set the whole way in a profusion of ermine, and surmounted
+on the top of the head, with the horns of the buffalo, shaved thin and
+highly polished.
+
+The _Necklace_ was made of fifty huge claws or nails of the grizzly
+bear, ingeniously arranged on the skin of an otter, and worn, like the
+scalp-locks, as a trophy—as an evidence unquestionable, that he had
+contended with and overcome that desperate enemy in open combat.
+
+His _Shield_ was made of the hide of the buffalo’s neck, and hardened
+with the glue that was taken from its hoofs; its boss was the skin of
+a pole-cat, and its edges were fringed with rows of eagles’ quills and
+hoofs of the antelope.
+
+His _Bow_ was of bone, and as white and beautiful as ivory; over its
+back was laid, and firmly attached to it, a coating of deers’
+sinews, which gave it its elasticity, and of course death to all that
+stood inimically before it. Its string was three stranded and twisted
+of sinews, which many a time had twanged and sent the whizzing death to
+animal and to human victims.
+
+[Illustration: 64]
+
+The _Quiver_ was made of a panther’s skin and hung upon his back,
+charged with its deadly arrows; some were poisoned and some were not;
+they were feathered with hawks’ and eagles’ quills; some were clean and
+innocent, and pure, and others were stained all over, with animal and
+human blood that was dried upon them. Their blades or points were of
+flints, and some of steel; and altogether were a deadly magazine.
+
+The _Lance_ or spear was held in his left hand; its blade was two-edged
+and of polished steel, and the blood of several human victims was seen
+dried upon it, one over the other; its shaft was of the toughest ash,
+and ornamented at intervals with tufts of war-eagles’ quills.
+
+His _Tobacco-sack_ was made of the skin of an otter, and tastefully
+garnished with quills of the porcupine; in it was carried his _k’nick
+k’neck_, (the bark of the red willow, which is smoked as a substitute
+for tobacco), it contained also his flint and steel, and spunk for
+lighting——
+
+His _Pipe_, which was ingeniously carved out of the red steatite (or
+pipe-stone), the stem of which was three feet long and two inches
+wide, made from the stalk of the young ash; about half its length was
+wound with delicate braids of the porcupine’s quills, so ingeniously
+wrought as to represent figures of men and animals upon it. It was
+also ornamented with the skins and beaks of wood-peckers’ heads, and
+the hair of the white buffalo’s tail. The lower half of the stem was
+painted red, and on its edges it bore the notches he had recorded for
+the snows (or years) of his life.
+
+His _Robe_ was made of the skin of a young buffalo bull, with the fur
+on one side, and the other finely and delicately dressed; with all the
+battles of his life emblazoned on it by his own hand.
+
+His _Belt_, which was of a substantial piece of buckskin, was firmly
+girded around his waist; and in it were worn his tomahawk and
+scalping-knife.
+
+His _Medicine-bag_ was the skin of a beaver, curiously ornamented
+with hawks’ bills and ermine. It was held in his right hand, and his
+_po-ko-mo-kon_ (or war-club) which was made of a round stone, tied up
+in a piece of rawhide, and attached to the end of a stick, somewhat in
+the form of a sling, was laid with others of his weapons at his feet.
+
+Such was the dress of Mah-to-toh-pa when he entered my wigwam to stand
+for his picture; but such I have not entirely represented it in his
+portrait; having rejected such trappings and ornaments as interfered
+with the grace and simplicity of the figure. He was beautifully and
+extravagantly dressed; and in this he was not alone, for hundreds of
+others are equally elegant. In plumes, and arms, and ornaments, he is
+not singular; but in laurels and wreaths he stands unparalleled. His
+breast has been bared and scarred in defence of his country, and his
+brows crowned with honours that elevate him conspicuous above all of
+his nation. There is no man amongst the Mandans so generally loved,
+nor any one who wears a robe so justly famed and honourable as that of
+Mah-to-toh-pa.
+
+I said his robe was of the skin of a young buffalo bull, and that the
+battles of his life were emblazoned on it; and on a former occasion,
+that he presented me a beautiful robe, containing all the battles
+of his life, which he had spent two weeks’ time in copying from his
+original one, which he wore on his shoulders.
+
+This robe, with his tracings on it, is the chart of his military life;
+and when explained, will tell more of Mah-to-toh-pa.
+
+Some days after this robe was presented, he called upon me with Mr.
+Kipp, the trader and interpreter for the Mandans, and gave me of each
+battle there pourtrayed the following history, which was interpreted
+by Mr. Kipp, from his own lips, and written down by me, as we three
+sat upon the robe. Mr. Kipp, who is a gentleman of respectability and
+truth; and who has lived with these people ten years, assured me, that
+nearly every one of these narrations were of events that had happened
+whilst he had lived with them, and had been familiarly known to him;
+and that every word that he asserted was true.
+
+And again, reader, in this country where, of all countries I ever
+was in, men are the most jealous of rank and of standing; and in a
+community so small also, that every man’s deeds of honour and chivalry
+are familiarly known to all; it would not be reputable, or even safe
+to life, for a warrior to wear upon his back the representations of
+battles he never had fought; professing to have done what every child
+in the village would know he never had done.
+
+So then I take the records of battles on the robe of Mah-to-toh-pa
+to be matter of historical fact; and I proceed to give them as I
+wrote them down from his own lips. Twelve battle-scenes are there
+represented, where he has contended with his enemy, and in which he has
+taken fourteen of their scalps. The groups are drawn according to his
+own rude ideas of the arts; and I proceed to describe them in turn, as
+they were explained to me.
+
+
+                  ROBE OF MAH-TO-TOH-PA (+Plate+ 65).
+
+1. Mah-to-toh-pa kills a Sioux chief—the three heads represent the
+three Riccarees, whom the Sioux chief had previously killed. The Sioux
+chief is seen with war-paint black on his face. Mah-to-toh-pa is seen
+with the scalp of the Sioux in one hand, and his knife in the other,
+with his bow and quiver lying behind him.[3]
+
+2. A Shienne chief, who sent word to Mah-to-toh-pa that he wished to
+fight him—was killed by Mah-to-toh-pa with a lance, in presence of a
+large party of Mandans and Shiennes. Mah-to-toh-pa is here known
+by his lance with eagles’ quills on it.
+
+[Illustration: 65]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+3. A Shienne killed by Mah-to-toh-pa after Mah-to-toh-pa had been left
+by his party, badly wounded and bleeding; the twenty-five or thirty
+foot-tracks around, represent the number of Shiennes, who were present
+when the battle took place; and the bullets from their guns represented
+as flying all around the head of Mah-to-toh-pa.
+
+4. Shienne chief with war-eagle head-dress, and a beautiful shield,
+ornamented with eagles’ quills, killed by Mah-to-toh-pa. In this
+battle the wife of the Shienne rushed forward in a desperate manner to
+his assistance; but arriving too late, fell a victim. In this battle
+Mah-to-toh-pa obtained two scalps.
+
+5. Mah-to-toh-pa, with a party of Riccarees, fired at by a party of
+Sioux; the Riccarees fled—Mah-to-toh-pa dismounted and drove his horse
+back, facing the enemy alone and killing one of them. Mah-to-toh-pa is
+here represented with a beautiful head-dress of war-eagles’ quills,
+and one on his horse’s head of equal beauty; his shield is on his arm,
+and the party of Sioux is represented in front of him by the number of
+horse tracks.
+
+6. The brother of Mah-to-toh-pa killed by a Riccaree, who shot him with
+an arrow, and then running a lance through his body, left it there.
+Mah-to-toh-pa was the first to find his brother’s body with the lance
+in it: he drew the lance from the body, kept it four years with the
+blood dried on its blade, and then, according to his oath, killed the
+same Riccaree with the same lance; the dead body of his brother is here
+seen with the arrow and lance remaining in it, and the tracks of the
+Riccaree’s horses in front.
+
+The following was, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary exploits
+of this remarkable man’s life, and is well attested by Mr. Kipp, and
+several white men, who were living in the Mandan village at the time of
+its occurrence. In a skirmish, near the Mandan village, when they were
+set upon by their enemies, the Riccarees, the brother of Mah-to-toh-pa
+was missing for several days, when Mah-to-toh-pa found the body
+shockingly mangled, and a handsome spear left piercing the body through
+the heart. The spear was by him brought into the Mandan village, where
+it was recognized by many as a famous weapon belonging to a noted brave
+of the Riccarees, by the name of Won-ga-tap. This spear was brandished
+through the Mandan village by Mah-to-toh-pa (with the blood of his
+brother dried on its blade), crying most piteously, and swearing that
+he would some day revenge the death of his brother with the same weapon.
+
+It is almost an incredible fact, that he kept this spear with great
+care in his wigwam for the space of four years, in the fruitless
+expectation of an opportunity to use it upon the breast of its owner;
+when his indignant soul, impatient of further delay, burst forth in the
+most uncontroullable frenzy and fury; he again brandished it through
+the village, and said, that the blood of his brother’s heart which was
+seen on its blade was yet fresh, and called loudly for revenge. “Let
+every Mandan (said he) be silent, and let no one sound the name of
+Mah-to-toh-pa—let no one ask for him, nor where he has gone, until you
+hear him sound the war-cry in front of the village, when he will enter
+it and shew you the blood of Won-ga-tap. The blade of this lance shall
+drink the heart’s blood of Won-ga-tap, or Mah-to-toh-pa mingles his
+shadow with that of his brother.”
+
+With this he sallied forth from the village, and over the plains,
+with the lance in his hand; his direction was towards the Riccaree
+village, and all eyes were upon him, though none dared to speak till he
+disappeared over the distant grassy bluffs. He travelled the distance
+of two hundred miles entirely alone, with a little parched corn in
+his pouch, making his marches by night, and laying secreted by days,
+until he reached the Riccaree village; where (being acquainted with
+its shapes and its habits, and knowing the position of the wigwam of
+his doomed enemy) he loitered about in disguise, mingling himself in
+the obscure throng; and at last, silently and alone, observed through
+the rents of the wigwam, the last motions and movements of his victim,
+as he retired to bed with his wife: he saw him light his last pipe and
+smoke it “to its end”—he saw the last whiff, and saw the last curl of
+blue smoke that faintly steeped from its bowl—he saw the village awhile
+in darkness and silence, and the embers that were covered in the middle
+of the wigwam gone nearly out, and the last flickering light which had
+been gently playing over them; when he walked softly, but not slyly,
+into the wigwam and seated himself by the fire, over which was hanging
+a large pot, with a quantity of cooked meat remaining in it; and by
+the side of the fire, the pipe and tobacco-pouch which had just been
+used; and knowing that the twilight of the wigwam was not sufficient to
+disclose the features of his face to his enemy, he very deliberately
+turned to the pot and completely satiated the desperate appetite, which
+he had got in a journey of six or seven days, with little or nothing
+to eat; and then, as deliberately, charged and lighted the pipe, and
+sent (no doubt, in every whiff that he drew through its stem) a prayer
+to the Great Spirit for a moment longer for the consummation of his
+design. Whilst eating and smoking, the wife of his victim, while laying
+in bed, several times enquired of her husband, what man it was who was
+eating in their lodge? to which, he as many times replied, “It’s no
+matter; let him eat, for he is probably hungry.”
+
+Mah-to-toh-pa knew full well that his appearance would cause no other
+reply than this, from the dignitary of the nation; for, from an
+invariable custom amongst these Northern Indians, any one who is hungry
+is allowed to walk into any man’s lodge and eat. Whilst smoking his
+last gentle and tremulous whiffs on the pipe, Mah-to-toh-pa (leaning
+back, and turning gradually on his side, to get a better view of the
+position of his enemy, and to see a little more distinctly the shapes
+of things) stirred the embers with his toes (readers, I had every
+word of this from his own lips, and every attitude and gesture acted
+out with his own limbs), until he saw his way was clear; at which
+moment, with his lance in his hands, he rose and drove it through the
+body of his enemy, and snatching the scalp from his head, he darted
+from the lodge—and quick as lightning, with the lance in one hand,
+and the scalp in the other, made his way to the prairie! The village
+was in an uproar, but he was off, and no one knew the enemy who had
+struck the blow. Mah-to-toh-pa ran all night, and lay close during the
+days; thanking the Great Spirit for strengthening his heart and his
+arm to this noble revenge; and prayed fervently for a continuance of
+his aid and protection till he should get back to his own village. His
+prayers were heard; and on the sixth morning, at sunrise, Mah-to-toh-pa
+descended the bluffs, and entered the village amidst deafening shouts
+of applause, while he brandished and shewed to his people the blade of
+his lance, with the blood of his victim dried upon it, over that of his
+brother; and the scalp of Won-ga-tap suspended from its handle.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Such was the feat represented by Mah-to-toh-pa on his robe—and the
+lance, of which I have just spoken, is seen in the hand of his
+portrait, which will stand in my Gallery, and of which I have thus
+formerly spoken:—“The lance or spear of Mah-to-toh-pa, when he stood
+for his portrait, was held in his left hand; its blade was two-edged,
+and of polished steel, and the blood of several human victims was
+seen dried upon its surface, one over the other; its shaft was of the
+toughest ash, and ornamented at intervals with tufts of war-eagle’s
+quills.”
+
+In the portrait, of which I am speaking, there will be seen an eagle’s
+quill balanced on the hilt of the lance, severed from its original
+position, and loose from the weapon. When I painted his portrait,
+he brought that quill to my wigwam in his left hand, and carefully
+balancing it on the lance, as seen in the painting; he desired me to be
+very exact with it, to have it appear as separate from, and unconnected
+with, the lance; and to represent a spot of blood which was visible
+upon it. I indulged him in his request, and then got from him the
+following explanation:—“That quill (said he) is great _medicine_! it
+belongs to the Great Spirit, and not to me—when I was running out of
+the lodge of Won-ga-tap, I looked back and saw that quill hanging to
+the wound in his side; I ran back, and pulling it out, brought it home
+in my left hand, and I have kept it for the Great Spirit to this day!”
+
+“Why do you not then tie it on to the lance again, where it came off?”
+
+“Hush-sh (said he), if the Great Spirit had wished it to be tied on in
+that place, it never would have come off; he has been kind to me, and I
+will not offend him.”
+
+7. A Riccaree killed by Mah-to-toh-pa in revenge of the death of a
+white man killed by a Riccaree in the Fur Traders’ Fort, a short time
+previous.
+
+8. Mah-to-toh-pa, or four bears, kills a Shienne chief, who challenged
+him to single combat, in presence of the two war-parties; they fought
+on horseback with guns, until Mah-to-toh-pa’s powder-horn was shot
+away; they then fought with bows and arrows, until their quivers were
+emptied, when they dismounted and fought single-handed. The Shienne
+drew his knife, and Mah-to-toh-pa had left his; they struggled for the
+knife, which Mah-to-toh-pa wrested from the Shienne, and killed him
+with it; in the struggle, the blade of the knife was several times
+drawn through the hand of Mah-to-toh-pa, and the blood is seen running
+from the wound.
+
+This extraordinary occurrence also, was one which admits of, and
+deserves a more elaborate description, which I will here give as it
+was translated from his own lips, while he sat upon the robe, pointing
+to his painting of it; and at the same time brandishing the identical
+knife which he drew from his belt, as he was shewing how the fatal blow
+was given; and exhibiting the wounds inflicted in his hand, as the
+blade of the knife was several times drawn through it before he wrested
+it from his antagonist.
+
+A party of about 150 Shienne warriors had made an assault upon the
+Mandan village at an early hour in the morning, and driven off a
+considerable number of horses, and taken one scalp. Mah-to-toh-pa,
+who was then a young man, but famed as one of the most valiant of the
+Mandans, took the lead of a party of fifty warriors, all he could at
+that time muster, and went in pursuit of the enemy; about noon of the
+second day, they came in sight of the Shiennes; and the Mandans seeing
+their enemy much more numerous than they had expected, were generally
+disposed to turn about and return without attacking them. They started
+to go back, when Mah-to-toh-pa galloped out in front upon the prairie,
+and plunged his lance into the ground; the blade was driven into the
+earth to its hilt—he made another circuit around, and in that circuit
+tore from his breast his reddened sash, which he hung upon its handle
+as a flag, calling out to the Mandans, “What! have we come to this?
+we have dogged our enemy two days, and now when we have found them,
+are we to turn about and go back like cowards? Mah-to-toh-pa’s lance,
+which is red with the blood of brave men, has led you to the sight of
+your enemy, and you have followed it; it now stands firm in the ground,
+where the earth will drink the blood of Mah-to-toh-pa! you may all go
+back, and Mah-to-toh-pa will fight them alone!”
+
+During this manœuvre, the Shiennes, who had discovered the Mandans
+behind them, had turned about and were gradually approaching, in order
+to give them battle; the chief of the Shienne war-party seeing and
+understanding the difficulty, and admiring the gallant conduct of
+Mah-to-toh-pa, galloped his horse forward within hailing distance, in
+front of the Mandans, and called out to know “who he was who had stuck
+down his lance and defied the whole enemy alone?”
+
+“I am Mah-to-toh-pa, second in command of the brave and valiant
+Mandans.”
+
+“I have heard often of Mah-to-toh-pa, he is a great warrior—dares
+Mah-to-toh-pa to come forward and fight this battle with me alone, and
+our warriors will look on?”
+
+“Is he a chief who speaks to Mah-to-toh-pa?”
+
+[Illustration: 66]
+
+“My scalps you see hanging to my horse’s bits, and here is my lance
+with the ermine skins and the war-eagle’s tail!”
+
+“You have said enough.”
+
+The Shienne chief made a circuit or two at full gallop on a beautiful
+white horse, when he struck his lance into the ground, and left it
+standing by the side of the lance of Mah-to-toh-pa, both of which were
+waving together their little red flags, tokens of blood and defiance.
+
+The two parties then drew nearer, on a beautiful prairie, and the
+two full-plumed chiefs, at full speed, drove furiously upon each
+other! both firing their guns at the same moment. They passed each
+other a little distance and wheeled, when Mah-to-toh-pa drew off his
+powder-horn, and by holding it up, shewed his adversary that the
+bullet had shattered it to pieces and destroyed his ammunition; he
+then threw it from him, and his gun also—drew his bow from his quiver,
+and an arrow, and his shield upon his left arm! The Shienne instantly
+did the same; _his_ horn was thrown off, and his gun was thrown into
+the air—his shield was balanced on his arm—his bow drawn, and quick
+as lightning, they were both on the wing for a deadly combat! Like
+two soaring eagles in the open air, they made their circuits around,
+and the twangs of their sinewy bows were heard, and the war-whoop, as
+they dashed by each other, parrying off the whizzing arrows with their
+shields! Some lodged in their legs and others in their arms; but both
+protected their _bodies_ with their bucklers of bull’s hide. Deadly and
+many were the shafts that fled from their murderous bows. At length the
+horse of Mah-to-toh-pa fell to the ground with an arrow in his heart;
+his rider sprang upon his feet prepared to renew the combat; but the
+Shienne, seeing his adversary dismounted, sprang from his horse, and
+driving him back, presented the face of his shield towards his enemy,
+inviting him to come on!—a few shots more were exchanged thus, when the
+Shienne, having discharged all his arrows, held up his empty quiver and
+dashing it furiously to the ground, with his bow and his shield; drew
+and brandished his naked knife!
+
+“Yes!” said Mah-to-toh-pa, as he threw _his_ shield and quiver to the
+earth, and was rushing up—_he_ grasped for his knife, but his belt
+had it not; he had left it at home! his bow was in his hand, with
+which he parried his antagonist’s blow and felled him to the ground! A
+desperate struggle now ensued for the knife—the blade of it was several
+times drawn through the right hand of Mah-to-toh-pa, inflicting the
+most frightful wounds, while he was severely wounded in several parts
+of the body. He at length succeeded however, in wresting it from his
+adversary’s hand, and plunged it to his heart.
+
+By this time the two parties had drawn up in close view of each other,
+and at the close of the battle, Mah-to-toh-pa held up, and claimed in
+deadly silence, the knife and scalp of the noble Shienne chief.[4]
+
+9. Several hundred Minatarees and Mandans attacked by a party of
+Assinneboins—all fled but Mah-to-toh-pa, who stood his ground,
+fired, and killed one of the enemy, putting the rest of them to
+flight, and driving off sixty horses! He is here seen with his lance
+and shield—foot-tracks of his enemy in front, and his own party’s
+horse-tracks behind him, and a shower of bullets flying around his
+head; here he got the name of “_the four bears_,” as the Assinneboins
+said he rushed on like four bears.
+
+10. Mah-to-toh-pa gets from his horse and kills two Ojibbeway women,
+and takes their scalps; done by the side of an Ojibbeway village, where
+they went to the river for water. He is here seen with his lance in
+one hand and his knife in the other—an eagle’s plume head-dress on his
+horse, and his shield left on his horse’s back. I incurred his ill-will
+for awhile by asking him, whether it was manly to boast of taking
+the scalps of women? and his pride prevented him from giving me any
+explanation or apology. The interpreter, however, explained to me that
+he had secreted himself in the most daring manner, in full sight of the
+Ojibbeway village, seeking to revenge a murder, where he remained six
+days without sustenance, and then killed the two women in full view of
+the tribe, and made his escape, which entitled him to the credit of a
+victory, though his victims were women.
+
+11. A large party of Assinneboins entrenched near the Mandan
+village attacked by the Mandans and Minatarees, who were driven
+back—Mah-to-toh-pa rushes into the entrenchment alone—an Indian fires
+at him and burns his face with the muzzle of his gun, which burst—the
+Indian retreats, leaving his exploded gun, and Mah-to-toh-pa shoots
+him through the shoulders as he runs, and kills him with his tomahawk;
+the gun of the Assinneboin is seen falling to the ground, and in front
+of him the heads of the Assinneboins in the entrenchment; the horse of
+Mah-to-toh-pa is seen behind him.
+
+12. Mah-to-toh-pa between his enemy the Sioux, and his own people, with
+an arrow shot through him, after standing the fire of the Sioux for a
+long time alone. In this battle he took no scalps, yet his valour was
+so extraordinary that the chiefs and braves awarded him the honour of a
+victory.
+
+This feat is seen in the centre of the robe—head-dress of war-eagles’
+quills on his own and his horse’s head—the tracks of his enemies’
+horses are seen in front of him, and bullets flying both ways all
+around him. With his whip in his hand, he is seen urging his horse
+forward, and an arrow is seen flying, and bloody, as it has passed
+through his body. For this wound, and the several others mentioned
+above, he bears the honourable scars on his body, which he generally
+keeps covered with red paint.
+
+Such are the battles traced upon the robe of Mah-to-toh-pa or four
+bears, interpreted by J. Kipp from the words of the hero while sitting
+upon the robe, explaining each battle as represented.
+
+  [3] The reader will see in +plate+ 65, an accurate drawing of this
+  curious robe, which now hangs in the +Indian Gallery+, and on the
+  following pages, each group numbered, and delineated on a larger
+  scale, which are _fac-similes_ of the drawings on the robe.
+
+
+  [4] This celebrated weapon with the blood of several victims
+  dried upon its blade, now hangs in the +Indian Gallery+, with
+  satisfactory certificates of its identity and its remarkable
+  history, and an exact drawing of it and its scabbard can be seen in
+  +plate+ 99, _a_.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 22.
+
+                   MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Oh! “_horribile visu—et mirabile dictu!_” Thank God, it is over, that I
+have seen it, and am able to tell it to the world.
+
+The _annual religious ceremony_, of four days, of which I have so often
+spoken, and which I have so long been wishing to see, has at last been
+enacted in this village; and I have, fortunately, been able to see and
+to understand it in most of its bearings, which was more than I had
+reason to expect; for no white man, in all probability, has ever been
+before admitted to the _medicine-lodge_ during these most remarkable
+and appalling scenes.
+
+Well and truly has it been said, that the Mandans are a strange and
+peculiar people; and most correctly had I been informed, that this
+was an important and interesting scene, by those who had, on former
+occasions, witnessed such parts of it as are transacted out of doors,
+and in front of the _medicine-lodge_.
+
+Since the date of my last Letter, I was lucky enough to have painted
+the _medicine-man_, who was high-priest on this grand occasion, or
+conductor of the ceremonies, who had me regularly installed doctor or
+“_medicine_;” and who, on the morning when these grand refinements
+in mysteries commenced, took me by the arm, and led me into the
+_medicine-lodge_, where the Fur Trader, Mr. Kipp, and his two clerks
+accompanied me in close attendance for four days; all of us going to
+our own quarters at sun-down, and returning again at sun-rise the next
+morning.
+
+I took my sketch-book with me, and have made many and faithful drawings
+of what we saw, and full notes of everything as translated to me by
+the interpreter; and since the close of that horrid and frightful
+scene, which was a week ago or more, I have been closely ensconced
+in an earth-covered wigwam, with a fine sky-light over my head, with
+my palette and brushes, endeavouring faithfully to put the whole
+of what we saw upon canvass, which my companions all agree to be
+critically correct, and of the fidelity of which they have attached
+their certificates to the backs of the paintings. I have made four
+paintings of these strange scenes, containing several hundred figures,
+representing the transactions of each day; and if I live to get them
+home, they will be found to be exceedingly curious and interesting.
+
+I shudder at the relation, or even at the thought of these barbarous
+and cruel scenes, and am almost ready to shrink from the task of
+reciting them after I have so long promised some account of them.
+I entered the _medicine-house_ of these scenes, as I would have
+entered a church, and expected to see something extraordinary and
+strange, but yet in the form of worship or devotion; but alas! little
+did I expect to see the interior of their holy temple turned into a
+_slaughter-house_, and its floor strewed with the blood of its fanatic
+devotees. Little did I think that I was entering a house of God, where
+His blinded worshippers were to pollute its sacred interior with their
+blood, and propitiatory suffering and tortures—surpassing, if possible,
+the cruelty of the rack or the inquisition; but such the scene has
+been, and as such I will endeavour to describe it.
+
+The “_Mandan religious ceremony_” then, as I believe it is very justly
+denominated, is an annual transaction, held in their _medicine-lodge_
+once a year, as a great religious anniversary, and for several distinct
+objects, as I shall in a few minutes describe; during and after which,
+they look with implicit reliance for the justification and approval of
+the Great Spirit.
+
+All of the Indian tribes, as I have before observed, are religious—are
+worshipful—and many of them go to almost incredible lengths (as will
+be seen in the present instance, and many others I may recite) in
+worshipping the Great Spirit; denying and humbling themselves before
+Him for the same purpose, and in the same hope as we do, perhaps in a
+more rational and acceptable way.
+
+The tribes, so far as I have visited them, all distinctly believe in
+the existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, an Evil (or Bad) Spirit,
+and also in a future existence and future accountability, according
+to their virtues and vices in this world. So far the North American
+Indians would seem to be one family, and such an unbroken theory
+amongst them; yet with regard to the manner and form, and time and
+place of that accountability—to the constructions of virtues and vices,
+and the modes of appeasing and propitiating the Good and Evil Spirits,
+they are found with all the changes and variety which fortuitous
+circumstances, and fictions, and fables have wrought upon them.
+
+If from their superstitions and their ignorance, there are oftentimes
+obscurities and mysteries thrown over and around their system, yet
+these affect not the theory itself, which is everywhere essentially
+the same—and which, if it be not correct, has this much to command
+the admiration of the enlightened world, that they worship with great
+sincerity, and all according to one creed.
+
+The Mandans believe in the existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, and
+also of an Evil Spirit, who they say existed long before the Good
+Spirit, and is far superior in power. They all believe also in a
+future state of existence, and a future administration of rewards and
+punishments, and (so do all other tribes that I have yet visited) they
+believe those punishments are not eternal, but commensurate with their
+sins.
+
+These people living in a climate where they suffer from cold in the
+severity of their winters, have very naturally reversed our ideas of
+Heaven and Hell. The latter they describe to be a country very far
+to the north, of barren and hideous aspect, and covered with eternal
+snows and ice. The torments of this freezing place they describe as
+most excruciating; whilst Heaven they suppose to be in a warmer and
+delightful latitude, where nothing is felt but the keenest enjoyment,
+and where the country abounds in buffaloes and other luxuries of life.
+The Great or Good Spirit they believe dwells in the former place for
+the purpose of there meeting those who have offended him; increasing
+the agony of their sufferings, by being himself present, administering
+the penalties. The Bad or Evil Spirit they at the same time suppose to
+reside in Paradise, still tempting the happy; and those who have gone
+to the regions of punishment they believe to be tortured for a time
+proportioned to the amount of their transgressions, and that they are
+then to be transferred to the land of the happy, where they are again
+liable to the temptations of the Evil Spirit, and answerable again at a
+future period for their new offences.
+
+Such is the religious creed of the Mandans, and for the purpose of
+appeasing the Good and Evil Spirits, and to secure their entrance into
+those “fields Elysian,” or beautiful hunting grounds, do the young
+men subject themselves to the horrid and sickening cruelties to be
+described in the following pages.
+
+There are other three distinct objects (yet to be named) for which
+these religious ceremonies are held, which are as follow:—
+
+_First_, they are held annually as a celebration of the event of
+the subsiding of the Flood, which they call _Mee-nee-ro-ka-ha-sha_,
+(sinking down or settling of the waters.)
+
+_Secondly_, for the purpose of dancing what they call,
+_Bel-lohck-na-pic_ (the bull-dance); to the strict observance of which
+they attribute the coming of buffaloes to supply them with food during
+the season; and
+
+_Thirdly_ and lastly, for the purpose of conducting all the young men
+of the tribe, as they annually arrive to the age of manhood, through
+an ordeal of privation and torture, which, while it is supposed
+to harden their muscles and prepare them for extreme endurance,
+enables the chiefs who are spectators to the scene, to decide upon
+their comparative bodily strength and ability to endure the extreme
+privations and sufferings that often fall to the lots of Indian
+warriors; and that they may decide who is the most hardy and best able
+to lead a war-party in case of extreme exigency.
+
+This part of the ceremony, as I have just witnessed it, is truly
+shocking to behold, and will almost stagger the belief of the world
+when they read of it. The scene is too terrible and too revolting to
+be seen or to be told, were it not an essential part of a whole, which
+will be new to the civilized world, and therefore worth their knowing.
+
+The bull-dance, and many other parts of these ceremonies are
+exceedingly grotesque and amusing, and that part of them which has a
+relation to the Deluge is harmless and full of interest.
+
+In the centre of the Mandan village is an open, circular area of 150
+feet diameter, kept always clear, as a public ground, for the display
+of all their public feasts, parades, &c. and around it are their
+wigwams placed as near to each other as they can well stand, their
+doors facing the centre of this public area.
+
+In the middle of this ground, which is trodden like a hard pavement,
+is a curb (somewhat like a large hogshead standing on its end) made
+of planks (and bound with hoops), some eight or nine feet high, which
+they religiously preserve and protect from year to year, free from
+mark or scratch, and which they call the “big canoe”—it is undoubtedly
+a symbolic representation of a part of their traditional history of
+the Flood; which it is very evident, from this and numerous other
+features of this grand ceremony, they have in some way or other
+received, and are here endeavouring to perpetuate by vividly impressing
+it on the minds of the whole nation. This object of superstition,
+from its position, as the very centre of the village is the rallying
+point of the whole nation. To it their devotions are paid on various
+occasions of feasts and religious exercises during the year; and in
+this extraordinary scene it was often the nucleus of their mysteries
+and cruelties, as I shall shortly describe them, and becomes an object
+worth bearing in mind, and worthy of being understood.
+
+This exciting and appalling scene, then, which is familiarly (and no
+doubt correctly) called the “Mandan religious ceremony,” commences,
+not on a particular day of the year, (for these people keep no record
+of days or weeks), but at a particular season, which is designated by
+the full expansion of the willow leaves under the bank of the river;
+for according to their tradition, “the twig that the bird brought home
+was a willow bough, and had full-grown leaves on it,” and the bird to
+which they allude, is the mourning or turtle-dove, which they took
+great pains to point out to me, as it is often to be seen feeding on
+the sides of their earth-covered lodges, and which, being, as they call
+it, a _medicine-bird_, is not to be destroyed or harmed by any one, and
+even their dogs are instructed not to do it injury.
+
+On the morning on which this strange transaction commenced, I was
+sitting at breakfast in the house of the Trader, Mr. Kipp, when at
+sun-rise, we were suddenly startled by the shrieking and screaming
+of the women, and barking and howling of dogs, as if an enemy were
+actually storming their village.
+
+“Now we have it!” (exclaimed _mine host_, as he sprang from the table,)
+the grand ceremony has commenced!—“drop your knife and fork, Monsr. and
+get your sketch-book as soon as possible, that you may lose nothing,
+for the very moment of _commencing_ is as curious as anything else of
+this strange affair.” I seized my sketch-book, and all hands of us
+were in an instant in front of the medicine-lodge, ready to see and
+to hear all that was to take place. Groups of women and children were
+gathered on the tops of their earth-covered wigwams, and all were
+screaming, and dogs were howling, and all eyes directed to the prairies
+in the West, where was beheld at a mile distant, a solitary individual
+descending a prairie bluff, and making his way in a direct line towards
+the village!
+
+The whole community joined in the general expression of great alarm,
+as if they were in danger of instant destruction; bows were strung and
+thrumed to test their elasticity—their horses were caught upon the
+prairie and run into the village—warriors were blackening their faces,
+and dogs were muzzled, and every preparation made, as if for instant
+combat.
+
+During this deafening din and confusion within the piquets of the
+village of the Mandans, the figure discovered on the prairie continued
+to approach with a dignified step and in a right line towards the
+village; all eyes were upon him, and he at length made his appearance
+(without opposition) within the piquets, and proceeded towards the
+centre of the village, where all the chiefs and braves stood ready to
+receive him, which they did in a cordial manner, by shaking hands with
+him, recognizing him as an old acquaintance, and pronouncing his name
+_Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah_ (the first or only man). The body of this strange
+personage, which was chiefly naked, was painted with white clay, so as
+to resemble at a little distance, a white man; he wore a robe of four
+white wolf skins falling back over his shoulders; on his head he had a
+splendid head-dress made of two ravens’ skins, and in his left hand he
+cautiously carried a large pipe, which he seemed to watch and guard as
+something of great importance. After passing the chiefs and braves as
+described, he approached the _medicine_ or mystery lodge, which he had
+the means of opening, and which had been religiously closed during the
+year except for the performance of these religious rites.
+
+Having opened and entered it, he called in four men whom he appointed
+to clean it out, and put it in readiness for the ceremonies, by
+sweeping it and strewing a profusion of green willow-boughs over its
+floor, and with them decorating its sides. Wild sage also, and many
+other aromatic herbs they gathered from the prairies, and scattered
+over its floor; and over these were arranged a curious group of buffalo
+and human skulls, and other articles, which were to be used during this
+strange and unaccountable transaction.
+
+During the whole of this day, and while these preparations were
+making in the _medicine-lodge_, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only
+man) travelled through the village, stopping in front of every man’s
+lodge, and crying until the owner of the lodge came out, and asked
+who he was, and what was the matter? to which he replied by relating
+the sad catastrophe which had happened on the earth’s surface by the
+overflowing of the waters, saying that “he was the only person saved
+from the universal calamity; that he landed his big canoe on a high
+mountain in the west, where he now resides; that he had come to open
+the _medicine-lodge_, which must needs receive a present of some
+edged-tool from the owner of every wigwam, that it may be sacrificed
+to the water;” for he says, “if this is not done, there will be another
+flood, and no one will be saved, as it was with such tools that the big
+canoe was made.”
+
+Having visited every lodge or wigwam in the village, during the day,
+and having received such a present at each, as a hatchet, a knife, &c.
+(which is undoubtedly always prepared and ready for the occasion), he
+returned at evening and deposited them in the _medicine-lodge_, where
+they remained until the afternoon of the last day of the ceremony,
+when, as the final or closing scene, they were thrown into the river
+in a deep place, from a bank thirty feet high, and in presence of the
+whole village; from whence they can never be recovered, and where they
+were, undoubtedly, _sacrificed_ to the Spirit of the Water.
+
+During the first night of this strange character in the village, no
+one could tell where he slept; and every person, both old and young,
+and dogs, and all living things were kept within doors, and dead
+silence reigned every where. On the next morning at sunrise, however,
+he made his appearance again, and entered the _medicine-lodge_; and
+at his heels (in “_Indian file_,” _i. e._ single file, one following
+in another’s tracks) all the young men who were candidates for the
+self-tortures which were to be inflicted, and for the honours that were
+to be bestowed by the chiefs on those who could most manfully endure
+them. There were on this occasion about fifty young men who entered
+the lists, and as they went into the sacred lodge, each one’s body was
+chiefly naked, and covered with clay of different colours; some were
+red, others were yellow, and some were covered with white clay, giving
+them the appearance of white men. Each one of them carried in his right
+hand his _medicine-bag_—on his left arm, his shield of the bull’s
+hide—in his left hand, his bow and arrows, with his quiver slung on his
+back.
+
+When all had entered the lodge, they placed themselves in reclining
+postures around its sides, and each one had suspended over his head his
+respective weapons and _medicine_, presenting altogether, one of the
+most wild and picturesque scenes imaginable.
+
+Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) was in the midst of them,
+and having lit and smoked his medicine-pipe for their success; and
+having addressed them in a short speech, stimulating and encouraging
+them to trust to the Great Spirit for His protection during the severe
+ordeal they were about to pass through; he called into the lodge
+an old medicine or mystery-man, whose body was painted yellow, and
+whom he appointed master of ceremonies during this occasion, whom
+they denominated in their language _O-kee-pah Ka-se-kah_ (keeper or
+conductor of the ceremonies). He was appointed, and the authority
+passed by the presentation of the medicine-pipe, on which they consider
+hangs all the power of holding and conducting all these rites.
+
+After this delegated authority had thus passed over to the
+medicine-man; Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah shook hands with him, and bade him
+good bye, saying “that he was going back to the mountains in the west,
+from whence he should assuredly return in just a year from that time,
+to open the lodge again.” He then went out of the lodge, and passing
+through the village, took formal leave of the chiefs in the same
+manner, and soon disappeared over the bluffs from whence he came. No
+more was seen of this surprising character during the occasion; but I
+shall have something yet to say of him and his strange office before I
+get through the Letter.
+
+To return to the lodge,—the medicine or mystery-man just appointed,
+and who had received his injunctions from Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, was left
+sole conductor and keeper; and according to those injunctions, it was
+his duty to lie by a small fire in the centre of the lodge, with his
+medicine-pipe in his hand, crying to the Great Spirit incessantly,
+watching the young men, and preventing entirely their escape from the
+lodge, and all communication whatever with people outside, for the
+space of four days and nights, during which time they were not allowed
+to _eat_, to _drink_, or to _sleep_, preparatory to the excruciating
+self-tortures which they were to endure on the fourth day.
+
+I mentioned that I had made four paintings of these strange scenes,
+and the first one exhibits the interior of the medicine-lodge at
+this moment; with the young men all reclining around its sides, and
+the conductor or mystery-man lying by the fire, crying to the Great
+Spirit (+plate+ 66). It was just at this juncture that I was ushered
+into this sacred temple of their worship, with my companions, which
+was, undoubtedly, the first time that their devotions had ever been
+trespassed upon by the presence of pale faces; and in this instance had
+been brought about in the following strange and unexpected manner.
+
+I had most luckily for myself, painted a full-length portrait of this
+great magician or high-priest, but a day previous to the commencement
+of the ceremonies (in which I had represented him in the performance of
+some of his mysteries), with which he had been so exceedingly pleased
+as well as astonished (as “he could see its eyes move”), that I must
+needs be, in his opinion, deeply skilled in magic and mysteries, and
+well-entitled to a respectable rank in the craft, to which I had been
+at once elevated by the unanimous voice of the doctors, and regularly
+initiated, and styled _Te-ho-pee-nee-wash-ee-waska-pooska_, the _white
+medicine_ (or Spirit) _painter_.
+
+With this very honourable degree which had just been conferred upon me,
+I was standing in front of the medicine-lodge early in the morning,
+with my companions by my side, endeavouring to get a peep, if possible,
+into its sacred interior; when this _master of ceremonies_, guarding
+and conducting its secrets, as I before described, came out of the door
+and taking me with a firm _professional_ affection by the arm, led me
+into this _sanctum sanctorum_, which was strictly guarded from, even
+a peep or a gaze from the vulgar, by a vestibule of eight or ten feet
+in length, guarded with a double screen or door, and two or three dark
+and frowning centinels with spears or war-clubs in their hands. I gave
+the wink to my companions as I was passing in, and the potency of my
+_medicine_ was such as to gain them a quiet admission, and all of us
+were comfortably placed on elevated seats, which our conductor soon
+prepared for us.
+
+We were then in full view of everything that transpired in the lodge,
+having before us the scene exactly, which is represented in the first
+of the four pictures. To this seat we returned every morning at
+sunrise, and remained until sun-down for four days, the whole time
+which these strange scenes occupied.
+
+In addition to the preparations and arrangements of the interior of
+this sanctuary, as above described, there was a curious, though a very
+strict arrangement of buffalo and human skulls placed on the floor of
+the lodge, and between them (which were divided into two parcels),
+and in front of the reclining group of young candidates, was a small
+and very delicate scaffold, elevated about five feet from the ground,
+made of four posts or crotches, not larger than a gun-rod, and placed
+some four or five feet apart, supporting four equally delicate rods,
+resting in the crotches; thus forming the frame of the scaffold, which
+was completed by a number of still smaller and more delicate sticks,
+transversely resting upon them. On the centre of this little frame
+rested some small object, which I could not exactly understand from
+the distance of twenty or thirty feet which intervened between it and
+my eye. I started several times from my seat to approach it, but all
+eyes were instantly upon me, and every mouth in the assembly sent forth
+a hush—sh—! which brought me back to my seat again; and I at length
+quieted my stifled curiosity as well as I could, upon learning the
+fact, that so sacred was that object, and so important its secrets or
+mysteries, that not _I_ alone, but even the young men, who were passing
+the ordeal, and all the village, save the conductor of the mysteries,
+were stopped from approaching it, or knowing what it was.
+
+This little mystery-thing, whatever it was, had the appearance from
+where I sat, of a small tortoise or frog lying on its back, with
+its head and legs quite extended, and wound and tasselled off with
+exceedingly delicate red and blue, and yellow ribbons or tassels, and
+other bright coloured ornaments; and seemed, from the devotions paid
+to it, to be the very nucleus of their mysteries—the _sanctissimus
+sanctorum_, from which seemed to emanate all the sanctity of their
+proceedings, and to which, all seemed to be paying the highest
+devotional respect.
+
+This strange, yet important _essence_ of their mysteries, I made every
+enquiry about; but got no further information of, than what I could
+learn by my eyes, at the distance at which I saw it, and from the
+silent respect which I saw paid to it. I tried with the doctors, and
+all of the _fraternity_ answered me, that that was “_great medicine_,”
+assuring me that it “could not be told.” So I quieted my curiosity
+as well as I could, by the full conviction that I had a _degree_ or
+two yet to take before I could fathom all the arcana of Indian
+superstitions; and that this little, seemingly wonderful, relic of
+antiquity, symbol of some grand event, or “secret too valuable to be
+told,” might have been at last nothing but a silly bunch of strings
+and toys, to which they pay some great peculiar regard; giving thereby
+to some favourite Spirit or essence an ideal existence, and which,
+when called upon to describe, they refuse to do so, calling it “_Great
+Medicine_,” for the very reason that there is nothing in it to reveal
+or describe.
+
+[Illustration: 67]
+
+Immediately under the little frame or scaffold described, and on the
+floor of the lodge was placed a knife, and by the side of it a bundle
+of splints or skewers, which were kept in readiness for the infliction
+of the cruelties directly to be explained. There were seen also, in
+this stage of the affair, a number of cords of rawhide hanging down
+from the top of the lodge, and passing through its roof, with which
+the young men were to be suspended by the splints passed through their
+flesh, and drawn up by men placed on the top of the lodge for the
+purpose, as will be described in a few moments.
+
+There were also four articles of great veneration and importance
+lying on the floor of the lodge, which were sacks, containing in
+each some three or four gallons of water. These also were objects of
+superstitious regard, and made with great labour and much ingenuity;
+each one of them being constructed of the skin of the buffalo’s neck,
+and most elaborately sewed together in the form of a large tortoise
+lying on its back, with a bunch of eagle’s quills appended to it as a
+tail; and each of them having a stick, shaped like a drum-stick, lying
+on them, with which, in a subsequent stage of these ceremonies, as will
+be seen, they are beaten upon by several of their mystery-men, as a
+part of the music for their strange dances and mysteries. By the side
+of these sacks which they call _Eeh-teeh-ka_, are two other articles of
+equal importance, which they call _Eeh-na-dee_ (rattles), in the form
+of a gourd-shell made also of dried skins, and used at the same time
+as the others, in the music (or rather _noise_ and _din_) for their
+dances, &c.
+
+These four sacks of water have the appearance of very great
+antiquity; and by enquiring of my very ingenious friend and patron,
+the _medicine-man_, after the ceremonies were over, he very gravely
+told me, that “those four tortoises contained the waters from the
+four quarters of the world—that these waters had been contained
+therein ever since the settling down of the waters!” I did not think
+it best to advance any argument against so ridiculous a theory, and
+therefore could not even enquire or learn, at what period they had been
+instituted, or how often, or on what occasions, the water in them had
+been changed or replenished.
+
+I made several propositions, through my friend Mr. Kipp, the trader
+and interpreter, to purchase one of these strange things by offering
+them a very liberal price; to which I received in answer that these,
+and all the very numerous articles used in these ceremonies, being a
+_society property_ were _medicine_, and could not be sold for any
+consideration; so I abandoned all thoughts of obtaining anything,
+except what I have done by the _medicine_ operation of my pencil, which
+was applied to everything, and even upon that they looked with decided
+distrust and apprehension, as a sort of theft or sacrilege.
+
+Such then was the group, and such the appearance of the interior of the
+medicine-lodge during the three first, and part of the fourth day also,
+of the Mandan religious ceremonies. The medicine-man with a group about
+him, of young aspirants who were under his sole controul, as was every
+article and implement to be used, and the sanctity of this solitary and
+gloomy looking place, which could not be trespassed upon by any man’s
+presence without his most sovereign permission.
+
+During the three first days of this solemn conclave, there were many
+very curious forms and amusements enacted in the open area in the
+middle of the village, and in front of the medicine-lodge, by other
+members of the community, one of which formed a material part or
+link of these strange ceremonials. This very curious and exceedingly
+grotesque part of their performance, which they denominated _Bel-lohck
+nah-pick_ (the bull-dance) of which I have before spoken, as one of
+the avowed objects for which they held this annual fête; and to the
+strictest observance of which they attribute the coming of buffaloes to
+supply them with food during the season—is repeated four times during
+the first day, eight times on the second day, twelve times on the third
+day, and sixteen times on the fourth day; and always around the curb,
+or “_big canoe_,” of which I have before spoken.
+
+This subject I have selected for my second picture, and the principal
+actors in it were eight men, with the entire skins of buffaloes thrown
+over their backs, with the horns and hoofs and tails remaining on;
+their bodies in a horizontal position, enabling them to imitate the
+actions of the buffalo, whilst they were looking out of its eyes as
+through a mask (+plate+ 67).
+
+The bodies of these men were chiefly naked and all painted in the most
+extraordinary manner, with the nicest adherence to exact similarity;
+their limbs, bodies and faces, being in every part covered, either
+with black, red, or white paint. Each one of these strange characters
+had also a lock of buffalo’s hair tied around his ancles—in his right
+hand a rattle, and a slender white rod or staff, six feet long, in the
+other; and carried on his back, a bunch of green willow boughs about
+the usual size of a bundle of straw. These eight men, being divided
+into four pairs, took their positions on the four different sides of
+the curb or big canoe, representing thereby the four cardinal points;
+and between each group of them, with the back turned to the big canoe,
+was another figure, engaged in the same dance, keeping step with them,
+with a similar staff or wand in one hand and a rattle in the other, and
+(being four in number) answering again to the four cardinal points. The
+bodies of these four young men were chiefly naked, with no other dress
+upon them than a beautiful kelt (or quartz-quaw), around the waist,
+made of eagles quills and ermine, and very splendid head-dresses
+made of the same materials. Two of these figures were painted entirely
+black with pounded charcoal and grease, whom they called the “firmament
+or night,” and the numerous white spots which were dotted all over
+their bodies, they called “stars.” The other two were painted from
+head to foot as red as vermilion could make them; these they said
+represented the day, and the white streaks which were painted up and
+down over their bodies, were “ghosts which the morning rays were
+chasing away.”
+
+[Illustration: 68]
+
+These twelve are the only persons actually engaged in this strange
+dance, which is each time repeated in the same form, without the
+slightest variation. There are, however, a great number of characters
+engaged in giving the whole effect and wildness to this strange and
+laughable scene, each one acting well his part, and whose offices,
+strange and inexplicable as they are, I will endeavour to point out
+and explain as well as I can, from what I saw, elucidated by their own
+descriptions.
+
+This most remarkable scene, then, which is witnessed more or less often
+on each day, takes place in presence of the whole nation, who are
+generally gathered around, on the tops of the wigwams or otherwise,
+as spectators, whilst the young men are reclining and fasting in the
+lodge as above described. On the first day, this “_bull-dance_” is
+given _once_ to each of the cardinal points, and the medicine-man
+smokes his pipe in those directions. On the second day, _twice_ to
+each; _three times_ to each on the third day, and _four times_ to each
+on the fourth. As a signal for the dancers and other characters (as
+well as the public) to assemble, the old man, master of ceremonies,
+with the medicine-pipe in hand, dances out of the lodge, singing (or
+rather crying) forth a most pitiful lament, until he approaches the big
+canoe, against which he leans, with the pipe in his hand, and continues
+to cry. At this instant, four very aged and patriarchal looking men,
+whose bodies are painted red, and who have been guarding the four sides
+of the lodge, enter it and bring out the four sacks of water, which
+they place near the big canoe, where they seat themselves by the side
+of them and commence thumping on them with the mallets or drumsticks
+which have been lying on them; and another brandishes and shakes the
+_eeh-na-dees_ or rattles, and all unite to them their voices, raised
+to the highest pitch possible, as the music for the _bull-dance_,
+which is then commenced and continued for fifteen minutes or more in
+perfect time, and without cessation or intermission. When the music and
+dancing stop, which are always perfectly simultaneous, the whole nation
+raise the huzza! and a deafening shout of approbation; the master of
+ceremonies dances back to the medicine-lodge, and the old men return to
+their former place; the sacks of water, and all rest as before, until
+by the same method, they are again called into a similar action.
+
+The supernumeraries or other characters who play their parts in this
+grand spectacle, are numerous and well worth description. By the
+side of the big canoe are seen two men with the skins of grizzly
+bears thrown over them, using the skins as a mask, over their heads.
+These ravenous animals are continually growling and threatening to
+devour everything before them and interfering with the forms of their
+religious ceremony. To appease them, the women are continually bringing
+and placing before them dishes of meat, which are as often snatched up
+and carried to the prairie, by two men whose bodies are painted black
+and their heads white, whom they call bald eagles, who are darting by
+them and grasping their food from before them as they pass. These are
+again chased upon the plains by a hundred or more small boys, who are
+naked, with their bodies painted yellow and their heads white, whom
+they call _Cabris_ or antelopes; who at length get the food away from
+them and devour it; thereby inculcating (perhaps) the beautiful moral,
+that by the dispensations of Providence, his bountiful gifts will fall
+at last to the hands of the innocent.
+
+During the intervals between these dances, all these characters, except
+those from the medicine-lodge, retire to a wigwam close by, which they
+use on the occasion also as a sacred place, being occupied exclusively
+by them while they are at rest, and also for the purpose of painting
+and ornamenting their bodies for the occasion.
+
+During each and every one of these dances, the old men who beat upon
+the sacks and sing, are earnestly chanting forth their supplications
+to the Great Spirit, for the continuation of his influence in sending
+them buffaloes to supply them with food during the year; they are
+administering courage and fortitude to the young men in the lodge,
+by telling them, that “the Great Spirit has opened his ears in their
+behalf—that the very atmosphere all about them is peace—that their
+women and children can hold the mouth of the grizzly bear—that they
+have invoked from day to day O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit)—that they
+are still challenging him to come, and yet he has not dared to make his
+appearance!”
+
+But alas! in the last of these dances, on the fourth day, in the midst
+of all their mirth and joy, and about noon, and in the height of all
+these exultations, an instant scream burst forth from the tops of the
+lodges!—men, women, dogs and all, seemed actually to howl and shudder
+with alarm, as they fixed their glaring eye-balls upon the prairie
+bluff, about a mile in the west, down the side of which a man was seen
+descending at full speed towards the village! This strange character
+darted about in a zig-zag course in all directions on the prairie,
+like a boy in pursuit of a butterfly, until he approached the piquets
+of the village, when it was discovered that his body was entirely
+naked, and painted as black as a negro, with pounded charcoal and
+bear’s grease; his body was therefore everywhere of a shining black,
+except occasionally white rings of an inch or more in diameter, which
+were marked here and there all over him; and frightful indentures of
+white around his mouth, resembling canine teeth. Added to his hideous
+appearance, he gave the most frightful shrieks and screams as he
+dashed through the village and entered the terrified group, which was
+composed (in that quarter) chiefly of females, who had assembled to
+witness the amusements which were transpiring around the “big canoe.”
+
+This unearthly looking creature carried in his two hands a wand or
+staff of eight or nine feet in length, with a red ball at the end of
+it, which he continually slid on the ground a-head of him as he ran.
+All eyes in the village, save those of the persons engaged in the
+dance, were centred upon him, and he made a desperate rush towards
+the women, who screamed for protection as they were endeavouring to
+retreat; and falling in groups upon each other as they were struggling
+to get out of his reach. In this moment of general terror and alarm
+there was an instant check! and all for a few moments were as silent as
+death.
+
+The old master of ceremonies, who had run from his position at the
+big canoe, had met this monster of fiends, and having thrust the
+_medicine-pipe_ before him, held him still and immoveable under its
+charm! This check gave the females an opportunity to get out of his
+reach, and when they were free from their danger, though all hearts
+beat yet with the instant excitement, their alarm soon cooled down
+into the most exorbitant laughter and shouts of applause at his sudden
+defeat, and the awkward and ridiculous posture in which he was stopped
+and held. The old man was braced stiff by his side, with his eye-balls
+glaring him in the face, whilst the medicine-pipe held in its mystic
+chains his _Satanic_ Majesty, annulling all the powers of his magical
+wand, and also depriving him of the powers of locomotion! Surely no
+two human beings ever presented a more striking group than these two
+individuals did for a few moments, with their eye-balls set in direst
+mutual hatred upon each other; both struggling for the supremacy,
+relying on the potency of their medicine or mystery. The one held in
+check, with his body painted black, representing (or rather assuming
+to be) his sable majesty, O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit), frowning
+everlasting vengeance on the other, who sternly gazed him back with a
+look of exultation and contempt, as he held him in check and disarmed
+under the charm of his sacred mystery-pipe.
+
+When the superior powers of the medicine-pipe (on which hang all these
+annual mysteries) had been thus fully tested and acknowledged, and
+the women had had requisite time to withdraw from the reach of this
+fiendish monster, the pipe was very gradually withdrawn from before
+him, and he seemed delighted to recover the use of his limbs again,
+and power of changing his position from the exceedingly unpleasant and
+really ridiculous one he appeared in, and was compelled to maintain,
+a few moments before; rendered more superlatively ridiculous and
+laughable, from the further information, which I am constrained to
+give, of the plight in which this demon of terror and vulgarity made
+his _entrée_ into the midst of the Mandan village, and to the centre
+and nucleus of their first and greatest religious ceremony.
+
+Then, to proceed: I said that this strange personage’s body was
+naked—was painted jet black with charcoal and bear’s grease, with a
+wand in his hands of eight feet in length with a red ball at the end
+of it, which he was rubbing about on the ground in front of him as he
+ran. In addition to this he had—_ung gee ah waheea notch,t oheks teha,
+ung gee an ung hutch tow a tow ah ches menny. Ung gee ah to to wun nee,
+ahkst to wan ee eigh’ s ta w._
+
+In this plight, in which I have not dared fully to represent him in
+the picture, he pursued the groups of females, spreading dismay and
+alarm wherever he went, and consequently producing the awkward and
+exceedingly laughable predicament in which he was placed by the sudden
+check from the medicine-pipe, as I have above stated, when all eyes
+were intently fixed upon him, and all joined in rounds of applause for
+the success of the magic spell that was placed upon him; all voices
+were raised in shouts of satisfaction at his defeat, and all eyes
+gazed upon him; of chiefs and of warriors—matrons and even of their
+tender-aged and timid daughters, whose education had taught them to
+receive the _moral_ of these scenes without the shock of impropriety,
+that would have startled a more fastidious and consequently
+sensual-thinking people.
+
+After repeated attempts thus made, and thus defeated in several parts
+of the crowd, this blackened monster was retreating over the ground
+where the buffalo-dance was going on, and having (apparently, par
+accident) swaggered against one of the men placed under the skin of a
+buffalo and engaged in the “bull dance,” he started back, and placing
+himself in the attitude of a buffalo,—_hi ung ee a wahkstia, chee a
+nahk s tammee ung s towa; ee ung ee aht gwaht ee o nunghths tcha ho a,
+tummee oxt no ah, ughstono ah hi en en ah nahxt gwi aht gahtch gun ne.
+Gwee en on doatcht chee en aht gunne how how en ahxst tchu!_
+
+After this he paid his visits to three others of the eight, in
+succession, receiving as before the deafening shouts of approbation
+which pealed from every mouth in the multitude, who were all praying to
+the Great Spirit to send them buffaloes to supply them with food during
+the season, and who attribute the coming of buffaloes for this purpose
+entirely to the strict and critical observance of this ridiculous and
+disgusting part of the ceremonies.
+
+During the half hour or so that he had been jostled about amongst man
+and beasts, to the great amusement and satisfaction of the lookers-on,
+he seemed to have become exceedingly exhausted, and anxiously looking
+out for some feasible mode of escape.
+
+In this awkward predicament he became the laughing-stock and butt for
+the women, who being no longer afraid of him, were gathering in groups
+around, to tease and tantalize him; and in the midst of this dilemma,
+which soon became a very sad one—one of the women, who stole up behind
+him with both hands full of yellow dirt—dashed it into his face and
+eyes, and all over him, and his body being covered with grease, took
+instantly a different hue. He seemed heart-broken at this signal
+disgrace, and commenced crying most vehemently, when, _a l’instant_,
+another caught his _wand_ from his hand, and broke it across her knee.
+It was snatched for by others, who broke it still into bits, and then
+threw them at him. His power was now gone—his bodily strength was
+exhausted, and he made a bolt for the prairie—he dashed through the
+crowd, and made his way through the piquets on the back part of the
+village, where were placed for the purpose, an hundred or more women
+and girls, who escorted him as he ran on the prairie for half a mile
+or more, beating him with sticks, and stones, and dirt, and kicks, and
+cuffs, until he was at length seen escaping from their clutches, and
+making the best of his retreat over the prairie bluffs, from whence he
+first appeared.
+
+At the moment of this signal victory, and when all eyes lost sight of
+him as he disappeared over the bluffs, the whole village united their
+voices in shouts of satisfaction. The bull-dance then stopped, and
+preparations were instantly made for the commencement of the cruelties
+which were to take place within the lodge, leaving us to draw, from
+what had just transpired, the following beautiful moral:—
+
+That in the midst of their religious ceremonies, the Evil Spirit
+(O-kee-hee-de) made his entrée for the purpose of doing mischief, and
+of disturbing their worship—that he was held in check, and defeated
+by the superior influence and virtue of the _medicine-pipe_, and at
+last, driven in disgrace out of the village, by the very part of the
+community whom he came to abuse.
+
+At the close of this exciting scene, preparations were made, as above
+stated, by the return of the master of ceremonies and musicians to the
+medicine-lodge, where also were admitted at the same time a number
+of men, who were to be instruments of the cruelties to be inflicted;
+and also the chief and doctors of the tribe, who were to look on, and
+bear witness to, and decide upon, the comparative degree of fortitude,
+with which the young men sustain themselves in this most extreme and
+excruciating ordeal. The chiefs having seated themselves on one side
+of the lodge, dressed out in their robes and splendid head-dresses—the
+band of music seated and arranged themselves in another part; and the
+old master of ceremonies having placed himself in front of a small
+fire in the centre of the lodge, with his “big pipe” in his hands,
+and having commenced smoking to the Great Spirit, with all possible
+vehemence for the success of these aspirants, presented the subject for
+the third picture, which they call “_pohk-hong_,” the cutting scene
+(+plate+ 68). Around the sides of the lodge are seen, still reclining,
+as I have before mentioned, a part of the group, whilst others of them
+have passed the ordeal of self-tortures, and have been removed out of
+the lodge; and others still are seen in the very act of submitting
+to them, which were inflicted in the following manner:—After having
+removed the _sanctissimus sanctorum_, or little scaffold, of which I
+before spoke, and having removed also the buffalo and human skulls
+from the floor, and attached them to the posts of the lodge; and two
+men having taken their positions near the middle of the lodge, for the
+purpose of inflicting the tortures—the one with the scalping-knife, and
+the other with the bunch of splints (which I have before mentioned)
+in his hand; one at a time of the young fellows, already emaciated
+with fasting, and thirsting, and waking, for nearly four days and
+nights, advanced from the side of the lodge, and placed himself on his
+hands and feet, or otherwise, as best suited for the performance of
+the operation, where he submitted to the cruelties in the following
+manner:—An inch or more of the flesh on each shoulder, or each breast
+was taken up between the thumb and finger by the man who held the
+knife in his right hand; and the knife, which had been ground sharp on
+both edges, and then hacked and notched with the blade of another, to
+make it produce as much pain as possible, was forced through the flesh
+below the fingers, and being withdrawn, was followed with a splint or
+skewer, from the other, who held a bunch of such in his left hand, and
+was ready to force them through the wound. There were then two cords
+lowered down from the top of the lodge (by men who were placed on the
+lodge outside, for the purpose), which were fastened to these splints
+or skewers, and they instantly began to haul him up; he was thus raised
+until his body was suspended from the ground where he rested, until
+the knife and a splint were passed through the flesh or integuments in
+a similar manner on each arm below the shoulder (over the _brachialis
+externus_), below the elbow (over the _extensor carpi radialis_), on
+the thighs (over the _vastus externus_), and below the knees (over the
+_peroneus_).
+
+In some instances they remained in a reclining position on the ground
+until this painful operation was finished, which was performed, in all
+instances, exactly on the same parts of the body and limbs; and which,
+in its progress, occupied some five or six minutes.
+
+Each one was then instantly raised with the cords, until the weight of
+his body was suspended by them, and then, while the blood was streaming
+down their limbs, the bystanders hung upon the splints each man’s
+appropriate shield, bow and quiver, &c.; and in many instances, the
+skull of a buffalo with the horns on it, was attached to each lower arm
+and each lower leg, for the purpose, probably, of preventing by their
+great weight, the struggling, which might otherwise have taken place to
+their disadvantage whilst they were hung up.
+
+When these things were all adjusted, each one was raised higher by the
+cords, until these weights all swung clear from the ground, leaving
+his feet, in most cases, some six or eight feet above the ground. In
+this plight they at once became appalling and frightful to look at—the
+flesh, to support the weight of their bodies, with the additional
+weights which were attached to them, was raised six or eight inches by
+the skewers; and their heads sunk forward on the breasts, or thrown
+backwards, in a much more frightful condition, according to the way in
+which they were hung up.
+
+[Illustration: 69]
+
+The unflinching fortitude, with which every one of them bore this part
+of the torture surpassed credulity; each one as the knife was passed
+through his flesh sustained an unchangeable countenance; and several of
+them, seeing me making sketches, beckoned me to look at their faces,
+which I watched through all this horrid operation, without being able
+to detect anything but the pleasantest smiles as they looked me in
+the eye, while I could hear the knife rip through the flesh, and feel
+enough of it myself, to start involuntary and uncontroullable tears
+over my cheeks.
+
+When raised to the condition above described, and completely suspended
+by the cords, the sanguinary hands, through which he had just passed,
+turned back to perform a similar operation on another who was
+ready, and each one in his turn passed into the charge of others,
+who instantly introduced him to a new and improved stage of their
+refinements in cruelty.
+
+Surrounded by imps and demons as they appear, a dozen or more, who seem
+to be concerting and devising means for his exquisite agony, gather
+around him, when one of the number advances towards him in a sneering
+manner, and commences turning him around with a pole which he brings
+in his hand for the purpose. This is done in a gentle manner at first;
+but gradually increased, when the brave fellow, whose proud spirit
+can controul its agony no longer, burst out in the most lamentable
+and heart-rending cries that the human voice is capable of producing,
+crying forth a prayer to the Great Spirit to support and protect him
+in this dreadful trial; and continually repeating his confidence
+in his protection. In this condition he is continued to be turned,
+faster and faster—and there is no hope of escape from it, nor chance
+for the slightest relief, until by fainting, his voice falters, and
+his struggling ceases, and he hangs, apparently, a still and lifeless
+corpse! When he is, by turning, gradually brought to this condition,
+which is generally done within ten or fifteen minutes, there is a close
+scrutiny passed upon him among his tormentors, who are checking and
+holding each other back as long as the least struggling or tremour can
+be discovered, lest he should be removed before he is (as they term it)
+“entirely dead.”
+
+When brought to this alarming and most frightful condition, and the
+turning has gradually ceased, as his voice and his strength have given
+out, leaving him to hang entirely still, and apparently lifeless; when
+his tongue is distended from his mouth, and his _medicine-bag_, which
+he has affectionately and superstitiously clung to with his left hand,
+has dropped to the ground; the signal is given to the men on top of the
+lodge, by gently striking the cord with the pole below, when they very
+gradually and carefully lower him to the ground.
+
+In this helpless condition he lies, like a loathsome corpse to look
+at, though in the keeping (as they call it) of the Great Spirit, whom
+he trusts will protect him, and enable him to get up and walk away.
+As soon as he is lowered to the ground thus, one of the bystanders
+advances, and pulls out the two splints or pins from the breasts and
+shoulders, thereby disengaging him from the cords by which he has been
+hung up; but leaving all the others with their weights, &c. hanging to
+his flesh.
+
+In this condition he lies for six or eight minutes, until he gets
+strength to rise and move himself, for no one is allowed to assist or
+offer him aid, as he is here enjoying the most valued privilege which a
+Mandan can boast of, that of “trusting his life to the keeping of the
+Great Spirit,” in this time of extreme peril.
+
+As soon as he is seen to get strength enough to rise on his hands and
+feet, and drag his body around the lodge, he crawls with the weights
+still hanging to his body, to another part of the lodge, where there is
+another Indian sitting with a hatchet in his hand, and a dried buffalo
+skull before him; and here, in the most earnest and humble manner, by
+holding up the little finger of his left hand to the Great Spirit, he
+expresses to Him, in a speech of a few words, his willingness to give
+it as a sacrifice; when he lays it on the dried buffalo skull, where
+the other chops it off near the hand, with a blow of the hatchet!
+
+Nearly all of the young men whom I saw passing this horrid ordeal,
+gave in the above manner, the little finger of the left hand; and I
+saw also several, who immediately afterwards (and apparently with very
+little concern or emotion), with a similar speech, extended in the same
+way, the _fore_-finger of the same hand, and that too was struck off;
+leaving on the left hand only the two middle fingers and the thumb;
+all which they deem absolutely essential for holding the bow, the only
+weapon for the left hand.
+
+One would think that this mutilation had thus been carried quite far
+enough; but I have since examined several of the head chiefs and
+dignitaries of the tribe, who have also given, in this manner, the
+little finger of the right hand, which is considered by them to be a
+much greater sacrifice than both of the others; and I have found also
+a number of their most famous men, who furnish me incontestible proof,
+by five or six corresponding scars on each arm, and each breast, and
+each leg, that they had so many times in their lives submitted to this
+almost incredible operation, which seems to be optional with them;
+and the oftener they volunteer to go through it, the more famous they
+become in the estimation of their tribe.
+
+No bandages are applied to the fingers which have been amputated, nor
+any arteries taken up; nor is any attention whatever, paid to them or
+the other wounds; but they are left (as they say) “for the Great Spirit
+to cure, who will surely take good care of them.” It is a remarkable
+fact (which I learned from a close inspection of their wounds from day
+to day) that the bleeding is but very slight and soon ceases, probably
+from the fact of their extreme exhaustion and debility, caused by want
+of sustenance and sleep, which checks the natural circulation, and
+admirably at the same time prepares them to meet the severity of these
+tortures without the same degree of sensibility and pain, which, under
+other circumstances, might result in inflammation and death.
+
+During the whole of the time of this cruel part of these most
+extraordinary inflictions, the chiefs and dignitaries of the tribe are
+looking on, to decide who are the hardiest and “stoutest hearted”—who
+can hang the longest by his flesh before he faints, and who will be
+soonest up, after he has been down; that they may know whom to appoint
+to lead a war-party, or place at the most honourable and desperate
+post. The four old men are incessantly beating upon the sacks of water
+and singing the whole time, with their voices strained to the highest
+key, vaunting forth, for the encouragement of the young men, the power
+and efficacy of the _medicine-pipe_, which has disarmed the monster
+O-kee-hee-de (or Evil Spirit), and driven him from the village, and
+will be sure to protect them and watch over them through their present
+severe trial.
+
+As soon as six or eight had passed the ordeal as above described,
+they were led out of the lodge, with their weights hanging to their
+flesh, and dragging on the ground, to undergo another, and a still
+more appalling mode of suffering in the centre of the village, and in
+presence of the whole nation, in the manner as follows:—
+
+The signal for the commencement of this part of the cruelties was
+given by the old master of ceremonies, who again ran out as in
+the buffalo-dance, and leaning against the big canoe, with his
+_medicine-pipe_ in his hand, began to cry. This was done several times
+in the afternoon, as often as there were six or eight who had passed
+the ordeal just described within the lodge, who were then taken out in
+the open area, in the presence of the whole village, with the buffalo
+skulls and other weights attached to their flesh, and dragging on the
+ground! There were then in readiness, and prepared for the purpose,
+about twenty young men, selected of equal height and equal age; with
+their bodies chiefly naked, with beautiful (and similar) head-dresses
+of war-eagles’ quills, on their heads, and a wreath made of willow
+boughs held in the hands between them, connecting them in a chain or
+circle in which they ran around the big canoe, with all possible speed,
+raising their voices in screams and yelps to the highest pitch that was
+possible, and keeping the curb or _big canoe_ in the centre, as their
+nucleus.
+
+Then were led forward the young men who were further to suffer, and
+being placed at equal distances apart, and outside of the ring just
+described, each one was taken in charge of two athletic young men,
+fresh and strong, who stepped up to him, one on each side, and by
+wrapping a broad leather strap around his wrists, without tying it,
+grasped it firm underneath the hand, and stood prepared for what they
+call _Eh-ke-nah-ka-nah-pick_ (the last race, +plate+ 69). This, the
+spectator looking on would suppose was most correctly named, for he
+would think it was the last race they could possibly run in this world.
+
+In this condition they stand, pale and ghastly, from abstinence and
+loss of blood, until all are prepared, and the word is given, when
+all start and run around, outside of the other ring; and each poor
+fellow, with his weights dragging on the ground, and his furious
+conductors by his side, who hurry him forward by the wrists, struggles
+in the desperate emulation to run longer without “dying” (as they
+call it) than his comrades, who are fainting around him and sinking
+down, like himself, where their bodies are dragged with all possible
+speed, and often with their faces in the dirt. In the commencement of
+this dance or race they all start at a moderate pace, and their speed
+being gradually increased, the pain becomes so excruciating that their
+languid and exhausted frames give out, and they are dragged by their
+wrists until they are disengaged from the weights that were attached
+to their flesh, and this must be done by such violent force as to
+tear the flesh out with the splint, which (as they say) can never be
+pulled out endwise, without greatly offending the Great Spirit and
+defeating the object for which they have thus far suffered. The splints
+or skewers which are put through the breast and the shoulders, take
+up a part of the pectoral or trapezius muscle, which is necessary for
+the support of the great weight of their bodies, and which, as I have
+before mentioned, are withdrawn as soon as he is lowered down—but all
+the others, on the legs and arms, seem to be very ingeniously passed
+through the flesh and integuments without taking up the muscle, and
+even these, to be broken out, require so strong and so violent a force
+that most of the poor fellows fainted under the operation, and when
+they were freed from the last of the buffalo skulls and other weights,
+(which was often done by some of the bystanders throwing the weight of
+their bodies on to them as they were dragging on the ground) they were
+in every instance dropped by the persons who dragged them, and their
+bodies were left, appearing like nothing but a mangled and a loathsome
+corpse! At this strange and frightful juncture, the two men who had
+dragged them, fled through the crowd and away upon the prairie, as if
+they were guilty of some enormous crime, and were fleeing from summary
+vengeance.
+
+Each poor fellow, having thus patiently and manfully endured the
+privations and tortures devised for him, and (in this last struggle
+with the most appalling effort) torn himself loose from them and his
+tormentors, he lies the second time, in the “keeping (as he terms it)
+of the Great Spirit,” to whom he issues his repeated prayers, and
+entrusts his life: and in whom he reposes the most implicit confidence
+for his preservation and recovery. As an evidence of this, and of the
+high value which these youths set upon this privilege, there is no
+person, not a relation or a chief of the tribe, who is allowed, or who
+would dare, to step forward to offer an aiding hand, even to save his
+life; for not only the rigid customs of the nation, and the pride of
+the individual who has entrusted his life to the keeping of the Great
+Spirit, would sternly reject such a tender; but their superstition,
+which is the strongest of all arguments in an Indian community, would
+alone, hold all the tribe in fear and dread of interfering, when
+they consider they have so good a reason to believe that the Great
+Spirit has undertaken the special care and protection of his devoted
+worshippers.
+
+In this “last race,” which was the struggle that finally closed their
+sufferings, each one was dragged until he fainted, and was thus left,
+looking more like the dead than the living: and thus each one laid,
+until, by the aid of the Great Spirit, he was in a few minutes seen
+gradually rising, and at last reeling and staggering, like a drunken
+man, through the crowd (which made way for him) to his wigwam, where
+his friends and relatives stood ready to take him into hand and restore
+him.
+
+In this frightful scene, as in the buffalo-dance, the whole nation was
+assembled as spectators, and all raised the most piercing and violent
+yells and screams they could possibly produce, to drown the cries of
+the suffering ones, that no heart could even be touched with sympathy
+for them. I have mentioned before, that six or eight of the young men
+were brought from the medicine-lodge at a time, and when they were
+thus passed through this shocking ordeal, the medicine-men and the
+chiefs returned to the interior, where as many more were soon prepared,
+and underwent a similar treatment; and after that another batch, and
+another, and so on, until the whole number, some forty-five or fifty
+had run in this sickening circle, and, by leaving their weights, had
+opened the flesh for honourable scars. I said _all_, but there was one
+poor fellow though (and I shudder to tell it), who was dragged around
+and around the circle, with the skull of an elk hanging to the flesh
+on one of his legs,—several had jumped upon it, but to no effect, for
+the splint was under the sinew, which could not be broken. The dragging
+became every instant more and more furious, and the apprehensions for
+the poor fellow’s life, apparent by the piteous howl which was set up
+for him by the multitude around; and at last the medicine-man ran, with
+his medicine-pipe in his hand, and held them in check, when the body
+was dropped, and left upon the ground, with the skull yet hanging to
+it. The boy, who was an extremely interesting and fine-looking youth,
+soon recovered his senses and his strength, looking deliberately at
+his torn and bleeding limbs; and also with the most pleasant smile of
+defiance, upon the misfortune which had now fallen to his peculiar lot,
+crawled through the crowd (instead of walking, which they are never
+again at liberty to do until the flesh is torn out, and the article
+left) to the prairie, and over which, for the distance of half a mile,
+to a sequestered spot, without any attendant, where he laid three days
+and three nights, yet longer, without food, and praying to the Great
+Spirit, until suppuration took place in the wound, and by the decaying
+of the flesh the weight was dropped, and the splint also, which he dare
+not extricate in another way. At the end of this, he crawled back to
+the village on his hands and knees, being too much emaciated to walk,
+and begged for something to eat, which was at once given him, and he
+was soon restored to health.
+
+These extreme and difficult cases often occur, and I learn that in such
+instances the youth has it at his option to get rid of the weight that
+is thus left upon him, in such way as he may choose, and some of those
+modes are far more extraordinary than the one which I have just named.
+Several of the Traders, who have been for a number of years in the
+habit of seeing this part of the ceremony, have told me that two years
+since, when they were looking on, there was one whose flesh on the arms
+was so strong that the weights could not be left, and he dragged them
+with his body to the river by the side of the village, where he set a
+stake fast in the ground on the top of the bank, and fastening cords
+to it, he let himself half-way down a perpendicular wall of rock, of
+twenty-five or thirty feet, where the weight of his body was suspended
+by the two cords attached to the flesh of his arms. In this awful
+condition he hung for several days, equi-distant from the top of the
+rock and the deep water below, into which he at last dropped and saved
+himself by swimming ashore!
+
+I need record no more of these shocking and disgusting instances,
+of which I have already given enough to convince the world of the
+correctness of the established fact of the Indian’s superior stoicism
+and power of endurance, although some recent writers have, from motives
+of envy, from ignorance, or something else, taken great pains to cut
+the poor Indian short in everything, and in _this_, even as if it were
+a virtue.
+
+I am ready to accord to them in this particular, the palm; the credit
+of outdoing anything and everybody, and of enduring more than civilized
+man ever aspired to or ever thought of. My heart has sickened also
+with disgust for so abominable and ignorant a custom, and still I
+stand ready with all my heart, to excuse and forgive them for adhering
+so strictly to an ancient celebration, founded in superstitions and
+mysteries, of which they know not the origin, and constituting a
+material part and feature in the code and forms of their religion.
+
+Reader, I will return with you a moment to the medicine-lodge, which is
+just to be closed, and then we will indulge in some general reflections
+upon what has passed, and in what, and for what purposes this strange
+batch of mysteries has been instituted and perpetuated.
+
+After these young men, who had for the last four days occupied the
+medicine-lodge, had been operated on, in the manner above described,
+and taken out of it, the old medicine-man, master of ceremonies,
+returned, (still crying to the Great Spirit) sole tenant of that sacred
+place, and brought out the “edged tools,” which I before said had been
+collected at the door of every man’s wigwam, to be given as a sacrifice
+to the water, and leaving the lodge securely fastened, he approached
+the bank of the river, when all the medicine-men attended him, and all
+the nation were spectators; and in their presence he threw them from a
+high bank into very deep water, from which they cannot be recovered,
+and where they are, correctly speaking, made a sacrifice to the water.
+This part of the affair took place just exactly at sun-down, and closed
+the scene, being the end or finale of the _Mandan religious ceremony_.
+
+[Illustration: 70]
+
+[Illustration: 71]
+
+_The reader will forgive me for here inserting the Certificates which
+  I have just received from Mr. Kipp, of the city of New York, and two
+  others, who were with me; which I offer for the satisfaction of the
+  world, who read the above account._
+
+“_We hereby certify, that we witnessed, in company with Mr. Catlin, in
+the Mandan Village, the ceremonies represented in the four paintings,
+and described in his Notes, to which this Certificate refers; and that
+he has therein faithfully represented those scenes as we saw them
+transacted without any addition or exaggeration._
+
+                                 “+J. Kipp+, _Agent Amer. Fur Company_.
+                                  +L. Crawford+, _Clerk_.
+  “_Mandan Village, July 20, 1833._  +Abraham Bogard+.”
+
+The strange country that I am in—its excitements—its accidents and
+wild incidents which startle me at almost every moment, prevent me
+from any very elaborate disquisition upon the above remarkable events
+at present; and even had I all the time and leisure of a country
+gentleman, and all the additional information which I am daily
+procuring, and daily expect to procure hereafter in explanation of
+these unaccountable mysteries, yet do I fear that there would be
+that inexplicable difficulty that hangs over most of the customs and
+traditions of these simple people, who have no history to save facts
+and systems from falling into the most absurd and disjointed fable and
+ignorant fiction.
+
+What few plausible inferences I have as yet been able to draw from the
+above strange and peculiar transactions I will set forth, but with
+some diffidence, hoping and trusting that by further intimacy and
+familiarity with these people I may yet arrive at more satisfactory and
+important results.
+
+That these people should have a tradition of the Flood is by no means
+surprising; as I have learned from every tribe I have visited, that
+they all have some high mountain in their vicinity, where they insist
+upon it the big canoe landed; but that these people should hold an
+annual celebration of the event, and the season of that decided by such
+circumstances as the full leaf of the willow, and the medicine-lodge
+opened by such a man as Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (who appears to be a white
+man), and making his appearance “from the high-mountains in the West;”
+and some other circumstances, is surely a very remarkable thing, and
+requires some extraordinary attention.
+
+This Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (first or only man) is undoubtedly some mystery
+or medicine-man of the tribe, who has gone out on the prairie on the
+evening previous, and having dressed and painted himself for the
+occasion, comes into the village in the morning, endeavouring to keep
+up the semblance of reality; for their tradition says, that at a very
+ancient period such a man did actually come from the West—that his
+body was of the white colour, as this man’s body is represented—that
+he wore a robe of four white wolf skins—his head-dress was made of two
+raven’s skins—and in his left hand was a huge pipe. He said, “he was at
+one time the only man—he told them of the destruction of every thing on
+the earth’s surface by water—that he stopped in his _big canoe_ on a
+high mountain in the West, where he landed and was saved.”
+
+“That the Mandans, and all other people were bound to make yearly
+sacrifices of some edged-tools to the water, for of such things the
+big canoe was made. That he instructed the Mandans how to build
+their medicine-lodge, and taught them also the forms of these annual
+ceremonies; and told them that as long as they made these sacrifices,
+and performed their rites to the full letter, they might be assured of
+the fact, that they would be the favourite people of the Almighty, and
+would always have enough to eat and drink; and that so soon as they
+should depart in one tittle from these forms, they might be assured,
+that their race would decrease, and finally run out; and that they
+might date their nation’s calamity to that omission or neglect.”
+
+These people have, no doubt, been long living under the dread of such
+an injunction, and in the fear of departing from it; and while they are
+living in total ignorance of its origin, the world must remain equally
+ignorant of much of its meaning, as they needs must be of all Indian
+customs resting on ancient traditions, which soon run into fables,
+having lost all their system, by which they might have been construed.
+
+This strange and unaccountable custom, is undoubtedly peculiar to the
+Mandans; although, amongst the Minatarees, and some others of the
+neighbouring tribes, they have seasons of abstinence and self-torture,
+somewhat similar, but bearing no other resemblance to this than a mere
+feeble effort or form of imitation.
+
+It would seem from their tradition of the willow branch, and the dove,
+that these people must have had some proximity to some part of the
+civilized world; or that missionaries or others have been formerly
+among them, inculcating the Christian religion and the Mosaic account
+of the Flood; which is, in this and some other respects, decidedly
+different from the theory which most natural people have distinctly
+established of that event.
+
+There are other strong, and almost decisive proofs in my opinion, in
+support of the assertion, which are to be drawn from the diversity
+of colour in their hair and complexions, as I have before described,
+as well as from their tradition just related, of the “_first or only
+man_,” whose body was white, and who came from the West, telling them
+of the destruction of the earth by water, and instructing them in the
+forms of these mysteries; and, in addition to the above, I will add
+the two following very curious stories, which I had from several of
+their old and dignified chiefs, and which are, no doubt, standing and
+credited traditions of the tribe.
+
+“The Mandans (people of the pheasants) were the first people created
+in the world, and they originally lived inside of the earth; they
+raised many vines, and one of them had grown up through a hole in
+the earth, over head, and one of their young men climbed up it until
+he came out on the top of the ground, on the bank of the river, where
+the Mandan village stands. He looked around, and admired the beautiful
+country and prairies about him—saw many buffaloes—killed one with his
+bow and arrows, and found that its meat was good to eat. He returned,
+and related what he had seen; when a number of others went up the vine
+with him, and witnessed the same things. Amongst those who went up,
+were two very pretty young women, who were favourites of the chiefs,
+because they were virgins; and amongst those who were trying to get up,
+was a very large and fat woman, who was ordered by the chiefs not to go
+up, but whose curiosity led her to try it as soon as she got a secret
+opportunity, when there was no one present. When she got part of the
+way up, the vine broke under the great weight of her body, and let her
+down. She was very much hurt by the fall, but did not die. The Mandans
+were very sorry about this; and she was disgraced for being the cause
+of a very great calamity, which she had brought upon them, and which
+could never be averted; for no more could ever ascend, nor could those
+descend who had got up; but they built the Mandan village, where it
+formerly stood, a great ways below on the river; and the remainder of
+the people live under ground to this day.”
+
+The above tradition is told with great gravity by their chiefs and
+doctors or mystery-men; and the latter profess to hear their friends
+talk through the earth at certain times and places, and even consult
+them for their opinions and advice on many important occasions.
+
+The next tradition runs thus:—
+
+“At a very ancient period, O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit, the black
+fellow mentioned in the religious ceremonies) came to the Mandan
+village with Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) from the West,
+and sat down by a woman who had but one eye, and was hoeing corn. Her
+daughter, who was very pretty came up to her, and the Evil Spirit
+desired her to go and bring some water; but wished that before she
+started, she would come to him and eat some buffalo meat. He told her
+to take a piece out of his side, which she did and ate it, which proved
+to be buffalo-fat. She then went for the water, which she brought, and
+met them in the village where they had walked, and they both drank of
+it—nothing more was done.
+
+“The friends of the girl soon after endeavoured to disgrace her, by
+telling her that she was _enciente_, which she did not deny. She
+declared her innocence at the same time, and boldly defied any man
+in the village to come forward and accuse her. This raised a great
+excitement in the village, and as no one could stand forth to accuse
+her, she was looked upon as _great medicine_. She soon after went off
+secretly to the upper Mandan village, where the child was born.
+
+“Great search was made for her before she was found; as it was
+expected that the child would also be great _medicine_ or mystery,
+and of great importance to the existence and welfare of the tribe.
+They were induced to this belief from the very strange manner of its
+conception and birth, and were soon confirmed in it from the wonderful
+things which it did at an early age. They say, that amongst other
+miracles which he performed, when the Mandans were like to starve, he
+gave them four buffalo bulls, which filled the whole village—leaving as
+much meat as there was before they had eaten; saying that these four
+bulls would supply them for ever. Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only
+man) was bent on the destruction of the child, and after making many
+fruitless searches for it, found it hidden in a dark place, and put it
+to death by throwing it into the river.
+
+“When O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit) heard of the death of this child,
+he sought for Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah with intent to kill him. He traced
+him a long distance, and at length found him at _Heart River_, about
+seventy miles below the village, with the big medicine-pipe in his
+hand, the charm or mystery of which protects him from all of his
+enemies. They soon agreed, however, to become friends, smoked the big
+pipe together, and returned to the Mandan village. The Evil Spirit was
+satisfied; and Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah told the Mandans never to pass Heart
+River to live, for it was the centre of the world, and to live beyond
+it would be destruction to them; and he named it _Nat-com-pa-sa-hah_
+(heart or centre of the world).”
+
+Such are a few of the principal traditions of these people, which I
+have thought proper to give in this place, and I have given them in
+their own way, with all the imperfections and absurd inconsistencies
+which should be expected to characterize the history of all ignorant
+and superstitious people who live in a state of simple and untaught
+nature, with no other means of perpetuating historical events, than by
+oral traditions.
+
+I advance these vague stories then, as I have done, and shall do in
+other instances, not in support of any theory, but merely as I have
+heard them related by the Indians; and preserved them, as I have
+everything else that I could meet in the Indian habits and character,
+for the information of the world, who may get more time to theorize
+than I have at present; and who may consider better than I can, how far
+such traditions should be taken as evidence of the facts, that these
+people have for a long period preserved and perpetuated an imperfect
+knowledge of the Deluge—of the appearance and death of a Saviour—and of
+the transgressions of mother Eve.
+
+I am not yet able to learn from these people whether they have any
+distinct theory of the creation; as they seem to date nothing further
+back than their own existence as a people; saying (as I have before
+mentioned), that they were the first people created; involving the
+glaring absurdities that they were the only people on earth before
+the Flood, and the only one saved was a white man; or that they were
+created inside of the earth, as their tradition says; and that they did
+not make their appearance on its outer surface until after the Deluge.
+When an Indian story is told, it is like all other gifts, “to be taken
+for what it is worth,” and for any seeming inconsistency in their
+traditions there is no remedy; for as far as I have tried to reconcile
+them by reasoning with, or questioning them, I have been entirely
+defeated; and more than that, have generally incurred their distrust
+and ill-will. One of the Mandan doctors told me very gravely a few days
+since, that the earth was a large tortoise, that it carried the dirt on
+its back—that a tribe of people, who are now dead, and whose faces were
+white, used to dig down very deep in this ground to catch _badgers_;
+and that one day they stuck a knife through the tortoise-shell, and it
+sunk down so that the water ran over its back, and drowned all but one
+man. And on the next day while I was painting his portrait, he told me
+there were _four tortoises_,—one in the North—one in the East—one in
+the South, and one in the West; that each one of these rained ten days,
+and the water covered over the earth.
+
+These ignorant and conflicting accounts, and both from the same man,
+give as good a demonstration, perhaps, of what I have above mentioned,
+as to the inefficiency of Indian traditions as anything I could at
+present mention. They might, perhaps, have been in this instance
+however the creeds of different sects, or of different priests amongst
+them, who often advance diametrically opposite theories and traditions
+relative to history and mythology.
+
+And however ignorant and ridiculous they may seem, they are yet worthy
+of a little further consideration, as relating to a number of curious
+circumstances connected with the unaccountable religious ceremonies
+which I have just described.
+
+The Mandan chiefs and doctors, in all their feasts, where the pipe
+is lit and about to be passed around, deliberately propitiate the
+good-will and favour of the Great Spirit, by extending the stem of
+the pipe _upwards_ before they smoke it themselves; and also as
+deliberately and as strictly offering the stem to the four _cardinal
+points_ in succession, and then drawing a whiff through it, passing it
+around amongst the group.
+
+The _annual religious ceremony_ invariably lasts _four_ days, and
+the other following circumstances attending these strange forms, and
+seeming to have some allusion to the _four_ cardinal points, or the
+“four tortoises,” seem to me to be worthy of further notice. _Four_
+men are selected by Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (as I have before said), to
+cleanse out and prepare the medicine-lodge for the occasion—one he
+calls from the _north_ part of the village—one from the _east_—one from
+the _south_, and one from the _west_. The _four_ sacks of water, in
+form of large tortoises, resting on the floor of the lodge and before
+described, would seem to be typical of the same thing; and also the
+_four_ buffalo, and the _four_ human skulls resting on the floor of the
+same lodge—the _four_ couples of dancers in the “bull-dance,” as before
+described, and also the _four_ intervening dancers in the same dance,
+and also described
+
+The bull-dance in front of the medicine-lodge, repeated on the _four_
+days, is danced _four_ times on the first day, _eight_ times on the
+second, _twelve_ times on the third, and _sixteen_ times on the
+_fourth_; (adding _four_ dances on each of the _four_ days,) which
+added together make _forty_, the exact number of days that it rained
+upon the earth, according to the Mosaic account, to produce the Deluge.
+There are _four_ sacrifices of black and blue cloths erected over the
+door of the medicine-lodge—the visits of O-kee-hee-de (or Evil Spirit)
+were paid to _four_ of the buffaloes in the buffalo-dance, as above
+described; and in every instance, the young men who underwent the
+tortures before explained, had _four_ splints or skewers run through
+the flesh on their legs—_four_ through the arms and _four_ through the
+body.
+
+Such is a brief account of these strange scenes which I have just been
+witnessing, and such my brief history of the Mandans. I might write
+much more on them, giving yet a volume on their stories and traditions;
+but it would be a volume of fables, and scarce worth recording. A
+nation of Indians in their primitive condition, where there are no
+historians, have but a temporary historical existence, for the reasons
+above advanced, and their history, what can be certainly learned of it,
+may be written in a very small compass.
+
+I have dwelt longer on the history and customs of these people than I
+have or shall on any other tribe, in all probability, and that from the
+fact that I have found them a very peculiar people, as will have been
+seen by my notes.
+
+From these very numerous and striking peculiarities in their personal
+appearance—their customs—traditions and language, I have been led
+conclusively to believe that they are a people of decidedly a different
+origin from that of any other tribe in these regions.
+
+From these reasons, as well as from the fact that they are a small and
+feeble tribe, against whom the powerful tribe of Sioux are waging a
+deadly war with the prospect of their extermination; and who with their
+limited numbers, are not likely to hold out long in their struggle for
+existence, I have taken more pains to pourtray their whole character,
+than my limited means will allow me to bestow upon other tribes.
+
+From the ignorant and barbarous and disgusting customs just recited,
+the world would naturally infer, that these people must be the most
+cruel and inhuman beings in the world—yet, such is not the case, and it
+becomes my duty to say it; a better, more honest, hospitable and kind
+people, as a community, are not to be found in the world. No set of men
+that ever I associated with have better hearts than the Mandans, and
+none are quicker to embrace and welcome a white man than they are—none
+will press him closer to his bosom, that the pulsation of his heart may
+be felt, than a Mandan; and no man in any country will keep his word
+and guard his honour more closely.
+
+The shocking and disgusting custom that I have just described, sickens
+the heart and even the stomach of a traveller in the country, and he
+weeps for their ignorance—he pities them with all his heart for their
+blindness, and laments that the light of civilization, of agriculture
+and religion cannot be extended to them, and that their hearts which
+are good enough, could not be turned to embrace something more rational
+and conducive to their true happiness.
+
+Many would doubtless ask, whether such a barbarous custom could be
+eradicated from these people? and whether their thoughts and tastes,
+being turned to agriculture and religion, could be made to abandon the
+dark and random channel in which they are drudging, and made to flow in
+the light and life of civilization?
+
+To this query I answer _yes_. Although this is a custom of long
+standing, being a part of their religion; and probably valued as one
+of their dearest rights; and notwithstanding the difficulty of making
+inroads upon the religion of a people in whose country there is no
+severence of opinions, and consequently no division into different
+sects, with different creeds to shake their faith; I still believe, and
+I _know_, that by a judicious and persevering effort, this abominable
+custom, and others, might be extinguished, and the beautiful green
+fields about the Mandan village might be turned into productive
+gardens, and the waving green bluffs that are spread in the surrounding
+distance, might be spotted with lowing kine, instead of the sneaking
+wolves and the hobbled war-horses that are now stalking about them.
+
+All ignorant and superstitious people, it is a well-known fact, are
+the most fixed and stubborn in their religious opinions, and perhaps
+the most difficult to divert from their established belief, from the
+very fact that they are the most difficult to reason with. Here is
+an ignorant race of human beings, who have from time immemorial been
+in the habit of worshipping in their own way, and of enjoying their
+religious opinions without ever having heard any one to question their
+correctness; and in those opinions they are quiet and satisfied, and
+it requires a patient, gradual, and untiring effort to convince such
+a people that they are wrong, and to work the desired change in their
+belief, and consequently in their actions.
+
+It is decidedly my opinion, however, that such a thing _can_ be done,
+and I do not believe there is a race of wild people on earth where the
+experiment could be more successfully made than amongst the kind and
+hospitable Mandans, nor any place where the Missionary labours of pious
+and industrious men would be more sure to succeed, or more certain to
+be rewarded in the world to come.
+
+I deem such a trial of patience and perseverance with these people of
+great importance, and well worth the experiment. One which I shall hope
+soon to see accomplished, and which, if properly conducted, I am sure
+will result in success. Severed as they are from the contaminating and
+counteracting vices which oppose and thwart most of the best efforts
+of the Missionaries along the frontier, and free from the almost fatal
+prejudices which they have there to contend with; they present a
+better field for the labours of such benevolent teachers than they
+have yet worked in, and a far better chance than they have yet had of
+proving to the world that the poor Indian is not a brute—that he is
+a human and humane being, that he is capable of improvement—and that
+his mind is a beautiful blank on which anything can be written if the
+proper means be taken.
+
+The Mandans being but a small tribe, of two thousand only, and living
+all in two villages, in sight of each other, and occupying these
+permanently, without roaming about like other neighbouring tribes,
+offer undoubtedly, the best opportunity for such an experiment of any
+tribe in the country. The land about their villages is of the best
+quality for ploughing and grazing, and the water just such as would
+be desired. Their villages are fortified with piquets or stockades,
+which protect them from the assaults of their enemies at home; and
+the introduction of agriculture (which would supply them with the
+necessaries and luxuries of life, without the necessity of continually
+exposing their lives to their more numerous enemies on the plains, when
+they are seeking in the chase the means of their subsistence) would
+save them from the continual wastes of life, to which, in their wars
+and the chase they are continually exposed, and which are calculated
+soon to result in their extinction.
+
+I deem it not folly nor idle to say that these people _can be saved_,
+nor officious to suggest to some of the very many excellent and
+pious men, who are almost throwing away the best energies of their
+lives along the debased frontier, that if they would introduce the
+ploughshare and their prayers amongst these people, who are so far
+separated from the taints and contaminating vices of the frontier, they
+would soon see their most ardent desires accomplished and be able to
+solve to the world the perplexing enigma, by presenting a nation of
+savages, civilized and christianized (and consequently _saved_), in the
+heart of the American wilderness.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 23.
+
+                  MINATAREE VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Soon after witnessing the curious scenes described in the former
+Letters, I changed my position to the place from whence I am now
+writing—to the village of the Minatarees, which is also located on
+the west bank of the Missouri river, and only eight miles above the
+Mandans. On my way down the river in my canoe, I passed this village
+without attending to their earnest and clamorous invitations for me to
+come ashore, and it will thus be seen that I am retrograding a little,
+to see all that is to be seen in this singular country.
+
+I have been residing here some weeks, and am able already to say of
+these people as follows:—
+
+The Minatarees (people of the willows) are a small tribe of about 1500
+souls, residing in three villages of earth-covered lodges, on the
+banks of Knife river; a small stream, so called, meandering through
+a beautiful and extensive prairie, and uniting its waters with the
+Missouri.
+
+This small community is undoubtedly a part of the tribe of Crows, of
+whom I have already spoken, living at the base of the Rocky Mountains,
+who have at some remote period, either in their war or hunting
+excursions, been run off by their enemy, and their retreat having been
+prevented, have thrown themselves upon the hospitality of the Mandans,
+to whom they have looked for protection, and under whose wing they are
+now living in a sort of confederacy, ready to intermarry and also to
+join, as they often have done, in the common defence of their country.
+
+In language and personal appearance, as well as in many of their
+customs, they are types of the Crows; yet having adopted and so long
+lived under its influence, the system of the Mandans, they are much
+like them in many respects, and continually assimilating to the modes
+of their patrons and protectors. Amongst their vague and various
+traditions they have evidently some disjointed authority for the manner
+in which they came here; but no account of the time. They say, that
+they came poor—without wigwams or horses—were nearly all women, as
+their warriors had been killed off in their flight; that the Mandans
+would not take them into their village, nor let them come nearer than
+where they are now living, and there assisted them to build their
+villages. From these circumstances their wigwams have been constructed
+exactly in the same manner as those of the Mandans, which I have
+already described, and entirely distinct from any custom to be seen in
+the Crow tribe.
+
+Notwithstanding the long familiarity in which they have lived with the
+Mandans, and the complete adoption of most of their customs, yet it is
+almost an unaccountable fact, that there is scarcely a man in the tribe
+who can speak half a dozen words of the Mandan language; although on
+the other hand, the Mandans are most of them able to converse in the
+Minataree tongue; leaving us to conclude, either that the Minatarees
+are a very inert and stupid people, or that the Mandan language (which
+is most probably the case) being different from any other language in
+the country, is an exceedingly difficult one to learn.
+
+The principal village of the Minatarees which is built upon the bank
+of the Knife river (+plate+ 70), contains forty or fifty earth-covered
+wigwams, from forty to fifty feet in diameter, and being elevated,
+overlooks the other two which are on lower ground and almost lost
+amidst their numerous corn fields and other profuse vegetation which
+cover the earth with their luxuriant growth.
+
+The scenery along the banks of this little river, from village to
+village, is quite peculiar and curious; rendered extremely so by the
+continual wild and garrulous groups of men, women, and children, who
+are wending their way along its winding shores, or dashing and plunging
+through its blue waves, enjoying the luxury of swimming, of which both
+sexes seem to be passionately fond. Others are paddling about in their
+tub-like canoes, made of the skins of buffaloes; and every now and
+then, are to be seen their sudatories, or vapour-baths (+plate+ 71),
+where steam is raised by throwing water on to heated stones; and the
+patient jumps from his sweating-house and leaps into the river in the
+highest state of perspiration, as I have more fully described whilst
+speaking of the bathing of the Mandans.
+
+The chief sachem of this tribe is a very ancient and patriarchal
+looking man, by the name of Eeh-tohk-pah-shee-pee-shah (the black
+moccasin), and counts, undoubtedly, more than an hundred _snows_. I
+have been for some days an inmate of his hospitable lodge, where he
+sits tottering with age, and silently reigns sole monarch of his little
+community around him, who are continually dropping in to cheer his
+sinking energies, and render him their homage. His voice and his sight
+are nearly gone; but the gestures of his hands are yet energetic and
+youthful, and freely speak the language of his kind heart.
+
+I have been treated in the kindest manner by this old chief; and have
+painted his portrait (+plate+ 72) as he was seated on the floor of his
+wigwam, smoking his pipe, whilst he was recounting over to me some of
+the extraordinary feats of his life, with a beautiful Crow robe wrapped
+around him, and his hair wound up in a conical form upon his head, and
+fastened with a small wooden pin, to keep it in its place.
+
+This man has many distinct recollections of Lewis and Clarke, who were
+the first explorers of this country, and who crossed the Rocky
+Mountains thirty years ago. It will be seen by reference to their very
+interesting history of their tour, that they were treated with great
+kindness by this man; and that they in consequence constituted him
+chief of the tribe, with the consent of his people; and he has remained
+their chief ever since. He enquired very earnestly for “Red Hair” and
+“Long Knife” (as he had ever since termed Lewis and Clarke), from the
+fact, that one had red hair (an unexampled thing in his country), and
+the other wore a broad sword which gained for him the appellation of
+“Long Knife.”
+
+[Illustration: 72]
+
+[Illustration: 73]
+
+[Illustration: 74]
+
+I have told him that “Long Knife” has been many years dead; and that
+“Red Hair” is yet living in St. Louis, and no doubt, would be glad to
+hear of him; at which he seemed much pleased, and has signified to me
+that he will make me bearer of some peculiar dispatches to him.[5]
+
+The name by which these people are generally called (Grosventres) is
+one given them by the French Traders, and has probably been applied to
+them with some degree of propriety or fitness, as contradistinguished
+from the Mandans, amongst whom these Traders were living; and who
+are a small race of Indians, being generally at or below the average
+stature of man; whilst the Minatarees are generally tall and heavily
+built. There is no tribe in the western wilds, perhaps, who are better
+entitled to the style of warlike, than the Minatarees; for they, unlike
+the Mandans, are continually carrying war into their enemies’ country;
+oftentimes drawing the poor Mandans into unnecessary broils, and
+suffering so much themselves in their desperate war-excursions, that I
+find the proportion of women to the number of men as two or three to
+one, through the tribe.
+
+The son of Black Moccasin, whose name is Ee-a-chin-che-a (the red
+thunder), and who is reputed one of the most desperate warriors of his
+tribe, I have also painted at full length, in his war-dress (+plate+
+73), with his bow in his hand, his quiver slung, and his shield upon
+his arm. In this plight, _sans_ head-dress, _sans_ robe, and _sans_
+everything that might be an useless incumbrance—with the body chiefly
+naked, and profusely bedaubed with red and black paint, so as to form
+an almost perfect disguise, the Indian warriors invariably sally forth
+to war; save the chief, who always plumes himself, and leads on his
+little band, tendering himself to his enemies a conspicuous mark, with
+all his ornaments and trophies upon him; that his enemies, if they get
+him, may get a prize worth the fighting for.
+
+Besides chiefs and warriors to be admired in this little tribe, there
+are many beautiful and voluptuous looking women, who are continually
+crowding in throngs, and gazing upon a stranger; and possibly shedding
+more bewitching smiles from a sort of necessity, growing out of the
+great disparity in numbers between them and the rougher sex, to which I
+have before alluded.
+
+From the very numerous groups of these that have from day to day
+constantly pressed upon me, overlooking the operations of my brush;
+I have been unable to get more than one who would consent to have
+her portrait painted, owing to some fear or dread of harm that might
+eventually ensue in consequence; or from a natural coyness or timidity,
+which is surpassing all description amongst these wild tribes, when in
+presence of strangers.
+
+The one whom I have painted (+plate+ 74) is a descendant from the old
+chief; and though not the most beautiful, is yet a fair sample of
+them, and dressed in a beautiful costume of the mountain-sheep skin,
+handsomely garnished with porcupine quills and beads. This girl was
+almost _compelled_ to stand for her picture by her relatives who urged
+her on, whilst she modestly declined, offering as her excuse that “she
+was not pretty enough, and that her picture would be laughed at.”
+This was either ignorance or excessive art on her part; for she was
+certainly more than comely, and the beauty of her name, Seet-se-be-a
+(the midday sun) is quite enough to make up for a deficiency, if there
+were any, in the beauty of her face.
+
+I mentioned that I found these people raising abundance of corn or
+maize; and I have happened to visit them in the season of their
+festivities, which annually take place when the ears of corn are of the
+proper size for eating. The green corn is considered a great luxury by
+all those tribes who cultivate it; and is ready for eating as soon as
+the ear is of full size, and the kernels are expanded to their full
+growth, but are yet soft and pulpy. In this green state of the corn,
+it is boiled and dealt out in great profusion to the whole tribe, who
+feast and surfeit upon it whilst it lasts; rendering thanks to the
+_Great Spirit_ for the return of this joyful season, which they do
+by making sacrifices, by dancing, and singing songs or thanksgiving.
+This joyful occasion is one valued alike, and conducted in a similar
+manner, by most of the tribes who raise the corn, however remote they
+may be from each other. It lasts but for a week or ten days; being
+limited to the longest term that the corn remains in this tender and
+palatable state; during which time all hunting, and all war-excursions,
+and all other avocations, are positively dispensed with; and all join
+in the most excessive indulgence of gluttony and conviviality that can
+possibly be conceived. The fields of corn are generally pretty well
+stripped during this excess; and the poor improvident Indian thanks the
+Great Spirit for the indulgence he has had, and is satisfied to ripen
+merely the few ears that are necessary for his next year’s planting,
+without reproaching himself for his wanton lavishness, which has laid
+waste his fine fields, and robbed him of the golden harvest, which
+might have gladdened his heart, with those of his wife and little
+children, through the cold and dreariness of winter.
+
+The most remarkable feature of these joyous occasion is the _green
+corn-dance_, which is always given as preparatory to the feast, and
+by most of the tribes in the following manner:—
+
+[Illustration: 75]
+
+At the usual season, and the time when from outward appearance of the
+stalks and ears of the corn, it is supposed to be nearly ready for
+use, several of the old women who are the owners of fields or patches
+of corn (for such are the proprietors and cultivators of all crops in
+Indian countries, the men never turning their hands to such degrading
+occupations) are delegated by the medicine-men to look at the corn
+fields every morning at sun-rise, and bring into the council-house,
+where the kettle is ready, several ears of corn, the husks of which the
+women are not allowed to break open or even to peep through. The women
+then are from day to day discharged and the doctors left to decide,
+until from repeated examinations they come to the decision that it
+will do; when they dispatch _runners_ or _criers_, announcing to every
+part of the village or tribe that the Great Spirit has been kind to
+them, and they must all meet on the next day to return thanks for his
+goodness. That all must empty their stomachs, and prepare for the feast
+that is approaching.
+
+On the day appointed by the doctors, the villagers are all assembled,
+and in the midst of the group a kettle is hung over a fire and filled
+with the green corn, which is well boiled, to be given to the Great
+Spirit, as a sacrifice necessary to be made before any one can indulge
+the cravings of his appetite. Whilst this first kettleful is boiling,
+four medicine-men, with a stalk of the corn in one hand and a rattle
+(she-she-quoi) in the other, with their bodies painted with white clay,
+dance around the kettle, chanting a song of thanksgiving to the Great
+Spirit to whom the offering is to be made (+plate+ 75). At the same
+time a number of warriors are dancing around in a more extended circle,
+with stalks of the corn in their hands, and joining also in the song of
+thanksgiving, whilst the villagers are all assembled and looking on.
+During this scene there is an arrangement of wooden bowls laid upon the
+ground, in which the feast is to be dealt out, each one having in it a
+spoon made of the buffalo or mountain-sheep’s horn.
+
+In this wise the dance continues until the doctors decide that the corn
+is sufficiently boiled; it then stops for a few moments, and again
+assumes a different form and a different song, whilst the doctors are
+placing the ears on a little scaffold of sticks, which they erect
+immediately over the fire where it is entirely consumed, as they join
+again in the dance around it.
+
+The fire is then removed, and with it the ashes, which together are
+buried in the ground, and _new fire_ is originated on the same spot
+where the old one was, by friction, which is done by a desperate and
+painful exertion by three men seated on the ground, facing each other
+and violently drilling the end of a stick into a hard block of wood by
+rolling it between the hands, each one catching it in turn from the
+others without allowing the motion to stop until smoke, and at last a
+spark of fire is seen and caught in a piece of spunk, when there is
+great rejoicing in the crowd. With this a fire is kindled, and the
+kettleful of corn again boiled for the feast, at which the chiefs,
+doctors, and warriors are seated; and after this an unlimited licence
+is given to the whole tribe, who surfeit upon it and indulge in all
+their favourite amusements and excesses, until the fields of corn are
+exhausted, or its ears have become too hard for their comfortable
+mastication.
+
+Such are the general features of the green corn festivity and dance
+amongst most of the tribes; and amongst some there are many additional
+forms and ceremonies gone through, preparatory to the indulgence in the
+feast.
+
+Some of the southern tribes concoct a most bitter and nauseating
+draught, which they call _asceola_ (the black drink), which they drink
+to excess for several days previous to the feast; ejecting everything
+from their stomachs and intestines, enabling them after this excessive
+and painful purgation, to commence with the green corn upon an empty
+and keen stomach.
+
+[Illustration: 76]
+
+  [5] About a year after writing the above, and whilst I was in St.
+  Louis, I had the pleasure of presenting the compliments of this old
+  veteran to General Clarke; and also of shewing to him the portrait,
+  which he instantly recognized amongst hundreds of others; saying,
+  that “they had considered the Black Moccasin quite an old man when
+  they appointed him chief thirty-two years ago.”
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 24.
+
+                  MINATAREE VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Epistles from such a strange place as this, where I have no desk to
+write from, or mail to send them by, are hastily scribbled off in my
+note-book, as I can steal a little time from the gaze of the wild group
+that is continually about me; and instead of _sending_ them, _keeping_
+them to bring with me when I make my retreat from the country.
+
+The only place where I can satisfactorily make these entries is in
+the shade of some sequestered tree, to which I occasionally resort,
+or more often from my bed (from which I am now writing), enclosed by
+a sort of curtains made of the skins of elks or buffaloes, completely
+encompassing me, where I am reclining on a sacking-bottom, made of the
+buffalo’s hide; making my entries and notes of the incidents of the
+past day, amidst the roar and unintelligible din of savage conviviality
+that is going on under the same roof, and under my own eye, whenever I
+feel disposed to apply it to a small aperture which brings at once the
+whole interior and all its inmates within my view.
+
+There are at this time some distinguished guests, besides _myself_, in
+the lodge of the Black Moccasin; two chiefs or leaders of a party of
+Crows, who arrived here a few days since, on a visit to their ancient
+friends and relatives. The consequence has been, that feasting and
+carousing have been the “order of the day” here for some time; and I
+have luckily been a welcome participator in their entertainments. A
+distinguished chief of the Minatarees, with several others in company,
+has been for some months past on a visit to the Crows and returned,
+attended by some remarkably fine-looking fellows, all mounted on fine
+horses. I have said something of these fine specimens of the human race
+heretofore; and as I have been fastening more of them to the canvass
+within the few days past, I must use this occasion to add what follows:—
+
+I think I have said that no part of the human race could present a
+more picturesque and thrilling appearance on horseback than a party
+of Crows rigged out in all their plumes and trappings—galloping about
+and yelping, in what they call a war-parade, _i. e._ in a sort of
+tournament or sham-fight, passing rapidly through the evolutions of
+battle, and vaunting forth the wonderful character of their military
+exploits. This is an amusement, of which they are excessively fond; and
+great preparations are invariably made for these occasional shows.
+
+No tribe of Indians on the Continent are better able to produce a
+pleasing and thrilling effect in these scenes, nor any more vain,
+and consequently better prepared to draw pleasure and satisfaction
+from them, than the Crows. They may be justly said to be the most
+beautifully clad of all the Indians in these regions, and bringing
+from the base of the Rocky Mountains a fine and spirited breed of the
+wild horses, have been able to create a great sensation amongst the
+Minatarees, who have been paying them all attention and all honours for
+some days past.
+
+From amongst these showy fellows who have been entertaining us and
+pleasing themselves with their extraordinary feats of horsemanship,
+I have selected one of the most conspicuous, and transferred him and
+his horse, with arms and trappings, as faithfully as I could to the
+canvass, for the information of the world, who will learn vastly
+more from lines and colours than they could from oral or written
+delineations.
+
+I have painted him as he sat for me, balanced on his leaping wild horse
+(+plate+ 76) with his shield and quiver slung on his back, and his long
+lance decorated with the eagle’s quills, trailed in his right hand.
+His shirt and his leggings, and moccasins, were of the mountain-goat
+skins, beautifully dressed; and their seams everywhere fringed with a
+profusion of scalp-locks taken from the heads of his enemies slain in
+battle. His long hair, which reached almost to the ground whilst he was
+standing on his feet, was now lifted in the air, and floating in black
+waves over the hips of his leaping charger. On his head, and over his
+shining black locks, he wore a magnificent crest or head-dress, made of
+the quills of the war-eagle and ermine skins; and on his horse’s head
+also was another of equal beauty and precisely the same in pattern and
+material. Added to these ornaments there were yet many others which
+contributed to his picturesque appearance, and amongst them a beautiful
+netting of various colours, that completely covered and almost obscured
+the horse’s head and neck, and extended over its back and its hips,
+terminating in a most extravagant and magnificent crupper, embossed and
+fringed with rows of beautiful shells and porcupine quills of various
+colours.
+
+With all these picturesque ornaments and trappings upon and about
+him, with a noble figure, and the bold stamp of a wild _gentleman_
+on his face, added to the rage and spirit of his wild horse, in time
+with whose leaps he issued his startling (though smothered) yelps, as
+he gracefully leaned to and fro, leaving his plumes and his plumage,
+his long locks and his fringes, to float in the wind, he galloped
+about; and felt exceeding pleasure in displaying the extraordinary
+skill which a lifetime of practice and experiment had furnished him
+in the beautiful art of riding and managing his horse, as well as in
+displaying to advantage his weapons and ornaments of dress, by giving
+them the grace of motion, as they were brandished in the air and
+floating in the wind.
+
+[Illustration: 77]
+
+[Illustration: 78]
+
+[Illustration: 79]
+
+I have also secured the portraits of Ee-he-a-duck-chee-a (he who ties
+his hair before, +plate+ 78), and Pa-ris-ka-roo-pa (the two Crows,
++plate+ 77); fine and fair specimens of this tribe, in both of which
+are exhibited the extraordinary instances of the natural hair reaching
+to the ground, peculiarities belonging almost exclusively to this
+tribe, and of which I have in a former Letter given some account. In
+presenting such instances as these, I offer them, (and the reader will
+take them of course) as extraordinary and rare occurrences amongst
+the tribe, who generally fall short of these in this peculiarity, and
+also in elegance of dress and ornament; although many others from
+their numbers might be selected of equal extravagance. The Crows are
+generally handsome, and comfortably clad; every man in the nation oils
+his hair with a profusion of bear’s grease, and promotes its growth to
+the utmost of his ability; and the greater part of them cultivate it
+down on to the calf of the leg, whilst a few are able to make it sweep
+the ground.
+
+In a former Letter I gave some account of the form of the head peculiar
+to this tribe which may well be recorded as a national characteristic,
+and worthy of further attention, which I shall give it on a future
+occasion. This striking peculiarity is quite conspicuous in the two
+portraits of which I have just spoken, exhibiting fairly, as they
+are both in profile, the _semi-lunar_ outline of the face of which I
+have before spoken, and which strongly characterizes them as distinct
+from any relationship or resemblance to, the Blackfeet, Shiennes,
+Knisteneaux, Mandans, or other tribes now existing in these regions.
+The peculiar character of which I am speaking, like all other national
+characteristics, is of course met by many exceptions in the tribe,
+though the greater part of the men are thus strongly marked with
+a bold and prominent anti-angular nose, with a clear and rounded
+arch, and a low and receding forehead; the frontal bone oftentimes
+appearing to have been compressed by some effort of art, in a certain
+degree approaching to the horrid distortion thus produced amongst the
+Flatheads beyond the Rocky Mountains. I learned however from repeated
+inquiries, that no such custom is practiced amongst them, but their
+heads, such as they are, are the results of a natural growth, and
+therefore may well be offered as the basis of a national or tribal
+_character_.
+
+I recollect to have seen in several publications on the antiquities of
+Mexico, many rude drawings made by the ancient Mexicans, of which the
+singular profiles of these people forcibly remind me, almost bringing
+me to the conclusion that these people may be the descendants of the
+race who have bequeathed those curious and inexplicable remains to the
+world, and whose scattered remnants, from dire and unknown necessities
+of those dark and veiled ages that have gone by, have been jostled and
+thrown along through the hideous and almost impenetrable labyrinths
+of the Rocky Mountains to the place of their destination where they
+now live. I am stopped, however, from advancing such as a _theory_,
+and much prefer to leave it to other hands, who may more easily get
+over difficulties which I should be afraid to encounter in the very
+outset, from the very important questions raised in my mind, as to the
+correctness of those rude and ignorant outlines, in truly establishing
+the looks and character of a people. Amongst a people so ignorant and
+so little advanced in the arts as the ancient Mexicans were, from whose
+tracings those very numerous drawings are copied, I think it would be
+assuming a great deal too much for satisfactory argument, to claim
+that such records were to set up to the world the looks and character
+of a people who have sunk into oblivion, when the heads of horses and
+other animals, drawn by the same hands, are so rude and so much out of
+drawing as scarcely to be distinguished, one from the other. I feel
+as if such rude outlines should be received with great caution and
+distrust, in establishing the character of a people; and for a fair
+illustration of the objection I am raising, I would refer the reader to
+a number of _fac-simile_ drawings which I have copied from some of the
+paintings of the Mandans (on the three plates following +plate+ 65),
+where most of the figures have the forehead and nose answering exactly
+to these Mexican outlines, and strikingly resembling the _living
+Crows_, also, when they have certainly borrowed nothing from either,
+nor have they any living outlines like them in their own tribe to have
+copied from.
+
+Since writing the above I have passed through many vicissitudes, and
+witnessed many curious scenes worthy of relating, some of which I will
+scribble now, and leave the rest for a more leisure occasion. I have
+witnessed many of the valued games and amusements of this tribe, and
+made sketches of them; and also have painted a number of portraits of
+distinguished warriors and braves which will be found in my collection.
+
+I have just been exceedingly amused with a formal and grave meeting
+which was called around me, formed by a number of young men, and even
+chiefs and doctors of the tribe, who, having heard that I was _great
+medicine_, and a great chief, took it upon themselves to suppose that
+I might (or perhaps must) be, a man of influence amongst the “pale
+faces,” and capable of rendering them some relief in a case of very
+great grievance, under which they represented that they were suffering.
+Several most profound speeches were made to me, setting forth these
+grievances, somewhat in the following manner:—They represented, that
+about five or six years ago, an unknown, small animal—not far differing
+in size from a ground squirrel, but with a long, round tail, shewed
+himself slily about one of the chief’s wigwams, peeping out from under
+the pots and kettles, and other such things; which they looked upon
+as great _medicine_—and no one dared to kill it; but hundreds came to
+watch and look at it. On one of these occasions, one of the spectators
+saw this strange animal catching and devouring a small “deer mouse,”
+of which little and very destructive animals their lodges contained
+many. It was then at once determined that this had been an act of the
+Great Spirit, as a means of putting a stop to the spoliations committed
+by these little sappers, who were cutting their clothing, and other
+manufactures to pieces in a lamentable manner. Councils had been called
+and solemn decrees issued for the countenance and protection of this
+welcome visitor and its progeny, which were soon ascertained to be
+rapidly increasing, and calculated soon to rid them of these thousands
+of little depredators. It was soon, however, learned from one of the
+Fur Traders, that this distinguished object of their superstition
+(which my man Ba’tiste familiarly calls “_Monsr. Ratapon_”) had, a
+short time before, landed himself from one of their keel boats, which
+had ascended the Missouri river for the distance of 1800 miles; and had
+taken up its residence, without introduction or invitation, in one of
+their earth-covered wigwams.
+
+This information, for a while, curtailed the extraordinary respect they
+had for some time been paying to it; but its continual war upon these
+little mice, which it was using for its food, in the absence of all
+other nutriment, continued to command their respect, in spite of the
+manner in which it had been introduced; being unwilling to believe that
+it had come from that source, even, without the agency in some way of
+the Great Spirit.
+
+Having been thus introduced and nurtured, and their numbers having been
+so wonderfully increased in the few last years, that every wigwam was
+infested with them,—that their _caches_, where they bury their corn
+and other provisions, were robbed and sacked; and the very pavements
+under their wigwams were so vaulted and sapped, that they were actually
+falling to the ground; they were now looked upon as a most disastrous
+nuisance, and a public calamity, to which it was the object of this
+meeting to call my attention, evidently in hopes that I might be able
+to designate some successful mode of relieving them from this real
+misfortune. I got rid of them at last, by assuring them of my deep
+regret for their situation, which was, to be sure, a very unpleasant
+one; and told them, that there was really a great deal of _medicine_
+in the thing, and that I should therefore be quite unwilling to have
+anything to do with it. Ba’tiste and Bogard, who are yet my daily and
+almost hourly companions, took to themselves a great deal of fun and
+amusement at the end of this interview, by suggesting many remedies
+for the evil, and enjoying many hearty laughs; after which, Ba’tiste,
+Bogard and I, took our hats; and I took my sketch-book in hand, and
+we started on a visit to the upper town of the Minatarees, which is
+half a mile or more distant, and on the other bank of the Knife River,
+which we crossed in the following manner:—The old chief, having learned
+that we were to cross the river, gave direction to one of the women
+of his numerous household, who took upon her head a skin-canoe (more
+familiarly called in this country, a bull-boat), made in the form of a
+large tub, of a buffalo’s skin, stretched on a frame of willow boughs,
+which she carried to the water’s edge; and placing it in the water,
+made signs for us three to get into it. When we were in, and seated
+flat on its bottom, with scarce room in any way to adjust our legs
+and our feet (as we sat necessarily facing each other), she stepped
+before the boat, and pulling it along, waded towards the deeper water,
+with her back towards us, carefully with the other hand attending to
+her dress, which seemed to be but a light slip, and floating upon the
+surface until the water was above her waist, when it was instantly
+turned off, over her head, and thrown ashore; and she boldly plunged
+forward, swimming and drawing the boat with one hand, which she did
+with apparent ease. In this manner we were conveyed to the middle of
+the stream, where we were soon surrounded by a dozen or more beautiful
+girls, from twelve to fifteen and eighteen years of age, who were at
+that time bathing on the opposite shore.
+
+They all swam in a bold and graceful manner, and as confidently as so
+many otters or beavers; and gathering around us, with their long black
+hair floating about on the water, whilst their faces were glowing with
+jokes and fun, which they were cracking about us, and which we could
+not understand.
+
+In the midst of this delightful little aquatic group, we three sat in
+our little skin-bound tub (like the “three wise men of Gotham, who
+went to sea in a bowl,” &c.), floating along down the current, losing
+sight, and all thoughts, of the shore, which was equi-distant from us
+on either side; whilst we were amusing ourselves with the playfulness
+of these dear little creatures who were floating about under the
+clear blue water, catching their hands on to the sides of our boat;
+occasionally raising one-half of their bodies out of the water, and
+sinking again, like so many mermaids.
+
+In the midst of this bewildering and tantalizing entertainment, in
+which poor Ba’tiste and Bogard, as well as myself, were all taking
+infinite pleasure, and which we supposed was all intended for our
+especial amusement; we found ourselves suddenly in the delightful
+dilemma of floating down the current in the middle of the river; and
+of being turned round and round to the excessive amusement of the
+villagers, who were laughing at us from the shore, as well as these
+little tyros, whose delicate hands were besetting our tub on all
+sides; and for an escape from whom, or for fending off, we had neither
+an oar, or anything else, that we could wield in self-defence, or
+for self-preservation. In this awkward predicament, our feelings of
+excessive admiration were immediately changed, to those of exceeding
+vexation, as we now learned that they had peremptorily discharged
+from her occupation our fair conductress, who had undertaken to ferry
+us safely across the river; and had also very ingeniously laid their
+plans, of which we had been ignorant until the present moment, to
+extort from us in this way, some little evidences of our liberality,
+which, in fact, it was impossible to refuse them, after so liberal and
+bewitching an exhibition on their part, as well as from the imperative
+obligation which the awkwardness of our situation had laid us under. I
+had some awls in my pockets, which I presented to them, and also a few
+strings of beautiful beads, which I placed over their delicate necks
+as they raised them out of the water by the side of our boat; after
+which they all joined in conducting our craft to the shore, by swimming
+by the sides of, and behind it, pushing it along in the direction where
+they designed to land it, until the water became so shallow, that their
+feet were upon the bottom, when they waded along with great coyness,
+dragging us towards the shore, as long as their bodies, in a crouching
+position, could possibly be half concealed under the water, when they
+gave our boat the last push for the shore, and raising a loud and
+exulting laugh, plunged back again into the river; leaving us the only
+alternative of sitting still where we were, or of stepping out into
+the water at half leg deep, and of wading to the shore, which we at
+once did, and soon escaped from the view of our little tormentors, and
+the numerous lookers-on, on our way to the upper village, which I have
+before mentioned.
+
+Here I was very politely treated by the _Yellow Moccasin_, quite an old
+man, and who seemed to be chief of this band or family, constituting
+their little community of thirty or forty lodges, averaging, perhaps,
+twenty persons to each. I was feasted in this man’s lodge—and
+afterwards invited to accompany him and several others to a beautiful
+prairie, a mile or so above the village, where the young men and young
+women of this town, and many from the village below, had assembled for
+their amusements; the chief of which seemed to be that of racing their
+horses. In the midst of these scenes, after I had been for some time
+a looker-on, and had felt some considerable degree of sympathy for a
+fine-looking young fellow, whose horse had been twice beaten on the
+course, and whose losses had been considerable; for which, his sister,
+a very modest and pretty girl, was most piteously howling and crying.
+I selected and brought forward an ordinary-looking pony, that was
+evidently too fat and too sleek to run against his fine-limbed little
+horse that had disappointed his high hopes; and I began to comment
+extravagantly upon its muscle, &c., when I discovered him evidently
+cheering up with the hope of getting me and my pony on to the turf with
+him; for which he soon made me a proposition; and I, having lauded the
+limbs of my little nag too much to “back out,” agreed to run a short
+race with him of half a mile, for three yards of scarlet cloth, a
+knife, and half a dozen strings of beads, which I was willing to stake
+against a handsome pair of leggings, which he was wearing at the time.
+The greatest imaginable excitement was now raised amongst the crowd by
+this arrangement; to see a white man preparing to run with an Indian
+jockey, and that with a scrub of a pony, in whose powers of running no
+Indian had the least confidence. Yet, there was no one in the crowd,
+who dared to take up the several other little bets I was willing to
+tender (merely for their amusement, and for their final exultation);
+owing, undoubtedly, to the bold and confident manner in which I had
+ventured on the merits of this little horse, which the tribe had all
+overlooked; and needs must have some _medicine_ about it.
+
+So far was this panic carried, that even my champion was ready to
+withdraw; but his friends encouraged him at length, and we galloped
+our horses off to the other end of the course, where we were to start;
+and where we were accompanied by a number of horsemen, who were to
+witness the “set off.” Some considerable delay here took place, from a
+_condition_, which was then named to me, and which I had not observed
+before, that in all the races of this day, every rider was to run
+entirely denuded, and ride a naked horse! Here I was completely balked,
+and having no one by me to interpret a word, I was quite at a loss to
+decide what was best to do. I found however, that remonstrance was of
+little avail; and as I had volunteered in this thing to gratify and
+flatter them, I thought it best not positively to displease them in
+this; so I laid off my clothes, and straddled the naked back of my
+round and glossy little pony, by the side of my competitor, who was
+also mounted and stripped to the skin, and panting with a restless
+anxiety for the start.
+
+Reader! did you ever imagine that in the _middle of a man’s life_
+there could be a thought or a feeling so _new_ to him, as to throw him
+instantly back to infancy; with a new world and a new genius before
+him—started afresh, to navigate and breathe the elements of naked and
+untasted liberty, which clothe him in their cool and silken robes that
+float about him; and wafting their life-inspiring folds to his inmost
+lungs? If you never have been inspired with such a feeling, and have
+been in the habit of believing that you have thought of, and imagined a
+little of every thing, try for a moment, to disrobe your mind and your
+body, and help me through feelings to which I cannot give utterance.
+Imagine yourselves as I was, with my trembling little horse underneath
+me, and the cool atmosphere that was floating about, and ready, more
+closely and familiarly to embrace me, as it did, at the next moment,
+when we “were off,” and struggling for the goal and the prize.
+
+Though my little Pegasus seemed to dart through the clouds, and I to
+be wafted on the wings of Mercury, yet my red adversary was leaving
+me too far behind for further competition; and I wheeled to the left,
+making a circuit on the prairie, and came in at the starting point,
+much to the satisfaction and exultation of the jockeys; but greatly
+to the murmuring disappointment of the women and children, who had
+assembled in a dense throng to witness the “coming out” of the “white
+medicine-man.” I clothed myself instantly, and came back, acknowledging
+my defeat, and the superior skill of my competitor, as well as the
+wonderful muscle of his little charger, which pleased him much; and
+his sisters’ lamentations were soon turned to joy, by the receipt of a
+beautiful scarlet robe, and a profusion of vari-coloured beads, which
+were speedily paraded on her copper-coloured neck.
+
+After I had seen enough of these amusements, I succeeded with some
+difficulty, in pulling Ba’tiste and Bogard from amongst the groups of
+women and girls, where they seemed to be successfully ingratiating
+themselves; and we trudged back to the little village of earth-covered
+lodges, which were hemmed in, and almost obscured from the eye, by
+the fields of corn and luxuriant growth of wild sun-flowers, and other
+vegetable productions of the soil, whose spontaneous growth had reared
+their heads in such profusion, as to appear all but like a dense and
+formidable forest.
+
+We loitered about this little village awhile, looking into most of its
+lodges, and tracing its winding avenues, after which we recrossed the
+river and wended our way back again to head-quarters, from whence we
+started in the morning, and where I am now writing. This day’s ramble
+shewed to us all the inhabitants of this little tribe, except a portion
+of their warriors who are out on a war excursion against the Riccarees;
+and I have been exceedingly pleased with their general behaviour and
+looks, as well as with their numerous games and amusements, in many of
+which I have given them great pleasure by taking a part.
+
+The Minatarees, as I have before said, are a bold, daring, and warlike
+tribe; quite different in these respects from their neighbours the
+Mandans, carrying war continually in their enemies’ country, thereby
+exposing their lives and diminishing the number of their warriors
+to that degree that I find two or three women to a man, through the
+tribe. They are bold and fearless in the chase also, and in their eager
+pursuits of the bison, or buffaloes, their feats are such as to excite
+the astonishment and admiration of all who behold them. Of these scenes
+I have witnessed many since I came into this country, and amongst
+them all, nothing have I seen to compare with one to which I was an
+eye-witness a few mornings since, and well worthy of being described.
+
+The Minatarees, as well as the Mandans, had suffered for some months
+past for want of meat, and had indulged in the most alarming fears,
+that the herds of buffaloes were emigrating so far off from them,
+that there was great danger of their actual starvation, when it was
+suddenly announced through the village one morning at an early hour,
+that a herd of buffaloes was in sight, when an hundred or more young
+men mounted their horses with weapons in hand and steered their course
+to the prairies. The chief informed me that one of his horses was in
+readiness for me at the door of his wigwam, and that I had better go
+and see the curious affair. I accepted his polite offer, and mounting
+the steed, galloped off with the hunters to the prairies, where we
+soon descried at a distance, a fine herd of buffaloes grazing, when
+a halt and a council were ordered, and the mode of attack was agreed
+upon. I had armed myself with my pencil and my sketch-book only, and
+consequently took my position generally in the rear, where I could see
+and appreciate every manœuvre.
+
+The plan of attack, which in this country is familiarly called a
+“_surround_,” was explicitly agreed upon, and the hunters who were all
+mounted on their “buffalo horses” and armed with bows and arrows or
+long lances, divided into two columns, taking opposite directions, and
+drew themselves gradually around the herd at a mile or more distance
+from them; thus forming a circle of horsemen at equal distances
+apart, who gradually closed in upon them with a moderate pace, at a
+signal given. The unsuspecting herd at length “got the wind” of the
+approaching enemy and fled in a mass in the greatest confusion. To
+the point where they were aiming to cross the line, the horsemen were
+seen at full speed, gathering and forming in a column, brandishing
+their weapons and yelling in the most frightful manner, by which means
+they turned the black and rushing mass which moved off in an opposite
+direction where they were again met and foiled in a similar manner,
+and wheeled back in utter confusion; by which time the horsemen had
+closed in from all directions, forming a continuous line around them,
+whilst the poor affrighted animals were eddying about in a crowded and
+confused mass, hooking and climbing upon each ether; when the work of
+death commenced. I had rode up in the rear and occupied an elevated
+position at a few rods distance, from which I could (like the general
+of a battle field) survey from my horse’s back, the nature and the
+progress of the grand mêlée; but (unlike him) without the power of
+issuing a command or in any way directing its issue.
+
+In this grand turmoil (+plate+ 79), a cloud of dust was soon raised,
+which in parts obscured the throng where the hunters were galloping
+their horses around and driving the whizzing arrows or their long
+lances to the hearts of these noble animals; which in many instances,
+becoming infuriated with deadly wounds in their sides, erected their
+shaggy manes over their bloodshot eyes and furiously plunged forwards
+at the sides of their assailants’ horses, sometimes goring them to
+death at a lunge, and putting their dismounted riders to flight for
+their lives; sometimes their dense crowd was opened, and the blinded
+horsemen, too intent on their prey amidst the cloud of dust, were
+hemmed and wedged in amidst the crowding beasts, over whose backs
+they were obliged to leap for security, leaving their horses to the
+fate that might await them in the results of this wild and desperate
+war. Many were the bulls that turned upon their assailants and met
+them with desperate resistance; and many were the warriors who were
+dismounted, and saved themselves by the superior muscles of their legs;
+some who were closely pursued by the bulls, wheeled suddenly around and
+snatching the part of a buffalo robe from around their waists, threw it
+over the horns and the eyes of the infuriated beast, and darting by its
+side drove the arrow or the lance to its heart. Others suddenly dashed
+off upon the prairies by the side of the affrighted animals which had
+escaped from the throng, and closely escorting them for a few rods,
+brought down their hearts blood in streams, and their huge carcasses
+upon the green and enamelled turf.
+
+In this way this grand hunt soon resolved itself into a desperate
+battle; and in the space of fifteen minutes, resulted in the total
+destruction of the whole herd, which in all their strength and fury
+were doomed, like every beast and living thing else, to fall before the
+destroying hands of mighty man.
+
+[Illustration: 80]
+
+I had sat in trembling silence upon my horse, and witnessed this
+extraordinary scene, which allowed not one of these animals to escape
+out of my sight. Many plunged off upon the prairie for a distance, but
+were overtaken and killed; and although I could not distinctly estimate
+the number that were slain, yet I am sure that some hundreds of these
+noble animals fell in this grand mêlée.
+
+The scene after the battle was over was novel and curious in the
+extreme; the hunters were moving about amongst the dead and dying
+animals, leading their horses by their halters, and claiming their
+victims by their private marks upon their arrows, which they were
+drawing from the wounds in the animals’ sides.
+
+Amongst the poor affrighted creatures that had occasionally dashed
+through the ranks of their enemy, and sought safety in flight upon the
+prairie (and in some instances, had undoubtedly gained it), I saw them
+stand awhile, looking back, when they turned, and, as if bent on their
+own destruction, retraced their steps, and mingled themselves and their
+deaths with those of the dying throng. Others had fled to a distance on
+the prairies and for want of company, of friends or of foes, had stood
+and gazed on till the battle-scene was over; seemingly taking pains to
+stay, and hold their lives in readiness for their destroyers, until
+the general destruction was over, when they fell easy victims to their
+weapons—making the slaughter complete.
+
+After this scene, and after arrows had been claimed and recovered, a
+general council was held, when all hands were seated on the ground, and
+a few pipes smoked; after which, all mounted their horses and rode back
+to the village.
+
+A deputation of several of the warriors was sent to the chief, who
+explained to him what had been their success; and the same intelligence
+was soon communicated by little squads to every family in the village;
+and preparations were at once made for securing the meat. For this
+purpose, some hundreds of women and children, to whose lots fall all
+the drudgeries of Indian life, started out upon the trail, which
+led them to the battle-field, where they spent the day in skinning
+the animals, and cutting up the meat, which was mostly brought into
+the villages on their backs, as they tugged and sweated under their
+enormous and cruel loads.
+
+I rode out to see this curious scene; and I regret exceedingly that I
+kept no memorandum of it in my sketch-book. Amidst the throng of women
+and children, that had been assembled, and all of whom seemed busily at
+work, were many superannuated and disabled nags, which they had brought
+out to assist in carrying in the meat; and at least, one thousand
+semi-loup dogs, and whelps, whose keen appetites and sagacity had
+brought them out, to claim their shares of this abundant and sumptuous
+supply.
+
+I staid and inspected this curious group for an hour or more,
+during which time, I was almost continually amused by the clamorous
+contentions that arose, and generally ended, in desperate combats;
+both amongst the dogs and women, who seemed alike tenacious of their
+local and recently acquired rights; and disposed to settle their claims
+by “tooth and nail”—by manual and brute force.
+
+When I had seen enough of this I rode to the top of a beautiful prairie
+bluff, a mile or two from the scene, where I was exceedingly amused by
+overlooking the route that laid between this and the village, which
+was over the undulating green fields for several miles, that laid
+beneath me; over which there seemed a continual string of women, dogs
+and horses, for the rest of the day, passing and repassing as they
+were busily bearing home their heavy burthens to their village, and in
+their miniature appearance, which the distance gave them, not unlike
+to a busy community of ants as they are sometimes seen, sacking and
+transporting the treasures of a cupboard, or the sweets of a sugar
+bowl.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 25.
+
+                LITTLE MANDAN VILLAGE, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+In speaking of the Mandans, in a former Letter, I mentioned that they
+were living in two villages, which are about two miles apart. Of their
+principal village I have given a minute account, which precludes the
+necessity of my saying much of their smaller town, to which I descended
+a few days since, from the Minatarees; and where I find their modes
+and customs, precisely the same as I have heretofore described. This
+village contains sixty or eighty lodges, built in the same manner as
+those which I have already mentioned, and I have just learned that
+they have been keeping the annual ceremony here, precisely in the same
+manner as that which I witnessed in the lower or larger town, and have
+explained.
+
+I have been treated with the same hospitality here that was extended
+to me in the other village; and have painted the portraits of several
+distinguished persons, which has astonished and pleased them very much.
+The operation of my brush always gains me many enthusiastic friends
+wherever I go amongst these wild folks; and in this village I have been
+unusually honoured and even _afflicted_, by the friendly importunities
+of one of these reverencing parasites, who (amongst various other
+offices of hospitality and kindness which he has been bent upon
+extending to me), has insisted on, and for several nights been indulged
+in, the honour as he would term it, of offering his body for my
+pillow, which _I_ have not had the heart to reject, and of course _he_
+has not lacked the vanity to boast of, as an act of signal kindness
+and hospitality on his part, towards a _great_ and _a distinguished
+stranger_!
+
+I have been for several days suffering somewhat with an influenza,
+which has induced me to leave my bed, on the side of the lodge, and
+sleep on the floor, wrapped in a buffalo robe, with my feet to the
+fire in the centre of the room, to which place the genuine politeness
+of my constant and watchful friend has as regularly drawn him, where
+his irresistible importunities have brought me, night after night, to
+the only alternative of using his bedaubed and bear-greased body for a
+pillow.
+
+Being unwilling to deny the poor fellow the satisfaction he seemed to
+be drawing from this singular freak, I took some pains to inquire into
+his character; and learned that he was a Riccaree brave, by the name of
+Pah-too-ca-ra (he who strikes), who is here with several others of his
+tribe, on a friendly visit (though in a hostile village), and living
+as they are, unprotected, except by the mercy of their enemies. I
+think it probable, therefore, that he is ingeniously endeavouring thus
+to ingratiate himself in my affections, and consequently to insure my
+guardianship and influence for his protection. Be this as it may, he is
+rendering me many kind services, and I have in return traced him on my
+canvass for immortality (+plate+ 83).
+
+By the side of him (+plate+ 84), I have painted a beautiful little girl
+of the same tribe, whose name is Pshan-shaw (the sweet-scented grass),
+giving a very pretty specimen of the dress and fashion of the women
+in this tribe. The inner garment, which is like a slip or a frock, is
+entire in one piece, and beautifully ornamented with embroidery and
+beads, with a row of elks’ teeth passing across the breast, and a robe
+of the young buffalo’s skin, tastefully and elaborately embroidered,
+gracefully thrown over her shoulders, and hanging down to the ground
+behind her.
+
++Plate+ 82 gives a portrait of one of the chiefs of this tribe by the
+name of Stan-au-pat (the bloody hand), and (+plate+ 81) of Kah-beck-a
+(the twin), a good-looking matron, who was painted a few weeks since in
+the principal Mandan village.
+
+The dresses in both of these portraits are very beautiful, and I have
+procured them, as well as the one before spoken of, for my collection.
+
++Plate+ 80, gives a view of the Riccaree village, which is beautifully
+situated on the west bank of the river, 200 miles below the Mandans;
+and built very much in the same manner; being constituted of 150
+earth-covered lodges, which are in part surrounded by an imperfect and
+open barrier of piquets set firmly in the ground, and of ten or twelve
+feet in height.
+
+This village is built upon an open prairie, and the gracefully
+undulating hills that rise in distance behind it are everywhere covered
+with a verdant green turf, without a tree or a bush anywhere to be
+seen. This view was taken from the deck of the steamer when I was on my
+way up the river; and probably it was well that I took it then, for so
+hostile and deadly are the feelings of these people towards the _pale
+faces_, at this time, that it may be deemed most prudent for me to pass
+them on my way down the river, without stopping to make them a visit.
+They certainly are harbouring the most resentful feelings at this time
+towards the Traders, and others passing on the river; and no doubt,
+that there is great danger of the lives of any white men, who unluckily
+fall into their hands. They have recently sworn death and destruction
+to every white man, who comes in their way; and there is no doubt, that
+they are ready to execute their threats.
+
+When Lewis and Clarke first visited these people thirty years since,
+it will be found by a reference to their history, that the Riccarees
+received and treated them with great kindness and hospitality; but
+owing to the system of trade, and the manner in which it has been
+conducted in this country, they have been inflicted with real or
+imaginary abuses, of which they are themselves, and the Fur Traders,
+the best judges; and for which they are now harbouring the most
+inveterate feelings towards the whole civilized race.
+
+[Illustration: 81]
+
+[Illustration: 82]
+
+[Illustration: 83]
+
+[Illustration: 84]
+
+[Illustration: 85]
+
+The Riccarees are unquestionably a part of the tribe of Pawnees, living
+on the Platte River, some hundreds of miles below this, inasmuch
+as their language is nearly or quite the same; and their personal
+appearance and customs as similar as could be reasonably expected
+amongst a people so long since separated from their parent tribe, and
+continually subjected to innovations from the neighbouring tribes
+around them; amongst whom, in their erratic wanderings in search of a
+location, they have been jostled about in the character, alternately,
+of friends and of foes.
+
+I shall resume my voyage down the river in a few days in my canoe; and
+I may, perhaps, stop and pay these people a visit, and consequently, be
+able to say more of them; or, I may be _hauled in_, to the shore, and
+my boat plundered, and my “_scalp danced_,” as they have dealt quite
+recently with the _last trader_, who has dared for several years past,
+to continue his residence with them, after they had laid fatal hands on
+each one of his comrades before him, and divided and shared their goods.
+
+Of the Mandans, who are about me in this little village, I need say
+nothing, except that they are in every respect, the same as those
+I have described in the lower village—and in fact, I believe this
+little town is rather a _summer residence_ for a few of the noted
+families, than anything else; as I am told that none of their wigwams
+are tenanted through the winter. I shall leave them in the morning,
+and take up my residence a few days longer with my hospitable friends
+Mr. Kipp, Mah-to-toh-pa, &c. in the large village; and then with my
+canvass and easel, and paint-pots in my canoe; with Ba’tiste and Bogard
+to paddle, and my own oar to steer, wend my way again on the mighty
+Missouri towards my native land, bidding everlasting farewell to the
+kind and hospitable Mandans.
+
+In taking this final leave of them, which will be done with some
+decided feelings of regret, and in receding from their country, I shall
+look back and reflect upon them and their curious and peculiar modes
+with no small degree of pleasure, as well as surprise; inasmuch as
+their hospitality and friendly treatment have fully corroborated my
+fixed belief that the North American Indian in his primitive state is
+a high-minded, hospitable and honourable being—and their singular and
+peculiar customs have raised an irresistible belief in my mind that
+they have had a different origin, or are of a different compound of
+character from any other tribe that I have yet seen, or that can be
+probably seen in North America.
+
+In coming to such a conclusion as this, the mind is at once filled with
+a flood of enquiries as to the source from which they have sprung,
+and eagerly seeking for the evidence which is to lead it to the most
+probable and correct conclusion. Amongst these evidences of which there
+are many, and forcible ones to be met with amongst these people, and
+many of which I have named in my former epistles, the most striking
+ones are those which go, I think, decidedly to suggest the existence
+of looks and of customs amongst them, bearing incontestible proofs of
+an amalgam of civilized and savage; and that in the absence of all
+proof of any recent proximity of a civilized stock that could in any
+way have been engrafted upon them.
+
+These facts then, with the host of their peculiarities which stare
+a traveller in the face, lead the mind back in search of some more
+remote and rational cause for such striking singularities; and in this
+dilemma, I have been almost disposed (not to advance it as a _theory_,
+but) to enquire whether here may not be found, yet existing, the
+remains of the _Welsh colony_—the followers of Madoc; who history tells
+us, if I recollect right, started with ten ships, to colonize a country
+which he had discovered in the Western Ocean; whose expedition I think
+has been pretty clearly traced to the mouth of the Mississippi, or the
+coast of Florida, and whose fate further than this seems sealed in
+unsearchable mystery.
+
+I am travelling in this country as I have before said, not to advance
+or to prove _theories_, but to see all that I am able to see, and to
+tell it in the simplest and most intelligible manner I can to the
+world, for their own conclusions, or for theories I may feel disposed
+to advance, and be better able to defend after I get out of this
+singular country; where all the powers of ones faculties are required,
+and much better employed I consider, in helping him along and in
+gathering materials, than in stopping to draw too nice and delicate
+conclusions by the way.
+
+If my indefinite recollections of the fate of that colony, however,
+as recorded in history be correct, I see no harm in suggesting the
+inquiry, whether they did not sail up the Mississippi river in their
+ten ships, or such number of them as might have arrived safe in its
+mouth; and having advanced up the Ohio from its junction, (as they
+naturally would, it being the widest and most gentle current) to a
+rich and fertile country, planted themselves as agriculturalists on
+its rich banks, where they lived and flourished, and increased in
+numbers, until they were attacked, and at last besieged by the numerous
+hordes of savages who were jealous of their growing condition; and as
+a protection against their assaults, built those numerous _civilized_
+fortifications, the ruins of which are now to be seen on the Ohio
+and the Muskingum, in which they were at last all destroyed, except
+some few families who had intermarried with the Indians, and whose
+offspring, being half-breeds, were in such a manner allied to them
+that their lives were spared; and forming themselves into a small
+and separate community, took up their residence on the banks of the
+Missouri; on which, for the want of a permanent location, being on
+the lands of their more powerful enemies, were obliged repeatedly to
+remove; and continuing their course up the river, have in time migrated
+to the place where they are now living, and consequently found with the
+numerous and almost unaccountable peculiarities of which I have before
+spoken, so inconsonant with the general character of the North American
+Indians; with complexions of every shade; with hair of all the colours
+in civilized society, and many with hazel, with grey, and with blue
+eyes.
+
+The above is a suggestion of a _moment_; and I wish the reader to bear
+it in mind, that if I ever advance such as a _theory_, it will be
+after I have collected other proofs, which I shall take great pains
+to do; after I have taken a vocabulary of their language, and also
+in my transit down the river in my canoe, I may be able from my own
+examinations of the ground, to ascertain whether the shores of the
+Missouri bear evidences of their former locations; or whether amongst
+the tribes who inhabit the country below, there remain any satisfactory
+traditions of their residences in, and transit through their countries.
+
+I close here my book (and probably for some time, my remarks), on the
+friendly and hospitable Mandans.
+
+  +Note+—Several years having elapsed since the above account of the
+  Mandans was written, I open the book to convey to the reader the
+  melancholy intelligence of the _destruction_ of this interesting
+  tribe, which happened a short time after I left their country; and
+  the manner and causes of their misfortune I have explained in the
+  Appendix to the Second Volume of this Work; as well as some further
+  considerations of the subject just above-named, relative to their
+  early history, and the probable fate of the followers of _Madoc_,
+  to which I respectfully refer the reader before he goes further in
+  the body of the Work. See Appendix A.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 26.
+
+                MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Since writing the above Letter I have descended the Missouri, a
+distance of six or seven hundred miles, in my little bark, with
+Ba’tiste and Bogard, my old “_compagnons du voyage_,” and have much
+to say of what we three did and what we saw on our way, which will be
+given anon.
+
+I am now in the heart of the country belonging to the numerous tribe
+of Sioux or Dohcotas, and have Indian faces and Indian customs in
+abundance around me. This tribe is one of the most numerous in North
+America, and also one of the most vigorous and warlike tribes to be
+found, numbering some forty or fifty thousand, and able undoubtedly
+to muster, if the tribe could be moved simultaneously, at least eight
+or ten thousand warriors, well mounted and well armed. This tribe
+take vast numbers of the wild horses on the plains towards the Rocky
+Mountains, and many of them have been supplied with guns; but the
+greater part of them hunt with their bows and arrows and long lances,
+killing their game from their horses’ backs while at full speed.
+
+The name Sioux (pronounced _see-oo_) by which they are familiarly
+called, is one that has been given to them by the French traders, the
+meaning of which I never have learned; their own name being, in their
+language, Dah-co-ta. The personal appearance of these people is very
+fine and prepossessing, their persons tall and straight, and their
+movements elastic and graceful. Their stature is considerably above
+that of the Mandans and Riccarees, or Blackfeet; but about equal to
+that of the Crows, Assinneboins and Minatarees, furnishing at least one
+half of their warriors of six feet or more in height.
+
+I am here living with, and enjoying the hospitality of a gentleman by
+the name of _Laidlaw_, a Scotchman, who is attached to the American
+Fur Company, and who, in company with Mr. M‘Kenzie (of whom I have
+before spoken) and Lamont, has the whole agency of the Fur Company’s
+transactions in the regions of the Upper Missouri and the Rocky
+Mountains.
+
+This gentleman has a finely-built Fort here, of two or three hundred
+feet square, enclosing eight or ten of their factories, houses and
+stores, in the midst of which he occupies spacious and comfortable
+apartments, which are well supplied with the comforts and luxuries of
+life and neatly and respectably conducted by a fine looking, modest,
+and dignified Sioux woman, the kind and affectionate mother of his
+little flock of pretty and interesting children.
+
+[Illustration: 86]
+
+This Fort is undoubtedly one of the most important and productive
+of the American Fur Company’s posts, being in the centre of the
+great Sioux country, drawing from all quarters an immense and almost
+incredible number of buffalo robes, which are carried to the New York
+and other Eastern markets, and sold at a great profit. This post
+is thirteen hundred miles above St. Louis, on the west bank of the
+Missouri, on a beautiful plain near the mouth of the Teton river which
+empties into the Missouri from the West, and the Fort has received
+the name of Fort Pierre, in compliment to Monsr. Pierre Chouteau, who
+is one of the partners in the Fur Company, residing in St. Louis; and
+to whose politeness I am indebted, as I have before mentioned, for my
+passage in the Company’s steamer, on her first voyage to the Yellow
+Stone; and whose urbane and gentlemanly society, I have before said, I
+had during my passage.
+
+The country about this Fort is almost entirely prairie, producing along
+the banks of the river and streams only, slight skirtings of timber.
+No site could have been selected more pleasing or more advantageous
+than this; the Fort is in the centre of one of the Missouri’s most
+beautiful plains, and hemmed in by a series of gracefully undulating,
+grass-covered hills, on all sides; rising like a series of terraces, to
+the summit level of the prairies, some three or four hundred feet in
+elevation, which then stretches off in an apparently boundless ocean of
+gracefully swelling waves and fields of green. On my way up the river
+I made a painting of this lovely spot, taken from the summit of the
+bluffs, a mile or two distant (+plate+ 85), shewing an encampment of
+Sioux, of six hundred tents or skin lodges, around the Fort, where they
+had concentrated to make their spring trade; exchanging their furs and
+peltries for articles and luxuries of civilized manufactures.
+
+The great family of Sioux who occupy so vast a tract of country,
+extending from the banks of the Mississippi river to the base of
+the Rocky Mountains, are everywhere a migratory or roaming tribe,
+divided into forty-two bands or families, each having a chief who
+all acknowledge a superior or head chief, to whom they all are held
+subordinate. This subordination, however, I should rather record as
+their _former_ and _native_ regulation, of which there exists no
+doubt, than an _existing_ one, since the numerous innovations made
+amongst these people by the Fur Traders, as well as by the proximity
+of civilization along a great deal of their frontier, which soon upset
+and change many native regulations, and particularly those relating to
+their government and religion.
+
+There is one principal and familiar division of this tribe into what
+are called the _Mississippi_ and _Missouri_ Sioux. Those bordering
+on the banks of the Mississippi, concentrating at Prairie du Chien
+and Fort Snelling, for the purposes of trade, &c., are called the
+Mississippi Sioux. These are somewhat advanced towards civilization,
+and familiar with white people, with whom they have held intercourse
+for many years, and are consequently excessive whiskey drinkers, though
+constituting but a meagre proportion, and at the same time, but a very
+unfair and imperfect sample of the great mass of this tribe who inhabit
+the shores of the Missouri, and fearlessly roam on the vast plains
+intervening between it and the Rocky Mountains, and are still living
+entirely in their primitive condition.
+
+There is no tribe on the Continent, perhaps, of finer looking men than
+the Sioux; and few tribes who are better and more comfortably clad, and
+supplied with the necessaries of life. There are no parts of the great
+plains of America which are more abundantly stocked with buffaloes and
+wild horses, nor any people more bold in destroying the one for food,
+and appropriating the other to their use. There has gone abroad, from
+the many histories which have been written of these people, an opinion
+which is too current in the world, that the Indian is necessarily a
+poor, drunken, murderous wretch; which account is certainly unjust
+as regards the savage, and doing less than justice to the world for
+whom such histories have been prepared. I have travelled several years
+already amongst these people and I have not had my scalp taken, nor a
+blow struck me; nor had occasion to raise my hand against an Indian;
+nor has my property been stolen, as yet to my knowledge, to the value
+of a shilling; and that in a country where no man is punishable by
+law for the crime of stealing; still some of them steal, and murder
+too; and if white men did not do the same, and that in defiance of
+the laws of God and man, I might take satisfaction in stigmatizing
+the Indian character as thievish and murderous. That the Indians in
+their _native state_ are “_drunken_,” is false; for they are the only
+temperance people, literally speaking, that ever I saw in my travels,
+or ever expect to see. If the civilized world are startled at this,
+it is the _fact_ that they must battle with, not with me; for these
+people manufacture no spirituous liquor themselves, and know nothing
+of it until it is brought into their country and tendered to them by
+Christians. That these people are “_naked_” is equally untrue, and
+as easily disproved; for I am sure that with the paintings I have
+made amongst the Mandans and Crows, and other tribes; and with their
+beautiful costumes which I have procured and shall bring home, I shall
+be able to establish the fact that many of these people dress, not only
+with clothes comfortable for any latitude, but that they also dress
+with some considerable taste and elegance. Nor am I quite sure that
+they are entitled to the name of “_poor_,” who live in a boundless
+country of green fields, with good horses to ride; where they are
+all joint tenants of the soil, together; where the Great Spirit has
+supplied them with an abundance of food to eat—where they are all
+indulging in the pleasures and amusements of a lifetime of idleness
+and ease, with no business hours to attend to, or professions to
+learn—where they have no notes in bank or other debts to pay—no taxes,
+no tithes, no rents, nor beggars to touch and tax the sympathy of their
+souls at every step they go. Such might be poverty in the Christian
+world, but is sure to be a blessing where the pride and insolence of
+comparative wealth are unknown.
+
+[Illustration: 87]
+
+[Illustration: 88]
+
+I mentioned that this is the nucleus or place of concentration of the
+numerous tribe of the Sioux, who often congregate here in great masses
+to make their trades with the American Fur Company; and that on my way
+up the river, some months since, I found here encamped, six hundred
+families of Sioux, living in tents covered with buffalo hides. Amongst
+these there were twenty or more of the different bands, each one with
+their chief at their head, over whom was a _superior chief_ and leader,
+a middle-aged man, of middling stature, with a noble countenance, and a
+figure almost equalling the Apollo, and I painted his portrait (+plate+
+86). The name of this chief is Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn) of the
+Mee-ne-cow-e-gee band, who has risen rapidly to the highest honours
+in the tribe, from his own extraordinary merits, even at so early an
+age. He told me that he took the name of “One Horn” (or shell) from a
+simple small shell that was hanging on his neck, which descended to
+him from his father, and which, he said, he valued more than anything
+he possessed; affording a striking instance of the living affection
+which these people often cherish for the dead, inasmuch as he chose
+to carry this name through life in preference to many others and more
+honourable ones he had a right to have taken, from different battles
+and exploits of his extraordinary life. He treated me with great
+kindness and attention, considering himself highly complimented by the
+signal and unprecedented honour I had conferred upon him by painting
+his portrait, and that before I had invited any other. His costume was
+a very handsome one, and will have a place in my +Indian Gallery+ by
+the side of his picture. It is made of elk skins beautifully dressed,
+and fringed with a profusion of porcupine quills and scalp-locks; and
+his hair, which is very long and profuse, divided into two parts, and
+lifted up and crossed, over the top of his head, with a simple tie,
+giving it somewhat the appearance of a Turkish turban.
+
+This extraordinary man, before he was raised to the dignity of chief,
+was the renowned of his tribe for his athletic achievements. In the
+chase he was foremost; he could run down a buffalo, which he often had
+done, on his own legs, and drive his arrow to the heart. He was the
+fleetest in the tribe; and in the races he had run, he had always taken
+the prize.
+
+It was proverbial in his tribe, that Ha-wan-je-tah’s bow never was
+drawn in vain, and his wigwam was abundantly furnished with scalps that
+he had taken from his enemies’ heads in battle.
+
+Having descended the river thus far, then, and having hauled out
+my canoe, and taken up my quarters for awhile with mine hospitable
+host, Mr. Laidlaw, as I have before said; and having introduced my
+readers to the country and the people, and more particularly to the
+chief dignitary of the Sioux; and having promised in the beginning of
+this Letter also, that I should give them some amusing and curious
+information that we picked up, and incidents that we met with, on
+our voyage from the Mandans to this place; I have again to beg that
+they will pardon me for withholding from them yet awhile longer, the
+incidents of that curious and most important part of my Tour, the
+absence of which, at this time, seems to make a “hole in the ballad,”
+though I promise my readers they are written, and will appear in the
+book in a proper and appropriate place.
+
+Taking it for granted then, that I will be indulged in this freak, I am
+taking the liberty of presuming on my readers’ patience in proposing
+another, which is to offer them here an extract from my Notes, which
+were made on my journey of 1300 miles from St. Louis to this place,
+where I stopped, as I have said, amongst several thousands of Sioux;
+where I remained for some time, and painted my numerous portraits of
+their chiefs, &c.; one of whom was the head and leader of the Sioux,
+whom I have already introduced. On the long and tedious route that lies
+between St. Louis and this place, I passed the Sacs and Ioways—the
+Konzas—the Omahaws, and the Otoes (making notes on them all, which are
+reserved for another place), and landed at the Puncahs, a small tribe
+residing in one village, on the west bank of the river, 300 miles below
+this, and 1000 from St. Louis.
+
+The Puncahs are all contained in seventy-five or eighty lodges, made of
+buffalo skins, in the form of tents; the frames for which are poles of
+fifteen or twenty feet in length, with the butt ends standing on the
+ground, and the small ends meeting at the top, forming a cone, which
+sheds off the rain and wind with perfect success. This small remnant
+of a tribe are not more than four or five hundred in numbers; and I
+should think, at least, two-thirds of those are women. This disparity
+in numbers having been produced by the continual losses which their
+men suffer, who are penetrating the buffalo country for meat, for
+which they are now obliged to travel a great way (as the buffaloes
+have recently left their country), exposing their lives to their more
+numerous enemies about them.
+
+The chief of this tribe, whose name is Shoo-de-ga-cha (smoke), I
+painted at full length (+plate+ 87), and his wife also, a young and
+very pretty woman (+plate+ 88), whose name is Hee-la’h-dee (the
+pure fountain); her neck and arms were curiously tattooed, which is
+a very frequent mode of ornamenting the body amongst this and some
+other tribes, which is done by pricking into the skin, gunpowder and
+vermilion.
+
+The chief, who was wrapped in a buffalo robe, is a noble specimen of
+native dignity and philosophy. I conversed much with him; and from his
+dignified manners, as well as from the soundness of his reasoning, I
+became fully convinced that he deserved to be the sachem of a more
+numerous and prosperous tribe. He related to me with great coolness
+and frankness, the poverty and distress of his nation; and with the
+method of a philosopher, predicted the certain and rapid extinction of
+his tribe, which he had not the power to avert. Poor, noble chief; who
+was equal to, and worthy of a greater empire! He sat upon the deck of
+the steamer, overlooking the little cluster of his wigwams mingled
+amongst the trees; and, like Caius Marius, weeping over the ruins
+of Carthage, shed tears as he was descanting on the poverty of his
+ill-fated little community, which he told me “had once been powerful
+and happy; that the buffaloes which the Great Spirit had given them
+for food, and which formerly spread all over their green prairies, had
+all been killed or driven out by the approach of white men, who wanted
+their skins; that their country was now entirely destitute of game,
+and even of roots for their food, as it was one continued prairie;
+and that his young men penetrating the countries of their enemies
+for buffaloes, which they were obliged to do, were cut to pieces and
+destroyed in great numbers. That his people had foolishly become fond
+of _fire-water_ (whiskey), and had given away everything in their
+country for it—that it had destroyed many of his warriors, and soon
+would destroy the rest—that his tribe was too small, and his warriors
+too few to go to war with the tribes around them; that they were met
+and killed by the Sioux on the North, by the Pawnees on the West; and
+by the Osages and Konzas on the South; and still more alarmed from the
+constant advance of the pale faces—their enemies from the East, with
+whiskey and small-pox, which already had destroyed four-fifths of his
+tribe, and soon would impoverish, and at last destroy the remainder of
+them.”
+
+[Illustration: 89]
+
+[Illustration: 90]
+
+In this way did this shrewd philosopher lament over the unlucky destiny
+of his tribe; and I pitied him with all my heart. I have no doubt of
+the correctness of his representations; and I believe there is no tribe
+on the frontier more in want, nor any more deserving of the sympathy
+and charity of the government and Christian societies of the civilized
+world.
+
+The son of this chief, a youth of eighteen years, and whose portrait I
+painted (+plate+ 90), distinguished himself in a singular manner the
+day before our steamer reached their village, by taking to him _four
+wives in one day_! This extraordinary and unprecedented freak of his,
+was just the thing to make him the greatest sort of _medicine_ in the
+eyes of his people; and probably he may date much of his success and
+greatness through life, to this bold and original step, which suddenly
+raised him into notice and importance.
+
+The old chief Shoo-de-ga-cha, of whom I have spoken above, considering
+his son to have arrived to the age of maturity, fitted him out for
+house-keeping, by giving him a handsome wigwam to live in, and nine
+horses, with many other valuable presents; when the boy, whose name
+is Hongs-kay-de (the great chief), soon laid his plans for the proud
+and pleasant epoch in his life, and consummated them in the following
+ingenious and amusing manner.
+
+Wishing to connect himself with, and consequently to secure the
+countenance of some of the most influential men in the tribe, he had
+held an interview with one of the most distinguished; and easily
+(being the son of a chief), made an arrangement for the hand of his
+daughter, which he was to receive on a certain day, and at a certain
+hour, for which he was to give two horses, a gun, and several pounds
+of tobacco. This was enjoined on the father as a profound secret, and
+as a condition of the espousal. In like manner he soon made similar
+arrangements with three other leading men of the tribe, each of whom
+had a young and beautiful daughter, of marriageable age. To each of
+the fathers he had promised two horses, and other presents similar
+to those stipulated for in the first instance, and all under the
+same injunctions of secrecy, until the hour approached, when he had
+announced to the whole tribe that he was to be married. At the time
+appointed, they all assembled, and all were in ignorance of the fair
+hand that was to be placed in his on this occasion. He had got some
+of his young friends who were prepared to assist him, to lead up
+the eight horses. He took two of them by the halters, and the other
+presents agreed upon in his other hand, and advancing to the first of
+the parents, whose daughter was standing by the side of him, saying
+to him, “you promised me the hand of your daughter on this day, for
+which I was to give you two horses.” The father assented with a “ugh!”
+receiving the presents, and giving his child; when some confusion
+ensued from the simultaneous remonstrances, which were suddenly made by
+the other three parents, who had brought their daughters forward, and
+were shocked at this sudden disappointment, as well as by the mutual
+declarations they were making, of similar contracts that each one had
+entered into with him! As soon as they could be pacified, and silence
+was restored, he exultingly replied, “You have all acknowledged in
+public your promises with me, which I shall expect you to fulfil. I am
+here to perform all the engagements which I have made, and I expect
+you all to do the same”—No more was said. He led up the two horses for
+each, and delivered the other presents; leading off to his wigwam his
+four brides—taking two in each hand, and commenced at once upon his new
+mode of life; reserving only one of his horses for his own daily use.
+
+I visited the wigwam of this young installed _medicine-man_ several
+times, and saw his four modest little wives seated around the fire,
+where all seemed to harmonize very well; and for aught I could
+discover, were entering very happily on the duties and pleasures of
+married life. I selected one of them for her portrait, and painted it
+(+plate+ 89), Mong-shong-shaw (the bending willow), in a very pretty
+dress of deer skins, and covered with a young buffalo’s robe, which was
+handsomely ornamented, and worn with much grace and pleasing effect.
+
+Mr. Chouteau of the Fur Company, and Major Sanford, the agent for the
+Upper Missouri Indians, were with me at this time; and both of these
+gentlemen, highly pleased with so ingenious and _innocent_ a freak,
+felt disposed to be liberal, and sent them many presents from the
+steamer.
+
+The ages of these young brides were probably all between twelve and
+fifteen years, the season of life in which most of the girls in this
+wild country contract marriage.
+
+[Illustration: 91]
+
+It is a surprising fact, that women mature in these regions at that
+early age, and there have been some instances where marriage has taken
+place, even at eleven; and the juvenile mother has been blest with her
+first offspring at the age of twelve!
+
+These facts are calculated to create surprise and almost incredulity
+in the mind of the reader, but there are circumstances for his
+consideration yet to be known, which will in a manner account for these
+extraordinary facts.
+
+There is not a doubt but there is a more early approach to maturity
+amongst the females of this country than in civilized communities,
+owing either to a natural and constitutional difference, or to the
+exposed and active life they lead. Yet there is another and more
+general cause of early marriages (and consequently apparent maturity),
+which arises out of the modes and forms of the country, where most
+of the marriages are contracted with the parents, hurried on by the
+impatience of the applicant, and prematurely accepted and consummated
+on the part of the parents, who are often impatient to be in receipt
+of the presents they are to receive as the price of their daughters.
+There is also the facility of dissolving the marriage contract in this
+country, which does away with one of the most serious difficulties
+which lies in the way in the civilized world, and calculated greatly
+to retard its consummation, which is not an equal objection in Indian
+communities. Education and accomplishments, again, in the fashionable
+world, and also a time and a season to flourish and show them off,
+necessarily engross that part of a young lady’s life, when the poor
+Indian girl, who finds herself weaned from the familiar embrace of her
+parents, with her mind and her body maturing, and her thoughts and her
+passions straying away in the world for some theme or some pleasure
+to cling to, easily follows their juvenile and ardent dictates,
+prematurely entering on that system of life, consisting in reciprocal
+dependence and protection.
+
+In the instance above described, the young man was in no way censured
+by his people, but most loudly applauded; for in this country polygamy
+is allowed; and in this tribe, where there are two or three times the
+number of women that there are of men, such an arrangement answers a
+good purpose, whereby so many of the females are provided for and taken
+care of; and particularly so, and to the great satisfaction of the
+tribe, as well as of the parties and families concerned, when so many
+fall to the lot of a chief, or the son of a chief, into whose wigwam it
+is considered an honour to be adopted, and where they are the most sure
+of protection.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 27.
+
+                MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+When we were about to start on our way up the river from the village
+of the Puncahs, we found that they were packing up all their goods and
+preparing to start for the prairies, farther to the West, in pursuit
+of buffaloes, to dry meat for their winter’s supplies. They took down
+their wigwams of skins to carry with them, and all were flat to the
+ground and everything packing up ready for the start. My attention
+was directed by Major Sanford, the Indian Agent, to one of the most
+miserable and helpless looking objects that I ever had seen in my life,
+a very aged and emaciated man of the tribe, who he told me was to be
+_exposed_.
+
+The tribe were going where hunger and dire necessity compelled them
+to go, and this pitiable object, who had once been a chief, and a man
+of distinction in his tribe, who was now too old to travel, being
+reduced to mere skin and bones, was to be left to starve, or meet
+with such death as might fall to his lot, and his bones to be picked
+by the wolves! I lingered around this poor old forsaken patriarch for
+hours before we started, to indulge the tears of sympathy which were
+flowing for the sake of this poor benighted and decrepit old man,
+whose worn-out limbs were no longer able to support him; their kind
+and faithful offices having long since been performed, and his body
+and his mind doomed to linger into the withering agony of decay, and
+gradual solitary death. I wept, and it was a pleasure to weep, for the
+painful looks, and the dreary prospects of this old veteran, whose
+eyes were dimmed, whose venerable locks were whitened by an hundred
+years, whose limbs were almost naked, and trembling as he sat by a
+small fire which his friends had left him, with a few sticks of wood
+within his reach and a buffalo’s skin stretched upon some crotches over
+his head. Such was to be his only dwelling, and such the chances for
+his life, with only a few half-picked bones that were laid within his
+reach, and a dish of water, without weapons or means of any kind to
+replenish them, or strength to move his body from its fatal locality.
+In this sad plight I mournfully contemplated this miserable remnant
+of existence, who had unluckily outlived the fates and accidents of
+wars to die alone, at death’s leisure. His friends and his children
+had all left him, and were preparing in a little time to be on the
+march. He had told them to leave him, “he was old,” he said, “and too
+feeble to march.” “My children,” said he, “our nation is poor, and
+it is necessary that you should all go to the country where you can
+get meat,—my eyes are dimmed and my strength is no more; my days are
+nearly all numbered, and I am a burthen to my children—I cannot go, and
+I wish to die. Keep your hearts stout, and think not of me; I am no
+longer good for anything.” In this way they had finished the ceremony
+of _exposing_ him, and taken their final leave of him. I advanced to
+the old man, and was undoubtedly the last human being who held converse
+with him. I sat by the side of him, and though he could not distinctly
+see me, he shook me heartily by the hand and smiled, evidently aware
+that I was a white man, and that I sympathized with his inevitable
+misfortune. I shook hands again with him, and left him, steering my
+course towards the steamer which was a mile or more from me, and ready
+to resume her voyage up the Missouri.[6]
+
+This cruel custom of exposing their aged people, belongs, I think, to
+all the tribes who roam about the prairies, making severe marches,
+when such decrepit persons are totally unable to go, unable to ride or
+to walk,—when they have no means of carrying them. It often becomes
+absolutely necessary in such cases that they should be left; and they
+uniformly insist upon it, saying as this old man did, that they are
+old and of no further use—that they left their fathers in the same
+manner—that they wish to die, and their children must not mourn for
+them.
+
+From the Puncah village, our steamer made regular progress from day
+to day towards the mouth of the Teton, from where I am now writing;
+passing the whole way a country of green fields, that come sloping down
+to the river on either side, forming the loveliest scenes in the world.
+
+From day to day we advanced, opening our eyes to something new and
+more beautiful every hour that we progressed, until at last our boat
+was aground; and a day’s work of sounding told us at last, that there
+was no possibility of advancing further, until there should be a rise
+in the river, to enable the boat to get over the bar. After laying in
+the middle of the river about a week, in this unpromising dilemma, Mr.
+Chouteau started off twenty men on foot, to cross the plains for a
+distance of 200 miles to Laidlaw’s Fort, at the mouth of Teton river.
+To this expedition, I immediately attached myself; and having heard
+that a numerous party of Sioux were there encamped, and waiting to see
+the steamer, I packed on the backs, and in the hands of several of the
+men, such articles for painting, as I might want; canvass, paints, and
+brushes, with my sketch-book slung on my back, and my rifle in my hand,
+and I started off with them.
+
+We took leave of our friends on the boat, and mounting the green
+bluffs, steered our course from day to day over a level prairie,
+without a tree or a bush in sight, to relieve the painful monotony,
+filling our canteens at the occasional little streams that we passed,
+kindling our fires with dried buffalo dung, which we collected on the
+prairie, and stretching our tired limbs on the level turf whenever we
+were overtaken by night.
+
+We were six or seven days in performing this march; and it gave me a
+good opportunity of testing the muscles of my legs, with a number of
+half-breeds and Frenchmen, whose lives are mostly spent in this way,
+leading a novice, a cruel, and almost killing journey. Every rod of our
+way was over a continuous prairie, with a verdant green turf of wild
+grass of six or eight inches in height; and most of the way enamelled
+with wild flowers, and filled with a profusion of strawberries.
+
+For two or three of the first days, the scenery was monotonous, and
+became exceedingly painful from the fact, that we were (to use a
+phrase of the country) “out of sight of land,” _i. e._ out of sight
+of anything rising above the horizon, which was a perfect straight
+line around us, like that of the blue and boundless ocean. The
+pedestrian over such a discouraging sea of green, without a landmark
+before or behind him; without a beacon to lead him on, or define his
+progress, feels weak and overcome when night falls; and he stretches
+his exhausted limbs, apparently on the same spot where he has slept
+the night before, with the same prospect before and behind him; the
+same grass, and the same wild flowers beneath and about him; the same
+canopy over his head, and the same cheerless sea of green to start
+upon in the morning. It is difficult to describe the simple beauty
+and serenity of these scenes of solitude, or the feelings of feeble
+man, whose limbs are toiling to carry him through them—without a hill
+or tree to mark his progress, and convince him that he is not, like a
+squirrel in his cage, after all his toil, standing still. One commences
+on peregrinations like these, with a light heart, and a nimble foot,
+and spirits as buoyant as the very air that floats along by the side of
+him; but his spirit soon tires, and he lags on the way that is rendered
+more tedious and intolerable by the tantalizing _mirage_ that opens
+before him beautiful lakes, and lawns, and copses; or by the _looming_
+of the prairie ahead of him, that seems to rise in a parapet, and
+decked with its varied flowers, phantom-like, flies and moves along
+before him.
+
+I got on for a couple of days in tolerable condition, and with some
+considerable applause; but my half-bred, companions took the lead at
+length, and left me with several other novices far behind, which gave
+me additional pangs; and I at length felt like giving up the journey,
+and throwing myself upon the ground in hopeless despair. I was not
+alone in my misery, however, but was cheered and encouraged by looking
+back and beholding several of our party half a mile or more in the rear
+of me, jogging along, and suffering more agony in their new experiment
+than I was suffering myself. Their loitering and my murmurs, at length,
+brought our leaders to a halt, and we held a sort of council, in which
+I explained that the pain in my feet was so intolerable, that I felt as
+if I could go no further; when one of our half-breed leaders stepped
+up to me, and addressing me in French, told me that I must “_turn my
+toes in_” as the Indians do, and that I could then go on very well. We
+halted a half-hour, and took a little refreshment, whilst the little
+Frenchman was teaching his lesson to the rest of my fellow-novices,
+when we took up our march again; and I soon found upon trial, that by
+turning my toes in, my feet went more easily through the grass; and by
+turning the weight of my body more equally on the toes (enabling each
+one to support its proportionable part of the load, instead of throwing
+it all on to the joints of the big toes, which is done when the toes
+are turned out); I soon got relief, and made my onward progress very
+well. I rigidly adhered to this mode, and found no difficulty on the
+third and fourth days, of taking the lead of the whole party, which I
+constantly led until our journey was completed.[7]
+
+On this journey we saw immense herds of buffaloes; and although we had
+no horses to _run_ them, we successfully _approached_ them on foot,
+and supplied ourselves abundantly with fresh meat. After travelling
+for several days, we came in sight of a high range of blue hills in
+distance on our left, which rose to the height of several hundred
+feet above the level of the prairies. These hills were a conspicuous
+landmark at last, and some relief to us. I was told by our guide, that
+they were called the Bijou Hills, from a Fur Trader of that name, who
+had had his trading-house at the foot of them on the banks of the
+Missouri river, where he was at last destroyed by the Sioux Indians.
+
+Not many miles back of this range of hills, we came in contact with an
+immense saline, or “salt meadow,” as they are termed in this country,
+which turned us out of our path, and compelled us to travel several
+miles out of our way, to get by it; we came suddenly upon a great
+depression of the prairie, which extended for several miles, and as
+we stood upon its green banks, which were gracefully sloping down, we
+could overlook some hundreds of acres of the prairie which were covered
+with an incrustation of salt, that appeared the same as if the ground
+was everywhere covered with snow.
+
+These scenes, I am told are frequently to be met with in these regions,
+and certainly present the most singular and startling effect, by the
+sudden and unexpected contrast between their snow-white appearance,
+and the green fields that hem them in on all sides. Through each of
+these meadows there is a meandering small stream which arises from
+salt springs, throwing out in the spring of the year great quantities
+of water, which flood over these meadows to the depth of three or four
+feet; and during the heat of summer, being exposed to the rays of
+the sun, entirely evaporates, leaving the incrustation of _muriate_
+on the surface, to the depth of one or two inches. These places are
+the constant resort of buffaloes, which congregate in thousands about
+them, to lick up the salt; and on approaching the banks of this place
+we stood amazed at the almost incredible numbers of these animals,
+which were in sight on the opposite banks, at the distance of a mile or
+two from us, where they were lying in countless numbers, on the level
+prairie above, and stretching down by hundreds, to lick at the salt,
+forming in distance, large masses of black, most pleasingly to contrast
+with the snow white, and the vivid green, which I have before mentioned.
+
+After several days toil in the manner above-mentioned, all the way
+over soft and green fields, and amused with many pleasing incidents
+and accidents of the chase, we arrived, pretty well jaded, at Fort
+Pierre, mouth of Teton River, from whence I am now writing; where for
+the first time I was introduced to Mr. M‘Kenzie (of whom I have before
+spoken), to Mr. Laidlaw, mine host, and Mr. Halsey, a chief clerk in
+the establishment; and after, to the head chief and dignitaries of the
+great Sioux nation, who were here encamped about the Fort, in six or
+seven hundred skin lodges, and waiting for the arrival of the steamer,
+which they had heard, was on its way up the river, and which they had
+great curiosity to see.
+
+After resting a few days, and recovering from the fatigues of my
+journey, having taken a fair survey of the Sioux village, and explained
+my views to the Indians, as well as to the gentlemen whom I have
+above named; I commenced my operations with the brush, and first of
+all painted the portrait of the head-chief of the Sioux (the one
+horn), whom I have before spoken of. This truly noble fellow sat for
+his portrait, and it was finished before any one of the tribe knew
+anything of it; several of the chiefs and doctors were allowed to see
+it, and at last it was talked of through the village; and of course,
+the greater part of their numbers were at once gathered around me.
+Nothing short of hanging it out of doors on the side of my wigwam,
+would in any way answer them; and here I had the peculiar satisfaction
+of beholding, through a small hole I had made in my wigwam, the high
+admiration and respect they all felt for their chief, as well as
+the very great estimation in which they held me as a painter and a
+magician, conferring upon me at once the very distinguished appellation
+of Ee-cha-zoo-kah-ga-wa-kon (the medicine painter).
+
+After the exhibition of this chief’s picture, there was much excitement
+in the village about it; the doctors generally took a decided and noisy
+stand against the operations of my brush; haranguing the populace, and
+predicting bad luck, and premature death, to all who submitted to so
+strange and unaccountable an operation! My business for some days was
+entirely at a stand for want of sitters; for the doctors were opposing
+me with all their force; and the women and children were crying, with
+their hands over their mouths, making the most pitiful and doleful
+laments, which I never can explain to my readers; but for some just
+account of which, I must refer them to my friends M‘Kenzie and Halsey,
+who overlooked with infinite amusement, these curious scenes and are
+able, no doubt, to give them with truth and effect to the world.
+
+In this sad and perplexing dilemma, this noble chief stepped forward,
+and addressing himself to the chiefs and the doctors, to the braves and
+to the women and children, he told them to be quiet, and to treat me
+with friendship; that I had been travelling a great way to see them,
+and smoke with them; that I was great _medicine_, to be sure; that I
+was a great chief, and that I was the friend of Mr. Laidlaw and Mr.
+M‘Kenzie, who had prevailed upon him to sit for his picture, and fully
+assured him that there was no harm in it. His speech had the desired
+effect, and I was shaken hands with by hundreds of their worthies, many
+of whom were soon dressed and ornamented, prepared to sit for their
+portraits.[8]
+
+The first who then stepped forward for his portrait was Ee-ah-sa-pa
+(the Black Rock) chief of the Nee-caw-wee-gee band (+plate+ 91), a tall
+and fine looking man, of six feet or more in stature; in a splendid
+dress, with his lance in his hand; with his pictured robe thrown
+gracefully over his shoulders, and his head-dress made of war-eagles’
+quills and ermine skins, falling in a beautiful crest over his back,
+quite down to his feet, and surmounted on the top with a pair of horns
+denoting him (as I have explained in former instances) head leader or
+war-chief of his band.
+
+This man has been a constant and faithful friend of Mr. M‘Kenzie and
+others of the Fur Traders, who held him in high estimation, both as an
+honourable and valiant man, and an estimable companion.
+
+The next who sat to me was Tchan-dee, tobacco (+plate+ 92), a desperate
+warrior, and represented to me by the traders, as one of the most
+respectable and famous chiefs of the tribe. After him sat Toh-ki-ee-to,
+the stone with horns (+plate+ 93), chief of the Yanc-ton band, and
+reputed the principal and most eloquent _orator_ of the nation. The
+neck, and breast, and shoulders of this man, were curiously tattooed,
+by pricking in gunpowder and vermilion, which in this extraordinary
+instance, was put on in such elaborate profusion as to appear at a
+little distance like a beautifully embroidered dress. In his hand he
+held a handsome pipe, the stem of which was several feet long, and all
+the way wound with ornamented braids of the porcupine quills. Around
+his body was wrapped a valued robe, made of the skin of the grizzly
+bear, and on his neck several strings of _wampum_, an ornament seldom
+seen amongst the Indians in the Far West and the North.[9] I was
+much amused with the excessive vanity and egotism of this notorious
+man, who, whilst sitting for his picture, took occasion to have the
+interpreter constantly explaining to me the wonderful effects which his
+oratory had at different times produced on the minds of the chiefs and
+people of his tribe.
+
+[Illustration: 92 93]
+
+[Illustration: 94 95]
+
+[Illustration: 96]
+
+[Illustration: 97]
+
+He told me, that it was a very easy thing for him to set all the women
+of the tribe to crying: and that all the chiefs listened profoundly to
+his voice before they went to war; and at last, summed up by saying,
+that he was “the greatest orator in the Sioux nation,” by which he
+undoubtedly meant the greatest in the _world_.
+
+Besides these _distingués_ of this great and powerful tribe, I
+painted in regular succession, according to their rank and standing,
+Wan-ee-ton, chief of the _Susseton band_; Tah-zee-kah-da-cha (the torn
+belly), a brave of the _Yancton band_; Ka-pes-ka-day (the shell), a
+brave of the _O-gla-la band_; Wuk-mi-ser (corn), a warrior of the
+_Nee-cow-ee-gee band_; Cha-tee-wah-nee-chee (no heart), chief of the
+_Wah-nee-watch-to-nee-nah band_; Mah-to-ra-rish-nee-eeh-ee-rah (the
+grizzly bear that runs without regard), a brave of the _Onc-pa-pa
+band_; Mah-to-chee-ga (the little bear), a distinguished brave;
+Shon-ka (the dog), chief of the _Ca-za-zhee-ta_ (bad arrow points)
+_band_; Tah-teck-a-da-hair (the steep wind), a brave of the same
+band; Hah-ha-ra-pah (the elk’s head), chief of the _Ee-ta-sip-shov
+band_; Mah-to-een-nah-pa (the white bear that goes out), chief of the
+_Blackfoot Sioux band_; Shon-ga-ton-ga-chesh-en-day (the horse dung),
+chief of a band, a great conjuror and magician.
+
+The portraits of all the above dignitaries can be always seen, as large
+as life, in my very numerous Collection, provided I get them safe
+home; and also the portraits of two very pretty Sioux women (+plate+
+94), Wi-looh-tah-eeh-tchah-ta-mah-nee (the red thing that touches
+in marching), and (+plate+ 95), Tchon-su-mons-ka (the sand bar). The
+first of these women (+plate+ 94), is the daughter of the famous chief
+called Black Rock, of whom I have spoken, and whose portrait has been
+given (+plate+ 91). She is an unmarried girl, and much esteemed by the
+whole tribe, for her modesty, as well as beauty. She was beautifully
+dressed in skins, ornamented profusely with brass buttons and beads.
+Her hair was plaited, her ears supported a great profusion of curious
+beads—and over her other dress she wore a handsomely garnished buffalo
+robe.
+
+So highly was the Black Rock esteemed (as I have before mentioned), and
+his beautiful daughter admired and respected by the Traders, that Mr.
+M‘Kenzie employed me to make him copies of their two portraits, which
+he has hung up in Mr. Laidlaw’s trading-house, as valued ornaments and
+keepsakes.[10]
+
+The second of these women (+plate+ 95) was very richly dressed, the
+upper part of her garment being almost literally covered with brass
+buttons; and her hair, which was inimitably beautiful and soft, and
+glossy as silk, fell over her shoulders in great profusion, and in
+beautiful waves, produced by the condition in which it is generally
+kept in braids, giving to it, when combed out, a waving form, adding
+much to its native appearance, which is invariably straight and
+graceless.
+
+This woman is at present the wife of a white man by the name of
+Chardon, a Frenchman, who has been many years in the employment of the
+American Fur Company, in the character of a Trader and Interpreter;
+and who by his bold and daring nature, has not only carried dread and
+consternation amongst the Indian tribes wherever he has gone; but
+has commanded much respect, and rendered essential service to the
+Company in the prosecution of their dangerous and critical dealings
+with the Indian tribes. I have said something of this extraordinary
+man heretofore, and shall take future occasion to say more of him.
+For the present, suffice it to say, that although from his continual
+intercourse with the different tribes for twenty-five or thirty years,
+where he had always been put forward in the front of danger—sent
+as a sacrifice, or _forlorn hope_; still his cut and hacked limbs
+have withstood all the blows that have been aimed at them; and his
+unfaltering courage leads him to “beard the lion in his den,” whilst
+his liberal heart, as it always has, deals out to his friends (and even
+to strangers, if friends are not by) all the dear earnings which are
+continually bought with severest toil, and at the hazard of his life.
+
+I acknowledge myself a debtor to this good hearted fellow for much
+kindness and attention to me whilst in the Indian country, and also for
+a superb dress and robe, which had been manufactured and worn by his
+wife, and which he insisted on adding to my +Indian Gallery+ since her
+death, where it will long remain to be examined.[11]
+
+  [6] When passing by the site of the Puncah village a few months
+  after this, in my canoe, I went ashore with my men, and found the
+  poles and the buffalo skin, standing as they were left, over the
+  old man’s head. The firebrands were lying nearly as I had left
+  them, and I found at a few yards distant the skull, and others of
+  his bones, which had been picked and cleaned by the wolves; which
+  is probably all that any human being can ever know of his final and
+  melancholy fate.
+
+
+  [7] On this march we were all travelling in moccasins, which being
+  made without any soles, according to the Indian custom, had but
+  little support for the foot underneath; and consequently, soon
+  subjected us to excruciating pain, whilst walking according to the
+  civilized mode, with the toes turned out. From this very painful
+  experience I learned to my complete satisfaction, that man in a
+  state of nature who walks on his naked feet, _must_ walk with his
+  toes turned in, that each may perform the duties assigned to it in
+  proportion to its size and strength; and that civilized man _can_
+  walk with his toes turned out if he chooses, if he will use a stiff
+  sole under his feet, and will be content at last to put up with an
+  acquired deformity of the big toe joint which too many know to be a
+  frequent and painful occurrence.
+
+
+  [8] Several years after I painted the portrait of this
+  extraordinary man, and whilst I was delivering my Lectures in the
+  City of New York, I first received intelligence of his death,
+  in the following singular manner:—I was on the platform in my
+  Lecture-room, in the Stuyvesant Institute, with an audience of
+  twelve or fourteen hundred persons, in the midst of whom were
+  seated a delegation of thirty or forty Sioux Indians under the
+  charge of Major Pilcher, their agent; and I was successfully
+  passing before their eyes the portraits of a number of Sioux
+  chiefs, and making my remarks upon them. The Sioux instantly
+  recognized each one as it was exhibited, which they instantly
+  hailed by a sharp and startling yelp. But when the portrait of this
+  chief was placed before them, instead of the usual recognition,
+  each one placed his hand over his mouth, and gave a “hush—sh—” and
+  hung down their heads, their usual expressions of grief in case of
+  a death. From this sudden emotion, I knew instantly, that the chief
+  must be dead, and so expressed my belief to the audience. I stopped
+  my Lecture a few moments to converse with Major Pilcher who was by
+  my side, and who gave me the following extraordinary account of his
+  death, which I immediately related to the audience; and which being
+  translated to the Sioux Indians, their chief arose and addressed
+  himself to the audience, saying that the account was true, and that
+  Ha-wan-je-tah was killed but a few days before they left home.
+
+  The account which Major Pilcher gave was nearly as follows:—
+
+  “But a few weeks before I left the Sioux country with the
+  delegation, Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn) had in some way been the
+  accidental cause of the death of his only son, a very fine youth;
+  and so great was the anguish of his mind at times, that he became
+  frantic and insane. In one of these moods he mounted his favourite
+  war-horse with his bow and his arrows in his hand, and dashed off
+  at full speed upon the prairies, repeating the most solemn oath,
+  ‘that he would slay the first living thing that fell in his way, be
+  it man or beast, or friend or foe.’
+
+  “No one dared to follow him, and after he had been absent an hour
+  or two, his horse came back to the village with two arrows in its
+  body, and covered with blood! Fears of the most serious kind were
+  now entertained for the fate of the chief, and a party of warriors
+  immediately mounted their horses, and retraced the animal’s tracks
+  to the place of the tragedy, where they found the body of their
+  chief horribly mangled and gored by a buffalo bull, whose carcass
+  was stretched by the side of him.
+
+  “A close examination of the ground was then made by the Indians,
+  who ascertained by the tracks, that their unfortunate chief, under
+  his unlucky resolve, had met a buffalo bull in the season when
+  they are very stubborn, and unwilling to run from any one; and
+  had incensed the animal by shooting a number of arrows into him,
+  which had brought him into furious combat. The chief had then
+  dismounted, and turned his horse loose, having given it a couple of
+  arrows from his bow, which sent it home at full speed, and then had
+  thrown away his bow and quiver, encountering the infuriated animal
+  with his knife alone, and the desperate battle resulted as I have
+  before-mentioned, in the death of both. Many of the bones of the
+  chief were broken, as he was gored and stamped to death, and his
+  huge antagonist had laid his body by the side of him, weltering in
+  blood from an hundred wounds made by the chief’s long and two-edged
+  knife.”
+
+  So died this elegant and high-minded nobleman of the wilderness,
+  whom I confidently had hoped to meet and admire again at some
+  future period of my life. (_Vide_ +plate+ 86).
+
+
+  [9] _Wampum_ is the Indian name of ornaments manufactured by the
+  Indians from vari-coloured shells, which they get on the shores of
+  the fresh water streams, and file or cut into bits of half an inch,
+  or an inch in length, and perforate (giving to them the shape of
+  pieces of broken pipe stems), which they string on deers’ sinews,
+  and wear on their necks in profusion; or weave them ingeniously
+  into war-belts for the waist.
+
+  Amongst the numerous tribes who have formerly inhabited the
+  Atlantic Coast, and that part of the country which now constitutes
+  the principal part of the United States, wampum has been invariably
+  manufactured, and highly valued as a circulating medium (instead of
+  coins, of which the Indians have no knowledge); so many strings, or
+  so many hands-breadth, being the fixed value of a horse, a gun, a
+  robe, &c.
+
+  In treaties, the wampum belt has been passed as the pledge of
+  friendship, and from time immemorial sent to hostile tribes, as the
+  messenger of peace; or paid by so many fathoms length, as tribute
+  to conquering enemies, and Indian kings.
+
+  It is a remarkable fact, and worthy of observation in this place,
+  that after I passed the Mississippi, I saw but very little wampum
+  used; and on ascending the Missouri, I do not recollect to have
+  seen it worn at all by the Upper Missouri Indians, although the
+  same materials for its manufacture are found in abundance through
+  those regions. I met with but very few strings of it amongst the
+  Missouri Sioux, and nothing of it amongst the tribes north and
+  west of them. Below the Sioux, and along the whole of our Western
+  frontier, the different tribes are found loaded and beautifully
+  ornamented with it, which they can now afford to do, for they
+  consider it of little value, as the Fur Traders have ingeniously
+  introduced a spurious imitation of it, manufactured by steam or
+  otherwise, of porcelain or some composition closely resembling it,
+  with which they have flooded the whole Indian country, and sold at
+  so reduced a price, as to cheapen, and consequently destroy, the
+  value and meaning of the original wampum, a string of which can now
+  but very rarely be found in any part of the country.
+
+
+  [10] Several years after I left the Sioux country, I saw Messrs.
+  Chardon and Piquot, two of the Traders from that country, who
+  recently had left it, and told me in St. Louis, whilst looking at
+  the portrait of this girl, that while staying in Mr. Laidlaw’s
+  Fort, the chief, Black Rock, entered the room suddenly where the
+  portrait of his daughter was hanging on the wall, and pointing to
+  it with a heavy heart, told Mr. Laidlaw, that whilst his band was
+  out on the prairies, where they had been for several months “making
+  meat,” his daughter had died, and was there buried. “My heart is
+  glad again,” said he, “when I see her here alive; and I want the
+  one the medicine-man made of her, which is now before me, that I
+  can see her, and talk to her. My band are all in mourning for her,
+  and at the gate of your Fort, which I have just passed, are ten
+  horses for you, and Ee-ah-sa-pa’s wigwam, which you know is the
+  best one in the Sioux nation. I wish you to take down my daughter
+  and give her to me.” Mr. Laidlaw, seeing the _unusually_ liberal
+  price that this nobleman was willing to pay for a portrait, and
+  the true grief that he expressed for the loss of his child, had
+  not the heart to abuse such noble feeling; and taking the painting
+  from the wall, placed it into his hands; telling him that it of
+  right belonged to him, and that his horses and wigwam he must take
+  back and keep them, to mend, as far as possible, his liberal heart,
+  which was broken by the loss of his only daughter.
+
+
+  [11] Several years since writing the above, I made a visit with
+  my wife, to the venerable parent of Mr. Chardon, who lives in her
+  snug and neat mansion, near the City of Philadelphia, where we were
+  treated with genuine politeness and hospitality. His mother and two
+  sisters, who are highly respectable, had many anxious questions
+  to ask about him; and had at the same time, living with them, a
+  fine-looking half-breed boy, about ten years old, the son of Monsr.
+  Chardon and his Indian wife, whom I have above spoken of. This fine
+  boy who had received the name of Bolivar, had been brought from the
+  Indian country by the father, and left here for his education, with
+  which they were taking great pains.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 28.
+
+                MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Whilst painting the portraits of the chiefs and braves of the Sioux,
+as described in my last epistle, my painting-room was the continual
+rendezvous of the worthies of the tribe; and I, the “lion of the day,”
+and my art, the _summum_ and _ne plus ultra_ of mysteries, which
+engaged the whole conversation of chiefs and sachems, as well as of
+women and children. I mentioned that I have been obliged to paint them
+according to rank, as they looked upon the operation as a very great
+honour, which I, as “a great chief and medicine-man,” was conferring on
+all who sat to me. Fortunate it was for me, however, that the honour
+was not a sufficient inducement for all to overcome their fears, which
+often stood in the way of their consenting to be painted; for if all
+had been willing to undergo the operation, I should have progressed
+but a very little way in the “_rank and file_” of their worthies; and
+should have had to leave many discontented, and (as they would think)
+neglected. About one in five or eight was willing to be painted, and
+the rest thought they would be much more sure of “sleeping quiet in
+their graves” after they were dead, if their pictures were not made. By
+this lucky difficulty I got great relief, and easily got through with
+those who were willing, and at the same time decided by the chiefs to
+be worthy, of so signal an honour.
+
+After I had done with the chiefs and braves, and proposed to paint a
+few of the women, I at once got myself into a serious perplexity, being
+heartily laughed at by the whole tribe, both by men and by women, for
+my exceeding and (to them) unaccountable condescension in seriously
+proposing to paint a woman; conferring on her the same honour that
+I had done the chiefs and braves. Those whom I had honoured, were
+laughed at by hundreds of the jealous, who had been decided unworthy
+the distinction, and were now amusing themselves with the _very
+enviable honour_ which the _great white medicine-man_ had conferred,
+_especially_ on _them_, and was now to confer equally upon the _squaws_!
+
+The first reply that I received from those whom I had painted, was,
+that if I was to paint women and children, the sooner I destroyed
+_their_ pictures, the better; for I had represented to them that I
+wanted their pictures to exhibit to white chiefs, to shew who were
+the most distinguished and worthy of the Sioux; and their women had
+never taken scalps, nor did anything better than make fires and dress
+skins. I was quite awkward in this dilemma, in explaining to them
+that I wanted the portraits of the women to hang _under_ those of
+their husbands, merely to shew how their women _looked_, and how they
+_dressed_, without saying any more of them. After some considerable
+delay of my operations, and much deliberation on the subject, through
+the village, I succeeded in getting a number of women’s portraits, of
+which the two above introduced are a couple.
+
+The vanity of these men, after they had agreed to be painted was beyond
+all description, and far surpassing that which is oftentimes immodest
+enough in civilized society, where the sitter generally leaves the
+picture, when it is done to speak for, and to take care of, itself;
+while an Indian often lays down, from morning till night, in front of
+his portrait, admiring his own beautiful face, and faithfully guarding
+it from day to day, to save it from accident or harm.
+
+This _watching_ or _guarding_ their portraits, I have observed during
+all of my travels amongst them as a very curious thing; and in many
+instances, where my colours were not dry, and subjected to so many
+accidents, from the crowds who were gathering about them, I have found
+this peculiar guardianship of essential service to me—relieving my mind
+oftentimes from a great deal of anxiety.
+
+I was for a long time at a loss for the true cause of so singular
+a peculiarity, but at last learned that it was owing to their
+superstitious notion, that there may be life to a certain extent in the
+picture; and that if harm or violence be done to it, it may in some
+mysterious way, affect their health or do them other injury.
+
+After I had been several weeks busily at work with my brush in this
+village, and pretty well used to the modes of life in these regions—and
+also familiarly acquainted with all the officers and clerks of the
+Establishment, it was announced one day, that the steamer which we had
+left, was coming in the river below, where all eyes were anxiously
+turned, and all ears were listening; when, at length, we discovered the
+puffing of her steam; and, at last, heard the thundering of her cannon,
+which were firing from her deck.
+
+The excitement and dismay caused amongst 6000 of these wild people,
+when the steamer came up in front of their village, was amusing in the
+extreme. The steamer was moored at the shore, however; and when Mr.
+Chouteau and Major Sanford, their old friend and agent, walked ashore,
+it seemed to restore their confidence and courage; and the whole
+village gathered in front of the boat, without showing much further
+amazement, or even curiosity about it.
+
+The steamer rested a week or two at this place before she started on
+her voyage for the head-waters of the Missouri; during which time,
+there was much hilarity and mirth indulged in amongst the Indians, as
+well as with the hands employed in the service of the Fur Company. The
+appearance of a steamer in this wild country was deemed a wonderful
+occurrence, and the time of her presence here, looked upon, and used
+as a holiday. Some sharp encounters amongst the trappers, who come
+in here from the mountains, loaded with packs of furs, with sinews
+hardened by long exposure, and seemingly impatient for a _fight_, which
+is soon given them by some bullying fisticuff-fellow, who steps forward
+and settles the matter in a ring, which is made and strictly preserved
+for _fair play_, until hard raps, and bloody noses, and blind eyes
+“_settle the hash_,” and satisfy his trappership to lay in bed a week
+or two, and then graduate, a sober and a civil man.
+
+Amongst the Indians we have had numerous sights and
+amusements to entertain and some to shock us. Shows of
+dances—ball-plays—horse-racing—foot-racing, and wrestling in abundance.
+Feasting—fasting, and prayers we have also had; and penance and
+tortures, and almost every thing short of self-immolation.
+
+Some few days after the steamer had arrived, it was announced that
+a grand feast was to be given to the _great white chiefs_, who were
+visitors amongst them; and preparations were made accordingly for it.
+The two chiefs, Ha-wan-je-tah and Tchan-dee, of whom I have before
+spoken, brought their two tents together, forming the two into a
+semi-circle (+plate+ 96), enclosing a space sufficiently large to
+accommodate 150 men; and sat down with that number of the principal
+chiefs and warriors of the Sioux nation; with Mr. Chouteau, Major
+Sanford, the Indian agent, Mr. M‘Kenzie, and myself, whom they had
+invited in due time, and placed on elevated seats in the centre of the
+crescent; while the rest of the company all sat upon the ground, and
+mostly cross-legged, preparatory to the feast being dealt out.
+
+In the centre of the semi-circle was erected a flag-staff, on which
+was waving a white flag, and to which also was tied the calumet, both
+expressive of their friendly feelings towards us. Near the foot of the
+flag-staff were placed in a row on the ground, six or eight kettles,
+with iron covers on them, shutting them tight, in which were prepared
+the viands for our _voluptuous_ feast. Near the kettles, and on the
+ground also, bottomside upwards, were a number of wooden bowls, in
+which the meat was to be served out. And in front, two or three men,
+who were there placed as waiters, to light the pipes for smoking, and
+also to deal out the food.
+
+In these positions things stood, and all sat, with thousands climbing
+and crowding around, for a peep at the grand pageant; when at length,
+Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn), head chief of the nation, rose in front
+of the Indian agent, in a very handsome costume, and addressed him
+thus:—“My father, I am glad to see you here to-day—my heart is always
+glad to see my father when he comes—our Great Father, who sends him
+here is very rich, and we are poor. Our friend Mr. M‘Kenzie, who
+is here, we are also glad to see; we know him well, and we shall
+be sorry when he is gone. Our friend who is on your right-hand we
+all know is very rich; and we have heard that he owns the great
+_medicine-canoe_; he is a good man, and a friend to the red men. Our
+friend the _White Medicine_, who sits with you, we did not know—he
+came amongst us a stranger, and he has made me very well—all the women
+know it, and think it very good; he has done many curious things, and
+we have all been pleased with him—he has made us much amusement—and we
+know he is great medicine.
+
+[Illustration: 98]
+
+“My father, I hope you will have pity on us, we are very poor—we offer
+you to-day, not the best that we have got; for we have a plenty of good
+buffalo hump and marrow—but we give you our hearts in this feast—we
+have killed our faithful dogs to feed you—and the Great Spirit will
+seal our friendship. I have no more to say.”
+
+After these words he took off his beautiful war-eagle head-dress—his
+shirt and leggings—his necklace of grizzly bears’ claws and his
+moccasins; and tying them together, laid them gracefully down at the
+feet of the agent as a present; and laying a handsome pipe on top of
+them, he walked around into an adjoining lodge, where he got a buffalo
+robe to cover his shoulders, and returned to the feast, taking his seat
+which he had before occupied.
+
+Major Sanford then rose and made a short speech in reply, thanking
+him for the valuable present which he had made him, and for the very
+polite and impressive manner in which it had been done; and sent to the
+steamer for a quantity of tobacco and other presents, which were given
+to him in return. After this, and after several others of the chiefs
+had addressed him in a similar manner; and, like the first, disrobed
+themselves, and thrown their beautiful costumes at his feet, one of the
+three men in front deliberately lit a handsome pipe, and brought it to
+Ha-wan-je-tah to smoke. He took it, and after presenting the stem to
+the North—to the South—to the East, and the West—and then to the Sun
+that was over his head, and pronounced the words “How—how—how!” drew
+a whiff or two of smoke through it, and holding the bowl of it in one
+hand, and its stem in the other, he then held it to each of our mouths,
+as we successively smoked it; after which it was passed around through
+the whole group, who all smoked through it, or as far as its contents
+lasted, when another of the three waiters was ready with a second, and
+at length a third one, in the same way, which lasted through the hands
+of the whole number of guests. This smoking was conducted with the
+strictest adherence to exact and established form, and the feast the
+whole way, to the most positive silence. After the pipe is charged, and
+is being lit, until the time that the chief has drawn the smoke through
+it, it is considered an evil omen for any one to speak; and if any one
+break silence in that time, even in a whisper, the pipe is instantly
+dropped by the chief, and their superstition is such, that they would
+not dare to use it on this occasion; but another one is called for
+and used in its stead. If there is no accident of the kind during the
+smoking, the waiters then proceed to distribute the meat, which is soon
+devoured in the feast.
+
+In his case the lids were raised from the kettles, which were all
+filled with dogs’ meat alone. It being well-cooked, and made into a
+sort of a stew, sent forth a very savoury and pleasing smell, promising
+to be an acceptable and palatable food. Each of us civilized guests had
+a large wooden bowl placed before us, with a huge quantity of dogs’
+flesh floating in a profusion of soup, or rich gravy, with a large
+spoon resting in the dish, made of the buffalo’s horn. In this most
+difficult and painful dilemma we sat; all of us knowing the solemnity
+and good feeling in which it was given, and the absolute necessity of
+falling to, and devouring a little of it. We all tasted it a few times,
+and resigned our dishes, which were quite willingly taken, and passed
+around with others, to every part of the group, who all ate heartily of
+the _delicious viands_, which were soon dipped out of the kettles, and
+entirely devoured; after which each one arose as he felt disposed, and
+walked off without uttering a word. In this way the feast ended, and
+all retired silently, and gradually, until the ground was left vacant
+to the charge of the waiters or officers, who seemed to have charge of
+it during the whole occasion.
+
+This feast was unquestionably given to us, as the most undoubted
+evidence they could give us of their friendship; and we, who knew
+the spirit and feeling in which it was given, could not but treat it
+respectfully, and receive it as a very high and marked compliment.
+
+Since I witnessed it on this occasion, I have been honoured with
+numerous entertainments of the kind amongst the other tribes, which I
+have visited towards the sources of the Missouri, and all conducted in
+the same solemn and impressive manner; from which I feel authorized to
+pronounce the _dog-feast_ a truly religious ceremony, wherein the poor
+Indian sees fit to sacrifice his faithful companion to bear testimony
+to the sacredness of his vows of friendship, and invite his friend to
+partake of its flesh, to remind him forcibly of the reality of the
+sacrifice, and the solemnity of his professions.
+
+The dog, amongst all Indian tribes, is more esteemed and more valued
+than amongst any part of the civilized world; the Indian who has more
+time to devote to his company, and whose untutored mind more nearly
+assimilates to that of his faithful servant, keeps him closer company,
+and draws him nearer to his heart; they hunt together, and are equal
+sharers in the chase—their bed is one; and on the rocks, and on their
+coats of arms they carve his image as the symbol of fidelity. Yet, with
+all of these he will end his affection with this faithful follower, and
+with tears in his eyes, offer him as a sacrifice to seal the pledge he
+has made to man; because a feast of venison, or of buffalo meat, is
+what is due to every one who enters an Indian’s wigwam; and of course,
+conveys but a passive or neutral evidence, that generally goes for
+nothing.
+
+I have sat at many of these feasts, and never could but appreciate
+the moral and solemnity of them. I have seen the master take from the
+bowl the head of his victim, and descant on its former affection and
+fidelity with tears in his eyes. And I have seen guests at the same
+time by the side of me, jesting and sneering at the poor Indian’s folly
+and stupidity; and I have said in my heart, that they never deserved a
+name so good or so honourable as that of the poor animal whose bones
+they were picking.
+
+At the feast which I have been above describing, each of us tasted a
+little of the meat, and passed the dishes on to the Indians, who soon
+demolished everything they contained. We all agreed that the meat was
+well cooked, and seemed to be a well-flavoured and palatable food; and
+no doubt, could have been eaten with a good relish, if we had been
+hungry, and ignorant of the nature of the food we were eating.
+
+The flesh of these dogs, though apparently relished by the Indians,
+is, undoubtedly, inferior to the venison and buffalo’s meat, of which
+feasts are constantly made where friends are invited, as they are in
+civilized society, to a pleasant and convivial party; from which fact
+alone, it would seem clear, that they have some extraordinary motive,
+at all events, for feasting on the flesh of that useful and faithful
+animal; even when, as in the instance I have been describing, their
+village is well supplied with fresh and dried meat of the buffalo. The
+dog-feast is given, I believe, by all tribes in North America; and
+by them all, I think, this faithful animal, as well as the horse, is
+sacrificed in several different ways, to appease offended Spirits or
+Deities, whom it is considered necessary that they should conciliate in
+this way; and when done, is invariably done by giving the best in the
+herd or the kennel.
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 29.
+
+                MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+Another curious and disgusting scene I witnessed in the after part of
+the day on which we were honoured with the dog feast. In this I took no
+part, but was sufficiently near to it, when standing some rods off, and
+witnessing the cruel operation. I was called upon by one of the clerks
+in the Establishment to ride up a mile or so, near the banks of the
+Teton River, in a little plain at the base of the bluffs, where were
+grouped some fifteen or twenty lodges of the Ting-ta-to-ah band, to see
+a man (as they said) “_looking at the sun_!” We found him naked, except
+his breech-cloth, with splints or skewers run through the flesh on both
+breasts, leaning back and hanging with the weight of his body to the
+top of a pole which was fastened in the ground, and to the upper end
+of which he was fastened by a cord which was tied to the splints. In
+this position he was leaning back, with nearly the whole weight of his
+body hanging to the pole, the top of which was bent forward, allowing
+his body to sink about half-way to the ground (+plate+ 97). His feet
+were still upon the ground, supporting a small part of his weight; and
+he held in his left hand his favourite bow, and in his right, with a
+desperate grip, his medicine-bag. In this condition, with the blood
+trickling down over his body, which was covered with white and yellow
+clay, and amidst a great crowd who were looking on, sympathizing with
+and encouraging him, he was hanging and “looking at the sun,” without
+paying the least attention to any one about him. In the group that was
+reclining around him, were several mystery-men beating their drums
+and shaking their rattles, and singing as loud as they could yell, to
+encourage him and strengthen his heart to stand and look at the sun,
+from its rising in the morning ’till its setting at night; at which
+time, if his heart and his strength have not failed him, he is “cut
+down,” receives the liberal donation of presents (which have been
+thrown into a pile before him during the day), and also the name and
+the style of a doctor, or _medicine-man_, which lasts him, and ensures
+him respect, through life.
+
+This most extraordinary and cruel custom I never heard of amongst any
+other tribe, and never saw an instance of it before or after the one I
+have just named. It is a sort of worship, or penance, of great cruelty;
+disgusting and painful to behold, with only one palliating circumstance
+about it, which is, that it is a voluntary torture and of very rare
+occurrence. The poor and ignorant, misguided and superstitious man who
+undertakes it, puts his everlasting reputation at stake upon the issue;
+for when he takes his stand, he expects to face the sun and gradually
+turn his body in listless silence, till he sees it go down at night;
+and if he faints and falls, of which there is imminent danger, he loses
+his reputation as a brave or mystery-man, and suffers a signal disgrace
+in the estimation of the tribe, like all men who have the presumption
+to set themselves up for braves or mystery-men, and fail justly to
+sustain the character.
+
+The Sioux seem to have many modes of worshipping the Great or Good
+Spirit, and also of conciliating the Evil Spirit: they have numerous
+fasts and feasts, and many modes of sacrificing, but yet they seem
+to pay less strict attention to them than the Mandans do, which may
+perhaps be owing in a great measure to the wandering and predatory
+modes of life which they pursue, rendering it difficult to adhere so
+rigidly to the strict form and letter of their customs.
+
+There had been, a few days before I arrived at this place, a great
+medicine operation held on the prairie, a mile or so back of the Fort,
+and which, of course, I was not lucky enough to see. The poles were
+still standing, and the whole transaction was described to me by my
+friend Mr. Halsey, one of the clerks in the Establishment. From the
+account given of it, it seems to bear some slight resemblance to that
+of the _Mandan religious ceremony_, but no nearer to it than a feeble
+effort by so ignorant and superstitious a people, to copy a custom
+which they most probably have had no opportunity to see themselves, but
+have endeavoured to imitate from hearsay. They had an awning of immense
+size erected on the prairie which is yet standing, made of willow
+bushes supported by posts, with poles and willow boughs laid over;
+under the centre of which there was a pole set firmly in the ground,
+from which many of the young men had suspended their bodies by splints
+run through the flesh in different parts, the numerous scars of which
+were yet seen bleeding afresh from day to day, amongst the crowds that
+were about me.
+
+During my stay amongst the Sioux, as I was considered by them to
+be great _medicine_, I received many pipes and other little things
+from them as presents, given to me in token of respect for me, and
+as assurances of their friendship; and I, being desirous to collect
+and bring from their country every variety of their manufactures, of
+their costumes, their weapons, their pipes, and their mystery-things,
+purchased a great many others, for which, as I was “medicine” and a
+“great white chief!” I was necessarily obliged to pay very _liberal_
+prices.
+
+Of the various costumes (of this, as well as of other tribes), that I
+have collected, there will be seen fair and faithful representations in
+the numerous portraits; and of their war-clubs, pipes, &c. I have set
+forth in the following illustrations, a few of the most interesting of
+the very great numbers of those things which I have collected in this
+and other tribes which I have visited.
+
+The luxury of smoking is known to all the North American Indians,
+in their primitive state, and that before they have any knowledge
+of tobacco; which is only introduced amongst them by civilized
+adventurers, who teach them the use and luxury of whiskey at the same
+time.
+
+In their native state they are excessive smokers, and many of them (I
+would almost venture the assertion), would seem to be smoking one-half
+of their lives. There may be two good reasons for this, the first
+of which is, that the idle and leisure life that the Indian leads,
+(who has no trade or business to follow—no office hours to attend
+to, or profession to learn), induces him to look for occupation and
+amusement in so innocent a luxury, which again further tempts him
+to its excessive use, from its feeble and harmless effects on the
+system. There are many weeds and leaves, and barks of trees, which are
+narcotics, and of spontaneous growth in their countries, which the
+Indians dry and pulverize, and carry in pouches and smoke to great
+excess—and which in several of the languages, when thus prepared, is
+called _k’nick k’neck_.
+
+As smoking is a luxury so highly valued by the Indians, they have
+bestowed much pains, and not a little ingenuity, to the construction
+of their pipes. Of these I have procured a collection of several
+hundreds, and in +plate+ 98, have given fac-simile outlines of a number
+of the most curious. The bowls of these are generally made of the red
+steatite, or “pipe-stone” (as it is more familiarly called in this
+country), and many of them designed and carved with much taste and
+skill, with figures and groups in _alto relievo_, standing or reclining
+upon them.
+
+The red stone of which these pipe bowls are made, is, in my estimation,
+a great curiosity; inasmuch as I am sure it is a variety of steatite
+(if it be steatite), differing from that of any known European
+locality, and also from any locality known in America, other than the
+one from which all these pipes come; and which are all traceable I have
+found to one source; and that source as yet unvisited except by the
+red man who describes it, everywhere, as a place of vast importance to
+the Indians—as given to them by the Great Spirit, for their pipes, and
+strictly forbidden to be used for anything else.
+
+The source from whence all these pipes come, is, undoubtedly, somewhere
+between this place and the Mississippi River; and as the Indians all
+speak of it as a great _medicine_-place, I shall certainly lay my
+course to it, ere long, and be able to give the world some account of
+it and its mysteries.
+
+The Indians shape out the bowls of these pipes from the solid stone,
+which is not quite as hard as marble, with nothing but a knife. The
+stone which is of a cherry red, admits of a beautiful polish, and the
+Indian makes the hole in the bowl of the pipe, by drilling into it a
+hard stick, shaped to the desired size, with a quantity of sharp sand
+and water kept constantly in the hole, subjecting him therefore to a
+very great labour and the necessity of much patience.
+
+[Illustration: 99]
+
+The shafts or stems of these pipes, as will be seen in +plate+ 98, are
+from two to four feet long, sometimes round, but most generally flat;
+of an inch or two in breadth, and wound half their length or more with
+braids of porcupines’ quills; and often ornamented with the beaks and
+tufts from the wood-pecker’s head, with ermine skins and long red hair,
+dyed from white horse hair or the white buffalo’s tail.
+
+The stems of these pipes will be found to be carved in many ingenious
+forms, and in all cases they are perforated through the centre, quite
+staggering the wits of the enlightened world to _guess how_ the
+holes have been _bored_ through them; until it is simply and briefly
+explained, that the stems are uniformly made of the stalk of the young
+ash, which generally grows straight, and has a small pith through the
+centre, which is easily burned out with a hot wire or a piece of hard
+wood, by a much slower process.
+
+In +plate+ 98, the pipes marked _b_ are ordinary pipes, made and used
+for the _luxury_ only of smoking; and for this purpose, every Indian
+designs and constructs his own pipe. The _calumet_, or pipe of peace
+(+plate+ 98 _a_), ornamented with the war-eagle’s quills, is a sacred
+pipe, and never allowed to be used on any other occasion than that of
+_peace-making_; when the chief brings it into treaty, and unfolding the
+many bandages which are carefully kept around it—has it ready to be
+mutually smoked by the chiefs, after the terms of the treaty are agreed
+upon, as the means of _solemnizing_ or _signing_, by an illiterate
+people, who cannot draw up an instrument, and sign their names to it,
+as it is done in the civilized world.
+
+The mode of solemnizing is by passing the sacred stem to each chief,
+who draws one breath of smoke only through it, thereby passing the most
+inviolable pledge that they can possibly give, for the keeping of the
+peace. This sacred pipe is then carefully folded up, and stowed away in
+the chief’s lodge, until a similar occasion calls it out to be used in
+a similar manner.
+
+There is no custom more uniformly in constant use amongst the poor
+Indians than that of smoking, nor any other more highly valued. His
+pipe is his constant companion through life—his messenger of peace;
+he pledges his friends through its stem and its bowl—and when its
+care-drowning fumes cease to flow, it takes a place with him in his
+solitary grave, with his tomahawk and war-club, companions to his long
+fancied, “mild and beautiful hunting-grounds.”
+
+The weapons of these people, like their pipes, are numerous, and mostly
+manufactured by themselves. In a former place (+plate+ 18) I have
+described a part of these, such as the bows and arrows, lances, &c.,
+and they have yet many others, specimens of which I have collected
+from every tribe; and a number of which I have grouped together in
++plate+ 99; consisting of knives, war-clubs, and tomahawks. I have
+here introduced the most general and established forms that are in
+use amongst the different tribes, which are all strictly copied
+from amongst the great variety of these articles to be found in my
+Collection.
+
+The scalping-knives _a_ and _b_, and tomahawks _e_ _e_ _e_ _e_ are
+of civilized manufacture, made expressly for Indian use, and carried
+into the Indian country by thousands and tens of thousands, and sold
+at an enormous price. The scabbards of the knives and handles for
+the tomahawks, the Indians construct themselves, according to their
+own taste, and oftentimes ornament them very handsomely. In his rude
+and unapproached condition, the Indian is a stranger to such weapons
+as these—he works not in the metals; and his untutored mind has not
+been ingenious enough to design or execute anything so _savage_ or
+destructive as these civilized _refinements on Indian barbarity_. In
+his native simplicity he shapes out his rude hatchet from a piece of
+stone, as in letter _f_, heads his arrows and spears with flints; and
+his knife is a sharpened bone, or the edge of a broken silex. The
+war-club _c_ is also another civilized refinement, with a blade of
+steel, of eight or ten inches in length, and set in a club, studded
+around and ornamented with some hundreds of brass nails.
+
+Their primitive clubs _d_ are curiously carved in wood, and fashioned
+out with some considerable picturesque form and grace; are admirably
+fitted to the hand, and calculated to deal a deadly blow with the spike
+of iron or bone which is imbedded in the ball or bulb at the end.
+
+Two of the tomahawks that I have named, marked _e_, are what are
+denominated “pipe-tomahawks,” as the heads of them are formed into
+bowls like a pipe, in which their tobacco is put, and they smoke
+through the handle. These are the most valued of an Indian’s weapons,
+inasmuch as they are a matter of luxury, and useful for cutting his
+fire-wood, &c. in time of peace; and deadly weapons in time of war,
+which they use in the hand, or throw with unerring and deadly aim.
+
+The scalping-knife _b_ in a beautiful scabbard, which is carried under
+the belt, is the form of knife most generally used in all parts of
+the Indian country, where knives have been introduced. It is a common
+and cheap butcher knife with one edge, manufactured at Sheffield, in
+England, perhaps, for sixpence; and sold to the poor Indian in these
+wild regions for a horse. If I should live to get home, and should ever
+cross the Atlantic with my Collection, a curious enigma would be solved
+for the English people, who may enquire for a scalping-knife, when they
+find that every one in my Collection (and hear also, that nearly every
+one that is to be seen in the Indian country, to the Rocky Mountains
+and the Pacific Ocean) bears on its blade the impress of G.R., which
+they will doubtless understand.
+
+The huge two-edged knife, with its scabbard of a part of the skin of a
+grizzly bear’s head, letter _a_, is one belonging to the famous chief
+of the Mandans, of whom I have before said much. The manufacture of
+this knife is undoubtedly American; and its shape differs altogether
+from those which are in general use.[12]
+
+[Illustration: 100]
+
+The above weapons, as well as the bow and lance, of which I have before
+spoken, are all carried and used on horseback with great effect. The
+Indians in this country of green fields, all _ride_ for their enemies,
+and also for their game, which is almost invariably killed whilst
+their horses are at full-speed. They are all cruel masters for their
+horses; and in war or the chase goad them on with a heavy and cruel
+whip (+plate+ 99 _g_), the handle of which is generally made of a large
+prong of the elk’s horn or of wood, and the lashes of rawhide are very
+heavy; being braided, or twisted, or cut into wide straps. These are
+invariably attached to the wrist of the right arm by a tough thong, so
+that they can be taken up and used at any moment, and dropped the next,
+without being lost.
+
+During the time that I was engaged in painting my portraits, I was
+occasionally inducing the young men to give me their dances, a great
+variety of which they gave me by being slightly paid; which I was glad
+to do, in order to enable me to study their character and expression
+thoroughly, which I am sure I have done; and I shall take pleasure in
+shewing them to the world when I get back. The dancing is generally
+done by the young men, and considered undignified for the chiefs or
+doctors to join in. Yet so great was my _medicine_, that chiefs and
+medicine-men turned out and agreed to compliment me with a dance
+(+plate+ 100). I looked on with great satisfaction; having been assured
+by the Interpreters and Traders, that this was the highest honour they
+had ever known them to pay to any stranger amongst them.
+
+In this dance, which I have called “the dance of the chiefs,” for want
+of a more significant title, was given by fifteen or twenty chiefs and
+doctors; many of whom were very old and venerable men. All of them came
+out in their head-dresses of war-eagle quills, with a spear or staff in
+the left hand, and a rattle in the right. It was given in the midst of
+the Sioux village, in front of the head chief’s lodge; and beside the
+medicine-man who beat on the drum, and sang for the dance, there were
+four young women standing in a row, and chanting a sort of chorus for
+the dancers; forming one of the very few instances that I ever have
+met, where the women are allowed to take any part in the dancing, or
+other game or amusement, with the men.
+
+This dance was a very spirited thing, and pleased me much, as well as
+all the village, who were assembled around to witness what most of them
+never before had seen, their aged and venerable chiefs united in giving
+a dance.
+
+As I have introduced the _scalping-knife_ above, it may be well for
+me to give some further account in this place of the custom and the
+mode of taking the scalp; a custom practiced by all the North American
+Indians, which is done when an enemy is killed in battle, by grasping
+the left hand into the hair on the crown of the head, and passing the
+knife around it through the skin, tearing off a piece of the skin with
+the hair, as large as the palm of the hand, or larger, which is dried,
+and often curiously ornamented and preserved, and highly valued as a
+trophy. The scalping is an operation not calculated of itself to take
+life, as it only removes the skin, without injuring the bone of the
+head; and necessarily, to be a genuine scalp, must contain and show the
+crown or centre of the head; that part of the skin which lies directly
+over what the phrenologists call “self-esteem,” where the hair divides
+and radiates from the centre; of which they all profess to be strict
+judges, and able to decide whether an effort has been made to produce
+two or more scalps from one head. Besides taking the scalp, the victor
+generally, if he has time to do it without endangering his own scalp,
+cuts off and brings home the rest of the hair, which his wife will
+divide into a great many small locks, and with them fringe off the
+seams of his shirt and his leggings, as will have been seen in many of
+the illustrations; which also are worn as trophies and ornaments to the
+dress, and then are familiarly called “_scalp-locks_.” Of these there
+are many dresses in my Collection, which exhibit a continuous row from
+the top of each shoulder, down the arms to the wrists, and down the
+seams of the leggings, from the hips to the feet, rendering them a very
+costly article to buy from the Indian who is not sure that his success
+in his military exploits will ever enable him to replace them.
+
+The scalp, then, is a patch of the skin taken from the head of an enemy
+killed in battle, and preserved and highly appreciated as the record of
+a death produced by the hand of the individual who possesses it; and
+may oftentimes during his life, be of great service to a man living
+in a community where there is no historian to enrol the names of the
+famous—to record the heroic deeds of the brave, who have gained their
+laurels in mortal combat with their enemies; where it is as lawful
+and as glorious to slay an enemy in battle, as it is in Christian
+communities, and where the poor Indian is bound to keep the record
+himself, or be liable to lose it and the honour, for no one in the
+tribe will keep it for him. As the scalp is taken then as the evidence
+of a death, it will easily be seen, that the Indian has no business or
+inclination to take it from the head of the living; which I venture to
+say is never done in North America, unless it be, as it sometimes has
+happened, where a man falls in the heat of battle, stunned with the
+blow of a weapon or a gunshot, and the Indian, rushing over his body,
+snatches off his scalp, supposing him dead, who afterwards rises from
+the field of battle, and easily recovers from this superficial wound
+of the knife, wearing a bald spot on his head during the remainder
+of his life, of which we have frequent occurrences on our Western
+frontiers. The scalp must be from the head of _an enemy_ also, or it
+subjects its possessor to disgrace and infamy who carries it. There
+may be many instances where an Indian is justified in the estimation
+of his tribe in taking the life of one of his own people; and their
+laws are such, as oftentimes make it his imperative duty; and yet no
+circumstances, however aggravating, will justify him or release him
+from the disgrace of taking the scalp.
+
+[Illustration: 101]
+
+There is no custom practised by the Indians, for which they are
+more universally condemned, than that of taking the scalp; and, at
+the same time, I think there is some excuse for them, inasmuch as
+it is a general custom of the country, and founded, like many other
+apparently absurd and ridiculous customs of these people, in one of
+the necessities of Indian life, which necessities we are free from in
+the civilized world, and which customs, of course, we need not and do
+not practice. From an ancient custom, “time out of mind,” the warriors
+of these tribes have been in the habit of going to war, expecting to
+take the scalps of their enemies whom they may slay in battle, and all
+eyes of the tribe are upon them, making it their duty to do it; so from
+custom it is every man’s right, and his duty also, to continue and keep
+up a regulation of his society, which it is not in his power as an
+individual, to abolish or correct, if he saw fit to do it.
+
+One of the principal denunciations against the custom of taking the
+scalp, is on account of its alleged _cruelty_, which it certainly has
+not; as the cruelty would be in the _killing_, and not in the act of
+cutting the skin from a man’s head after he is dead. To say the most of
+it, it is a disgusting custom, and I wish I could be quite sure that
+the civilized and Christian world (who kill hundreds, to where the poor
+Indians kill one), do not often treat their _enemies dead_, in equally
+as indecent and disgusting a manner, as the Indian does by taking the
+scalp.
+
+If the reader thinks that I am taking too much pains to defend the
+Indians for this, and others of their seemingly abominable customs,
+he will bear it in mind, that I have lived with these people, until I
+have learned the necessities of Indian life in which these customs are
+founded; and also, that I have met with so many acts of kindness and
+hospitality at the hands of the poor Indian, that I feel bound, when I
+can do it, to render what excuse I can for a people, who are dying with
+broken hearts, and never can speak in the civilized world in their own
+defence.
+
+And even yet, reader, if your education, and your reading of Indian
+cruelties and Indian barbarities—of scalps, and scalping-knives, and
+scalping, should have ossified a corner of your heart against these
+unfortunate people, and would shut out their advocate, I will annoy
+you no longer on this subject, but withdraw, and leave you to cherish
+the very beautiful, humane and parental moral that was carried out by
+the United States and British Governments during the last, and the
+revolutionary wars, when they mutually employed thousands of their
+“_Red children_,” to aid and to bleed, in fighting their battles, and
+paid them, according to contract, so many pounds, shillings and pence
+or so many dollars and cents for every “_scalp_” of a “red” or a “blue
+coat” they could bring in!
+
+In +plate+ 101, there will be seen the principal modes in which the
+scalps are prepared, and several of the uses to which they are put.
+The most usual way of preparing and dressing the scalp is that of
+stretching it on a little hoop at the end of a stick two or three feet
+long (letter _a_), for the purpose of “dancing it,” as they term it;
+which will be described in the _scalp-dance_, in a few moments. There
+are many again, which are small, and not “dressed;” sometimes not
+larger than a crown piece (letter _c_), and hung to different parts of
+the dress. In public shows and parades, they are often suspended from
+the bridle bits or halter when they are paraded and carried as trophies
+(letter _b_). Sometimes they are cut out, as it were into a string,
+the hair forming a beautiful fringe to line the handle of a war-club
+(letter _e_). Sometimes they are hung at the _end_ of a club (_letter
+d_), and at other times, by the order of the chief, are hung out, over
+the wigwams, suspended from a pole, which is called the “_scalp-pole_.”
+This is often done by the chief of a village, in a pleasant day, by his
+erecting over his wigwam a pole with all the scalps that he had taken,
+arranged upon it (letter _f_); at the sight of which all the chiefs and
+warriors of the tribe, who had taken scalps, “follow suit;” enabling
+every member of the community to stroll about the village on that day
+and “count scalps,” learning thereby the standing of every warrior,
+which is decided in a great degree by the number of scalps they have
+taken in battles with their enemies. Letters _g_, _g_, shew the usual
+manner of taking the scalp, and (letter _h_), exhibits the head of a
+man who had been scalped and recovered from the wound.
+
+So much for scalps and scalping, of which I shall yet say more, unless
+I should unluckily _lose one_ before I get out of the country.
+
+[Illustration: 101½]
+
+  [12] This celebrated knife is now in my +Indian Museum+, and
+  there is no doubt, from its authentic history, that it has been
+  several times plunged to the hearts of his enemies by the hand
+  of Mah-to-toh-pa, who wielded it. Several years after I left
+  that country, and one year after the destruction of the Mandans,
+  I received the following letter from Mr. M‘Kenzie, accompanying
+  the knife and other things sent to me by him from that country:
+  +Extract+—“The poor Mandans are gone, and amongst them your old
+  friend, Mah-to-toh-pa. I have been able to send you but a very few
+  things, as the Riccarees immediately took possession of everything
+  they had. Amongst the articles I have been able to procure, I send
+  you the war-knife of Mah-to-toh-pa, which is now looked upon as the
+  greatest _medicine_ in this country; and as you will recollect it,
+  it will be highly appreciated by you.”
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 30.
+
+                MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+In the last letter I gave an account of many of the weapons and
+other manufactures of these wild folks; and as this has been a day
+of _packing_ and _casing_ a great many of these things, which I have
+obtained of the Indians, to add to my _Musée Indienne_, I will name a
+few more, which I have just been handling over; some description of
+which may be necessary for the reader in endeavouring to appreciate
+some of their strange customs and amusements, which I am soon to
+unfold. In +plate+ 101½, letters _a_ and _b_, will be seen the _quiver_
+made of the fawn’s skin, and the Sioux _shield_ made of the skin of
+the buffalo’s neck, hardened with the glue extracted from the hoofs
+and joints of the same animal. The process of “_smoking the shield_”
+is a very curious, as well as an important one, in their estimation.
+For this purpose a young man about to construct him a shield, digs a
+hole of two feet in depth, in the ground, and as large in diameter
+as he designs to make his shield. In this he builds a fire, and over
+it, a few inches higher than the ground, he stretches the raw hide
+horizontally over the fire, with little pegs driven through holes made
+near the edges of the skin. This skin is at first, twice as large as
+the size of the required shield; but having got his particular and
+best friends (who are invited on the occasion,) into a ring, to dance
+and sing around it, and solicit the Great Spirit to instil into it the
+power to protect him harmless against his enemies, he spreads over
+it the glue, which is rubbed and dried in, as the skin is heated;
+and a second busily drives other and other pegs, inside of those in
+the ground, as they are gradually giving way and being pulled up
+by the contraction of the skin. By this curious process, which is
+most dexterously done, the skin is kept tight whilst it contracts to
+one-half of its size, taking up the glue and increasing in thickness
+until it is rendered as thick and hard as required (and his friends
+have pleaded long enough to make it arrow, and almost ball proof), when
+the dance ceases, and the fire is put out. When it is cooled and cut
+into the shape that he desires, it is often painted with his _medicine_
+or _totem_ upon it, the figure of an eagle, an owl, a buffalo or other
+animal, as the case may be, which he trusts will guard and protect him
+from harm; it is then fringed with eagles’ quills, or other ornaments
+he may have chosen, and _slung_ with a broad leather strap that crosses
+his breast. These shields are carried by all the warriors in these
+regions, for their protection in battles, which are almost invariably
+fought from their horses’ backs.
+
+Of _pipes_, and the custom of smoking, I have already spoken; and I
+then said, that the Indians use several substitutes for tobacco, which
+they call _K’nick K’neck_. For the carrying of this delicious weed or
+bark, and preserving its flavour, the women construct very curious
+pouches of otter, or beaver, or other skins (letters _c_, _c_, _c_,),
+which are ingeniously ornamented with porcupine quills and beads, and
+generally carried hanging across the left arm, containing a quantity of
+the precious _narcotic_, with flint and steel, and spunk, for lighting
+the pipe.
+
+The _musical instruments_ used amongst these people are few, and
+exceedingly rude and imperfect, consisting chiefly of rattles, drums,
+whistles, and lutes, all of which are used in the different tribes.
+
+In +plate+ 101½ (letters _d_, _d_,) will be seen the _rattles_ (or
+She-she-quois) most generally used, made of rawhide, which becomes
+very hard when dry, and charged with pebbles or something of the
+kind, which produce a shrill noise to mark the time in their dances
+and songs. Their _drums_ (letters _e_, _e_,) are made in a very rude
+manner, oftentimes with a mere piece of rawhide stretched over a hoop,
+very much in the shape of a tambourin; and at other times are made in
+the form of a keg, with a head of rawhide at each end; on these they
+beat with a drum-stick, which oftentimes itself is a rattle, the bulb
+or head of it being made of rawhide and filled with pebbles. In other
+instances the stick has, at its end, a little hoop wound and covered
+with buckskin, to soften the sound; with which they beat on the drum
+with great violence, as the chief and _heel-inspiring_ sound for all
+their dances, and also as an accompaniment for their numerous and
+never-ending songs of amusement, of thanksgiving, and _medicine_ or
+_metai_. The _mystery whistle_, (letter _f_,) is another instrument of
+their invention, and very ingeniously made, the sound being produced
+on a principle entirely different from that of any wind instrument
+known in civilized inventions; and the notes produced on it, by the
+sleight or trick of an Indian boy, in so simple and successful a
+manner, as to baffle entirely all civilized ingenuity, even when it
+is seen to be played. An Indian boy would stand and blow his notes on
+this repeatedly, for hundreds of white men who might be lookers-on, not
+one of whom could make the least noise on it, even by practising with
+it for hours. When I first saw this curious exhibition, I was charmed
+with the peculiar sweetness of its harmonic sounds, and completely
+perplexed, (as hundreds of white men have no doubt been before me, to
+the great amusement and satisfaction of the women and children,) as to
+the mode in which the sound was produced, even though it was repeatedly
+played immediately before my eyes, and handed to me for my vain and
+amusing endeavours. The sounds of this little simple toy are liquid and
+sweet beyond description; and, though here only given in harmonics,
+I am inclined to think, might, by some ingenious musician or musical
+instrument-maker, be modulated and converted into something very
+pleasing.
+
+The _War-whistle_ (letter _h_,) is a well known and valued little
+instrument, of six or nine inches in length, invariably made of
+the bone of the deer or turkey’s leg, and generally ornamented with
+porcupine quills of different colours which are wound around it. A
+chief or leader carries this to battle with him, suspended generally
+from his neck, and worn under his dress. This little instrument has
+but two notes, which are produced by blowing in the ends of it. The
+note produced in one end, being much more shrill than the other, gives
+the signal for battle, whilst the other sounds a retreat; a thing that
+is distinctly heard and understood by every man, even in the heat and
+noise of battle, where all are barking and yelling as loud as possible,
+and of course unable to hear the commands of their leader.
+
+[Illustration: 102]
+
+There is yet another wind instrument which I have added to my
+Collection, and from its appearance would seem to have been borrowed,
+in part, from the civilized world (letter _g_). This is what is often
+on the frontier called a “_deer-skin flute_,” a “Winnebago courting
+flute,” a “tsal-eet-quash-to,” &c.; it is perforated with holes for the
+fingers, sometimes for six, at others for four, and in some instances
+for three only, having only so many notes with their octaves. These
+notes are very irregularly graduated, showing clearly that they have
+very little taste or ear for melody. These instruments are blown in the
+end, and the sound produced much on the principle of a whistle.
+
+In the vicinity of the Upper Mississippi, I often and familiarly heard
+this instrument, called the Winnebago courting flute; and was credibly
+informed by traders and others in those regions, that the young men
+of that tribe meet with signal success, oftentimes, in wooing their
+sweethearts with its simple notes, which they blow for hours together,
+and from day to day, from the bank of some stream—some favourite rock
+or log on which they are seated, near to the wigwam which contains the
+object of their tender passion; until her soul is touched, and she
+responds by some welcome signal, that she is ready to repay the young
+_Orpheus_ for his pains, with the gift of her hand and her heart. How
+true these representations may have been made, I cannot say, but there
+certainly must have been some ground for the present cognomen by which
+it is known in that country.
+
+From these rude and exceedingly defective instruments, it will at once
+be seen, that music has made but little progress with these people; and
+the same fact will be still more clearly proved, to those who have an
+opportunity to hear their vocal exhibitions, which are daily and almost
+hourly serenading the ears of the traveller through their country.
+
+Dancing is one of the principal and most frequent amusements of all
+the tribes of Indians in America; and, in all of these, both vocal and
+instrumental music are introduced. These dances consist in about four
+different steps, which constitute all the different varieties: but the
+figures and forms of these scenes are very numerous, and produced by
+the most violent jumps and contortions, accompanied with the song and
+beats of the drum, which are given in exact time with their motions.
+It has been said by some travellers, that the Indian has neither
+harmony or melody in his music, but I am unwilling to subscribe to such
+an assertion; although I grant, that for the most part of their vocal
+exercises, there is a total absence of what the musical world would
+call melody; their songs being made up chiefly of a sort of violent
+chaunt of harsh and jarring gutturals, of yelps and barks, and screams,
+which are given out in perfect time, not only with “method (but with
+harmony) in their madness.” There are times too, as every traveller
+of the Indian country will attest, if he will recall them to his
+recollection, when the Indian lays down by his fire-side with his drum
+in his hand, which he lightly and almost imperceptibly touches over, as
+he accompanies it with his stifled voice of dulcet sounds that might
+come from the most tender and delicate female.
+
+These quiet and tender songs are very different from those which are
+sung at their dances, in full chorus and violent gesticulation; and
+many of them seem to be quite rich in plaintive expression and melody,
+though barren of change and variety.
+
+_Dancing_, I have before said, is one of the principal and most valued
+amusements of the Indians, and much more frequently practised by them
+than by any civilized society; inasmuch as it enters into their forms
+of worship, and is often their mode of appealing to the Great Spirit—of
+paying their usual devotions to their _medicine_—and of honouring and
+entertaining strangers of distinction in their country.
+
+Instead of the “giddy maze” of the quadrille or the country dance,
+enlivened by the cheering smiles and graces of silkened beauty, the
+Indian performs his rounds with jumps, and starts, and yells, much to
+the satisfaction of his own exclusive self, and infinite amusement
+of the gentler sex, who are always lookers on, but seldom allowed so
+great a pleasure, or so signal an honour, as that of joining with
+their lords in this or any other entertainment. Whilst staying with
+these people on my way up the river, I was repeatedly honoured with
+the dance, and I as often hired them to give them, or went to overlook
+where they were performing them at their own pleasure, in pursuance
+of their peculiar customs, or for their own amusement, that I might
+study and correctly herald them to future ages. I saw so many of their
+different varieties of dances amongst the Sioux, that I should almost
+be disposed to denominate them the “_dancing Indians_.” It would
+actually seem as if they had dances for every thing. And in so large a
+village, there was scarcely an hour in any day or night, but what the
+beat of the drum could somewhere be heard. These dances are almost as
+various and different in their character as they are numerous—some of
+them so exceedingly grotesque and laughable, as to keep the bystanders
+in an irresistible roar of laughter—others are calculated to excite his
+pity, and forcibly appeal to his sympathies, whilst others disgust,
+and yet others terrify and alarm him with their frightful threats and
+contortions.
+
+All the world have heard of the “_bear-dance_,” though I doubt whether
+more than a very small proportion have ever seen it; here it is (+plate+
+102). The Sioux, like all the others of these western tribes, are
+fond of bear’s meat, and must have good stores of the “bear’s-grease”
+laid in, to oil their long and glossy locks, as well as the surface of
+their bodies. And they all like the fine pleasure of a bear hunt, and
+also a participation in the bear dance, which is given several days
+in succession, previous to their starting out, and in which they all
+join in a song to the _Bear Spirit_; which they think holds somewhere
+an invisible existence, and must be consulted and conciliated before
+they can enter upon their excursion with any prospect of success. For
+this grotesque and amusing scene, one of the chief medicine-men, placed
+over his body the entire skin of a bear, with a war-eagle’s quill on
+his head, taking the lead in the dance, and looking through the skin
+which formed a masque that hung over his face. Many others in the dance
+wore masques on their faces, made of the skin from the bear’s head; and
+all, with the motions of their hands, closely imitated the movements
+of that animal; some representing its motion in running, and others
+the peculiar attitude and hanging of the paws, when it is sitting up
+on its hind feet, and looking out for the approach of an enemy. This
+grotesque and amusing masquerade oftentimes is continued at intervals,
+for several days previous to the starting of a party on the bear hunt,
+who would scarcely count upon a tolerable prospect of success, without
+a strict adherence to this most important and indispensible form!
+
+[Illustration: 103]
+
+Dancing is done here too, as it is oftentimes done in the enlightened
+world, to get favours—to buy the world’s goods; and in both countries
+danced with about equal merit, except that the Indian has surpassed
+us in honesty by christening it in his own country, the “_beggar’s
+dance_.” This spirited dance (+plate+ 103), was given, not by a set
+of _beggars_ though, literally speaking, but by the first and most
+independent young men in the tribe, beautifully dressed, (_i. e._ not
+dressed at all, except with their breech clouts or _kelts_, made of
+eagles’ and ravens’ quills,) with their lances, and pipes, and rattles
+in their hands, and a medicine-man beating the drum, and joining in the
+song at the highest key of his voice. In this dance every one sings as
+loud as he can halloo; uniting his voice with the others, in an appeal
+to the Great Spirit, to open the hearts of the bystanders to give to
+the poor, and not to themselves; assuring them that the Great Spirit
+will be kind to those who are kind to the helpless and poor.
+
+Of _scalps_, and of the modes and objects of scalping, I have before
+spoken; and I therein stated, “that most of the scalps were stretched
+on little hoops for the purpose of being used in the scalp-dance, of
+which I shall say more at a future time.”
+
+The _Scalp-dance_ (+plate+ 104) is given as a celebration of a victory;
+and amongst this tribe, as I learned whilst residing with them, danced
+in the night, by the light of their torches, and just before retiring
+to bed. When a war party returns from a war excursion, bringing home
+with them the scalps of their enemies, they generally “dance them” for
+fifteen nights in succession, vaunting forth the most extravagant
+boasts of their wonderful prowess in war, whilst they brandish their
+war weapons in their hands. A number of young women are selected to
+aid (though they do not actually join in the dance), by stepping into
+the centre of the ring, and holding up the scalps that have been
+recently taken, whilst the warriors dance (or rather _jump_), around
+in a circle, brandishing their weapons, and barking and yelping in
+the most frightful manner, all jumping on both feet at a time, with a
+simultaneous stamp, and blow, and thrust of their weapons; with which
+it would seem as if they were actually cutting and carving each other
+to pieces. During these frantic leaps, and yelps, and thrusts, every
+man distorts his face to the utmost of his muscles, darting about his
+glaring eye-balls and snapping his teeth, as if he were in the heat
+(and actually breathing through his inflated nostrils the very hissing
+death) of battle! No description that can be written, could ever convey
+more than a feeble outline of the frightful effects of these scenes
+enacted in the dead and darkness of night, under the glaring light of
+their blazing flambeaux; nor could all the years allotted to mortal
+man, in the least obliterate or deface the vivid impress that one scene
+of this kind would leave upon his memory.
+
+The precise object for which the scalp is taken, is one which is
+definitely understood, and has already been explained; but the motive
+(or motives) for which this strict ceremony is so scrupulously held
+by all the American tribes, over the scalp of an enemy, is a subject,
+as yet not satisfactorily settled in my mind. There is no doubt, but
+one great object in these exhibitions is public exultation; yet there
+are several conclusive evidences, that there are other and essential
+motives for thus formally and strictly displaying the scalp. Amongst
+some of the tribes, it is the custom to bury the scalps after they
+have gone through this series of public exhibitions; which may in a
+measure have been held for the purpose of giving them notoriety, and
+of awarding public credit to the persons who obtained them, and now,
+from a custom of the tribe, are obliged to part with them. The great
+respect which seems to be paid to them whilst they use them, as well as
+the pitying and mournful song which they howl to the _manes_ of their
+unfortunate victims; as well as the precise care and solemnity with
+which they afterwards bury the scalps, sufficiently convince me that
+they have a superstitious dread of the spirits of their slain enemies,
+and many conciliatory offices to perform, to ensure their own peace;
+one of which is the ceremony above described.
+
+[Illustration: 104]
+
+
+
+
+                             LETTER—No. 31.
+
+                MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, _UPPER MISSOURI_.
+
+
+In former Letters I have given some account of the _Bisons_, or (as
+they are more familiarly denominated in this country) _Buffaloes_,
+which inhabit these regions in numerous herds; and of which I must say
+yet a little more.
+
+These noble animals of the ox species, and which have been so well
+described in our books on Natural History, are a subject of curious
+interest and great importance in this vast wilderness; rendered
+peculiarly so at this time, like the history of the poor savage; and
+from the same consideration, that they are rapidly wasting away at the
+approach of civilized man—and like him and his character, in a very few
+years, to live only in books or on canvass.
+
+The word buffalo is undoubtedly most incorrectly applied to these
+animals, and I can scarcely tell why they have been so called; for
+they bear just about as much resemblance to the Eastern buffalo, as
+they do to a zebra or to a common ox. How nearly they may approach to
+the bison of Europe, which I never have had an opportunity to see, and
+which, I am inclined to think, is now nearly extinct, I am unable to
+say; yet if I were to judge from the numerous engravings I have seen
+of those animals, and descriptions I have read of them, I should be
+inclined to think, there was yet a wide difference between the bison
+of the American prairies, and those in the North of Europe and Asia.
+The American bison, or (as I shall hereafter call it) buffalo, is
+the largest of the ruminating animals that is now living in America;
+and seems to have been spread over the plains of this vast country,
+by the Great Spirit, for the use and subsistence of the red men, who
+live almost exclusively on their flesh, and clothe themselves with
+their skins. The reader, by referring back to +plates+ 7 and 8, in the
+beginning of this Work, will see faithful traces of the male and female
+of this huge animal, in their proud and free state of nature, grazing
+on the plains of the country to which they appropriately belong. Their
+colour is a dark brown, but changing very much as the season varies
+from warm to cold; their hair or fur, from its great length in the
+winter and spring, and exposure to the weather, turning quite light,
+and almost to a jet black, when the winter coat is shed off, and a new
+growth is shooting out.
+
+The buffalo bull often grows to the enormous weight of 2000 pounds, and
+shakes a long and shaggy black mane, that falls in great profusion and
+_confusion_, over his head and shoulders; and oftentimes falling down
+quite to the ground. The horns are short, but very large, and have but
+one turn, _i. e._ they are a simple arch, without the least approach to
+a spiral form, like those of the common ox, or of the goat species.
+
+The female is much smaller than the male, and always distinguishable
+by the peculiar shape of the horns, which are much smaller and more
+crooked, turning their points more in towards the centre of the
+forehead.
+
+One of the most remarkable characteristics of the buffalo, is the
+peculiar formation and expression of the eye, the ball of which is
+very large and white, and the iris jet black. The lids of the eye seem
+always to be strained quite open, and the ball rolling forward and
+down; so that a considerable part of the iris is hidden behind the
+lower lid, while the pure white of the eyeball glares out over it in an
+arch, in the shape of a moon at the end of its first quarter.
+
+These animals are, truly speaking, gregarious, but not migratory—they
+graze in immense and almost incredible numbers at times, and roam about
+and over vast tracts of country, from East to West, and from West to
+East, as often as from North to South; which has often been supposed
+they naturally and habitually did to accommodate themselves to the
+temperature of the climate in the different latitudes. The limits
+within which they are found in America, are from the 30th to the 55th
+degrees of North latitude; and their extent from East to West, which is
+from the border of our extreme Western frontier limits, to the Western
+verge of the Rocky Mountains, is defined by quite different causes,
+than those which the degrees of temperature have prescribed to them
+on the North and the South. Within these 25 degrees of latitude, the
+buffaloes seem to flourish, and get their living without the necessity
+of evading the rigour of the climate, for which Nature seems most
+wisely to have prepared them by the greater or less profusion of fur,
+with which she has clothed them.
+
+It is very evident that, as high North as Lake Winnepeg, seven or eight
+hundred miles North of this, the buffalo subsists itself through the
+severest winters; getting its food chiefly by browsing amongst the
+timber, and by pawing through the snow, for a bite at the grass, which
+in those regions is frozen up very suddenly in the beginning of the
+winter, with all its juices in it, and consequently furnishes very
+nutritious and efficient food; and often, if not generally, supporting
+the animal in better flesh during these difficult seasons of their
+lives, than they are found to be in, in the 30th degree of latitude,
+upon the borders of Mexico, where the severity of winter is not known,
+but during a long and tedious autumn, the herbage, under the influence
+of a burning sun, is gradually dried away to a mere husk, and its
+nutriment gone, leaving these poor creatures, even in the dead of
+winter, to bask in the warmth of a genial sun, without the benefit of a
+green or juicy thing to bite at.
+
+The place from which I am now writing, may be said to be the very heart
+or nucleus of the buffalo country, about equi-distant between the two
+extremes; and of course, the most congenial temperature for them to
+flourish in. The finest animals that graze on the prairies are to be
+found in this latitude; and I am sure I never could send from a better
+source, some further account of the death and destruction that is dealt
+among these noble animals, and hurrying on their final extinction.
+
+The Sioux are a bold and desperate set of horsemen, and great hunters;
+and in the heart of their country is one of the most extensive
+assortments of goods, of whiskey, and other saleable commodities, as
+well as a party of the most indefatigable men, who are constantly
+calling for every robe that can be stripped from these animals’ backs.
+
+These are the causes which lead so directly to their rapid destruction;
+and which open to the view of the traveller so freshly, so vividly, and
+so familiarly, the scenes of archery—of lancing, and of death-dealing,
+that belong peculiarly to this wild and shorn country.
+
+The almost countless herds of these animals that are sometimes met with
+on these prairies, have been often spoken of by other writers, and may
+yet be seen by any traveller who will take the pains to visit these
+regions. The “_running season_,” which is in August and September,
+is the time when they congregate into such masses in some places, as
+literally to blacken the prairies for miles together. It is no uncommon
+thing at this season, at these gatherings, to see several thousands
+in a mass, eddying and wheeling about under a cloud of dust, which
+is raised by the bulls as they are pawing in the dirt, or engaged in
+desperate combats, as they constantly are, plunging and butting at each
+other in the most furious manner (+plate+ 105). In these scenes, the
+males are continually following the females, and the whole mass are in
+constant motion; and all bellowing (or “roaring”) in deep and hollow
+sounds; which, mingled altogether, appear, at the distance of a mile or
+two, like the sound of distant thunder.
+
+During the season whilst they are congregated together in these dense
+and confused masses, the remainder of the country around for many
+miles, becomes entirely vacated; and the traveller may spend many a
+toilsome day, and many a hungry night, without being cheered by the
+sight of one; where, if he retraces his steps a few weeks after, he
+will find them dispersed, and grazing quietly in little families and
+flocks, and equally stocking the whole country. Of these quiet little
+herds, a fair representation will be seen in +plate+ 106, where some
+are grazing, others at play, or lying down, and others indulging in
+their “wallows.” “A bull in his wallow” is a frequent saying in this
+country; and has a very significant meaning with those who have ever
+seen a buffalo bull performing _ablution_, or rather endeavouring to
+cool his heated sides, by tumbling about in a mud puddle.
+
+In the heat of summer, these huge animals, which, no doubt, suffer very
+much with the great profusion of their long and shaggy hair or fur,
+often graze on the low grounds in the prairies, where there is a little
+stagnant water lying amongst the grass, and the ground underneath
+being saturated with it, is soft, into which the enormous bull, lowered
+down upon one knee, will plunge his horns, and at last his head,
+driving up the earth, and soon making an excavation in the ground, into
+which the water filters from amongst the grass, forming for him in a
+few moments, a cool and comfortable bath, into which he plunges like a
+hog in his mire.
+
+In this _delectable_ laver, he throws himself flat upon his side, and
+forcing himself violently around, with his horns and his huge hump
+on his shoulders presented to the sides, he ploughs up the ground by
+his rotary motion, sinking himself deeper and deeper in the ground,
+continually enlarging his pool, in which he at length becomes nearly
+immersed; and the water and mud about him mixed into a complete mortar,
+which changes his colour, and drips in streams from every part of him
+as he rises up upon his feet, a hideous monster of mud and ugliness,
+too frightful and too eccentric to be described!
+
+It is generally the leader of the herd that takes upon him to make
+this excavation; and if not (but another one opens the ground), the
+leader (who is conqueror) marches forward, and driving the other from
+it plunges himself into it; and having cooled his sides, and changed
+his colour to a walking mass of mud and mortar; he stands in the pool
+until inclination induces him to step out, and give place to the next
+in command, who stands ready; and another, and another, who advance
+forward in their turns, to enjoy the luxury of the wallow; until the
+whole band (sometimes an hundred or more) will pass through it in turn;
+each one throwing his body around in a similar manner; and each one
+adding a little to the dimensions of the pool, while he carries away in
+his hair an equal share of the clay, which dries to a grey or whitish
+colour, and gradually falls off. By this operation, which is done,
+perhaps, in the space of half an hour, a circular excavation of fifteen
+or twenty feet in diameter, and two feet in depth, is completed, and
+left for the water to run into, which soon fills it to the level of the
+ground.
+
+To these sinks, the waters lying on the surface of the prairies, are
+continually draining, and in them lodging their vegetable deposits;
+which, after a lapse of years, fill them up to the surface with a rich
+soil, which throws up an unusual growth of grass and herbage; forming
+conspicuous circles which arrest the eye of the traveller, and are
+calculated to excite his surprise for ages to come.
+
+Many travellers who have penetrated not quite far enough into the
+Western country to see the habits of these animals, and the manner
+in which these _mysterious_ circles are made; but who have seen the
+prairies strewed with their bleached bones, and have beheld these
+strange circles, which often occur in groups, and of different
+sizes—have come home with beautiful and ingenious theories (which _must
+needs be made_), for the origin of these singular and unaccountable
+appearances, which, for want of a rational theory, have generally
+been attributed to _fairy feet_, and gained the appellation of “_fairy
+circles_.”
+
+[Illustration: 105]
+
+[Illustration: 106]
+
+Many travellers, again, have supposed that these rings were produced
+by the dances of the Indians, which are oftentimes (and in fact
+most generally) performed in a circle; yet a moment’s consideration
+disproves such a probability, inasmuch as the Indians always select the
+ground for their dancing near the sites of their villages, and that
+always on a dry and hard foundation; when these “fairy circles” are
+uniformly found to be on low and wet ground.
+
+As my visit to these parts of the “_Great Far West_” has brought me
+into the heart of the buffalo country, where I have had abundant
+opportunities of seeing this noble animal in all its phases—its habits
+of life, and every mode of its death; I shall take the liberty of being
+yet a little more particular, and of rendering some further accounts of
+scenes which I have witnessed in following out my sporting propensities
+in these singular regions.
+
+The chief hunting amusement of the Indians in these parts consists in
+the chase of the buffalo, which is almost invariably done on horseback,
+with bow and lance. In this exercise, which is highly prized by them,
+as one of their most valued amusements, as well as for the principal
+mode of procuring meat for their subsistence, they become exceedingly
+expert; and are able to slay these huge animals with apparent ease.
+
+The Indians in these parts are all mounted on small, but serviceable
+horses, which are caught by them on the prairies, where they are often
+running wild in numerous bands. The Indian, then, mounted on his little
+wild horse, which has been through some years of training, dashes off
+at full speed amongst the herds of buffaloes, elks, or even antelopes,
+and deals his deadly arrows to their hearts from his horse’s back. The
+horse is the fleetest animal of the prairie, and easily brings his
+rider alongside of his game, which falls a certain prey to his deadly
+shafts, at the distance of a few paces.
+
+In the chase of the buffalo, or other animal, the Indian generally
+“strips” himself and his horse, by throwing off his shield and quiver,
+and every part of his dress, which might be an encumbrance to him in
+running; grasping his bow in his left hand, with five or six arrows
+drawn from his quiver, and ready for instant use. In his right hand (or
+attached to the wrist) is a heavy whip, which he uses without mercy,
+and forces his horse alongside of his game at the swiftest speed.
+
+These horses are so trained, that the Indian has little use for the
+rein, which hangs on the neck, whilst the horse approaches the animal
+on the right side (+plate+ 107), giving his rider the chance to throw
+his arrow to the left; which he does at the instant when the horse
+is passing—bringing him opposite to the heart, which receives the
+deadly weapon “to the feather.” When pursuing a large herd, the Indian
+generally rides close in the rear, until he selects the animal he
+wishes to kill, which he separates from the throng as soon as he can,
+by dashing his horse between it and the herd, and forcing it off by
+itself; where he can approach it without the danger of being trampled
+to death, to which he is often liable by too closely escorting the
+multitude.
+
+In +plate+ 107, I have fairly represented the mode of _approaching_,
+at the instant the arrow is to be thrown; and the striking disparity
+between the size of a huge bull of 2000 pounds weight, and the Indian
+horse, which, it will be borne in mind, is but a pony.
+
+No bridle whatever is used in this country by the Indians, as they have
+no knowledge of a bit. A short halter, however, which answers in place
+of a bridle, is in general use; of which they usually form a noose
+around the under jaw of the horse, by which they get great power over
+the animal; and which they use generally to _stop_ rather than _guide_
+the horse. This halter is called by the French Traders in the country,
+_l’arrêt_, the stop, and has great power in arresting the speed of a
+horse; though it is extremely dangerous to use too freely as a guide,
+interfering too much with the freedom of his limbs, for the certainty
+of his feet and security of his rider.
+
+When the Indian then has directed the course of his steed to the animal
+which he has selected, the training of the horse is such, that it knows
+the object of its rider’s selection, and exerts every muscle to give it
+close company; while the halter lies loose and untouched upon its neck,
+and the rider leans quite forward, and off from the side of his horse,
+with his bow drawn, and ready for the deadly shot, which is given
+at the instant he is opposite to the animal’s body. The horse being
+instinctively afraid of the animal (though he generally brings his
+rider within the reach of the end of his bow), keeps his eye strained
+upon the furious enemy he is so closely encountering; and the moment
+he has approached to the nearest distance required, and has passed the
+animal, whether the shot is given or not, he gradually sheers off, to
+prevent coming on to the horns of the infuriated beast, which often
+are instantly turned, and presented for the fatal reception of its
+too familiar attendant. These frightful collisions often take place,
+notwithstanding the sagacity of the horse, and the caution of its
+rider; for in these extraordinary (and inexpressible) exhilarations of
+chase, which seem to drown the prudence alike, of instinct and reason,
+both horse and rider often seem rushing on to destruction, as if it
+were mere pastime and amusement.[13]
+
+I have always counted myself a prudent man, yet I have often _waked_
+(as it were) out of the delirium of the chase (into which I had fallen,
+as into an agitated sleep, and through which I had passed as through
+a delightful dream), where to have died would have been but to have
+remained, riding on, without a struggle or a pang.
+
+In some of these, too, I have arisen from the prairie, covered with
+dirt and blood, having severed company with gun and horse, the one
+lying some twenty or thirty feet from me with a broken stalk, and the
+other coolly brousing on the grass at half a mile distance, without
+man, and without other beast remaining in sight.
+
+[Illustration: 107]
+
+[Illustration: 108]
+
+For the novice in these scenes there is much danger of his limbs and
+his life, and he finds it a hard and a desperate struggle that brings
+him in at _the death_ of these huge monsters, except where it has been
+produced by hands that have acquired more sleight and tact than his own.
+
+With the Indian, who has made this the every day sport and amusement of
+his life, there is less difficulty and less danger; he rides without
+“losing his breath,” and his unagitated hand deals _certainty_ in its
+deadly blows.
+
+In +plate+ 108, I have represented a party of Indians in chase of a
+herd some of whom are pursuing with lance and others with bows and
+arrows. The group in the foreground shews the attitude at the instant
+after the arrow has been thrown and driven to the heart; the Indian at
+full speed, and the _laso_ dragging behind his horse’s heels. The laso
+is a long thong of rawhide, of ten or fifteen yards in length, made of
+several braids or twists, and used chiefly to catch the wild horse,
+which is done by throwing over their necks a noose which is made at the
+end of the _laso_, with which they are “choked down.” In running the
+buffaloes, or in time of war, the _laso_ drags on the ground at the
+horse’s feet, and sometimes several rods behind, so that if a man is
+dismounted, which is often the case, by the tripping or stumbling of
+the horse, he has the power of grasping to the laso, and by stubbornly
+holding on to it, of stopping and securing his horse, on whose back he
+is instantly replaced, and continuing on in the chase.
+
+In the dead of the winters, which are very long and severely cold in
+this country, where horses cannot be brought into the chase with any
+avail, the Indian runs upon the surface of the snow by the aid of his
+snow shoes, which buoy him up, while the great weight of the buffaloes,
+sinks them down to the middle of their sides, and completely stopping
+their progress, ensures them certain and easy victims to the bow or
+lance of their pursuers, as in +plate+ 109. The snow in these regions
+often lies during the winter, to the depth of three and four feet,
+being blown away from the tops and sides of the hills in many places,
+which are left bare for the buffaloes to graze upon, whilst it is
+drifted in the hollows and ravines to a very great depth, and rendered
+almost entirely impassable to these huge animals, which, when closely
+pursued by their enemies, endeavour to plunge through it, but are soon
+wedged in and almost unable to move, where they fall an easy prey to
+the Indian, who runs up lightly upon his snow shoes and drives his
+lance to their hearts. The skins are then stripped off, to be sold to
+the Fur Traders, and the carcasses left to be devoured by the wolves.
+This is the season in which the greatest number of these animals are
+destroyed for their robes—they are most easily killed at this time, and
+their hair or fur being longer and more abundant, gives greater value
+to the robe.
+
+The Indians generally kill and dry meat enough in the fall, when it
+is fat and juicy, to last them through the winter; so that they have
+little other object for this unlimited slaughter, amid the drifts
+of snow, than that of procuring their robes for traffic with their
+Traders. The snow shoes are made in a great many forms, of two and
+three feet in length, and one foot or more in width, of a hoop or
+hoops bent around for the frame, with a netting or web woven across
+with strings of rawhide, on which the feet rest, and to which they are
+fastened with straps somewhat like a skate.[14] With these the Indian
+will glide over the snow with astonishing quickness, without sinking
+down, or scarcely leaving his track where he has gone.
+
+The poor buffaloes have their enemy _man_, besetting and beseiging them
+at all times of the year, and in all the modes that man in his superior
+wisdom has been able to devise for their destruction. They struggle in
+vain to evade his deadly shafts, when he dashes amongst them over the
+plains on his wild horse—they plunge into the snow-drifts where they
+yield themselves an easy prey to their destroyers, and they also stand
+unwittingly and behold him, unsuspected under the skin of a white wolf,
+insinuating himself and his fatal weapons into close company, when they
+are peaceably grazing on the level prairies, and shot down before they
+are aware of their danger (+plate+ 110).
+
+There are several varieties of the wolf species in this country, the
+most formidable and most numerous of which are white, often sneaking
+about in gangs or families of fifty or sixty in numbers, appearing in
+distance, on the green prairies like nothing but a flock of sheep.
+Many of these animals grow to a very great size, being I should think,
+quite a match for the largest Newfoundland dog. At present, whilst the
+buffaloes are so abundant, and these ferocious animals are glutted
+with the buffalo’s flesh, they are harmless, and everywhere sneak away
+from man’s presence; which I scarcely think will be the case after
+the buffaloes are all gone, and they are left, as they must be, with
+scarcely anything to eat. They always are seen following about in the
+vicinity of herds of buffaloes and stand ready to pick the bones of
+those that the hunters leave on the ground, or to overtake and devour
+those that are wounded, which fall an easy prey to them. While the herd
+of buffaloes are together, they seem to have little dread of the wolf,
+and allow them to come in close company with them. The Indian then has
+taken advantage of this fact, and often places himself under the skin
+of this animal, and crawls for half a mile or more on his hands and
+knees, until he approaches within a few rods of the unsuspecting group,
+and easily shoots down the fattest of the throng.
+
+The buffalo is a very timid animal, and shuns the vicinity of man with
+the keenest sagacity; yet, when overtaken, and harassed or wounded,
+turns upon its assailants with the utmost fury, who have only to seek
+safety in flight. In their desperate resistance the finest horses
+are often destroyed; but the Indian, with his superior sagacity and
+dexterity, generally finds some effective mode of escape, as in +plate+
+111.
+
+[Illustration: 109]
+
+[Illustration: 110]
+
+During the season of the year whilst the calves are young, the male
+seems to stroll about by the side of the dam, as if for the purpose
+of protecting the young, at which time it is exceedingly hazardous to
+attack them, as they are sure to turn upon their pursuers, who have
+often to fly to each others assistance (+plate+ 112). The buffalo calf,
+during the first six months is red, and has so much the appearance of
+a red calf in cultivated fields, that it could easily be mingled and
+mistaken amongst them. In the fall, when it changes its hair it takes a
+brown coat for the winter, which it always retains. In pursuing a large
+herd of buffaloes at the season when their calves are but a few weeks
+old, I have often been exceedingly amused with the curious manœuvres of
+these shy little things. Amidst the thundering confusion of a throng of
+several hundreds or several thousands of these animals, there will be
+many of the calves that lose sight of their dams; and being left behind
+by the throng, and the swift passing hunters, they endeavour to secrete
+themselves, when they are exceedingly put to it on a level prairie,
+where nought can be seen but the short grass of six or eight inches in
+height, save an occasional bunch of wild sage, a few inches higher, to
+which the poor affrighted things will run, and dropping on their knees,
+will push their noses under it, and into the grass, where they will
+stand for hours, with their eyes shut, imagining themselves securely
+hid, whilst they are standing up quite straight upon their hind feet
+and can easily be seen at several miles distance. It is a familiar
+amusement for us accustomed to these scenes, to retreat back over the
+ground where we have just escorted the herd, and approach these little
+trembling things, which stubbornly maintain their positions, with their
+noses pushed under the grass, and their eyes strained upon us, as we
+dismount from our horses and are passing around them. From this fixed
+position they are sure not to move, until hands are laid upon them,
+and then for the shins of a novice, we can extend our sympathy; or if
+he can preserve the skin on his bones from the furious buttings of its
+head, we know how to congratulate him on his signal success and good
+luck. In these desperate struggles, for a moment, the little thing
+is conquered, and makes no further resistance. And I have often, in
+concurrence with a known custom of the country, held my hands over the
+eyes of the calf, and breathed a few strong breaths into its nostrils;
+after which I have, with my hunting companions, rode several miles into
+our encampment, with the little prisoner busily following the heels
+of my horse the whole way, as closely and as affectionately as its
+instinct would attach it to the company of its dam!
+
+This is one of the most extraordinary things that I have met with
+in the habits of this wild country, and although I had often heard
+of it, and felt unable exactly to believe it, I am now willing to
+bear testimony to the fact, from the numerous instances which I have
+witnessed since I came into the country. During the time that I resided
+at this post, in the spring of the year, on my way up the river, I
+assisted (in numerous hunts of the buffalo, with the Fur Company’s
+men,) in bringing in, in the above manner, several of these little
+prisoners, which sometimes followed for five or six miles close to
+our horses’ heels, and even into the Fur Company’s Fort, and into the
+stable where our horses were led. In this way, before I left for the
+head waters of the Missouri, I think we had collected about a dozen,
+which Mr. Laidlaw was successfully raising with the aid of a good milch
+cow, and which were to be committed to the care of Mr. Chouteau to be
+transported by the return of the steamer, to his extensive plantation
+in the vicinity of St. Louis.[15]
+
+It is truly a melancholy contemplation for the traveller in this
+country, to anticipate the period which is not far distant, when the
+last of these noble animals, at the hands of white and red men, will
+fall victims to their cruel and improvident rapacity; leaving these
+beautiful green fields, a vast and idle waste, unstocked and unpeopled
+for ages to come, until the bones of the one and the traditions of the
+other will have vanished, and left scarce an intelligible trace behind.
+
+That the reader should not think me visionary in these contemplations,
+or romancing in making such assertions, I will hand him the following
+item of the extravagancies which are practiced in these regions, and
+rapidly leading to the results which I have just named.
+
+When I first arrived at this place, on my way up the river, which was
+in the month of May, in 1832, and had taken up my lodgings in the Fur
+Company’s Fort, Mr. Laidlaw, of whom I have before spoken, and also his
+chief clerk, Mr. Halsey, and many of their men, as well as the chiefs
+of the Sioux, told me, that only a few days before I arrived, (when an
+immense herd of buffaloes had showed themselves on the opposite side
+of the river, almost blackening the plains for a great distance,) a
+party of five or six hundred Sioux Indians on horseback, forded the
+river about mid-day, and spending a few hours amongst them, recrossed
+the river at sun-down and came into the Fort with _fourteen hundred
+fresh buffalo tongues_, which were thrown down in a mass, and for which
+they required but a few gallons of whiskey, which was soon demolished,
+indulging them in a little, and harmless carouse.
+
+This profligate waste of the lives of these noble and useful animals,
+when, from all that I could learn, not a skin or a pound of the
+meat (except the tongues), was brought in, fully supports me in
+the seemingly extravagant predictions that I have made as to
+their extinction, which I am certain is near at hand. In the above
+extravagant instance, at a season when their skins were without fur and
+not worth taking off, and their camp was so well stocked with fresh and
+dried meat, that they had no occasion for using the flesh, there is a
+fair exhibition of the improvident character of the savage, and also of
+his recklessness in catering for his appetite, so long as the present
+inducements are held out to him in his country, for its gratification.
+
+[Illustration: 111]
+
+[Illustration: 112]
+
+In this singular country, where the poor Indians have no laws or
+regulations of society, making it a vice or an impropriety to drink to
+excess, they think it no harm to indulge in the delicious beverage, as
+long as they are able to buy whiskey to drink. They look to white men
+as wiser than themselves, and able to set them examples—they see none
+of these in their country but sellers of whiskey, who are constantly
+tendering it to them, and most of them setting the example by using it
+themselves; and they easily acquire a taste, that to be catered for,
+where whiskey is sold at sixteen dollars per gallon, soon impoverishes
+them, and must soon strip the skin from the last buffalo’s back that
+lives in their country, to “be dressed by their squaws” and vended to
+the Traders for a pint of diluted alcohol.
+
+From the above remarks it will be seen, that not only the red men,
+but red men and white, have aimed destruction at the race of these
+animals; and with them, _beasts_ have turned hunters of buffaloes in
+this country, slaying them, however, in less numbers, and for far more
+laudable purpose than that of selling their skins. The white wolves, of
+which I have spoken in a former epistle, follow the herds of buffaloes
+as I have said, from one season to another, glutting themselves on the
+carcasses of those that fall by the deadly shafts of their enemies,
+or linger with disease or old age to be dispatched by these sneaking
+cormorants, who are ready at all times kindly to relieve them from the
+pangs of a lingering death.
+
+Whilst the herd is together, the wolves never attack them, as they
+instantly gather for combined resistance, which they effectually make.
+But when the herds are travelling, it often happens that an aged or
+wounded one, lingers at a distance behind, and when fairly out of sight
+of the herd, is set upon by these voracious hunters, which often gather
+to the number of fifty or more, and are sure at last to torture him
+to death, and use him up at a meal. The buffalo, however, is a huge
+and furious animal, and when his retreat is cut off, makes desperate
+and deadly resistance, contending to the last moment for the right of
+life—and oftentimes deals death by wholesale, to his canine assailants,
+which he is tossing into the air or stamping to death under his feet
+(+plate+ 113).
+
+During my travels in these regions, I have several times come across
+such a gang of these animals surrounding an old or a wounded bull,
+where it would seem, from appearances, that they had been for several
+days in attendance, and at intervals desperately engaged in the
+effort to take his life. But a short time since, as one of my hunting
+companions and myself were returning to our encampment with our horses
+loaded with meat, we discovered at a distance, a huge bull, encircled
+with a gang of white wolves; we rode up as near as we could without
+driving them away, and being within pistol shot, we had a remarkably
+good view, where I sat for a few moments and made a sketch in my
+note-book (+plate+ 114); after which, we rode up and gave the signal
+for them to disperse, which they instantly did, withdrawing themselves
+to the distance of fifty or sixty rods, when we found, to our great
+surprise, that the animal had made desperate resistance, until his
+eyes were entirely eaten out of his head—the grizzle of his nose was
+mostly gone—his tongue was half eaten off, and the skin and flesh of
+his legs torn almost literally into strings. In this tattered and torn
+condition, the poor old veteran stood bracing up in the midst of his
+devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a few minutes, to enjoy a
+sort of parley, recovering strength and preparing to resume the attack
+in a few moments again. In this group, some were reclining, to gain
+breath, whilst others were sneaking about and licking their chaps in
+anxiety for a renewal of the attack; and others, less lucky, had been
+crushed to death by the feet or the horns of the bull. I rode nearer
+to the pitiable object as he stood bleeding and trembling before me,
+and said to him, “Now is your time, old fellow, and you had better be
+off.” Though blind and nearly destroyed, there seemed evidently to be
+a recognition of a friend in me, as he straightened up, and, trembling
+with excitement, dashed off at full speed upon the prairie, in a
+straight line. We turned our horses and resumed our march, and when we
+had advanced a mile or more, we looked back, and on our left, where we
+saw again the ill-fated animal surrounded by his tormentors, to whose
+insatiable voracity he unquestionably soon fell a victim.
+
+Thus much I wrote of the buffaloes, and of the accidents that befall
+them, as well as of the fate that awaits them; and before I closed my
+book, I strolled out one day to the shade of a plum-tree, where I laid
+in the grass on a favourite bluff, and wrote thus:—
+
+“It is generally supposed, and familiarly said, that a man ‘_falls_’
+into a rêverie; but I seated myself in the shade a few minutes since,
+resolved to _force_ myself into one; and for this purpose I laid open a
+small pocket-map of North America, and excluding my thoughts from every
+other object in the world, I soon succeeded in producing the desired
+illusion. This little chart, over which I bent, was seen in all its
+parts, as nothing but the green and vivid reality. I was lifted up upon
+an imaginary pair of wings, which easily raised and held me floating
+in the open air, from whence I could behold beneath me the Pacific
+and the Atlantic Oceans—the great cities of the East, and the mighty
+rivers. I could see the blue chain of the great lakes at the North—the
+Rocky Mountains, and beneath them and near their base, the vast, and
+almost boundless plains of grass, which were speckled with the bands of
+grazing buffaloes!
+
+“The world turned gently around, and I examined its surface; continent
+after continent passed under my eye, and yet amidst them all, I saw
+not the vast and vivid green, that is spread like a carpet over the
+Western wilds of my own country. I saw not elsewhere in the world, the
+myriad herds of buffaloes—my eyes scanned in vain, for they were not.
+And when I turned again to the wilds of my native land, I beheld them
+all in motion! For the distance of several hundreds of miles from North
+to South, they were wheeling about in vast columns and herds—some were
+scattered, and ran with furious wildness—some lay dead, and others
+were pawing the earth for a hiding-place—some were sinking down and
+dying, gushing out their life’s blood in deep-drawn sighs—and others
+were contending in furious battle for the life they possessed, and
+the ground that they stood upon. They had long since assembled from
+the thickets, and secret haunts of the deep forest, into the midst of
+the treeless and bushless plains, as the place for their safety. I
+could see in an hundred places, amid the wheeling bands, and on their
+skirts and flanks, the leaping wild horse darting among them. I saw
+not the arrows, nor heard the twang of the sinewy bows that sent them;
+but I saw their victims fall!—on other steeds that rushed along their
+sides I saw the glistening lances, which seemed to lay across them;
+their blades were blazing in the sun, till dipped in blood, and then
+I lost them! In other parts (and there were many), the vivid flash of
+_fire-arms_ was seen—_their_ victims fell too, and over their dead
+bodies hung suspended in air, little clouds of whitened smoke, from
+under which the flying horsemen had darted forward to mingle again
+with, and deal death to, the trampling throng.
+
+[Illustration: 113]
+
+[Illustration: 114]
+
+“So strange were men mixed (both red and white) with the countless
+herds that wheeled and eddyed about, that all below seemed one vast
+extended field of battle—whole armies, in some places, seemed to
+blacken the earth’s surface;—in other parts, regiments, battalions,
+wings, platoons, rank and file, and “_Indian-file_”—all were in motion;
+and death and destruction seemed to be the watch-word amongst them. In
+their turmoil, they sent up great clouds of dust, and with them came
+the mingled din of groans and trampling hoofs, that seemed like the
+rumbling of a dreadful cataract, or the roaring of distant thunder.
+Alternate pity and admiration harrowed up in my bosom and my brain,
+many a hidden thought; and amongst them a few of the beautiful notes
+that were once sung, and exactly in point: ‘_Quadrupedante putrem
+sonitu quatit ungula campum._’ Even such was the din amidst the
+quadrupeds of these vast plains. And from the craggy cliffs of the
+Rocky Mountains also were seen descending into the valley, the myriad
+Tartars, who had not horses to ride, but before their well-drawn bows
+the fattest of the herds were falling. Hundreds and thousands were
+strewed upon the plains—they were flayed, and their reddened carcasses
+left; and about them bands of wolves, and dogs, and buzzards were seen
+devouring them. Contiguous, and in sight, were the distant and feeble
+smokes of wigwams and villages, where the skins were dragged, and
+dressed for white man’s luxury! where they were all sold for _whiskey_,
+and the poor Indians laid drunk, and were crying. I cast my eyes into
+the towns and cities of the East, and there I beheld buffalo robes
+hanging at almost every door for traffic; and I saw also the curling
+smokes of a thousand _Stills_—and I said, ‘Oh insatiable man, is thy
+avarice such! wouldst thou tear the skin from the back of the last
+animal of this noble race, _and rob thy fellow-man of his meat, and for
+it give him poison_!’”    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
+
+Many are the rudenesses and wilds in Nature’s works, which are destined
+to fall before the deadly axe and desolating hands of cultivating man;
+and so amongst her ranks of _living_, of beast and human, we often find
+noble stamps, or beautiful colours, to which our admiration clings;
+and even in the overwhelming march of civilized improvements and
+refinements do we love to cherish their existence, and lend our efforts
+to preserve them in their primitive rudeness. Such of Nature’s works
+are always worthy of our preservation and protection; and the further
+we become separated (and the face of the country) from that pristine
+wildness and beauty, the more pleasure does the mind of enlightened man
+feel in recurring to those scenes, when he can have them preserved for
+his eyes and his mind to dwell upon.
+
+Of such “rudenesses and wilds,” Nature has no where presented more
+beautiful and lovely scenes, than those of the vast prairies of the
+West; and of _man_ and _beast_, no nobler specimens than those who
+inhabit them—the _Indian_ and the _buffalo_—joint and original tenants
+of the soil, and fugitives together from the approach of civilized
+man; they have fled to the great plains of the West, and there, under
+an equal doom, they have taken up their _last abode_, where their race
+will expire, and their bones will bleach together.
+
+It may be that _power_ is _right_, and _voracity_ a _virtue_; and that
+these people, and these noble animals, are _righteously_ doomed to an
+issue that _will_ not be averted. It can be easily proved—we have a
+civilized science that can easily do it, or anything else that may be
+required to cover the iniquities of civilized man in catering for his
+unholy appetites. It can be proved that the weak and ignorant have no
+_rights_—that there can be no virtue in darkness—that God’s gifts have
+no meaning or merit until they are appropriated by civilized man—by
+him brought into the light, and converted to his use and luxury. We
+have a mode of reasoning (I forget what it is called) by which all this
+can be proved, and even more. The _word_ and the _system_ are entirely
+of _civilized_ origin; and latitude is admirably given to them in
+proportion to the increase of civilized wants, which often require a
+_judge_ to overrule the laws of nature. I say that _we_ can prove such
+things; but an _Indian_ cannot. It is a mode of reasoning unknown to
+him in his nature’s simplicity, but admirably adapted to subserve the
+interests of the enlightened world, who are always their own judges,
+when dealing with the savage; and who, in the present refined age, have
+many appetites that can only be lawfully indulged, by proving God’s
+laws defective.
+
+It is not enough in this polished and extravagant age, that we get from
+the Indian his lands, and the very clothes from his back, but the food
+from their mouths must be stopped, to add a new and useless article to
+the fashionable world’s luxuries. The ranks must be thinned, and the
+race exterminated, of this noble animal, and the Indians of the great
+plains left without the means of supporting life, that white men may
+figure a few years longer, enveloped in buffalo robes—that they may
+spread them, for their pleasure and elegance, over the backs of their
+sleighs, and trail them ostentatiously amidst the busy throng, as
+things of beauty and elegance that had been made for them!
+
+Reader! listen to the following calculations, and forget them not.
+The buffaloes (the quadrupeds from whose backs your beautiful robes
+were taken, and whose myriads were once spread over the whole country,
+from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean) have recently fled
+before the appalling appearance of civilized man, and taken up their
+abode and pasturage amid the almost boundless prairies of the West.
+An instinctive dread of their deadly foes, who made an easy prey of
+them whilst grazing in the forest, has led them to seek the midst of
+the vast and treeless plains of grass, as the spot where they would be
+least exposed to the assaults of their enemies; and it is exclusively
+in those desolate fields of silence (yet of beauty) that they are to
+be found—and over these vast steppes, or prairies, have they fled,
+like the Indian, towards the “setting sun;” until their bands have
+been crowded together, and their limits confined to a narrow strip of
+country on this side of the Rocky Mountains.
+
+This strip of country, which extends from the province of Mexico to
+lake Winnepeg on the North, is almost one entire plain of grass, which
+is, and ever must be, useless to cultivating man. It is here, and
+here chiefly, that the buffaloes dwell; and with, and hovering about
+them, live and flourish the tribes of Indians, whom God made for the
+enjoyment of that fair land and its luxuries.
+
+It is a melancholy contemplation for one who has travelled as I have,
+through these realms, and seen this noble animal in all its pride and
+glory, to contemplate it so rapidly wasting from the world, drawing the
+irresistible conclusion too, which one must do, that its species is
+soon to be extinguished, and with it the peace and happiness (if not
+the actual existence) of the tribes of Indians who are joint tenants
+with them, in the occupancy of these vast and idle plains.
+
+And what a splendid contemplation too, when one (who has travelled
+these realms, and can duly appreciate them) imagines them as they
+_might_ in future be seen, (by some great protecting policy of
+government) preserved in their pristine beauty and wildness, in a
+_magnificent park_, where the world could see for ages to come, the
+native Indian in his classic attire, galloping his wild horse, with
+sinewy bow, and shield and lance, amid the fleeting herds of elks and
+buffaloes. What a beautiful and thrilling specimen for America to
+preserve and hold up to the view of her refined citizens and the world,
+in future ages! A _nation’s Park_, containing man and beast, in all the
+wild and freshness of their nature’s beauty!
+
+I would ask no other monument to my memory, nor any other enrolment of
+my name amongst the famous dead, than the reputation of having been the
+founder of such an institution.
+
+Such scenes might easily have been preserved, and still could be
+cherished on the great plains of the West, without detriment to
+the country or its borders; for the tracts of country on which the
+buffaloes have assembled, are uniformly sterile, and of no available
+use to cultivating man.
+
+It is on these plains, which are stocked with buffaloes, that the
+finest specimens of the Indian race are to be seen. It is here, that
+the savage is decorated in the richest costume. It is here, and here
+only, that his wants are all satisfied, and even the _luxuries_ of
+life are afforded him in abundance. And here also is he the proud and
+honourable man (before he has had teachers or laws), above the imported
+wants, which beget meanness and vice; stimulated by ideas of honour and
+virtue, in which the God of Nature has certainly not curtailed him.
+
+There are, by a fair calculation, more than 300,000 Indians, who are
+now subsisted on the flesh of the buffaloes, and by those animals
+supplied with all the luxuries of life which they desire, as they
+know of none others. The great variety of uses to which they convert
+the body and other parts of that animal, are almost incredible to
+the person who has not actually dwelt amongst these people, and
+closely studied their modes and customs. Every part of their flesh is
+converted into food, in one shape or another, and on it they entirely
+subsist. The robes of the animals are worn by the Indians instead of
+blankets—their skins when tanned, are used as coverings for their
+lodges, and for their beds; undressed, they are used for constructing
+canoes—for saddles, for bridles—l’arrêts, lasos, and thongs. The horns
+are shaped into ladles and spoons—the brains are used for dressing the
+skins—their bones are used for saddle trees—for war clubs, and scrapers
+for graining the robes—and others are broken up for the marrow-fat
+which is contained in them. Their sinews are used for strings and backs
+to their bows—for thread to string their beads and sew their dresses.
+The feet of the animals are boiled, with their hoofs, for the glue
+they contain, for fastening their arrow points, and many other uses.
+The hair from the head and shoulders, which is long, is twisted and
+braided into halters, and the tail is used for a fly brush. In this
+wise do these people convert and use the various parts of this useful
+animal, and with all these luxuries of life about them, and their
+numerous games, they are happy (God bless them) in the ignorance of the
+disastrous fate that awaits them.
+
+Yet this interesting community, with its sports, its wildnesses, its
+languages, and all its manners and customs, could be perpetuated, and
+also the buffaloes, whose numbers would increase and supply them with
+food for ages and centuries to come, if a system of non-intercourse
+could be established and preserved. But such is not to be the case—the
+buffalo’s doom is sealed, and with their extinction must assuredly sink
+into real despair and starvation, the inhabitants of these vast plains,
+which afford for the Indians, no other possible means of subsistence;
+and they must at last fall a prey to wolves and buzzards, who will have
+no other bones to pick.
+
+It seems hard and cruel, (does it not?) that we civilized people with
+all the luxuries and comforts of the world about us, should be drawing
+from the backs of these useful animals the skins for our luxury,
+leaving their carcasses to be devoured by the wolves—that we should
+draw from that country, some 150 or 200,000 of their robes annually,
+the greater part of which are taken from animals that are killed
+expressly for the robe, at a season when the meat is not cured and
+preserved, and for each of which skins the Indian has received but a
+pint of whiskey!
+
+Such is the fact, and that number or near it, are annually destroyed,
+in addition to the number that is necessarily killed for the
+subsistence of 300,000 Indians, who live entirely upon them. It may
+be said, perhaps, that the Fur Trade of these great western realms,
+which is now limited chiefly to the purchase of buffalo robes, is of
+great and national importance, and should and must be encouraged. To
+such a suggestion I would reply, by merely enquiring, (independently of
+the poor Indians’ disasters,) how much more advantageously would such
+a capital be employed, both for the weal of the country and for the
+owners, if it were invested in machines for the manufacture of _woollen
+robes_, of equal and superior value and beauty; thereby encouraging
+the growers of wool, and the industrious manufacturer, rather than
+cultivating a taste for the use of buffalo skins; which is just to be
+acquired, and then, from necessity, to be dispensed with, when a few
+years shall have destroyed the last of the animals producing them.
+
+It may be answered, perhaps, that the necessaries of life are given in
+exchange for these robes; but what, I would ask, are the necessities
+in Indian life, where they have buffaloes in abundance to live on?
+The Indian’s necessities are entirely artificial—are all created; and
+when the buffaloes shall have disappeared in his country, which will
+be within _eight_ or _ten_ years, I would ask, who is to supply him
+with the necessaries of life then? and I would ask, further, (and leave
+the question to be answered ten years hence), when the skin shall have
+been stripped from the back of the last animal, who is to resist the
+ravages of 300,000 starving savages; and in their trains, 1,500,000
+wolves, whom direst necessity will have driven from their desolate and
+gameless plains, to seek for the means of subsistence along our exposed
+frontier? God has everywhere supplied man in a state of Nature, with
+the necessaries of life, and before we destroy the game of his country,
+or teach him new desires, he has no wants that are not satisfied.
+
+Amongst the tribes who have been impoverished and repeatedly removed,
+the necessaries of life are extended with a better grace from the
+hands of civilized man; 90,000 of such have already been removed, and
+they draw from Government some 5 or 600,000 dollars annually in cash;
+_which money passes immediately into the hands of white men_, and for
+it the necessaries of life _may be_ abundantly furnished. But who, I
+would ask, are to furnish the Indians who have been instructed in this
+unnatural mode—living upon _such_ necessaries, and even luxuries of
+life, extended to them by the hands of white men, when those annuities
+are at an end, and the skin is stripped from the last of the animals
+which God gave them for their subsistence?
+
+Reader, I will stop here, lest you might forget to answer these
+important queries—these are questions which I know will puzzle the
+world—and, perhaps it is not right that I should ask them.   *    *
+  *    *    *    *    *    *    *
+
+  *    *    Thus much I wrote and painted at this place, whilst on my way up
+the river: after which I embarked on the steamer for the Yellow Stone,
+and the sources of the Missouri, through which interesting regions I
+have made a successful Tour; and have returned, as will have been seen
+by the foregoing narrations, in my canoe, to this place, from whence
+I am to descend the river still further in a few days. If I ever get
+time, I may give further Notes on this place, and of people and their
+doings, which I met with here; but at present, I throw my note-book,
+and canvass, and brushes into my canoe, which will be launched
+to-morrow morning, and on its way towards St. Louis, with myself at
+the steering-oar, as usual; and with Ba’tiste and Bogard to paddle, of
+whom, I beg the readers’ pardon for having said nothing of late, though
+they have been my constant companions. Our way is now over the foaming
+and muddy waters of the Missouri, and amid snags and drift logs (for
+there is a sweeping freshet on her waters), and many a day will pass
+before other Letters will come from me; and possibly, the reader may
+have to look to my biographer for the rest. Adieu.
+
+  [13] The reader will be further instructed on this subject, by
+  referring back to +plate+ 9, in the beginning of the book.
+
+
+  [14] The readers will look forward to +plates+ 240 and 243, in the
+  Second Volume, for snow shoes.
+
+
+  [15] The fate of these poor little prisoners, I was informed on my
+  return to St. Louis a year afterwards, was a very disastrous one.
+  The steamer having a distance of 1600 miles to perform, and lying
+  a week or two on sand bars, in a country where milk could not be
+  procured, they all perished but one, which is now flourishing in
+  the extensive fields of this gentleman.
+
+
+                             END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+  Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+    - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+    - Text enclosed by equals is in antiqua (=antiqua=).
+    - Text enclosed by pluses is in small caps (+Small Caps+).
+    - Blank pages have been removed.
+    - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
+    - All illustrations are attributed to _G. Catlin_.
+    - There is no illustration 23.
+    - “Plate” numbers on pages with illustrations are excluded from the
+      text version as they seem to serve no purpose. Plate number
+      references in the text are for the image numbers.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNERS,
+CUSTOMS, & CONDITION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, VOL. I (OF 2) ***
+
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+    ul.spaced li { padding-top: 1%; }
+
+    .transnote {
+      background-color: #E6E6FA;
+      border: 1px solid black;
+      color: black;
+      font-size: smaller;
+      padding: 0.5em;
+      margin-bottom: 5em;
+      font-family: sans-serif;
+    }
+
+  </style>
+</head>
+
+<body>
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Illustrations of the manners, customs, &amp; condition of the North American Indians, Vol. I (of 2), by George Catlin</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Illustrations of the manners, customs, &amp; condition of the North American Indians, Vol. I (of 2)</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Catlin</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 16, 2022 [eBook #68768]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Richard Hulse, Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &AMP; CONDITION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, VOL. I (OF 2) ***</div>
+  <figure class="illowp75 x-ebookmaker-drop">
+    <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" />
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <figure class="illowp75" id="i_frontis">
+    <img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="small"><i>G. Catlin</i></span><br />
+      <i>The Author painting a Chief at the base of the Rocky Mountains.</i></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="titlepage">
+    <h1>ILLUSTRATIONS<br />
+      <span class="xsmall">OF THE</span><br />
+      <span class="xlarge normal"><i>MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &amp; CONDITION</i></span><br />
+      <span class="xsmall">OF THE</span><br />
+      <span class="xxxlarge">NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.</span></h1>
+
+    <div class="antiqua" style="font-size: 170%;"><span class="gesperrt1">With Letters and Notes</span>,</div>
+
+    <div class="smcap mt2">Written during Eight Years of Travel and Adventure among the<br />
+      Wildest and most Remarkable Tribes now Existing.</div>
+
+    <div class="smcap xlarge mt3">By GEORGE CATLIN.</div>
+
+    <div class="lh1 mt3"><span class="small">WITH</span><br />
+      <span class="large"><i>THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS</i></span><br />
+      <span class="small">FROM THE AUTHOR’S ORIGINAL PAINTINGS.</span></div>
+
+    <figure class="mt3">
+      <img class="illowp25" src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" />
+    </figure>
+
+    <div class="large mt3">IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. <abbr title="1">I.</abbr></div>
+
+    <div class="large lh1 mt3"><span class="antiqua">London</span>:<br />
+      <b><span class="large gesperrt2">CHATTO &amp; WINDUS, PICCADILLY</span>.<br />
+      <span class="small">1876.</span></b></div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="titlepage">
+    <div class="xsmall lh1 mt10 mb10"><b>LONDON:<br />
+    <span class="gesperrt2">PRINTED BY J. OGDEN AND CO</span>.,<br />
+    172, <abbr title="Saint">ST.</abbr> JOHN STREET, E.C.</b></div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter lh2">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">iii</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS<br />
+      <span class="small">OF</span><br />THE FIRST VOLUME.</h2>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="hang"><a href="#i_frontis"><span class="smcap">Frontispiece</span></a>:—<i>The Author painting a Chief in an Indian
+    Village.</i></div>
+
+  <div class="hang"><a href="#i_map"><span class="smcap">Map</span> <i>of</i> <span class="smcap">Indian Localities</span></a> <i>embraced within
+    the Author’s Travels</i>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_1">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 1.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Wyöming, birth-place of the Author, <a href="#Page_2"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 2</a>.—His former Profession—First
+    cause of his Travels to the Indian Country—Delegation of Indians in
+    Philadelphia—First start to the Far West, in 1832, <a href="#Page_3"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 3</a>.—Design of
+    forming a National Gallery—Numbers of Tribes visited, and number of
+    Paintings and other things collected, <a href="#Page_4"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 4</a>.—Probable extinction of
+    the Indians, <a href="#Page_5"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 5</a>.—Former and present numbers of—The proper mode of
+    approaching them, and estimating their character, <a href="#Page_5"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 5–10</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="hang"><span class="smcap">Certificates</span> <i>of Government Officers, Indian Agents and
+    others, as to the fidelity of the Portraits and other Paintings</i>, <a href="#Page_11"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 11–13</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_2">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 2.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Mouth of Yellow Stone, <a href="#Page_14"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 14</a>, <a href="#i_003"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 3</a>.—Distance from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+    Louis—Difficulties of the Missouri—Politeness of Mr. Chouteau and
+    Major Sanford—Fur Company’s Fort—Indian Epicures—New and true School
+    for the Arts—Beautiful Models, <a href="#Page_14"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 14–16</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_3">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 3, Mouth of Yellow Stone.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Character of Missouri River, <a href="#Page_18"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 18</a>, <a href="#i_004"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 4</a>.—Beautiful prairie shores, <a href="#Page_19"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    19</a>, <a href="#i_005"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 5</a>.—Picturesque clay bluffs, <a href="#Page_19"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 19</a>, <a href="#i_006"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 6</a>.—First appearance of
+    a steamer at the Yellow Stone, and curious conjectures of the Indians
+    about it, <a href="#Page_20"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 20</a>.—Fur Company’s Establishment at the mouth of Yellow
+    Stone—M‘Kenzie—His table and politeness, <a href="#Page_21"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 21</a>.—Indian tribes in this
+    vicinity, <a href="#Page_22"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 22</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_4">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 4, Mouth of Yellow Stone</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Upper Missouri Indians—General character, <a href="#Page_23"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 23</a>.—Buffaloes—Description
+    of, <a href="#Page_24"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 24</a>, pls. <a href="#i_007">7</a>, <a href="#i_008">8</a>.—Modes of killing them—Buffalo-hunt, <a href="#Page_25"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    25</a>.—Chardon’s Leap, <a href="#Page_26"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 26</a>, <a href="#i_009"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 9</a>.—Wounded bull, <a href="#Page_26"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 26</a>, <a href="#i_018"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    10</a>.—Extraordinary feat of Mr. M‘Kenzie, <a href="#Page_27"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 27</a>.—Return from the chase,
+    <a href="#Page_28"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 28</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="hang"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">iv</span></div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_5">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 5, Mouth of Yellow Stone.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Author’s painting-room, and characters in it, <a href="#Page_29"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 29</a>.—Blackfoot
+    chief, <a href="#Page_29"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 29</a>, <a href="#i_011"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 11</a>.—Other Blackfoot chiefs, and their costumes,
+    <a href="#Page_30"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 30</a>.—Blackfoot woman and child, <a href="#Page_30"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 30</a>, pls. <a href="#i_012">12</a>, <a href="#i_013">13</a>;—Scalps,
+    and objects for which taken—red pipes, and pipe-stone quarry, <a href="#Page_31"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    31</a>.—Blackfoot bows, shields, arrows and lances, <a href="#Page_32"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 32, 33</a>, <a href="#i_018"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    18</a>.—Several distinguished Blackfeet, <a href="#Page_34"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 34</a>, pls. <a href="#i_014">14</a>, <a href="#i_015">15</a>, <a href="#i_016">16</a>, <a href="#i_017">17</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_6">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 6, Mouth of Yellow Stone.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Medicines or mysteries—medicine-bag—origin of the word medicine,
+    <a href="#Page_35"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 35</a>.—Mode of forming the medicine-bag, <a href="#Page_36"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 36</a>.—Value of the
+    medicine-bag to the Indian, and materials for their construction,
+    <a href="#Page_37"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 37</a>, <a href="#i_018"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 18</a>.—Blackfoot doctor or medicine-man—his mode of curing
+    the sick, <a href="#Page_39"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 39</a>, <a href="#i_019"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 19</a>.—Different offices and importance of
+    medicine-men, <a href="#Page_41"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 41</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_7">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 7, Mouth of Yellow Stone.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Crews and Blackfeet—General character and appearance, <a href="#Page_42"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 42</a>.—Killing
+    and drying meat, <a href="#Page_43"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 43</a>, <a href="#i_022"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 22</a>.—Crow lodge or wigwam, <a href="#Page_43"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 43</a>, <a href="#i_020"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    20</a>.—Striking their tents and encampment moving, <a href="#Page_44"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 44</a>, <a href="#i_021"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 21</a>.—Mode
+    of dressing and smoking skins, <a href="#Page_45"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 45</a>.—Crows—Beauty of their
+    dresses—Horse-stealing or capturing—Reasons why they are called
+    rogues and robbers of the first order, &amp;c. <a href="#Page_46"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 46</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_8">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 8, Mouth of Yellow Stone.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Further remarks on the Crows—Extraordinary length of hair, <a href="#Page_49"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    49</a>.—Peculiarities of the Crow head, and several portraits, <a href="#Page_50"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 50</a>,
+    pls. <a href="#i_024">24</a>, <a href="#i_024">25</a>, <a href="#i_026">26</a>, <a href="#i_026">27</a>.—Crow and Blackfeet women—Their modes of dressing
+    and painting, <a href="#Page_51"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 51</a>.—Differences between the Crow and Blackfoot
+    languages, <a href="#Page_51"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 51</a>.—Different hands—Different languages, and numbers
+    of the Blackfeet, <a href="#Page_52"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 52</a>.—Knisteneaux—Assinneboins, and Ojibbeways,
+    <a href="#Page_53"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 53</a>.—Assinneboins a part of the Sioux—Their mode of boiling meat,
+    <a href="#Page_54"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 54</a>.—Pipe-dance, <a href="#Page_55"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 55</a>, <a href="#i_052"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 52</a>.—Wi-jun-jon (a chief) and wife,
+    pls. <a href="#i_028">28</a>, <a href="#i_028">29</a>.—His visit to Washington, <a href="#Page_56"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 56</a>.—Dresses of women
+    and children of the Assinneboins, <a href="#Page_57"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 57</a>, <a href="#i_034"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 34</a>.—Knisteneaux (or
+    Crees)—character and numbers, and several portraits, <a href="#Page_57"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 57</a>, pls. <a href="#i_030">30</a>,
+    <a href="#i_030">31</a>.—Ojibbeways—Chief and wife, <a href="#Page_58"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 58</a>, pls. <a href="#i_035">35</a>, <a href="#i_036">36</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_9">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 9, Mouth of Yellow Stone.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Contemplations of the Great Far West and its customs, <a href="#Page_59"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 59</a>.—Old
+    acquaintance, <a href="#Page_60"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 60</a>.—March and effects of civilization, <a href="#Page_60"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 60</a>.—The
+    “Far West”—The Author in search of it, <a href="#Page_62"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 62</a>.—Meeting with
+    “Ba’tiste,” a free trapper, <a href="#Page_63"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 63, 64</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_10">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 10, Mandan Village, Upper Missouri.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">A strange place—Voyage from Mouth of Yellow Stone down the river to
+    Mandans—Commencement—Leave M‘Kenzie’s Fort, <a href="#Page_66"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 66</a>.—Assinneboins
+    encamped on the river Wi-jun-jon lecturing on the customs of white
+    people—Mountain-sheep, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">v</span><a href="#Page_67"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 67</a>,—War-eagles—Grizzly bears, <a href="#Page_68"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 68</a>.—Clay
+    bluffs, “brick-kilns,” volcanic remains, <a href="#Page_69"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 69</a>, pls. <a href="#i_037">37</a>, <a href="#i_038">38</a>.—Red
+    pumice stone—A wild stroll—Mountaineer’s sleep, <a href="#Page_70"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 70</a>.—Grizzly bear
+    and cubs—Courageous attack—Canoe robbed, <a href="#Page_71"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 71</a>.—Eating our meals
+    on a pile of drift-wood—Encamping in the night—Voluptuous scene of
+    wild flowers, buffalo bush and berries, <a href="#Page_72"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 72</a>.—Adventure after an
+    elk—War-party discovered, <a href="#Page_74"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 74</a>.—Magnificent scenery in the “Grand
+    Détour”—Stupendous clay bluffs—Table land, <a href="#Page_75"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 75</a>, <a href="#i_039"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 39</a>.—Antelope
+    shooting, <a href="#Page_76"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 76</a>, <a href="#i_040"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 40</a>.—“Grand Dome”—Prairie dogs—Village—Fruitless
+    endeavours to shoot them, <a href="#Page_77"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 77</a>, <a href="#i_042"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 42</a>.—Pictured bluff and the Three
+    Domes, <a href="#Page_78"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 78</a>, pls. <a href="#i_043">43</a>, <a href="#i_044">44</a>.—Arrival at the Mandan village, <a href="#Page_79"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 79</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_11">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 11, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Location—Village, <a href="#Page_80"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 80</a>, <a href="#i_045"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 45</a>.—Former locations fortification of
+    their village—Description of village and mode of constructing their
+    wigwams, <a href="#Page_81"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 81, 82</a>.—Description of interior—Beds—Weapons—Family
+    groups, <a href="#Page_82"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 82, 83</a>, <a href="#i_046"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 46</a>.—Indian garrulity—Jokes—Fire-side fun and
+    story-telling, <a href="#Page_84"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 84</a>.—Causes of Indian taciturnity in civilized
+    society, <a href="#Page_85"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 85</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_12">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 12, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Bird’s-eye view of the village, <a href="#Page_87"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 87</a>, <a href="#i_047"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 47</a>.—The “big
+    canoe”—Medicine-lodge—A strange medley, <a href="#Page_88"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 88</a>.—Mode of depositing
+    the dead on scaffolds, <a href="#Page_89"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 89</a>.—Respect to the dead—Visiting the
+    dead—Feeding the dead—Converse with the dead—Bones of the dead, <a href="#Page_90"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    90</a>, <a href="#i_048"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 48</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_13">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 13, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">The wolf-chief—Head-chief of the tribe, <a href="#Page_92"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 92</a>, <a href="#i_049"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    49</a>.—Several portraits, <a href="#Page_92"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 92</a>, pls. <a href="#i_050">50</a>, <a href="#i_050">51</a>, <a href="#i_052">52</a>, <a href="#i_052">53</a>.—Personal
+    appearance—Peculiarities—Complexion, <a href="#Page_93"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 93</a>.—“Cheveux gris,” <a href="#Page_94"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    94</a>.—Hair of the men—Hair of the women, <a href="#Page_95"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 95</a>, <a href="#i_054"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 54</a>.—Bathing and
+    swimming, <a href="#Page_96"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 96</a>.—Mode of swimming—Sudatories or vapour-baths, <a href="#Page_97"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    97–8</a>, <a href="#i_071"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 71</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_14">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 14, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Costumes of the Mandans—High value set upon them—Two horses for
+    a head-dress—Made of war-eagles’ quills and ermine, <a href="#Page_100"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 100,
+    101</a>.—Head-dresses with horns, <a href="#Page_103"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 103</a>.—A Jewish custom, <a href="#Page_104"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 104</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_15">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 15, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Astonishment of the Mandans at the operation of the Author’s
+    brush, <a href="#Page_105"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 105</a>.—The Author installed medicine or medicine-man,
+    <a href="#Page_106"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 106</a>.—Crowds around the Author—Curiosity to see and to touch
+    him, <a href="#Page_107"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 107</a>.—Superstitious fears for those who were painted, <a href="#Page_168"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    168</a>.—Objections raised to being painted, <a href="#Page_109"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 109</a>.—The Author’s
+    operations opposed by a Mandan doctor, or medicine-man, and how
+    brought over, <a href="#Page_110"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 110</a>, <a href="#i_055"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 55</a>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">vi</span></p>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_16">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 16, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">An Indian beau or dandy, <a href="#Page_112"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 112</a>.—A fruitless endeavour to paint one, <a href="#Page_113"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    113</a>.—Mah-to-toh-pa (the four bears), second chief of the tribe—The
+    Author feasted in his wigwam, <a href="#Page_114"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 114</a>, <a href="#i_062"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 62</a>.—Viands of the feast, <a href="#Page_115"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    115</a>.—Pemican and marrow-fat—Mandan pottery—Robe presented, <a href="#Page_116"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 116</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_17">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 17, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Polygamy—Reasons and excuses for it, <a href="#Page_118"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 118</a>.—Marriages, how
+    contracted—Wives bought and sold, <a href="#Page_120"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 120</a>.—Paternal and filial
+    affection—Virtue and modesty of women—Early marriages—Slavish lives
+    and occupations of the Indian women, <a href="#Page_121"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 121</a>.—Pomme blanche—Dried
+    meat—Caches—Modes of cooking, and times of eating—Attitudes in
+    eating, <a href="#Page_122"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 122</a>.—Separation of males and females in eating—the Indians
+    moderate eaters—Some exceptions, <a href="#Page_123"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 123</a>.—Curing meat in the sun,
+    without smoke or salt—The wild Indians eat no salt, <a href="#Page_124"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 124</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_18">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 18. Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Indian dancing—“Buffalo dance,” <a href="#Page_127"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 127</a>, <a href="#i_056"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 56</a>.—Discovery of
+    buffaloes—Preparations for the chase—Start—A decoy—A retreat—Death
+    and scalping, <a href="#Page_129"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 129</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_19">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 19, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Sham fight and sham scalp dance of the Mandan boys, <a href="#Page_131"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 131</a>, <a href="#i_057"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    57</a>.—Game of Tchung-kee, <a href="#Page_132"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 132</a>, <a href="#i_059"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 59</a>.—Feasting—Fasting and
+    sacrificing—White buffalo robe—Its value <a href="#Page_133"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 133</a>, <a href="#i_047"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 47</a>.—Rain makers
+    and rain stoppers, <a href="#Page_131"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 131</a>.—Rain making, <a href="#Page_135"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 135</a>, <a href="#i_058"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 58</a>.—“The thunder
+    boat”—The big double medicine, <a href="#Page_140"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 140</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_20">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 20, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Mandan archery—“Game of the arrow,” <a href="#Page_141"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 141</a>, <a href="#i_060"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 60</a>.—Wild
+    horses—Horse-racing, <a href="#Page_142"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 142</a>, <a href="#i_061"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 61</a>.—Foot war-party in council, <a href="#Page_143"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    143</a>, <a href="#i_063"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 63</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_21">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 21, Mandan Village, Upper Missouri.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Mah-to-toh-pa, (the Four Bears)—His costume and his portrait, <a href="#Page_145"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 145</a>,
+    <a href="#i_064"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 64</a>.—The robe of Mah-to-toh-pa, with all the battles of his life
+    painted on it, <a href="#Page_148"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 148</a>, <a href="#i_065"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 65</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_22">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 22, Mandan Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Mandan religious ceremonies—Mandan religious creed, <a href="#Page_156"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 156</a>.—Three
+    objects of the ceremony, <a href="#Page_157"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 157</a>.—Place of holding the ceremony—Big
+    canoe—Season of commencing—and manner, <a href="#Page_158"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 158</a>.—Opening the medicine
+    lodge—Sacrifices to the water, <a href="#Page_159"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 159</a>.—Fasting scene for four
+    days and nights, <a href="#Page_161"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 161</a>, <a href="#i_066"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 66</a>.—Bei-lohck-nah-pick, (the bull
+    dance), <a href="#Page_164"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 164</a>, <a href="#i_067"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 67</a>.—Pohk-hong (the cutting or torturing scene),
+    <a href="#Page_169"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 169</a>, <a href="#i_068"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 68</a>.—Ah-ke-nah-ka-nah-pick,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span> (the last race) <a href="#Page_173"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 173</a>,
+    <a href="#i_069"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 69</a>.—Extraordinary instances of cruelty in self-torture, <a href="#Page_175"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    175</a>.—Sacrificing to the water, <a href="#Page_176"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 176</a>.—Certificates of the Mandan
+    ceremonies—Inferences drawn from these horrible cruelties, with
+    traditions, <a href="#Page_177"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 177</a>.—Tradition of O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit), <a href="#Page_179"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    179</a>.—Mandans can be civilized, <a href="#Page_183"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 183</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_23">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 23, Minataree Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Location and numbers—Origin, <a href="#Page_185"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 185</a>.—Principal village, <a href="#i_070"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 70</a>.—Vapour
+    baths, <a href="#i_071"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 71</a>.—Old chief, Black Moccasin, <a href="#Page_186"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 186</a>, <a href="#i_072"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 72</a>.—Two
+    portraits, man and woman, pls. <a href="#i_073">73</a>, <a href="#i_073">74</a>.—Green corn dance, <a href="#Page_189"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 189</a>, <a href="#i_075"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 75</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_24">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 24, Minataree Village.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Crows, in the Minataree village, <a href="#Page_191"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 191</a>.—Crow chief on horseback,
+    in full dress, <a href="#Page_192"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 192</a>, <a href="#i_076"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 76</a>.—Peculiarities of the Crows—Long
+    hair—Semi-lunar faces, <a href="#Page_193"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 193</a>, pls. <a href="#i_077">77</a>, <a href="#i_073">78</a>.—Rats in the Minataree
+    village, <a href="#Page_195"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 195</a>.—Crossing Knife River in “bull boat”—Swimming of
+    Minataree girls, <a href="#Page_196"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 196</a>.—Horse-racing—A banter—Riding a “naked horse,”
+    <a href="#Page_197"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 197</a>.—Grand buffalo surround, <a href="#Page_199"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 199</a>, <a href="#i_079"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 79</a>.—Cutting up and
+    carrying in meat, <a href="#Page_201"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 201</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_25">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 25, Little Mandan Village, Upper Missouri.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">An Indian offering himself for a pillow, <a href="#Page_203"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 203</a>.—Portraits of
+    Riccarees, <a href="#Page_204"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 204</a>, pls. <a href="#i_081">83</a>, <a href="#i_084">84</a>, <a href="#i_082">82</a>,
+    <a href="#i_081">81</a>.—Riccaree village, <a href="#Page_204"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 204</a>, <a href="#i_080"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    80</a>.—Origin of the Mandans—Welsh colony—Expedition of Madoc, <a href="#Page_206"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 206–7</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_26">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 26, Mouth of Teton River.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Sioux or (Dah-co-ta), <a href="#Page_208"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 208</a>.—Fort Pierre, <a href="#i_085"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 85</a>.—Mississippi
+    and Missouri Sioux, <a href="#Page_209"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 209</a>.—Ha-wan-je-tah (chief), <a href="#Page_211"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 211</a>, <a href="#i_086"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    86</a>.—Puncahs, Shoo-de-ga-cha (chief) and wife, <a href="#Page_212"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 212</a>, pls. <a href="#i_087">87</a>,
+    <a href="#i_088">88</a>.—Four wives taken at once, <a href="#Page_213"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 213</a>, <a href="#i_090"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 90</a>.—Portrait of one of the
+    wives, <a href="#Page_214"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 214</a>, <a href="#i_089"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 89</a>.—Early marriages—Causes of, <a href="#Page_215"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 215</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_27">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 27, Mouth of Teton River.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Custom of exposing the aged, <a href="#Page_216"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 216</a>.—A tedious march on foot, <a href="#Page_218"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    218</a>.—Level prairies—“Out of sight of land”—Mirage—Looming of the
+    prairies, <a href="#Page_218"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 218</a>.—Turning the toes in—Bijou hills—Salt meadows,
+    <a href="#Page_219"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 219</a>.—Arrive at Fort Pierre—Great assemblage of Sioux—Paint the
+    portrait of the chief—Superstitious objections—Opposed by the
+    doctors, <a href="#Page_220"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 220</a>.—Difficulty settled—Death of Ha-wan-je-tah (the
+    chief)—Mode of, <a href="#Page_221"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 221</a>.—Portraits of other Sioux chiefs—Wampum,
+    <a href="#Page_222"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 222–3</a>, pls. <a href="#i_091">91</a>, <a href="#i_091">92</a>.—Beautiful Sioux women—Daughter of Black
+    Rock—Chardon, his Indian wife, <a href="#Page_224"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 224–5</a>, pls. <a href="#i_094">94</a>, <a href="#i_094">95</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_28">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 28, Mouth of Teton River.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Difficulty of painting Indian women, <a href="#Page_226"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 226</a>.—Indian vanity—Watching
+    their portraits—Arrival of the first steamer amongst the Sioux, <a href="#Page_227"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    227</a>.—Dog-feast, <a href="#Page_228"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 228</a>, <a href="#i_096"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 96</a>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span></p>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_29">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 29, Mouth of Teton River.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Voluntary torture, “looking at the sun,” <a href="#Page_232"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 232</a>, <a href="#i_097"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 97</a>.—Religious
+    ceremony, <a href="#Page_233"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 233</a>.—Smoking “k’nick-k’neck”—Pipes, <a href="#Page_234"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 234</a>. <a href="#i_098"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    98</a>.—Calumets or pipes of peace, <a href="#Page_235"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 235</a>.—Tomahawks and scalping knives,
+    <a href="#Page_235"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 235–6</a>, <a href="#i_099"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 99</a>.—Dance of the chiefs, <a href="#Page_237"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 237</a>, <a href="#i_100"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 100</a>.—Scalps—Mode
+    of taking, and object, <a href="#Page_238"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 238–9</a>.—Modes of carrying and using the
+    scalps, <a href="#Page_240"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 240</a>, <a href="#i_101"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 101</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_30">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 30, Mouth of Teton River.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Indian weapons and instruments of music, <a href="#Page_241"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 241</a>, <a href="#i_101a"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    101½</a>.—Quiver and shield—Smoking the shield, <a href="#Page_241"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 241</a>.—Tobacco
+    pouches—Drums—Rattles—Whistles—Lutes, <a href="#Page_242"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 242</a>, <a href="#i_101a"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 101½</a>.—Bear dance,
+    <a href="#Page_244"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 244</a>, <a href="#i_102"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 102</a>.—Beggars’ dance—Scalp dance, <a href="#Page_245"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 245</a>, <a href="#i_103">pls. 103, 104</a>.</div>
+
+  <div class="center mt2"><a href="#LETTER_31">LETTER—<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 31, Mouth of Teton River.</span></a></div>
+
+  <div class="hang">Bisons (or buffaloes) description of, <a href="#Page_247"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 247</a>.—Habits of, <a href="#Page_248"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 248</a>.—Bulls’
+    fighting—Buffalo wallows—Fairy circles, <a href="#Page_249"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 249</a>, pls. <a href="#i_105">105</a>,
+    <a href="#i_106">106</a>.—Running the buffaloes, and throwing the arrow, <a href="#Page_251"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 251</a>, <abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr>
+    <a href="#i_107">107</a>.—Buffalo chase—Use of the laso, <a href="#Page_253"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 253</a>, pls. <a href="#i_108">108</a>, <a href="#i_109">109</a>.—Hunting
+    under masque of white wolfskins, <a href="#Page_254"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 254</a>, <a href="#i_110"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 110</a>.—Horses destroyed
+    in buffalo hunting, <a href="#Page_255"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 255</a>, <a href="#i_111"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 111</a>.—Buffalo calf—Mode of catching
+    and bringing in, <a href="#Page_255"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 255</a>, <a href="#i_112"><abbr title="plate">pl.</abbr> 112</a>.—Immense and wanton destruction of
+    buffaloes—1,400 killed, <a href="#Page_256"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 256</a>.—White wolves attacking buffaloes, <a href="#Page_257"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr>
+    257–8</a>, pls. <a href="#i_113">113</a>, <a href="#i_114">114</a>.—Contemplations on the probable extinction of
+    buffaloes and Indians, <a href="#Page_258"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 258, 264</a>.</div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <figure id="i_map">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_map.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption style="font-size: medium;">OUTLINE MAP<br />
+      <span class="xsmall"><i>OF</i></span><br />
+      INDIAN LOCALITIES<br />
+      <i>in 1833</i>.<br />
+      <hr class="short" />
+      In Vol. 2. see Map of<br />
+      <i>LOCALITIES in 1840,</i><br />
+      <i>since all the tribes have</i><br />
+      <i>been removed from the States,</i><br />
+      <i>W. of the Mississippi</i>
+      <hr class="short" />
+      [<a href="images/i_map_big.jpg">See larger version</a>]
+    </figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_1">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 1.</h2>
+  </div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">As</span> the following pages have been hastily compiled, at the urgent
+    request of a number of my friends, from a series of Letters and Notes
+    written by myself during several years’ residence and travel amongst
+    a number of the wildest and most remote tribes of the North American
+    Indians, I have thought it best to make this page the beginning of my
+    book; dispensing with Preface, and even with Dedication, other than
+    that which I hereby make of it, with all my heart, to those who will
+    take the pains to read it.</p>
+
+  <p>If it be necessary to render any apology for beginning thus
+    unceremoniously my readers will understand that I had no space in
+    these, my first volumes, to throw away; nor much time at my disposal,
+    which I could, in justice, use for introducing myself and my works to
+    the world.</p>
+
+  <p>Having commenced thus abruptly then, I will venture to take upon myself
+    the sin of calling this one of the series of Letters of which I have
+    spoken; although I am writing it several years later, and placing it
+    at the beginning of my book; by which means I will be enabled briefly
+    to introduce myself to my readers (who, as yet, know little or nothing
+    of me), and also the subjects of the following epistles, with such
+    explanations of the customs described in them, as will serve for a
+    key or glossary to the same, and prepare the reader’s mind for the
+    information they contain.</p>
+
+  <p>Amidst the multiplicity of books which are, in this enlightened age,
+    flooding the world, I feel it my duty, as early as possible, to beg
+    pardon for making a book at all; and in the next (if my readers should
+    become so much interested in my narrations, as to censure me for the
+    brevity of the work) to take some considerable credit for not having
+    trespassed too long upon their time and patience.</p>
+
+  <p>Leaving my readers, therefore, to find out what is in the book, without
+    promising them anything, I proceed to say—of <em>myself</em>, that I was
+    born in Wyöming, in North America, some thirty or forty years since,
+    of parents<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> who entered that beautiful and famed valley soon after the
+    close of the revolutionary war, and the disastrous event of the “Indian
+    massacre.”</p>
+
+  <p>The early part of my life was whiled away, apparently, somewhat
+    in vain, with books reluctantly held in one hand, and a rifle or
+    fishing-pole firmly and affectionately grasped in the other.</p>
+
+  <p>At the urgent request of my father, who was a practising lawyer, I
+    was prevailed upon to abandon these favourite themes, and also my
+    occasional dabblings with the brush, which had secured already a corner
+    in my affections; and I commenced reading the law for a profession,
+    under the direction of Reeve and Gould, of Connecticut. I attended
+    the lectures of these learned judges for two years—was admitted
+    to the bar—and practised the law, as a sort of <em>Nimrodical</em>
+    lawyer, in my native land, for the term of two or three years; when
+    I very deliberately sold my law library and all (save my rifle and
+    fishing-tackle), and converting their proceeds into brushes and paint
+    pots; I commenced the art of painting in Philadelphia, without teacher
+    or adviser.</p>
+
+  <p>I there closely applied my hand to the labours of the art for several
+    years; during which time my mind was continually reaching for some
+    branch or enterprise of the art, on which to devote a whole life-time
+    of enthusiasm; when a delegation of some ten or fifteen noble and
+    dignified-looking Indians, from the wilds of the “Far West,” suddenly
+    arrived in the city, arrayed and equipped in all their classic
+    beauty,—with shield and helmet,—with tunic and manteau,—tinted and
+    tasselled off, exactly for the painter’s palette!</p>
+
+  <p>In silent and stoic dignity, these lords of the forest strutted about
+    the city for a few days, wrapped in their pictured robes, with their
+    brows plumed with the quills of the war-eagle, attracting the gaze
+    and admiration of all who beheld them. After this, they took their
+    leave for Washington City, and I was left to reflect and regret, which
+    I did long and deeply, until I came to the following deductions and
+    conclusions.</p>
+
+  <p>Black and blue cloth and civilization are destined, not only to
+    veil, but to obliterate the grace and beauty of Nature. Man, in the
+    simplicity and loftiness of his nature, unrestrained and unfettered
+    by the disguises of art, is surely the most beautiful model for the
+    painter,—and the country from which he hails is unquestionably the best
+    study or school of the arts in the world: such I am sure, from the
+    models I have seen, is the wilderness of North America. And the history
+    and customs of such a people, preserved by pictorial illustrations,
+    are themes worthy the life-time of one man, and nothing short of the
+    loss of my life, shall prevent me from visiting their country, and of
+    becoming their historian.</p>
+
+  <p>There was something inexpressibly delightful in the above resolve,
+    which was to bring me amidst such living models for my brush: and at
+    the same time to place in my hands again, for my living and protection,
+    the objects of my heart above-named; which had long been laid by to
+    rust and decay<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> in the city, without the remotest prospect of again
+    contributing to my amusement.</p>
+
+  <p>I had fully resolved—I opened my views to my friends and relations,
+    but got not one advocate or abettor. I tried fairly and faithfully,
+    but it was in vain to reason with those whose anxieties were ready to
+    fabricate every difficulty and danger that could be imagined, without
+    being able to understand or appreciate the extent or importance of
+    my designs, and I broke from them all,—from my wife and my aged
+    parents,—myself my only adviser and protector.</p>
+
+  <p>With these views firmly fixed—armed, equipped, and supplied, I started
+    out in the year 1832, and penetrated the vast and pathless wilds
+    which are familiarly denominated the great “Far West” of the North
+    American Continent, with a light heart, inspired with an enthusiastic
+    hope and reliance that I could meet and overcome all the hazards
+    and privations of a life devoted to the production of a literal and
+    graphic delineation of the living manners, customs, and character of an
+    interesting race of people, who are rapidly passing away from the face
+    of the earth—lending a hand to a dying nation, who have no historians
+    or biographers of their own to pourtray with fidelity their native
+    looks and history; thus snatching from a hasty oblivion what could be
+    saved for the benefit of posterity, and perpetuating it, as a fair and
+    just monument, to the memory of a truly lofty and noble race.</p>
+
+  <p>I have spent about eight years already in the pursuit above-named,
+    having been for the most of that time immersed in the Indian country,
+    mingling with red men, and identifying myself with them as much as
+    possible, in their games and amusements; in order the better to
+    familiarize myself with their superstitions and mysteries, which are
+    the keys to Indian life and character.</p>
+
+  <p>It was during the several years of my life just mentioned, and whilst I
+    was in familiar participation with them in their sports and amusements,
+    that I penned the following series of epistles; describing only such
+    glowing or curious scenes and events as passed under my immediate
+    observation; leaving their early history, and many of their traditions,
+    language, &amp;c. for a subsequent and much more elaborate work, for which
+    I have procured the materials, and which I may eventually publish.</p>
+
+  <p>I set out on my arduous and perilous undertaking with the determination
+    of reaching, ultimately, every tribe of Indians on the Continent
+    of North America, and of bringing home faithful portraits of their
+    principal personages, both men and women, from each tribe; views of
+    their villages, games, &amp;c. and full notes on their character and
+    history. I designed, also, to procure their costumes, and a complete
+    collection of their manufactures and weapons, and to perpetuate them in
+    a <i>Gallery unique</i>, for the use and instruction of future ages.</p>
+
+  <p>I claim whatever merit there may have been in the originality of such
+    a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> design, as I was undoubtedly the first artist who ever set out upon
+    such a work, designing to carry his canvass to the Rocky Mountains;
+    and a considerable part of the following Letters were written and
+    published in the New York Papers, as early as the years 1832 and 1833;
+    long before the Tours of Washington Irving, and several others, whose
+    interesting narratives are before the world.</p>
+
+  <p>I have, as yet, by no means visited <em>all</em> the tribes; but I have
+    progressed a very great way with the enterprise, and with far greater
+    and more complete success than I expected.</p>
+
+  <p>I have visited forty-eight different tribes, the greater part of which
+    I found speaking different languages, and containing in all 400,000
+    souls. I have brought home safe, and in good order, 310 portraits in
+    oil, all painted in their native dress, and in their own wigwams;
+    and also 200 other paintings in oil, containing views of their
+    villages—their wigwams—their games and religious ceremonies—their
+    dances—their ball plays—their buffalo hunting, and other amusements
+    (containing in all, over 3000 full-length figures); and the landscapes
+    of the country they live in, as well as a very extensive and curious
+    collection of their costumes, and all their other manufactures, from
+    the size of a wigwam down to the size of a quill or a rattle.</p>
+
+  <p>A considerable part of the above-named paintings, and Indian
+    manufactures, will be found amongst the very numerous illustrations
+    in the following pages; having been, in every instance, faithfully
+    copied and reduced by my own hand, for the engraver, from my original
+    paintings; and the reader of this book who will take the pains to step
+    in to “<span class="smcap">Catlin’s North American Indian Gallery</span>,” will find
+    nearly every scene and custom which is described in this work, as well
+    as many others, carefully and correctly delineated, and displayed upon
+    the walls, and every weapon (and every “Sachem” and every “Sagamore”
+    who has wielded them) according to the tenor of the tales herein
+    recited.</p>
+
+  <p>So much of <em>myself</em> and of my <em>works</em>, which is all that I
+    wish to say at present.</p>
+
+  <p>Of the <span class="smcap">Indians</span>, I have much more to say, and to the following
+    delineations of them, and their character and customs, I shall make no
+    further apology for requesting the attention of my readers.</p>
+
+  <p>The Indians (as I shall call them), the savages or red men of the
+    forests and prairies of North America, are at this time a subject of
+    great interest and some importance to the civilized world; rendered
+    more particularly so in this age, from their relative position to, and
+    their rapid declension from, the civilized nations of the earth. A
+    numerous nation of human beings, whose origin is beyond the reach of
+    human investigation,—whose early history is lost—whose term of national
+    existence is nearly expired—three-fourths of whose country has fallen
+    into the possession of civilized man within the short space of 250
+    years—twelve millions of whose bodies have fattened the soil in the
+    mean time; who have fallen victims to whiskey, the small-pox, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span>
+    bayonet; leaving at this time but a meagre proportion to live a short
+    time longer, in the certain apprehension of soon sharing a similar fate.</p>
+
+  <p>The writer who would undertake to embody the whole history of such a
+    people, with all their misfortunes and calamities, must needs have much
+    more space than I have allotted to this epitome; and he must needs
+    begin also (as I am doing) with those who are <em>living</em>, or he
+    would be very apt to dwell upon the preamble of his work, until the
+    present living remnants of the race should have passed away; and their
+    existence and customs, like those of ages gone bye, become subjects of
+    doubt and incredulity to the world for whom his book was preparing.
+    Such an historian also, to do them justice, must needs correct many
+    theories and opinions which have, either ignorantly or maliciously,
+    gone forth to the world in indelible characters; and gather and arrange
+    a vast deal which has been but imperfectly recorded, or placed to
+    the credit of a people who have not had the means of recording it
+    themselves; but have entrusted it, from necessity, to the honesty and
+    punctuality of their enemies.</p>
+
+  <p>In such an history should be embodied, also, a correct account of their
+    treatment, and the causes which have led to their rapid destruction;
+    and a plain and systematical prophecy as to the time and manner of
+    their final extinction, based upon the causes and the ratio of their
+    former and present declension.</p>
+
+  <p>So Herculean a task may fall to my lot at a future period, or it
+    may not: but I send forth these volumes at this time, fresh and
+    full of their living deeds and customs, as a familiar and unstudied
+    introduction (at least) to them and their native character; which I
+    confidently hope will repay the readers who read for information and
+    historical facts, as well as those who read but for amusement.</p>
+
+  <p>The world know generally, that the Indians of North America are
+    copper-coloured; that their eyes and their hair are black, &amp;c.; that
+    they are mostly uncivilized, and consequently unchristianized; that
+    they are nevertheless human beings, with features, thoughts, reason,
+    and sympathies like our own; but few yet know how they <em>live</em>, how
+    they <em>dress</em>, how they <em>worship</em>, what are their actions,
+    their customs, their religion, their amusements, &amp;c. as they practise
+    them in the uncivilized regions of their uninvaded country, which it is
+    the main object of this work, clearly and distinctly to set forth.</p>
+
+  <p>It would be impossible at the same time, in a book of these dimensions,
+    to explain <em>all</em> the manners and customs of these people; but as
+    far as they are narrated, they have been described by my pen, upon the
+    spot, as I have seen them transacted; and if some few of my narrations
+    should seem a <em>little too highly coloured</em>, I trust the world
+    will be ready to extend to me that pardon which it is customary to
+    yield to all artists whose main faults exist in the vividness of their
+    colouring, rather than in the drawing of their pictures; but there
+    is nothing else in them, I think, that I should ask pardon for, even
+    though some of them should stagger credulity, and incur<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> for me the
+    censure of those critics, who sometimes, unthinkingly or unmercifully,
+    sit at home at their desks, enjoying the luxury of wine and a good
+    cigar, over the simple narration of the honest and weather-worn
+    traveller (who shortens his half-starved life in catering for the
+    world), to condemn him and his work to oblivion, and his wife and his
+    little children to poverty and starvation; merely because he describes
+    scenes which they have not beheld, and which, consequently, they are
+    unable to believe.</p>
+
+  <p>The Indians of North America, as I have before said, are
+    copper-coloured, with long black hair, black eyes, tall, straight, and
+    elastic forms—are less than two millions in number—were originally
+    the undisputed owners of the soil, and got their title to their lands
+    from the Great Spirit who created them on it,—were once a happy and
+    flourishing people, enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of life
+    which they knew of, and consequently cared for:—were sixteen millions
+    in numbers, and sent that number of daily prayers to the Almighty,
+    and thanks for his goodness and protection. Their country was entered
+    by white men, but a few hundred years since; and thirty millions of
+    these are now scuffling for the goods and luxuries of life, over
+    the bones and ashes of twelve millions of red men; six millions of
+    whom have fallen victims to the small-pox, and the remainder to the
+    sword, the bayonet, and whiskey; all of which means of their death and
+    destruction have been introduced and visited upon them by acquisitive
+    white men; and by white men, also, whose forefathers were welcomed
+    and embraced in the land where the poor Indian met and fed them with
+    “ears of green corn and with pemican.” Of the two millions remaining
+    alive at this time, about 1,400,000, are already the miserable living
+    victims and dupes of white man’s cupidity, degraded, discouraged and
+    lost in the bewildering maze that is produced by the use of whiskey and
+    its concomitant vices; and the remaining number are yet unroused and
+    unenticed from their wild haunts or their primitive modes, by the dread
+    or love of white man and his allurements.</p>
+
+  <p>It has been with these, mostly, that I have spent my time, and of
+    these, chiefly, and their customs, that the following Letters treat.
+    Their habits (and their’s alone) as we can see them transacted, are
+    native, and such as I have wished to fix and preserve for future ages.</p>
+
+  <p>Of the dead, and of those who are dying, of those who have suffered
+    death, and of those who are now trodden and kicked through it, I may
+    speak more fully in some deductions at the close of this book; or at
+    some future time, when I may find more leisure, and may be able to
+    speak of these scenes without giving offence to the world, or to any
+    body in it.</p>
+
+  <p>Such a portrait then as I have set forth in the following pages (taken
+    by myself from the free and vivid realities of life, instead of the
+    vague and uncertain imagery of recollection, or from the haggard
+    deformities and distortions of disease and death), I offer to the world
+    for their amusement, as well as for their information; and I trust they
+    will pardon me, if it should be thought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> that I have over-estimated the
+    Indian character, or at other times descended too much into the details
+    and minutiæ of Indian mysteries and absurdities.</p>
+
+  <p>The reader, then, to understand me rightly, and draw from these Letters
+    the information which they are intended to give, must follow me a vast
+    way from the civilized world; he must needs wend his way from the city
+    of New York, over the Alleghany, and far beyond the mighty Missouri,
+    and even to the base and summit of the Rocky Mountains, some two or
+    three thousand miles from the Atlantic coast. He should forget many
+    theories he has read in the books of Indian barbarities, of wanton
+    butcheries and murders; and divest himself, as far as possible of the
+    deadly prejudices which he has carried from his childhood, against this
+    most unfortunate and most abused part of the race of his fellow-man.</p>
+
+  <p>He should consider, that if he has seen the savages of North America
+    without making such a tour, he has fixed his eyes upon and drawn his
+    conclusions (in all probability) only from those who inhabit the
+    frontier; whose habits have been changed—whose pride has been cut
+    down—whose country has been ransacked—whose wives and daughters have
+    been shamefully abused—whose lands have been wrested from them—whose
+    limbs have become enervated and naked by the excessive use of
+    whiskey—whose friends and relations have been prematurely thrown into
+    their graves—whose native pride and dignity have at last given way to
+    the unnatural vices which civilized cupidity has engrafted upon them,
+    to be silently nurtured and magnified by a burning sense of injury and
+    injustice, and ready for that cruel vengeance which often falls from
+    the hand that is palsied by refined abuses, and yet unrestrained by the
+    glorious influences of refined and moral cultivation.—That if he has
+    laid up what he considers well-founded knowledge of these people, from
+    books which he has read, and from newspapers only, he should pause at
+    least, and withhold his sentence before he passes it upon the character
+    of a people, who are dying at the hands of their enemies, without the
+    means of recording their own annals—struggling in their nakedness with
+    their simple weapons, against guns and gunpowder—against whiskey and
+    steel, and disease, and mailed warriors who are continually trampling
+    them to the earth, and at last exultingly promulgating from the very
+    soil which they have wrested from the poor savage, the history of his
+    cruelties and barbarities, whilst his bones are quietly resting under
+    the very furrows which their ploughs are turning.</p>
+
+  <p>So great and unfortunate are the disparities between savage and civil,
+    in numbers—in weapons and defences—in enterprise, in craft, and in
+    education, that the former is almost universally the sufferer either in
+    peace or in war; and not less so after his pipe and his tomahawk have
+    retired to the grave with him, and his character is left to be entered
+    upon the pages of history, and that justice done to his memory which
+    from necessity, he has intrusted to his enemy.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst the numerous historians, however, of these strange people, they
+    have had some friends who have done them justice; yet as a part of all
+    systems<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> of justice whenever it is meted to the poor Indian, it comes
+    invariably too late, or is administered at an ineffectual distance; and
+    that too when his enemies are continually about him, and effectually
+    applying the means of his destruction.</p>
+
+  <p>Some writers, I have been grieved to see, have written down the
+    character of the North American Indian, as dark, relentless, cruel and
+    murderous in the last degree; with scarce a quality to stamp their
+    existence of a higher order than that of the brutes:—whilst others
+    have given them a high rank, as I feel myself authorized to do, as
+    honourable and highly-intellectual beings; and others, both friends and
+    foes to the red men, have spoken of them as an “anomaly in nature!”</p>
+
+  <p>In this place I have no time or inclination to reply to so
+    unaccountable an assertion as this; contenting myself with the belief,
+    that the term would be far more correctly applied to that part of the
+    human family who have strayed farthest from nature, than it could be to
+    those who are simply moving in, and filling the sphere for which they
+    were designed by the Great Spirit who made them.</p>
+
+  <p>From what I have seen of these people I feel authorized to say, that
+    there is nothing very strange or unaccountable in their character; but
+    that it is a simple one, and easy to be learned and understood, if the
+    right means be taken to familiarize ourselves with it. Although it has
+    its dark spots, yet there is much in it to be applauded, and much to
+    recommend it to the admiration of the enlightened world. And I trust
+    that the reader, who looks through these volumes with care, will be
+    disposed to join me in the conclusion that the North American Indian in
+    his native state, is an honest, hospitable, faithful, brave, warlike,
+    cruel, revengeful, relentless,—yet honourable, contemplative and
+    religious being.</p>
+
+  <p>If such be the case, I am sure there is enough in it to recommend it
+    to the fair perusal of the world, and charity enough in all civilized
+    countries, in this enlightened age, to extend a helping hand to a
+    dying race; provided that prejudice and fear can be removed, which
+    have heretofore constantly held the civilized portions in dread of the
+    savage—and away from that familiar and friendly embrace, in which alone
+    his true native character can be justly appreciated.</p>
+
+  <p>I am fully convinced, from a long familiarity with these people, that
+    the Indian’s misfortune has consisted chiefly in our ignorance of their
+    true native character and disposition, which has always held us at a
+    distrustful distance from them; inducing us to look upon them in no
+    other light than that of a hostile foe, and worthy only of that system
+    of continued warfare and abuse that has been for ever waged against
+    them.</p>
+
+  <p>There is no difficulty in approaching the Indian and getting acquainted
+    with him in his wild and unsophisticated state, and finding him an
+    honest and honourable man; with feelings to meet feelings, if the above
+    prejudice and dread can be laid aside, and any one will take the pains,
+    as I have done, to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> go and see him in the simplicity of his native
+    state, smoking his pipe under his own humble roof, with his wife and
+    children around him, and his faithful dogs and horses hanging about
+    his hospitable tenement.—So the world <em>may</em> see him and smoke
+    his friendly pipe, which will be invariably extended to them; and
+    share, with a hearty welcome, the best that his wigwam affords for the
+    appetite, which is always set out to a stranger the next moment after
+    he enters.</p>
+
+  <p>But so the mass of the world, most assuredly, will <em>not</em> see these
+    people; for they are too far off, and approachable to those only whose
+    avarice or cupidity alone lead them to those remote regions, and whose
+    shame prevents them from publishing to the world the virtues which they
+    have thrown down and trampled under foot.</p>
+
+  <p>The very use of the word savage, as it is applied in its general sense,
+    I am inclined to believe is an abuse of the word, and the people to
+    whom it is applied. The word, in its true definition, means no more
+    than <em>wild</em>, or <em>wild man</em>; and a wild man may have been
+    endowed by his Maker with all the humane and noble traits that inhabit
+    the heart of a tame man. Our ignorance and dread or fear of these
+    people, therefore, have given a new definition to the adjective; and
+    nearly the whole civilized world apply the word <em>savage</em>, as
+    expressive of the most ferocious, cruel, and murderous character that
+    can be described.</p>
+
+  <p>The grizzly bear is called savage, because he is blood-thirsty,
+    ravenous and cruel; and so is the tiger, and they, like the poor red
+    man, have been feared and dreaded (from the distance at which ignorance
+    and prejudice have kept us from them, or from resented abuses which we
+    have practised when we have come in close contact with them), until Van
+    Amburgh shewed the world, that even these ferocious and unreasoning
+    animals wanted only the friendship and close embrace of their master,
+    to respect and to love him.</p>
+
+  <p>As evidence of the hospitality of these ignorant and benighted people,
+    and also of their honesty and honour, there will be found recorded
+    many striking instances in the following pages. And also, as an offset
+    to these, many evidences of the dark and cruel, as well as ignorant
+    and disgusting excesses of passions, unrestrained by the salutary
+    influences of laws and Christianity.</p>
+
+  <p>I have roamed about from time to time during seven or eight years,
+    visiting and associating with some three or four hundred thousand of
+    these people, under an almost infinite variety of circumstances; and
+    from the very many and decided voluntary acts of their hospitality
+    and kindness, I feel bound to pronounce them, by nature, a kind and
+    hospitable people. I have been welcomed generally in their country,
+    and treated to the best that they could give me, without any charges
+    made for my board; they have often escorted me through their enemies’
+    country at some hazard to their own lives, and aided me in passing
+    mountains and rivers with my awkward baggage;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> and under all of these
+    circumstances of exposure, no Indian ever betrayed me, struck me a
+    blow, or stole from me a shilling’s worth of my property that I am
+    aware of.</p>
+
+  <p>This is saying a great deal, (and proving it too, if the reader will
+    believe me) in favour of the virtues of these people; when it is borne
+    in mind, as it should be, that there is no law in their land to punish
+    a man for theft—that locks and keys are not known in their country—that
+    the commandments have never been divulged amongst them; nor can any
+    human retribution fall upon the head of a thief, save the disgrace
+    which attaches as a stigma to his character, in the eyes of his people
+    about him.</p>
+
+  <p>And thus in these little communities, strange as it may seem, in the
+    absence of all systems of jurisprudence, I have often beheld peace
+    and happiness, and quiet, reigning supreme, for which even kings and
+    emperors might envy them. I have seen rights and virtue protected,
+    and wrongs redressed; and I have seen conjugal, filial and paternal
+    affection in the simplicity and contentedness of nature. I have
+    unavoidably, formed warm and enduring attachments to some of these
+    men which I do not wish to forget—who have brought me near to their
+    hearts, and in our final separation have embraced me in their arms, and
+    commended me and my affairs to the keeping of the Great Spirit.</p>
+
+  <p>For the above reasons, the reader will be disposed to forgive me for
+    dwelling so long and so strong on the justness of the claims of these
+    people; and for my occasional expressions of sadness, when my heart
+    bleeds for the fate that awaits the remainder of their unlucky race;
+    which is long to be outlived by the rocks, by the beasts, and even
+    birds and reptiles of the country they live in;—set upon by their
+    fellow-man, whose cupidity, it is feared, will fix no bounds to the
+    Indian’s earthly calamity, short of the grave.</p>
+
+  <p>I cannot help but repeat, before I close this Letter, that the tribes
+    of the red men of North America, as a nation of human beings, are on
+    their wane; that (to use their own very beautiful figure) “they are
+    fast travelling to the shades of their fathers, towards the setting
+    sun;” and that the traveller who would see these people in their native
+    simplicity and beauty, must needs be hastily on his way to the prairies
+    and Rocky Mountains, or he will see them only as they are now seen
+    on the frontiers, as a basket of <em>dead game</em>,—harassed, chased,
+    bleeding and dead; with their plumage and colours despoiled; to be
+    gazed amongst in vain for some system or moral, or for some scale by
+    which to estimate their true native character, other than that which
+    has too often recorded them but a dark and unintelligible mass of
+    cruelty and barbarity.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span></p>
+
+  <p>Without further comments I close this Letter, introducing my readers
+    at once to the heart of the Indian country, only asking their
+    forgiveness for having made it so long, and their patience whilst
+    travelling through the following pages (as I journeyed through those
+    remote realms) in search of information and rational amusement; in
+    tracing out the true character of that “<em>strange anomaly</em>” of man
+    in the simple elements of his nature, undissolved or compounded into
+    the mysteries of enlightened and fashionable life.</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p class="center"><b>NOTE.</b></p>
+
+  <p><i>As the singular manners of the Country set forth in the following
+    pages, and the extraordinary scenes represented in the very numerous
+    illustrations, are of such a character as to require all possible aids
+    for the satisfaction of the readers; I hope they will excuse me for
+    intruding in this place the numerous Certificates which follow, and
+    which have been voluntarily furnished me by men whose lives, it will
+    be seen, have been spent, in great part, in the Indian Country, and in
+    familiarity with the men and manners set forth in the work</i>:</p>
+
+  <p class="center mt3">CERTIFICATES.</p>
+
+  <p>“I hereby certify, that the persons whose signatures are affixed to
+    the certificates here below, by Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span>, are officers in
+    the service of the United States, as herein set forth; and that their
+    opinions of the accuracy of the likenesses, and correctness of the
+    views, &amp;c. exhibited by him in his ‘<span class="smcap">Indian Gallery</span>,’ are
+    entitled to full credit.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“J. R. POINSETT, <i>Secretary of War, Washington</i>.”</p>
+
+  <p>“With regard to the gentlemen whose names are affixed to certificates
+    below, I am fully warranted in saying, that no individuals have had
+    better opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of the persons, habits,
+    costumes, and sports of the Indian tribes, or possess stronger claims
+    upon the public confidence in the statements they make, respecting
+    the correctness of delineations, &amp;c. of Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s Indian
+    Gallery</span>; and I may add my own testimony, with regard to many
+    of those Indians whom I have seen, and whose likenesses are in the
+    collection, and sketched with fidelity and correctness.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“C. A. HARRIS, <i>Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“I have seen Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Collection of Portraits of Indians,
+    east of the Rocky Mountains many of which were familiar to me, and
+    painted in my presence: and as far as they have included Indians of
+    my acquaintance, the <em>likenesses</em> are easily recognized, bearing
+    the most striking resemblance to the originals, as well as faithful
+    representations of their costumes.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“W. CLARK, <i>Superintendent of Indian Affairs, <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“I have examined Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Collection of the Upper Missouri
+    Indians to the Rocky Mountains, all of which I am acquainted with;
+    and indeed most of them were painted when I was present, and I do
+    not hesitate to pronounce them correct likenesses, and readily to be
+    recognized. And I consider the <em>costumes</em>, as painted by him, to
+    be the <em>only correct representations</em> I have ever seen.</p>
+
+  <div class="right">
+    <div class="inline">
+      <div class="center">
+        “JOHN F. A. SANFORD,<br />
+        “<i>U. SS. Indian Agent for Mandans, Rickarees, Minatarees,</i><br />
+        <i>Crows, Knisteneaux, Assinneboins, Blackfeet, &amp;c.</i>”
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <p class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“We have seen Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Portraits of Indians east of the
+    Rocky Mountains, many of which are familiar to us; the likenesses are
+    easily recognized, bearing a strong resemblance to the originals, as
+    well as a faithful representation of their costumes.</p>
+
+  <div>
+    <span class="fright">“J. DOUGHERTY, <i>Indian Agent</i>.</span><br />
+    <span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>November 27th, 1837.</i></span><span class="fright" style="margin-right: 8em;">J. GANTT.”</span>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“We hereby certify, that the Portraits of the Grand Pawnees, Republican
+    Pawnees, Pawnee Loups, Tappage Pawnees, Otoes, Omahaws, and Missouries,
+    which are in Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s Indian Gallery</span>, were painted from
+    life by Mr. <span class="smcap">Geo. Catlin</span>, and that the individuals sat to him
+    in the costumes precisely in which they are painted.</p>
+
+  <div>
+    <span class="fright">“J. DOUGHERTY, <i>I. A. for Pawnees, Omahaws, and Otoes</i>.</span><br />
+    <span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>New York, 1837.</i></span><span class="fright" style="margin-right: 18.8em;">J. GANTT.”</span>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“I have seen Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Collection of Indian Portraits, many
+    of which were familiar to me, and painted in my presence at their own
+    villages. I have spent the greater part of my life amongst the tribes
+    and individuals he has represented, and I do not hesitate to pronounce
+    them correct likenesses, and easily recognized: also his sketches of
+    their <em>manners</em> and <em>customs</em>, I think, are excellent; and
+    the <em>landscape views</em> on the Missouri and Mississippi, are correct
+    representations.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“K. M‘KENZIE, <i>of the Am. Fur Co. Mouth of Yellow Stone</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“We hereby certify, that the Portraits of Seminoles and Euchees, in Mr.
+    <span class="smcap">Catlin’s Gallery</span>, were painted by him, from the life, at Fort
+    Moultrie; that the Indians sat or stood in the costumes precisely in
+    which they are painted, and that the likenesses are remarkably good.</p>
+
+  <div>
+    <span style="margin-left: 1em;">“P. MORRISON, Capt. 4th Inft.</span><span class="fright">H. WHARTON, 2d. Lieut. 6th Inft.</span><br />
+    <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">J. S. HATHAWAY, 2d Lieut. 1st Art.</span><span class="fright" style="margin-right: 0.8em;">F. WEEDON, Assistant Surgeon.</span><br />
+    <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Fort Moultrie, Jan. 26, 1838.</i>”</span>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“Having examined Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Collection of Portraits of
+    Indians of the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, I have no hesitation
+    in pronouncing them, so far as I am acquainted with the Individuals,
+    to be the best I have ever seen, both as regards the expression of
+    countenance, and the exact and complete manner in which the costume has
+    been painted by him.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“J. L. BEAN, <i>S. Agent for Indian Affairs</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“I have been for many years past in familiar acquaintance with
+    the Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri to the Rocky Mountains,
+    and also with the landscape and other scenes represented in Mr.
+    <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Collection; and it gives me great pleasure to assure
+    the world, that on looking them over, I found the likenesses of my
+    old friends easily to be recognized; and his sketches of Manners and
+    Customs to be pourtrayed with singular truth and correctness.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“J. PILCHER, <i>Agent for Upper Missouri Indians</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“It gives me great pleasure in being enabled to add my name to the
+    list of those who have spontaneously expressed their approbation of
+    Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Collection of Indian Paintings. His Collection
+    of materials place it in his power to throw much light on the Indian
+    character, and his portraits, so far as I have seen them, are drawn
+    with great fidelity as to character and likeness.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“H. SCHOOLCRAFT, <i>Indian Agent for Wisconsin Territory</i>.”</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span></p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“Having lived and dealt with the Black Feet Indians for five years
+    past, I was enabled to recognize <em>every one</em> of the Portraits of
+    those people, and of the Crows also, which Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span> has in
+    his Collection, from the faithful likenesses they bore to the originals.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“<i><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, 1835.</i> “J. E. BRAZEAU.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“Having spent sixteen years in the continual acquaintance with the
+    Indians of the several tribes of the Missouri, represented in Mr.
+    <span class="smcap">Catlin’s</span> Gallery of Indian Paintings, I was enabled to judge
+    of the correctness of the likenesses, and I <em>instantly recognized
+    every one of them</em>, when I looked them over, from the striking
+    resemblance they bore to the originals—so also, of the Landscapes on
+    the Missouri.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“HONORE PICOTTE.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“The Portraits, in the possession of Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span>, of Pawnee
+    Picts, Kioways, Camanches, Wecos, and Osages, were painted by him
+    <em>from life</em>, when on a tour to their country, with the United
+    States Dragoons. The <em>likenesses</em> are good, very easily to be
+    recognized, and the <em>costumes</em> faithfully represented.</p>
+
+  <div>
+    <span style="margin-left: 1em;">“HENRY DODGE, Col. of Drag.</span><span class="fright" style="margin-right: 2em;">D. PERKINS. Capt. of Drag.</span><br />
+    <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">R. H. MASON, Major of Ditto.</span><span class="fright" style="margin-right: 3.8em;">M. DUNCAN,&#160; &#160; &#160; Ditto.</span><br />
+    <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">D. HUNTER, Capt.</span><span style="margin-left: 2.4em;">Ditto.</span><span class="fright">T. B. WHEELOCK, Lieut. Drag.”</span>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“The Landscapes, Buffalo-Hunting scenes, &amp;c. above-mentioned, I have
+    seen, and although it has been thirty years since I travelled over that
+    country; yet a considerable number of them I recognized as faithful
+    representations, and the remainder of them are so much in the peculiar
+    character of that country as to seem entirely familiar to me.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“WM. CLARK, <i>Superintendent of Indian Affairs</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“The Landscape Views on the Missouri, Buffalo Hunts, and other scenes,
+    taken by my friend Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span>, are correct delineations of the
+    scenes they profess to represent, as I am perfectly well acquainted
+    with the country, having passed through it more than a dozen times. And
+    further, I know, that they were taken on the spot, from nature, as I
+    was present when Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span> visited that country.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“JOHN F. A. SANFORD, <i>U. SS. Indian Agent</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“It gives me great pleasure to be able to pronounce the Landscape
+    Views, Views of Hunting, and other scenes, taken on the Upper Missouri
+    by Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span>, to be correct delineations of the scenery they
+    profess to represent; and although I was not present when they were
+    taken in the field, I was able to identify almost every one between <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+    Louis and the grand bend of the Missouri.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“J. L. BEAN, <i>S. Agent of Indian Affairs</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="tb" />
+
+  <p>“I have examined a series of paintings by Mr. <span class="smcap">Catlin</span>,
+    representing <em>Indian Buffalo Hunts, Landscapes, &amp;c.</em>, and from an
+    acquaintance of twenty-seven years with such scenes as are represented,
+    I feel qualified to judge them, and do unhesitatingly pronounce them
+    good and unexaggerated representations.</p>
+
+  <p class="right">“JNO. DOUGHERTY, <i>Indian Agent for Pawnees, Omahaws, and Otoes</i>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_2">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 2.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>, 1832.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">I arrived</span> at this place yesterday in the steamer “Yellow Stone,”
+    after a voyage of nearly three months from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, a distance of
+    two thousand miles, the greater part of which has never before been
+    navigated by steam; and the almost insurmountable difficulties which
+    continually oppose the <i lang="fr">voyageur</i> on this turbid stream, have
+    been by degrees overcome by the indefatigable zeal of Mr. Chouteau, a
+    gentleman of great perseverance, and part proprietor of the boat. To
+    the politeness of this gentleman I am indebted for my passage from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+    Louis to this place, and I had also the pleasure of his <em>company</em>,
+    with that of Major Sanford, the government agent for the Missouri
+    Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>The American Fur Company have erected here, for their protection
+    against the savages, a very substantial Fort, 300 feet square, with
+    bastions armed with ordnance (<a href="#i_003"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 3</a>); and our approach
+    to it under the continued roar of cannon for half an hour, and the
+    shrill yells of the half-affrighted savages who lined the shores,
+    presented a scene of the most thrilling and picturesque appearance. A
+    voyage so full of incident, and furnishing so many novel scenes of the
+    picturesque and romantic, as we have passed the numerous villages of
+    the “astonished natives,” saluting them with the puffing of steam and
+    the thunder of artillery, would afford subject for many epistles; and I
+    cannot deny myself the pleasure of occasionally giving you some little
+    sketches of scenes that I have witnessed, and <em>am witnessing</em>; and
+    of the singular feelings that are excited in the breast of the stranger
+    travelling through this interesting country. Interesting (as I have
+    said) and <em>luxurious</em>, for this is truly the land of Epicures; we
+    are invited by the savages to feasts of <em>dog’s meat</em>, as the most
+    honourable food that can be presented to a stranger, and glutted with
+    the more delicious food of beavers’ tails, and buffaloes’ tongues. You
+    will, no doubt, be somewhat surprised on the receipt of a Letter from
+    me, so far strayed into the Western World; and still more startled,
+    when I tell you that I am here in the full enthusiasm and practice of
+    my art. That enthusiasm alone has brought me into this remote region,
+    3500 miles from my native soil; the last 2000 of which have furnished
+    me with almost unlimited models, both in landscape and the human
+    figure, exactly suited to my feelings. I am now in the full possession
+    and enjoyments of those conditions, on which alone I was induced to
+    pursue the art as a profession; and in anticipation of which alone, my
+    admiration for the art could ever have been kindled into a pure flame.
+    I mean the free use of nature’s undisguised models, with the privilege
+    of selecting for myself. If I am here losing the benefit of the
+    fleeting fashions of the day, and neglecting that elegant polish, which
+    the world say an artist should draw from a continual intercourse with
+    the polite world; yet have I this consolation, that in this country,
+    I am entirely divested of those dangerous steps and allurements which
+    beset an artist in fashionable life; and have little to steal my
+    thoughts away from the contemplation of the beautiful models that
+    are about me. If, also, I have not here the benefit of that feeling
+    of emulation, which is the life and spur to the arts, where artists
+    are associates together; yet am I surrounded by living models of such
+    elegance and beauty, that I feel an unceasing excitement of a much
+    higher order—the certainty that I am drawing knowledge from the true
+    source. My enthusiastic admiration of man in the honest and elegant
+    simplicity of nature, has always fed the warmest feelings of my bosom,
+    and shut half the avenues to my heart against the specious refinements
+    of the accomplished world. This feeling, together with the desire to
+    study my art, independently of the embarrassments which the ridiculous
+    fashions of civilized society have thrown in its way, has led me to the
+    wilderness for a while, as the true school of the arts.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>3</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_003">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_003.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>3</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_004">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_004.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>4</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>I have for a long time been of opinion, that the wilderness of our
+    country afforded models equal to those from which the Grecian sculptors
+    transferred to the marble such inimitable grace and beauty; and I am
+    now more confirmed in this opinion, since I have immersed myself in
+    the midst of thousands and tens of thousands of these knights of the
+    forest; whose whole lives are lives of chivalry, and whose daily feats,
+    with their naked limbs, might vie with those of the Grecian youths in
+    the beautiful rivalry of the Olympian games.</p>
+
+  <p>No man’s imagination, with all the aids of description that can be
+    given to it, can ever picture the beauty and wildness of scenes that
+    may be daily witnessed in this romantic country; of hundreds of these
+    graceful youths, without a care to wrinkle, or a fear to disturb
+    the full expression of pleasure and enjoyment that beams upon their
+    faces—their long black hair mingling with their horses’ tails, floating
+    in the wind, while they are flying over the carpeted prairie, and
+    dealing death with their spears and arrows, to a band of infuriated
+    buffaloes; or their splendid procession in a war-parade, arrayed in all
+    their gorgeous colours and trappings, moving with most exquisite grace
+    and manly beauty, added to that bold defiance which man carries on his
+    front, who acknowledges no superior on earth, and who is amenable to no
+    laws except the laws of God and honour.</p>
+
+  <p>In addition to the knowledge of human nature and of my art, which I
+    hope to acquire by this toilsome and expensive undertaking, I have
+    another in view, which, if it should not be of equal service to me,
+    will be of no less<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> interest and value to posterity. I have, for many
+    years past, contemplated the noble races of red men who are now spread
+    over these trackless forests and boundless prairies, melting away
+    at the approach of civilization. Their rights invaded, their morals
+    corrupted, their lands wrested from them, their customs changed, and
+    therefore lost to the world; and they at last sunk into the earth, and
+    the ploughshare turning the sod over their graves, and I have flown
+    to their rescue—not of their lives or of their race (for they are
+    “<em>doomed</em>” and must perish), but to the rescue of their looks and
+    their modes, at which the acquisitive world may hurl their poison and
+    every besom of destruction, and trample them down and crush them to
+    death; yet, phœnix-like, they may rise from the “stain on a painter’s
+    palette,” and live again upon canvass, and stand forth for centuries
+    yet to come, the living monuments of a noble race. For this purpose,
+    I have designed to visit every tribe of Indians on the Continent, if
+    my life should be spared; for the purpose of procuring portraits of
+    distinguished Indians, of both sexes in each tribe, painted in their
+    native costume; accompanied with pictures of their villages, domestic
+    habits, games, mysteries, religious ceremonies, &amp;c. with anecdotes,
+    traditions, and history of their respective nations.</p>
+
+  <p>If I should live to accomplish my design, the result of my labours will
+    doubtless be interesting to future ages; who will have little else left
+    from which to judge of the original inhabitants of this simple race of
+    beings, who require but a few years more of the march of civilization
+    and death, to deprive them of all their native customs and character.
+    I have been kindly supplied by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and
+    the Secretary of War, with letters to the commander of every military
+    post, and every Indian agent on the Western Frontier, with instructions
+    to render me all the facilities in their power, which will be of great
+    service to me in so arduous an undertaking. The opportunity afforded me
+    by familiarity with so many tribes of human beings in the simplicity of
+    nature, devoid of the deformities of art; of drawing fair conclusions
+    in the interesting sciences of physiognomy and phrenology; of manners
+    and customs, rites, ceremonies, &amp;c.; and the opportunity of examining
+    the geology and mineralogy of this western, and yet unexplored
+    country, will enable me occasionally to entertain you with much new
+    and interesting information, which I shall take equal pleasure in
+    communicating by an occasional Letter in my clumsy way.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_3">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 3.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Since</span> the date of my former Letter, I have been so much engaged in
+    the amusements of the country, and the use of my brush, that I have
+    scarcely been able to drop you a line until the present moment.</p>
+
+  <p>Before I let you into the amusements and customs of this delightful
+    country however, (and which, as yet, are secrets to most of the world),
+    I must hastily travel with you over the tedious journey of 2000 miles,
+    from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis to this place; over which distance one is obliged to
+    pass, before he can reach this wild and lovely spot.</p>
+
+  <p>The Missouri is, perhaps, different in appearance and character
+    from all other rivers in the world; there is a terror in its manner
+    which is sensibly felt, the moment we enter its muddy waters from
+    the Mississippi. From the mouth of the Yellow Stone River, which is
+    the place from whence I am now writing, to its junction with the
+    Mississippi, a distance of 2000 miles, the Missouri, with its boiling,
+    turbid waters, sweeps off, in one unceasing current; and in the whole
+    distance there is scarcely an eddy or resting-place for a canoe. Owing
+    to the continual falling in of its rich alluvial banks, its water is
+    always turbid and opaque; having, at all seasons of the year, the
+    colour of a cup of chocolate or coffee, with sugar and cream stirred
+    into it. To give a better definition of its density and opacity, I
+    have tried a number of simple experiments with it at this place, and
+    at other points below, at the results of which I was exceedingly
+    surprised. By placing a piece of silver (and afterwards a piece of
+    shell, which is a much whiter substance) in a tumbler of its water,
+    and looking through the side of the glass, I ascertained that those
+    substances could not be seen through the eighth part of an inch; this,
+    however, is in the spring of the year, when the freshet is upon the
+    river, rendering the water, undoubtedly, much more turbid than it would
+    be at other seasons; though it is always muddy and yellow, and from its
+    boiling and wild character and uncommon colour, a stranger would think,
+    even in its lowest state, that there was a freshet upon it.</p>
+
+  <p>For the distance of 1000 miles above <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, the shores of this
+    river (and, in many places, the whole bed of the stream) are filled
+    with snags and raft, formed of trees of the largest size, which have
+    been undermined by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> falling banks and cast into the stream;
+    their roots becoming fastened in the bottom of the river, with their
+    tops floating on the surface of the water, and pointing down the
+    stream, forming the most frightful and discouraging prospect for the
+    adventurous voyageur. (See <a href="#i_004"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 4</a>.)</p>
+
+  <p>Almost every island and sand-bar is covered with huge piles of these
+    floating trees, and when the river is flooded, its surface is almost
+    literally covered with floating raft and drift wood which bid positive
+    defiance to keel-boats and steamers, on their way up the river.</p>
+
+  <p>With what propriety this “Hell of waters” might he denominated the
+    “River Styx,” I will not undertake to decide; but nothing could be more
+    appropriate or innocent than to call it the River <em>of Sticks</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>The scene is not, however, all so dreary; there is a redeeming beauty
+    in the green and carpeted shores, which hem in this huge and terrible
+    deformity of waters. There is much of the way though, where the mighty
+    forests of stately cotton wood stand, and frown in horrid dark and
+    coolness over the filthy abyss below; into which they are ready to
+    plunge headlong, when the mud and soil in which they were germed and
+    reared have been washed out from underneath them, and with the rolling
+    current are mixed, and on their way to the ocean.</p>
+
+  <p>The greater part of the shores of this river, however, are without
+    timber, where the eye is delightfully relieved by wandering over the
+    beautiful prairies; most of the way gracefully sloping down to the
+    water’s edge, carpeted with the deepest green, and, in distance,
+    softening into velvet of the richest hues, entirely beyond the reach
+    of the artist’s pencil. Such is the character of the upper part of the
+    river especially; and as one advances towards its source, and through
+    its upper half, it becomes more pleasing to the eye, for snags and raft
+    are no longer to be seen; yet the current holds its stiff and onward
+    turbid character.</p>
+
+  <p>It has been, heretofore, very erroneously represented to the world,
+    that the scenery on this river was monotonous, and wanting in
+    picturesque beauty. This intelligence is surely incorrect, and that
+    because it has been brought perhaps, by men who are not the best
+    judges in the world, of Nature’s beautiful works; and if they were,
+    they always pass them by, in pain or desperate distress, in toil and
+    trembling fear for the safety of their furs and peltries, or for their
+    lives, which are at the mercy of the yelling savages who inhabit this
+    delightful country.</p>
+
+  <p>One thousand miles or more of the upper part of the river, was, to
+    my eye, like fairy-land; and during our transit through that part of
+    our voyage, I was most of the time rivetted to the deck of the boat,
+    indulging my eyes in the boundless and tireless pleasure of roaming
+    over the thousand hills, and bluffs, and dales, and ravines; where the
+    astonished herds of buffaloes, of elks, and antelopes, and sneaking
+    wolves, and mountain-goats, were to be seen bounding up and down and
+    over the green fields; each one and each tribe, band, and gang, taking
+    their own way, and using their own means to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> the greatest advantage
+    possible, to leave the sight and sound of the puffing of our boat;
+    which was, for the first time, saluting the green and wild shores of
+    the Missouri with the din of mighty steam.</p>
+
+  <p>From <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis to the falls of the Missouri, a distance of 2600 miles,
+    is one continued prairie; with the exception of a few of the bottoms
+    formed along the bank of the river, and the streams which are falling
+    into it, which are often covered with the most luxuriant growth of
+    forest timber.</p>
+
+  <p>The summit level of the great prairies stretching off to the west and
+    the east from the river, to an almost boundless extent, is from two to
+    three hundred feet above the level of the river; which has formed a bed
+    or valley for its course, varying in width from two to twenty miles.
+    This channel or valley has been evidently produced by the force of the
+    current, which has gradually excavated, in its floods and gorges, this
+    immense space, and sent its débris into the ocean. By the continual
+    overflowing of the river, its deposits have been lodged and left with a
+    horizontal surface, spreading the deepest and richest alluvion over the
+    surface of its meadows on either side; through which the river winds
+    its serpentine course, alternately running from one bluff to the other,
+    which present themselves to its shores in all the most picturesque and
+    beautiful shapes and colours imaginable—some with their green sides
+    gracefully slope down in the most lovely groups to the water’s edge
+    (<a href="#i_005"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 5</a>); whilst others, divested of their verdure, present
+    themselves in immense masses of clay of different colours, which arrest
+    the eye of the traveller, with the most curious views in the world.</p>
+
+  <p>These strange and picturesque appearances have been produced by the
+    rains and frosts, which are continually changing the dimensions, and
+    varying the thousand shapes of these denuded hills, by washing down
+    their sides and carrying them into the river.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst these groups may be seen tens and hundreds of thousands of
+    different forms and figures, of the sublime and the picturesque; in
+    many places for miles together, as the boat glides along, there is
+    one continued appearance, before and behind us, of some ancient and
+    boundless city in ruins—ramparts, terraces, domes, towers, citadels
+    and castles may be seen,—cupolas, and magnificent porticos, and here
+    and there a solitary column and crumbling pedestal, and even spires
+    of clay which stand alone—and glistening in distance, as the sun’s
+    rays are refracted back by the thousand crystals of gypsum which are
+    imbedded in the clay of which they are formed (<a href="#i_006"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 6</a>). Over
+    and through these groups of domes and battlements (as one is compelled
+    to imagine them), the sun sends his long and gilding rays, at morn or
+    in the evening; giving life and light, by aid of shadows cast, to the
+    different glowing colours of these clay-built ruins; shedding a glory
+    over the solitude of this wild and pictured country, which no one can
+    realize unless he travels here and looks upon it.</p>
+
+  <p>It is amidst these wild and quiet haunts that the mountain-sheep, and
+    the fleet-bounding antelope sport and live in herds, secure from their
+    enemies,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> to whom the sides and slopes of these bluffs (around which
+    they fearlessly bound) are nearly inaccessible.</p>
+
+  <p>The grizzly bear also has chosen these places for his abode; he
+    sullenly sneaks through the gulphs and chasms, and ravines, and frowns
+    away the lurking Indian; whilst the mountain-sheep and antelope are
+    bounding over and around the hill tops, safe and free from harm of man
+    and beast.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is a hasty sketch of the river scenes and scenery for 2000 miles,
+    over which we tugged, and puffed, and blowed, and toiled for three
+    months, before we reached this place. Since we arrived here, the
+    steamer has returned and left me here to explore the country and visit
+    the tribes in this vicinity, and then descend the river from this place
+    to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis; which Tour, if I live through it, will furnish material
+    for many a story and curious incident, which I may give you in detail
+    in future epistles, and when I have more leisure than I have at the
+    present moment. I will then undertake to tell how we astonished the
+    natives, in many an instance, which I can in this Letter but just
+    hint at and say adieu. If anything did ever literally and completely
+    “astonish (and astound) the natives,” it was the appearance of our
+    steamer, puffing and blowing, and paddling and rushing by their
+    villages which were on the banks of the river.</p>
+
+  <p>These poor and ignorant people for the distance of 2000 miles, had
+    never before seen or heard of a steam-boat, and in some places they
+    seemed at a loss to know what to do, or how to act; they could not,
+    as the Dutch did at Newburgh, on the Hudson River, take it to be a
+    “<em>floating saw-mill</em>”—and they had no name for it—so it was, like
+    every thing else (with them), which is mysterious and unaccountable,
+    called <em>medicine</em> (mystery). We had on board one twelve-pound
+    cannon and three or four eight-pound swivels, which we were taking up
+    to arm the Fur Company’s Fort at the mouth of Yellow Stone, and at the
+    approach to every village they were all discharged several times in
+    rapid succession, which threw the inhabitants into utter confusion and
+    amazement—some of them laid their faces to the ground, and cried to
+    the Great Spirit—some shot their horses and dogs, and sacrificed them
+    to appease the Great Spirit, whom they conceived was offended—some
+    deserted their villages and ran to the tops of the bluffs some miles
+    distant; and others, in some places, as the boat landed in front of
+    their villages, came with great caution, and peeped over the bank of
+    the river to see the fate of their chiefs whose duty it was (from the
+    nature of their office) to approach us, whether friends or foes, and
+    to go on board. Sometimes, in this plight, they were instantly thrown
+    ‘neck and heels’ over each other’s heads and shoulders—men, women
+    and children, and dogs—sage, sachem, old and young—all in a mass, at
+    the frightful discharge of the steam from the escape-pipe, which the
+    captain of the boat let loose upon them for his own fun and amusement.</p>
+
+  <p>There were many curious conjectures amongst their wise men, with regard
+    to the nature and powers of the steam-boat. Amongst the Mandans, some
+    called it the “big thunder canoe;” for when in distance below the
+    village,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> they saw the lightning flash from its sides, and heard
+    the thunder come from it; others called it the “big medicine canoe
+    with eyes;” it was <em>medicine</em> (mystery) because they could not
+    understand it; and it must have eyes, for said they, “it sees its own
+    way, and takes the deep water in the middle of the channel.”</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>4</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_005">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_005.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>5</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_006">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_006.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>6</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>They had no idea of the boat being steered by the man at the wheel, and
+    well they might have been astonished at its taking the deepest water. I
+    may (if I do not forget it) hereafter give you an account of some other
+    curious incidents of this kind, which we met with in this voyage; for
+    we met many, and some of them were really laughable.</p>
+
+  <p>The Fort in which I am residing was built by Mr. M‘Kenzie, who now
+    occupies it. It is the largest and best-built establishment of the kind
+    on the river, being the great or principal head-quarters and depôt
+    of the Fur Company’s business in this region. A vast stock of goods
+    is kept on hand at this place; and at certain times of the year the
+    numerous out-posts concentrate here with the returns of their season’s
+    trade, and refit out with a fresh supply of goods to trade with the
+    Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>The site for the Fort is well selected, being a beautiful prairie
+    on the bank near the junction of the Missouri with the Yellow Stone
+    rivers; and its inmates and its stores well protected from Indian
+    assaults.</p>
+
+  <p>Mr. M‘Kenzie is a kind-hearted and high-minded Scotchman; and seems to
+    have charge of all the Fur Companies’ business in this region, and from
+    this to the Rocky Mountains. He lives in good and comfortable style,
+    inside of the Fort, which contains some eight or ten log-houses and
+    stores, and has generally forty or fifty men, and one hundred and fifty
+    horses about him.</p>
+
+  <p>He has, with the same spirit of liberality and politeness with
+    which Mons. Pierre Chouteau treated me on my passage up the river,
+    pronounced me welcome at his table, which groans under the luxuries of
+    the country; with buffalo meat and tongues, with beavers’ tails and
+    marrow-fat; but <i>sans</i> coffee, <i>sans</i> bread and butter. Good
+    cheer and good living we get at it however, and good wine also; for a
+    bottle of Madeira and one of excellent Port are set in a pail of ice
+    every day, and exhausted at dinner.</p>
+
+  <p>At the hospitable board of this gentleman I found also another, who
+    forms a happy companion for <em>mine host</em>; and whose intellectual
+    and polished society has added not a little to <em>my</em> pleasure and
+    amusement since I arrived here.</p>
+
+  <p>The gentleman of whom I am speaking is an Englishman, by the name
+    of Hamilton, of the most pleasing and entertaining conversation,
+    whose mind seems to be a complete store-house of ancient and modern
+    literature and art; and whose free and familiar acquaintance with the
+    manners and men of his country gives him the stamp of a gentleman, who
+    has had the curiosity to bring the embellishments of the enlightened
+    world, to contrast with the rude and the wild of these remote regions.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span></p>
+
+  <p>We three <i lang="fr">bons vivants</i> form the group about the dinner-table,
+    of which I have before spoken, and crack our jokes and fun over the
+    bottles of Port and Madeira, which I have named; and a considerable
+    part of which, this gentleman has brought with great and precious care
+    from his own country.</p>
+
+  <p>This post is the general rendezvous of a great number of Indian tribes
+    in these regions, who are continually concentrating here for the
+    purpose of trade; sometimes coming, the whole tribe together, in a
+    mass. There are now here, and encamped about the Fort, a great many,
+    and I am continually at work with my brush; we have around us at this
+    time the Knisteneaux, Crows, Assinneboins and Blackfeet, and in a few
+    days are to have large accessions.</p>
+
+  <p>The finest specimens of Indians on the Continent are in these regions;
+    and before I leave these parts, I shall make excursions into their
+    respective countries, to their own native fire-sides; and there study
+    their looks and peculiar customs; enabling me to drop you now and then
+    an interesting Letter. The tribes which I shall be enabled to see and
+    study by my visit to this region, are the Ojibbeways, the Assinneboins,
+    Knisteneaux, Blackfeet, Crows, Shiennes, Grosventres, Mandans, and
+    others; of whom and their customs, their history, traditions, costumes,
+    &amp;c., I shall in due season, give you further and minute accounts.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_4">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 4.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">The</span> several tribes of Indians inhabiting the regions of the Upper
+    Missouri, and of whom I spoke in my last Letter, are undoubtedly the
+    finest looking, best equipped, and most beautifully costumed of any on
+    the Continent. They live in a country well-stocked with buffaloes and
+    wild horses, which furnish them an excellent and easy living; their
+    atmosphere is pure, which produces good health and long life; and they
+    are the most independent and the happiest races of Indians I have met
+    with: they are all entirely in a state of primitive wildness, and
+    consequently are picturesque and handsome, almost beyond description.
+    Nothing in the world, of its kind, can possibly surpass in beauty and
+    grace, some of their games and amusements—their gambols and parades, of
+    which I shall speak and paint hereafter.</p>
+
+  <p>As far as my travels have yet led me into the Indian country, I have
+    more than realized my former predictions that those Indians who could
+    be found most entirely in a state of nature, with the least knowledge
+    of civilized society, would be found to be the most cleanly in their
+    persons, elegant in their dress and manners, and enjoying life to the
+    greatest perfection. Of such tribes, perhaps the Crows and Blackfeet
+    stand first; and no one would be able to appreciate the richness and
+    elegance (and even taste too), with which some of these people dress,
+    without seeing them in their own country. I will do all I can, however,
+    to make their looks as well as customs known to the world; I will paint
+    with my brush and scribble with my pen, and bring their plumes and
+    plumage, dresses, weapons, &amp;c., and every thing but the Indian himself,
+    to prove to the world the assertions which I have made above.</p>
+
+  <p>Every one of these red sons of the forest (or rather of the prairie)
+    is a knight and lord—his squaws are his slaves; the only things which
+    he deems worthy of his exertions are to mount his snorting steed, with
+    his bow and quiver slung, his arrow-shield upon his arm, and his long
+    lance glistening in the war-parade; or, divested of all his plumes and
+    trappings, armed with a simple bow and quiver, to plunge his steed
+    amongst the flying herds of buffaloes, and with his sinewy bow, which
+    he seldom bends in vain, to drive deep to life’s fountain the whizzing
+    arrow.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span></p>
+
+  <p>The buffalo herds, which graze in almost countless numbers on these
+    beautiful prairies, afford them an abundance of meat; and so much is
+    it preferred to all other, that the deer, the elk, and the antelope
+    sport upon the prairies in herds in the greatest security; as the
+    Indians seldom kill them, unless they want their skins for a dress.
+    The buffalo (or more correctly speaking bison) is a noble animal,
+    that roams over the vast prairies, from the borders of Mexico on the
+    south, to Hudson’s Bay on the north. Their size is somewhat above
+    that of our common bullock, and their flesh of a delicious flavour,
+    resembling and equalling that of fat beef. Their flesh which is easily
+    procured, furnishes the savages of these vast regions the means of a
+    wholesome and good subsistence, and they live almost exclusively upon
+    it—converting the skins, horns, hoofs and bones, to the construction
+    of dresses, shields, bows, &amp;c. The buffalo bull is one of the most
+    formidable and frightful looking animals in the world when excited to
+    resistance; his long shaggy mane hangs in great profusion over his neck
+    and shoulders and often extends quite down to the ground (<a href="#i_007"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    7</a>). The cow is less in stature, and less ferocious; though not
+    much less wild and frightful in her appearance (<a href="#i_008"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 8</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>The mode in which these Indians kill this noble animal is spirited and
+    thrilling in the extreme; and I must in a future epistle, give you
+    a minute account of it. I have almost daily accompanied parties of
+    Indians to see the fun, and have often shared in it myself; but much
+    oftener ran my horse by their sides, to see how the thing was done—to
+    study the modes and expressions of these splendid scenes, which I am
+    industriously putting upon the canvass.</p>
+
+  <p>They are all (or nearly so) killed with arrows and the lance, while at
+    full speed; and the reader may easily imagine, that these scenes afford
+    the most spirited and picturesque views of the sporting kind that can
+    possibly be seen.</p>
+
+  <p>At present, I will give a little sketch of a bit of fun I joined in
+    yesterday, with Mr. M‘Kenzie and a number of his men, without the
+    company or aid of Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>I mentioned the other day, that M‘Kenzie’s table from day to day
+    groans under the weight of buffalo tongues and beavers’ tails, and
+    other luxuries of this western land. He has within his Fort a spacious
+    ice-house, in which he preserves his meat fresh for any length of time
+    required; and sometimes, when his larder runs low. he starts out,
+    rallying some five or six of his best hunters (not to hunt, but to “go
+    for meat”). He leads the party, mounted on his favourite buffalo horse
+    (<i>i. e.</i> the horse amongst his whole group which is best trained
+    to run the buffalo), trailing a light and short gun in his hand, such
+    an one as he can most easily reload whilst his horse is at full speed.</p>
+
+  <p>Such was the condition of the ice-house yesterday morning, which caused
+    these self-catering gentlemen to cast their eyes with a wishful look
+    over the prairies; and such was the plight in which our host took
+    the lead, and I,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> and then Mons. Chardon, and Ba’tiste Défonde and
+    Tullock (who is a trader amongst the Crows, and is here at this time,
+    with a large party of that tribe), and there were several others whose
+    names I do not know.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>5</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_007">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_007.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>7</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_008">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_008.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>8</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>As we were mounted and ready to start, M‘Kenzie called up some four
+    or five of his men, and told them to follow immediately on our trail,
+    with as many one-horse carts, which they were to harness up, to bring
+    home the meat; “ferry them across the river in the scow,” said he,
+    “and following our trail through the bottom, you will find us on the
+    plain yonder, between the Yellow Stone and the Missouri rivers, with
+    meat enough to load you home. My watch on yonder bluff has just told
+    us by his signals, that there are cattle a plenty on that spot, and we
+    are going there as fast as possible.” We all crossed the river, and
+    galloped away a couple of miles or so, when we mounted the bluff; and
+    to be sure, as was said, there was in full view of us a fine herd of
+    some four or five hundred buffaloes, perfectly at rest, and in their
+    own estimation (probably) perfectly secure. Some were grazing, and
+    others were lying down and sleeping; we advanced within a mile or so
+    of them in full view, and came to a halt. Mons. Chardon “tossed the
+    feather” (a custom always observed, to try the course of the wind),
+    and we commenced “stripping” as it is termed (<i>i. e.</i> every man
+    strips himself and his horse of every extraneous and unnecessary
+    appendage of dress, &amp;c. that might be an incumbrance in running): hats
+    are laid off, and coats—and bullet pouches; sleeves are rolled up,
+    a handkerchief tied tightly around the head, and another around the
+    waist—cartridges are prepared and placed in the waistcoat pocket, or
+    a half dozen bullets “throwed into the mouth,” &amp;c., &amp;c., all of which
+    takes up some ten or fifteen minutes, and is not, in appearance or
+    in effect, unlike a council of war. Our leader lays the whole plan
+    of the chase, and preliminaries all fixed, guns charged and ramrods
+    in our hands, we mount and start for the onset. The horses are all
+    trained for this business, and seem to enter into it with as much
+    enthusiasm, and with as restless a spirit as the riders themselves.
+    While “stripping” and mounting, they exhibit the most restless
+    impatience; and when “approaching”—(which is, all of us abreast,
+    upon a slow walk, and in a straight line towards the herd, until
+    they discover us and run), they all seem to have caught entirely the
+    spirit of the chase, for the laziest nag amongst them prances with
+    an elasticity in his step—champing his bit—his ears erect—his eyes
+    strained out of his head, and fixed upon the game before him, whilst
+    he trembles under the saddle of his rider. In this way we carefully
+    and silently marched, until within some forty or fifty rods; when the
+    herd discovering us, wheeled and laid their course in a mass. At this
+    instant we started! (and all <em>must</em> start, for no one could check
+    the fury of those steeds at that moment of excitement,) and away all
+    sailed, and over the prairie flew, in a cloud of dust which was raised
+    by their trampling hoofs. M‘Kenzie was foremost in the throng, and
+    soon dashed off amidst the dust and was out of sight—he was after the
+    fattest and the fastest. I had discovered a huge bull whose shoulders<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span>
+    towered above the whole band, and I picked my way through the crowd to
+    get alongside of him. I went not for “meat,” but for a <em>trophy</em>;
+    I wanted his head and horns. I dashed along through the thundering
+    mass, as they swept away over the plain, scarcely able to tell whether
+    I was on a buffalo’s back or my horse—hit, and hooked, and jostled
+    about, till at length I found myself alongside of my game, when I gave
+    him a shot, as I passed him. I saw guns flash in several directions
+    about me, but I heard them not. Amidst the trampling throng, Mons.
+    Chardon had wounded a stately bull, and at this moment was passing
+    him again with his piece levelled for another shot; they were both
+    at full speed and I also, within the reach of the muzzle of my gun,
+    when the bull instantly turned and receiving the horse upon his horns,
+    and the ground received poor Chardon, who made a frog’s leap of some
+    twenty feet or more over the bull’s back (<a href="#i_009"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 9</a>), and almost
+    under my horse’s heels. I wheeled my horse as soon as possible and
+    rode back, where lay poor Chardon, gasping to start his breath again;
+    and within a few paces of him his huge victim, with his heels high
+    in the air, and the horse lying across him. I dismounted instantly,
+    but Chardon was raising himself on his hands, with his eyes and
+    mouth full of dirt, and feeling for his gun, which lay about thirty
+    feet in advance of him. “Heaven spare you! are you hurt, Chardon?”
+    “hi—hic——hic———hic————hic—————hic——————no,——hic———no——no, I
+    believe not. Oh! this is not much, Mons. Cataline—this is nothing
+    new—but this is a d——d hard piece of ground here—hic—oh! hic!” At this
+    the poor fellow fainted, but in a few moments arose, picked up his gun,
+    took his horse by the bit; which then opened <em>its</em> eyes, and with
+    a <em>hic</em> and a <em>ugh</em>—<span class="allsmcap">UGHK</span>! sprang upon its feet—shook
+    off the dirt—and here we were, all upon our legs again, save the bull,
+    whose fate had been more sad than that of either.</p>
+
+  <p>I turned my eyes in the direction where the herd had gone, and
+    our companions in pursuit, and nothing could be seen of them, nor
+    indication, except the cloud of dust which they left behind them.
+    At a little distance on the right, however, I beheld my huge victim
+    endeavouring to make as much head-way as he possibly could, from this
+    dangerous ground, upon three legs. I galloped off to him, and at my
+    approach he wheeled around—and bristled up for battle; he seemed to
+    know perfectly well that he could not escape from me, and resolved to
+    meet his enemy and death as bravely as possible.</p>
+
+  <p>I found that my shot had entered him a little too far forward, breaking
+    one of his shoulders, and lodging in his breast, and from his very
+    great weight it was impossible for him to make much advance upon me.
+    As I rode up within a few paces of him, he would bristle up with fury
+    enough in his <em>looks</em> alone, almost to annihilate me (<a href="#i_010"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    10</a>); and making one lunge at me, would fall upon his neck and
+    nose, so that I found the sagacity of my horse alone enough to keep
+    me out of reach of danger: and I drew from my pocket my sketch-book,
+    laid my gun across my lap, and commenced taking his likeness. He stood
+    stiffened up, and swelling with awful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> vengeance, which was sublime
+    for a picture, but which he could not vent upon me. I rode around him
+    and sketched him in numerous attitudes, sometimes he would lie down,
+    and I would then sketch him; then throw my cap at him, and rousing him
+    on his legs, rally a new expression, and sketch him again.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>6</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_009">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_009.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>9</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_010">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_010.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>10</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>In this way I added to my sketch-book some invaluable sketches of
+    this grim-visaged monster, who knew not that he was standing for his
+    likeness.</p>
+
+  <p>No man on earth can imagine what is the look and expression of such a
+    subject before him as this was. I defy the world to produce another
+    animal than can look so frightful as a huge buffalo bull, when wounded
+    as he was, turned around for battle, and swelling with rage;—his eyes
+    bloodshot, and his long shaggy mane hanging to the ground,—his mouth
+    open, and his horrid rage hissing in streams of smoke and blood from
+    his mouth and through his nostrils, as he is bending forward to spring
+    upon his assailant.</p>
+
+  <p>After I had had the requisite time and opportunity for using my pencil,
+    M‘Kenzie and his companions came walking their exhausted horses back
+    from the chase, and in our rear came four or five carts to carry home
+    the meat. The party met from all quarters around me and my buffalo
+    bull, whom I then shot in the head and finished. And being seated
+    together for a few minutes, each one took a smoke of the pipe, and
+    recited his exploits, and his “coups” or deaths; when all parties had
+    a hearty laugh at me, as a novice, for having aimed at an old bull,
+    whose flesh was not suitable for food, and the carts were escorted on
+    the trail, to bring away the meat. I rode back with Mr. M‘Kenzie, who
+    pointed out five cows which he had killed, and all of them selected
+    as the fattest and slickest of the herd. This astonishing feat was
+    all performed within the distance of one mile—all were killed at full
+    speed, and every one shot through the heart. In the short space of time
+    required for a horse under “full whip,” to run the distance of one
+    mile, he had discharged his gun five, and loaded it four times—selected
+    his animals, and killed at every shot! There were six or eight others
+    killed at the same time, which altogether furnished, as will be seen,
+    abundance of freight for the carts; which returned, as well as several
+    packhorses, loaded with the choicest parts which were cut from the
+    animals, and the remainder of the carcasses left a prey for the wolves.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is the mode by which white men live in this country—such the way
+    in which they get their food, and such is one of their delightful
+    amusements—at the hazard of every bone in one’s body, to feel the fine
+    and thrilling exhilaration of the chase for a moment, and then as often
+    to upbraid and blame himself for his folly and imprudence.</p>
+
+  <p>From this scene we commenced leisurely wending our way back; and
+    dismounting at the place where we had stripped, each man dressed
+    himself again, or slung his extra articles of dress, &amp;c. across his
+    saddle, astride of which he sat; and we rode back to the Fort, reciting
+    as we rode, and for twenty-four hours afterwards, deeds of chivalry and
+    chase, and hair’s-breadth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> escapes which each and either had fought
+    and run on former occasions. M‘Kenzie, with all the true character
+    and dignity of a leader, was silent on these subjects; but smiled,
+    while those in his train were reciting for him the astonishing and
+    almost incredible deeds of his sinewy arms, which they had witnessed
+    in similar scenes; from which I learned (as well as from my own
+    observations), that he was reputed (and actually <em>was</em>) the
+    most distinguished of all the white men who have flourished in these
+    regions, in the pursuit and death of the buffalo.</p>
+
+  <p>On our return to the Fort, a bottle or two of wine were set forth
+    upon the table, and around them a half dozen parched throats were
+    soon moistened, and good cheer ensued. Ba’tiste Défonde, Chardon,
+    &amp;c., retired to their quarters, enlarging smoothly upon the events
+    of our morning’s work; which they were reciting to their wives and
+    sweethearts; when about this time the gate of the Fort was thrown open,
+    and the procession of carts and packhorses laden with buffalo meat made
+    its entrée; gladdening the hearts of a hundred women and children,
+    and tickling the noses of as many hungry dogs and puppies, who were
+    stealing in and smelling at the tail of the procession. The door of the
+    ice-house was thrown open, the meat was discharged into it, and I being
+    fatigued, went to sleep.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_011">
+    <div class="plate"><i>7</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_011.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>11</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_5">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 5.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> my former epistle I told you there were encamped about the Fort
+    a host of wild, incongruous spirits—chiefs and sachems—warriors,
+    braves, and women and children of different tribes—of Crows and
+    Blackfeet—Ojibbeways—Assinneboins—and Crees or Knisteneaux. Amongst
+    and in the midst of them am I, with my paint pots and canvass, snugly
+    ensconced in one of the bastions of the Fort, which I occupy as a
+    painting-room. My easel stands before me, and the cool breech of a
+    twelve-pounder makes me a comfortable seat, whilst her muzzle is
+    looking out at one of the port-holes. The operations of my brush are
+    <em>mysteries</em> of the highest order to these red sons of the prairie,
+    and my room the earliest and latest place of concentration of these
+    wild and jealous spirits, who all meet here to be amused and pay me
+    signal honours; but gaze upon each other, sending their sidelong looks
+    of deep-rooted hatred and revenge around the group. However, whilst in
+    the Fort, their weapons are placed within the arsenal, and naught but
+    looks and thoughts can be breathed here; but death and grim destruction
+    will visit back those looks upon each other, when these wild spirits
+    again are loose and free to breathe and act upon the plains.</p>
+
+  <p>I have this day been painting a portrait of the head chief of the
+    Blackfoot nation; he is a good-looking and dignified Indian, about
+    fifty years of age, and superbly dressed (<a href="#i_011"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 11</a>); whilst
+    sitting for his picture he has been surrounded by his own braves
+    and warriors, and also gazed at by his enemies, the Crows and the
+    Knisteneaux, Assinneboins and Ojibbeways; a number of distinguished
+    personages of each of which tribes, have laid all day around the sides
+    of my room; reciting to each other the battles they have fought, and
+    pointing to the scalp-locks, worn as proofs of their victories, and
+    attached to the seams of their shirts and leggings. This is a curious
+    scene to witness, when one sits in the midst of such inflammable and
+    combustible materials, brought together, unarmed, for the first time in
+    their lives; peaceably and calmly recounting over the deeds of their
+    lives, and smoking their pipes upon it, when a few weeks or days will
+    bring them on the plains again, where the war-cry will be raised, and
+    their deadly bows will again be drawn on each other.</p>
+
+  <p>The name of this dignitary, of whom I have just spoken, is
+    Stu-mick-o-sucks (the buffalo’s back fat), <i>i. e.</i> the “hump”
+    or “fleece,” the most delicious part of the buffalo’s flesh. I
+    have also painted, of the Blackfeet,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> Pe-toh-pee-kiss (the eagle
+    ribs), and Mix-ke-mote-skin-na (the iron horn), and Wun-nes-tou (the
+    white buffalo), and Tcha-aes-sa-ko-mah-pee (the bear’s child), and
+    In-ne-o-cose (the buffalo’s child), and half-a-dozen others, and all in
+    rich and costly dresses.</p>
+
+  <p>There is no tribe, perhaps, on the Continent, who dress more
+    comfortably, and more gaudily, than the Blackfeet, unless it be
+    the tribe of Crows. There is no great difference, however, in the
+    costliness or elegance of their costumes; nor in the materials of which
+    they are formed; though there is a distinctive mode in each tribe, of
+    stitching or ornamenting with the porcupine quills, which constitute
+    one of the principal ornaments to all their fine dresses; and which
+    can be easily recognized, by any one a little familiar with their
+    modes, as belonging to such or such a tribe. The dress, for instance of
+    the chief whom I have just mentioned, and whose portrait I have just
+    painted, consists of a shirt or tunic, made of two deer skins finely
+    dressed, and so placed together with the necks of the skins downwards,
+    and the skins of the hind legs stitched together, the seams running
+    down on each arm, from the neck to the knuckles of the hand; this
+    seam is covered with a band of two inches in width, of very beautiful
+    embroidery of porcupine quills, and suspended from the under edge of
+    this, from the shoulders to the hands, is a fringe of the locks of
+    black hair, which he has taken from the heads of victims slain by his
+    own hand in battle. The leggings are made also of the same material;
+    and down the outer side of the leg, from the hip to the feet, extends
+    also a similar band or belt of the same width; and wrought in the same
+    manner, with porcupine quills, and fringed with scalp locks. These
+    locks of hair are procured from scalps, and worn as trophies.</p>
+
+  <p>The wife (or squaw) of this dignitary Eeh-nis-kin (the crystal
+    stone), I have also placed upon my canvass (<a href="#i_013"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 13</a>); her
+    countenance is rather pleasing, which is an uncommon thing amongst
+    the Blackfeet—her dress is made of skins, and being the youngest of a
+    bevy of six or eight, and the last one taken under his guardianship,
+    was smiled upon with great satisfaction, whilst he exempted her from
+    the drudgeries of the camp; and keeping her continually in the halo of
+    his own person, watched and guarded her as the apple of his eye. The
+    grandson also of this sachem, a boy of six years of age, and too young
+    as yet to have acquired a name, has stood forth like a tried warrior;
+    and I have painted him at full length (<a href="#i_012"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 12</a>), with his
+    bow and quiver slung, and his robe made of a racoon skin. The history
+    of this child is somewhat curious and interesting; his father is dead,
+    and in case of the death of the chief, of whom I have spoken, he
+    becomes hereditary chief of the tribe. This boy has been twice stolen
+    away by the Crows by ingenious stratagems, and twice re-captured by
+    the Blackfeet, at considerable sacrifice of life, and at present he is
+    lodged with Mr. M‘Kenzie, for safe keeping and protection, until he
+    shall arrive at the proper age to take the office to which he is to
+    succeed, and able to protect himself.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>8</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_013">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_013.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>13</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_012">
+      <img style="width: 99%;" src="images/i_012.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>12</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span></p>
+
+  <p>The scalp of which I spoke above, is procured by cutting out a piece
+    of the skin of the head, the size of the palm of the hand or less,
+    containing the very centre or crown of the head, the place where the
+    hair radiates from a point, and exactly over what the phrenologists
+    call self-esteem. This patch then is kept and dried with great care, as
+    proof positive of the death of an enemy, and evidence of a man’s claims
+    as a warrior; and after having been formally “danced,” as the saying
+    is, (<i>i. e.</i> after it has been stuck up upon a pole or held up by
+    an “old woman,” and the warriors have danced around it for two or three
+    weeks at intervals,) it is fastened to the handle of a lance, or the
+    end of a war-club, or divided into a great many small locks and used
+    to fringe and ornament the victor’s dress. When these dresses are seen
+    bearing such trophies, it is of course a difficult matter to purchase
+    them of the Indian, for they often hold them above all price. I shall
+    hereafter take occasion to speak of the scalp-dance; describing it in
+    all its parts, and giving a long Letter, at the same time on scalps
+    and scalping, an interesting and general custom amongst all the North
+    American Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>In the chief’s dress, which I am describing, there are his moccasins,
+    made also of buckskin, and ornamented in a corresponding manner. And
+    over all, his robe, made of the skin of a young buffalo bull, with
+    the hair remaining on; and on the inner or flesh side, beautifully
+    garnished with porcupine quills, and the battles of his life very
+    ingeniously, though rudely, pourtrayed in pictorial representations.
+    In his hand he holds a very beautiful pipe, the stem of which is four
+    or five feet long, and two inches wide, curiously wound with braids
+    of the porcupine quills of various colours; and the bowl of the pipe
+    ingeniously carved by himself from a piece of red steatite of an
+    interesting character, and which they all tell me is procured somewhere
+    between this place and the Falls of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Anthony, on the head waters of
+    the Mississippi.</p>
+
+  <p>This curious stone has many peculiar qualities, and has, undoubtedly,
+    but one origin in this country, and perhaps in the world. It is found
+    but in the hands of the savage, and every tribe, and nearly every
+    individual in the tribe has his pipe made of it. I consider this stone
+    a subject of great interest, and curiosity to the world; and I shall
+    most assuredly make it a point, during my Indian rambles, to visit the
+    place from whence it is brought. I have already got a number of most
+    remarkable traditions and stories relating to the “sacred quarry;”
+    of pilgrimages performed there to procure the stone, and of curious
+    transactions that have taken place on that ground. It seems, from all
+    I can learn, that all the tribes in these regions, and also of the
+    Mississippi and the Lakes, have been in the habit of going to that
+    place, and meeting their enemies there, whom they are obliged to treat
+    as friends, under an injunction of the Great Spirit.</p>
+
+  <p>So then is this sachem (the buffalo’s back fat) dressed; and in a very
+    similar manner, and almost the same, is each of the others above named;
+    and all are armed with bow and quiver, lance and shield. These north-western<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span>
+    tribes are all armed with the bow and lance, and protected with
+    the shield or arrow fender, which is carried outside of the left arm,
+    exactly as the Roman and Grecian shield was carried, and for the same
+    purpose.</p>
+
+  <p>There is an appearance purely classic in the plight and equipment of
+    these warriors and “knights of the lance.” They are almost literally
+    always on their horses’ backs, and they wield these weapons with
+    desperate effect upon the open plains; where they kill their game
+    while at full speed, and contend in like manner in battles with their
+    enemy. There is one prevailing custom in these respects, amongst all
+    the tribes who inhabit the great plains or prairies of these western
+    regions. These plains afford them an abundance of wild and fleet
+    horses, which are easily procured; and on their backs at full speed,
+    they can come alongside of any animal, which they easily destroy.</p>
+
+  <p>The bow with which they are armed is small, and apparently an
+    insignificant weapon, though one of great and almost incredible power
+    in the hands of its owner, whose sinews have been from childhood
+    habituated to its use and service. The length of these bows is
+    generally about three feet, and sometimes not more than two and a half
+    (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a> <i>a</i>). They have, no doubt, studied to get
+    the requisite power in the smallest compass possible, as it is more
+    easily and handily used on horseback than one of greater length. The
+    greater number of these bows are made of ash, or of “bois d’arc” (as
+    the French call it), and lined on the back with layers of buffalo or
+    deer’s sinews, which are inseparably attached to them, and give them
+    great elasticity. There are very many also (amongst the Blackfeet
+    and the Crows) which are made of bone, and others of the horn of the
+    mountain-sheep. Those made of bone are decidedly the most valuable, and
+    cannot in this country be procured of a good quality short of the price
+    of one or two horses. About these there is a mystery yet to be solved,
+    and I advance my opinion against all theories that I have heard in the
+    country where they are used and made. I have procured several very fine
+    specimens, and when purchasing them have inquired of the Indians, what
+    bone they were made of? and in every instance, the answer was, “That’s
+    medicine,” meaning that it was a mystery to them, or that they did not
+    wish to be questioned about them. The bone of which they are made is
+    certainly not the bone of any animal now grazing on the prairies, or
+    in the mountains between this place and the Pacific Ocean; for some
+    of these bows are three feet in length, of a solid piece of bone, and
+    that as close-grained—as hard—as white, and as highly polished as
+    any ivory; it cannot, therefore be made from the elks’ horn (as some
+    have supposed), which is of a dark colour and porous: nor can it come
+    from the buffalo. It is my opinion, therefore, that the Indians on
+    the Pacific coast procure the bone from the jaw of the sperm whale,
+    which is often stranded on that coast, and bringing the bone into the
+    mountains, trade it to the Blackfeet and Crows, who manufacture it into
+    these bows without knowing any more than we do, from what source it has
+    been procured.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_014">
+    <div class="plate"><i>9</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_014.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>14</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span></p>
+
+  <p>One of these little bows in the hands of an Indian, on a fleet and
+    well-trained horse, with a quiver of arrows slung on his back, is a
+    most effective and powerful weapon in the open plains. No one can
+    easily credit the force with which these missiles are thrown, and the
+    sanguinary effects produced by their wounds, until he has rode by
+    the side of a party of Indians in chase of a herd of buffaloes, and
+    witnessed the apparent ease and grace with which their supple arms have
+    drawn the bow, and seen these huge animals tumbling down and gushing
+    out their hearts’ blood from their mouths and nostrils.</p>
+
+  <p>Their bows are often made of bone and sinews, and their arrows headed
+    with flints or with bones, of their own construction (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    18</a>, <i>c</i>), or with steel, as they are now chiefly furnished
+    by the Fur Traders quite to the Rocky Mountains (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a>,
+    <i>d</i>). The quiver, which is uniformly carried on the back, and
+    made of the panther or otter skins (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a>, <i>e</i>) is a
+    magazine of these deadly weapons, and generally contains two varieties.
+    The one to be drawn upon an enemy, generally poisoned, and with long
+    flukes or barbs, which are designed to hang the blade in the wound
+    after the shaft is withdrawn, in which they are but slightly glued;—the
+    other to be used for their game, with the blade firmly fastened to the
+    shaft, and the flukes inverted; that it may easily be drawn from the
+    wound, and used on a future occasion.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is the training of men and horses in this country, that this work
+    of death and slaughter is simple and easy. The horse is trained to
+    approach the animals on the <em>right</em> side, enabling its rider to
+    throw his arrows to the left; it runs and approaches without the use
+    of the halter, which is hanging loose upon its neck bringing the rider
+    within three or four paces of the animal, when the arrow is thrown with
+    great ease and certainty to the heart; and instances sometimes occur,
+    where the arrow passes entirely through the animal’s body.</p>
+
+  <p>An Indian, therefore, mounted on a fleet and well-trained horse, with
+    his bow in his hand, and his quiver slung on his back, containing an
+    hundred arrows, of which he can throw fifteen or twenty in a minute, is
+    a formidable and dangerous enemy. Many of them also ride with a lance
+    of twelve or fourteen feet in length (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a>, <i>b</i>),
+    with a blade of polished steel; and all of them (as a protection
+    for their vital parts), with a shield or arrow-fender made of the
+    skin of the buffalo’s neck, which has been smoked, and hardened with
+    glue extracted from the hoofs (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a>). These shields are
+    arrow-proof, and will glance off a rifle shot with perfect effect by
+    being turned obliquely, which they do with great skill.</p>
+
+  <p>This shield or arrow-fender is, in my opinion, made of similar
+    materials, and used in the same way, and for the same purpose, as was
+    the clypeus or small shield in the Roman and Grecian cavalry. They were
+    made in those days as a means of defence on horseback only—made small
+    and light, of bull’s hides; sometimes single, sometimes double and
+    tripled. Such was Hector’s shield, and of most of the Homeric heroes of
+    the Greek and Trojan wars. In those days also were darts or javelins
+    and lances; the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> same were also used by the Ancient Britons; and such
+    exactly are now in use amongst the Arabs and the North American Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>In this wise then, are all of these wild red knights of the prairie,
+    armed and equipped,—and while nothing can possibly be more picturesque
+    and thrilling than a troop or war-party of these fellows, galloping
+    over these green and endless prairies; there can be no set of mounted
+    men of equal numbers, so effective and so invincible in this country
+    as they would be, could they be inspired with confidence of their own
+    powers and their own superiority; yet this never can be done;—for the
+    Indian, as far as the name of white man has travelled, and long before
+    he has to try his strength with him, is trembling with fright and fear
+    of his approach; he hears of white man’s arts and artifice—his tricks
+    and cunning, and his hundred instruments of death and destruction—he
+    dreads his approach, shrinks from him with fear and trembling—his
+    heart sickens, and his pride and courage wither, at the thoughts of
+    contending with an enemy, whom he thinks may war and destroy with
+    weapons of <em>medicine</em> or mystery.</p>
+
+  <p>Of the Blackfeet, whom I mentioned in the beginning of this Letter,
+    and whose portraits are now standing in my room, there is another of
+    whom I must say a few words; Pe-toh-pee-kiss, the eagle ribs (<a href="#i_015"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    14</a>). This man is one of the extraordinary men of the Blackfoot
+    tribe; though not a chief, he stands here in the Fort, and deliberately
+    boasts of eight scalps, which he says he has taken from the heads of
+    trappers and traders with his own hand. His dress is really superb,
+    almost literally covered with scalp-locks, of savage and civil.</p>
+
+  <p>I have painted him at full length, with a head-dress made entirely
+    of ermine skins and horns of the buffalo. This custom of wearing
+    horns beautifully polished and surmounting the head-dress, is a very
+    curious one, being worn only by the bravest of the brave; by the most
+    extraordinary men in the nation. Of their importance and meaning, I
+    shall say more in a future epistle. When he stood for his picture, he
+    also held a lance and two “medicine-bags” in his hand; of lances I have
+    spoken,—but “medicine-bags” and “medicine” will be the text for my next
+    Letter.</p>
+
+  <p>Besides the chiefs and warriors above-named, I have also
+    transferred to my canvass the “looks and very resemblance”
+    of an aged chief, who combines with his high office, the
+    envied title of mystery or medicine-man, <i>i. e.</i>
+    doctor—magician—prophet—soothsayer—jongleur—and high priest, all
+    combined in one person, who necessarily is looked upon as “Sir
+    Oracle” of the nation. The name of this distinguished functionary is
+    Wun-nes-tou, the white buffalo (<a href="#i_015"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 15</a>); and on his left arm
+    he presents his mystery-drum or tambour, in which are concealed the
+    hidden and sacred mysteries of his healing art.</p>
+
+  <p>And there is also In-ne-o-cose, the iron-horn (<a href="#i_016"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 16</a>), at
+    full length, in a splendid dress, with his “medicine-bag” in his hand;
+    and Ah-kay-ee-pix-en, the woman who strikes many (<a href="#i_017"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 17</a>),
+    in a beautiful dress of the mountain-goats’ skin, and her robe of the
+    young buffalo’s hide.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_015">
+    <div class="plate"><i>10</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_015.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>15</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>11</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_017">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_017.jpg" alt="" id="i_016" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">17</span><span class="col50">16</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_6">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 6.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Now</span> for medicines or mysteries—for doctors, high-priests, for hocus
+    pocus, witchcraft, and animal magnetism!</p>
+
+  <p>In the last Letter I spoke of Pe-toh-pee-kiss (the eagle ribs), a
+    Blackfoot brave, whose portrait I had just painted at full length, in
+    a splendid dress. I mentioned also, that he held two medicine-bags in
+    his hand; as they are represented in the picture; both of them made of
+    the skins of otters, and curiously ornamented with ermine, and other
+    strange things.</p>
+
+  <p>I must needs stop here—my painting and every thing else, until I can
+    explain the word “<em>medicine</em>,” and “<em>medicine-bag</em>;” and
+    also some <em>medicine operations</em>, which I have seen transacted at
+    this place within a few days past. “Medicine” is a great word in this
+    country; and it is very necessary that one should know the meaning of
+    it, whilst he is scanning and estimating the Indian character, which is
+    made up, in a great degree, of mysteries and superstitions.</p>
+
+  <p>The word medicine, in its common acceptation here, means
+    <em>mystery</em>, and nothing else; and in that sense I <em>shall</em> use
+    it very frequently in my Notes on Indian Manners and Customs.</p>
+
+  <p>The Fur Traders in this country, are nearly all French; and in their
+    language, a doctor or physician, is called “<i lang="fr">Medecin</i>.” The Indian
+    country is full of doctors; and as they are all magicians, and skilled,
+    or profess to be skilled, in many mysteries, the word “medecin” has
+    become habitually applied to every thing mysterious or unaccountable;
+    and the English and Americans, who are also trading and passing through
+    this country, have easily and familiarly adopted the same word, with
+    a slight alteration, conveying the same meaning; and to be a little
+    more explicit, they have denominated these personages “medicine-men,”
+    which means something more than merely a doctor or physician. These
+    physicians, however, are all <em>medicine-men</em>, as they are all
+    supposed to deal more or less in mysteries and charms, which are aids
+    and handmaids in their practice. Yet it was necessary to give the
+    word or phrase a still more comprehensive meaning—as there were many
+    personages amongst them, and also amongst the white men who visit
+    the country, who could deal in mysteries, though not skilled in the
+    application of drugs and medicines; and they all range now, under the
+    comprehensive and accommodating phrase of “medicine-men.” For instance,
+    I am a “medicine-man” of the highest order amongst<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> these superstitious
+    people, on account of the art which I practice; which is a strange and
+    unaccountable thing to them, and of course, called the greatest of
+    “medicine.” My gun and pistols, which have percussion-locks, are great
+    medicine; and no Indian can be prevailed on to fire them off, for they
+    say they have nothing to do with white man’s medicine.</p>
+
+  <p>The Indians do not use the word medicine, however; but in each tribe
+    they have a word of their own construction, synonimous with mystery or
+    mystery-man.</p>
+
+  <p>The “medicine-bag” then, is a mystery-bag; and its meaning and
+    importance necessary to be understood, as it may be said to be the
+    key to Indian life and Indian character. These bags are constructed
+    of the skins of animals, of birds, or of reptiles, and ornamented and
+    preserved in a thousand different ways, as suits the taste or freak of
+    the person who constructs them. These skins are generally attached to
+    some part of the clothing of the Indian, or carried in his hand—they
+    are oftentimes decorated in such a manner as to be exceedingly
+    ornamental to his person, and always are stuffed with grass, or moss,
+    or something of the kind; and generally without drugs or medicines
+    within them, as they are religiously closed and sealed, and seldom, if
+    ever, to be opened. I find that every Indian in his primitive state,
+    carries his medicine-bag in some form or other, to which he pays the
+    greatest homage, and to which he looks for safety and protection
+    through life—and in fact, it might almost be called a species of
+    idolatry; for it would seem in some instances, as if he actually
+    worshipped it. Feasts are often made, and dogs and horses sacrificed,
+    to a man’s medicine; and days, and even weeks, of fasting and penance
+    of various kinds are often suffered, to appease his medicine, which he
+    imagines he has in some way offended.</p>
+
+  <p>This curious custom has principally been done away with along the
+    frontier, where white men laugh at the Indian for the observance of so
+    ridiculous and useless a form; but in this country it is in full force,
+    and every male in the tribe carries this, his supernatural charm or
+    guardian, to which he looks for the preservation of his life, in battle
+    or in other danger; at which times it would be considered ominous of
+    bad luck and an ill fate to be without it.</p>
+
+  <p>The manner in which this curious and important article is instituted
+    is this: a boy, at the age of fourteen or fifteen years, is said to
+    be making or “forming his medicine,” when he wanders away from his
+    father’s lodge, and absents himself for the space of two or three, and
+    sometimes even four or five, days; lying on the ground in some remote
+    or secluded spot, crying to the Great Spirit, and fasting the whole
+    time. During this period of peril and abstinence, when he falls asleep,
+    the first animal, bird, or reptile, of which he dreams (or pretends to
+    have dreamed, perhaps), he considers the Great Spirit has designated
+    for his mysterious protector through life. He then returns home to
+    his father’s lodge, and relates his success; and after allaying his
+    thirst, and satiating his appetite, he sallies forth with weapons<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> or
+    traps, until he can procure the animal or bird, the skin of which he
+    preserves entire, and ornaments it according to his own fancy, and
+    carries it with him through life, for “good luck” (as he calls it); as
+    his strength in battle—and in death his guardian <em>Spirit</em>, that
+    is buried with him, and which is to conduct him safe to the beautiful
+    hunting grounds, which he contemplates in the world to come.</p>
+
+  <p>The value of the medicine-bag to the Indian is beyond all price; for
+    to sell it, or give it away, would subject him to such signal disgrace
+    in his tribe, that he could never rise above it; and again, his
+    superstition would stand in the way of any such disposition of it, for
+    he considers it the gift of the Great Spirit. An Indian carries his
+    <em>medicine-bag</em> into battle, and trusts to it for his protection;
+    and if he loses it thus, when fighting ever so bravely for his country,
+    he suffers a disgrace scarcely less than that which occurs in case he
+    sells or gives it away; his enemy carries it off and displays it to his
+    own people as a trophy; whilst the loser is cut short of the respect
+    that is due to other young men of his tribe, and for ever subjected
+    to the degrading epithet of “a man without medicine,” or “he who has
+    lost his medicine,” until he can replace it again; which can only be
+    done, by rushing into battle and plundering one from an enemy whom he
+    slays with his own hand. This done, his medicine is restored, and he
+    is reinstated again in the estimation of his tribe; and even higher
+    than before, for such is called the best of medicine, or “<em>medicine
+     honourable</em>.”</p>
+
+  <p>It is a singular fact, that a man can institute his mystery or
+    medicine, but once in his life; and equally singular that he can
+    reinstate himself by the adoption of the medicine of his enemy; both
+    of which regulations are strong and violent inducements for him to
+    fight bravely in battle: the first, that he may protect and preserve
+    his medicine; and the second, in case he has been so unlucky as to
+    lose it, that he may restore it, and his reputation also, while he is
+    desperately contending for the protection of his community.</p>
+
+  <p>During my travels thus far, I have been unable to buy a medicine-bag of
+    an Indian, although I have offered them extravagant prices for them;
+    and even on the frontier, where they have been induced to abandon the
+    practice, though a white man may induce an Indian to relinquish his
+    medicine, yet he cannot <em>buy</em> it of him—the Indian in such case
+    will bury it, to please a white man, and save it from his sacrilegious
+    touch; and he will linger around the spot and at regular times visit it
+    and pay it his devotions, as long as he lives.</p>
+
+  <p>These curious appendages to the persons or wardrobe of an Indian
+    (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a>, <i>g</i>), are sometimes made of the skin of an
+    otter, a beaver, a musk-rat, a weazel, a racoon, a pole-cat, a snake,
+    a frog, a toad, a bat, a mouse, a mole, a hawk, an eagle, a magpie,
+    or a sparrow:—sometimes of the skin of an animal so large as a wolf;
+    and at others, of the skins of the lesser animals, so small that they
+    are hidden under the dress, and very difficult to be found, even if
+    searched for.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span></p>
+
+  <p>Such then is the medicine-bag—such its meaning and importance; and when
+    its owner dies, it is placed in his grave and decays with his body.</p>
+
+  <p>In the case of the portrait of which I spoke in the beginning
+    of this Letter, there are seen two medicine-bags in the hand of
+    Pe-toh-pee-kiss; the one was of his own instituting, and the other was
+    taken from his enemy, whom he had slain in battle; both of these he has
+    a right to display and boast of on such an occasion. This is but the
+    beginning or incipient stage of “medicines,” however, in this strange
+    and superstitious country; and if you have patience, I will carry you
+    a few degrees further into the mysteries of conjuration, before I
+    close this Letter. Sit still then and read, until I relate a scene of
+    a tragic, and yet of the most grotesque character, which took place in
+    this Fort a few days since, and to all of which I was an eye-witness.
+    The scene I will relate as it transpired precisely; and call it the
+    story of the “doctor,” or the “Blackfoot medicine-man.”</p>
+
+  <p>Not many weeks since, a party of Knisteneaux came here from the north,
+    for the purpose of making their summer’s trade with the Fur Company;
+    and, whilst here, a party of Blackfeet, their natural enemies (the
+    same who are here now), came from the west, also to trade. These two
+    belligerent tribes encamped on different sides of the Fort, and had
+    spent some weeks here in the Fort and about it, in apparently good
+    feeling and fellowship; unable in fact to act otherwise, for, according
+    to a regulation of the Fort their arms and weapons were all locked up
+    by M‘Kenzie in his “arsenal,” for the purpose of preserving the peace
+    amongst these fighting-cocks.</p>
+
+  <p>The Knisteneaux had completed their trade, and loitered about the
+    premises, until all, both Indians and white men, were getting tired of
+    their company, wishing them quietly off. When they were ready to start,
+    with their goods packed upon their backs, their arms were given them,
+    and they started; bidding everybody, both friends and foes, a hearty
+    farewell. They went out of the Fort, and though the party gradually
+    moved off, one of them undiscovered, loitered about the Fort, until he
+    got an opportunity to poke the muzzle of his gun through between the
+    piquets; when he fired it at one of the chiefs of the Blackfeet, who
+    stood within a few paces, talking with Mr. M‘Kenzie, and shot him with
+    two musket bullets through the centre of his body! The Blackfoot fell,
+    and rolled about upon the ground in the agonies of death. The Blackfeet
+    who were in the Fort seized their weapons and ran in a mass out of the
+    Fort, in pursuit of the Knisteneaux, who were rapidly retreating to the
+    bluffs. The Frenchmen in the Fort, also, at so flagrant and cowardly
+    an insult, seized their guns and ran out, joining the Blackfeet in
+    the pursuit. I, at that moment, ran to my painting-room in one of the
+    bastions overlooking the plain, where I had a fair view of the affair;
+    many shots were exchanged back and forward, and a skirmish ensued
+    which lasted half an hour; the parties, however, were so far apart
+    that little effect was produced; the Knisteneaux were driven off over
+    the bluffs, having lost one man and had several others wounded. The
+    Blackfeet and Frenchmen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> returned into the Fort, and then, I saw what
+    I never before saw in my life—I saw a “<em>medicine-man</em>” performing
+    his mysteries over a dying man. The man who had been shot was still
+    living, though two bullets had passed through the centre of his body,
+    about two inches apart from each other; he was lying on the ground in
+    the agonies of death, and no one could indulge the slightest hope of
+    his recovery; yet the <em>medicine-man</em> must needs be called (for
+    such a personage they had in their party), and hocus pocus applied to
+    the dying man, as the dernier resort, when all drugs and all specifics
+    were useless, and after all possibility of recovery was extinct!</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_018">
+    <div class="plate"><i>12</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_018.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>18</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>I have mentioned that all tribes have their physicians, who are also
+    medicine (or mystery) men. These professional gentlemen are worthies
+    of the highest order in all tribes. They are regularly called and paid
+    as physicians, to prescribe for the sick; and many of them acquire
+    great skill in the medicinal world, and gain much celebrity in their
+    nation. Their first prescriptions are roots and herbs, of which they
+    have a great variety of species; and when these have all failed, their
+    last resort is to “<em>medicine</em>” or mystery; and for this purpose,
+    each one of them has a strange and unaccountable dress, conjured up
+    and constructed during a life-time of practice, in the wildest fancy
+    imaginable, in which he arrays himself, and makes his last visit to
+    his dying patient,—dancing over him, shaking his frightful rattles,
+    and singing songs of incantation, in hopes to cure him by a charm.
+    There are some instances, of course, where the exhausted patient
+    unaccountably recovers, under the application of these absurd forms;
+    and in such cases, this ingenious son of <em>Indian</em> Esculapius
+    will be seen for several days after, on the top of a wigwam, with his
+    right arm extended and waving over the gaping multitude, to whom he is
+    vaunting forth, without modesty, the surprising skill he has acquired
+    in his art, and the undoubted efficacy of his medicine or mystery. But
+    if, on the contrary, the patient dies, he soon changes his dress, and
+    joins in doleful lamentations with the mourners; and easily, with his
+    craft, and the ignorance and superstition of his people, protects his
+    reputation and maintains his influence over them; by assuring them,
+    that it was the will of the Great Spirit that his patient should die,
+    and when sent for, his feeble efforts must cease.</p>
+
+  <p>Such was the case, and such the extraordinary means resorted to in
+    the instance I am now relating. Several hundred spectators, including
+    Indians and traders, were assembled around the dying man, when it was
+    announced that the “<em>medicine-man</em>” was coming; we were required
+    to “form a ring,” leaving a space of some thirty or forty feet in
+    diameter around the dying man, in which the doctor could perform his
+    wonderful operations; and a space was also opened to allow him free
+    room to pass through the crowd without touching any one. This being
+    done, in a few moments his arrival was announced by the death-like
+    “hush——sh——” through the crowd; and nothing was to be heard, save the
+    light and casual tinkling of the rattles upon his dress, which was
+    scarcely perceptible to the ear, as he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> cautiously and slowly moved
+    through the avenue left for him; which at length brought him into the
+    ring, in view of the pitiable object over whom his mysteries were to be
+    performed.</p>
+
+  <p>Readers! you may have seen or read of the witch of Endor—or you may
+    imagine all the ghosts, and spirits, and furies, that ever ranked
+    amongst the “rank and file” of demonology; and yet you must see my
+    painting of this strange scene before you can form a just conception
+    of real frightful ugliness and Indian conjuration—yes, and even more:
+    you must see the magic <em>dress</em> of this Indian “big bug” (which I
+    have this day procured in all its parts), placed upon the back of some
+    person who can imitate the strides, and swells, the grunts, and spring
+    the rattles of an Indian magician.</p>
+
+  <p>His entrée and his garb were somewhat thus:—he approached the ring
+    with his body in a crouching position (<a href="#i_019"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 19</a>), with a slow
+    and tilting step—his body and head were entirely covered with the skin
+    of a yellow bear, the head of which (his own head being inside of it)
+    served as a mask; the huge claws of which also, were dangling on his
+    wrists and ancles; in one hand he shook a frightful rattle, and in the
+    other brandished his medicine-spear or magic wand; to the rattling din
+    and discord of all of which, he added the wild and startling jumps
+    and yelps of the Indian, and the horrid and appalling grunts, and
+    snarls, and growls of the grizzly bear, in ejaculatory and guttural
+    incantations to the Good and Bad Spirits, in behalf of his patient; who
+    was rolling and groaning in the agonies of death, whilst he was dancing
+    around him, jumping over him, and pawing him about, and rolling him in
+    every direction.</p>
+
+  <p>In this wise, this strange operation proceeded for half an hour, to the
+    surprise of a numerous and death-like silent audience, until the man
+    died; and the medicine-man danced off to his quarters, and packed up,
+    and tied and secured from the sight of the world, his mystery dress and
+    equipments.</p>
+
+  <p>This dress, in all its parts, is one of the greatest curiosities in the
+    whole collection of Indian manufactures which I have yet obtained in
+    the Indian country. It is the strangest medley and mixture, perhaps of
+    the mysteries of the animal and vegetable kingdoms that ever was seen.
+    Besides the skin of the yellow bear (which being almost an anomaly in
+    that country, is out of the regular order of nature, and, of course,
+    great medicine, and converted to a medicine use), there are attached to
+    it the skins of many animals, which are also anomalies or deformities,
+    which render them, in their estimation, <em>medicine</em>; and there are
+    also the skins of snakes, and frogs, and bats,—beaks and toes and tails
+    of birds,—hoofs of deer, goats, and antelopes; and, in fact, the “odds
+    and ends,” and fag ends, and tails, and tips of almost everything that
+    swims, flies, or runs, in this part of the wide world.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is a medicine-man or a physician, and such is one of his wild
+    and ridiculous manœuvres, which I have just witnessed in this strange
+    country.</p>
+
+  <p>These men, as I before remarked, are valued as dignitaries in the
+    tribe, and the greatest respect is paid to them by the whole community;
+    not only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> for their skill in their “materia medica;” but more
+    especially for their tact in magic and mysteries, in which they all
+    deal to a very great extent. I shall have much more to say of these
+    characters and their doings in future epistles, and barely observe in
+    the present place, that no tribe is without them;—that in all tribes
+    their doctors are conjurors—are magicians—are sooth-sayers, and I had
+    like to have said, high-priests, inasmuch as they superintend and
+    conduct all their religious ceremonies;—they are looked upon by all
+    as oracles of the nation. In all councils of war and peace, they have
+    a seat with the chiefs—are regularly consulted before any public step
+    is taken, and the greatest deference and respect is paid to their
+    opinions.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_019">
+    <div class="plate "><i>13</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_019.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>19</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_7">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 7.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">The</span> Letter which I gave you yesterday, on the subject of “medicines”
+    and “medicine-men,” has somewhat broken the “thread of my discourse;”
+    and left my painting-room (in the bastion), and all the Indians in it,
+    and portraits, and buffalo hunts, and landscapes of these beautiful
+    regions, to be taken up and discussed; which I will now endeavour to
+    do, beginning just where I left (or digressed) off.</p>
+
+  <p>I was seated on the cool breech of a twelve-pounder, and had my easel
+    before me, and Crows and Blackfeet, and Assinneboins, whom I was
+    tracing upon the canvass. And so I have been doing to-day, and shall
+    be for several days to come. My painting-room has become so great a
+    lounge, and I so great a “medicine-man,” that all other amusements are
+    left, and all other topics of conversation and gossip are postponed
+    for future consideration. The chiefs have had to place “soldiers”
+    (as they are called) at my door, with spears in hand to protect me
+    from the throng, who otherwise would press upon me; and none but the
+    worthies are allowed to come into my medicine apartments, and none to
+    be painted, except such as are decided by the chiefs to be worthy of so
+    high an honour.</p>
+
+  <p>The Crows and Blackfeet who are here together, are enemies of the
+    most deadly kind while out on the plains; but here they sit and smoke
+    quietly together, yet with a studied and dignified reserve.</p>
+
+  <p>The Blackfeet are, perhaps, one of the most (if not entirely the most)
+    numerous and warlike tribes on the Continent. They occupy the whole of
+    the country about the sources of the Missouri, from this place to the
+    Rocky Mountains; and their numbers, from the best computations, are
+    something like forty or fifty thousand—they are (like all other tribes
+    whose numbers are sufficiently large to give them boldness) warlike
+    and ferocious, <i>i. e.</i> they are predatory, are roaming fearlessly
+    about the country, even into and through every part of the Rocky
+    Mountains, and carrying war amongst their enemies, who are, of course,
+    every tribe who inhabit the country about them.</p>
+
+  <p>The Crows who live on the head waters of Yellow Stone, and extend from
+    this neighbourhood also to the base of the Rocky Mountains, are similar
+    in the above respects to the Blackfeet; roaming about a great part of
+    the year—and seeking their enemies wherever they can find them.</p>
+
+  <p>They are a much smaller tribe than the Blackfeet, with whom they are
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span>always at war, and from whose great numbers they suffer prodigiously
+    in battle; and probably will be in a few years entirely destroyed by
+    them.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>14</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_020">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_020.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>20</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The Crows have not, perhaps, more than 7000 in their nation, and
+    probably not more than eight hundred warriors or fighting men. Amongst
+    the more powerful tribes, like the Sioux and Blackfeet, who have been
+    enabled to preserve their warriors, it is a fair calculation to count
+    one in five as warriors; but among the Crows and Minatarees, and
+    Puncahs, and several other small but warlike tribes, this proportion
+    cannot exist; as in some of these I have found two or three women to
+    a man in the nation; in consequence of the continual losses sustained
+    amongst their men in war, and also whilst pursuing the buffaloes on the
+    plains for food, where their lives are exceedingly exposed.</p>
+
+  <p>The Blackfeet and the Crows, like the Sioux and Assinneboins, have
+    nearly the same mode of constructing their wigwam or lodge; in which
+    tribes it is made of buffalo skins sewed together, after being dressed,
+    and made into the form of a tent; supported within by some twenty
+    or thirty pine poles of twenty-five feet in height, with an apex or
+    aperture at the top, through which the smoke escapes and the light
+    is admitted. These lodges, or tents, are taken down in a few minutes
+    by the squaws, when they wish to change their location, and easily
+    transported to any part of the country where they wish to encamp;
+    and they generally move some six or eight times in the course of the
+    summer; following the immense herds of buffaloes, as they range over
+    these vast plains, from east to west, and north to south. The objects
+    for which they do this are two-fold,—to procure and dress their skins,
+    which are brought in, in the fall and winter, and sold to the Fur
+    Company, for white man’s luxury; and also for the purpose of killing
+    and drying buffalo meat (<a href="#i_022"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 22</a>), which they bring in from
+    their hunts, packed on their horses’ backs, in great quantities; making
+    pemican, and preserving the marrow-fat for their winter quarters; which
+    are generally taken up in some heavy-timbered bottom, on the banks of
+    some stream, deep imbedded within the surrounding bluffs, which break
+    off the winds, and make their long and tedious winter tolerable and
+    supportable. They then sometimes erect their skin lodges amongst the
+    timber, and dwell in them during the winter months; but more frequently
+    cut logs and make a miserable and rude sort of log cabin, in which they
+    can live much warmer and better protected from the assaults of their
+    enemies, in case they are attacked; in which case a log cabin is a
+    tolerable fort against Indian weapons.</p>
+
+  <p>The Crows, of all the tribes in this region, or on the Continent, make
+    the most beautiful lodge. As I have before mentioned, they construct
+    them as the Sioux do, and make them of the same material; yet they
+    oftentimes dress the skins of which they are composed almost as white
+    as linen, and beautifully garnish them with porcupine quills, and
+    paint and ornament them in such a variety of ways, as renders them
+    exceedingly picturesque and agreeable to the eye. I have procured
+    a very beautiful one of this description<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> (<a href="#i_020"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 20</a>),
+    highly-ornamented, and fringed with scalp-locks, and sufficiently large
+    for forty men to dine under. The poles which support it are about
+    thirty in number, of pine, and all cut in the Rocky Mountains, having
+    been some hundred years, perhaps, in use. This tent, when erected, is
+    about twenty-five feet high, and has a very pleasing effect; with the
+    Great or Good Spirit painted on one side, and the Evil Spirit on the
+    other. If I can ever succeed in transporting it to New York and other
+    eastern cities, it will be looked upon as a beautiful and exceedingly
+    interesting specimen.</p>
+
+  <p>The manner in which an encampment of Indians strike their tents and
+    transport them is curious, and to the traveller in this country a very
+    novel and unexpected sight, when he first beholds it. Whilst ascending
+    the river to this place, I saw an encampment of Sioux, consisting of
+    six hundred of these lodges, struck, and all things packed and on the
+    move in a very few minutes. The chief sends his runners or criers (for
+    such all chiefs keep in their employment) through the village, a few
+    hours before they are to start; announcing his determination to move,
+    and the hour fixed upon, and the necessary preparations are in the
+    meantime making; and at the time announced, the lodge of the chief is
+    seen flapping in the wind, a part of the poles having been taken out
+    from under it; this is the signal, and in one minute, six hundred of
+    them (on a level and beautiful prairie), which before had been strained
+    tight and fixed, were seen waving and flapping in the wind, and in one
+    minute more all were flat upon the ground. Their horses and dogs, of
+    which they had a vast number, had all been secured upon the spot, in
+    readiness; and each one was speedily loaded with the burthen allotted
+    to it, and ready to fall into the grand procession.</p>
+
+  <p>For this strange cavalcade, preparation is made in the following
+    manner: the poles of a lodge are divided into two bunches, and the
+    little ends of each bunch fastened upon the shoulders or withers of a
+    horse, leaving the butt ends to drag behind on the ground on either
+    side. Just behind the horse, a brace or pole is tied across, which
+    keeps the poles in their respective places; and then upon that and
+    the poles behind the horse, is placed the lodge or tent, which is
+    rolled up, and also numerous other articles of household and domestic
+    furniture, and on the top of all, two, three, and even (sometimes) four
+    women and children! Each one of these horses has a conductress, who
+    sometimes walks before and leads it, with a tremendous pack upon her
+    own back; and at others she sits astride of its back, with a child,
+    perhaps, at her breast, and another astride of the horse’s back behind
+    her, clinging to her waist with one arm, while it affectionately
+    embraces a sneaking dog-pup in the other.</p>
+
+  <p>In this way five or six hundred wigwams, with all their furniture
+    (<a href="#i_021"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 21</a>), may be seen drawn out for miles, creeping over the
+    grass-covered plains of this country; and three times that number of
+    men, on good horses, strolling along in front or on the flank; and, in
+    some tribes, in the rear of this heterogeneous caravan, at least five
+    times that number of dogs, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> fall into the rank, and follow in
+    the train and company of the women, and every cur of them, who is large
+    enough, and not too cunning to be enslaved, is encumbered with a car or
+    sled (or whatever it may be better called), on which he patiently drags
+    his load—a part of the household goods and furniture of the lodge to
+    which he belongs. Two poles, about fifteen feet long, are placed upon
+    the dog’s shoulder, in the same manner as the lodge poles are attached
+    to the horses, leaving the larger ends to drag upon the ground behind
+    him; on which is placed a bundle or wallet which is allotted to him to
+    carry, and with which he trots off amid the throng of dogs and squaws;
+    faithfully and cheerfully dragging his load ’till night, and by the way
+    loitering and occasionally</p>
+
+  <div class="center-container">
+    <div class="poetry">
+      <div class="stanza">
+        <div class="i0">“Catching at little bits of fun and glee</div>
+        <div class="i1">That’s played on dogs enslaved by dog that’s free.”</div>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>15</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_021">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_021.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>21</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_022">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_022.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>22</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The Crows, like the Blackfeet, are beautifully costumed, and perhaps
+    with somewhat more of taste and elegance; inasmuch as the skins of
+    which their dresses are made are more delicately and whitely dressed.
+    The art of dressing skins belongs to the Indians in all countries;
+    and the Crows surpass the civilized world in the beauty of their
+    skin-dressing. The art of tanning is unknown to them, so far as
+    civilized habits and arts have not been taught them; yet the art of
+    dressing skins, so far as we have it in the civilized world, has been
+    (like hundreds of other ornamental and useful customs which we are
+    practising), borrowed from the savage; without our ever stopping to
+    enquire from whence they come, or by whom invented.</p>
+
+  <p>The usual mode of dressing the buffalo, and other skins, is by
+    immersing them for a few days under a lye from ashes and water, until
+    the hair can be removed; when they are strained upon a frame or upon
+    the ground, with stakes or pins driven through the edges into the
+    earth; where they remain for several days, with the brains of the
+    buffalo or elk spread upon and over them; and at last finished by
+    “graining,” as it is termed, by the squaws; who use a sharpened bone,
+    the shoulder-blade or other large bone of the animal, sharpened at the
+    edge, somewhat like an adze; with the edge of which they scrape the
+    fleshy side of the skin; bearing on it with the weight of their bodies,
+    thereby drying and softening the skin, and fitting it for use.</p>
+
+  <p>The greater part of these skins, however, go through still another
+    operation afterwards, which gives them a greater value, and renders
+    them much more serviceable—that is, the process of smoking. For this,
+    a small hole is dug in the ground, and a fire is built in it with
+    rotten wood, which will produce a great quantity of smoke without
+    much blaze; and several small poles of the proper length stuck in the
+    ground around it, and drawn and fastened together at the top, around
+    which a skin is wrapped in form of a tent, and generally sewed together
+    at the edges to secure the smoke within it;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> within this the skins
+    to be smoked are placed, and in this condition the tent will stand a
+    day or so, enclosing the heated smoke; and by some chemical process
+    or other, which I do not understand, the skins thus acquire a quality
+    which enables them, after being ever so many times wet, to dry soft
+    and pliant as they were before, which secret I have never yet seen
+    practiced in my own country; and for the lack of which, all of our
+    dressed skins when once wet, are, I think, chiefly ruined.</p>
+
+  <p>An Indian’s dress of deer skins, which is wet a hundred times upon his
+    back, dries soft; and his lodge also, which stands in the rains, and
+    even through the severity of winter, is taken down as soft and as clean
+    as when it was first put up.</p>
+
+  <p>A Crow is known wherever he is met by his beautiful white dress, and
+    his tall and elegant figure; the greater part of the men being six
+    feet high. The Blackfeet on the other hand, are more of the Herculean
+    make—about middling stature, with broad shoulders, and great expansion
+    of chest; and the skins of which their dresses are made, are chiefly
+    dressed black, or of a dark brown colour; from which circumstance, in
+    all probability, they having black leggings or moccasins, have got the
+    name of Blackfeet.</p>
+
+  <p>The Crows are very handsome and gentlemanly Indians in their personal
+    appearance: and have been always reputed, since the first acquaintance
+    made with them, very civil and friendly.</p>
+
+  <p>These people to be sure, have in some instances plundered and robbed
+    trappers and travellers in their country; and for that I have sometimes
+    heard them called rascals and thieves, and rogues of the first order,
+    &amp;c.; yet they do not consider themselves such; for thieving in their
+    estimation is a high crime, and considered the most disgraceful act
+    that a man can possibly do. They call this <em>capturing</em>, where
+    they sometimes run off a Trader’s horses, and make their boast of it;
+    considering it a kind of retaliation or summary justice, which they
+    think it right and honourable that they should administer. And why
+    not? for the unlicensed trespass committed through their country from
+    one end to the other, by mercenary white men, who are destroying the
+    game, and catching all the beaver and other rich and valuable furs
+    out of their country, without paying them an equivalent, or, in fact,
+    anything at all, for it; and this too, when they have been warned time
+    and again of the danger they would be in, if they longer persisted in
+    the practice. Reader, I look upon the Indian as the most honest and
+    honourable race of people that I ever lived amongst in my life; and in
+    their native state, I pledge you my honour they are the last of all
+    the human family to pilfer or to steal, if you trust to their honour;
+    and for this never-ending and boundless system of theft and plunder,
+    and debauchery, that is practiced off upon these rightful owners of
+    the soil, by acquisitive white men, I consider the infliction, or
+    retaliation, by driving off and appropriating a few horses, but a
+    lenient punishment, which those persons at least should expect; and
+    which, in fact, none but a very honourable and high-minded people
+    could inflict, instead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> of a much severer one; which they could easily
+    practice upon the few white men in their country, without rendering
+    themselves amenable to any law.</p>
+
+  <p>Mr. M‘Kenzie has repeatedly told me, within the four last weeks, while
+    in conversation relative to the Crows, that they were friendly and
+    honourable in their dealing with the whites, and that he considered
+    them the finest Indians of his acquaintance.</p>
+
+  <p>I recollect whilst in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, and other places at the East, to have
+    heard it often said, that the Crows were a rascally and thieving set of
+    vagabonds, highway robbers, &amp;c. &amp;c.; and I have been told since, that
+    this information has become current in the world, from the fact that
+    they made some depredations upon the camp of Messrs. Crooks and Hunt of
+    the Fur Company; and drove off a number of their horses, when they were
+    passing through the Crow country, on their way to Astoria. This was no
+    doubt true; and equally true, would these very Indians tell us, was the
+    fact, that they had a good and sufficient reason for it.</p>
+
+  <p>These gentlemen, with their party, were crossing the Crow country
+    with a large stock of goods, of guns, and ammunition, of knives, and
+    spears, arrowheads, &amp;c.; and stopped for some time and encamped in the
+    midst of the Crow country (and I think wintered there), when the Crows
+    assembled in large numbers about them, and treated them in a kind and
+    friendly manner; and at the same time proposed to trade with them for
+    guns and ammunition, &amp;c. (according to these gentlemen’s own account,)
+    of which they were in great want, and for which they brought a great
+    many horses, and offered them repeatedly in trade; which they refused
+    to take, persisting in their determination of carrying their goods
+    to their destined place, across the mountains; thereby disappointing
+    these Indians, by denying them the arms and weapons which were in
+    their possession, whilst they were living upon them, and exhausting
+    the game and food of their country. No doubt, these gentlemen told the
+    Crows, that these goods were going to Astoria, of which place they knew
+    nothing; and of course, it was enough for them that they were going to
+    take them farther west; which they would at once suppose was to the
+    Blackfeet, their principal enemy, having eight or ten warriors to one
+    of the Crows; where they supposed the white men could get a greater
+    price for their weapons, and arm their enemies in such a way as would
+    enable them to turn upon the Crows, and cut them to pieces without
+    mercy. Under these circumstances, the Crows rode off, and to show their
+    indignation, drove off some of the Company’s horses, for which they
+    have ever since been denominated a band of thieves and highway robbers.
+    It is a custom, and a part of the system of jurisprudence amongst all
+    savages, to revenge upon the person or persons who give the offence,
+    if they can; and if not, to let that punishment fall upon the head of
+    the first white man who comes in their way, provided the offender was a
+    white man. And I would not be surprised, therefore, if I get robbed of
+    my horse; and you too, readers, if you go into that country, for that
+    very (supposed) offence.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span></p>
+
+  <p>I have conversed often and much with Messrs. Sublette and Campbell,
+    two gentlemen of the highest respectability, who have traded with the
+    Crows for several years, and they tell me they are one of the most
+    honourable, honest, and high-minded races of people on earth; and with
+    Mr. Tullock, also, a man of the strictest veracity, who is now here
+    with a party of them; and, he says, they never steal,—have a high
+    sense of honour,—and being fearless and proud, are quick to punish or
+    retaliate.</p>
+
+  <p>So much for the character of the Crows for the present, a subject which
+    I shall assuredly take up again, when I shall have seen more of them
+    myself.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_8">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 8.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Since</span> my last Letter, nothing of great moment has transpired at this
+    place; but I have been continually employed in painting my portraits
+    and making notes on the character and customs of the wild folks who
+    are about me. I have just been painting a number of the Crows, fine
+    looking and noble gentlemen. They are really a handsome and well-formed
+    set of men as can be seen in any part of the world. There is a sort of
+    ease and grace added to their dignity of manners, which gives them the
+    air of gentlemen at once. I observed the other day, that most of them
+    were over six feet high, and very many of these have cultivated their
+    natural hair to such an almost incredible length, that it sweeps the
+    ground as they walk; there are frequent instances of this kind amongst
+    them, and in some cases, a foot or more of it will drag on the grass
+    as they walk, giving exceeding grace and beauty to their movements.
+    They usually oil their hair with a profusion of bear’s grease every
+    morning, which is no doubt one cause of the unusual length to which
+    their hair extends; though it cannot be the sole cause of it, for the
+    other tribes throughout this country use the bear’s grease in equal
+    profusion without producing the same results. The Mandans, however, and
+    the Sioux, of whom I shall speak in future epistles, have cultivated
+    a very great growth of the hair, as many of them are seen whose hair
+    reaches near to the ground.</p>
+
+  <p>This extraordinary length of hair amongst the Crows is confined to the
+    men alone; for the women, though all of them with glossy and beautiful
+    hair, and a great profusion of it, are unable to cultivate it to so
+    great a length; or else they are not allowed to compete with their
+    lords in a fashion so ornamental (and on which the men so highly pride
+    themselves), and are obliged in many cases to cut it short off.</p>
+
+  <p>The fashion of long hair amongst the men, prevails throughout all the
+    Western and North Western tribes, after passing the Sacs and Foxes; and
+    the Pawnees of the Platte, who, with two or three other tribes only,
+    are in the habit of shaving nearly the whole head.</p>
+
+  <p>The present chief of the Crows, who is called “Long-hair,” and has
+    received his name as well as his office from the circumstance of
+    having the longest hair of any man in the nation, I have not yet
+    seen: but I hope I yet may, ere I leave this part of the country.
+    This extraordinary man is known to several gentlemen with whom I am
+    acquainted, and particularly to Messrs. Sublette and Campbell, of whom
+    I have before spoken, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> told me they had lived in his hospitable
+    lodge for months together; and assured me that they had measured his
+    hair by a correct means, and found it to be ten feet and seven inches
+    in length; closely inspecting every part of it at the same time, and
+    satisfying themselves that it was the natural growth.</p>
+
+  <p>On ordinary occasions it is wound with a broad leather strap, from his
+    head to its extreme end, and then folded up into a budget or block, of
+    some ten or twelve inches in length, and of some pounds weight; which
+    when he walks is carried under his arm, or placed in his bosom, within
+    the folds of his robe; but on any great parade or similar occasion, his
+    pride is to unfold it, oil it with bear’s grease and let it drag behind
+    him, some three or four feet of it spread out upon the grass, and black
+    and shining like a raven’s wing.</p>
+
+  <p>It is a common custom amongst most of these upper tribes, to splice or
+    add on several lengths of hair, by fastening them with glue; probably
+    for the purpose of imitating the Crows, upon whom alone Nature has
+    bestowed this conspicuous and signal ornament.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst the Crows of distinction now at this place, I have painted
+    the portraits of several, who exhibit some striking peculiarities.
+    Amongst whom is Chah-ee-chopes, the four wolves (<a href="#i_024"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 24</a>);
+    a fine looking fellow, six feet in stature, and whose natural hair
+    sweeps the grass as he walks; he is beautifully clad, and carries
+    himself with the most graceful and manly mien—he is in mourning for
+    a brother; and according to their custom, has cut off a number of
+    locks of his long hair, which is as much as a man can well spare of
+    so valued an ornament, which he has been for the greater part of his
+    life cultivating; whilst a woman who mourns for a husband or child, is
+    obliged to crop her hair short to her head, and so remain till it grows
+    out again; ceasing gradually to mourn as her hair approaches to its
+    former length.</p>
+
+  <p>Duhk-pits-a-ho-shee, the red bear (<a href="#i_026"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 26</a>), a distinguished
+    warrior; and Oo-je-en-a-he-ha, the woman who lives in the bear’s den
+    (<a href="#i_024"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 25</a>). I have also painted Pa-ris-ka-roo-pa (two crows)
+    the younger (<a href="#i_026"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 27</a>), one of the most extraordinary men in
+    the Crow nation; not only for his looks, from the form of his head,
+    which seems to be distortion itself—and curtailed of all its fair
+    proportions; but from his extraordinary sagacity as a counsellor and
+    orator, even at an early stage of his life.</p>
+
+  <p>There is something very uncommon in this outline, and sets forth the
+    striking peculiarity of the Crow tribe, though rather in an exaggerated
+    form. The semi-lunar outline of the Crow head, with an exceedingly low
+    and retreating forehead, is certainly a very peculiar and striking
+    characteristic; and though not so strongly marked in most of the tribe
+    as in the present instance, is sufficient for their detection whenever
+    they are met; and will be subject for further comment in another place.</p>
+
+  <p>The Crow women (and Blackfeet also) are not handsome, and I shall at
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span>present say but little of them. They are, like all other Indian
+    women, the slaves of their husbands: being obliged to perform all the
+    domestic duties and drudgeries of the tribe, and not allowed to join
+    in their religious rites or ceremonies, nor in the dance or other
+    amusements.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>16</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_024">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_024.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">24</span><span class="col50">25</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_026">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_026.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">26</span><span class="col50">27</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The women in all these upper and western tribes are decently dressed,
+    and many of them with great beauty and taste; their dresses are all of
+    deer or goat skins, extending from their chins quite down to the feet;
+    these dresses are in many instances trimmed with ermine, and ornamented
+    with porcupine quills and beads with exceeding ingenuity.</p>
+
+  <p>The Crow and Blackfeet women, like all others I ever saw in any Indian
+    tribe, divide the hair on the forehead, and paint the separation or
+    crease with vermilion or red earth. For what purpose this little, but
+    universal, custom is observed, I never have been able to learn.</p>
+
+  <p>The men amongst the Blackfeet tribe, have a fashion equally simple, and
+    probably of as little meaning, which seems strictly to be adhered to
+    by every man in the tribe; they separate the hair in two places on the
+    forehead, leaving a lock between the two, of an inch or two in width,
+    which is carefully straightened down on to the bridge of the nose, and
+    there cut square off. It is more than probable that this is done for
+    the purpose of distinction; that they may thereby be free from the
+    epithet of effeminacy, which might otherwise attach to them.</p>
+
+  <p>These two tribes, whom I have spoken of connectedly, speak two distinct
+    and entirely dissimilar languages; and the language of each is
+    different, and radically so, from that of all other tribes about them.
+    As these people are always at war, and have been, time out of mind,
+    they do not intermarry or hold converse with each other, by which any
+    knowledge of each other’s language could be acquired. It would be the
+    work of a man’s life-time to collect the languages of all the different
+    tribes which I am visiting; and I shall, from necessity, leave this
+    subject chiefly for others, who have the time to devote to them, to
+    explain them to the world. I have, however, procured a brief vocabulary
+    of their words and sentences in these tribes; and shall continue to do
+    so amongst the tribes I shall visit, which will answer as a specimen
+    or sample in each; and which, in the sequel to these Letters (if they
+    should ever be published), will probably be arranged.</p>
+
+  <p>The Blackfeet are, perhaps, the most powerful tribe of Indians on
+    the Continent; and being sensible of their strength, have stubbornly
+    resisted the Traders in their country, who have been gradually forming
+    an acquaintance with them, and endeavouring to establish a permanent
+    and profitable system of trade. Their country abounds in beaver and
+    buffalo, and most of the fur-bearing animals of North America; and
+    the American Fur Company, with an unconquerable spirit of trade and
+    enterprize, has pushed its establishments into their country; and the
+    numerous parties of trappers are tracing up their streams and rivers,
+    rapidly destroying the beavers which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> dwell in them. The Blackfeet
+    have repeatedly informed the Traders of the Company, that if their
+    men persisted in trapping beavers in their country, they should kill
+    them whenever they met them. They have executed their threats in many
+    instances, and the Company loses some fifteen or twenty men annually,
+    who fall by the hands of these people, in defence of what they deem
+    their property and their rights. Trinkets and whiskey, however, will
+    soon spread their charms amongst these, as they have amongst other
+    tribes; and white man’s voracity will sweep the prairies and the
+    streams of their wealth, to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean;
+    leaving the Indians to inhabit, and at last to starve upon, a dreary
+    and solitary waste.</p>
+
+  <p>The Blackfeet, therefore, having been less traded with, and less seen
+    by white people than most of the other tribes, are more imperfectly
+    understood; and it yet remains a question to be solved—whether there
+    are twenty, or forty or fifty thousand of them? for no one, as yet, can
+    correctly estimate their real strength. From all I can learn, however,
+    which is the best information that can be got from the Traders, there
+    are not far from 40,000 Indians (altogether), who range under the
+    general denomination of Blackfeet.</p>
+
+  <p>From our slight and imperfect knowledge of them, and other tribes
+    occupying the country about the sources of the Missouri, there is no
+    doubt in my mind, that we are in the habit of bringing more Indians
+    into the computation, than are entitled justly to the appellation of
+    “Blackfeet.”</p>
+
+  <p>Such, for instance, are the “Grosventres de Prairie” and Cotonnés,
+    neither of which speak the Blackfeet language; but hunt, and eat,
+    and fight, and intermarry with the Blackfeet; living therefore in a
+    state of confederacy and friendship with them, but speaking their own
+    language, and practicing their own customs.</p>
+
+  <p>The Blackfeet proper are divided into four bands or families, as
+    follow:—the “Pe-a-gans,” of 500 lodges; the “Blackfoot” band, of 450
+    lodges; the “Blood” band, of 450 lodges; and the “Small Robes,” of 250
+    lodges. These four bands constituting about 1650 lodges, averaging ten
+    to the lodge, amount to about 16,500 souls.</p>
+
+  <p>There are then of the other tribes above-mentioned (and whom we,
+    perhaps, incorrectly denominate Blackfeet), Grosventres des Prairies,
+    430 lodges, with language entirely distinct; Circees, of 220 lodges,
+    and Cotonnés, of 250 lodges, with language also distinct from either.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+  <p>There is in this region a rich and interesting field for the linguist
+    of the antiquarian; and stubborn facts, I think, if they could be well
+    procured, that would do away the idea which many learned gentlemen
+    entertain, that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span>
+    Indian languages of North America can all be traced to two or three
+    roots. The language of the Dohcotas is entirely and radically distinct
+    from that of the Mandans, and theirs equally so from the Blackfoot and
+    the Crows. And from the lips of Mr. Brazeau, a gentleman of education
+    and strict observation, who has lived several years with the Blackfeet
+    and Shiennes, and who speaks the language of tribes on either side
+    of them, assures me that these languages are radically distinct and
+    dissimilar, as I have above stated; and also, that although he has
+    been several years amongst those tribes, he has not been able to trace
+    the slightest resemblance between the Circee, Cotonné, and Blackfoot,
+    and Shienne, and Crow, and Mandan tongues; and from a great deal
+    of corroborating information, which I have got from other persons
+    acquainted with these tribes, I am fully convinced of the correctness
+    of his statements.</p>
+
+  <p>Besides the Blackfeet and Crows, whom I told you were assembled at
+    this place, are also the Knisteneaux (or Crees, as they are commonly
+    called), a very pretty and pleasing tribe of Indians, of about 3000
+    in number, living on the north of this, and also the Assinneboins and
+    Ojibbeways; both of which tribes also inhabit the country to the north
+    and north-east of the mouth of Yellow Stone.</p>
+
+  <p>The Knisteneaux are of small stature, but well-built for strength and
+    activity combined; are a people of wonderful prowess for their numbers,
+    and have waged an unceasing warfare with the Blackfeet, who are their
+    neighbours and enemies on the west. From their disparity in numbers
+    they are rapidly thinning the ranks of their warriors, who bravely
+    sacrifice their lives in contentions with their powerful neighbours.
+    This tribe occupy the country from the mouth of the Yellow Stone, in
+    a north-western direction, far into the British territory, and trade
+    principally at the British N. W. Company’s Posts.</p>
+
+  <p>The Assinneboins of seven thousand, and the Ojibbeways of six thousand,
+    occupy a vast extent of country, in a north-eastern direction from
+    this; extending also into the British possessions as high north as
+    Lake Winnepeg; and trading principally with the British Company. These
+    three tribes are in a state of nature, living as neighbours, and are
+    also on terms of friendship with each other. This friendship, however,
+    is probably but a temporary arrangement, brought about by the Traders
+    amongst them; and which, like most Indian peace establishments, will be
+    of short duration.</p>
+
+  <p>The Ojibbeways are, undoubtedly, a part of the tribe of Chippeways,
+    with whom we are more familiarly acquainted, and who inhabit the
+    south-west shore of Lake Superior. Their language is the same, though
+    they are separated several hundred miles from any of them, and seem to
+    have no knowledge of them, or traditions of the manner in which, or of
+    the time when, they became severed from each other.</p>
+
+  <p>The Assinneboins are a part of the Dohcotas, or Sioux, undoubtedly; for
+    their personal appearance as well as their language is very similar.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span></p>
+
+  <p>At what time, or in what manner, these two parts of a nation got
+    strayed away from each other is a mystery; yet such cases have often
+    occurred, of which I shall say more in future. Large parties who
+    are straying off in pursuit of game, or in the occupation of war,
+    are oftentimes intercepted by their enemy; and being prevented from
+    returning, are run off to a distant region, where they take up their
+    residence and establish themselves as a nation.</p>
+
+  <p>There is a very curious custom amongst the Assinneboins, from which
+    they have taken their name; a name given them by their neighbours,
+    from a singular mode they have of boiling their meat, which is done in
+    the following manner:—when they kill meat, a hole is dug in the ground
+    about the size of a common pot, and a piece of the raw hide of the
+    animal, as taken from the back, is put over the hole, and then pressed
+    down with the hands close around the sides, and filled with water. The
+    meat to be boiled is then put in this hole or pot of water; and in a
+    fire, which is built near by, several large stones are heated to a red
+    heat, which are successively dipped and held in the water until the
+    meat is boiled; from which singular and peculiar custom, the Ojibbeways
+    have given them the appellation of Assinneboins or stone boilers.</p>
+
+  <p>This custom is a very awkward and tedious one, and used only as an
+    ingenious means of boiling their meat, by a tribe who was too rude and
+    ignorant to construct a kettle or pot.</p>
+
+  <p>The Traders have recently supplied these people with pots; and even
+    long before that, the Mandans had instructed them in the secret of
+    manufacturing very good and serviceable earthen pots; which together
+    have entirely done away the custom, excepting at public festivals;
+    where they seem, like all others of the human family, to take pleasure
+    in cherishing and perpetuating their ancient customs.</p>
+
+  <p>Of these three tribes, I have also lined my painting-room with a number
+    of very interesting portraits of the distinguished and brave men; and
+    also representations of their games and ceremonies, which will be found
+    in my <span class="smcap">Indian Gallery</span>, if I live, and they can be preserved
+    until I get home.</p>
+
+  <p>The Assinneboins, or stone boilers, are a fine and noble looking race
+    of Indians; bearing, both in their looks and customs, a striking
+    resemblance to the Dohcotas or Sioux, from whom they have undoubtedly
+    sprung. The men are tall, and graceful in their movements; and wear
+    their pictured robes of the buffalo hide with great skill and pleasing
+    effect. They are good hunters, and tolerably supplied with horses;
+    and living in a country abounding with buffaloes, are well supplied
+    with the necessaries of Indian life, and may be said to live well.
+    Their games and amusements are many, of which the most valued one is
+    the ball-play; and in addition to which, they have the game of the
+    moccasin, horse-racing, and dancing; some one of which, they seem to be
+    almost continually practicing, and of all of which I shall hereafter
+    give the reader (as well as of many others of their amusements) a
+    minute account.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span></p>
+
+  <p>Their dances, which were frequent and varied, were generally exactly
+    the same as those of the Sioux, of which I have given a faithful
+    account in my Notes on the Sioux, and which the reader will soon meet
+    with. There was one of these scenes, however, that I witnessed the
+    other day, which appeared to me to be peculiar to this tribe, and
+    exceedingly picturesque in its effect; which was described to me as
+    the <em>pipe-dance</em>, and was as follows:—On a hard-trodden pavement
+    in front of their village, which place is used for all their public
+    meetings, and many of their amusements, the young men, who were
+    to compose the dance, had gathered themselves around a small fire
+    (<a href="#i_032"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 32</a>), and each one seated on a buffalo-robe spread upon
+    the ground. In the centre and by the fire, was seated a dignitary, who
+    seemed to be a chief (perhaps a doctor or medicine-man), with a long
+    pipe in his hand, which he lighted at the fire and smoked incessantly,
+    grunting forth at the same time, in half-strangled gutturals, a sort
+    of song, which I did not get translated to my satisfaction, and which
+    might have been susceptible of none. While this was going on, another
+    grim-visaged fellow in another part of the group, commenced beating
+    on a drum or tambourine, accompanied by his voice; when one of the
+    young men seated, sprang instantly on his feet, and commenced singing
+    in time with the taps of the drum, and leaping about on one foot and
+    the other in the most violent manner imaginable. In this way he went
+    several times around the circle, bowing and brandishing his fists in
+    the faces of each one who was seated, until at length he grasped one of
+    them by the hands, and jerked him forcibly up upon his feet; who joined
+    in the dance for a moment, leaving the one who had pulled him up, to
+    continue his steps and his song in the centre of the ring; whilst he
+    danced around in a similar manner, jerking up another, and then joining
+    his companion in the centre; leaving the third and the fourth, and
+    so on to drag into the ring, each one his man, until all were upon
+    their feet; and at last joined in the most frightful gesticulations
+    and yells that seemed almost to make the earth quake under our feet.
+    This strange manœuvre, which I did but partially understand, lasted
+    for half or three-quarters of an hour; to the great amusement of the
+    gaping multitude who were assembled around, and broke up with the most
+    piercing yells and barks like those of so many affrighted dogs.</p>
+
+  <p>The Assinneboins, somewhat like the Crows, cultivate their hair to
+    a very great length, in many instances reaching down nearly to the
+    ground; but in most instances of this kind, I find the great length is
+    produced by splicing or adding on several lengths, which are fastened
+    very ingeniously by means of glue, and the joints obscured by a sort
+    of paste of red earth and glue, with which the hair is at intervals of
+    every two or three inches filled, and divided into locks and slabs of
+    an inch or so in breadth, and falling straight down over the back to
+    the heels.</p>
+
+  <p>I have painted the portrait of a very distinguished young man, and son
+    of the chief (<a href="#i_028"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 28</a>); his dress is a very handsome one, and
+    in every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> respect answers well to the descriptions I have given above.
+    The name of this man is Wi-jun-jon (the pigeon’s egg head), and by the
+    side of him (<a href="#i_028"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 29</a>) will be seen the portrait of his wife,
+    Chin-cha-pee (the fire bug that creeps), a fine looking squaw, in a
+    handsome dress of the mountain-sheep skin, holding in her hand a stick
+    curiously carved, with which every woman in this country is supplied;
+    for the purpose of digging up the “Pomme Blanche,” or prairie turnip,
+    which is found in great quantities in these northern prairies, and
+    furnishes the Indians with an abundant and nourishing food. The women
+    collect these turnips by striking the end of the stick into the ground,
+    and prying them out; after which they are dried and preserved in their
+    wigwams for use during the season.</p>
+
+  <p>I have just had the satisfaction of seeing this travelled-gentleman
+    (Wi-jun-jon) meet his tribe, his wife and his little children; after an
+    absence of a year or more, on his journey of 6000 miles to Washington
+    City, and back again (in company with Major Sanford, the Indian agent);
+    where he has been spending the winter amongst the fashionables in the
+    polished circles of civilized society. And I can assure you, readers,
+    that his entrée amongst his own people, in the dress and with the airs
+    of a civilized beau, was one of no ordinary occurrence; and produced no
+    common sensation amongst the red-visaged Assinneboins, or in the minds
+    of those who were travellers, and but spectators to the scene.</p>
+
+  <p>On his way home from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis to this place, a distance of 2000 miles,
+    I travelled with this gentleman, on the steamer Yellow-Stone; and saw
+    him step ashore (on a beautiful prairie, where several thousands of
+    his people were encamped), with a complete suit <i lang="fr">en militaire</i>,
+    a colonel’s uniform of blue, presented to him by the President of
+    the United States, with a beaver hat and feather, with epaulettes of
+    gold—with sash and belt, and broad sword; with high-heeled boots—with
+    a keg of whiskey under his arm, and a blue umbrella in his hand. In
+    this plight and metamorphose, he took his position on the bank, amongst
+    his friends—his wife and other relations; not one of whom exhibited,
+    for an half-hour or more, the least symptoms of recognition, although
+    they knew well who was before them. He also gazed upon them—upon his
+    wife and parents, and little children, who were about, as if they were
+    foreign to him, and he had not a feeling or thought to interchange with
+    them. Thus the mutual gazings upon and from this would-be-stranger,
+    lasted for full half an hour; when a gradual, but cold and exceedingly
+    formal recognition began to take place, and an acquaintance ensued,
+    which ultimately and smoothly resolved itself, without the least
+    apparent emotion, into its former state; and the mutual kindred
+    intercourse seemed to flow on exactly where it had been broken off,
+    as if it had been but for a moment, and nothing had transpired in the
+    interim to check or change its character or expression.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is one of the stoic instances of a custom which belongs to all the
+    North American Indians, forming one of the most striking features in
+    their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> character; valued, cherished and practiced, like many others
+    of their strange notions, for reasons which are difficult to be learned
+    or understood; and which probably will never be justly appreciated by
+    others than themselves.</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_028">
+    <div class="plate"><i>17</i></div>
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_028.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">29</span><span class="col50">28</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_030">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_030.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">30</span><span class="col50">31</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>18</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_032">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_032.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>32</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>This man, at this time, is creating a wonderful sensation amongst
+    his tribe, who are daily and nightly gathered in gaping and listless
+    crowds around him, whilst he is descanting upon what he has seen in the
+    fashionable world; and which to them is unintelligible and beyond their
+    comprehension; for which I find they are already setting him down as a
+    liar and impostor.</p>
+
+  <p>What may be the final results of his travels and initiation into the
+    fashionable world, and to what disasters his incredible narrations
+    may yet subject the poor fellow in this strange land, time only will
+    develop.</p>
+
+  <p>He is now in disgrace, and spurned by the leading men of the tribe, and
+    rather to be pitied than envied, for the advantages which one might
+    have supposed would have flown from his fashionable tour. More of this
+    curious occurrence and of this extraordinary man, I will surely give in
+    some future epistles.</p>
+
+  <p>The women of this tribe are often comely, and sometimes pretty; in
+    <a href="#i_034"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 34</a>, will be seen a fair illustration of the dresses of
+    the women and children, which are usually made of the skins of the
+    mountain-goat, and ornamented with porcupine’s quills and rows of elk’s
+    teeth.</p>
+
+  <p>The Knisteneaux (or Crees, as they are more familiarly called in this
+    country) are a very numerous tribe, extending from this place as high
+    north as the shores of Lake Winnepeg; and even much further in a
+    north-westerly direction, towards, and even through, a great part of
+    the Rocky Mountains.</p>
+
+  <p>I have before said of these, that they were about 3000 in numbers—by
+    that, I meant but a small part of this extensive tribe, who are in the
+    habit of visiting the American Fur Company’s Establishment, at this
+    place, to do their trading; and who themselves, scarcely know anything
+    of the great extent of country over which this numerous and scattered
+    family range. Their customs may properly be said to be primitive, as no
+    inroads of civilized habits have been as yet successfully made amongst
+    them. Like the other tribes in these regions, they dress in skins, and
+    gain their food, and conduct their wars in a very similar manner. They
+    are a very daring and most adventurous tribe; roaming vast distances
+    over the prairies and carrying war into their enemy’s country. With the
+    numerous tribe of Blackfeet, they are always waging an uncompromising
+    warfare; and though fewer in numbers and less in stature, they have
+    shewn themselves equal in sinew, and not less successful in mortal
+    combats.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst the foremost and most renowned of their warriors, is
+    Bro-cas-sie, the broken arm (<a href="#i_030"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 30</a>), in a handsome dress;
+    and by the side of him (<a href="#i_030"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 31</a>), his wife, a simple and
+    comely looking woman. In <a href="#i_033"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 33</a>, will be seen the full
+    length portrait of a young woman with a child on her back, shewing
+    fairly the fashion of cutting and ornamenting the dresses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> of the
+    females in this tribe; which, without further comment, is all I shall
+    say at this time, of the valorous tribe of Crees or Knisteneaux.</p>
+
+  <p>The Ojibbeways I have briefly mentioned in a former place, and of them
+    should say more; which will be done at a proper time, after I shall
+    have visited other branches of this great and scattered family.</p>
+
+  <p>The chief of that part of the Ojibbeway tribe who inhabit these
+    northern regions (<a href="#i_035"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 35</a>), and whose name is Sha-co-pay (the
+    Six), is a man of huge size; with dignity of manner, and pride and
+    vanity, just about in proportion to his bulk. He sat for his portrait
+    in a most beautiful dress, fringed with scalp locks in profusion; which
+    he had snatched, in his early life from his enemies’ heads, and now
+    wears as proud trophies and proofs of what his arm has accomplished
+    in battles with his enemies. His shirt of buckskin is beautifully
+    embroidered and painted in curious hieroglyphics, the history of his
+    battles and charts of his life. This, and also each and every article
+    of his varied dress, had been manufactured by his wives, of which
+    he had several; and one, though not the most agreeable (<a href="#i_036"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    36</a>), is seen represented by his side.</p>
+
+  <p>I have much to see of these people yet, and much consequently to write;
+    so for the present I close my book.</p>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> Several years since writing the above, I held a
+        conversation with Major Pilcher (a strictly correct and honourable man,
+        who was then the agent for these people, who has lived amongst them,
+        and is at this time superintendent of Indian affairs at <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis), who
+        informed me, much to my surprise, that the Blackfeet were not far from
+        60,000 in numbers, including all the confederacy of which I have just
+        spoken.
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_9">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 9.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF YELLOW STONE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Since</span> the dates of my other Letters from this place, I have been taking
+    some wild rambles about this beautiful country of green fields; jolted
+    and tossed about, on horseback and on foot, where pen, ink, and paper
+    never thought of going; and of course the most that I saw and have
+    learned, and would tell to the world, is yet to be written. It is not
+    probable, however, that I shall again date a letter at this place, as I
+    commence, in a few days, my voyage down the river in a canoe; but yet
+    I may give you many a retrospective glance at this fairy land and its
+    amusements.</p>
+
+  <p>A traveller on his tour through such a country as this, has no time
+    to write, and scarcely time enough to moralize. It is as much as
+    he can <em>well</em> do to “look out for his <em>scalp</em>,” and “for
+    <em>something to eat</em>.” Impressions, however, of the most vivid kind,
+    are rapidly and indelibly made by the fleeting incidents of savage
+    life; and for the mind that can ruminate upon them with pleasure, there
+    are abundant materials clinging to it for its endless entertainment
+    in driving the quill when he gets back. The mind susceptible of such
+    impressions catches volumes of incidents which are easy to write—it is
+    but to unfold a web which the fascinations of this <em>shorn</em> country
+    and its allurements have spun over the soul—it is but to paint the
+    splendid panorama of a world entirely different from anything seen or
+    painted before; with its thousands of miles, and tens of thousands of
+    grassy hills and dales, where nought but silence reigns, and where the
+    soul of a contemplative mould is seemingly lifted up to its Creator.
+    What man in the world, I would ask, ever ascended to the pinnacle of
+    one of Missouri’s green-carpeted bluffs, a thousand miles severed from
+    his own familiar land, and giddily gazed over the interminable and
+    boundless ocean of grass-covered hills and valleys which lie beneath
+    him, where the gloom of <em>silence</em> is complete—where not even
+    the voice of the sparrow or cricket is heard—without feeling a sweet
+    melancholy come over him, which seemed to drown his sense of everything
+    beneath and on a level with him?</p>
+
+  <p>It is but to paint a vast country of green fields, where the <em>men</em>
+    are all <em>red</em>—where <em>meat</em> is the staff of life—where
+    no <em>laws</em>, but those of <em>honour</em>, are known—where the
+    oak and the pine give way to the cotton-wood and peccan—where the
+    buffaloes range, the elk, mountain-sheep, and the fleet-bounding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span>
+    antelope—where the magpie and chattering parroquettes supply the
+    place of the red-breast and the blue-bird—where wolves are white and
+    bears grizzly—where pheasants are hens of the prairie, and frogs have
+    horns!—where the rivers are yellow, and white men are turned savages
+    in looks. Through the whole of this strange land the dogs are all
+    wolves—women all slaves—men all lords. The <em>sun</em> and <em>rats</em>
+    alone (of all the list of old acquaintance), could be recognised in
+    this country of strange metamorphose. The former shed everywhere his
+    familiar rays; and Monsr. Ratapon was hailed as an old acquaintance,
+    which it gave me pleasure to meet; though he had grown a little more
+    <em>savage</em> in his look.</p>
+
+  <p>In traversing the immense regions of the <em>classic</em> West, the mind
+    of a philanthropist is filled to the brim with feelings of admiration;
+    but to reach this country, one is obliged to descend from the light
+    and glow of civilized atmosphere, through the different grades of
+    civilization, which gradually sink to the most deplorable condition
+    along the extreme frontier; thence through the most pitiable misery
+    and wretchedness of savage degradation; where the genius of natural
+    liberty and independence have been blasted and destroyed by the
+    contaminating vices and dissipations introduced by the immoral part
+    of <em>civilized</em> society. Through this dark and sunken vale of
+    wretchedness one hurries, as through a pestilence, until he gradually
+    rises again into the proud and chivalrous pale of savage society,
+    in its state of original nature, beyond the reach of civilized
+    contamination; here he finds much to fix his enthusiasm upon, and much
+    to admire. Even here, the predominant passions of the savage breast,
+    of ferocity and cruelty, are often found; yet <em>restrained</em>,
+    and frequently <em>subdued</em>, by the noblest traits, of honour and
+    magnanimity,—a race of men who live and enjoy life and its luxuries,
+    and practice its virtues, very far beyond the usual estimation of the
+    world, who are apt to judge the savage and his virtues from the poor,
+    degraded, and humbled specimens which alone can be seen along our
+    frontiers. From the first settlements of our Atlantic coast to the
+    present day, the bane of this <em>blasting frontier</em> has regularly
+    crowded upon them, from the northern to the southern extremities of our
+    country; and, like the fire in a prairie, which destroys everything
+    where it passes, it has blasted and sunk them, and all but their
+    names, into oblivion, wherever it has travelled. It is to this tainted
+    class alone that the epithet of “poor, naked, and drunken savage,”
+    can be, with propriety, applied; for all those numerous tribes which
+    I have visited, and are yet uncorrupted by the vices of civilized
+    acquaintance, are well clad, in many instances cleanly, and in the
+    full enjoyment of life and its luxuries. It is for the character and
+    preservation of these noble fellows that I am an enthusiast; and it is
+    for these uncontaminated people that I would be willing to devote the
+    energies of my life. It is a sad and melancholy truth to contemplate,
+    that all the numerous tribes who inhabited our vast Atlantic States
+    <em>have not</em> “fled to the West;”—that they are not to be found
+    here—that they have been blasted by the fire which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> has passed
+    over them—have sunk into their graves, and everything but their names
+    travelled into oblivion.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>19</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_033">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_033.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>33</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_034">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_034.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>34</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>20</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_035">
+      <img style="width: 99.4%;" src="images/i_035.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>35</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_036">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_036.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>36</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <p>The distinctive character of all these Western Indians, as well as
+    their traditions relative to their ancient locations, prove beyond a
+    doubt, that they have been for a very long time located on the soil
+    which they now possess; and in most respects, distinct and unlike those
+    nations who formerly inhabited the Atlantic coast, and who (according
+    to the erroneous opinion of a great part of the world), have fled to
+    the West.</p>
+
+  <p>It is for these inoffensive and unoffending people, yet unvisited by
+    the vices of civilized society, that I would proclaim to the world,
+    that it is time, for the honour of our country—for the honour of
+    every citizen of the republic—and for the sake of humanity, that our
+    government should raise her strong arm to save the remainder of them
+    from the pestilence which is rapidly advancing upon them. We have
+    gotten from them territory enough, and the country which they now
+    inhabit is most of it too barren of timber for the use of civilized
+    man; it affords them, however, the means and luxuries of savage life;
+    and it is to be hoped that our government will not acquiesce in the
+    continued wilful destruction of these happy people.</p>
+
+  <p>My heart has sometimes almost bled with pity for them, while amongst
+    them, and witnessing their innocent amusements, as I have contemplated
+    the inevitable bane that was rapidly advancing upon them; without that
+    check from the protecting arm of government, and which alone could
+    shield them from destruction.</p>
+
+  <p>What degree of happiness these sons of Nature may attain to in the
+    world, in their own way; or in what proportion they may relish the
+    pleasures of life, compared to the sum of happiness belonging to
+    civilized society, has long been a subject of much doubt, and one which
+    I cannot undertake to decide at this time. I would say thus much,
+    however, that if the thirst for knowledge has entailed everlasting
+    miseries on mankind from the beginning of the world; if refined
+    and intellectual pains increase in proportion to our intellectual
+    pleasures, I do not see that we gain much advantage over them on that
+    score; and judging from the full-toned enjoyment which beams from their
+    happy faces, I should give it as my opinion, that their lives were
+    much more happy than ours; that is, if the word happiness is properly
+    applied to the enjoyments of those who have not experienced the light
+    of the Christian religion. I have long looked with the eye of a critic,
+    into the jovial faces of these sons of the forest, unfurrowed with
+    cares—where the agonizing feeling of poverty had never stamped distress
+    upon the brow. I have watched the bold, intrepid step—the proud, yet
+    dignified deportment of Nature’s man, in fearless freedom, with a soul
+    unalloyed by mercenary lusts, too great to yield to laws or power
+    except from God. As these independent fellows are all joint-tenants of
+    the soil, they are all rich, and none of the steepings of comparative
+    poverty can strangle their just claims to renown. Who (I would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> ask)
+    can look without admiring, into a society where peace and harmony
+    prevail—where virtue is cherished—where rights are protected, and
+    wrongs are redressed—with no laws, but the laws of honour, which are
+    the supreme laws of their land. Trust the boasted virtues of civilized
+    society for awhile, with all its intellectual refinements, to such a
+    tribunal, and then write down the degradation of the “lawless savage,”
+    and our trancendent virtues.</p>
+
+  <p>As these people have no laws, the sovereign right of summary redress
+    lies in the breast of the party (or friends of the party) aggrieved;
+    and infinitely more dreaded is the certainty of cruel revenge from
+    the licensed hands of an offended savage, than the slow and uncertain
+    vengeance of the law.</p>
+
+  <p>If you think me <em>enthusiast</em>, be it so; for I deny it not. It has
+    ever been the predominant passion of my soul to seek Nature’s wildest
+    haunts, and give my hand to Nature’s men. Legends of <em>these</em>,
+    and visits to <em>those</em>, filled the earliest page of my juvenile
+    impressions.</p>
+
+  <p>The tablet has stood, and I am an enthusiast for God’s works as He left
+    them.</p>
+
+  <p>The sad tale of my native “valley,”<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> has been beautifully sung; and
+    from the flight of “Gertrude’s” soul, my young imagination closely
+    traced the savage to his deep retreats, and gazed upon him in dreadful
+    horror, until pity pleaded, and admiration worked a charm.</p>
+
+  <p>A journey of 4000 miles from the Atlantic shore, regularly receding
+    from the centre of civilized society to the extreme wilderness of
+    Nature’s original work, and back again, opens a book for many an
+    interesting tale to be sketched; and the mind which lives, but to
+    relish the works of Nature, reaps a reward on such a tour of a much
+    higher order than can arise from the selfish expectations of pecuniary
+    emolument. Notwithstanding all that has been written and said, there
+    is scarcely any subject on which the <em>knowing</em> people of the
+    East, are yet less informed and instructed than on the character and
+    amusements of the West: by this I mean the “Far West;”—the country
+    whose fascinations spread a charm over the mind almost dangerous to
+    civilized pursuits. Few people even know the true definition of the
+    term “West;” and where is its location?—phantom-like it flies before us
+    as we travel, and on our way is continually gilded, before us, as we
+    approach the setting sun.</p>
+
+  <p>In the commencement of my Tour, several of my travelling companions
+    from the city of New York, found themselves at a frightful distance
+    to the West, when we arrived at Niagara Falls; and hastened back to
+    amuse their friends with tales and scenes of the West. At Buffalo a
+    steam-boat was landing with 400 passengers, and twelve days out—“Where
+    from?” “From the West.” In the rich state of Ohio, hundreds were
+    selling their farms and going—to the West. In the beautiful city of
+    Cincinnati, people said to me, “Our town has passed the days of its
+    most rapid growth, it is not far enough West.”—In <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, 1400 miles
+    west of New York, my landlady assured <span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span>me that I would be pleased with
+    her boarders, for they were nearly all merchants from the “West.” I
+    there asked,—“Whence come those steam-boats, laden with pork, honey,
+    hides, &amp;c.?”</p>
+
+  <p>From the West.</p>
+
+  <p>Whence those ponderous bars of silver, which those men have been for
+    hours shouldering and putting on board that boat?</p>
+
+  <p>They come from Santa Fee, from the West.</p>
+
+  <p>Where goes this steam-boat so richly laden with dry goods,
+    steam-engines, &amp;c.?</p>
+
+  <p>She goes to Jefferson city.</p>
+
+  <p>Jefferson city?—Where is that?</p>
+
+  <p>Far to the West.</p>
+
+  <p>And where goes that boat laden down to her gunnels, the Yellow Stone?</p>
+
+  <p>She goes still farther to the West—“Then,” said I, “I’ll go to the
+    West.”</p>
+
+  <p>I went on the Yellow Stone— <span class="gesperrtstar">* * * *</span></p>
+
+  <p><span class="gesperrtstar">* * *</span> Two thousand miles on her, and we were at the mouth of Yellow
+    Stone river—at the West. What! invoices, bills of lading, &amp;c., a
+    wholesale establishment so far to the West! And those strange looking,
+    long-haired gentlemen, who have just arrived, and are relating the
+    adventures of their long and tedious journey. Who are they?</p>
+
+  <p>Oh! they are some of our merchants just arrived from the West.</p>
+
+  <p>And that keel-boat, that Mackinaw-boat, and that formidable caravan,
+    all of which are richly laden with goods.</p>
+
+  <p>These, Sir, are outfits starting for the <em>West</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>Going to the <em>West</em>, ha? “Then” said I, “I’ll try it again. I will
+    try and see if I can go to the West.”</p>
+
+  <p><span class="gesperrtstar">* * *</span> What, a Fort here, too?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsieur—oui, Monsieur (as a dauntless, and
+    <em>semibarbarian</em>-looking, jolly fellow, dashed forth in advance of
+    his party on his wild horse to meet me.)</p>
+
+  <p>What distance are you west of Yellow Stone here, my good fellow?</p>
+
+  <p>Comment?</p>
+
+  <p>What distance?—(stop)—quel distance?</p>
+
+  <p>Pardón, Monsieur, je ne sais pas, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>Ne parlez vous l’Anglais?</p>
+
+  <p>Non, Monsr. I speaks de French and de Americaine; mais je ne parle pas
+    l’Anglais.</p>
+
+  <p>“Well then, my good fellow, I will speak English, and you may speak
+    Americaine.”</p>
+
+  <p>Pardón, pardón, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, then we will both speak Americaine.</p>
+
+  <p>Val, sare, je suis bien content, pour for I see dat you speaks putty
+    coot Americaine.</p>
+
+  <p>What may I call your name?</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span></p>
+
+  <p>Ba’tiste, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>What Indians are those so splendidly dressed, and with such fine
+    horses, encamped on the plain yonder?</p>
+
+  <p>Ils sont Corbeaux.</p>
+
+  <p>Crows, ha?</p>
+
+  <p>Yes, sare, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>We are then in the Crow country?</p>
+
+  <p>Non, Monsieur, not putty éxact; we are in de coontrae of de dam Pieds
+    noirs.</p>
+
+  <p>Blackfeet, ha?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui.</p>
+
+  <p>What blue mountain is that which we see in the distance yonder?</p>
+
+  <p>Ha, quel Montaigne? cela est la Montaigne du (pardón).</p>
+
+  <p>Du Rochers, I suppose?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsieur, de Rock Montaigne.</p>
+
+  <p>You live here, I suppose?</p>
+
+  <p>Non, Monsieur, I comes fair from de West.</p>
+
+  <p>What, from the West! Where under the heavens is that?</p>
+
+  <p>Wat, diable! de West? well you shall see, Monsieur, he is putty fair
+    off, súppose. Monsieur Pierre Chouteau can give you de histoire de ma
+    vie—il bien sait que je prends les castors, very fair in de West.</p>
+
+  <p>You carry goods, I suppose, to trade with the Snake Indians beyond the
+    mountains, and trap beaver also?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>Do you see anything of the “Flat-heads” in your country?</p>
+
+  <p>Non, Monsieur, ils demeurent very, <em>very</em> fair to de West.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, Ba’tiste, I’ll lay my course back again for the present, and at
+    some future period, endeavour to go to the “West.” But you say you
+    trade with the Indians and trap beavers; you are in the employment of
+    the American Fur Company, I suppose?</p>
+
+  <p>Non, Monsieur, not quite éxact; mais, súppose, I am “<em>free
+    trappare</em>,” free, Monsr. free.</p>
+
+  <p>Free trapper, what’s that? I don’t understand you, Ba’tiste.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, Monsr. súppose he is easy pour understand—you shall know all.
+    In de first place, I am enlist for tree year in de Fur Comp in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+    Louis—for bounté—pour bounté, eighty dollare (understand, ha?) den I
+    am go for wages, et I ave come de Missouri up, et I am trap castors
+    putty much for six years, you see, until I am learn very much; and den
+    you see, Monsr. M‘Kenzie is give me tree horse—one pour ride, et two
+    pour pack (mais he is not buy, him not give, he is lend), and he is
+    lend twelve trap; and I ave make start into de Rocky Montaigne, et I am
+    live all álone on de leet rivares pour prendre les castors. Sometime
+    six months—sometime five month, and I come back to Yel Stone, et Monsr.
+    M‘Kenzie is give me coot price pour all.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span></p>
+
+  <p>So Mr. M‘Kenzie fits you out, and takes your beaver of you at a certain
+    price?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsr. oui.</p>
+
+  <p>What price does he pay you for your beaver, Ba’tiste?</p>
+
+  <p>Ha! súppose one dollare pour one beavare.</p>
+
+  <p>A dollar per skin, ah?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, you must live a lonesome and hazardous sort of life; can you make
+    anything by it?</p>
+
+  <p>Oh! oui, Monsr. putty coot, mais if it is not pour for de dam rascalité
+    Riccaree, et de dam Pieds noirs, de Blackfoot Ingin, I am make very
+    much monnair, mais (sacré), I am rob—rob—rob too much!</p>
+
+  <p>What, do the Blackfeet rob you of your furs?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsr. rob, súppose, five time! I am been free trappare seven
+    year, et I am rob five time—I am someting left not at all—he is take
+    all; he is take all de horse—he is take my gun—he is take all my
+    clothes—he is takee de castors—et I am come back with foot. So in
+    de Fort, some cloths is cost putty much monnair, et some whiskey is
+    give sixteen dollares pour gall; so you see I am owe de Fur Comp 600
+    dollare, by Gar!</p>
+
+  <p>Well, Ba’tiste, this then is what you call being a free trapper is it?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsr. “free trappare,” free!</p>
+
+  <p>You seem to be going down towards the Yellow Stone, and probably have
+    been out on a trapping excursion.</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsr. c’est vrai.</p>
+
+  <p>Have you been robbed this time, Ba’tiste?</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsr. by de dam Pieds noirs—I am loose much; I am loose all—very
+    all——eh bien——pour le dernier—c’est le dernier fois, Monsr. I am go to
+    Yel Stone—I am go le Missouri down, I am go to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, Ba’tiste, I am to figure about in this part of the world a few
+    weeks longer, and then I shall descend the Missouri from the mouth of
+    Yellow Stone, to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis; and I should like exceedingly to employ
+    just such a man as you are as a voyageur with me—I will give you good
+    wages, and pay all your expenses; what say you?</p>
+
+  <p>Avec tout mon cour, Monsr. remercie, remercie.</p>
+
+  <p>It’s a bargain then, Ba’tiste; I will see you at the mouth of Yellow
+    Stone.</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsr. in de Yel Stone, bon soir, bon soir, Monsr.</p>
+
+  <p>But stop, Ba’tiste, you told me those were Crows encamped yonder.</p>
+
+  <p>Oui, Monsieur, oui, des Corbeaux.</p>
+
+  <p>And I suppose you are their interpreter?</p>
+
+  <p>Non, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>But you speak the Crow language?</p>
+
+  <p>Ouis, Monsieur.</p>
+
+  <p>Well then, turn about; I am going to pay them a visit, and you can
+    render me a service.—Bien, Monsieur, allons.</p>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Wyöming.
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_10">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 10.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Soon</span> after the writing of my last Letter, which was dated at the Mouth
+    of Yellow Stone, I embarked on the river for this place, where I landed
+    safely; and have resided for a couple of weeks, a guest in this almost
+    subterraneous city—the strangest place in the world; where one sees
+    in the most rapid succession, scenes which force him to mirth—to pity
+    and compassion—to admiration—disgust; to fear and astonishment. But
+    before I proceed to reveal them, I must give you a brief sketch of my
+    voyage down the river from the Mouth of the Yellow Stone river to this
+    place, a distance of 200 miles; and which my little note-book says, was
+    performed somewhat in the following manner:</p>
+
+  <p>When I had completed my rambles and my sketches in those regions, and
+    Ba’tiste and Bogard had taken their last spree, and fought their last
+    battles, and forgotten them in the final and affectionate embrace and
+    farewell (all of which are habitual with these game-fellows, when
+    settling up their long-standing accounts with their fellow-trappers
+    of the mountain streams); and after Mr. M‘Kenzie had procured for me
+    a snug little craft, that was to waft us down the mighty torrent; we
+    launched off one fine morning, taking our leave of the Fort, and the
+    friends within it; and also, for ever, of the beautiful green fields,
+    and hills, and dales, and prairie bluffs, that encompass the enchanting
+    shores of the Yellow Stone.</p>
+
+  <p>Our canoe, which was made of green timber, was heavy and awkward; but
+    our course being with the current, promised us a fair and successful
+    voyage. Ammunition was laid in in abundance—a good stock of dried
+    buffalo tongues—a dozen or two of beavers’ tails—and a good supply of
+    pemican. Bogard and Ba’tiste occupied the middle and bow, with their
+    paddles in their hands; and I took my seat in the stern of the boat,
+    at the steering oar. Our larder was as I have said; and added to that,
+    some few pounds of fresh buffalo meat.</p>
+
+  <p>Besides which, and ourselves, our little craft carried several
+    packs of Indian dresses and other articles, which I had purchased
+    of the Indians; and also my canvass and easel, and our culinary
+    articles, which were few and simple;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> consisting of three tin cups, a
+    coffee-pot—one plate—a frying-pan—and a tin kettle.</p>
+
+  <p>Thus fitted out and embarked, we swept off at a rapid rate under the
+    shouts of the savages, and the cheers of our friends, who lined the
+    banks as we gradually lost sight of them, and turned our eyes towards
+    <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, which was 2000 miles below us, with nought intervening, save
+    the widespread and wild regions, inhabited by the roaming savage.</p>
+
+  <p>At the end of our first day’s journey, we found ourselves handily
+    encamping with several thousand Assinneboins, who had pitched their
+    tents upon the bank of the river, and received us with every mark of
+    esteem and friendship.</p>
+
+  <p>In the midst of this group, was my friend Wi-jun-jon (the pigeon’s
+    egg head), still lecturing on the manners and customs of the “pale
+    faces.” Continuing to relate without any appearance of exhaustion, the
+    marvellous scenes which he had witnessed amongst the white people, on
+    his tour to Washington City.</p>
+
+  <p>Many were the gazers who seemed to be the whole time crowding around
+    him, to hear his recitals; and the plight which he was in rendered his
+    appearance quite ridiculous. His beautiful military dress, of which I
+    before spoke, had been so shockingly tattered and metamorphosed, that
+    his appearance was truly laughable.</p>
+
+  <p>His keg of whiskey had dealt out to his friends all its charms—his
+    frock-coat, which his wife had thought was of no earthly use below
+    the waist, had been cut off at that place, and the nether half of it
+    supplied her with a beautiful pair of leggings; and his silver-laced
+    hat-band had been converted into a splendid pair of garters for the
+    same. His umbrella the poor fellow still affectionately held on to,
+    and kept spread at all times. As I before said, his theme seemed to
+    be exhaustless, and he, in the estimation of his tribe, to be an
+    unexampled liar.</p>
+
+  <p>Of the village of Assinneboins we took leave on the following morning,
+    and rapidly made our way down the river. The rate of the current
+    being four or five miles per hour, through one continued series of
+    picturesque grass-covered bluffs and knolls, which everywhere had the
+    appearance of an old and highly-cultivated country, with houses and
+    fences removed.</p>
+
+  <p>There is, much of the way, on one side or the other, a bold and abrupt
+    precipice of three or four hundred feet in elevation, presenting itself
+    in an exceedingly rough and picturesque form, to the shore of the
+    river; sloping down from the summit level of the prairies above, which
+    sweep off from the brink of the precipice, almost level, to an unknown
+    distance.</p>
+
+  <p>It is along the rugged and wild fronts of these cliffs, whose sides are
+    generally formed of hard clay, that the mountain-sheep dwell, and are
+    often discovered in great numbers. Their habits are much like those
+    of the goat; and in every respect they are like that animal, except
+    in the horns, which resemble those of the ram; sometimes making two
+    entire circles in their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> coil; and at the roots, each horn is, in some
+    instances, from five to six inches in breadth.</p>
+
+  <p>On the second day of our voyage we discovered a number of these
+    animals skipping along the sides of the precipice, always keeping
+    about equi-distant between the top and bottom of the ledge; leaping
+    and vaulting in the most extraordinary manner from point to point, and
+    seeming to cling actually, to the sides of the wall, where neither man
+    nor beast could possibly follow them.</p>
+
+  <p>We landed our canoe, and endeavoured to shoot one of these sagacious
+    animals; and after he had led us a long and fruitless chase, amongst
+    the cliffs, we thought we had fairly entrapped him in such a way as to
+    be sure to bring him, at last, within the command of our rifles; when
+    he suddenly bounded from his narrow foot-hold in the ledge, and tumbled
+    down a distance of more than a hundred feet, amongst the fragments of
+    rocks and clay, where I thought we must certainly find his carcass
+    without further trouble; when, to my great surprise, I saw him bounding
+    off, and he was almost instantly out of my sight.</p>
+
+  <p>Bogard, who was an old hunter, and well acquainted with these
+    creatures, shouldered his rifle, and said to me—“the game is up; and
+    you now see the use of those big horns; when they fall by accident, or
+    find it necessary to quit their foot-hold in the crevice, they fall
+    upon their head at a great distance unharmed, even though it should be
+    on the solid rock.”</p>
+
+  <p>Being on shore, and our canoe landed secure, we whiled away the greater
+    part of this day amongst the wild and ragged cliffs, into which we had
+    entered; and a part of our labours were vainly spent in the pursuit
+    of a war-eagle. This noble bird is the one which the Indians in these
+    regions, value so highly for their tail feathers, which are used as
+    the most valued plumes for decorating the heads and dresses of their
+    warriors. It is a beautiful bird, and, the Indians tell me, conquers
+    all other varieties of eagles in the country; from which circumstance,
+    the Indians respect the bird, and hold it in the highest esteem, and
+    value its quills. I am unable so say to what variety it belongs; but
+    I am sure it is not to be seen in any of our museums; nor is it to be
+    found in America (I think), until one gets near to the base of the
+    Rocky Mountains. This bird has often been called the calumet eagle and
+    war-eagle; the last of which appellations I have already accounted
+    for; and the other has arisen from the fact, that the Indians almost
+    invariably ornament their calumets or pipes of peace with its quills.</p>
+
+  <p>Our day’s loitering brought us through many a wild scene; occasionally
+    across the tracks of the grizzly bear, and, in sight merely of a band
+    of buffaloes; “which got the wind of us,” and were out of the way,
+    leaving us to return to our canoe at night, with a mere speck of good
+    luck. Just before we reached the river, I heard the crack of a rifle,
+    and in a few moments Bogard came in sight, and threw down from his
+    shoulders a fine antelope; which added to our larder, and we were
+    ready to proceed. We embarked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> and travelled until nightfall, when
+    we encamped on a beautiful little prairie at the base of a series of
+    grass-covered bluffs; and the next morning cooked our breakfast and
+    ate it, and rowed on until late in the afternoon; when we stopped at
+    the base of some huge clay bluffs, forming one of the most curious
+    and romantic scenes imaginable. At this spot the river expands itself
+    into the appearance somewhat of a beautiful lake; and in the midst of
+    it, and on and about its sand-bars, floated and stood, hundreds and
+    thousands of white swans and pelicans.</p>
+
+  <p>Though the scene in front of our encampment at this place was placid
+    and beautiful; with its flowing water—its wild fowl—and its almost
+    endless variety of gracefully sloping hills and green prairies in the
+    distance; yet it was not less wild and picturesque in our rear, where
+    the rugged and various coloured bluffs were grouped in all the wildest
+    fancies and rudeness of Nature’s accidental varieties.</p>
+
+  <p>The whole country behind us seemed to have been dug and thrown up into
+    huge piles, as if some giant mason had been there mixing his mortar
+    and paints, and throwing together his rude models for some sublime
+    structure of a colossal city;—with its walls—its domes—its ramparts—its
+    huge porticos and galleries—its castles—its fosses and ditches;—and in
+    the midst of his progress, he had abandoned his works to the destroying
+    hand of time, which had already done much to tumble them down, and
+    deface their noble structure; by jostling them together, with all their
+    vivid colours, into an unsystematic and unintelligible mass of sublime
+    ruins.</p>
+
+  <p>To this group of clay bluffs, which line the river for many miles in
+    distance, the voyageurs have very appropriately given the name of “the
+    Brick-kilns;” owing to their red appearance, which may be discovered in
+    a clear day at the distance of many leagues.</p>
+
+  <p>By the action of water, or other power, the country seems to have been
+    graded away; leaving occasionally a solitary mound or bluff, rising in
+    a conical form to the height of two or three hundred feet, generally
+    pointed or rounded at the top, and in some places grouped together
+    in great numbers; some of which having a tabular surface on the top,
+    and covered with a green turf. This fact (as all of those which are
+    horizontal on their tops, and corresponding exactly with the summit
+    level of the wide-spreading prairies in distance) clearly shows, that
+    their present isolated and rounded forms have been produced by the
+    action of waters: which have carried away the intervening earth, and
+    left them in the picturesque shapes in which they are now seen.</p>
+
+  <p>A similar formation (or <em>de</em>formation) may be seen in hundreds of
+    places on the shores of the Missouri river, and the actual progress
+    of the operation by which it is produced; leaving yet for the
+    singularity of this place, the peculiar feature, that nowhere else
+    (to my knowledge) occurs; that the superstratum, forming the tops of
+    these mounds (where they remain high enough to support anything of
+    the original surface) is composed, for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> depth of fifteen feet, of
+    red pumice; terminating at its bottom, in a layer of several feet of
+    sedimentary deposite, which is formed into endless conglomerates of
+    basaltic crystals.</p>
+
+  <p>This strange feature in the country arrests the eye of a traveller
+    suddenly, and as instantly brings him to the conclusion, that he stands
+    in the midst of the ruins of an extinguished volcano.</p>
+
+  <p>As will be seen in the drawings (<a href="#i_037"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 37</a>, a near view,
+    and <a href="#i_038"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 38</a>, a distant view), the sides of these conical
+    bluffs (which are composed of strata of different coloured clays), are
+    continually washing down by the effect of the rains and melting of the
+    frost; and the superincumbent masses of pumice and basalt are crumbling
+    off, and falling down to their bases; and from thence, in vast
+    quantities, by the force of the gorges of water which are often cutting
+    their channels between them—carried into the river, which is close by;
+    and wafted for thousands of miles, floating as light as a cork upon its
+    surface, and lodging in every pile of drift-wood from this place to the
+    ocean.</p>
+
+  <p>The upper part of this layer of pumice is of a brilliant red; and when
+    the sun is shining upon it, is as bright and vivid as vermilion. It is
+    porous and open, and its specific gravity but trifling. These curious
+    bluffs must be seen as they are in nature; or else in a painting, where
+    their colours are faithfully given, or they lose their picturesque
+    beauty, which consists in the variety of their vivid tints. The strata
+    of clay are alternating from red to yellow—white—brown and dark blue;
+    and so curiously arranged, as to form the most pleasing and singular
+    effects.</p>
+
+  <p>During the day that I loitered about this strange scene, I left my
+    men stretched upon the grass, by the canoe; and taking my rifle and
+    sketch-book in my hand, I wandered and clambered through the rugged
+    defiles between the bluffs; passing over and under the immense blocks
+    of the pumice, that had fallen to their bases; determined, if possible,
+    to find the crater, or source, from whence these strange phenomena
+    had sprung; but after clambering and squeezing about for some time,
+    I unfortunately came upon the enormous tracks of a grizzly bear,
+    which, apparently, was travelling in the same direction (probably for
+    a very different purpose) but a few moments before me; and my ardour
+    for exploring was instantly so cooled down, that I hastily retraced
+    my steps, and was satisfied with making my drawings, and collecting
+    specimens of the lava and other minerals in its vicinity.</p>
+
+  <p>After strolling about during the day, and contemplating the beauty of
+    the scenes that were around me, while I sat upon the pinnacles of these
+    pumice-capped mounds; most of which time, Bogard and Ba’tiste laid
+    enjoying the pleasure of a “mountaineer’s nap”—we met together—took
+    our coffee and dried buffalo tongues—spread our buffalo robes upon the
+    grass, and enjoyed during the night the luxury of sleep, that belongs
+    so peculiarly to the tired voyageur in these realms of pure air and
+    dead silence.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>21</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_037">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_037.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>37</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_038">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_038.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>38</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span></p>
+
+  <p>In the morning, and before sunrise, as usual, Bogard (who was a Yankee,
+    and a “wide-awake-fellow,” just retiring from a ten years’ siege of
+    hunting and trapping in the Rocky Mountains,) thrust his head out from
+    under the robe, rubbing his eyes open, and exclaiming as he grasped
+    for his gun, “By darn, look at old Cale! will you!” Ba’tiste, who was
+    more fond of his dreams, snored away, muttering something that I could
+    not understand, when Bogard seized him with a grip, that instantly
+    shook off his iron slumbers. I rose at the same time, and all eyes were
+    turned at once upon <em>Caleb</em> (as the grizzly bear is familiarly
+    called by the trappers in the Rocky Mountains—or more often “Cale,”
+    for brevity’s sake), who was sitting up in the dignity and fury of her
+    sex, within a few rods, and gazing upon us, with her two little cubs
+    at her side! here was a “<em>fix</em>,” and a subject for the painter;
+    but I had no time to sketch it—I turned my eyes to the canoe which had
+    been fastened at the shore a few paces from us; and saw that everything
+    had been pawed out of it, and all eatables had been without ceremony
+    devoured. My packages of dresses and Indian curiosities had been drawn
+    out upon the bank, and deliberately opened and inspected. Every thing
+    had been scraped and pawed out, to the bottom of the boat; and even
+    the rawhide thong, with which it was tied to a stake, had been chewed,
+    and no doubt swallowed, as there was no trace of it remaining. Nor was
+    this peep into the secrets of our luggage enough for her insatiable
+    curiosity—we saw by the prints of her huge paws, that were left in the
+    ground, that she had been perambulating our humble mattresses, smelling
+    at our toes and our noses, without choosing to molest us; verifying a
+    trite saying of the country, “That man lying down is <em>medicine</em> to
+    the grizzly bear;” though it is a well-known fact, that man and beast,
+    upon their feet, are sure to be attacked when they cross the path of
+    this grizzly and grim monster, which is the terror of all this country;
+    often growing to the enormous size of eight hundred or one thousand
+    pounds.</p>
+
+  <p>Well—whilst we sat in the dilemma which I have just described, each
+    one was hastily preparing his weapons for defence, when I proposed the
+    mode of attack; by which means I was in hopes to destroy her—capture
+    her young ones, and bring her skin home as a trophy. My plans, however,
+    entirely failed, though we were well armed; for Bogard and Ba’tiste
+    both remonstrated with a vehemence that was irresistible; saying that
+    the standing rule in the mountains was “never to fight Caleb, except
+    in self-defence.” I was almost induced, however, to attack her alone,
+    with my rifle in hand, and a pair of heavy pistols; with a tomahawk
+    and scalping-knife in my belt; when Ba’tiste suddenly thrust his arm
+    over my shoulder and pointing in another direction, exclaimed in an
+    emphatic tone, “Voila! voila un corps de reserve—Monsr. Cataline—voila
+    sa mari! allons—allons! déscendons la riviére, toute de suite! toute
+    de suite! Monsr.” to which Bogard added, “these darned animals are too
+    much for us, and we had better be off;” at which my courage cooled, and
+    we packed up and re-embarked as fast as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> possible; giving each one of
+    them the contents of our rifles as we drifted off in the current; which
+    brought the she-monster, in all her rage and fury, to the spot where
+    we, a few moments before, had passed our most prudent resolve.</p>
+
+  <p>During the rest of this day, we passed on rapidly, gazing upon and
+    admiring the beautiful shores, which were continually changing, from
+    the high and ragged cliffs, to the graceful and green slopes of the
+    prairie bluffs; and then to the wide expanded meadows, with their long
+    waving grass, enamelled with myriads of wild flowers.</p>
+
+  <p>The scene was one of enchantment the whole way; our chief conversation
+    was about grizzly bears and hair’s-breadth escapes; of the histories
+    of which my companions had volumes in store.—Our breakfast was a late
+    one—cooked and eaten about five in the afternoon; at which time our
+    demolished larder was luckily replenished by the unerring rifle of
+    Bogard, which brought down a fine antelope, as it was innocently gazing
+    at us, from the bank of the river. We landed our boat, and took in
+    our prize; but there being no wood for our fire, we shoved off, and
+    soon ran upon the head of an island, that was covered with immense
+    quantities of raft and drift wood, where we easily kindled a huge fire
+    and ate our delicious meal from a clean peeled log, astride of which
+    we comfortably sat, making it answer admirably the double purpose of
+    chairs and a table. After our meal was finished, we plied the paddles,
+    and proceeded several miles further on our course; leaving our fire
+    burning, and dragging our canoe upon the shore, in the dark, in a wild
+    and unknown spot; and silently spreading our robes for our slumbers,
+    which it is not generally considered prudent to do by the side of our
+    fires, which might lead a war-party upon us, who often are prowling
+    about and seeking an advantage over their enemy.</p>
+
+  <p>The scenery of this day’s travel, as I have before said, was
+    exceedingly beautiful; and our canoe was often run to the shore,
+    upon which we stepped to admire the endless variety of wild flowers,
+    “wasting their sweetness on the desert air,” and the abundance of
+    delicious fruits that were about us. Whilst wandering through the high
+    grass, the wild sun-flowers and voluptuous lilies were constantly
+    taunting us by striking our faces; whilst here and there, in every
+    direction, there were little copses and clusters of plum trees and
+    gooseberries, and wild currants, loaded down with their fruit; and
+    amongst these, to sweeten the atmosphere and add a charm to the
+    effect, the wild rose bushes seemed planted in beds and in hedges, and
+    everywhere were decked out in all the glory of their delicate tints,
+    and shedding sweet aroma to every breath of the air that passed over
+    them.</p>
+
+  <p>In addition to these, we had the luxury of service-berries, without
+    stint; and the buffalo bushes, which are peculiar to these northern
+    regions, lined the banks of the river and defiles in the bluffs,
+    sometimes for miles together; forming almost impassable hedges,
+    so loaded with the weight of their fruit, that their boughs were
+    everywhere gracefully bending down and resting on the ground.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span></p>
+
+  <p>This last shrub (<i>shepperdia</i>), which may be said to be the most
+    beautiful ornament that decks out the wild prairies, forms a striking
+    contrast to the rest of the foliage, from the blue appearance of its
+    leaves, by which it can be distinguished for miles in distance. The
+    fruit which it produces in such incredible profusion, hanging in
+    clusters to every limb and to every twig, is about the size of ordinary
+    currants, and not unlike them in colour and even in flavour; being
+    exceedingly acid, and almost unpalatable, until they are bitten by the
+    frost of autumn, when they are sweetened, and their flavour delicious;
+    having, to the taste, much the character of grapes, and I am inclined
+    to think, would produce excellent wine.</p>
+
+  <p>The shrub which bears them resembles some varieties of the thorn,
+    though (as I have said) differs entirely in the colour of its leaves.
+    It generally grows to the height of six or seven feet, and often to
+    ten or twelve; and in groves or hedges, in some places, for miles in
+    extent. While gathering the fruit, and contemplating it as capable of
+    producing good wine, I asked my men this question, “Suppose we three
+    had ascended the river to this point in the spring of the year, and in
+    a timbered bottom had pitched our little encampment; and one of you two
+    had been a boat-builder, and the other a cooper—the one to have got out
+    your staves and constructed the wine casks, and the other to have built
+    a mackinaw-boat, capable of carrying fifty or a hundred casks; and I
+    had been a good hunter, capable of supplying the little encampment with
+    meat; and we should have started off about this time, to float down
+    the current, stopping our boat wherever we saw the finest groves of
+    the buffalo bush, collecting the berries and expressing the juice, and
+    putting it into our casks for fermentation while on the water for two
+    thousand miles; how many bushels of these berries could you two gather
+    in a day, provided I watched the boat and cooked your meals? and how
+    many barrels of good wine do you think we could offer for sale in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+    Louis when we should arrive there?”</p>
+
+  <p>This idea startled my two men exceedingly, and Ba’tiste gabbled so
+    fast in French, that I could not translate; and I am almost willing
+    to believe, that but for the want of the requisite tools for the
+    enterprize, I should have lost the company of Bogard and Ba’tiste;
+    or that I should have been under the necessity of submitting to one
+    of the unpleasant alternatives which are often regulated by the
+    <em>majority</em>, in this strange and singular wilderness.</p>
+
+  <p>I at length, however, got their opinions on the subject; when they
+    mutually agreed that they could gather thirty bushels of this fruit
+    per day; and I gave it then, and I offer it now, as my own also,
+    that their estimate was not out of the way, and judged so from the
+    experiments which we made in the following manner:—We several times
+    took a large mackinaw blanket which I had in the canoe, and spreading
+    it on the ground under the bushes, where they were the most abundantly
+    loaded with fruit; and by striking the stalk of the tree with a club,
+    we received the whole contents of its branches in an instant on the
+    blanket, which was taken up by the corners, and not unfrequently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> would
+    produce us, from one blow, the eighth part of a bushel of this fruit;
+    when the boughs relieved of their burden, instantly flew up to their
+    native position.</p>
+
+  <p>Of this beautiful native, which I think would form one of the loveliest
+    ornamental shrubs for a gentleman’s park or pleasure grounds, I
+    procured a number of the roots; but which, from the many accidents and
+    incidents that our unlucky bark was subjected to on our rough passage,
+    I lost them (and almost the recollection of them) as well as many other
+    curiosities I had collected on our way down the river.</p>
+
+  <p>On the morning of the next day, and not long after we had stopped and
+    taken our breakfast, and while our canoe was swiftly gliding along
+    under the shore of a beautiful prairie, I saw in the grass, on the
+    bank above me, what I supposed to be the back of a fine elk, busy at
+    his grazing. I let our craft float silently by for a little distance,
+    when I communicated the intelligence to my men, and slily ran in, to
+    the shore. I pricked the priming of my firelock, and taking a bullet
+    or two in my mouth, stepped ashore, and trailing my rifle in my hand,
+    went back under the bank, carefully crawling up in a little ravine,
+    quite sure of my game; when, to my utter surprise and violent alarm,
+    I found the elk to be no more nor less than an Indian pony, getting
+    his breakfast! and a little beyond him, a number of others grazing;
+    and nearer to me, on the left, a war-party reclining around a little
+    fire; and yet nearer, and within twenty paces of the muzzle of my gun,
+    the naked shoulders if a brawny Indian, who seemed busily engaged in
+    cleaning his gun. From this critical dilemma, the reader can easily
+    imagine that I vanished with all the suddenness and secrecy that was
+    possible, bending my course towards my canoe. Bogard and Ba’tiste
+    correctly construing the expression of my face, and the agitation of
+    my hurried retreat, prematurely unmoored from the shore; and the force
+    of the current carrying them around a huge pile of drift wood, threw
+    me back for some distance upon my own resources; though they finally
+    got in, near the shore, and I into the boat, with the steering oar in
+    my hand; when we plied our sinews with effect and in silence, till we
+    were wafted far from the ground which we deemed critical and dangerous
+    to our lives; for we had been daily in dread of meeting a war-party of
+    the revengeful Riccarees, which we had been told was on the river, in
+    search of the Mandans. From and after this exciting occurrence, the
+    entries in my journal for the rest of the voyage to the village of the
+    Mandans, were as follow:—</p>
+
+  <p>Saturday, fifth day of our voyage from the mouth of Yellow Stone, at
+    eleven o’clock.—Landed our canoe in the Grand Détour (or Big Bend) as
+    it is called, at the base of a stately clay mound, and ascended, all
+    hands, to the summit level, to take a glance at the picturesque and
+    magnificent works of Nature that were about us. Spent the remainder
+    of the day in painting a view of this grand scene; for which purpose
+    Ba’tiste and Bogard carried my easel and canvass to the top of a
+    huge mound, where they left me at my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> work; and I painted my picture
+    (<a href="#i_039"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 39</a>), whilst they amused themselves with their rifles,
+    decoying a flock of antelopes, of which they killed several, and
+    abundantly added to the stock of our provisions.</p>
+
+  <p>Scarcely anything in nature can be found, I am sure, more exceedingly
+    picturesque than the view from this place; exhibiting the wonderful
+    manner in which the gorges of the river have cut out its deep channel
+    through these walls of clay on either side, of two or three hundred
+    feet in elevation; and the imposing features of the high table-lands in
+    distance, standing as a perpetual anomaly in the country, and producing
+    the indisputable, though astounding evidence of the fact, that there
+    has been at some ancient period, a <em>super</em> surface to this
+    country, corresponding with the elevation of these tabular hills, whose
+    surface, for half a mile or more, on their tops, is perfectly level;
+    being covered with a green turf, and yet one hundred and fifty or two
+    hundred feet elevated above what may now be properly termed the summit
+    level of all this section of country; as will be seen stretching off at
+    their base, without furnishing other instances in hundreds of miles,
+    of anything rising one foot above its surface, excepting the solitary
+    group which is shewn in the painting.</p>
+
+  <p>The fact, that <em>there</em> was once the summit level of this great
+    valley, is a stubborn one, however difficult it may be to reconcile
+    it with reasonable causes and results; and the mind of feeble man is
+    at once almost paralyzed in endeavouring to comprehend the process
+    by which the adjacent country, from this to the base of the Rocky
+    Mountains, as well as in other directions, could have been swept away;
+    and equally so, for knowledge of the place where its mighty deposits
+    have been carried.</p>
+
+  <p>I recollect to have seen on my way up the river, at the distance of
+    six or eight hundred miles below, a place called “the Square Hills,”
+    and another denominated “the Bijou Hills;” which are the only features
+    on the river, seeming to correspond with this strange <em>remain</em>,
+    and which, on my way down, I shall carefully examine; and not fail to
+    add their testimonies (if I am not mistaken in their character) to
+    further speculations on this interesting feature of the geology of the
+    great valley of the Missouri. Whilst my men were yet engaged in their
+    sporting excursions, I left my easel and travelled to the base and
+    summit of these tabular hills; which, to my great surprise, I found to
+    be several miles from the river, and a severe journey to accomplish
+    getting back to our encampment at nightfall. I found by their sides
+    that they were evidently of an alluvial deposite, composed of a great
+    variety of horizontal layers of clays of different colours—of granitic
+    sand and pebbles (many of which furnished me beautiful specimens of
+    agate, jasper and carnelians), and here and there large fragments of
+    pumice and cinders, which gave, as instances above-mentioned, evidences
+    of volcanic remains.</p>
+
+  <p>The mode by which Bogard and Ba’tiste had been entrapping the timid
+    and sagacious antelopes was one which is frequently and successfully
+    practised in this country; and on this day had afforded them fine
+    sport.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span></p>
+
+  <p>The antelope of this country, I believe to be different from all
+    other known varieties, and forms one of the most pleasing, living
+    ornaments to this western world. They are seen in some places in great
+    numbers sporting and playing about the hills and dales; and often, in
+    flocks of fifty or a hundred, will follow the boat of the descending
+    voyageur, or the travelling caravan, for hours together; keeping off
+    at a safe distance, on the right or left, galloping up and down the
+    hills, snuffing their noses and stamping their feet; as if they were
+    endeavouring to remind the traveller of the wicked trespass he was
+    making on their own hallowed ground.</p>
+
+  <p>This little animal seems to be endowed, like many other gentle and
+    sweet-breathing creatures, with an undue share of curiosity, which
+    often leads them to destruction; and the hunter who wishes to entrap
+    them, saves himself the trouble of travelling after them. When he has
+    been discovered, he has only to elevate above the tops of the grass,
+    his red or yellow handkerchief on the end of his gun-rod (<a href="#i_040"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    40</a>), which he sticks in the ground, and to which they are sure to
+    advance, though with great coyness and caution; whilst he lies close,
+    at a little distance, with his rifle in hand; when it is quite an easy
+    matter to make sure of two or three at a shot, which he gets in range
+    of his eye, to be pierced with one bullet.</p>
+
+  <p>On Sunday, departed from our encampment in the Grand Détour; and having
+    passed for many miles, through a series of winding and ever-varying
+    bluffs and fancied ruins, like such as have already been described,
+    our attention was more than usually excited by the stupendous scene
+    (<a href="#i_041"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 41</a>), called by the voyageurs “the Grand Dome,” which
+    was lying in full view before us.</p>
+
+  <p>Our canoe was here hauled ashore, and a day whiled away again, amongst
+    these clay built ruins.</p>
+
+  <p>We clambered to their summits and enjoyed the distant view of the
+    Missouri for many miles below, wending its way through the countless
+    groups of clay and grass-covered hills; and we wandered back on the
+    plains, in a toilsome and unsuccessful pursuit of a herd of buffaloes,
+    which we discovered at some distance. Though we were disappointed
+    in the results of the chase; yet we were in a measure repaid in
+    amusements, which we found in paying a visit to an extensive village of
+    prairie dogs, and of which I should render some account.</p>
+
+  <p>I have subjoined a sketch (<a href="#i_042"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 42</a>) of one of these
+    <i>sub-terra</i> communities; though it was taken in a former
+    excursion, when my party was on horseback, and near the mouth of the
+    Yellow Stone River; yet it answers for this place as well as any other,
+    for their habits are one and the same wherever they are found; their
+    houses or burrows are all alike, and as their location is uniformly on
+    a level and desolate prairie, without timber, there is little room for
+    variety or dissimilarity.</p>
+
+  <p>The prairie dog of the American Prairies is undoubtedly a variety
+    of the marmot; and probably not unlike those which inhabit the vast
+    Steppes of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> Asia. It bears no resemblance to any variety of dogs,
+    except in the sound of its voice, when excited by the approach of
+    danger, which is something like that of a very small dog, and still
+    much more resembling the barking of a grey squirrel.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>22</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_039">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_039.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>39</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_040">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_040.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>40</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The size of these curious little animals is not far from that of a
+    very large rat, and they are not unlike in their appearance. As I have
+    said, their burrows, are uniformly built in a lonely desert; and away,
+    both from the proximity of timber and water. Each individual, or each
+    family, dig their hole in the prairie to the depth of eight or ten
+    feet, throwing up the dirt from each excavation, in a little pile, in
+    the form of a cone, which forms the only elevation for them to ascend;
+    where they sit, to bark and chatter when an enemy is approaching their
+    village. These villages are sometimes of several miles in extent;
+    containing (I would almost say) myriads of their excavations and little
+    dirt hillocks, and to the ears of their visitors, the din of their
+    barkings is too confused and too peculiar to be described.</p>
+
+  <p>In the present instance, we made many endeavours to shoot them, but
+    finding our efforts to be entirely in vain. As we were approaching them
+    at a distance, each one seemed to be perched up, on his hind feet,
+    on his appropriate domicil, with a significant jerk of his tail at
+    every bark, positively disputing our right of approach. I made several
+    attempts to get near enough to “draw a bead” upon one of them; and
+    just before I was ready to fire (and as if they knew the utmost limits
+    of their safety), they sprang down into their holes, and instantly
+    turning their bodies, shewed their ears and the ends of their noses, as
+    they were peeping out at me; which position they would hold, until the
+    shortness of the distance subjected their scalps to danger again, from
+    the aim of a rifle; when they instantly disappeared from our sight,
+    and all was silence thereafter, about their premises, as I passed them
+    over; until I had so far advanced by them, that their ears were again
+    discovered, and at length themselves, at full length, perched on the
+    tops of their little hillocks and threatening as before; thus gradually
+    sinking and rising like a wave before and behind me.</p>
+
+  <p>The holes leading down to their burrows, are four or five inches in
+    diameter, and run down nearly perpendicular; where they undoubtedly
+    communicate into something like a subterraneous city (as I have
+    formerly learned from fruitless endeavours to dig them out), undermined
+    and vaulted; by which means, they can travel for a great distance under
+    the ground, without danger from pursuit.</p>
+
+  <p>Their food is simply the grass in the immediate vicinity of their
+    burrows, which is cut close to the ground by their flat, shovel teeth;
+    and, as they sometimes live twenty miles from any water, it is to be
+    supposed that they get moisture enough from the dew on the grass, on
+    which they feed chiefly at night; or that (as is generally supposed)
+    they sink wells from their under-ground habitations, by which they
+    descend low enough to get their supply. In the winter, they are for
+    several months invisible; existing, undoubtedly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> in a torpid state,
+    as they certainly lay by no food for that season—nor can they procure
+    any. These curious little animals belong to almost every latitude in
+    the vast plains of prairie in North America; and their villages, which
+    I have sometimes encountered in my travels, have compelled my party to
+    ride several miles out of our way to get by them; for their burrows are
+    generally within a few feet of each other, and dangerous to the feet
+    and the limbs of our horses.</p>
+
+  <p>The sketch of the bluffs denominated “the Grand Dome,” of which I spoke
+    but a few moments since, is a faithful delineation of the lines and
+    character of that wonderful scene; and the reader has here a just and
+    striking illustration of the ruin-like appearances, as I have formerly
+    described, that are so often met with on the banks of this mighty river.</p>
+
+  <p>This is, perhaps, one of the most grand and beautiful scenes of the
+    kind to be met with in this country, owing to the perfect appearance
+    of its several huge domes, turrets, and towers, which were everywhere
+    as precise and as perfect in their forms as they are represented in
+    the illustration. These stupendous works are produced by the continual
+    washing down of the sides of these clay-formed hills; and although, in
+    many instances, their sides, by exposure, have become so hardened, that
+    their change is very slow; yet they are mostly subjected to continual
+    phases, more or less, until ultimately their decomposition ceases,
+    and their sides becoming seeded and covered with a green turf, which
+    protects and holds them (and will hold them) unalterable: with carpets
+    of green, and enamelled with flowers, to be gazed upon with admiration,
+    by the hardy voyageur and the tourist, for ages and centuries to come.</p>
+
+  <p>On Monday, the seventh day from the mouth of the Yellow Stone River,
+    we floated away from this noble scene; looking back again and again
+    upon it, wondering at its curious and endless changes, as the swift
+    current of the river, hurried us by, and gradually out of sight of it.
+    We took a sort of melancholy leave of it—but at every bend and turn in
+    the stream, we were introduced to others—and others—and yet others,
+    almost as strange and curious. At the base of one of these, although
+    we had passed it, we with difficulty landed our canoe, and I ascended
+    to its top, with some hours’ labour; having to cut a foot-hold in the
+    clay with my hatchet for each step, a great part of the way up its
+    sides. So curious was this solitary bluff, standing alone as it did,
+    to the height of 250 feet (<a href="#i_043"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 43</a>), with its sides washed
+    down into hundreds of variegated forms—with large blocks of indurated
+    clay, remaining upon pedestals and columns as it were, and with such
+    a variety of tints; that I looked upon it as a beautiful picture, and
+    devoted an hour or two with my brush, in transferring it to my canvass.</p>
+
+  <p>In the after part of this day we passed another extraordinary scene,
+    which is denominated “the Three Domes” (<a href="#i_044"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 44</a>), forming an
+    exceedingly pleasing group, though requiring no further description for
+    the reader, who is now sufficiently acquainted with these scenes to
+    understand them.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>23</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_041">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_041.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>41</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_042">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_042.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>42</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>24</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_043">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_043.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>43</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_044">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_044.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>44</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p>
+
+  <p>On this day, just before night, we landed our little boat in front of
+    the Mandan village; and amongst the hundreds and thousands who flocked
+    towards the river to meet and to greet us, was Mr. Kipp, the agent of
+    the American Fur Company, who has charge of their Establishment at this
+    place. He kindly ordered my canoe to be taken care of, and my things to
+    be carried to his quarters, which was at once done; and I am at this
+    time reaping the benefits of his genuine politeness, and gathering the
+    pleasures of his amusing and interesting society.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_11">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 11.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">I said</span> that I was here in the midst of a strange people, which is
+    literally true; and I find myself surrounded by subjects and scenes
+    worthy the pens of Irving or Cooper—of the pencils of Raphael or
+    Hogarth; rich in legends and romances, which would require no aid of
+    the imagination for a book or a picture.</p>
+
+  <p>The Mandans (or See-pohs-kah-nu-mah-kah-kee, “people of the pheasants,”
+    as they call themselves), are perhaps one of the most ancient tribes
+    of Indians in our country. Their origin, like that of all the other
+    tribes is from necessity, involved in mystery and obscurity. Their
+    traditions and peculiarities I shall casually recite in this or future
+    epistles; which when understood, will at once, I think, denominate
+    them a peculiar and distinct race. They take great pride in relating
+    their traditions, with regard to their origin; contending that they
+    were the <em>first</em> people created on earth. Their existence in these
+    regions has not been from a very ancient period; and, from what I could
+    learn of their traditions, they have, at a former period, been a very
+    numerous and powerful nation; but by the continual wars which have
+    existed between them and their neighbours, they have been reduced to
+    their present numbers.</p>
+
+  <p>This tribe is at present located on the west bank of the Missouri,
+    about 1800 miles above <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, and 200 below the Mouth of Yellow
+    Stone river. They have two villages only, which are about two miles
+    distant from each other; and number in all (as near as I can learn),
+    about 2000 souls. Their present villages are beautifully located, and
+    judiciously also, for defence against the assaults of their enemies.
+    The site of the lower (or principal) town, in particular (<a href="#i_045"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    45</a>), is one of the most beautiful and pleasing that can be seen
+    in the world, and even more beautiful than imagination could ever
+    create. In the very midst of an extensive valley (embraced within a
+    thousand graceful swells and parapets or mounds of interminable green,
+    changing to blue, as they vanish in distance) is built the city, or
+    principal town of the Mandans. On an extensive plain (which is covered
+    with a green turf, as well as the hills and dales, as far as the eye
+    can possibly range, without tree or bush to be seen) are to be seen
+    rising from the ground, and towards the heavens, domes—(not “of gold,”
+    but) of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> dirt—and the thousand spears (not “spires”) and scalp-poles,
+    &amp;c. &amp;c., of the semi-subterraneous village of the hospitable and
+    gentlemanly Mandans.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>25</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_045">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_045.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>45</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_046">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_046.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>46</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>These people formerly (and within the recollection of many of their
+    oldest men) lived fifteen or twenty miles farther down the river, in
+    ten contiguous villages; the marks or ruins of which are yet plainly
+    to be seen. At that period, it is evident, as well from the number of
+    lodges which their villages contained, as from their traditions, that
+    their numbers were much greater than at the present day.</p>
+
+  <p>There are other, and very interesting, traditions and historical facts
+    relative to a still prior location and condition of these people,
+    of which I shall speak more fully on a future occasion. From these,
+    when they are promulged, I think there may be a pretty fair deduction
+    drawn, that they formerly occupied the lower part of the Missouri, and
+    even the Ohio and Muskingum, and have gradually made their way up the
+    Missouri to where they now are.</p>
+
+  <p>There are many remains on the river below this place (and, in fact,
+    to be seen nearly as low down as <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis), which shew clearly the
+    peculiar construction of Mandan lodges, and consequently carry a strong
+    proof of the above position. While descending the river, however, which
+    I shall commence in a few weeks, in a canoe, this will be a subject of
+    interest; and I shall give it close examination.</p>
+
+  <p>The ground on which the Mandan village is at present built, was
+    admirably selected for defence; being on a bank forty or fifty feet
+    above the bed of the river. The greater part of this bank is nearly
+    perpendicular, and of solid rock. The river, suddenly changing its
+    course to a right-angle, protects two sides of the village, which is
+    built upon this promontory or angle; they have therefore but one side
+    to protect, which is effectually done by a strong piquet, and a ditch
+    inside of it, of three or four feet in depth. The piquet is composed
+    of timbers of a foot or more in diameter, and eighteen feet high, set
+    firmly in the ground at sufficient distances from each other to admit
+    of guns and other missiles to be fired between them. The ditch (unlike
+    that of civilized modes of fortification) is inside of the piquet, in
+    which their warriors screen their bodies from the view and weapons of
+    their enemies, whilst they are reloading and discharging their weapons
+    through the piquets.</p>
+
+  <p>The Mandans are undoubtedly secure in their villages, from the attacks
+    of any Indian nation, and have nothing to fear, except when they meet
+    their enemy on the prairie. Their village has a most novel appearance
+    to the eye of a stranger; their lodges are closely grouped together,
+    leaving but just room enough for walking and riding between them; and
+    appear from without, to be built entirely of dirt; but one is surprised
+    when he enters them, to see the neatness, comfort, and spacious
+    dimensions of these earth-covered dwellings. They all have a circular
+    form, and are from forty to sixty feet in diameter. Their foundations
+    are prepared by digging some two feet in the ground, and forming the
+    floor of earth, by levelling the requisite size for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> the lodge. These
+    floors or foundations are all perfectly circular, and varying in size
+    in proportion to the number of inmates, or of the quality or standing
+    of the families which are to occupy them. The superstructure is then
+    produced, by arranging, inside of this circular excavation, firmly
+    fixed in the ground and resting against the bank, a barrier or wall of
+    timbers, some eight or nine inches in diameter, of equal height (about
+    six feet) placed on end, and resting against each other, supported by
+    a formidable embankment of earth raised against them outside; then,
+    resting upon the tops of these timbers or piles, are others of equal
+    size and equal in numbers, of twenty or twenty-five feet in length,
+    resting firmly against each other, and sending their upper or smaller
+    ends towards the centre and top of the lodge; rising at an angle of
+    forty-five degrees to the apex or sky-light, which is about three or
+    four feet in diameter, answering as a chimney and a sky-light at the
+    same time. The roof of the lodge being thus formed, is supported by
+    beams passing around the inner part of the lodge about the middle of
+    these poles or timbers, and themselves upheld by four or five large
+    posts passing down to the floor of the lodge. On the top of, and over
+    the poles forming the roof, is placed a complete mat of willow-boughs,
+    of half a foot or more in thickness, which protects the timbers from
+    the dampness of the earth, with which the lodge is covered from bottom
+    to top, to the depth of two or three feet; and then with a hard or
+    tough clay, which is impervious to water, and which with long use
+    becomes quite hard, and a lounging place for the whole family in
+    pleasant weather—for sage—for wooing lovers—for dogs and all; an airing
+    place—a look-out—a place for gossip and mirth—a seat for the solitary
+    gaze and meditations of the stern warrior, who sits and contemplates
+    the peaceful mirth and happiness that is breathed beneath him, fruits
+    of his hard-fought battles, on fields of desperate combat with
+    bristling Red Men.</p>
+
+  <p>The floors of these dwellings are of earth, but so hardened by use, and
+    swept so clean, and tracked by bare and moccassined feet, that they
+    have almost a polish, and would scarcely soil the whitest linen. In the
+    centre, and immediately under the sky-light (<a href="#i_046"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 46</a>) is the
+    fire-place—a hole of four or five feet in diameter, of a circular form,
+    sunk a foot or more below the surface, and curbed around with stone.
+    Over the fire-place, and suspended from the apex of diverging props or
+    poles, is generally seen the pot or kettle, filled with buffalo meat;
+    and around it are the family, reclining in all the most picturesque
+    attitudes and groups, resting on their buffalo-robes and beautiful mats
+    of rushes. These cabins are so spacious, that they hold from twenty
+    to forty persons—a family and all their connexions. They all sleep on
+    bedsteads similar in form to ours, but generally not quite so high;
+    made of round poles rudely lashed together with thongs. A buffalo skin,
+    fresh stripped from the animal, is stretched across the bottom poles,
+    and about two feet from the floor; which, when it dries, becomes much
+    contracted, and forms a perfect sacking-bottom. The fur side of this
+    skin is placed uppermost, on which they lie with great comfort, with
+    a buffalo-robe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> folded up for a pillow, and others drawn over them
+    instead of blankets. These beds, as far as I have seen them (and I have
+    visited almost every lodge in the village), are uniformly screened with
+    a covering of buffalo or elk skins, oftentimes beautifully dressed
+    and placed over the upright poles or frame, like a suit of curtains;
+    leaving a hole in front, sufficiently spacious for the occupant to pass
+    in and out, to and from his or her bed. Some of these coverings or
+    curtains are exceedingly beautiful, being cut tastefully into fringe,
+    and handsomely ornamented with porcupine’s quills and picture writings
+    or hieroglyphics.</p>
+
+  <p>From the great number of inmates in these lodges, they are necessarily
+    very spacious, and the number of beds considerable. It is no uncommon
+    thing to see these lodges fifty feet in diameter inside (which is an
+    immense room), with a row of these curtained beds extending quite
+    around their sides, being some ten or twelve of them, placed four or
+    five feet apart, and the space between them occupied by a large post,
+    fixed quite firm in the ground, and six or seven feet high, with
+    large wooden pegs or bolts in it, on which are hung and grouped, with
+    a wild and startling taste, the arms and armour of the respective
+    proprietor; consisting of his whitened shield, embossed and emblazoned
+    with the figure of his protecting <em>medicine</em> (or mystery), his
+    bow and quiver, his war-club or battle-axe, his dart or javelin—his
+    tobacco pouch and pipe—his medicine-bag—and his eagle—ermine or raven
+    head-dress; and over all, and on the top of the post (as if placed
+    by some conjuror or Indian magician, to guard and protect the spell
+    of wildness that reigns in this strange place), stands forth and in
+    full relief the head and horns of a buffalo, which is, by a village
+    regulation, owned and possessed by every man in the nation, and hung at
+    the head of his bed, which he uses as a mask when called upon by the
+    chiefs, to join in the buffalo-dance, of which I shall say more in a
+    future epistle.</p>
+
+  <p>This arrangement of beds, of arms, &amp;c., combining the most vivid
+    display and arrangement of colours, of furs, of trinkets—of barbed and
+    glistening points and steel—of mysteries and hocus pocus, together
+    with the sombre and smoked colour of the roof and sides of the
+    lodge; and the wild, and rude and red—the graceful (though uncivil)
+    conversational, garrulous, story-telling and happy, though ignorant
+    and untutored groups, that are smoking their pipes—wooing their
+    sweethearts, and embracing their little ones about their peaceful and
+    endeared fire-sides; together with their pots and kettles, spoons,
+    and other culinary articles of their own manufacture, around them;
+    present altogether, one of the most picturesque scenes to the eye of a
+    stranger, that can be possibly seen; and far more wild and vivid than
+    could ever be imagined.</p>
+
+  <p>Reader, I said these people were garrulous, story-telling and happy;
+    this is true, and literally so; and it belongs to me to establish the
+    fact, and correct the error which seems to have gone forth to the world
+    on this subject.</p>
+
+  <p>As I have before observed, there is no subject that I know of within
+    the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> scope and reach of human wisdom, on which the civilized world in
+    this enlightened age are more incorrectly informed, than upon that
+    of the true manners and customs, and moral condition, rights and
+    abuses, of the North American Indians; and that, as I have also before
+    remarked, chiefly on account of the difficulty of our cultivating a
+    fair and honourable acquaintance with them, and doing them the justice,
+    and ourselves the credit, of a fair and impartial investigation of
+    their true character. The present age of refinement and research has
+    brought every thing else that I know of (and a vast deal more than
+    the most enthusiastic mind ever dreamed of) within the scope and fair
+    estimation of refined intellect and of science; while the wild and
+    timid savage, with his interesting customs and modes has vanished, or
+    his character has become changed, at the approach of the enlightened
+    and intellectual world; who follow him like a phantom for awhile, and
+    in ignorance of his true character at last turn back to the common
+    business and social transactions of life.</p>
+
+  <p>Owing to the above difficulties, which have stood in the way, the world
+    have fallen into many egregious errors with regard to the true modes
+    and meaning of the savage, which I am striving to set forth and correct
+    in the course of these epistles. And amongst them all, there is none
+    more common, nor more entirely erroneous, nor more easily refuted,
+    than the current one, that “the Indian is a sour, morose, reserved and
+    taciturn man.” I have heard this opinion advanced a thousand times and
+    I believed it; but such certainly, is not uniformly nor generally the
+    case.</p>
+
+  <p>I have observed in all my travels amongst the Indian tribes, and
+    more particularly amongst these unassuming people, that they are a
+    far more talkative and conversational race than can easily be seen
+    in the civilized world. This assertion, like many others I shall
+    occasionally make, will somewhat startle the folks at the East, yet
+    it is true. No one can look into the wigwams of these people, or into
+    any little momentary group of them, without being at once struck with
+    the conviction that small-talk, gossip, garrulity, and story-telling,
+    are the leading passions with them, who have little else to do in
+    the world, but to while away their lives in the innocent and endless
+    amusement of the exercise of those talents with which Nature has
+    liberally endowed them, for their mirth and enjoyment.</p>
+
+  <p>One has but to walk or ride about this little town and its environs
+    for a few hours in a pleasant day, and overlook the numerous games and
+    gambols, where their notes and yelps of exultation are unceasingly
+    vibrating in the atmosphere; or peep into their wigwams (and watch
+    the glistening fun that’s beaming from the noses, cheeks, and chins,
+    of the crouching, cross-legged, and prostrate groups around the fire;
+    where the pipe is passed, and jokes and anecdote, and laughter are
+    excessive) to become convinced that it is natural to laugh and be
+    merry. Indeed it would be strange if a race of people like these, who
+    have little else to do or relish in life, should be curtailed in that
+    source of pleasure and amusement; and it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> would be also strange, if a
+    life-time of indulgence and practice in so innocent and productive a
+    mode of amusement, free from the cares and anxieties of business or
+    professions, should not advance them in their modes, and enable them to
+    draw far greater pleasure from such sources, than we in the civilized
+    and business world can possibly feel. If the uncultivated condition of
+    their minds curtails the number of their enjoyments; yet they are free
+    from, and independent of, a thousand cares and jealousies, which arise
+    from mercenary motives in the civilized world; and are yet far a-head
+    of us (in my opinion) in the real and uninterrupted enjoyment of their
+    simple natural faculties.</p>
+
+  <p>They live in a country and in communities, where it is not customary
+    to look forward into the future with concern, for they live without
+    incurring the expenses of life, which are absolutely necessary and
+    unavoidable in the enlightened world; and of course their inclinations
+    and faculties are solely directed to the enjoyment of the present day,
+    without the sober reflections on the past or apprehensions of the
+    future.</p>
+
+  <p>With minds thus unexpanded and uninfluenced by the thousand passions
+    and ambitions of civilized life, it is easy and natural to concentrate
+    their thoughts and their conversation upon the little and trifling
+    occurrences of their lives. They are fond of fun and good cheer, and
+    can laugh easily and heartily at a slight joke, of which their peculiar
+    modes of life furnish them an inexhaustible fund, and enable them to
+    cheer their little circle about the wigwam fire-side with endless
+    laughter and garrulity.</p>
+
+  <p>It may be thought, that I am taking a great deal of pains to establish
+    this fact, and I am dwelling longer upon it than I otherwise should,
+    inasmuch as I am opposing an error that seems to have become current
+    through the world; and which, if it be once corrected, removes a
+    material difficulty, which has always stood in the way of a fair and
+    just estimation of the Indian character. For the purpose of placing
+    the Indian in a proper light before the world, as I hope to do in
+    many respects, it is of importance to me—it is but justice to the
+    savage—and justice to my readers also, that such points should be
+    cleared up as I proceed; and for the world who enquire for correct and
+    just information, they must take my words for the truth, or else come
+    to this country and look for themselves, into these grotesque circles
+    of never-ending laughter and fun, instead of going to Washington
+    City to gaze on the poor embarrassed Indian who is called there by
+    his “Great Father,” to contend with the sophistry of the learned and
+    acquisitive world, in bartering away his lands with the graves and the
+    hunting grounds of his ancestors. There is not the proper place to
+    study the Indian character; yet it is the place where the sycophant and
+    the scribbler go to gaze and frown upon him—to learn his character,
+    and write his history! and because he does not speak, and quaffs the
+    delicious beverage which he receives from white men’s hands, “he’s a
+    speechless brute and a drunkard.” An Indian is a beggar in Washington
+    City, and a white man is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> almost equally so in the Mandan village. An
+    Indian in Washington is mute, is dumb and embarrassed; and so is a
+    white man (and for the very same reasons) in this place—he has nobody
+    to talk to.</p>
+
+  <p>A wild Indian, to reach the civilized world, must needs travel
+    some thousands of miles in vehicles of conveyance, to which he is
+    unaccustomed—through latitudes and longitudes which are new to
+    him—living on food that he is unused to—stared and gazed at by the
+    thousands and tens of thousands whom he cannot talk to—his heart
+    grieving and his body sickening at the exhibition of white men’s wealth
+    and luxuries, which are enjoyed on the land, and over the bones of
+    his ancestors. And at the end of his journey he stands (like a caged
+    animal) to be scanned—to be criticised—to be pitied—and heralded to the
+    world as a mute—as a brute, and a beggar.</p>
+
+  <p>A white man, to reach this village, must travel by steam-boat—by
+    canoes—on horseback and on foot; swim rivers—wade quagmires—fight
+    mosquitoes—patch his moccasins, and patch them again and again, and his
+    breeches; live on meat alone—sleep on the ground the whole way, and
+    think and dream of his friends he has left behind; and when he gets
+    here, half-starved, and half-naked, and more than half sick, he finds
+    himself a beggar for a place to sleep, and for something to eat; a
+    mute amongst thousands who flock about him, to look and to criticise,
+    and to laugh at him for his jaded appearance, and to speak of him as
+    they do of all white men (without distinction) as liars. These people
+    are in the habit of seeing no white men in their country but Traders,
+    and know of no other; deeming us all alike, and receiving us all under
+    the presumption that we come to trade or barter; applying to us all,
+    indiscriminately, the epithet of “liars” or Traders.</p>
+
+  <p>The reader will therefore see, that we mutually suffer in each other’s
+    estimation from the unfortunate ignorance, which distance has chained
+    us in; and (as I can vouch, and the Indian also, who has visited
+    the civilized world) that the historian who would record justly and
+    correctly the character and customs of a people, must go and live among
+    them.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_12">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 12.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> my last, I gave some account of the village, and the customs, and
+    appearances of this strange people,—and I will now proceed to give
+    further details on that subject.</p>
+
+  <p>I have this morning, perched myself upon the top of one of the
+    earth-covered lodges, which I have before described, and having the
+    whole village beneath and about me (<a href="#i_047"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 47</a>), with its
+    sachems—its warriors—its dogs—and its horses in motion—its medicines
+    (or mysteries) and scalp-poles waving over my head—its piquets—its
+    green fields and prairies, and river in full view, with the din and
+    bustle of the thrilling panorama that is about me. I shall be able, I
+    hope, to give some sketches more to the life than I could have done
+    from any effort of recollection.</p>
+
+  <p>I said that the lodges or wigwams were covered with earth—were of forty
+    or sixty feet in diameter, and so closely grouped that there was but
+    just room enough to walk and ride between them,—that they had a door by
+    which to enter them, and a hole in the top for the admission of light,
+    and for the smoke to escape,—that the inmates were at times grouped
+    upon their tops in conversations and other amusements, &amp;c.; and yet
+    you know not exactly how they look, nor what is the precise appearance
+    of the strange world that is about me. There is really a newness
+    and rudeness in every thing that is to be seen. There are several
+    hundred houses or dwellings about me, and they are purely unique—they
+    are all covered with dirt—the people are all red, and yet distinct
+    from all other red folks I have seen. The horses are wild—every dog
+    is a wolf—the whole moving mass are strangers to me: the living, in
+    everything, carry an air of intractable wildness about them, and the
+    dead are not buried, but dried upon scaffolds.</p>
+
+  <p>The groups of lodges around me present a very curious and pleasing
+    appearance, resembling in shape (more nearly than anything else I
+    can compare them to) so many potash-kettles inverted. On the tops
+    of these are to be seen groups standing and reclining, whose wild
+    and picturesque appearance it would be difficult to describe. Stern
+    warriors, like statues, standing in dignified groups, wrapped in their
+    painted robes, with their heads decked and plumed with quills of the
+    war-eagle; extending their long arms to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> the east or the west, the
+    scenes of their battles, which they are recounting over to each other.
+    In another direction, the wooing lover, softening the heart of his fair
+    Taih-nah-tai-a with the notes of his simple lute. On other lodges, and
+    beyond these, groups are engaged in games of the “moccasin,” or the
+    “platter.” Some are to be seen manufacturing robes and dresses, and
+    others, fatigued with amusements or occupations, have stretched their
+    limbs to enjoy the luxury of sleep, whilst basking in the sun. With
+    all this wild and varied medley of living beings are mixed their dogs,
+    which seem to be so near an Indian’s heart, as almost to constitute a
+    material link of his existence.</p>
+
+  <p>In the centre of the village is an open space, or public area, of 150
+    feet in diameter, and circular in form, which is used for all public
+    games and festivals, shews and exhibitions; and also for their “annual
+    religious ceremonies,” which are soon to take place, and of which I
+    shall hereafter give some account. The lodges around this open space
+    front in, with their doors towards the centre; and in the middle of
+    this circle stands an object of great religious veneration, as I am
+    told, on account of the importance it has in the conduction of those
+    annual religious rites.</p>
+
+  <p>This object is in form of a large hogshead, some eight or ten feet
+    high, made of planks and hoops, containing within it some of their
+    choicest medicines or mysteries, and religiously preserved unhacked or
+    scratched, as a symbol of the “Big Canoe,” as they call it.</p>
+
+  <p>One of the lodges fronting on this circular area, and facing this
+    strange object of their superstition, is called the “Medicine Lodge,”
+    or council house. It is in this sacred building that these wonderful
+    ceremonies, in commemoration of the flood, take place. I am told by the
+    Traders that the cruelties of these scenes are frightful and abhorrent
+    in the extreme; and that this huge wigwam, which is now closed, has
+    been built exclusively for this grand celebration. I am every day
+    reminded of the near approach of the season for this strange affair,
+    and as I have not yet seen any thing of it, I cannot describe it; I
+    know it only from the relations of the Traders who have witnessed parts
+    of it; and their descriptions are of so extraordinary a character, that
+    I would not be willing to describe until I can see for myself,—which
+    will, in all probability, be in a few days.</p>
+
+  <p>In ranging the eye over the village from where I am writing, there
+    is presented to the view the strangest mixture and medley of
+    unintelligible trash (independent of the living beings that are in
+    motion), that can possibly be imagined. On the roofs of the lodges,
+    besides the groups of living, are buffaloes’ skulls, skin canoes,
+    pots and pottery; sleds and sledges—and suspended on poles, erected
+    some twenty feet above the doors of their wigwams, are displayed in a
+    pleasant day, the scalps of warriors, preserved as trophies; and thus
+    proudly exposed as evidence of their warlike deeds. In other parts are
+    raised on poles the warriors’ pure and whitened shields and quivers,
+    with medicine-bags attached; and here and there a sacrifice of red
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span>cloth, or other costly stuff, offered up to the Great Spirit, over
+    the door of some benignant chief, in humble gratitude for the blessings
+    which he is enjoying. Such is a part of the strange medley that is
+    before and around me; and amidst them and the blue streams of smoke
+    that are rising from the tops of these hundred “coal-pits,” can be
+    seen in distance, the green and boundless, treeless, bushless prairie;
+    and on it, and contiguous to the piquet which encloses the village, a
+    hundred scaffolds on which their “dead live,” as they term it.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>26</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_047">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_047.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>47</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_048">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_048.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>48</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>These people never bury the dead, but place the bodies on slight
+    scaffolds just above the reach of human hands, and out of the way of
+    wolves and dogs; and they are there left to moulder and decay. This
+    cemetery, or place of deposite for the dead, is just back of the
+    village, on a level prairie (<a href="#i_048"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 48</a>); and with all its
+    appearances, history, forms, ceremonies, &amp;c. is one of the strangest
+    and most interesting objects to be described in the vicinity of this
+    peculiar race.</p>
+
+  <p>Whenever a person dies in the Mandan village, and the customary honours
+    and condolence are paid to his remains, and the body dressed in its
+    best attire, painted, oiled, feasted, and supplied with bow and quiver,
+    shield, pipe and tobacco—knife, flint and steel, and provisions enough
+    to last him a few days on the journey which he is to perform; a fresh
+    buffalo’s skin, just taken from the animal’s back, is wrapped around
+    the body, and tightly bound and wound with thongs of raw hide from head
+    to foot. Then other robes are soaked in water, till they are quite
+    soft and elastic, which are also bandaged around the body in the same
+    manner, and tied fast with thongs, which are wound with great care and
+    exactness, so as to exclude the action of the air from all parts of the
+    body.</p>
+
+  <p>There is then a separate scaffold erected for it, constructed of four
+    upright posts, a little higher than human hands can reach; and on the
+    tops of these are small poles passing around from one post to the
+    others; across which a number of willow-rods just strong enough to
+    support the body, which is laid upon them on its back, with its feet
+    carefully presented towards the rising sun.</p>
+
+  <p>There are a great number of these bodies resting exactly in a similar
+    way; excepting in some instances where a chief, or medicine-man, may
+    be seen with a few yards of scarlet or blue cloth spread over his
+    remains, as a mark of public respect and esteem. Some hundreds of these
+    bodies may be seen reposing in this manner in this curious place, which
+    the Indians call, “the village of the dead;” and the traveller, who
+    visits this country to study and learn, will not only be struck with
+    the novel appearance of the scene; but if he will give attention to
+    the respect and devotions that are paid to this sacred place, he will
+    draw many a moral deduction that will last him through life: he will
+    learn, at least, that filial, conjugal, and paternal affection are not
+    necessarily the results of civilization; but that the Great Spirit
+    has given them to man in his native state; and that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> spices and
+    improvements of the enlightened world have never refined upon them.</p>
+
+  <p>There is not a day in the year in which one may not see in this place
+    evidences of this fact, that will wring tears from his eyes, and kindle
+    in his bosom a spark of respect and sympathy for the poor Indian, if
+    he never felt it before. Fathers, mothers, wives, and children, may
+    be seen lying under these scaffolds, prostrated upon the ground, with
+    their faces in the dirt, howling forth incessantly the most piteous
+    and heart-broken cries and lamentations for the misfortunes of their
+    kindred; tearing their hair—cutting their flesh with their knives,
+    and doing other penance to appease the spirits of the dead, whose
+    misfortunes they attribute to some sin or omission of their own, for
+    which they sometimes inflict the most excruciating self-torture.</p>
+
+  <p>When the scaffolds on which the bodies rest, decay and fall to the
+    ground, the nearest relations having buried the rest of the bones,
+    take the skulls, which are perfectly bleached and purified, and place
+    them in circles of an hundred or more on the prairie—placed at equal
+    distances apart (some eight or nine inches from each other), with the
+    faces all looking to the centre; where they are religiously protected
+    and preserved in their precise positions from year to year, as objects
+    of religious and affectionate veneration (<a href="#i_048"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 48</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>There are several of these “Golgothas” or circles of twenty or thirty
+    feet in diameter, and in the centre of each ring or circle is a
+    little mound of three feet high, on which uniformly rest two buffalo
+    skulls (a male and female); and in the centre of the little mound is
+    erected a “medicine pole,” about twenty feet high, supporting many
+    curious articles of mystery and superstition, which they suppose have
+    the power of guarding and protecting this sacred arrangement. Here
+    then, to this strange place do these people again resort, to evince
+    their further affections for the dead—not in groans and lamentations
+    however, for several years have cured the anguish; but fond affections
+    and endearments are here renewed, and conversations are here held and
+    cherished with the dead.</p>
+
+  <p>Each one of these skulls is placed upon a bunch of wild sage, which
+    has been pulled and placed under it. The wife knows (by some mark or
+    resemblance) the skull of her husband or her child, which lies in this
+    group; and there seldom passes a day that she does not visit it, with
+    a dish of the best cooked food that her wigwam affords, which she sets
+    before the skull at night, and returns for the dish in the morning.
+    As soon as it is discovered that the sage on which the skull rests is
+    beginning to decay, the woman cuts a fresh bunch, and places the skull
+    carefully upon it, removing that which was under it.</p>
+
+  <p>Independent of the above-named duties, which draw the women to this
+    spot, they visit it from inclination, and linger upon it to hold
+    converse and company with the dead. There is scarcely an hour in a
+    pleasant day, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> more or less of these women may be seen sitting or
+    laying by the skull of their child or husband—talking to it in the most
+    pleasant and endearing language that they can use (as they were wont
+    to do in former days) and seemingly getting an answer back. It is not
+    unfrequently the case, that the woman brings her needle-work with her,
+    spending the greater part of the day, sitting by the side of the skull
+    of her child, chatting incessantly with it, while she is embroidering
+    or garnishing a pair of moccasins; and perhaps, overcome with fatigue,
+    falls asleep, with her arms encircled around it, forgetting herself for
+    hours; after which she gathers up her things and returns to the village.</p>
+
+  <p>There is something exceedingly interesting and impressive in these
+    scenes, which are so strikingly dissimilar, and yet within a few rods
+    of each other; the one is the place where they pour forth the frantic
+    anguish of their souls—and afterwards pay their visits to the other, to
+    jest and gossip with the dead.</p>
+
+  <p>The great variety of shapes and characters exhibited in these groups
+    of crania, render them a very interesting study for the craniologist
+    and phrenologist; but I apprehend that it would be a matter of great
+    difficulty (if not of impossibility) to procure them at this time, for
+    the use and benefit of the scientific world.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_13">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 13.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> several of my former Letters I have given sketches of the village,
+    and some few of the customs of these peculiar people; and I have many
+    more yet in store; some of which will induce the readers to laugh, and
+    others almost dispose them to weep. But at present, I drop them, and
+    introduce a few of the wild and gentlemanly Mandans themselves; and
+    first, Ha-na-tah-nu-mauh, the wolf chief (<a href="#i_049"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 49</a>). This
+    man is head-chief of the nation, and familiarly known by the name of
+    “Chef de Loup,” as the French Traders call him; a haughty, austere, and
+    overbearing man, respected and feared by his people rather than loved.
+    The tenure by which this man holds his office, is that by which the
+    head-chiefs of most of the tribes claim, that of inheritance. It is
+    a general, though not an infallible rule amongst the numerous tribes
+    of North American Indians, that the office of chief belongs to the
+    eldest son of a chief; provided he shews himself, by his conduct, to be
+    equally worthy of it as any other in the nation: making it hereditary
+    on a very proper condition—in default of which requisites, or others
+    which may happen, the office is elective.</p>
+
+  <p>The dress of this chief was one of great extravagance, and some beauty;
+    manufactured of skins, and a great number of quills of the raven,
+    forming his stylish head-dress.</p>
+
+  <p>The next and second chief of the tribe, is Mah-to-toh-pa (the four
+    bears). This extraordinary man, though second in office is undoubtedly
+    the first and most popular man in the nation. Free, generous, elegant
+    and gentlemanly in his deportment—handsome, brave and valiant; wearing
+    a robe on his back, with the history of his battles emblazoned on it;
+    which would fill a book of themselves, if properly translated. This,
+    readers, is the most extraordinary man, perhaps, who lives at this day,
+    in the atmosphere of Nature’s noblemen; and I shall certainly tell you
+    more of him anon.</p>
+
+  <p>After him, there are Mah-tahp-ta-ha, he who rushes through the
+    middle (<a href="#i_050"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 50</a>); Seehk-hee-da, the mouse-coloured
+    feather (<a href="#i_050"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 51</a>); San-ja-ka-ko-kah (the deceiving wolf);
+    Mah-to-he-ha (the old bear), and others, distinguished as chiefs and
+    warriors—and there are belles also; such as Mi-neek-e-sunk-te-ca, the
+    mink (<a href="#i_052"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 53</a>); and the little gray-haired Sha-ko-ka, mint
+    (<a href="#i_052"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 52</a>); and fifty others, who are famous for
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span>their
+    conquests, not with the bow or the javelin, but with their small black
+    eyes, which shoot out from under their unfledged brows, and pierce the
+    boldest, fiercest chieftain to the heart.</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75" id="i_049">
+    <div class="plate"><i>27</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_049.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>49</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>28</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_050">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_050.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">50</span><span class="col50">51</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_052">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_052.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">52</span><span class="col50">53</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The Mandans are certainly a very interesting and pleasing people in
+    their personal appearance and manners; differing in many respects, both
+    in looks and customs, from all other tribes which I have seen. They
+    are not a warlike people; for they seldom, if ever, carry war into
+    their enemies’ country; but when invaded, shew their valour and courage
+    to be equal to that of any people on earth. Being a small tribe, and
+    unable to contend on the wide prairies with the Sioux and other roaming
+    tribes, who are ten times more numerous; they have very judiciously
+    located themselves in a permanent village, which is strongly fortified,
+    and ensures their preservation. By this means they have advanced
+    further in the arts of manufacture; have supplied their lodges more
+    abundantly with the comforts, and even luxuries of life, than any
+    Indian nation I know of. The consequence of this is, that this tribe
+    have taken many steps ahead of other tribes in manners and refinements
+    (if I may be allowed to apply the word refinement to Indian life); and
+    are therefore familiarly (and correctly) denominated, by the Traders
+    and others, who have been amongst them, “the polite and friendly
+    Mandans.”</p>
+
+  <p>There is certainly great justice in the remark; and so forcibly have
+    I been struck with the peculiar ease and elegance of these people,
+    together with the diversity of complexions, the various colours of
+    their hair and eyes; the singularity of their language, and their
+    peculiar and unaccountable customs, that I am fully convinced that
+    they have sprung from some other origin than that of the other North
+    American tribes, or that they are an amalgam of natives with some
+    civilized race.</p>
+
+  <p>Here arises a question of very great interest and importance for
+    discussion; and, after further familiarity with their character,
+    customs, and traditions, if I forget it not, I will eventually give it
+    further consideration. Suffice it then, for the present, that their
+    <em>personal appearance</em> alone, independent of their modes and
+    customs, pronounces them at once, as more or less, than savage.</p>
+
+  <p>A stranger in the Mandan village is first struck with the different
+    shades of complexion, and various colours of hair which he sees in a
+    crowd about him; and is at once almost disposed to exclaim that “these
+    are not Indians.”</p>
+
+  <p>There are a great many of these people whose complexions appear as
+    light as half breeds; and amongst the women particularly, there are
+    many whose skins are almost white, with the most pleasing symmetry
+    and proportion of features; with hazel, with grey, and with blue
+    eyes,—with mildness and sweetness of expression, and excessive modesty
+    of demeanour, which render them exceedingly pleasing and beautiful.</p>
+
+  <p>Why this diversity of complexion I cannot tell, nor can they
+    themselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> account for it. Their traditions, so far as I have yet
+    learned them, afford us no information of their having had any
+    knowledge of white men before the visit of Lewis and Clarke, made to
+    their village thirty-three years ago. Since that time there have been
+    but very few visits from white men to this place, and surely not enough
+    to have changed the complexions and the customs of a nation. And I
+    recollect perfectly well that Governor Clarke told me, before I started
+    for this place, that I would find the Mandans a strange people and half
+    white.</p>
+
+  <p>The diversity in the colour of hair is also equally as great as that
+    in the complexion; for in a numerous group of these people (and more
+    particularly amongst the females, who never take pains to change its
+    natural colour, as the men often do), there may be seen every shade and
+    colour of hair that can be seen in our own country, with the exception
+    of red or auburn, which is not to be found.</p>
+
+  <p>And there is yet one more strange and unaccountable peculiarity, which
+    can probably be seen nowhere else on earth; nor on any rational grounds
+    accounted for,—other than it is a freak or order of Nature, for which
+    she has not seen fit to assign a reason. There are very many, of both
+    sexes, and of every age, from infancy to manhood and old age, with hair
+    of a bright silvery grey; and in some instances almost perfectly white.</p>
+
+  <p>This singular and eccentric appearance is much oftener seen among the
+    women than it is with the men; for many of the latter who have it,
+    seem ashamed of it, and artfully conceal it, by filling their hair
+    with glue and black and red earth. The women, on the other hand, seem
+    proud of it, and display it often in an almost incredible profusion,
+    which spreads over their shoulders and falls as low as the knee. I have
+    ascertained, on a careful enquiry, that about one in ten or twelve of
+    the whole tribe are what the French call “cheveux gris,” or greyhairs;
+    and that this strange and unaccountable phenomenon is not the result of
+    disease or habit; but that it is unquestionably a hereditary character
+    which runs in families, and indicates no inequality in disposition or
+    intellect. And by passing this hair through my hands, as I often have,
+    I have found it uniformly to be as coarse and harsh as a horse’s mane;
+    differing materially from the hair of other colours, which amongst the
+    Mandans, is generally as fine and as soft as silk.</p>
+
+  <p>The reader will at once see, by the above facts, that there is enough
+    upon the faces and heads of these people to stamp them peculiar,—when
+    he meets them in the heart of this almost boundless wilderness,
+    presenting such diversities of colour in the complexion and hair; when
+    he knows from what he has seen, and what he has read, that all other
+    primitive tribes known in America, are dark copper-coloured, with jet
+    black hair.</p>
+
+  <p>From these few facts alone, the reader will see that I am amongst a
+    strange and interesting people, and know how to pardon me, if I lead
+    him through a maze of novelty and mysteries to the knowledge of a
+    strange, yet kind and hospitable, people, whose fate, like that of all
+    their race is sealed;—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> whose doom is fixed, to live just long enough
+    to be imperfectly known, and then to fall before the fell disease or
+    sword of civilizing devastation.</p>
+
+  <p>The stature of the Mandans is rather below the ordinary size of
+    man, with beautiful symmetry of form and proportion, and wonderful
+    suppleness and elasticity; they are pleasingly erect and graceful,
+    both in their walk and their attitudes; and the hair of the men,
+    which generally spreads over their backs, falling down to the hams,
+    and sometimes to the ground, is divided into plaits or slabs of two
+    inches in width, and filled with a profusion of glue and red earth or
+    vermilion, at intervals of an inch or two, which becoming very hard,
+    remains in and unchanged from year to year.</p>
+
+  <p>This mode of dressing the hair is curious, and gives to the Mandans the
+    most singular appearance. The hair of the men is uniformly all laid
+    over from the forehead backwards; carefully kept above and resting on
+    the ear, and thence falling down over the back, in these flattened
+    bunches, and painted red, extending oftentimes quite on to the calf
+    of the leg, and sometimes in such profusion as almost to conceal the
+    whole figure from the person walking behind them. In the portrait of
+    San-ja-ka-ko-kah (the deceiving wolf, <a href="#i_054"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 54</a>), where he is
+    represented at full length, with several others of his family around
+    him in a group, there will be seen a fair illustration of these and
+    other customs of these people.</p>
+
+  <p>The hair of the women is also worn as long as they can possibly
+    cultivate it, oiled very often, which preserves on it a beautiful gloss
+    and shows its natural colour. They often braid it in two large plaits,
+    one falling down just back of the ear, on each side of the head; and
+    on any occasion which requires them to “put on their best looks,” they
+    pass their fingers through it, drawing it out of braid, and spreading
+    it over their shoulders. The Mandan women observe strictly the same
+    custom, which I observed amongst the Crows and Blackfeet (and, in fact,
+    all other tribes I have seen, without a single exception), of parting
+    the hair on the forehead, and always keeping the crease or separation
+    filled with vermilion or other red paint. This is one of the very few
+    little (and apparently trivial) customs which I have found amongst the
+    Indians, without being able to assign any cause for it, other than that
+    “they are Indians,” and that this is an Indian fashion.</p>
+
+  <p>In mourning, like the Crows and most other tribes the women are obliged
+    to crop their hair all off; and the usual term of that condolence is
+    until the hair has grown again to its former length.</p>
+
+  <p>When a man mourns for the death of a near relation the case is quite
+    different; his long, valued tresses, are of much greater importance,
+    and only a lock or two can be spared. Just enough to tell of his grief
+    to his friends, without destroying his most valued ornament, is doing
+    just reverence and respect to the dead.</p>
+
+  <p>To repeat what I have said before, the Mandans are a pleasing and
+    friendly race of people, of whom it is proverbial amongst the Traders
+    and all who ever have known them that their treatment of white men
+    in their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> country has been friendly and kind ever since their first
+    acquaintance with them—they have ever met and received them, on the
+    prairie or in their villages, with hospitality and honour.</p>
+
+  <p>They are handsome, straight and elegant in their forms—not tall,
+    but quick and graceful; easy and polite in their manners, neat in
+    their persons and beautifully clad. When I say “neat in person and
+    beautifully clad,” however, I do not intend my readers to understand
+    that such is the case with them all, for among them and most other
+    tribes, as with the enlightened world, there are different grades of
+    society—those who care but little for their personal appearance, and
+    those who take great pains to please themselves and their friends.
+    Amongst this class of personages, such as chiefs and braves, or
+    warriors of distinction, and their families, and dandies or exquisites
+    (a class of beings of whom I shall take due time to speak in a future
+    Letter), the strictest regard to decency, and cleanliness and elegance
+    of dress is observed; and there are few people, perhaps, who take more
+    pains to keep their persons neat and cleanly than they do.</p>
+
+  <p>At the distance of half a mile or so above the village, is the
+    customary place where the women and girls resort every morning in the
+    summer months, to bathe in the river. To this spot they repair by
+    hundreds, every morning at sunrise, where, on a beautiful beach, they
+    can be seen running and glistening in the sun, whilst they are playing
+    their innocent gambols and leaping into the stream. They all learn to
+    swim well, and the poorest swimmer amongst them will dash fearlessly
+    into the boiling and eddying current of the Missouri, and cross it with
+    perfect ease. At the distance of a quarter of a mile back from the
+    river, extends a terrace or elevated prairie, running north from the
+    village, and forming a kind of semi-circle around this bathing-place;
+    and on this terrace, which is some twenty or thirty feet higher than
+    the meadow between it and the river, are stationed every morning
+    several sentinels, with their bows and arrows in hand, to guard and
+    protect this sacred ground from the approach of boys or men from any
+    directions.</p>
+
+  <p>At a little distance below the village, also, is the place where
+    the men and boys go to bathe and learn to swim. After this morning
+    ablution, they return to their village, wipe their limbs dry, and use a
+    profusion of bear’s grease through their hair and over their bodies.</p>
+
+  <p>The art of swimming is known to all the American Indians; and perhaps
+    no people on earth have taken more pains to learn it, nor any who turn
+    it to better account. There certainly are no people whose avocations
+    of life more often call for the use of their limbs in this way; as
+    many of the tribes spend their lives on the shores of our vast lakes
+    and rivers, paddling about from their childhood in their fragile bark
+    canoes, which are liable to continual accidents, which often throw the
+    Indian upon his natural resources for the preservation of his life.</p>
+
+  <p>There are many times also, when out upon their long marches in the
+    prosecution of their almost continued warfare, when it becomes
+    necessary to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> plunge into and swim across the wildest streams and
+    rivers, at times when they have no canoes or craft in which to cross
+    them. I have as yet seen no tribe where this art is neglected. It is
+    learned at a very early age by both sexes, and enables the strong and
+    hardy muscles of the squaws to take their child upon the back, and
+    successfully to pass any river that lies in their way.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>29</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_054">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_054.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>54</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The mode of swimming amongst the Mandans, as well as amongst most of
+    the other tribes, is quite different from that practiced in those parts
+    of the civilized world, which I have had the pleasure yet to visit. The
+    Indian, instead of parting his hands simultaneously under the chin, and
+    making the stroke outward, in a horizontal direction, causing thereby
+    a serious strain upon the chest, throws his body alternately upon the
+    left and the right side, raising one arm entirely above the water and
+    reaching as far forward as he can, to dip it, whilst his whole weight
+    and force are spent upon the one that is passing under him, and like a
+    paddle propelling him along; whilst this arm is making a half circle,
+    and is being raised out of the water behind him, the opposite arm is
+    describing a similar arch in the air over his head, to be dipped in the
+    water as far as he can reach before him, with the hand turned under,
+    forming a sort of bucket, to act most effectively as it passes in its
+    turn underneath him.</p>
+
+  <p>By this bold and powerful mode of swimming, which may want the grace
+    that many would wish to see, I am quite sure, from the experience I
+    have had, that much of the fatigue and strain upon the breast and spine
+    are avoided, and that a man will preserve his strength and his breath
+    much longer in this alternate and rolling motion, than he can in the
+    usual mode of swimming, in the polished world.</p>
+
+  <p>In addition to the modes of bathing which I have above described,
+    the Mandans have another, which is a much greater luxury, and often
+    resorted to by the sick, but far more often by the well and sound, as
+    a matter of luxury only, or perhaps for the purpose of hardening their
+    limbs and preparing them for the thousand exposures and vicissitudes
+    of life to which they are continually liable. I allude to their vapour
+    baths, or <em>sudatories</em>, of which each village has several, and
+    which seem to be a kind of public property—accessible to all, and
+    resorted to by all, male and female, old and young, sick and well.</p>
+
+  <p>In every Mandan lodge is to be seen a crib or basket, much in the shape
+    of a bathing-tub, curiously woven with willow boughs, and sufficiently
+    large to receive any person of the family in a reclining or recumbent
+    posture; which, when any one is to take a bath, is carried by the squaw
+    to the sudatory for the purpose, and brought back to the wigwam again
+    after it has been used.</p>
+
+  <p>These sudatories are always near the village, above or below it, on
+    the bank of the river. They are generally built of skins (in form of
+    a Crow or Sioux lodge which I have before described), covered with
+    buffalo skins<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> sewed tight together, with a kind of furnace in the
+    centre; or in other words, in the centre of the lodge are two walls of
+    stone about six feet long and two and a half apart, and about three
+    feet high; across and over this space, between the two walls, are laid
+    a number of round sticks, on which the bathing crib is placed (vide
+    <a href="#i_071"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 71</a>). Contiguous to the lodge, and outside of it, is a
+    little furnace something similar, in the side of the bank, where the
+    woman kindles a hot fire, and heats to a red heat a number of large
+    stones, which are kept at these places for this particular purpose; and
+    having them all in readiness, she goes home or sends word to inform her
+    husband or other one who is waiting, that all is ready; when he makes
+    his appearance entirely naked, though with a large buffalo robe wrapped
+    around him. He then enters the lodge and places himself in the crib or
+    basket, either on his back or in a sitting posture (the latter of which
+    is generally preferred), with his back towards the door of the lodge;
+    when the squaw brings in a large stone red hot, between two sticks
+    (lashed together somewhat in the form of a pair of tongs) and, placing
+    it under him, throws cold water upon it, which raises a profusion of
+    vapour about him. He is at once enveloped in a cloud of steam, and a
+    woman or child will sit at a little distance and continue to dash water
+    upon the stone, whilst the matron of the lodge is out, and preparing to
+    make her appearance with another heated stone: or he will sit and dip
+    from a wooden bowl, with a ladle made of the mountain-sheep’s horn, and
+    throw upon the heated stones, with his own hands, the water which he is
+    drawing through his lungs and pores, in the next moment, in the most
+    delectable and exhilarating vapours, as it distils through the mat of
+    wild sage and other medicinal and aromatic herbs, which he has strewed
+    over the bottom of his basket, and on which he reclines.</p>
+
+  <p>During all this time the lodge is shut perfectly tight, and he quaffs
+    this delicious and renovating draught to his lungs with deep drawn
+    sighs, and with extended nostrils, until he is drenched in the most
+    profuse degree of perspiration that can be produced; when he makes a
+    kind of strangled signal, at which the lodge is opened, and he darts
+    forth with the speed of a frightened deer, and plunges headlong into
+    the river, from which he instantly escapes again, wraps his robe around
+    him and “leans” as fast as possible for home. Here his limbs are wiped
+    dry, and wrapped close and tight within the fur of the buffalo robes,
+    in which he takes his nap, with his feet to the fire; then oils his
+    limbs and hair with bear’s grease, dresses and plumes himself for a
+    visit—a feast—a parade, or a council; or slicks down his long hair,
+    and rubs his oiled limbs to a polish, with a piece of soft buckskin,
+    prepared to join in games of bail or Tchung-kee.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is the sudatory or the vapour bath of the Mandans, and as I before
+    observed, it is resorted to both as an every-day luxury by those who
+    have the time and energy or industry to indulge in it; and also used
+    by the sick as a remedy for nearly all the diseases which are known
+    amongst them.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> Fevers are very rare, and in fact almost unknown amongst
+    these people: but in the few cases of fever which have been known, this
+    treatment has been applied, and without the fatal consequences which
+    we would naturally predict. The greater part of their diseases are
+    inflammatory rheumatisms, and other chronic diseases; and for these,
+    this mode of treatment, with their modes of life, does admirably well.
+    This custom is similar amongst nearly all of these Missouri Indians,
+    and amongst the Pawnees, Omahas, and Punchas and other tribes, who have
+    suffered with the small-pox (the dread destroyer of the Indian race),
+    this mode was practiced by the poor creatures, who fled by hundreds
+    to the river’s edge, and by hundreds died before they could escape
+    from the waves, into which they had plunged in the heat and rage of a
+    burning fever. Such will yet be the scourge, and such the misery of
+    these poor unthinking people, and each tribe to the Rocky Mountains,
+    as it has been with every tribe between here and the Atlantic
+    Ocean. White men—whiskey—tomahawks—scalping knives—guns, powder and
+    ball—small-pox—debauchery—extermination.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_14">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 14.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.</div>
+
+  <p>The Mandans in many instances dress very neatly, and some of them
+    splendidly. As they are in their native state, their dresses are all
+    of their own manufacture; and of course, altogether made of skins of
+    different animals belonging to those regions. There is, certainly,
+    a reigning and striking similarity of costume amongst most of the
+    North Western tribes; and I cannot say that the dress of the Mandans
+    is decidedly distinct from that of the Crows or the Blackfeet, the
+    Assinneboins or the Sioux; yet there are modes of stitching or
+    embroidering, in every tribe, which may at once enable the traveller,
+    who is familiar with their modes, to detect or distinguish the dress
+    of any tribe. These differences consist generally in the fashions of
+    constructing the head-dress, or of garnishing their dresses with the
+    porcupine quills, which they use in great profusion.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst so many different and distinct nations, always at war with
+    each other, and knowing nothing at all of each other’s languages; and
+    amongst whom, fashions in dress seldom if ever change; it may seem
+    somewhat strange that we should find these people so nearly following,
+    or imitating each other, in the forms and modes of their dress and
+    ornaments. This must however, be admitted, and I think may be accounted
+    for in a manner, without raising the least argument in favour of the
+    theory of their having all sprung from one stock or one family; for in
+    their continual warfare, when chiefs or warriors fall, their clothes
+    and weapons usually fall into the possession of the victors, who wear
+    them; and the rest of the tribe would naturally more or less often
+    copy from or imitate them; and so also in their repeated councils or
+    treaties of peace, such articles of dress and other manufactures are
+    customarily exchanged, which are equally adopted by the other tribe;
+    and consequently, eventually lead to the similarity which we find
+    amongst the modes of dress, &amp;c. of the different tribes.</p>
+
+  <p>The tunic or shirt of the Mandan men is very similar in shape to that
+    of the Blackfeet—made of two skins of deer or mountain-sheep, strung
+    with scalp-locks, beads, and ermine. The leggings, like those of the
+    other tribes, of whom I have spoken, are made of deer skins, and shaped
+    to fit the leg, embroidered with porcupine quills, and fringed with
+    scalps from their enemies heads. Their moccasins are made of buckskin,
+    and neatly ornamented<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> with porcupine quills—over their shoulders (or
+    in other words, over one shoulder and passing under the other), they
+    very gracefully wear a robe from the young buffalo’s back, oftentimes
+    cut down to about half its original size, to make it handy and easy
+    for use. Many of these are also fringed on one side with scalp-locks;
+    and the flesh side of the skin curiously ornamented with pictured
+    representations of the creditable events and battles of their lives.</p>
+
+  <p>Their head-dresses are of various sorts, and many of them exceedingly
+    picturesque and handsome; generally made of war-eagles’ or ravens
+    quills and ermine. These are the most costly part of an Indian’s dress
+    in all this country, owing to the difficulty of procuring the quills
+    and the fur. The war-eagle being the “<i>rara avis</i>,” and the ermine
+    the rarest animal that is found in the country. The tail of a war-eagle
+    in this village, provided it is a perfect one, containing some six or
+    eight quills, which are denominated first-rate plumes, and suitable to
+    arrange in a head-dress, will purchase a tolerable good horse (horses,
+    however, are much cheaper here than they are in most other countries).
+    I have had abundant opportunities of learning the great value which
+    these people sometimes attach to such articles of dress and ornament,
+    as I have been purchasing a great many, which I intend to exhibit in
+    my Gallery of Indian Paintings, that the world may examine them for
+    themselves, and thereby be enabled to judge of the fidelity of my
+    works, and the ingenuity of Indian manufactures.</p>
+
+  <p>In these purchases I have often been surprised at the prices demanded
+    by them; and perhaps I could not recite a better instance of the kind,
+    than one which occurred here a few days since:—One of the chiefs, whom
+    I had painted at full length, in a beautiful costume, with head-dress
+    of war-eagles’ quills and ermine, extending quite down to his feet;
+    and whom I was soliciting for the purchase of his dress complete, was
+    willing to sell to me all but the head-dress; saying, that “he could
+    not part with that, as he would never be able to get quills and ermine
+    of so good a quality to make another like it.” I agreed with him,
+    however, for the rest of the dress, and importuned him, from day to
+    day, for the head-dress, until he at length replied, that, if I must
+    have it, he must have two horses for it; the bargain was instantly
+    struck—the horses were procured of the Traders at twenty-five dollars
+    each, and the head-dress secured for my Collection.</p>
+
+  <p>There is occasionally, a chief or a warrior of so extraordinary renown,
+    that he is allowed to wear horns on his head-dress, which give to his
+    aspect a strange and majestic effect. These are made of about a third
+    part of the horn of a buffalo bull; the horn having been split from end
+    to end, and a third part of it taken and shaved thin and light, and
+    highly polished. These are attached to the top of the head-dress on
+    each side, in the same place that they rise and stand on the head of
+    a buffalo; rising out of a mat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> of ermine skins and tails, which hang
+    over the top of the head-dress, somewhat in the form that the large and
+    profuse locks of hair hang and fall over the head of a buffalo bull.
+    See head-dress in <span class="smcap">plates</span> <a href="#i_014">14</a>, <a href="#i_064">64</a>, and <a href="#i_091">91</a>, of three different
+    tribes.</p>
+
+  <p>The same custom I have found observed amongst the Sioux,—the Crows—the
+    Blackfeet and Assinneboins, and it is one of so striking a character
+    as needs a few more words of observation. There is a peculiar meaning
+    or importance (in their estimation) to this and many other curious and
+    unaccountable appearances in the habits of Indians, upon which the
+    world generally look as things that are absurd and ridiculous, merely
+    because they are beyond the world’s comprehension, or because we do not
+    stop to enquire or learn their uses or meaning.</p>
+
+  <p>I find that the principal cause why we underrate and despise the
+    savage, is generally because we do not understand him; and the reason
+    why we are ignorant of him and his modes, is that we do not stop to
+    investigate—the world have been too much in the habit of looking
+    upon him as altogether inferior—as a beast, a brute; and unworthy
+    of more than a passing notice. If they stop long enough to form
+    an acquaintance, it is but to take advantage of his ignorance and
+    credulities—to rob him of the wealth and resources of his country;—to
+    make him drunk with whiskey, and visit him with abuses which in his
+    ignorance he never thought of. By this method his first visitors
+    entirely overlook and never understand the meaning of his thousand
+    interesting and characteristic customs; and at the same time, by
+    changing his native modes and habits of life, blot them out from the
+    view of the enquiring world for ever.</p>
+
+  <p>It is from the observance of a thousand little and apparently trivial
+    modes and tricks of Indian life, that the Indian character must be
+    learned; and, in fact, it is just the same with us if the subject were
+    reversed: excepting that the system of civilized life would furnish
+    ten apparently useless and ridiculous trifles to one which is found in
+    Indian life; and at least twenty to one which are purely nonsensical
+    and unmeaning.</p>
+
+  <p>The civilized world look upon a group of Indians, in their classic
+    dress, with their few and simple oddities, all of which have their
+    moral or meaning, and laugh at them excessively, because they are not
+    like ourselves—we ask, “why do the silly creatures wear such great
+    bunches of quills on their heads?—Such loads and streaks of paint upon
+    their bodies—and bear’s grease? abominable!” and a thousand other
+    equally silly questions, without ever stopping to think that Nature
+    taught them to do so—and that they all have some definite importance
+    or meaning which an Indian could explain to us at once, if he were
+    asked and felt disposed to do so—that each quill in his head stood,
+    in the eyes of his whole tribe, as the symbol of an enemy who had
+    fallen by his hand—that every streak of red paint covered a wound
+    which he had got in honourable combat—and that the bear’s grease with
+    which he carefully anoints his body every morning, from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> head to foot,
+    cleanses and purifies the body, and protects his skin from the bite of
+    mosquitoes, and at the same time preserves him from colds and coughs
+    which are usually taken through the pores of the skin.</p>
+
+  <p>At the same time, an Indian looks among the civilized world, no doubt,
+    with equal, if not much greater, astonishment, at our apparently, as
+    well as <em>really</em>, ridiculous customs and fashions; but he laughs
+    not, nor ridicules, nor questions,—for his natural good sense and good
+    manners forbid him,—until he is reclining about the fire-side of his
+    wigwam companions, when he vents forth his just criticisms upon the
+    learned world, who are a rich and just theme for Indian criticism and
+    Indian gossip.</p>
+
+  <p>An Indian will not ask a white man the reason why he does not oil his
+    skin with bears’ grease, or why he does not paint his body—or why he
+    wears a hat on his head, or why he has buttons on the back part of
+    his coat, where they never can be used—or why he wears whiskers, and
+    a shirt collar up to his eyes—or why he sleeps with his head towards
+    the fire instead of his feet—why he walks with his toes out instead of
+    turning them in—or why it is that hundreds of white folks will flock
+    and crowd round a table to see an Indian eat—but he will go home to his
+    wigwam fire-side, and “make the welkin ring” with jokes and fun upon
+    the ignorance and folly of the knowing world.</p>
+
+  <p>A wild Indian thrown into the civilized atmosphere will see a man
+    occasionally moving in society, wearing a cocked hat; and another with
+    a laced coat and gold or silver epaulettes upon his shoulders, without
+    knowing or enquiring the meaning of them, or the objects for which they
+    are worn. Just so a white man travels amongst a wild and untaught tribe
+    of Indians, and sees occasionally one of them parading about their
+    village, with a head-dress of eagles’ quills and ermine, and elevated
+    above it a pair of beautifully polished buffalo horns; and just as
+    ignorant is he also, of their meaning or importance; and more so, for
+    the first will admit the presumption that epaulettes and cocked hats
+    amongst the civilized world, are made for some important purpose,—but
+    the latter will presume that horns on an Indian’s head are nothing more
+    nor less (nor can they be in their estimation), than Indian nonsense
+    and stupidity.</p>
+
+  <p>This brings us to the “corned crest” again, and if the poor Indian
+    scans epaulettes and cocked hats, without enquiring their meaning,
+    and explaining them to his tribe, it is no reason why I should have
+    associated with the noble dignitaries of these western regions, with
+    horns and ermine on their heads, and then to have introduced the
+    subject without giving some further clue to their importance and
+    meaning. For me, this negligence would be doubly unpardonable, as I
+    travel, not to <em>trade</em> but to <em>herald</em> the Indian and his
+    dying customs to posterity.</p>
+
+  <p>This custom then, which I have before observed belongs to all the
+    north-western tribes, is one no doubt of very ancient origin, having
+    a purely classic meaning. No one wears the head-dress surmounted with
+    horns except<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> the dignitaries who are very high in authority, and whose
+    exceeding valour, worth, and power is admitted by all the nation.</p>
+
+  <p>He may wear them, however, who is not a <em>chief</em>; but a brave, or
+    warrior of such remarkable character, that he is esteemed universally
+    in the tribe, as a man whose “voice is as loud in council” as that of a
+    chief of the first grade, and consequently his <em>power</em> as great.</p>
+
+  <p>This head-dress with horns is used only on certain occasions, and they
+    are very seldom. When foreign chiefs, Indian agents, or other important
+    personages visit a tribe; or at war parades, at the celebration of
+    a victory, at public festivals, &amp;c. they are worn; but on no other
+    occasions—unless, sometimes, when a chief sees fit to lead a war-party
+    to battle, he decorates his head with this symbol of power, to
+    stimulate his men; and throws himself into the foremost of the battle,
+    inviting his enemy to concentrate their shafts upon him.</p>
+
+  <p>The horns on these head-dresses are but loosely attached at the bottom,
+    so that they easily fall back or forward, according as the head is
+    inclined forward or backward; and by an ingenious motion of the head,
+    which is so slight as to be almost imperceptible—they are made to
+    balance to and fro, and sometimes, one backward and the other forward
+    like a horse’s ears, giving a vast deal of expression and force of
+    character, to the appearance of the chief who is wearing them. This,
+    reader, is a remarkable instance (like hundreds of others), for its
+    striking similarity to <em>Jewish customs</em>, to the kerns (or keren,
+    in Hebrew), the horns worn by the Abysinian chiefs and Hebrews, as
+    a <em>symbol of power</em> and command; worn at great parades and
+    celebrations of victories.</p>
+
+  <p>“The false prophet Zedekiah, made him horns of iron” (1 Kings <abbr title="22">xxii</abbr>.
+    11). “Lift not your horns on high; speak not with a stiff neck” (Ps.
+    <abbr title="75">lxxv.</abbr> 5).</p>
+
+  <p>This last citation seems so exactly to convey to my mind the mode of
+    raising and changing the position of the horns by a motion of the head,
+    as I have above described, that I am irresistibly led to believe that
+    this custom is now practiced amongst these tribes very nearly as it
+    was amongst the Jews; and that it has been, like many other customs of
+    which I shall speak more in future epistles, handed down and preserved
+    with very little innovation or change from that ancient people.</p>
+
+  <p>The reader will see this custom exemplified in the portrait of
+    Mah-to-toh-pa (<a href="#i_064"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 64</a>). This man, although the second chief,
+    was the only man in the nation who was allowed to wear the horns; and
+    all, I found, looked upon him as the leader, who had the power to
+    lead all the warriors in time of war; and that, in consequence of the
+    extraordinary battles which he had fought.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_15">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 15.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">A week</span> or more has elapsed since the date of my last Letter, and
+    nothing as yet of the great and curious event—or the <em>Mandan
+    religious ceremony</em>. There is evidently much preparation making for
+    it, however; and from what I can learn, no one in the nation, save the
+    <em>medicine-men</em>, have any knowledge of the exact day on which it is
+    to commence. I am informed by the chiefs, that it takes place as soon
+    as the willow-tree is in full leaf; for, say they, “the twig which the
+    bird brought in was a willow bough, and had full-grown leaves on it.”
+    So it seems that this celebration has some relation to the Flood.</p>
+
+  <p>This great occasion is close at hand, and will, undoubtedly, commence
+    in a few days; in the meantime I will give a few notes and memorandums,
+    which I have made since my last.</p>
+
+  <p>I have been continually at work with my brush, with fine and
+    picturesque subjects before me; and from the strange, whimsical,
+    and superstitious notions which they have of an art so novel and
+    unaccountable to them, I have been initiated into many of their
+    mysteries—have witnessed many very curious incidents, and preserved
+    several anecdotes, some of which I must relate.</p>
+
+  <p>Perhaps nothing ever more completely astonished these people than
+    the operations of my <em>brush</em>. The art of portrait-painting
+    was a subject entirely new to them, and of course, unthought of;
+    and my appearance here has commenced a new era in the arcana of
+    <em>medicine</em> or mystery. Soon after arriving here, I commenced and
+    finished the portraits of the two principal chiefs. This was done
+    without having awakened the curiosity of the villagers, as they had
+    heard nothing of what was going on, and even the chiefs themselves
+    seemed to be ignorant of my designs, until the pictures were completed.
+    No one else was admitted into my lodge during the operation; and
+    when finished, it was exceedingly amusing to see them mutually
+    recognizing each other’s likeness, and assuring each other of the
+    striking resemblance which they bore to the originals. Both of these
+    pressed their hand over their mouths awhile in dead silence (a custom
+    amongst most tribes, when anything surprises them very much); looking
+    attentively upon the portraits and myself, and upon the palette and
+    colours with which these unaccountable effects had been produced.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span></p>
+
+  <p>They then walked up to me in the most gentle manner, taking me in
+    turn by the hand, with a firm grip; with head and eyes inclined
+    downwards, and in a tone a little above a whisper—pronounced the words
+    “te-ho-pe-nee Wash-ee!” and walked off.</p>
+
+  <p>Readers, at that moment I was christened with a new and a great
+    name—one by which I am now familiarly hailed, and talked of in this
+    village; and no doubt will be, as long as traditions last in this
+    strange community.</p>
+
+  <p>That moment conferred an honour on me, which you as yet do not
+    understand. I took the degree (not of Doctor of Laws, nor Bachelor of
+    Arts) of Master of Arts—of mysteries—of magic, and of hocus pocus.
+    I was recognized in that short sentence as a “great <em>medicine
+    white man</em>;” and since that time, have been regularly installed
+    <em>medicine</em> or mystery, which is the most honourable degree that
+    could be conferred upon me here; and I now hold a place amongst the
+    most eminent and envied personages, the doctors and conjurati of this
+    titled community.</p>
+
+  <p>Te-ho-pe-nee Wash-ee (or medicine white man) is the name I now go by,
+    and it will prove to me, no doubt, of more value than gold, for I have
+    been called upon and feasted by the doctors, who are all mystery-men;
+    and it has been an easy and successful passport already to many strange
+    and mysterious places; and has put me in possession of a vast deal of
+    curious and interesting information, which I am sure I never should
+    have otherwise learned. I am daily growing in the estimation of the
+    medicine-men and the chiefs; and by assuming all the gravity and
+    circumspection due from so high a dignitary (and even considerably
+    more); and endeavouring to perform now and then some art or trick that
+    is unfathomable, I am in hopes of supporting my standing, until the
+    great annual ceremony commences; on which occasion, I may possibly be
+    allowed a seat in the <em>medicine-lodge</em> by the doctors, who are the
+    sole conductors of this great source and fountain of all priestcraft
+    and conjuration in this country.</p>
+
+  <p>After I had finished the portraits of the two chiefs, and they had
+    returned to their wigwams, and deliberately seated themselves by their
+    respective fire-sides, and silently smoked a pipe or two (according
+    to an universal custom), they gradually began to tell what had taken
+    place; and at length crowds of gaping listeners, with mouths wide open,
+    thronged their lodges; and a throng of women and girls were about my
+    house, and through every crack and crevice I could see their glistening
+    eyes, which were piercing my hut in a hundred places, from a natural
+    and restless propensity, a curiosity to see what was going on within.
+    An hour or more passed in this way, and the soft and silken throng
+    continually increased, until some hundreds of them were clung, and
+    piled about my wigwam like a swarm of bees hanging on the front and
+    sides of their hive.</p>
+
+  <p>During this time, not a man made his appearance about the
+    premises—after awhile, however, they could be seen, folded in their
+    robes, gradually <em>siding</em> up towards the lodge, with a silly look
+    upon their faces, which confessed at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> once that curiosity was leading
+    them reluctantly, where their pride checked and forbade them to go. The
+    rush soon after became general, and the chiefs and medicine-men took
+    possession of my room, placing <em>soldiers</em> (braves with spears in
+    their hands) at the door, admitting no one, but such as were allowed by
+    the chiefs, to come in.</p>
+
+  <p>Monsr. Kipp (the agent of the Fur Company, who has lived here eight
+    years, and to whom, for his politeness and hospitality, I am much
+    indebted), at this time took a seat with the chiefs, and, speaking
+    their language fluently, he explained to them my views and the objects
+    for which I was painting these portraits; and also expounded to them
+    the manner in which they were made,—at which they seemed all to be very
+    much pleased. The necessity at this time of exposing the portraits to
+    the view of the crowds who were assembled around the house, became
+    imperative, and they were held up together over the door, so that
+    the whole village had a chance to see and recognize their chiefs.
+    The effect upon so mixed a multitude, who as yet had heard no way of
+    accounting for them, was novel and really laughable. The likenesses
+    were instantly recognized, and many of the gaping multitude commenced
+    yelping; some were stamping off in the jarring dance—others were
+    singing, and others again were crying—hundreds covered their mouths
+    with their hands and were mute; others, indignant, drove their spears
+    frightfully into the ground, and some threw a reddened arrow at the
+    sun, and went home to their wigwams.</p>
+
+  <p>The pictures seen,—the next curiosity was to see the man who made them,
+    and I was called forth. Readers! if you have any imagination, save me
+    the trouble of painting this scene. <span class="gesperrtstar">* * * * * * *</span> I stepped forth, and
+    was instantly hemmed in in the throng. Women were gaping and gazing—and
+    warriors and braves were offering me their hands,—whilst little boys
+    and girls, by dozens, were struggling through the crowd to touch me
+    with the ends of their fingers; and whilst I was engaged, from the
+    waist upwards, in fending off the throng and shaking hands, my legs
+    were assailed (not unlike the nibbling of little fish, when I have been
+    standing in deep water) by children, who were creeping between the legs
+    of the bystanders for the curiosity or honour of touching me with the
+    end of their finger. The eager curiosity and expression of astonishment
+    with which they gazed upon me, plainly shewed that they looked upon
+    me as some strange and unaccountable being. They pronounced me the
+    greatest <em>medicine-man</em> in the world; for they said I had made
+    <em>living beings</em>,—they said they could see their chiefs alive, in
+    two places—those that I had made were a <em>little</em> alive—they could
+    see their eyes move—could see them smile and laugh, and that if they
+    could laugh they could certainly speak, if they should try, and they
+    must therefore have <em>some life</em> in them.</p>
+
+  <p>The squaws generally agreed, that they had discovered life enough in
+    them to render my <em>medicine</em> too great for the Mandans; saying
+    that such an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> operation could not be performed without taking away from
+    the original something of his existence, which I put in the picture,
+    and they could see it move, could see it stir.</p>
+
+  <p>This curtailing of the natural existence, for the purpose of
+    instilling life into the secondary one, they decided to be an useless
+    and destructive operation, and one which was calculated to do great
+    mischief in their happy community; and they commenced a mournful and
+    doleful chaunt against me, crying and weeping bitterly through the
+    village, proclaiming me a most “dangerous man; one who could make
+    living persons by looking at them; and at the same time, could, as
+    a matter of course, destroy life in the same way, if I chose. That
+    my medicine was dangerous to their lives, and that I must leave the
+    village immediately. That bad luck would happen to those whom I
+    painted—that I was to take a part of the existence of those whom I
+    painted, and carry it home with me amongst the white people, and that
+    when they died they would never sleep quiet in their graves.”</p>
+
+  <p>In this way the women and some old quack medicine-men together,
+    had succeeded in raising an opposition against me; and the reasons
+    they assigned were so plausible and so exactly suited for their
+    superstitious feelings, that they completely succeeded in exciting
+    fears and a general panic in the minds of a number of chiefs who had
+    agreed to sit for their portraits, and my operations were, of course,
+    for several days completely at a stand. A grave council was held on
+    the subject from day to day, and there seemed great difficulty in
+    deciding what was to be done with me and the dangerous art which I was
+    practicing; and which had far exceeded their original expectations. I
+    finally got admittance to their sacred conclave, and assured them that
+    I was but a man like themselves,—that my art had no <em>medicine</em> or
+    mystery about it, but could be learned by any of them if they would
+    practice it as long as I had—that my intentions towards them were of
+    the most friendly kind, and that in the country where I lived, brave
+    men never allowed their squaws to frighten them with their foolish
+    whims and stories. They all immediately arose, shook me by the hand,
+    and dressed themselves for their pictures. After this, there was no
+    further difficulty about sitting; all were ready to be painted,—the
+    squaws were silent, and my painting-room a continual resort for the
+    chiefs, and braves, and medicine-men; where they waited with impatience
+    for the completion of each one’s picture,—that they could decide as to
+    the likeness as it came from under the brush; that they could laugh,
+    and yell, and sing a new song, and smoke a fresh pipe to the health and
+    success of him who had just been safely delivered from the hands and
+    the mystic operation of the “<em>white medicine</em>.”</p>
+
+  <p>In each of these operations, as they successfully took place, I
+    observed that a pipe or two were well filled, and as soon as I
+    commenced painting, the chiefs and braves, who sat around the sides
+    of the lodge, commenced smoking for the success of the picture (and
+    probably as much or more so for the safe deliverance of the sitter from
+    harm while under the operation);<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> and so they continued to pass the
+    pipe around until the portrait was completed.</p>
+
+  <p>In this way I progressed with my portraits, stopping occasionally
+    very suddenly as if something was wrong, and taking a tremendous puff
+    or two at the pipe, and streaming the smoke through my nostrils,
+    exhibiting in my looks and actions an evident relief; enabling me to
+    proceed with more facility and success,—by flattering and complimenting
+    each one on his good looks after I had got it done, and taking them
+    according to rank, or standing, making it a matter of honour with them,
+    which pleased them exceedingly, and gave me and my art the stamp of
+    respectability at once.</p>
+
+  <p>I was then taken by the arm by the chiefs, and led to their lodges,
+    where feasts were prepared for me in elegant style, <i>i. e.</i> in
+    the best manner which this country affords; and being led by the arm,
+    and welcomed to them by <em>gentlemen</em> of high and exalted feelings,
+    rendered them in my estimation truly elegant.</p>
+
+  <p>I was waited upon in due form and ceremony by the <em>medicine-men</em>,
+    who received me upon the old adage, “Similis simili gaudet.” I was
+    invited to a feast, and they presented me a <i lang="mhq">she-shee-quoi</i>,
+    or a doctor’s rattle, and also a magical wand, or a doctor’s staff,
+    strung with claws of the grizzly bear, with hoofs of the antelope—with
+    ermine—with wild sage and bat’s wings—and perfumed withal with the
+    <em>choice</em> and <em>savoury</em> odour of the pole-cat—a dog was
+    sacrificed and hung by the legs over my wigwam, and I was therefore and
+    thereby initiated into (and countenanced in the practice of) the arcana
+    of medicine or mystery, and considered a Fellow of the Extraordinary
+    Society of <em>Conjurati</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>Since this signal success and good fortune in my operations, things
+    have gone on very pleasantly, and I have had a great deal of amusement.
+    Some altercation has taken place, however, amongst the chiefs and
+    braves, with regard to standing or rank, of which they are exceedingly
+    jealous; and they must sit (if at all) in regular order, according to
+    that rank; the trouble is all settled at last, however, and I have had
+    no want of subjects, though a great many have become again alarmed,
+    and are unwilling to sit, for fear, as some say, that they will die
+    prematurely if painted; and as others say, that if they are painted,
+    the picture will live after they are dead, and they cannot sleep quiet
+    in their graves.</p>
+
+  <p>I have had several most remarkable occurrences in my painting-room, of
+    this kind, which have made me some everlasting enemies here; though
+    the minds and feelings of the chiefs and medicine-men have not been
+    affected by them. There has been three or four instances where proud
+    and aspiring young men have been in my lodge, and after gazing at the
+    portraits of the head chief across the room (which sits looking them
+    in the eyes), have raised their hands before their faces and walked
+    around to the side of the lodge, on the right or left, from whence to
+    take a long and fair side-look at the chief, instead of staring him
+    full in the face (which is a most unpardonable offence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> in all Indian
+    tribes); and after having got in that position, and cast their eyes
+    again upon the portrait which was yet looking them full in the face,
+    have thrown their robes over their heads and bolted out of the wigwam,
+    filled equally with astonishment and indignation; averring, as they
+    always will in a sullen mood, that they “saw the eyes move,”—that as
+    they walked around the room “the eyes of the portrait followed them.”
+    With these unfortunate gentlemen, repeated efforts have been made by
+    the Traders, and also by the chiefs and doctors, who understand the
+    illusion, to convince them of their error, by explaining the mystery;
+    but they will not hear to any explanation whatever; saying, that “what
+    they see with their eyes is always evidence enough for them;” that they
+    always “believe their own eyes sooner than a hundred tongues,” and all
+    efforts to get them a second time to my room, or into my company in any
+    place, have proved entirely unsuccessful.</p>
+
+  <p>I had trouble brewing also the other day from another source; one of
+    the “<em>medicines</em>” commenced howling and haranguing around my
+    domicil, amongst the throng that was outside, proclaiming that all who
+    were inside and being painted were fools and would soon die; and very
+    materially affecting thereby my popularity. I however sent for him
+    and called him in the next morning, when I was alone, having only the
+    interpreter with me; telling him that I had had my eye upon him for
+    several days, and had been so well pleased with his looks, that I had
+    taken great pains to find out his history, which had been explained by
+    all as one of a most extraordinary kind, and his character and standing
+    in his tribe as worthy of my particular notice; and that I had several
+    days since resolved that as soon as I had practiced my hand long enough
+    upon the others, to get the stiffness out of it (after paddling my
+    canoe so far as I had) and make it to work easily and successfully,
+    I would begin on his portrait, which I was then prepared to commence
+    on that day, and that I felt as if I could do him justice. He shook
+    me by the hand, giving me the “Doctor’s grip,” and beckoned me to sit
+    down, which I did, and we smoked a pipe together. After this was over,
+    he told me, that “he had no inimical feelings towards me, although he
+    had been telling the chiefs that they were all fools, and all would
+    die who had their portraits painted—that although he had set the old
+    women and children all crying, and even made some of the young warriors
+    tremble, yet he had no unfriendly feelings towards me, nor any fear
+    or dread of my art.” “I know you are a good man (said he), I know you
+    will do no harm to any one, your medicine is great and you are a great
+    ‘medicine-man.’ I would like to see myself very well—and so would all
+    of the chiefs; but they have all been many days in this medicine-house,
+    and they all know me well, and they have not asked me to come in and be
+    <em>made alive</em> with paints—my friend, I am glad that my people have
+    told you who I am—my heart is glad—I will go to my wigwam and eat, and
+    in a little while I will come, and you may go to work;”—another pipe
+    was lit and smoked, and he got up and went off. I prepared my canvass
+    and palette,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> and whistled away the time until twelve o’clock, before
+    he made his appearance; having used the whole of the fore-part of the
+    day at his toilette, arranging his dress and ornamenting his body for
+    his picture.</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75" id="i_055">
+  <div class="plate"><i>30</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_055.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>55</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>At that hour then, bedaubed and streaked with paints of various
+    colours, with bear’s grease and charcoal, with medicine-pipes in his
+    hands and foxes tails attached to his heels, entered Mah-to-he-ha (the
+    old bear, <a href="#i_055"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 55</a>), with a train of his own profession, who
+    seated themselves around him; and also a number of boys, whom it was
+    requested should remain with him, and whom I supposed it possible
+    might have been pupils, whom he was instructing in the mysteries of
+    <i>materia medica</i> and <i>hoca poca</i>. He took his position in
+    the middle of the room, waving his eagle calumets in each hand, and
+    singing his medicine-song which he sings over his dying patient,
+    looking me full in the face until I completed his picture, which I
+    painted at full length. His vanity has been completely gratified in
+    the operation; he lies for hours together, day after day, in my room,
+    in front of his picture, gazing intensely upon it; lights my pipe for
+    me while I am painting—shakes hands with me a dozen times on each day,
+    and talks of me, and enlarges upon my <em>medicine</em> virtues and my
+    talents, wherever he goes; so that this new difficulty is now removed,
+    and instead of preaching against me, he is one of my strongest and most
+    enthusiastic friends and aids in the country.</p>
+
+  <p>There is yet to be described another sort of personage, that is often
+    seen stalking about in all Indian communities, a kind of nondescript,
+    with whom I have been somewhat annoyed, and still more amused, since I
+    came to this village, of whom (or of <em>which</em>) I shall give some
+    account in my next epistle.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_16">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 16.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Besides</span> chiefs, and braves and doctors, of whom I have heretofore
+    spoken, there is yet another character of whom I must say a few words
+    before I proceed to other topics. The person I allude to, is the one
+    mentioned at the close of my last Letter, and familiarly known and
+    countenanced in every tribe as an Indian <i lang="fr">beau</i> or <em>dandy</em>.
+    Such personages may be seen on every pleasant day, strutting and
+    parading around the village in the most beautiful and unsoiled dresses,
+    without the honourable trophies however of scalp locks and claws of
+    the grizzly bear, attached to their costume, for with such things they
+    deal not. They are not peculiarly anxious to hazard their lives in
+    equal and honourable combat with the one, or disposed to cross the path
+    of the other; but generally remain about the village, to take care of
+    the women, and attire themselves in the skins of such animals as they
+    can easily kill, without seeking the rugged cliffs for the war-eagle,
+    or visiting the haunts of the grizzly bear. They plume themselves
+    with swan’s-down and quills of ducks, with braids and plaits of
+    sweet-scented grass and other harmless and unmeaning ornaments, which
+    have no other merit than they themselves have, that of looking pretty
+    and ornamental.</p>
+
+  <p>These clean and elegant gentlemen, who are very few in each tribe, are
+    held in very little estimation by the chiefs and braves; inasmuch as it
+    is known by all, that they have a most horrible aversion to arms, and
+    are denominated “faint hearts” or “old women” by the whole tribe, and
+    are therefore but little respected. They seem, however, to be tolerably
+    well contented with the appellation, together with the celebrity
+    they have acquired amongst the women and children for the beauty and
+    elegance of their personal appearance; and most of them seem to take
+    and enjoy their share of the world’s pleasures, although they are
+    looked upon as drones in society.</p>
+
+  <p>These gay and tinselled bucks may be seen in a pleasant day in all
+    their plumes, astride of their pied or dappled ponies, with a fan in
+    the right hand, made of a turkey’s tail—with whip and a fly-brush
+    attached to the wrist of the same hand, and underneath them a white and
+    beautiful and soft pleasure-saddle, ornamented with porcupine quills
+    and ermine, parading through and lounging about the village for an hour
+    or so, when they will cautiously bend their course to the suburbs of
+    the town, where they will sit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> or recline upon their horses for an hour
+    or two, overlooking the beautiful games where the braves and the young
+    aspirants are contending in manly and athletic amusements;—when they
+    are fatigued with this severe effort, they wend their way back again,
+    lift off their fine white saddle of doe’s-skin, which is wadded with
+    buffalo’s hair, turn out their pony—take a little refreshment, smoke a
+    pipe, fan themselves to sleep, and doze away the rest of the day.</p>
+
+  <p>Whilst I have been painting, from day to day, there have been two or
+    three of these fops continually strutting and taking their attitudes
+    in front of my door; decked out in all their finery, without receiving
+    other benefit or other information, than such as they could discover
+    through the cracks and seams of my cabin. The chiefs, I observed,
+    passed them by without notice, and of course, without inviting them
+    in; and they seemed to figure about my door from day to day in their
+    best dresses and best attitudes, as if in hopes that I would select
+    them as models, for my canvass. It was natural that I should do so,
+    for their costume and personal appearance was entirely more beautiful
+    than anything else to be seen in the village. My plans were laid,
+    and one day when I had got through with all of the head men, who
+    were willing to sit to be painted, and there were two or three of
+    the chiefs lounging in my room, I stepped to the door and tapped one
+    of these fellows on the shoulder, who took the hint, and stepped in,
+    well-pleased and delighted with the signal and honourable notice I had
+    at length taken of him and his beautiful dress. Readers, you cannot
+    imagine what was the expression of gratitude which beamed forth in
+    this poor fellow’s face, and how high his heart beat with joy and
+    pride at the idea of my selecting him to be immortal, alongside of the
+    chiefs and worthies whose portraits he saw arranged around the room;
+    and by which honour he, undoubtedly, considered himself well paid for
+    two or three weeks of regular painting, and greasing, and dressing,
+    and standing alternately on one leg and the other at the door of my
+    premises.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, I placed him before me, and a canvass on my easel, and “chalked
+    him out” at full length. He was truly a beautiful subject for the
+    brush, and I was filled with enthusiasm—his dress from head to foot was
+    of the skins of the mountain-goat, and dressed so neatly, that they
+    were almost as soft and as white as Canton crape—around the bottom and
+    the sides it was trimmed with ermine, and porcupine quills of beautiful
+    dyes garnished it in a hundred parts;—his hair which was long, and
+    spread over his back and shoulders, extending nearly to the ground, was
+    all combed back and parted on his forehead like that of a woman. He
+    was a tall and fine figure, with ease and grace in his movements, that
+    were well worthy of a man of better caste. In his left hand he held a
+    beautiful pipe—and in his right hand he plied his fan, and on his wrist
+    was still attached his whip of elk’s horn, and his fly-brush, made of
+    the buffalo’s tail. There was nought about him of the terrible, and
+    nought to shock the finest, chastest intellect.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span></p>
+
+  <p>I had thus far progressed, with high-wrought feelings of pleasure,
+    when the two or three chiefs, who had been seated around the lodge,
+    and whose portraits I had before painted, arose suddenly, and wrapping
+    themselves tightly in their robes, crossed my room with a quick and
+    heavy step, and took an informal leave of my cabin. I was apprehensive
+    of their displeasure, though I continued my work; and in a few moments
+    the interpreter came furiously into my room, addressing me thus:—“My
+    God, Sir! this never will do; you have given great offence to the
+    chiefs—they have made complaint of your conduct to me—they tell me
+    this is a worthless fellow—a man of no account in the nation, and if
+    you paint his picture, you must instantly destroy theirs; you have no
+    alternative, my dear Sir—and the quicker this chap is out of your lodge
+    the better.”</p>
+
+  <p>The same matter was explained to my sitter by the interpreter, when
+    he picked up his robe, wrapped himself in it, plied his fan nimbly
+    about his face, and walked out of the lodge in silence, but with quite
+    a consequential smile, taking his old position in front of the door
+    for awhile, after which he drew himself quietly off without further
+    exhibition. So highly do Mandan braves and worthies value the honour
+    of being painted; and so little do they value a man, however lavishly
+    Nature may have bestowed her master touches upon him, who has not the
+    pride and noble bearing of a warrior.</p>
+
+  <p>I spoke in a former Letter of Mah-to-toh-pa (the four bears), the
+    second chief of the nation, and the most popular man of the Mandans—a
+    high-minded and gallant warrior, as well as a polite and polished
+    gentleman. Since I painted his portrait, as I before described, I
+    have received at his hands many marked and signal attentions; some
+    of which I must name to you, as the very relation of them will put
+    you in possession of many little forms and modes of Indian life, that
+    otherwise might not have been noted.</p>
+
+  <p>About a week since, this noble fellow stepped into my painting-room
+    about twelve o’clock in the day, in full and splendid dress, and
+    passing his arm through mine, pointed the way, and led me in the most
+    gentlemanly manner, through the village and into his own lodge, where
+    a feast was prepared in a careful manner and waiting our arrival. The
+    lodge in which he dwelt was a room of immense size, some forty or fifty
+    feet in diameter, in a circular form, and about twenty feet high—with a
+    sunken curb of stone in the centre, of five or six feet in diameter and
+    one foot deep, which contained the fire over which the pot was boiling.
+    I was led near the edge of this curb, and seated on a very handsome
+    robe, most ingeniously garnished and painted with hieroglyphics; and he
+    seated himself gracefully on another one at a little distance from me;
+    with the feast prepared in several dishes, resting on a beautiful rush
+    mat, which was placed between us (<a href="#i_062"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 62</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>The simple feast which was spread before us consisted of three dishes
+    only, two of which were served in wooden bowls, and the third in
+    an earthen vessel of their own manufacture, somewhat in shape of a
+    bread-tray in our own country. This last contained a quantity of
+    <em>pem-i-can</em> and <em>marrow-fat</em>;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> and one of the former held
+    a fine brace of buffalo ribs, delightfully roasted; and the other
+    was filled with a kind of paste or pudding, made of the flour of the
+    “<i lang="fr">pomme blanche</i>,” as the French call it, a delicious turnip of
+    the prairie, finely flavoured with the buffalo berries, which are
+    collected in great quantities in this country, and used with divers
+    dishes in cooking, as we in civilized countries use dried currants,
+    which they very much resemble.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>31</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_062">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_062.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>62</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>A handsome pipe and a tobacco-pouch made of the otter skin, filled with
+    k’nick-k’neck (Indian tobacco), laid by the side of the feast; and when
+    we were seated, mine host took up his pipe, and deliberately filled
+    it; and instead of lighting it by the fire, which he could easily have
+    done, he drew from his pouch his flint and steel, and raised a spark
+    with which he kindled it. He drew a few strong whiffs through it, and
+    presented the stem of it to my mouth, through which I drew a whiff or
+    two while he held the stem in his hands. This done, he laid down the
+    pipe, and drawing his knife from his belt, cut off a very small piece
+    of the meat from the ribs, and pronouncing the words “Ho-pe-ne-chee
+    wa-pa-shee” (meaning a <em>medicine</em> sacrifice), threw it into the
+    fire.</p>
+
+  <p>He then (by signals) requested me to eat, and I commenced, after
+    drawing out from my belt my knife (which it is supposed that every man
+    in this country carries about him, for at an Indian feast a knife is
+    never offered to a guest). Reader, be not astonished that I sat and
+    ate my dinner <em>alone</em>, for such is the custom of this strange
+    land. In all tribes in these western regions it is an invariable rule
+    that a chief never eats with his guests invited to a feast; but while
+    they eat, he sits by, at their service, and ready to wait upon them;
+    deliberately charging and lighting the pipe which is to be passed
+    around after the feast is over. Such was the case in the present
+    instance, and while I was eating, Mah-to-toh-pa sat cross-legged before
+    me, cleaning his pipe and preparing it for a cheerful smoke when I had
+    finished my meal. For this ceremony I observed he was making unusual
+    preparation, and I observed as I ate, that after he had taken enough
+    of the k’nick-k’neck or bark of the red willow, from his pouch, he
+    rolled out of it also a piece of the “<em>castor</em>,” which it is
+    customary amongst these folks to carry in their tobacco-sack to give it
+    a flavour; and, shaving off a small quantity of it, mixed it with the
+    bark, with which he charged his pipe. This done, he drew also from his
+    sack a small parcel containing a fine powder, which was made of dried
+    buffalo dung, a little of which he spread over the top, (according also
+    to custom,) which was like tinder, having no other effect than that of
+    lighting the pipe with ease and satisfaction. My appetite satiated,
+    I straightened up, and with a whiff the pipe was lit, and we enjoyed
+    together for a quarter of an hour the most delightful exchange of good
+    feelings, amid clouds of smoke and pantomimic signs and gesticulations.</p>
+
+  <p>The dish of “pemican and marrow-fat,” of which I spoke, was thus:—The
+    first, an article of food used throughout this country, as familiarly
+    as we use<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> bread in the civilized world. It is made of buffalo meat
+    dried very hard, and afterwards pounded in a large wooden mortar until
+    it is made nearly as fine as sawdust, then packed in this dry state in
+    bladders or sacks of skin, and is easily carried to any part of the
+    world in good order. “Marrow-fat” is collected by the Indians from
+    the buffalo bones which they break to pieces, yielding a prodigious
+    quantity of marrow, which is boiled out and put into buffalo bladders
+    which have been distended; and after it cools, becomes quite hard like
+    tallow, and has the appearance, and very nearly the flavour, of the
+    richest yellow butter. At a feast, chunks of this marrow-fat are cut
+    off and placed in a tray or bowl, with the pemican, and eaten together;
+    which we civilized folks in these regions consider a very good
+    substitute for (and indeed we generally so denominate it) “bread and
+    butter.” In this dish laid a spoon made of the buffalo’s horn, which
+    was black as jet, and beautifully polished; in one of the others there
+    was another of still more ingenious and beautiful workmanship, made of
+    the horn of the mountain-sheep, or “Gros corn,” as the French trappers
+    call them; it was large enough to hold of itself two or three pints,
+    and was almost entirely transparent.</p>
+
+  <p>I spoke also of the earthen dishes or bowls in which these viands were
+    served out; they are a familiar part of the culinary furniture of
+    every Mandan lodge, and are manufactured by the women of this tribe
+    in great quantities, and modelled into a thousand forms and tastes.
+    They are made by the hands of the women, from a tough black clay, and
+    baked in kilns which are made for the purpose, and are nearly equal in
+    hardness to our own manufacture of pottery; though they have not yet
+    got the art of glazing, which would be to them a most valuable secret.
+    They make them so strong and serviceable, however, that they hang them
+    over the fire as we do our iron pots, and boil their meat in them with
+    perfect success. I have seen some few specimens of such manufacture,
+    which have been dug up in Indian mounds and tombs in the southern and
+    middle states, placed in our Eastern Museums and looked upon as a great
+    wonder, when here this novelty is at once done away with, and the whole
+    mystery; where women can be seen handling and using them by hundreds,
+    and they can be seen every day in the summer also, moulding them into
+    many fanciful forms, and passing them through the kiln where they are
+    hardened.</p>
+
+  <p>Whilst sitting at this feast the wigwam was as silent as death,
+    although we were not alone in it. This chief, like most others, had a
+    plurality of wives, and all of them (some six or seven) were seated
+    around the sides of the lodge, upon robes or mats placed upon the
+    ground, and not allowed to speak, though they were in readiness to obey
+    his orders or commands, which were uniformly given by signs manual, and
+    executed in the neatest and most silent manner.</p>
+
+  <p>When I arose to return, the pipe through which we had smoked was
+    presented to me; and the robe on which I had sat, he gracefully raised
+    by the corners and tendered it to me, explaining by signs that the
+    paintings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> which were on it were the representations of the battles of
+    his life, where he had fought and killed with his own hand fourteen
+    of his enemies; that he had been two weeks engaged in painting it for
+    me, and that he had invited me here on this occasion to present it to
+    me. The robe, readers, which I shall describe in a future epistle, I
+    took upon my shoulder, and he took me by the arm and led me back to my
+    painting-room.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_17">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 17.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">I mentioned</span> in the foregoing epistle, that the chiefs of the Mandans
+    frequently have a plurality of wives. Such is the custom amongst all of
+    these North Western tribes, and a few general remarks on this subject
+    will apply to them all, and save the trouble of repeating them.</p>
+
+  <p>Polygamy is countenanced amongst all of the North American Indians, so
+    far as I have visited them; and it is no uncommon thing to find a chief
+    with six, eight, or ten, and some with twelve or fourteen wives in his
+    lodge. Such is an ancient custom, and in their estimation is right as
+    well as necessary. Women in a savage state, I believe, are always held
+    in a rank inferior to that of the men, in relation to whom in many
+    respects they stand rather in the light of menials and slaves than
+    otherwise; and as they are the “hewers of wood and drawers of water,”
+    it becomes a matter of necessity for a chief (who must be liberal,
+    keep open doors, and entertain, for the support of his popularity) to
+    have in his wigwam a sufficient number of such handmaids or menials to
+    perform the numerous duties and drudgeries of so large and expensive an
+    establishment.</p>
+
+  <p>There are two other reasons for this custom which operate with
+    equal, if not with greater force than the one above assigned. In the
+    first place, these people, though far behind the civilized world in
+    acquisitiveness, have still more or less passion for the accumulation
+    of wealth, or, in other words, for the luxuries of life; and a
+    chief, excited by a desire of this kind, together with a wish to be
+    able to furnish his lodge with something more than ordinary for the
+    entertainment of his own people, as well as strangers who fall upon his
+    hospitality, sees fit to marry a number of wives, who are kept at hard
+    labour during most of the year; and the avails of that labour enable
+    him to procure those luxuries, and give to his lodge the appearance
+    of respectability which is not ordinarily seen. Amongst those tribes
+    who trade with the Fur Companies, this system is carried out to a
+    great extent, and the women are kept for the greater part of the
+    year, dressing buffalo robes and other skins for the market; and the
+    brave or chief, who has the greatest number of wives, is considered
+    the most affluent and envied man in the tribe; for his table is most
+    bountifully supplied, and his lodge the most abundantly furnished with
+    the luxuries<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> of civilized manufacture, who has at the year’s end the
+    greatest number of robes to vend to the Fur Company.</p>
+
+  <p>The manual labour amongst savages is all done by the women; and as
+    there are no daily labourers or persons who will “<em>hire out</em>” to
+    labour for another, it becomes necessary for him who requires more than
+    the labour or services of one, to add to the number by legalizing and
+    compromising by the ceremony of marriage, his stock of labourers; who
+    can thus, and thus alone, be easily enslaved, and the results of their
+    labour turned to good account.</p>
+
+  <p>There is yet the other inducement, which probably is more effective
+    than either; the natural inclination which belongs to man, who
+    stands high in the estimation of his people and wields the sceptre
+    of power—surrounded by temptations which he considers it would be
+    unnatural to resist, where no law or regulation of society stands
+    in the way of his enjoyment. Such a custom amongst savage nations
+    can easily be excused too, and we are bound to excuse it, when
+    we behold man in a state of nature, as he was made, following a
+    natural inclination, which is sanctioned by ancient custom and by
+    their religion, without a law or regulation of their society to
+    discountenance it; and when, at the same time, such an accumulation of
+    a man’s household, instead of quadrupling his expenses (as would be
+    the case in the civilized world), actually becomes his wealth, as the
+    results of their labour abundantly secure to him all the necessaries
+    and luxuries of life.</p>
+
+  <p>There are other and very rational grounds on which the propriety
+    of such a custom may be urged, one of which is as follows:—as all
+    nations of Indians in their natural condition are unceasingly at war
+    with the tribes that are about them, for the adjustment of ancient
+    and never-ending feuds, as well as from a love of glory, to which in
+    Indian life the battle-field is almost the only road, their warriors
+    are killed off to that extent, that in many instances two and sometimes
+    three women to a man are found in a tribe. In such instances I have
+    found that the custom of polygamy has kindly helped the community to an
+    evident relief from a cruel and prodigious calamity.</p>
+
+  <p>The instances of which I have above spoken, are generally confined to
+    the chiefs and medicine-men; though there is no regulation prohibiting
+    a poor or obscure individual from marrying several wives, other than
+    the personal difficulties which lie between him and the hand which he
+    wishes in vain to get, for want of sufficient celebrity in society, or
+    from a still more frequent objection, that of his inability (from want
+    of worldly goods) to deal in the customary way with the fathers of the
+    girls whom he would appropriate to his own household.</p>
+
+  <p>There are very few instances indeed, to be seen in these regions, where
+    a poor or ordinary citizen has more than one wife; but amongst chiefs
+    and braves of great reputation, and doctors, it is common to see some
+    six or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> eight living under one roof, and all apparently quiet and
+    contented; seemingly harmonizing, and enjoying the modes of life and
+    treatment that falls to their lot.</p>
+
+  <p>Wives in this country are mostly treated for with the father, as in all
+    instances they are regularly bought and sold. In many cases the bargain
+    is made with the father alone, without ever consulting the inclinations
+    of the girl, and seems to be conducted on his part as a mercenary
+    contract entirely, where he stands out for the highest price he can
+    possibly command for her. There are other instances to be sure, where
+    the parties approach each other, and from the expression of a mutual
+    fondness, make their own arrangements, and pass their own mutual vows,
+    which are quite as sacred and inviolable as similar assurances when
+    made in the civilized world. Yet even in such cases, the marriage is
+    never consummated without the necessary form of making presents to the
+    father of the girl.</p>
+
+  <p>It becomes a matter of policy and almost of absolute necessity, for the
+    white men who are Traders in these regions to connect themselves in
+    this way, to one or more of the most influential families in the tribe,
+    which in a measure identifies their interest with that of the nation,
+    and enables them, with the influence of their new family connexions,
+    to carry on successfully their business transactions with them. The
+    young women of the best families only can aspire to such an elevation;
+    and the most of them are exceedingly ambitious for such a connexion,
+    inasmuch as they are certain of a delightful exemption from the slavish
+    duties that devolve upon them when married under other circumstances;
+    and expect to be, as they generally are, allowed to lead a life of ease
+    and idleness, covered with mantles of blue and scarlet cloth—with beads
+    and trinkets, and ribbons, in which they flounce and flirt about, the
+    envied and tinselled belles of every tribe.</p>
+
+  <p>These connexions, however, can scarcely be called marriages, for I
+    believe they are generally entered into without the form or solemnizing
+    ceremony of a marriage, and on the part of the father of the girls,
+    conducted purely as a mercenary or business transaction; in which
+    they are very expert, and practice a deal of shrewdness in exacting
+    an adequate price from a purchaser whom they consider possessed of
+    so large and so rich a stock of the world’s goods; and who they deem
+    abundantly able to pay liberally for so delightful a commodity.</p>
+
+  <p>Almost every Trader and every clerk who commences in the business of
+    this country, speedily enters into such an arrangement, which is done
+    with as little ceremony as he would bargain for a horse, and just as
+    unceremoniously do they annul and abolish this connexion when they
+    wish to leave the country, or change their positions from one tribe to
+    another; at which time the woman is left, a fair and proper candidate
+    for matrimony or speculation, when another applicant comes along, and
+    her father equally desirous for another horse or gun, &amp;c. which he can
+    easily command at her second espousal.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span></p>
+
+  <p>From the enslaved and degraded condition in which the women are held in
+    the Indian country, the world would naturally think that theirs must
+    be a community formed of incongruous and unharmonizing materials; and
+    consequently destitute of the fine, reciprocal feelings and attachments
+    which flow from the domestic relations in the civilized world; yet it
+    would be untrue, and doing injustice to the Indians, to say that they
+    were in the least behind us in conjugal, in filial, and in paternal
+    affection. There is no trait in the human character which is more
+    universal than the attachments which flow from these relations, and
+    there is no part of the human species who have a stronger affection and
+    a higher regard for them than the North American Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>There is no subject in the Indian character of more importance to be
+    rightly understood than this, and none either that has furnished me
+    more numerous instances and more striking proofs, of which I shall
+    make use on a future occasion, when I shall say a vast deal more of
+    marriage—of divorce—of polygamy—and of Indian domestic relations. For
+    the present I am scribbling about the looks and usages of the Indians
+    who are about me and under my eye; and I must not digress too much into
+    general remarks, lest I lose sight of those who are near me, and the
+    first to be heralded.</p>
+
+  <p>Such, then, are the Mandans—their women are beautiful and modest,—and
+    amongst the respectable families, virtue is as highly cherished and
+    as inapproachable, as in any society whatever; yet at the same time a
+    chief may marry a dozen wives if he pleases, and so may a white man;
+    and if either wishes to marry the most beautiful and modest girl in the
+    tribe, she is valued only equal, perhaps, to two horses, a gun with
+    powder and ball for a year, five or six pounds of beads, a couple of
+    gallons of whiskey, and a handful of awls.</p>
+
+  <p>The girls of this tribe, like those of most of these north-western
+    tribes, marry at the age of twelve or fourteen, and some at the age of
+    eleven years; and their beauty, from this fact, as well as from the
+    slavish life they lead, soon after marriage vanishes. Their occupations
+    are almost continual, and they seem to go industriously at them, as if
+    from choice or inclination, without a murmur.</p>
+
+  <p>The principal occupations of the women in this village, consist in
+    procuring wood and water, in cooking, dressing robes and other skins,
+    in drying meat and wild fruit, and raising corn (maize). The Mandans
+    are somewhat of agriculturists, as they raise a great deal of corn and
+    some pumpkins and squashes. This is all done by the women, who make
+    their hoes of the shoulder-blade of the buffalo or the elk, and dig the
+    ground over instead of ploughing it, which is consequently done with a
+    vast deal of labour. They raise a very small sort of corn, the ears of
+    which are not longer than a man’s thumb. This variety is well adapted
+    to their climate, as it ripens sooner than other varieties, which
+    would not mature in so cold a latitude. The green corn season is one
+    of great festivity with them, and one of much importance. The greater
+    part of their crop is eaten during these festivals,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> and the remainder
+    is gathered and dried on the cob, before it has ripened, and packed
+    away in “<i lang="fr">caches</i>” (as the French call them), holes dug in the
+    ground, some six or seven feet deep, the insides of which are somewhat
+    in the form of a jug, and tightly closed at the top. The corn, and even
+    dried meat and pemican, are placed in these <i lang="fr">caches</i>, being packed
+    tight around the sides., with prairie grass, and effectually preserved
+    through the severest winters.</p>
+
+  <p>Corn and dried meat are generally laid in in the fall, in sufficient
+    quantities to support them through the winter. These are the principal
+    articles of food during that long and inclement season; and in addition
+    to them, they oftentimes have in store great quantities of dried
+    squashes and dried “<i lang="fr">pommes blanches</i>,” a kind of turnip which
+    grows in great abundance in these regions, and of which I have before
+    spoken. These are dried in great quantities, and pounded into a sort of
+    meal, and cooked with the dried meat and corn. Great quantities also of
+    wild fruit of different kinds are dried and laid away in store for the
+    winter season, such as buffalo berries, service berries, strawberries,
+    and wild plums.</p>
+
+  <p>The buffalo meat, however, is the great staple and “staff of life” in
+    this country, and seldom (if ever) fails to afford them an abundant and
+    wholesome means of subsistence. There are, from a fair computation,
+    something like 250,000 Indians in these western regions, who live
+    almost exclusively on the flesh of these animals, through every part of
+    the year. During the summer and fall months they use the meat fresh,
+    and cook it in a great variety of ways, by roasting, broiling, boiling,
+    stewing, smoking, &amp;c.; and by boiling the ribs and joints with the
+    marrow in them, make a delicious soup, which is universally used, and
+    in vast quantities. The Mandans, I find, have no regular or stated
+    times for their meals, but generally eat about twice in the twenty-four
+    hours. The pot is always boiling over the fire, and any one who is
+    hungry (either of the household or from any other part of the village)
+    has a right to order it taken off, and to fall to eating as he pleases.
+    Such is an unvarying custom amongst the North American Indians, and I
+    very much doubt, whether the civilized world have in their institutions
+    any system which can properly be called more humane and charitable.
+    Every man, woman, or child in Indian communities is allowed to enter
+    any one’s lodge, and even that of the chief of the nation, and eat when
+    they are hungry, provided misfortune or necessity has driven them to
+    it. Even so can the poorest and most worthless drone of the nation; if
+    he is too lazy to hunt or to supply himself, he can walk into any lodge
+    and everyone will share with him as long as there is anything to eat.
+    He, however, who thus begs when he is able to hunt, pays dear for his
+    meat, for he is stigmatized with the disgraceful epithet of a poltroon
+    and a beggar.</p>
+
+  <p>The Mandans, like all other tribes, sit at their meals cross-legged,
+    or rather with their ancles crossed in front of them, and both feet
+    drawn close under their bodies; or, which is very often the case also,
+    take their meals in a reclining<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> posture, with the legs thrown out, and
+    the body resting on one elbow and fore-arm, which are under them. The
+    dishes from which they eat are invariably on the ground or floor of
+    the lodge, and the group resting on buffalo robes or mats of various
+    structure and manufacture.</p>
+
+  <p>The position in which the women sit at their meals and on other
+    occasions is different from that of the men, and one which they
+    take and rise from again, with great ease and much grace, by merely
+    bending the knees both together, inclining the body back and the head
+    and shoulders quite forward, they squat entirely down to the ground,
+    inclining both feet either to the right or the left. In this position
+    they always rest while eating, and it is both modest and graceful, for
+    they seem, with apparent ease, to assume the position and rise out of
+    it, without using their hands in any way to assist them.</p>
+
+  <p>These women, however, although graceful and civil, and ever so
+    beautiful or ever so hungry, are not allowed to sit in the same group
+    with the men while at their meals. So far as I have yet travelled in
+    the Indian country, I never have seen an Indian woman eating with
+    her husband. Men form the first group at the banquet, and women, and
+    children and dogs all come together at the next, and these gormandize
+    and glut themselves to an enormous extent, though the men very seldom
+    do.</p>
+
+  <p>It is time that an error on this subject, which has gone generally
+    abroad in the world, was corrected. It is everywhere asserted, and
+    almost universally believed, that the Indians are “enormous eaters;”
+    but comparatively speaking, I assure my readers that this is an error.
+    I venture to say that there are no persons on earth who practice
+    greater prudence and self-denial, than the men do (amongst the wild
+    Indians), who are constantly in war and in the chase, or in their
+    athletic sports and exercises; for all of which they are excited by
+    the highest ideas of pride and honour, and every kind of excess is
+    studiously avoided; and for a very great part of their lives, the most
+    painful abstinence is enforced upon themselves, for the purpose of
+    preparing their bodies and their limbs for these extravagant exertions.
+    Many a man who has been a few weeks along the frontier, amongst the
+    drunken, naked and beggared part of the Indian race, and run home
+    and written a book on Indians, has, no doubt, often seen them eat to
+    beastly excess; and he has seen them also guzzle whiskey (and perhaps
+    <em>sold</em> it to them) till he has seen them glutted and besotted,
+    without will or energy to move; and many and thousands of such things
+    can always be seen, where white people have made beggars of them, and
+    they have nothing to do but lie under a fence and beg a whole week to
+    get meat and whiskey enough for one feast and one carouse; but amongst
+    the wild Indians in this country there are no beggars—no drunkards—and
+    every man, from a beautiful natural precept, studies to keep his body
+    and mind in such a healthy shape and condition as will at all times
+    enable him to use his weapons in self-defence, or struggle for the
+    prize in their manly games.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span></p>
+
+  <p>As I before observed, these men generally eat but twice a day, and many
+    times not more than once, and those meals are light and simple compared
+    with the meals that are swallowed in the civilized world; and by the
+    very people also, who sit at the festive board three times a day,
+    making a jest of the Indian for his eating, when they actually guzzle
+    more liquids, besides their eating, than would fill the stomach of an
+    Indian.</p>
+
+  <p>There are, however, many seasons and occasions in the year with all
+    Indians, when they fast for several days in succession; and others
+    where they can <em>get</em> nothing to eat; and at such times (their
+    habits are such) they may be seen to commence with an enormous meal,
+    and because they do so, it is an insufficient reason why we should for
+    ever remain under so egregious an error with regard to a single custom
+    of these people.</p>
+
+  <p>I have seen so many of these, and lived with them, and travelled with
+    them, and oftentimes felt as if I should starve to death on an equal
+    allowance, that I am fully convinced I am correct in saying that the
+    North American Indians, taking them in the aggregate, even where they
+    have an abundance to subsist on, eat less than any civilized population
+    of equal numbers, that I have ever travelled amongst.</p>
+
+  <p>Their mode of curing and preserving the buffalo meat is somewhat
+    curious, and in fact it is almost incredible also; for it is all cured
+    or dried in the sun, without the aid of salt or smoke! The method
+    of doing this is the same amongst all the tribes, from this to the
+    Mexican Provinces, and is as follows:—The choicest parts of the flesh
+    from the buffalo are cut out by the squaws, and carried home on their
+    backs or on horses, and there cut “<em>across the grain</em>,” in such a
+    manner as will take alternately the layers of lean and fat; and having
+    prepared it all in this way, in strips about half an inch in thickness,
+    it is hung up by hundreds and thousands of pounds on poles resting on
+    crotches, out of the reach of dogs or wolves, and exposed to the rays
+    of the sun for several days, when it becomes so effectually dried, that
+    it can be carried to any part of the world without damage. This seems
+    almost an unaccountable thing, and the more so, as it is done in the
+    hottest months of the year, and also in all the different latitudes of
+    an Indian country.</p>
+
+  <p>So singular a fact as this can only be accounted for, I consider, on
+    the ground of the extraordinary rarity and purity of the air which
+    we meet with in these vast tracts of country, which are now properly
+    denominated “the great buffalo plains,” a series of exceedingly
+    elevated plateaus of <em>steppes</em> or <em>prairies</em>, lying at and
+    near the base of the Rocky Mountains.</p>
+
+  <p>It is a fact then, which I presume will be new to most of the world,
+    that meat can be cured in the sun without the aid of smoke or salt;
+    and it is a fact equally true and equally surprising also, that none
+    of these tribes use salt in any way, although their country abounds
+    in salt springs; and in many places, in the frequent walks of the
+    Indian, the prairie may be seen, for miles together, covered with an
+    incrustation of salt as white as the drifted snow.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span></p>
+
+  <p>I have, in travelling with Indians, encamped by such places, where they
+    have cooked and eaten their meat, when I have been unable to prevail on
+    them to use salt in any quantity whatever. The Indians cook their meat
+    more than the civilized people do, and I have long since learned, from
+    necessity, that meat thus cooked can easily be eaten and relished too,
+    without salt or other condiment.</p>
+
+  <p>The fact above asserted applies exclusively to those tribes of Indians
+    which I have found in their primitive state, living entirely on meat;
+    but everywhere along our Frontier, where the game of the country
+    has long since been chiefly destroyed, and these people have become
+    semi-civilized, raising and eating, as we do, a variety of vegetable
+    food, they use (and no doubt require), a great deal of salt; and in
+    many instances use it even to destructive excess.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_18">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 18.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, UPPER MISSOURI.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">The</span> Mandans, like all other tribes, lead lives of idleness and
+    leisure; and of course, devote a great deal of time to their sports
+    and amusements, of which they have a great variety. Of these, dancing
+    is one of the principal, and may be seen in a variety of forms: such
+    as the buffalo dance, the boasting dance, the begging dance, the scalp
+    dance, and a dozen other kinds of dances, all of which have their
+    peculiar characters and meanings or objects.</p>
+
+  <p>These exercises are exceedingly grotesque in their appearance, and to
+    the eye of a traveller who knows not their meaning or importance, they
+    are an uncouth and frightful display of starts, and jumps, and yelps,
+    and jarring gutturals, which are sometimes truly terrifying. But when
+    one gives them a little attention, and has been lucky enough to be
+    initiated into their mysterious meaning, they become a subject of the
+    most intense and exciting interest. Every dance has its peculiar step,
+    and every step has its meaning; every dance also has its peculiar song,
+    and that is so intricate and mysterious oftentimes, that not one in ten
+    of the young men who are dancing and singing it, know the meaning of
+    the song which they are chanting over. None but the medicine-men are
+    allowed to understand them; and even they are generally only initiated
+    into these secret arcana, on the payment of a liberal stipend for their
+    tuition, which requires much application and study. There is evidently
+    a set song and sentiment for every dance, for the songs are perfectly
+    measured, and sung in exact time with the beat of the drum; and always
+    with an uniform and invariable set of sounds and expressions, which
+    clearly indicate certain sentiments, which are expressed by the voice,
+    though sometimes not given in any known language whatever.</p>
+
+  <p>They have other dances and songs which are not so mystified, but which
+    are sung and understood by every person in the tribe, being sung in
+    their own language, with much poetry in them, and perfectly metred, but
+    without rhyme. On these subjects I shall take another occasion to say
+    more; and will for the present turn your attention to the style and
+    modes in which some of these curious transactions are conducted.</p>
+
+  <p>My ears have been almost continually ringing since I came here, with
+    the din of yelping and beating of the drums; but I have for several
+    days<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> past been peculiarly engrossed, and my senses almost confounded
+    with the stamping, and grunting, and bellowing of the <em>buffalo
+    dance</em>, which closed a few days since at sunrise (thank Heaven), and
+    which I must needs describe to you.</p>
+
+  <p>Buffaloes, it is known, are a sort of roaming creatures, congregating
+    occasionally in huge masses, and strolling away about the country from
+    east to west, or from north to south, or just where their whims or
+    strange fancies may lead them; and the Mandans are sometimes, by this
+    means, most unceremoniously left without any thing to eat; and being a
+    small tribe, and unwilling to risk their lives by going far from home
+    in the face of their more powerful enemies, are oftentimes left almost
+    in a state of starvation. In any emergency of this kind, every man
+    musters and brings out of his lodge his mask (the skin of a buffalo’s
+    head with the horns on), which he is obliged to keep in readiness
+    for this occasion; and then commences the buffalo dance, of which I
+    have above spoken, which is held for the purpose of making “buffalo
+    come” (as they term it), of inducing the buffalo herds to change the
+    direction of their wanderings, and bend their course towards the Mandan
+    village, and graze about on the beautiful hills and bluffs in its
+    vicinity, where the Mandans can shoot them down and cook them as they
+    want them for food.</p>
+
+  <p>For the most part of the year, the young warriors and hunters, by
+    riding out a mile or two from the village, can kill meat in abundance;
+    and sometimes large herds of these animals may be seen grazing in
+    full view of the village. There are other seasons also when the young
+    men have ranged about the country as far as they are willing to risk
+    their lives, on account of their enemies, without finding meat. This
+    sad intelligence is brought back to the chiefs and doctors, who sit in
+    solemn council, and consult on the most expedient measures to be taken,
+    until they are sure to decide upon the old and only expedient which
+    “never has failed.”</p>
+
+  <p>The chief issues his order to his runners or criers, who proclaim it
+    through the village—and in a few minutes the dance begins. The place
+    where this strange operation is carried on is in the public area in the
+    centre of the village, and in front of the great medicine or mystery
+    lodge. About ten or fifteen Mandans at a time join in the dance, each
+    one with the skin of the buffalo’s head (or mask) with the horns on,
+    placed over his head, and in his hand his favourite bow or lance, with
+    which he is used to slay the buffalo.</p>
+
+  <p>I mentioned that this dance always had the desired effect, that it
+    never fails, nor can it, for it cannot be stopped (but is going
+    incessantly day and night) until “buffalo come.” Drums are beating and
+    rattles are shaken, and songs and yells incessantly are shouted, and
+    lookers-on stand ready with masks on their heads, and weapons in hand,
+    to take the place of each one as he becomes fatigued, and jumps out of
+    the ring.</p>
+
+  <p>During this time of general excitement, spies or “<em>lookers</em>” are
+    kept on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> hills in the neighbourhood of the village, who, when they
+    discover buffaloes in sight, give the appropriate signal, by “throwing
+    their robes,” which is instantly seen in the village, and understood by
+    the whole tribe. At this joyful intelligence there is a shout of thanks
+    to the Great Spirit, and more especially to the mystery-man, and the
+    dancers, <em>who have been the immediate cause of their success</em>!
+    There is then a brisk preparation for the chase—a grand hunt takes
+    place. The choicest pieces of the victims are sacrificed to the Great
+    Spirit, and then a surfeit and a carouse.</p>
+
+  <p>These dances have sometimes been continued in this village two and
+    three weeks without stopping an instant, until the joyful moment when
+    buffaloes made their appearance. So they <em>never fail</em>; and they
+    think they have been the means of bringing them in.</p>
+
+  <p>Every man in the Mandan village (as I have before said) is obliged by
+    a village regulation, to keep the mask of the buffalo, hanging on a
+    post at the head of his bed, which he can use on his head whenever he
+    is called upon by the chiefs, to dance for the coming of buffaloes.
+    The mask is put over the head, and generally has a strip of the skin
+    hanging to it, of the whole length of the animal, with the tail
+    attached to it, which, passing down over the back of the dancer, is
+    dragging on the ground (<a href="#i_056"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 56</a>). When one becomes fatigued
+    of the exercise, he signifies it by bending quite forward, and sinking
+    his body towards the ground; when another draws a bow upon him and hits
+    him with a blunt arrow, and he falls like a buffalo—is seized by the
+    bye-standers, who drag him out of the ring by the heels, brandishing
+    their knives about him; and having gone through the motions of skinning
+    and cutting him up, they let him off, and his place is at once supplied
+    by another, who dances into the ring with his mask on; and by this
+    taking of places, the scene is easily kept up night and day, until the
+    desired effect has been produced, that of “making buffalo come.”</p>
+
+  <p>The day before yesterday however, readers, which, though it commenced
+    in joy and thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for the signal success
+    which had attended their several days of dancing and supplication,
+    ended in a calamity which threw the village of the Mandans into
+    mourning and repentant tears, and that at a time of scarcity and great
+    distress. The signal was given into the village on that morning from
+    the top of a distant bluff, that a band of buffaloes were in sight,
+    though at a considerable distance off, and every heart beat with joy,
+    and every eye watered and glistened with gladness.</p>
+
+  <p>The dance had lasted some three or four days, and now, instead of the
+    doleful tap of the drum and the begging chaunts of the dancers, the
+    stamping of horses was heard as they were led and galloped through the
+    village—young men were throwing off their robes and their shirts,—were
+    seen snatching a handful of arrows from their quivers, and stringing
+    their sinewy bows, glancing their eyes and their smiles at their
+    sweethearts, and mounting their ponies. <span class="gesperrtstar">* * *</span></p>
+
+  <p><span class="gesperrtstar">* *</span> A few minutes there had been of bustle and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span> boasting, whilst
+    bows were twanging and spears were polishing by running their blades
+    into the ground—every face and every eye was filled with joy and
+    gladness—horses were pawing and snuffing in fury for the outset, when
+    Louison Frénié, an interpreter of the Fur Company, galloped through the
+    village with his rifle in his hand and his powder-horn at his side; his
+    head and waist were bandaged with handkerchiefs, and his shirt sleeves
+    rolled up to his shoulders—the hunter’s yell issued from his lips and
+    was repeated through the village; he flew to the bluffs, and behind
+    him and over the graceful swells of the prairie, galloped the emulous
+    youths, whose hearts were beating high and quick for the onset.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>32</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_056">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_056.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>56</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>In the village, where hunger had reigned, and starvation was almost
+    ready to look them in the face, all was instantly turned to joy and
+    gladness. The chiefs and doctors who had been for some days dealing
+    out minimum rations to the community from the public crib, now spread
+    before their subjects the contents of their own private <i lang="fr">caches</i>,
+    and the last of every thing that could be mustered, that they might eat
+    a thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for his goodness in sending them a
+    supply of buffalo meat. A general carouse of banqueting ensued, which
+    occupied the greater part of the day; and their hidden stores which
+    might have fed an emergency for several weeks, were pretty nearly used
+    up on the occasion—bones were half picked, and dishes half emptied and
+    then handed to the dogs. <em>I</em> was not forgotten neither, in the
+    general surfeit; several large and generous wooden bowls of pemican and
+    other palatable food were sent to my painting-room, and I received them
+    in this time of scarcity with great pleasure.</p>
+
+  <p>After this general indulgence was over, and the dogs had licked the
+    dishes, their usual games and amusements ensued—and hilarity and mirth,
+    and joy took possession of, and reigned in, every nook and corner of
+    the village; and in the midst of this, screams and shrieks were heard!
+    and echoed everywhere. Women and children scrambled to the tops of
+    their wigwams, with their eyes and their hands stretched in agonizing
+    earnestness to the prairie, whilst blackened warriors ran furiously
+    through every winding maze of the village, and issuing their jarring
+    gutturals of vengeance, as they snatched their deadly weapons from
+    their lodges, and struck the reddened post as they furiously passed
+    it by! Two of their hunters were bending their course down the sides
+    of the bluff towards the village, and another broke suddenly out of a
+    deep ravine, and yet another was seen dashing over and down the green
+    hills, and all were goading on their horses at full speed! and then
+    came another, and another, and all entered the village amid shouts and
+    groans of the villagers who crowded around them; the story was told
+    in their looks, for one was bleeding, and the blood that flowed from
+    his naked breast had crimsoned his milk white steed as it had dripped
+    over him; another grasped in his left hand a scalp that was reeking in
+    blood—and in the other his whip—another grasped nothing, save the reins
+    in one hand and the mane of the horse in the other, having thrown his
+    bow and his arrows<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> away, and trusted to the fleetness of his horse
+    for his safety; yet the story was audibly told, and the fatal tragedy
+    recited in irregular and almost suffocating ejaculations—the names
+    of the dead were in turns pronounced and screams and shrieks burst
+    forth at their recital—murmurs and groans ran through the village, and
+    this happy little community were in a moment smitten with sorrow and
+    distraction.</p>
+
+  <p>Their proud band of hunters who had started full of glee and mirth in
+    the morning, had been surrounded by their enemy, the Sioux, and eight
+    of them killed. The Sioux, who had probably reconnoitred their village
+    during the night, and ascertained that they were dancing for buffaloes,
+    laid a stratagem to entrap them in the following manner:—Some six
+    or eight of them appeared the next morning (on a distant bluff, in
+    sight of their sentinel) under the skins of buffaloes, imitating the
+    movements of those animals whilst grazing; and being discovered by
+    the sentinel, the intelligence was telegraphed to the village, which
+    brought out their hunters as I have described. The masked buffaloes
+    were seen grazing on the top of a high bluff, and when the hunters had
+    approached within half a mile or so of them, they suddenly disappeared
+    over the hill. Louison Frénié, who was leading the little band of
+    hunters, became at that moment suspicious of so strange a movement, and
+    came to a halt <span class="gesperrtstar">* * *</span></p>
+
+  <p>* “Look”! (said a Mandan, pointing to a little ravine to the right, and
+    at the foot of the hill, from which suddenly broke some forty or fifty
+    furious Sioux, on fleet horses and under full whip, who were rushing
+    upon them); they wheeled, and in front of them came another band more
+    furious from the other side of the hill! they started for home (poor
+    fellows), and strained every nerve; but the Sioux were too fleet for
+    them; and every now and then, the whizzing arrow and the lance were
+    heard to rip the flesh of their naked backs, and a grunt and a groan,
+    as they tumbled from their horses. Several miles were run in this
+    desperate race; and Frénié got home, and several of the Mandans, though
+    eight of them were killed and scalped by the way.</p>
+
+  <p>So ended that day and the hunt; but many a day and sad, will last the
+    grief of those whose hearts were broken on that unlucky occasion.</p>
+
+  <p><em>This</em> day, though, my readers, has been one of a more joyful
+    kind, for the Great Spirit, who was indignant at so flagrant an
+    injustice, has sent the Mandans an abundance of buffaloes; and all
+    hearts have joined in a general thanksgiving to Him for his goodness
+    and justice.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>33</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_057">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_057.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>57</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_19">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 19.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> my last Letter I gave an account of the buffalo dance, and in future
+    epistles may give some descriptions of a dozen other kinds of dance,
+    which these people have in common with other tribes; but in the present
+    Letter I shall make an endeavour to confine my observations to several
+    other customs and forms, which are very curious and peculiar to the
+    Mandans.</p>
+
+  <p>Of these, one of the most pleasing is the <em>sham-fight</em> and sham
+    scalp-dance of the Mandan boys, which is a part of their regular
+    exercise, and constitutes a material branch of their education.
+    During the pleasant mornings of the summer, the little boys between
+    the age of seven and fifteen are called out, to the number of several
+    hundred, and being divided into two companies, each of which is headed
+    by some experienced warrior, who leads them on, in the character of
+    a teacher; they are led out into the prairie at sunrise, where this
+    curious discipline is regularly taught them (<a href="#i_057"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 57</a>). Their
+    bodies are naked, and each one has a little bow in his left hand and
+    a number of arrows made of large spears of grass, which are harmless
+    in their effects. Each one has also a little belt or girdle around
+    his waist, in which he carries a knife made of a piece of wood and
+    equally harmless—on the tops of their heads are slightly attached
+    small tufts of grass, which answer as scalps, and in this plight,
+    they follow the dictates of their experienced leaders, who lead them
+    through the judicious evolutions of Indian warfare—of feints—of
+    retreats—of attacks—and at last to a general fight. Many manœuvres are
+    gone through, and eventually they are brought up face to face, within
+    fifteen or twenty feet of each other, with their leaders at their head
+    stimulating them on. Their bows are bent upon each other and their
+    missiles flying, whilst they are dodging and fending them off.</p>
+
+  <p>If any one is struck with an arrow on any vital part of his body, he is
+    obliged to fall, and his adversary rushes up to him, places his foot
+    upon him, and snatching from his belt his wooden knife, grasps hold of
+    his victim’s scalp-lock of grass, and making a feint at it with his
+    wooden knife, twitches it off and puts it into his belt, and enters
+    again into the ranks and front of battle.</p>
+
+  <p>This mode of training generally lasts an hour or more in the morning,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span>
+    and is performed on an empty stomach, affording them a rigid and
+    wholesome exercise, whilst they are instructed in the important science
+    of war. Some five or six miles of ground are run over during these
+    evolutions, giving suppleness to their limbs and strength to their
+    muscles, which last and benefit them through life.</p>
+
+  <p>After this exciting exhibition is ended, they all return to their
+    village, where the chiefs and braves pay profound attention to their
+    vaunting, and applaud them for their artifice and valour.</p>
+
+  <p>Those who have taken scalps then step forward, brandishing them and
+    making their boast as they enter into the <em>scalp-dance</em> (in which
+    they are also instructed by their leaders or teachers), jumping and
+    yelling—brandishing their scalps, and reciting their <em>sanguinary
+    deeds</em>, to the great astonishment of their tender aged sweethearts,
+    who are gazing with wonder upon them.</p>
+
+  <p>The games and amusements of these people are in most respects like
+    those of the other tribes, consisting of ball plays—game of the
+    moccasin, of the platter—feats of archery—horse-racing, &amp;c.; and they
+    have yet another, which may be said to be their favourite amusement,
+    and unknown to the other tribes about them. The game of Tchung-kee, a
+    beautiful athletic exercise, which they seem to be almost unceasingly
+    practicing whilst the weather is fair, and they have nothing else
+    of moment to demand their attention. This game is decidedly their
+    favourite amusement, and is played near to the village on a pavement
+    of clay, which has been used for that purpose until it has become as
+    smooth and hard as a floor. For this game two champions form their
+    respective parties, by choosing alternately the most famous players,
+    until their requisite numbers are made up. Their bettings are then
+    made, and their stakes are held by some of the chiefs or others
+    present. The play commences (<a href="#i_059"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 59</a>) with two (one from each
+    party), who start off upon a trot, abreast of each other, and one of
+    them rolls in advance of them, on the pavement, a little ring of two
+    or three inches in diameter, cut out of a stone; and each one follows
+    it up with his “tchung-kee” (a stick of six feet in length, with
+    little bits of leather projecting from its sides of an inch or more in
+    length), which he throws before him as he runs, sliding it along upon
+    the ground after the ring, endeavouring to place it in such a position
+    when it stops, that the ring may fall upon it, and receive one of the
+    little projections of leather through it, which counts for game, one,
+    or two, or four, according to the position of the leather on which the
+    ring is lodged. The last winner always has the rolling of the ring,
+    and both start and throw the tchung-kee together; if either fails to
+    receive the ring or to lie in a certain position, it is a forfeiture
+    of the amount of the number he was nearest to, and he loses his throw;
+    when another steps into his place. This game is a very difficult one
+    to describe, so as to give an exact idea of it, unless one can see it
+    played—it is a game of great beauty and fine bodily exercise, and these
+    people become excessively fascinated with it; often gambling away every
+    thing they possess, and even sometimes, when everything else was gone,
+    have been known to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> stake their liberty upon the issue of these games,
+    offering themselves as slaves to their opponents in case they get
+    beaten.</p>
+
+  <p><em>Feasting</em> and <em>fasting</em> are important customs observed by
+    the Mandans, as well as by most other tribes, at stated times and for
+    particular purposes. These observances are strictly religious and
+    rigidly observed. There are many of these forms practiced amongst the
+    Mandans, some of which are exceedingly interesting, and important also,
+    in forming a correct estimate of the Indian character; and I shall at a
+    future period take particular pains to lay them before my readers.</p>
+
+  <p><em>Sacrificing</em> is also a religious custom with these people, and
+    is performed in many different modes, and on numerous occasions. Of
+    this custom I shall also speak more fully hereafter, merely noticing
+    at present, some few of the hundred modes in which these offerings
+    are made to the Good and Evil Spirits. Human sacrifices have never
+    been made by the Mandans, nor by any of the north western tribes (so
+    far as I can learn), excepting the Pawnees of the Platte; who have,
+    undoubtedly, observed such an inhuman practice in former times, though
+    they have relinquished it of late. The Mandans sacrifice their fingers
+    to the Great Spirit, and of their worldly goods, the best and the most
+    costly; if a horse or a dog, it must be the favourite one; if it is
+    an arrow from their quiver, they will select the most perfect one as
+    the most effective gift; if it is meat, it is the choicest piece cut
+    from the buffalo or other animal; if it is anything from the stores of
+    the Traders, it is the most costly—it is blue or scarlet cloth, which
+    costs them in this country an enormous price, and is chiefly used for
+    the purpose of hanging over their wigwams to decay, or to cover the
+    scaffolds where rest the bones of their departed relations.</p>
+
+  <p>Of these kinds of sacrifices there are three of an interesting nature,
+    erected over the great medicine-lodge in the centre of the village—they
+    consist of ten or fifteen yards of blue and black cloth each, purchased
+    from the Fur Company at fifteen or twenty dollars per yard, which
+    are folded up so as to resemble human figures, with quills in their
+    heads and masks on their faces. These singular-looking figures, like
+    “<em>scare crows</em>” (<a href="#i_047"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 47</a>), are erected on poles about
+    thirty feet high, over the door of the mystery-lodge, and there are
+    left to decay. There hangs now by the side of them another, which was
+    added to the number a few days since, of the skin of a white buffalo,
+    which will remain there until it decays and falls to pieces.</p>
+
+  <p>This beautiful and costly skin, when its history is known, will
+    furnish a striking proof of the importance which they attach to these
+    propitiatory offerings. But a few weeks since, a party of Mandans
+    returned from the Mouth of the Yellow Stone, two hundred miles
+    above, with information that a party of Blackfeet were visiting that
+    place on business with the American Fur Company; and that they had
+    with them a white buffalo robe for sale. This was looked upon as a
+    subject of great importance by the chiefs, and one worthy of public
+    consideration. A white buffalo robe is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> great curiosity, even in the
+    country of buffaloes, and will always command an almost incredible
+    price, from its extreme scarcity; and then, from its being the most
+    costly article of traffic in these regions, it is usually converted
+    into a <em>sacrifice</em>, being offered to the Great Spirit, as the
+    most acceptable gift that can be procured. Amongst the vast herds of
+    buffaloes which graze on these boundless prairies, there is not one in
+    an hundred thousand, perhaps, that is white; and when such an one is
+    obtained, it is considered great <em>medicine</em> or mystery.</p>
+
+  <p>On the receipt of the intelligence above-mentioned, the chiefs convened
+    in council, and deliberated on the expediency of procuring the white
+    robe from the Blackfeet; and also of appropriating the requisite means,
+    and devising the proper mode of procedure for effecting the purchase.
+    At the close of their deliberations, eight men were fitted out on eight
+    of their best horses, who took from the Fur Company’s store, on the
+    credit of the chiefs, goods exceeding even the value of their eight
+    horses; and they started for the Mouth of the Yellow Stone, where
+    they arrived in due time, and made the purchase, by leaving the eight
+    horses and all the goods which they carried; returning on foot to their
+    own village, bringing home with them the white robe, which was looked
+    upon by all eyes of the villagers as a thing that was vastly curious,
+    and containing (as they express it) something of the Great Spirit.
+    This wonderful anomaly laid several days in the chief’s lodge, until
+    public curiosity was gratified; and then it was taken by the doctors or
+    high-priests, and with a great deal of form and mystery consecrated,
+    and raised on the top of a long pole over the <em>medicine-lodge</em>;
+    where it now stands in a group with the others, and will stand as an
+    offering to the Great Spirit, until it decays and falls to the ground.</p>
+
+  <p>This Letter, as I promised in its commencement, being devoted to some
+    of the customs peculiar to the Mandans, and all of which will be new
+    to the world, I shall close, after recording in it an account of a
+    laughable farce, which was enacted in this village when I was on my
+    journey up the river, and had stopped on the way to spend a day or two
+    in the Mandan village.</p>
+
+  <p>Readers, did you ever hear of “<em>Rain Makers</em>?” If not, sit still,
+    and read on; but laugh not—keep cool and sober, or else you may laugh
+    in the <em>beginning</em>, and cry at the <em>end</em> of my story.
+    Well, I introduce to you a new character—not a <em>doctor</em> or a
+    <em>high-priest</em>, yet a <em>medicine-man</em>, and one of the highest
+    and most respectable order, a “<em>Rain Maker</em>!” Such dignitaries
+    live in the Mandan nation, aye, and “<em>rain stoppers</em>” too; and
+    even those also amongst their <em>conjurati</em>, who, like Joshua of
+    old, have even essayed to stop the sun in his course; but from the
+    inefficiency of their medicine or mystery, have long since descended
+    into insignificance.</p>
+
+  <p>Well, the story begins thus:—The Mandans, as I have said in a former
+    Letter, raise a great deal of corn; and sometimes a most disastrous
+    drought will be visited on the land, destructive to their promised
+    harvest. Such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> was the case when I arrived at the Mandan village
+    on the steam-boat, Yellow-Stone. Rain had not fallen for many a day,
+    and the dear little girls and the ugly old squaws, altogether (all of
+    whom had fields of corn), were groaning and crying to their lords, and
+    imploring them to intercede for rain, that their little respective
+    patches, which were now turning pale and yellow, might not be withered,
+    and they be deprived of the pleasure of their customary annual
+    festivity, and the joyful occasion of the “roasting ears,” and the
+    “green corn dance.”</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>34</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_058">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_058.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>58</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_059">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_059.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>59</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The chiefs and doctors sympathized with the plaints of the women, and
+    recommended patience. Great deliberation, they said, was necessary in
+    these cases; and though they resolved on making the attempt to produce
+    rain for the benefit of the corn; yet they very wisely resolved that
+    to begin too soon might ensure their entire defeat in the endeavour;
+    and that the longer they put it off, the more certain they would feel
+    of ultimate success. So, after a few days of further delay, when the
+    importunities of the women had become clamorous, and even mournful,
+    and almost insupportable, the <em>medicine-men</em> assembled in the
+    council-house, with all their mystery apparatus about them—with an
+    abundance of wild sage, and other aromatic herbs, with a fire prepared
+    to burn them, that their savoury odours might be sent forth to the
+    Great Spirit. The lodge was closed to all the villagers, except some
+    ten or fifteen young men, who were willing to hazard the dreadful
+    alternative of making it rain, or suffer the everlasting disgrace of
+    having made a fruitless essay.</p>
+
+  <p>They, only, were allowed as witnesses to the <em>hocus pocus</em> and
+    <em>conjuration</em> devised by the doctors inside of the medicine-lodge;
+    and they were called up by lot, each one in his turn, to spend a day
+    upon the top of the lodge, to test the potency of his medicine; or, in
+    other words, to see how far his voice might be heard and obeyed amongst
+    the clouds of the heavens; whilst the doctors were burning incense in
+    the wigwam below, and with their songs and prayers to the Great Spirit
+    for success, were sending forth grateful fumes and odours to Him “who
+    lives in the sun and commands the thunders of Heaven.” Wah-kee (the
+    shield) was the first who ascended the wigwam at sunrise; and he stood
+    all day, and looked foolish, as he was counting over and over his
+    string of mystery-beads—the whole village were assembled around him,
+    and praying for his success. Not a cloud appeared—the day was calm and
+    hot; and at the setting of the sun, he descended from the lodge and
+    went home—“his <em>medicine</em> was not good,” nor can he ever be a
+    <em>medicine-man</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>Om-pah (the elk) was the next; he ascended the lodge at sunrise the
+    next morning. His body was entirely naked, being covered with yellow
+    clay. On his left arm he carried a beautiful shield, and a long lance
+    in his right; and on his head the skin of a raven, the bird that soars
+    amidst the clouds, and above the lightning’s glare—he flourished his
+    shield and brandished his lance, and raised his voice, but in vain; for
+    at sunset the ground<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> was dry and the sky was clear; the squaws were
+    crying, and their corn was withering at its roots.</p>
+
+  <p>War-rah-pa (the beaver) was the next; he also spent his breath in vain
+    upon the empty air, and came down at night—and Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (the
+    white buffalo’s hair) took the stand the next morning. He is a small,
+    but beautifully proportioned young man. He was dressed in a tunic and
+    leggings of the skins of the mountain-sheep, splendidly garnished
+    with quills of the porcupine, and fringed with locks of hair taken
+    by his own hand from the heads of his enemies. On his arm he carried
+    his shield, made of the buffalo’s hide—its boss was the head of the
+    war-eagle—and its front was ornamented with “red chains of lightning.”
+    In his left hand he clenched his sinewy bow and one single arrow. The
+    villagers were all gathered about him; when he threw up a feather to
+    decide on the course of the wind, and he commenced thus:—“My friends!
+    people of the pheasants! you see me here a sacrifice—I shall this
+    day relieve you from great distress, and bring joy amongst you; or I
+    shall descend from this lodge when the sun goes down, and live amongs
+    the dogs and old women all my days. My friends! you saw which way the
+    feather flew, and I hold my shield this day in the direction where the
+    wind comes—the lightning on my shield will draw a great cloud, and this
+    arrow, which is selected from my quiver, and which is feathered with
+    the quill of the white swan, will make a hole in it. My friends! this
+    hole in the lodge at my feet, shows me the medicine-men, who are seated
+    in the lodge below me and crying to the Great Spirit; and through it
+    comes and passes into my nose delightful odours, which you see rising
+    in the smoke to the Great Spirit above, who rides in the clouds and
+    commands the winds! Three days they have sat here, my friends, and
+    nothing has been done to relieve your distress. On the first day was
+    Wah-kee (the shield), he could do nothing; he counted his beads and
+    came down—his medicine was not good—his name was bad, and it kept off
+    the rain. The next was Om-pah (the elk); on his head the raven was
+    seen, who flies <em>above</em> the storm, and he failed. War-rah-pa (the
+    beaver) was the next, my friends; the beaver lives <em>under</em> the
+    <em>water</em>, and he never wants it to rain. My friends! I see you are
+    in great distress, and nothing has yet been done; this shield belonged
+    to my father the White Buffalo; and the lightning you see on it is
+    red; it was taken from a black cloud, and that cloud will come over us
+    to-day. I am the white buffalo’s hair—and I am the son of my father.”</p>
+
+  <p>In this manner flourished and manœuvred Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (the white
+    buffalo’s hair), alternately addressing the audience and the heaven—and
+    holding converse with the winds and the “<i lang="mhq">je-bi</i>” (spirits) that
+    are floating about in them—stamping his foot over the heads of the
+    <em>magi</em>, who were involved in mysteries beneath him, and invoking
+    the spirits of darkness and light to send rain, to gladden the hearts
+    of the Mandans.</p>
+
+  <p>It happened on this memorable day about noon, that the steam-boat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span>
+    Yellow Stone, on her first trip up the Missouri River, approached and
+    landed at the Mandan Village, as I have described in a former epistle.
+    I was lucky enough to be a passenger on this boat, and helped to fire
+    a salute of twenty guns of twelve pounds calibre, when we first came
+    in sight of the village, some three or four miles below. These guns
+    introduced a <em>new sound</em> into this strange country, which the
+    Mandans at first supposed to be thunder; and the young man upon the
+    lodge, who turned it to good account, was gathering fame in rounds of
+    applause, which were repeated and echoed through the whole village;
+    all eyes were centred upon him—chiefs envied him—mothers’ hearts
+    were beating high whilst they were decorating and leading up their
+    fair daughters to offer him in marriage, on his signal success. The
+    medicine-men had left the lodge, and came out to bestow upon him the
+    envied title of “<em>medicine-man</em>,” or “<em>doctor</em>,” which he
+    had so deservedly won—wreaths were prepared to decorate his brows, and
+    eagle’s plumes and calumets were in readiness for him; his friends were
+    all rejoiced—his enemies wore on their faces a silent gloom and hatred;
+    and his old sweethearts, who had formerly cast him off, gazed intensely
+    upon him, as they glowed with the burning fever of repentance.</p>
+
+  <p>During all this excitement, Wak-a-dah-ha-hee kept his position,
+    assuming the most commanding and threatening attitudes; brandishing his
+    shield in the direction of the thunder (<a href="#i_058"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 58</a>), although
+    there was not a cloud to be seen, until he (poor fellow), being
+    elevated above the rest of the village, espied, to his inexpressible
+    amazement, the steam-boat ploughing its way up the windings of the
+    river below; puffing her steam from her pipes, and sending forth the
+    thunder from a twelve-pounder on her deck! <span class="gesperrtstar">* * *</span> The White Buffalo’s
+    Hair stood motionless and turned pale, he looked awhile, and turned to
+    the chief and to the multitude, and addressed them with a trembling
+    lip—“My friends, we will get no rain!—there are, you see, no clouds;
+    but my medicine is great—I have brought a <em>thunder boat</em>! look and
+    see it! the thunder you hear is out of her mouth, and the lightning
+    which you see is on the waters!”</p>
+
+  <p>At this intelligence, the whole village flew to the tops of their
+    wigwams, or to the bank of the river, from whence the steamer was in
+    full view, and ploughing along, to their utter dismay and confusion.</p>
+
+  <p>In this promiscuous throng of chiefs, doctors, women, children and
+    dogs, was mingled Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (the white buffalo’s hair), having
+    descended from his high place to mingle with the frightened throng.</p>
+
+  <p>Dismayed at the approach of so strange and unaccountable an object, the
+    Mandans stood their ground but a few moments; when, by an order of the
+    chiefs, all hands were ensconced within the piquets of their village,
+    and all the warriors armed for desperate defence. A few moments brought
+    the boat in front of the village, and all was still and quiet as death;
+    not a Mandan was to be seen upon the banks. The steamer was moored, and
+    three or four of the chiefs soon after, walked boldly down the bank and
+    on to her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> deck, with a spear in one hand and the calumet or pipe of
+    peace in the other. The moment they stepped on board they met (to their
+    great surprise and joy) their old friend, Major Sanford, their agent,
+    which circumstance put an instant end to all their fears. The villagers
+    were soon apprized of the fact, and the whole race of the beautiful and
+    friendly Mandans was paraded on the bank of the river, in front of the
+    steamer.</p>
+
+  <p>The “rain maker,” whose apprehensions of a public calamity brought
+    upon the nation by his extraordinary <em>medicine</em>, had, for the
+    better security of his person from apprehended vengeance, secreted
+    himself in some secure place, and was the last to come forward, and the
+    last to be convinced that this visitation was a friendly one from the
+    white people; and that his <em>medicine</em> had not in the least been
+    instrumental in bringing it about. This information, though received
+    by him with much caution and suspicion, at length gave him great
+    relief, and quieted his mind as to his danger. Yet still in his breast
+    there was a rankling thorn, though he escaped the dreaded vengeance
+    which he had a few moments before apprehended as at hand; as he had
+    the mortification and disgrace of having failed in his mysterious
+    operations. He set up, however (during the day, in his conversation
+    about the strange arrival), his <em>medicines</em>, as the cause of
+    its approach; asserting everywhere and to everybody, that he knew
+    of its coming, and that he had by his magic brought the occurrence
+    about. This plea, however, did not get him much audience; and in fact,
+    everything else was pretty much swallowed up in the guttural talk, and
+    bustle, and gossip about the mysteries of the “thunder-boat;” and so
+    passed the day, until just at the approach of evening, when the “White
+    Buffalo’s Hair” (more watchful of such matters on this occasion than
+    most others) observed that a black cloud had been jutting up in the
+    horizon, and was almost directly over the village! In an instant his
+    shield was on his arm, and his bow in his hand, and he again upon the
+    lodge! stiffened and braced to the last sinew, he stood, with his face
+    and his shield presented to the cloud, and his bow drawn. He drew the
+    eyes of the whole village upon him as he vaunted forth his super-human
+    powers, and at the same time commanding the cloud to come nearer, that
+    he might draw down its contents upon the heads and the corn-fields of
+    the Mandans! In this wise he stood, waving his shield over his head,
+    stamping his foot and frowning as he drew his bow and threatened the
+    heavens, commanding it to rain—his bow was bent, and the arrow drawn
+    to its head, was sent to the cloud, and he exclaimed, “My friends, it
+    is done! Wak-a-dah-ha-hee’s arrow has entered that black cloud, and
+    the Mandans will be wet with the water of the skies!” His predictions
+    were true;—in a few moments the cloud was over the village, and the
+    rain fell in torrents. He stood for some time wielding his weapons and
+    presenting his shield to the sky, while he boasted of his power and
+    the efficacy of his <em>medicine</em>, to those who had been about him,
+    but were now driven to the shelter of their wigwams. He, at length,
+    finished his vaunts and his threats, and descended<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> from his high place
+    (in which he had been perfectly drenched), prepared to receive the
+    honours and the homage that were due to one so potent in his mysteries;
+    and to receive the style and title of “<em>medicine-man</em>.” This is
+    one of a hundred different modes in which a man in Indian countries
+    acquires the honourable appellation.</p>
+
+  <p>This man had “made it rain,” and of course was to receive more than
+    usual honours, as he had done much more than ordinary men could do.
+    All eyes were upon him, and all were ready to admit that he was
+    skilled in the magic art; and must be so nearly allied to the Great
+    or Evil Spirit, that he must needs be a man of great and powerful
+    influence in the nation, and well entitled to the style of doctor or
+    <em>medicine-man</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>Readers, there are two facts relative to these strange transactions,
+    which are infallibly true, and should needs be made known. The first
+    is, that when the Mandans undertake to make it rain, <em>they never
+    fail to succeed</em>, for their ceremonies never stop until rain begins
+    to fall. The second is equally true, and is this:—that he who has
+    once “<em>made it rain</em>,” never attempts it again; his medicine is
+    undoubted—and on future occasions of the kind, he stands aloof, who has
+    once done it in presence of the whole village, giving an opportunity to
+    other young men who are ambitious to signalize themselves in the same
+    way.</p>
+
+  <p>During the memorable night of which I have just spoken, the steam-boat
+    remained by the side of the Mandan village, and the rain that had
+    commenced falling continued to pour down its torrents until midnight;
+    black thunder roared, and livid lightning flashed until the heavens
+    appeared to be lit up with one unceasing and appalling glare. In
+    this frightful moment of consternation, a flash of lightning buried
+    itself in one of the earth-covered lodges of the Mandans, and killed a
+    beautiful girl. Here was food and fuel fresh for their superstitions;
+    and a night of vast tumult and excitement ensued. The dreams of the
+    new-made medicine-man were troubled, and he had dreadful apprehensions
+    for the coming day—for he knew that he was subject to the irrevocable
+    decree of the chiefs and doctors, who canvass every strange and
+    unaccountable event, with close and superstitious scrutiny, and let
+    their vengeance fall without mercy upon its immediate cause.</p>
+
+  <p>He looked upon his well-earned fame as likely to be withheld from him;
+    and also considered that his life might perhaps be demanded as the
+    forfeit for this girl’s death, which would certainly be charged upon
+    him. He looked upon himself as culpable, and supposed the accident
+    to have been occasioned by his criminal desertion of his post, when
+    the steam-boat was approaching the village. Morning came, and he soon
+    learned from some of his friends, the opinions of the wise men; and
+    also the nature of the tribunal that was preparing for him; he sent
+    to the prairie for his three horses, which were brought in, and he
+    mounted the <em>medicine-lodge</em>, around which, in a few moments, the
+    villagers were all assembled. “My friends! (said he) I see you all
+    around me, and I am before you; my medicine, you see, is great—it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span>
+    <em>too great</em>—I am young, and I was too fast—I knew not when to
+    stop. The wigwam of Mah-sish is laid low, and many are the eyes that
+    weep for Ko-ka (the antelope;) Wak-a-dah-ha-hee gives three horses
+    to gladden the hearts of those who weep for Ko-ka; his medicine was
+    great—his arrow pierced the black cloud, and the lightning came, and
+    the <em>thunder-boat</em> also! who says the medicine of Wak-a-dah-ha-hee
+    is not strong?”</p>
+
+  <p>At the end of this sentence an unanimous shout of approbation ran
+    through the crowd, and the “Hair of the White Buffalo” descended
+    amongst them, where he was greeted by shakes of the hand; and amongst
+    whom he now lives and thrives under the familiar and honourable
+    appellation of the “<span class="smcap">Big Double Medicine</span>.”</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_20">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 20.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">This</span> day has been one of unusual mirth and amusement amongst the
+    Mandans, and whether on account of some annual celebration or not, I
+    am as yet unable to say, though I think such is the case; for these
+    people have many days which, like this, are devoted to festivities and
+    amusements.</p>
+
+  <p>Their lives, however, are lives of idleness and ease, and almost all
+    their days and hours are spent in innocent amusements. Amongst a people
+    who have no office hours to attend to—no professions to study, and of
+    whom but very little time is required in the chase, to supply their
+    families with food, it would be strange if they did not practice many
+    games and amusements, and also become exceedingly expert in them.</p>
+
+  <p>I have this day been a spectator of games and plays until I am fatigued
+    with looking on; and also by lending a hand, which I have done; but
+    with so little success as only to attract general observation, and
+    as generally to excite the criticisms and laughter of the squaws and
+    little children.</p>
+
+  <p>I have seen a fair exhibition of their archery this day, in a favourite
+    amusement which they call the “<em>game of the arrow</em>” (see <a href="#i_060"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    60</a>), where the young men who are the most distinguished in
+    this exercise, assemble on the prairie at a little distance from
+    the village, and having paid, each one, his “entrance-fee,” such as
+    a shield, a robe, a pipe, or other article, step forward in turn,
+    shooting their arrows into the air, endeavouring to see who can get the
+    greatest number flying in the air at one time, thrown from the same
+    bow. For this, the number of eight or ten arrows are clenched in the
+    left hand with the bow, and the first one which is thrown is elevated
+    to such a degree as will enable it to remain the longest time possible
+    in the air, and while it is flying, the others are discharged as
+    rapidly as possible; and he who succeeds in getting the greatest number
+    up at once, is “best,” and takes the goods staked.</p>
+
+  <p>In looking on at this amusement, the spectator is surprised; not at
+    the great distance to which the arrows are actually sent; but at
+    the quickness of fixing them on the string, and discharging them in
+    succession; which is no doubt, the result of great practice, and
+    enables the most expert<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> of them to get as many as eight arrows up
+    before the first one reaches the ground.</p>
+
+  <p>For the successful use of the bow, as it is used through all this
+    region of country on horseback, and that invariably at full speed, the
+    great object of practice is to enable the bowman to draw the bow with
+    suddenness and instant effect; and also to repeat the shots in the most
+    rapid manner. As their game is killed from their horses’ backs while
+    at the swiftest rate—and their enemies fought in the same way; and as
+    the horse is the swiftest animal of the prairie, and always able to
+    bring his rider alongside, within a few paces of his victim; it will
+    easily be seen that the Indian has little use in throwing his arrow
+    more than a few paces; when he leans quite low on his horse’s side, and
+    drives it with astonishing force, capable of producing instant death
+    to the buffalo, or any other animal in the country. The bows which are
+    generally in use in these regions I have described in a former Letter,
+    and the effects produced by them at the distance of a few paces is
+    almost beyond belief, considering their length, which is not often over
+    three,—and sometimes not exceeding two and a half feet. It can easily
+    be seen, from what has been said, that the Indian has little use or
+    object in throwing the arrow to any great distance. And as it is very
+    seldom that they can be seen shooting at a target, I doubt very much
+    whether their skill in such practice would compare with that attained
+    to in many parts of the civilized world; but with the same weapon,
+    and dashing forward at fullest speed on the wild horse, without the
+    use of the rein, when the shot is required to be made with the most
+    instantaneous effect, I scarcely think it possible that any people can
+    be found more skilled, and capable of producing more deadly effects
+    with the bow.</p>
+
+  <p>The horses which the Indians ride in this country are invariably the
+    wild horses, which are found in great numbers on the prairies; and
+    have, unquestionably, strayed from the Mexican borders, into which they
+    were introduced by the Spanish invaders of that country; and now range
+    and subsist themselves, in winter and summer, over the vast plains of
+    prairie that stretch from the Mexican frontiers to Lake Winnipeg on
+    the North, a distance of 3000 miles. These horses are all of small
+    stature, of the pony order; but a very hardy and tough animal, being
+    able to perform for the Indians a continual and essential service.
+    They are taken with the <em>laso</em>, which is a long halter or thong,
+    made of rawhide, of some fifteen or twenty yards in length, and which
+    the Indians throw with great dexterity; with a noose at one end of it,
+    which drops over the head of the animal they wish to catch, whilst
+    running at full speed—when the Indian dismounts from his own horse, and
+    holding to the end of the laso, choaks the animal down, and afterwards
+    tames and converts him to his own use.</p>
+
+  <p>Scarcely a man in these regions is to be found, who is not the owner of
+    one or more of these horses; and in many instances of eight, ten, or
+    even twenty, which he values as his own personal property.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>35</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_060">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_060.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>60</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>36</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_061">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_061.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>61</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span></p>
+
+  <p>The Indians are hard and cruel masters; and, added to their cruelties
+    is the sin that is familiar in the Christian world, of sporting with
+    the limbs, and the lives of these noble animals. <em>Horse-racing</em>
+    here, as in all more enlightened communities, is one of the most
+    exciting amusements, and one of the most extravagant modes of gambling.</p>
+
+  <p>I have been this day a spectator to scenes of this kind, which have
+    been enacted in abundance, on a course which they have, just back of
+    their village; and although I never had the least taste for this cruel
+    amusement in my own country, yet, I must say, I have been not a little
+    amused and pleased with the thrilling effect which these exciting
+    scenes have produced amongst so wild and picturesque a group.</p>
+
+  <p>I have made a sketch of the ground and the group, as near as I could
+    (<a href="#i_061"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 61</a>); shewing the manner of “starting” and “coming out,”
+    which vary a little from the customs of the <em>knowing</em> world; but
+    in other respects, I believe, a horse-race is the same all the world
+    over.</p>
+
+  <p>Besides these, many have been the amusements of this day, to which I
+    have been an eye-witness; and since writing the above, I have learned
+    the cause of this unusual expression of hilarity and mirth; which was
+    no more nor less than the safe return of a small war-party, who had
+    been so long out without any tidings having been received of them—that
+    they had long since been looked upon as sacrificed to the fates of
+    war and lost. This party was made up of the most distinguished and
+    desperate young men of the tribe, who had sallied out against the
+    Riccarees, and taken the most solemn oath amongst themselves never
+    to return without achieving a victory. They had wandered long and
+    faithfully about the country, following the trails of their enemy; when
+    they were attacked by a numerous party, and lost several of their men
+    and all their horses. In this condition, to evade the scrutiny of their
+    enemy, who were closely investing the natural route to their village;
+    they took a circuitous range of the country, to enable them to return
+    with their lives, to their village.</p>
+
+  <p>In this plight, it seems, I had dropped my little canoe alongside of
+    them, while descending from the Mouth of Yellow Stone to this place,
+    not many weeks since; where they had bivouacked or halted, to smoke
+    and consult on the best and safest mode of procedure. At the time of
+    meeting them, not knowing anything of their language, they were unable
+    to communicate their condition to me, and more probably were afraid
+    to do so even if they could have done it, from apprehension that we
+    might have given some account of them to their enemies. I rested my
+    canoe an hour or so with them, during which time they treated us with
+    an indifferent reserve, yet respectfully; and we passed on our way,
+    without further information of them or their plans than the sketch that
+    I there made (<a href="#i_063"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 63</a>), and which I shall preserve and value
+    as one of the most pleasing groups I ever have had the pleasure to see.
+    Seated on their buffalo robes, which were spread upon the grass, with
+    their respective weapons laying about them, and lighting their pipes at
+    a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> little fire which was kindled in the centre—the chief or leader of
+    the party, with his arms stacked behind him, and his long head-dress of
+    war-eagles’ quills and ermine falling down over his back, whilst he sat
+    in a contemplative and almost desponding mood, was surely one of the
+    most striking and beautiful illustrations of a natural hero that I ever
+    looked upon.</p>
+
+  <p>These gallant fellows got safely home to their village, and the
+    numerous expressions of joy for their return, which I have this day
+    witnessed, have much fatigued me that I write brief, and close my
+    Letter here.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>37</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_063">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_063.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>63</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_21">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 21.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> a former Letter I gave some account of Mah-to-toh-pa (the four
+    bears), second chief of the Mandans, whom I said I had painted at
+    full length, in a splendid costume. I therein said, also, that “this
+    extraordinary man, though second in office, is undoubtedly the first
+    and most popular man in the nation. Free, generous, elegant, and
+    gentlemanly in his deportment—handsome, brave and valiant; wearing a
+    robe on his back, with the history of all his battles painted on it,
+    which would fill a book of themselves if they were properly enlarged
+    and translated.”</p>
+
+  <p>I gave you also, in another epistle, an account of the manner in
+    which he invited me to a feast in his hospitable wigwam, at the same
+    time presenting me a beautifully garnished robe; and I promised to
+    say more of him on a future occasion. My readers will therefore
+    pardon me for devoting a Letter or two at this time, to a sketch of
+    this extraordinary man, which I will give in as brief a manner as
+    possible, by describing the costume in which I painted his portrait;
+    and afterwards reciting the most remarkable incidents of his life,
+    as I had them from the Traders and the Indian agents, and afterwards
+    corroborated by his own words, translated to me as he spoke, whilst I
+    was writing them down.</p>
+
+  <p>The dress of Mah-to-toh-pa then, the greater part of which I have
+    represented in his full-length portrait, and which I shall now
+    describe, was purchased of him after I had painted his picture; and
+    every article of it can be seen in my Indian Gallery by the side of
+    the portrait, provided I succeed in getting them home to the civilized
+    world without injury.</p>
+
+  <p>Mah-to-toh-pa had agreed to stand before me for his portrait at an
+    early hour of the next morning, and on that day I sat with my palette
+    of colours prepared, and waited till twelve o’clock, before he could
+    leave his toilette with feelings of satisfaction as to the propriety of
+    his looks and the arrangement of his equipments; and at that time it
+    was announced, that “Mah-to-toh-pa was coming in full dress!” I looked
+    out of the door of the wigwam, and saw him approaching with a firm and
+    elastic step, accompanied by a great crowd of women and children, who
+    were gazing on him with admiration, and escorting him to my room. No
+    tragedian ever trod the stage, nor gladiator ever entered the Roman
+    Forum, with more grace and manly dignity than did Mah-to-toh-pa enter
+    the wigwam, where I was in readiness to receive him. He took his
+    attitude before me (<a href="#i_064"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 64</a>), and with the sternness of a
+    Brutus and the stillness of a statue, he stood until the darkness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span>
+    of night broke upon the solitary stillness. His dress, which was a
+    very splendid one, was complete in all its parts, and consisted of a
+    shirt or tunic, leggings, moccasins, head-dress, necklace, shield,
+    bow and quiver, lance, tobacco-sack, and pipe; robe, belt, and knife;
+    medicine-bag, tomahawk, and war-club, or <i lang="mhq">po-ko-mo-kon</i>.</p>
+
+  <p>The shirt, of which I have spoken, was made of two skins of the
+    mountain-sheep, beautifully dressed, and sewed together by seams which
+    rested upon the arms; one skin hanging in front, upon the breast, and
+    the other falling down upon the back; the head being passed between
+    them, and they falling over and resting on the shoulders. Across each
+    shoulder, and somewhat in the form of an epaulette, was a beautiful
+    band; and down each arm from the neck to the hand was a similar one,
+    of two inches in width (and crossing the other at right angles on the
+    shoulder) beautifully embroidered with porcupine quills worked on the
+    dress, and covering the seams. To the lower edge of these bands the
+    whole way, at intervals of half an inch, were attached long locks of
+    black hair, which he had taken with his own hand from the heads of
+    his enemies whom he had slain in battle, and which he thus wore as a
+    trophy, and also as an ornament to his dress. The front and back of
+    the shirt were curiously garnished in several parts with porcupine
+    quills and paintings of the battles he had fought, and also with
+    representations of the victims that had fallen by his hand. The bottom
+    of the dress was bound or hemmed with ermine skins, and tassels of
+    ermines’ tails were suspended from the arms and the shoulders.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>Leggings</em>, which were made of deer skins, beautifully
+    dressed, and fitting tight to the leg, extended from the feet to the
+    hips, and were fastened to a belt which was passed around the waist.
+    These, like the shirt, had a similar band, worked with porcupine quills
+    of richest dyes, passing down the seam on the outer part of the leg,
+    and fringed also the whole length of the leg, with the scalp-locks
+    taken from his enemies’ heads.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>Moccasins</em> were of buckskin, and covered in almost every part
+    with the beautiful embroidery of porcupines’ quills.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>Head-dress</em>, which was superb and truly magnificent,
+    consisted of a crest of war-eagles’ quills, gracefully falling back
+    from the forehead over the back part of the head, and extending quite
+    down to his feet; set the whole way in a profusion of ermine, and
+    surmounted on the top of the head, with the horns of the buffalo,
+    shaved thin and highly polished.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>Necklace</em> was made of fifty huge claws or nails of the
+    grizzly bear, ingeniously arranged on the skin of an otter, and worn,
+    like the scalp-locks, as a trophy—as an evidence unquestionable, that
+    he had contended with and overcome that desperate enemy in open combat.</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Shield</em> was made of the hide of the buffalo’s neck, and
+    hardened with the glue that was taken from its hoofs; its boss was the
+    skin of a pole-cat, and its edges were fringed with rows of eagles’
+    quills and hoofs of the antelope.</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Bow</em> was of bone, and as white and beautiful as ivory; over
+    its back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> was laid, and firmly attached to it, a coating of deers’
+    sinews, which gave it its elasticity, and of course death to all that
+    stood inimically before it. Its string was three stranded and twisted
+    of sinews, which many a time had twanged and sent the whizzing death to
+    animal and to human victims.</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75" id="i_064">
+    <div class="plate "><i>38</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_064.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>64</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The <em>Quiver</em> was made of a panther’s skin and hung upon his back,
+    charged with its deadly arrows; some were poisoned and some were not;
+    they were feathered with hawks’ and eagles’ quills; some were clean and
+    innocent, and pure, and others were stained all over, with animal and
+    human blood that was dried upon them. Their blades or points were of
+    flints, and some of steel; and altogether were a deadly magazine.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>Lance</em> or spear was held in his left hand; its blade was
+    two-edged and of polished steel, and the blood of several human victims
+    was seen dried upon it, one over the other; its shaft was of the
+    toughest ash, and ornamented at intervals with tufts of war-eagles’
+    quills.</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Tobacco-sack</em> was made of the skin of an otter, and
+    tastefully garnished with quills of the porcupine; in it was carried
+    his <i lang="mhq">k’nick k’neck</i>, (the bark of the red willow, which is smoked
+    as a substitute for tobacco), it contained also his flint and steel,
+    and spunk for lighting——</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Pipe</em>, which was ingeniously carved out of the red steatite
+    (or pipe-stone), the stem of which was three feet long and two inches
+    wide, made from the stalk of the young ash; about half its length was
+    wound with delicate braids of the porcupine’s quills, so ingeniously
+    wrought as to represent figures of men and animals upon it. It was
+    also ornamented with the skins and beaks of wood-peckers’ heads, and
+    the hair of the white buffalo’s tail. The lower half of the stem was
+    painted red, and on its edges it bore the notches he had recorded for
+    the snows (or years) of his life.</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Robe</em> was made of the skin of a young buffalo bull, with the
+    fur on one side, and the other finely and delicately dressed; with all
+    the battles of his life emblazoned on it by his own hand.</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Belt</em>, which was of a substantial piece of buckskin, was
+    firmly girded around his waist; and in it were worn his tomahawk and
+    scalping-knife.</p>
+
+  <p>His <em>Medicine-bag</em> was the skin of a beaver, curiously ornamented
+    with hawks’ bills and ermine. It was held in his right hand, and his
+    <i lang="mhq">po-ko-mo-kon</i> (or war-club) which was made of a round stone, tied
+    up in a piece of rawhide, and attached to the end of a stick, somewhat
+    in the form of a sling, was laid with others of his weapons at his feet.</p>
+
+  <p>Such was the dress of Mah-to-toh-pa when he entered my wigwam to stand
+    for his picture; but such I have not entirely represented it in his
+    portrait; having rejected such trappings and ornaments as interfered
+    with the grace and simplicity of the figure. He was beautifully and
+    extravagantly dressed; and in this he was not alone, for hundreds of
+    others are equally elegant. In plumes, and arms, and ornaments, he is
+    not singular; but in laurels and wreaths he stands unparalleled. His
+    breast has been bared and scarred in defence of his country, and his
+    brows crowned with honours<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> that elevate him conspicuous above all of
+    his nation. There is no man amongst the Mandans so generally loved,
+    nor any one who wears a robe so justly famed and honourable as that of
+    Mah-to-toh-pa.</p>
+
+  <p>I said his robe was of the skin of a young buffalo bull, and that the
+    battles of his life were emblazoned on it; and on a former occasion,
+    that he presented me a beautiful robe, containing all the battles
+    of his life, which he had spent two weeks’ time in copying from his
+    original one, which he wore on his shoulders.</p>
+
+  <p>This robe, with his tracings on it, is the chart of his military life;
+    and when explained, will tell more of Mah-to-toh-pa.</p>
+
+  <p>Some days after this robe was presented, he called upon me with Mr.
+    Kipp, the trader and interpreter for the Mandans, and gave me of each
+    battle there pourtrayed the following history, which was interpreted
+    by Mr. Kipp, from his own lips, and written down by me, as we three
+    sat upon the robe. Mr. Kipp, who is a gentleman of respectability and
+    truth; and who has lived with these people ten years, assured me, that
+    nearly every one of these narrations were of events that had happened
+    whilst he had lived with them, and had been familiarly known to him;
+    and that every word that he asserted was true.</p>
+
+  <p>And again, reader, in this country where, of all countries I ever
+    was in, men are the most jealous of rank and of standing; and in a
+    community so small also, that every man’s deeds of honour and chivalry
+    are familiarly known to all; it would not be reputable, or even safe
+    to life, for a warrior to wear upon his back the representations of
+    battles he never had fought; professing to have done what every child
+    in the village would know he never had done.</p>
+
+  <p>So then I take the records of battles on the robe of Mah-to-toh-pa
+    to be matter of historical fact; and I proceed to give them as I
+    wrote them down from his own lips. Twelve battle-scenes are there
+    represented, where he has contended with his enemy, and in which he has
+    taken fourteen of their scalps. The groups are drawn according to his
+    own rude ideas of the arts; and I proceed to describe them in turn, as
+    they were explained to me.</p>
+
+  <h3>ROBE OF MAH-TO-TOH-PA (<a href="#i_065"><span class="smcap">Plate</span> 65</a>).</h3>
+
+  <p>1. Mah-to-toh-pa kills a Sioux chief—the three heads represent the
+    three Riccarees, whom the Sioux chief had previously killed. The Sioux
+    chief is seen with war-paint black on his face. Mah-to-toh-pa is seen
+    with the scalp of the Sioux in one hand, and his knife in the other,
+    with his bow and quiver lying behind him.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+  <p>2. A Shienne chief, who sent word to Mah-to-toh-pa that he wished to
+    fight him—was killed by Mah-to-toh-pa with a lance, in presence of a
+    large <span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span>party of Mandans and Shiennes. Mah-to-toh-pa is here known
+    by his lance with eagles’ quills on it.</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75" id="i_065">
+    <div class="plate"><i>39</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_065.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>65</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75">
+    <div class="plate"><i>40</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_065a.jpg" alt="" />
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75">
+    <div class="plate"><i>41</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_065b.jpg" alt="" />
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>3. A Shienne killed by Mah-to-toh-pa after Mah-to-toh-pa had been left
+    by his party, badly wounded and bleeding; the twenty-five or thirty
+    foot-tracks around, represent the number of Shiennes, who were present
+    when the battle took place; and the bullets from their guns represented
+    as flying all around the head of Mah-to-toh-pa.</p>
+
+  <p>4. Shienne chief with war-eagle head-dress, and a beautiful shield,
+    ornamented with eagles’ quills, killed by Mah-to-toh-pa. In this
+    battle the wife of the Shienne rushed forward in a desperate manner to
+    his assistance; but arriving too late, fell a victim. In this battle
+    Mah-to-toh-pa obtained two scalps.</p>
+
+  <p>5. Mah-to-toh-pa, with a party of Riccarees, fired at by a party of
+    Sioux; the Riccarees fled—Mah-to-toh-pa dismounted and drove his horse
+    back, facing the enemy alone and killing one of them. Mah-to-toh-pa is
+    here represented with a beautiful head-dress of war-eagles’ quills,
+    and one on his horse’s head of equal beauty; his shield is on his arm,
+    and the party of Sioux is represented in front of him by the number of
+    horse tracks.</p>
+
+  <p>6. The brother of Mah-to-toh-pa killed by a Riccaree, who shot him with
+    an arrow, and then running a lance through his body, left it there.
+    Mah-to-toh-pa was the first to find his brother’s body with the lance
+    in it: he drew the lance from the body, kept it four years with the
+    blood dried on its blade, and then, according to his oath, killed the
+    same Riccaree with the same lance; the dead body of his brother is here
+    seen with the arrow and lance remaining in it, and the tracks of the
+    Riccaree’s horses in front.</p>
+
+  <p>The following was, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary exploits
+    of this remarkable man’s life, and is well attested by Mr. Kipp, and
+    several white men, who were living in the Mandan village at the time of
+    its occurrence. In a skirmish, near the Mandan village, when they were
+    set upon by their enemies, the Riccarees, the brother of Mah-to-toh-pa
+    was missing for several days, when Mah-to-toh-pa found the body
+    shockingly mangled, and a handsome spear left piercing the body through
+    the heart. The spear was by him brought into the Mandan village, where
+    it was recognized by many as a famous weapon belonging to a noted brave
+    of the Riccarees, by the name of Won-ga-tap. This spear was brandished
+    through the Mandan village by Mah-to-toh-pa (with the blood of his
+    brother dried on its blade), crying most piteously, and swearing that
+    he would some day revenge the death of his brother with the same weapon.</p>
+
+  <p>It is almost an incredible fact, that he kept this spear with great
+    care in his wigwam for the space of four years, in the fruitless
+    expectation of an opportunity to use it upon the breast of its owner;
+    when his indignant soul, impatient of further delay, burst forth in the
+    most uncontroullable frenzy and fury; he again brandished it through
+    the village, and said, that the blood of his brother’s heart which was
+    seen on its blade was yet fresh,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span>
+    and called loudly for revenge. “Let
+    every Mandan (said he) be silent, and let no one sound the name of
+    Mah-to-toh-pa—let no one ask for him, nor where he has gone, until you
+    hear him sound the war-cry in front of the village, when he will enter
+    it and shew you the blood of Won-ga-tap. The blade of this lance shall
+    drink the heart’s blood of Won-ga-tap, or Mah-to-toh-pa mingles his
+    shadow with that of his brother.”</p>
+
+  <p>With this he sallied forth from the village, and over the plains,
+    with the lance in his hand; his direction was towards the Riccaree
+    village, and all eyes were upon him, though none dared to speak till he
+    disappeared over the distant grassy bluffs. He travelled the distance
+    of two hundred miles entirely alone, with a little parched corn in
+    his pouch, making his marches by night, and laying secreted by days,
+    until he reached the Riccaree village; where (being acquainted with
+    its shapes and its habits, and knowing the position of the wigwam of
+    his doomed enemy) he loitered about in disguise, mingling himself in
+    the obscure throng; and at last, silently and alone, observed through
+    the rents of the wigwam, the last motions and movements of his victim,
+    as he retired to bed with his wife: he saw him light his last pipe and
+    smoke it “to its end”—he saw the last whiff, and saw the last curl of
+    blue smoke that faintly steeped from its bowl—he saw the village awhile
+    in darkness and silence, and the embers that were covered in the middle
+    of the wigwam gone nearly out, and the last flickering light which had
+    been gently playing over them; when he walked softly, but not slyly,
+    into the wigwam and seated himself by the fire, over which was hanging
+    a large pot, with a quantity of cooked meat remaining in it; and by
+    the side of the fire, the pipe and tobacco-pouch which had just been
+    used; and knowing that the twilight of the wigwam was not sufficient to
+    disclose the features of his face to his enemy, he very deliberately
+    turned to the pot and completely satiated the desperate appetite, which
+    he had got in a journey of six or seven days, with little or nothing
+    to eat; and then, as deliberately, charged and lighted the pipe, and
+    sent (no doubt, in every whiff that he drew through its stem) a prayer
+    to the Great Spirit for a moment longer for the consummation of his
+    design. Whilst eating and smoking, the wife of his victim, while laying
+    in bed, several times enquired of her husband, what man it was who was
+    eating in their lodge? to which, he as many times replied, “It’s no
+    matter; let him eat, for he is probably hungry.”</p>
+
+  <p>Mah-to-toh-pa knew full well that his appearance would cause no other
+    reply than this, from the dignitary of the nation; for, from an
+    invariable custom amongst these Northern Indians, any one who is hungry
+    is allowed to walk into any man’s lodge and eat. Whilst smoking his
+    last gentle and tremulous whiffs on the pipe, Mah-to-toh-pa (leaning
+    back, and turning gradually on his side, to get a better view of the
+    position of his enemy, and to see a little more distinctly the shapes
+    of things) stirred the embers with his toes (readers, I had every
+    word of this from his own lips, and every attitude and gesture acted
+    out with his own limbs), until he saw his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> way was clear; at which
+    moment, with his lance in his hands, he rose and drove it through the
+    body of his enemy, and snatching the scalp from his head, he darted
+    from the lodge—and quick as lightning, with the lance in one hand,
+    and the scalp in the other, made his way to the prairie! The village
+    was in an uproar, but he was off, and no one knew the enemy who had
+    struck the blow. Mah-to-toh-pa ran all night, and lay close during the
+    days; thanking the Great Spirit for strengthening his heart and his
+    arm to this noble revenge; and prayed fervently for a continuance of
+    his aid and protection till he should get back to his own village. His
+    prayers were heard; and on the sixth morning, at sunrise, Mah-to-toh-pa
+    descended the bluffs, and entered the village amidst deafening shouts
+    of applause, while he brandished and shewed to his people the blade of
+    his lance, with the blood of his victim dried upon it, over that of his
+    brother; and the scalp of Won-ga-tap suspended from its handle.</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75">
+  <div class="plate"><i>42</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_065c.jpg" alt="" />
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>Such was the feat represented by Mah-to-toh-pa on his robe—and the
+    lance, of which I have just spoken, is seen in the hand of his
+    portrait, which will stand in my Gallery, and of which I have thus
+    formerly spoken:—“The lance or spear of Mah-to-toh-pa, when he stood
+    for his portrait, was held in his left hand; its blade was two-edged,
+    and of polished steel, and the blood of several human victims was
+    seen dried upon its surface, one over the other; its shaft was of the
+    toughest ash, and ornamented at intervals with tufts of war-eagle’s
+    quills.”</p>
+
+  <p>In the portrait, of which I am speaking, there will be seen an eagle’s
+    quill balanced on the hilt of the lance, severed from its original
+    position, and loose from the weapon. When I painted his portrait,
+    he brought that quill to my wigwam in his left hand, and carefully
+    balancing it on the lance, as seen in the painting; he desired me to be
+    very exact with it, to have it appear as separate from, and unconnected
+    with, the lance; and to represent a spot of blood which was visible
+    upon it. I indulged him in his request, and then got from him the
+    following explanation:—“That quill (said he) is great <em>medicine</em>!
+    it belongs to the Great Spirit, and not to me—when I was running out of
+    the lodge of Won-ga-tap, I looked back and saw that quill hanging to
+    the wound in his side; I ran back, and pulling it out, brought it home
+    in my left hand, and I have kept it for the Great Spirit to this day!”</p>
+
+  <p>“Why do you not then tie it on to the lance again, where it came off?”</p>
+
+  <p>“Hush-sh (said he), if the Great Spirit had wished it to be tied on in
+    that place, it never would have come off; he has been kind to me, and I
+    will not offend him.”</p>
+
+  <p>7. A Riccaree killed by Mah-to-toh-pa in revenge of the death of a
+    white man killed by a Riccaree in the Fur Traders’ Fort, a short time
+    previous.</p>
+
+  <p>8. Mah-to-toh-pa, or four bears, kills a Shienne chief, who challenged
+    him to single combat, in presence of the two war-parties; they fought
+    on horseback with guns, until Mah-to-toh-pa’s powder-horn was shot
+    away; they then fought with bows and arrows, until their quivers were
+    emptied, when they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> dismounted and fought single-handed. The Shienne
+    drew his knife, and Mah-to-toh-pa had left his; they struggled for the
+    knife, which Mah-to-toh-pa wrested from the Shienne, and killed him
+    with it; in the struggle, the blade of the knife was several times
+    drawn through the hand of Mah-to-toh-pa, and the blood is seen running
+    from the wound.</p>
+
+  <p>This extraordinary occurrence also, was one which admits of, and
+    deserves a more elaborate description, which I will here give as it
+    was translated from his own lips, while he sat upon the robe, pointing
+    to his painting of it; and at the same time brandishing the identical
+    knife which he drew from his belt, as he was shewing how the fatal blow
+    was given; and exhibiting the wounds inflicted in his hand, as the
+    blade of the knife was several times drawn through it before he wrested
+    it from his antagonist.</p>
+
+  <p>A party of about 150 Shienne warriors had made an assault upon the
+    Mandan village at an early hour in the morning, and driven off a
+    considerable number of horses, and taken one scalp. Mah-to-toh-pa,
+    who was then a young man, but famed as one of the most valiant of the
+    Mandans, took the lead of a party of fifty warriors, all he could at
+    that time muster, and went in pursuit of the enemy; about noon of the
+    second day, they came in sight of the Shiennes; and the Mandans seeing
+    their enemy much more numerous than they had expected, were generally
+    disposed to turn about and return without attacking them. They started
+    to go back, when Mah-to-toh-pa galloped out in front upon the prairie,
+    and plunged his lance into the ground; the blade was driven into the
+    earth to its hilt—he made another circuit around, and in that circuit
+    tore from his breast his reddened sash, which he hung upon its handle
+    as a flag, calling out to the Mandans, “What! have we come to this?
+    we have dogged our enemy two days, and now when we have found them,
+    are we to turn about and go back like cowards? Mah-to-toh-pa’s lance,
+    which is red with the blood of brave men, has led you to the sight of
+    your enemy, and you have followed it; it now stands firm in the ground,
+    where the earth will drink the blood of Mah-to-toh-pa! you may all go
+    back, and Mah-to-toh-pa will fight them alone!”</p>
+
+  <p>During this manœuvre, the Shiennes, who had discovered the Mandans
+    behind them, had turned about and were gradually approaching, in order
+    to give them battle; the chief of the Shienne war-party seeing and
+    understanding the difficulty, and admiring the gallant conduct of
+    Mah-to-toh-pa, galloped his horse forward within hailing distance, in
+    front of the Mandans, and called out to know “who he was who had stuck
+    down his lance and defied the whole enemy alone?”</p>
+
+  <p>“I am Mah-to-toh-pa, second in command of the brave and valiant
+    Mandans.”</p>
+
+  <p>“I have heard often of Mah-to-toh-pa, he is a great warrior—dares
+    Mah-to-toh-pa to come forward and fight this battle with me alone, and
+    our warriors will look on?”</p>
+
+  <p>“Is he a chief who speaks to Mah-to-toh-pa?”</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>43</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_066">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_066.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>66</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span></p>
+
+  <p>“My scalps you see hanging to my horse’s bits, and here is my lance
+    with the ermine skins and the war-eagle’s tail!”</p>
+
+  <p>“You have said enough.”</p>
+
+  <p>The Shienne chief made a circuit or two at full gallop on a beautiful
+    white horse, when he struck his lance into the ground, and left it
+    standing by the side of the lance of Mah-to-toh-pa, both of which were
+    waving together their little red flags, tokens of blood and defiance.</p>
+
+  <p>The two parties then drew nearer, on a beautiful prairie, and the
+    two full-plumed chiefs, at full speed, drove furiously upon each
+    other! both firing their guns at the same moment. They passed each
+    other a little distance and wheeled, when Mah-to-toh-pa drew off his
+    powder-horn, and by holding it up, shewed his adversary that the bullet
+    had shattered it to pieces and destroyed his ammunition; he then threw
+    it from him, and his gun also—drew his bow from his quiver, and an
+    arrow, and his shield upon his left arm! The Shienne instantly did
+    the same; <em>his</em> horn was thrown off, and his gun was thrown into
+    the air—his shield was balanced on his arm—his bow drawn, and quick
+    as lightning, they were both on the wing for a deadly combat! Like
+    two soaring eagles in the open air, they made their circuits around,
+    and the twangs of their sinewy bows were heard, and the war-whoop,
+    as they dashed by each other, parrying off the whizzing arrows with
+    their shields! Some lodged in their legs and others in their arms; but
+    both protected their <em>bodies</em> with their bucklers of bull’s hide.
+    Deadly and many were the shafts that fled from their murderous bows. At
+    length the horse of Mah-to-toh-pa fell to the ground with an arrow in
+    his heart; his rider sprang upon his feet prepared to renew the combat;
+    but the Shienne, seeing his adversary dismounted, sprang from his
+    horse, and driving him back, presented the face of his shield towards
+    his enemy, inviting him to come on!—a few shots more were exchanged
+    thus, when the Shienne, having discharged all his arrows, held up his
+    empty quiver and dashing it furiously to the ground, with his bow and
+    his shield; drew and brandished his naked knife!</p>
+
+  <p>“Yes!” said Mah-to-toh-pa, as he threw <em>his</em> shield and quiver to
+    the earth, and was rushing up—<em>he</em> grasped for his knife, but his
+    belt had it not; he had left it at home! his bow was in his hand, with
+    which he parried his antagonist’s blow and felled him to the ground! A
+    desperate struggle now ensued for the knife—the blade of it was several
+    times drawn through the right hand of Mah-to-toh-pa, inflicting the
+    most frightful wounds, while he was severely wounded in several parts
+    of the body. He at length succeeded however, in wresting it from his
+    adversary’s hand, and plunged it to his heart.</p>
+
+  <p>By this time the two parties had drawn up in close view of each other,
+    and at the close of the battle, Mah-to-toh-pa held up, and claimed in
+    deadly silence, the knife and scalp of the noble Shienne chief.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+  <p>9. Several hundred Minatarees and Mandans attacked by a party of
+    Assinneboins—all fled but Mah-to-toh-pa, who stood his ground,
+    fired, and killed one of the enemy, putting the rest of them to
+    flight, and driving off sixty horses! He is here seen with his lance
+    and shield—foot-tracks of his enemy in front, and his own party’s
+    horse-tracks behind him, and a shower of bullets flying around
+    his head; here he got the name of “<em>the four bears</em>,” as the
+    Assinneboins said he rushed on like four bears.</p>
+
+  <p>10. Mah-to-toh-pa gets from his horse and kills two Ojibbeway women,
+    and takes their scalps; done by the side of an Ojibbeway village, where
+    they went to the river for water. He is here seen with his lance in
+    one hand and his knife in the other—an eagle’s plume head-dress on his
+    horse, and his shield left on his horse’s back. I incurred his ill-will
+    for awhile by asking him, whether it was manly to boast of taking
+    the scalps of women? and his pride prevented him from giving me any
+    explanation or apology. The interpreter, however, explained to me that
+    he had secreted himself in the most daring manner, in full sight of the
+    Ojibbeway village, seeking to revenge a murder, where he remained six
+    days without sustenance, and then killed the two women in full view of
+    the tribe, and made his escape, which entitled him to the credit of a
+    victory, though his victims were women.</p>
+
+  <p>11. A large party of Assinneboins entrenched near the Mandan
+    village attacked by the Mandans and Minatarees, who were driven
+    back—Mah-to-toh-pa rushes into the entrenchment alone—an Indian fires
+    at him and burns his face with the muzzle of his gun, which burst—the
+    Indian retreats, leaving his exploded gun, and Mah-to-toh-pa shoots
+    him through the shoulders as he runs, and kills him with his tomahawk;
+    the gun of the Assinneboin is seen falling to the ground, and in front
+    of him the heads of the Assinneboins in the entrenchment; the horse of
+    Mah-to-toh-pa is seen behind him.</p>
+
+  <p>12. Mah-to-toh-pa between his enemy the Sioux, and his own people, with
+    an arrow shot through him, after standing the fire of the Sioux for a
+    long time alone. In this battle he took no scalps, yet his valour was
+    so extraordinary that the chiefs and braves awarded him the honour of a
+    victory.</p>
+
+  <p>This feat is seen in the centre of the robe—head-dress of war-eagles’
+    quills on his own and his horse’s head—the tracks of his enemies’
+    horses are seen in front of him, and bullets flying both ways all
+    around him. With his whip in his hand, he is seen urging his horse
+    forward, and an arrow is seen flying, and bloody, as it has passed
+    through his body. For this wound, and the several others mentioned
+    above, he bears the honourable scars on his body, which he generally
+    keeps covered with red paint.</p>
+
+  <p>Such are the battles traced upon the robe of Mah-to-toh-pa or four
+    bears, interpreted by J. Kipp from the words of the hero while sitting
+    upon the robe, explaining each battle as represented.</p>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The reader will see in <a href="#i_065"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 65</a>, an accurate
+        drawing of this curious robe, which now hangs in the <span class="smcap">Indian
+        Gallery</span>, and on the following pages, each group numbered, and
+        delineated on a larger scale, which are <i>fac-similes</i> of the
+        drawings on the robe.
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> This celebrated weapon with the blood of several victims
+        dried upon its blade, now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> hangs in the <span class="smcap">Indian Gallery</span>, with
+        satisfactory certificates of its identity and its remarkable history,
+        and an exact drawing of it and its scabbard can be seen in <a href="#i_099"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+        99</a>, <i>a</i>.
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_22">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 22.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Oh!</span> “<i lang="fr">horribile visu—et mirabile dictu!</i>” Thank God, it is over,
+    that I have seen it, and am able to tell it to the world.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>annual religious ceremony</em>, of four days, of which I have so
+    often spoken, and which I have so long been wishing to see, has at last
+    been enacted in this village; and I have, fortunately, been able to
+    see and to understand it in most of its bearings, which was more than
+    I had reason to expect; for no white man, in all probability, has ever
+    been before admitted to the <em>medicine-lodge</em> during these most
+    remarkable and appalling scenes.</p>
+
+  <p>Well and truly has it been said, that the Mandans are a strange and
+    peculiar people; and most correctly had I been informed, that this
+    was an important and interesting scene, by those who had, on former
+    occasions, witnessed such parts of it as are transacted out of doors,
+    and in front of the <em>medicine-lodge</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>Since the date of my last Letter, I was lucky enough to have painted
+    the <em>medicine-man</em>, who was high-priest on this grand occasion, or
+    conductor of the ceremonies, who had me regularly installed doctor or
+    “<em>medicine</em>;” and who, on the morning when these grand refinements
+    in mysteries commenced, took me by the arm, and led me into the
+    <em>medicine-lodge</em>, where the Fur Trader, Mr. Kipp, and his two
+    clerks accompanied me in close attendance for four days; all of us
+    going to our own quarters at sun-down, and returning again at sun-rise
+    the next morning.</p>
+
+  <p>I took my sketch-book with me, and have made many and faithful drawings
+    of what we saw, and full notes of everything as translated to me by
+    the interpreter; and since the close of that horrid and frightful
+    scene, which was a week ago or more, I have been closely ensconced
+    in an earth-covered wigwam, with a fine sky-light over my head, with
+    my palette and brushes, endeavouring faithfully to put the whole
+    of what we saw upon canvass, which my companions all agree to be
+    critically correct, and of the fidelity of which they have attached
+    their certificates to the backs of the paintings. I have made four
+    paintings of these strange scenes, containing several hundred figures,
+    representing the transactions of each day; and if I live to get them
+    home, they will be found to be exceedingly curious and interesting.</p>
+
+  <p>I shudder at the relation, or even at the thought of these barbarous
+    and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> cruel scenes, and am almost ready to shrink from the task of
+    reciting them after I have so long promised some account of them. I
+    entered the <em>medicine-house</em> of these scenes, as I would have
+    entered a church, and expected to see something extraordinary and
+    strange, but yet in the form of worship or devotion; but alas! little
+    did I expect to see the interior of their holy temple turned into a
+    <em>slaughter-house</em>, and its floor strewed with the blood of its
+    fanatic devotees. Little did I think that I was entering a house of
+    God, where His blinded worshippers were to pollute its sacred interior
+    with their blood, and propitiatory suffering and tortures—surpassing,
+    if possible, the cruelty of the rack or the inquisition; but such the
+    scene has been, and as such I will endeavour to describe it.</p>
+
+  <p>The “<em>Mandan religious ceremony</em>” then, as I believe it is
+    very justly denominated, is an annual transaction, held in their
+    <em>medicine-lodge</em> once a year, as a great religious anniversary,
+    and for several distinct objects, as I shall in a few minutes describe;
+    during and after which, they look with implicit reliance for the
+    justification and approval of the Great Spirit.</p>
+
+  <p>All of the Indian tribes, as I have before observed, are religious—are
+    worshipful—and many of them go to almost incredible lengths (as will
+    be seen in the present instance, and many others I may recite) in
+    worshipping the Great Spirit; denying and humbling themselves before
+    Him for the same purpose, and in the same hope as we do, perhaps in a
+    more rational and acceptable way.</p>
+
+  <p>The tribes, so far as I have visited them, all distinctly believe in
+    the existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, an Evil (or Bad) Spirit,
+    and also in a future existence and future accountability, according
+    to their virtues and vices in this world. So far the North American
+    Indians would seem to be one family, and such an unbroken theory
+    amongst them; yet with regard to the manner and form, and time and
+    place of that accountability—to the constructions of virtues and vices,
+    and the modes of appeasing and propitiating the Good and Evil Spirits,
+    they are found with all the changes and variety which fortuitous
+    circumstances, and fictions, and fables have wrought upon them.</p>
+
+  <p>If from their superstitions and their ignorance, there are oftentimes
+    obscurities and mysteries thrown over and around their system, yet
+    these affect not the theory itself, which is everywhere essentially
+    the same—and which, if it be not correct, has this much to command
+    the admiration of the enlightened world, that they worship with great
+    sincerity, and all according to one creed.</p>
+
+  <p>The Mandans believe in the existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, and
+    also of an Evil Spirit, who they say existed long before the Good
+    Spirit, and is far superior in power. They all believe also in a
+    future state of existence, and a future administration of rewards and
+    punishments, and (so do all other tribes that I have yet visited) they
+    believe those punishments are not eternal, but commensurate with their
+    sins.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span></p>
+
+  <p>These people living in a climate where they suffer from cold in the
+    severity of their winters, have very naturally reversed our ideas of
+    Heaven and Hell. The latter they describe to be a country very far
+    to the north, of barren and hideous aspect, and covered with eternal
+    snows and ice. The torments of this freezing place they describe as
+    most excruciating; whilst Heaven they suppose to be in a warmer and
+    delightful latitude, where nothing is felt but the keenest enjoyment,
+    and where the country abounds in buffaloes and other luxuries of life.
+    The Great or Good Spirit they believe dwells in the former place for
+    the purpose of there meeting those who have offended him; increasing
+    the agony of their sufferings, by being himself present, administering
+    the penalties. The Bad or Evil Spirit they at the same time suppose to
+    reside in Paradise, still tempting the happy; and those who have gone
+    to the regions of punishment they believe to be tortured for a time
+    proportioned to the amount of their transgressions, and that they are
+    then to be transferred to the land of the happy, where they are again
+    liable to the temptations of the Evil Spirit, and answerable again at a
+    future period for their new offences.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is the religious creed of the Mandans, and for the purpose of
+    appeasing the Good and Evil Spirits, and to secure their entrance into
+    those “fields Elysian,” or beautiful hunting grounds, do the young
+    men subject themselves to the horrid and sickening cruelties to be
+    described in the following pages.</p>
+
+  <p>There are other three distinct objects (yet to be named) for which
+    these religious ceremonies are held, which are as follow:—</p>
+
+  <p><em>First</em>, they are held annually as a celebration of
+    the event of the subsiding of the Flood, which they call
+    <i lang="mhq">Mee-nee-ro-ka-ha-sha</i>, (sinking down or settling of the waters.)</p>
+
+  <p><em>Secondly</em>, for the purpose of dancing what they call,
+    <i lang="mhq">Bel-lohck-na-pic</i> (the bull-dance); to the strict observance of
+    which they attribute the coming of buffaloes to supply them with food
+    during the season; and</p>
+
+  <p><em>Thirdly</em> and lastly, for the purpose of conducting all the young
+    men of the tribe, as they annually arrive to the age of manhood,
+    through an ordeal of privation and torture, which, while it is supposed
+    to harden their muscles and prepare them for extreme endurance,
+    enables the chiefs who are spectators to the scene, to decide upon
+    their comparative bodily strength and ability to endure the extreme
+    privations and sufferings that often fall to the lots of Indian
+    warriors; and that they may decide who is the most hardy and best able
+    to lead a war-party in case of extreme exigency.</p>
+
+  <p>This part of the ceremony, as I have just witnessed it, is truly
+    shocking to behold, and will almost stagger the belief of the world
+    when they read of it. The scene is too terrible and too revolting to
+    be seen or to be told, were it not an essential part of a whole, which
+    will be new to the civilized world, and therefore worth their knowing.</p>
+
+  <p>The bull-dance, and many other parts of these ceremonies are
+    exceedingly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> grotesque and amusing, and that part of them which has a
+    relation to the Deluge is harmless and full of interest.</p>
+
+  <p>In the centre of the Mandan village is an open, circular area of 150
+    feet diameter, kept always clear, as a public ground, for the display
+    of all their public feasts, parades, &amp;c. and around it are their
+    wigwams placed as near to each other as they can well stand, their
+    doors facing the centre of this public area.</p>
+
+  <p>In the middle of this ground, which is trodden like a hard pavement,
+    is a curb (somewhat like a large hogshead standing on its end) made
+    of planks (and bound with hoops), some eight or nine feet high, which
+    they religiously preserve and protect from year to year, free from
+    mark or scratch, and which they call the “big canoe”—it is undoubtedly
+    a symbolic representation of a part of their traditional history of
+    the Flood; which it is very evident, from this and numerous other
+    features of this grand ceremony, they have in some way or other
+    received, and are here endeavouring to perpetuate by vividly impressing
+    it on the minds of the whole nation. This object of superstition,
+    from its position, as the very centre of the village is the rallying
+    point of the whole nation. To it their devotions are paid on various
+    occasions of feasts and religious exercises during the year; and in
+    this extraordinary scene it was often the nucleus of their mysteries
+    and cruelties, as I shall shortly describe them, and becomes an object
+    worth bearing in mind, and worthy of being understood.</p>
+
+  <p>This exciting and appalling scene, then, which is familiarly (and no
+    doubt correctly) called the “Mandan religious ceremony,” commences, not
+    on a particular day of the year, (for these people keep no record of
+    days or weeks), but at a particular season, which is designated by the
+    full expansion of the willow leaves under the bank of the river; for
+    according to their tradition, “the twig that the bird brought home was
+    a willow bough, and had full-grown leaves on it,” and the bird to which
+    they allude, is the mourning or turtle-dove, which they took great
+    pains to point out to me, as it is often to be seen feeding on the
+    sides of their earth-covered lodges, and which, being, as they call it,
+    a <em>medicine-bird</em>, is not to be destroyed or harmed by any one,
+    and even their dogs are instructed not to do it injury.</p>
+
+  <p>On the morning on which this strange transaction commenced, I was
+    sitting at breakfast in the house of the Trader, Mr. Kipp, when at
+    sun-rise, we were suddenly startled by the shrieking and screaming
+    of the women, and barking and howling of dogs, as if an enemy were
+    actually storming their village.</p>
+
+  <p>“Now we have it!” (exclaimed <em>mine host</em>, as he sprang from the
+    table,) the grand ceremony has commenced!—“drop your knife and fork,
+    Monsr. and get your sketch-book as soon as possible, that you may lose
+    nothing, for the very moment of <em>commencing</em> is as curious as
+    anything else of this strange affair.” I seized my sketch-book, and all
+    hands of us were in an instant in front of the medicine-lodge, ready
+    to see and to hear all that was to take place. Groups of women and
+    children were gathered on the tops of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> their earth-covered wigwams, and
+    all were screaming, and dogs were howling, and all eyes directed to the
+    prairies in the West, where was beheld at a mile distant, a solitary
+    individual descending a prairie bluff, and making his way in a direct
+    line towards the village!</p>
+
+  <p>The whole community joined in the general expression of great alarm,
+    as if they were in danger of instant destruction; bows were strung and
+    thrumed to test their elasticity—their horses were caught upon the
+    prairie and run into the village—warriors were blackening their faces,
+    and dogs were muzzled, and every preparation made, as if for instant
+    combat.</p>
+
+  <p>During this deafening din and confusion within the piquets of the
+    village of the Mandans, the figure discovered on the prairie continued
+    to approach with a dignified step and in a right line towards the
+    village; all eyes were upon him, and he at length made his appearance
+    (without opposition) within the piquets, and proceeded towards the
+    centre of the village, where all the chiefs and braves stood ready to
+    receive him, which they did in a cordial manner, by shaking hands with
+    him, recognizing him as an old acquaintance, and pronouncing his name
+    <i lang="mhq">Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah</i> (the first or only man). The body of this
+    strange personage, which was chiefly naked, was painted with white
+    clay, so as to resemble at a little distance, a white man; he wore a
+    robe of four white wolf skins falling back over his shoulders; on his
+    head he had a splendid head-dress made of two ravens’ skins, and in
+    his left hand he cautiously carried a large pipe, which he seemed to
+    watch and guard as something of great importance. After passing the
+    chiefs and braves as described, he approached the <em>medicine</em> or
+    mystery lodge, which he had the means of opening, and which had been
+    religiously closed during the year except for the performance of these
+    religious rites.</p>
+
+  <p>Having opened and entered it, he called in four men whom he appointed
+    to clean it out, and put it in readiness for the ceremonies, by
+    sweeping it and strewing a profusion of green willow-boughs over its
+    floor, and with them decorating its sides. Wild sage also, and many
+    other aromatic herbs they gathered from the prairies, and scattered
+    over its floor; and over these were arranged a curious group of buffalo
+    and human skulls, and other articles, which were to be used during this
+    strange and unaccountable transaction.</p>
+
+  <p>During the whole of this day, and while these preparations were making
+    in the <em>medicine-lodge</em>, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only
+    man) travelled through the village, stopping in front of every man’s
+    lodge, and crying until the owner of the lodge came out, and asked
+    who he was, and what was the matter? to which he replied by relating
+    the sad catastrophe which had happened on the earth’s surface by the
+    overflowing of the waters, saying that “he was the only person saved
+    from the universal calamity; that he landed his big canoe on a high
+    mountain in the west, where he now resides; that he had come to open
+    the <em>medicine-lodge</em>, which must needs receive a present of some
+    edged-tool from the owner of every wigwam, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> it may be sacrificed
+    to the water;” for he says, “if this is not done, there will be another
+    flood, and no one will be saved, as it was with such tools that the big
+    canoe was made.”</p>
+
+  <p>Having visited every lodge or wigwam in the village, during the day,
+    and having received such a present at each, as a hatchet, a knife, &amp;c.
+    (which is undoubtedly always prepared and ready for the occasion), he
+    returned at evening and deposited them in the <em>medicine-lodge</em>,
+    where they remained until the afternoon of the last day of the
+    ceremony, when, as the final or closing scene, they were thrown into
+    the river in a deep place, from a bank thirty feet high, and in
+    presence of the whole village; from whence they can never be recovered,
+    and where they were, undoubtedly, <em>sacrificed</em> to the Spirit of
+    the Water.</p>
+
+  <p>During the first night of this strange character in the village, no one
+    could tell where he slept; and every person, both old and young, and
+    dogs, and all living things were kept within doors, and dead silence
+    reigned every where. On the next morning at sunrise, however, he made
+    his appearance again, and entered the <em>medicine-lodge</em>; and at his
+    heels (in “<em>Indian file</em>,” <i>i. e.</i> single file, one following
+    in another’s tracks) all the young men who were candidates for the
+    self-tortures which were to be inflicted, and for the honours that were
+    to be bestowed by the chiefs on those who could most manfully endure
+    them. There were on this occasion about fifty young men who entered
+    the lists, and as they went into the sacred lodge, each one’s body was
+    chiefly naked, and covered with clay of different colours; some were
+    red, others were yellow, and some were covered with white clay, giving
+    them the appearance of white men. Each one of them carried in his right
+    hand his <em>medicine-bag</em>—on his left arm, his shield of the bull’s
+    hide—in his left hand, his bow and arrows, with his quiver slung on his
+    back.</p>
+
+  <p>When all had entered the lodge, they placed themselves in reclining
+    postures around its sides, and each one had suspended over his head his
+    respective weapons and <em>medicine</em>, presenting altogether, one of
+    the most wild and picturesque scenes imaginable.</p>
+
+  <p>Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) was in the midst of them,
+    and having lit and smoked his medicine-pipe for their success; and
+    having addressed them in a short speech, stimulating and encouraging
+    them to trust to the Great Spirit for His protection during the severe
+    ordeal they were about to pass through; he called into the lodge an
+    old medicine or mystery-man, whose body was painted yellow, and whom
+    he appointed master of ceremonies during this occasion, whom they
+    denominated in their language <i lang="mhq">O-kee-pah Ka-se-kah</i> (keeper or
+    conductor of the ceremonies). He was appointed, and the authority
+    passed by the presentation of the medicine-pipe, on which they consider
+    hangs all the power of holding and conducting all these rites.</p>
+
+  <p>After this delegated authority had thus passed over to the
+    medicine-man; Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah shook hands with him, and bade him
+    good<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> bye, saying “that he was going back to the mountains in the west,
+    from whence he should assuredly return in just a year from that time,
+    to open the lodge again.” He then went out of the lodge, and passing
+    through the village, took formal leave of the chiefs in the same
+    manner, and soon disappeared over the bluffs from whence he came. No
+    more was seen of this surprising character during the occasion; but I
+    shall have something yet to say of him and his strange office before I
+    get through the Letter.</p>
+
+  <p>To return to the lodge,—the medicine or mystery-man just appointed,
+    and who had received his injunctions from Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, was left
+    sole conductor and keeper; and according to those injunctions, it was
+    his duty to lie by a small fire in the centre of the lodge, with his
+    medicine-pipe in his hand, crying to the Great Spirit incessantly,
+    watching the young men, and preventing entirely their escape from the
+    lodge, and all communication whatever with people outside, for the
+    space of four days and nights, during which time they were not allowed
+    to <em>eat</em>, to <em>drink</em>, or to <em>sleep</em>, preparatory to the
+    excruciating self-tortures which they were to endure on the fourth day.</p>
+
+  <p>I mentioned that I had made four paintings of these strange scenes,
+    and the first one exhibits the interior of the medicine-lodge at this
+    moment; with the young men all reclining around its sides, and the
+    conductor or mystery-man lying by the fire, crying to the Great Spirit
+    (<a href="#i_066"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 66</a>). It was just at this juncture that I was ushered
+    into this sacred temple of their worship, with my companions, which
+    was, undoubtedly, the first time that their devotions had ever been
+    trespassed upon by the presence of pale faces; and in this instance had
+    been brought about in the following strange and unexpected manner.</p>
+
+  <p>I had most luckily for myself, painted a full-length portrait of this
+    great magician or high-priest, but a day previous to the commencement
+    of the ceremonies (in which I had represented him in the performance of
+    some of his mysteries), with which he had been so exceedingly pleased
+    as well as astonished (as “he could see its eyes move”), that I must
+    needs be, in his opinion, deeply skilled in magic and mysteries, and
+    well-entitled to a respectable rank in the craft, to which I had been
+    at once elevated by the unanimous voice of the doctors, and regularly
+    initiated, and styled <i lang="mhq">Te-ho-pee-nee-wash-ee-waska-pooska</i>, the
+    <em>white medicine</em> (or Spirit) <em>painter</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>With this very honourable degree which had just been conferred upon me,
+    I was standing in front of the medicine-lodge early in the morning,
+    with my companions by my side, endeavouring to get a peep, if possible,
+    into its sacred interior; when this <em>master of ceremonies</em>,
+    guarding and conducting its secrets, as I before described, came out
+    of the door and taking me with a firm <em>professional</em> affection by
+    the arm, led me into this <i>sanctum sanctorum</i>, which was strictly
+    guarded from, even a peep or a gaze from the vulgar, by a vestibule
+    of eight or ten feet in length, guarded with a double screen or door,
+    and two or three dark and frowning centinels with spears<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> or war-clubs
+    in their hands. I gave the wink to my companions as I was passing in,
+    and the potency of my <em>medicine</em> was such as to gain them a quiet
+    admission, and all of us were comfortably placed on elevated seats,
+    which our conductor soon prepared for us.</p>
+
+  <p>We were then in full view of everything that transpired in the lodge,
+    having before us the scene exactly, which is represented in the first
+    of the four pictures. To this seat we returned every morning at
+    sunrise, and remained until sun-down for four days, the whole time
+    which these strange scenes occupied.</p>
+
+  <p>In addition to the preparations and arrangements of the interior of
+    this sanctuary, as above described, there was a curious, though a very
+    strict arrangement of buffalo and human skulls placed on the floor of
+    the lodge, and between them (which were divided into two parcels),
+    and in front of the reclining group of young candidates, was a small
+    and very delicate scaffold, elevated about five feet from the ground,
+    made of four posts or crotches, not larger than a gun-rod, and placed
+    some four or five feet apart, supporting four equally delicate rods,
+    resting in the crotches; thus forming the frame of the scaffold, which
+    was completed by a number of still smaller and more delicate sticks,
+    transversely resting upon them. On the centre of this little frame
+    rested some small object, which I could not exactly understand from
+    the distance of twenty or thirty feet which intervened between it and
+    my eye. I started several times from my seat to approach it, but all
+    eyes were instantly upon me, and every mouth in the assembly sent forth
+    a hush—sh—! which brought me back to my seat again; and I at length
+    quieted my stifled curiosity as well as I could, upon learning the
+    fact, that so sacred was that object, and so important its secrets or
+    mysteries, that not <em>I</em> alone, but even the young men, who were
+    passing the ordeal, and all the village, save the conductor of the
+    mysteries, were stopped from approaching it, or knowing what it was.</p>
+
+  <p>This little mystery-thing, whatever it was, had the appearance from
+    where I sat, of a small tortoise or frog lying on its back, with
+    its head and legs quite extended, and wound and tasselled off with
+    exceedingly delicate red and blue, and yellow ribbons or tassels, and
+    other bright coloured ornaments; and seemed, from the devotions paid
+    to it, to be the very nucleus of their mysteries—the <i>sanctissimus
+    sanctorum</i>, from which seemed to emanate all the sanctity of
+    their proceedings, and to which, all seemed to be paying the highest
+    devotional respect.</p>
+
+  <p>This strange, yet important <em>essence</em> of their mysteries, I made
+    every enquiry about; but got no further information of, than what I
+    could learn by my eyes, at the distance at which I saw it, and from
+    the silent respect which I saw paid to it. I tried with the doctors,
+    and all of the <em>fraternity</em> answered me, that that was “<em>great
+    medicine</em>,” assuring me that it “could not be told.” So I quieted
+    my curiosity as well as I could, by the full conviction that I had
+    a <em>degree</em> or two yet to take before I could fathom all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span> the
+    arcana of Indian superstitions; and that this little, seemingly
+    wonderful, relic of antiquity, symbol of some grand event, or “secret
+    too valuable to be told,” might have been at last nothing but a silly
+    bunch of strings and toys, to which they pay some great peculiar
+    regard; giving thereby to some favourite Spirit or essence an ideal
+    existence, and which, when called upon to describe, they refuse to do
+    so, calling it “<em>Great Medicine</em>,” for the very reason that there
+    is nothing in it to reveal or describe.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>44</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_067">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_067.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>67</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>Immediately under the little frame or scaffold described, and on the
+    floor of the lodge was placed a knife, and by the side of it a bundle
+    of splints or skewers, which were kept in readiness for the infliction
+    of the cruelties directly to be explained. There were seen also, in
+    this stage of the affair, a number of cords of rawhide hanging down
+    from the top of the lodge, and passing through its roof, with which
+    the young men were to be suspended by the splints passed through their
+    flesh, and drawn up by men placed on the top of the lodge for the
+    purpose, as will be described in a few moments.</p>
+
+  <p>There were also four articles of great veneration and importance
+    lying on the floor of the lodge, which were sacks, containing in
+    each some three or four gallons of water. These also were objects of
+    superstitious regard, and made with great labour and much ingenuity;
+    each one of them being constructed of the skin of the buffalo’s neck,
+    and most elaborately sewed together in the form of a large tortoise
+    lying on its back, with a bunch of eagle’s quills appended to it as a
+    tail; and each of them having a stick, shaped like a drum-stick, lying
+    on them, with which, in a subsequent stage of these ceremonies, as
+    will be seen, they are beaten upon by several of their mystery-men,
+    as a part of the music for their strange dances and mysteries. By
+    the side of these sacks which they call <i lang="mhq">Eeh-teeh-ka</i>, are two
+    other articles of equal importance, which they call <i lang="mhq">Eeh-na-dee</i>
+    (rattles), in the form of a gourd-shell made also of dried skins,
+    and used at the same time as the others, in the music (or rather
+    <em>noise</em> and <em>din</em>) for their dances, &amp;c.</p>
+
+  <p>These four sacks of water have the appearance of very great
+    antiquity; and by enquiring of my very ingenious friend and patron,
+    the <em>medicine-man</em>, after the ceremonies were over, he very
+    gravely told me, that “those four tortoises contained the waters from
+    the four quarters of the world—that these waters had been contained
+    therein ever since the settling down of the waters!” I did not think
+    it best to advance any argument against so ridiculous a theory, and
+    therefore could not even enquire or learn, at what period they had been
+    instituted, or how often, or on what occasions, the water in them had
+    been changed or replenished.</p>
+
+  <p>I made several propositions, through my friend Mr. Kipp, the trader and
+    interpreter, to purchase one of these strange things by offering them a
+    very liberal price; to which I received in answer that these, and all
+    the very numerous articles used in these ceremonies, being a <em>society
+    property</em> were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> <em>medicine</em>, and could not be sold for any
+    consideration; so I abandoned all thoughts of obtaining anything,
+    except what I have done by the <em>medicine</em> operation of my pencil,
+    which was applied to everything, and even upon that they looked with
+    decided distrust and apprehension, as a sort of theft or sacrilege.</p>
+
+  <p>Such then was the group, and such the appearance of the interior of the
+    medicine-lodge during the three first, and part of the fourth day also,
+    of the Mandan religious ceremonies. The medicine-man with a group about
+    him, of young aspirants who were under his sole controul, as was every
+    article and implement to be used, and the sanctity of this solitary and
+    gloomy looking place, which could not be trespassed upon by any man’s
+    presence without his most sovereign permission.</p>
+
+  <p>During the three first days of this solemn conclave, there were
+    many very curious forms and amusements enacted in the open area
+    in the middle of the village, and in front of the medicine-lodge,
+    by other members of the community, one of which formed a material
+    part or link of these strange ceremonials. This very curious and
+    exceedingly grotesque part of their performance, which they denominated
+    <i lang="mhq">Bel-lohck nah-pick</i> (the bull-dance) of which I have before
+    spoken, as one of the avowed objects for which they held this annual
+    fête; and to the strictest observance of which they attribute the
+    coming of buffaloes to supply them with food during the season—is
+    repeated four times during the first day, eight times on the second
+    day, twelve times on the third day, and sixteen times on the fourth
+    day; and always around the curb, or “<em>big canoe</em>,” of which I have
+    before spoken.</p>
+
+  <p>This subject I have selected for my second picture, and the principal
+    actors in it were eight men, with the entire skins of buffaloes thrown
+    over their backs, with the horns and hoofs and tails remaining on;
+    their bodies in a horizontal position, enabling them to imitate the
+    actions of the buffalo, whilst they were looking out of its eyes as
+    through a mask (<a href="#i_067"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 67</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>The bodies of these men were chiefly naked and all painted in the most
+    extraordinary manner, with the nicest adherence to exact similarity;
+    their limbs, bodies and faces, being in every part covered, either
+    with black, red, or white paint. Each one of these strange characters
+    had also a lock of buffalo’s hair tied around his ancles—in his right
+    hand a rattle, and a slender white rod or staff, six feet long, in the
+    other; and carried on his back, a bunch of green willow boughs about
+    the usual size of a bundle of straw. These eight men, being divided
+    into four pairs, took their positions on the four different sides of
+    the curb or big canoe, representing thereby the four cardinal points;
+    and between each group of them, with the back turned to the big canoe,
+    was another figure, engaged in the same dance, keeping step with them,
+    with a similar staff or wand in one hand and a rattle in the other, and
+    (being four in number) answering again to the four cardinal points. The
+    bodies of these four young men were chiefly naked, with no other dress
+    upon them than a beautiful kelt (or quartz-quaw), around the waist,
+    made of eagles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span> quills and ermine, and very splendid head-dresses
+    made of the same materials. Two of these figures were painted entirely
+    black with pounded charcoal and grease, whom they called the “firmament
+    or night,” and the numerous white spots which were dotted all over
+    their bodies, they called “stars.” The other two were painted from
+    head to foot as red as vermilion could make them; these they said
+    represented the day, and the white streaks which were painted up and
+    down over their bodies, were “ghosts which the morning rays were
+    chasing away.”</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>45</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_068">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_068.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>68</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>These twelve are the only persons actually engaged in this strange
+    dance, which is each time repeated in the same form, without the
+    slightest variation. There are, however, a great number of characters
+    engaged in giving the whole effect and wildness to this strange and
+    laughable scene, each one acting well his part, and whose offices,
+    strange and inexplicable as they are, I will endeavour to point out
+    and explain as well as I can, from what I saw, elucidated by their own
+    descriptions.</p>
+
+  <p>This most remarkable scene, then, which is witnessed more or less often
+    on each day, takes place in presence of the whole nation, who are
+    generally gathered around, on the tops of the wigwams or otherwise,
+    as spectators, whilst the young men are reclining and fasting in the
+    lodge as above described. On the first day, this “<em>bull-dance</em>” is
+    given <em>once</em> to each of the cardinal points, and the medicine-man
+    smokes his pipe in those directions. On the second day, <em>twice</em>
+    to each; <em>three times</em> to each on the third day, and <em>four
+    times</em> to each on the fourth. As a signal for the dancers and other
+    characters (as well as the public) to assemble, the old man, master
+    of ceremonies, with the medicine-pipe in hand, dances out of the
+    lodge, singing (or rather crying) forth a most pitiful lament, until
+    he approaches the big canoe, against which he leans, with the pipe in
+    his hand, and continues to cry. At this instant, four very aged and
+    patriarchal looking men, whose bodies are painted red, and who have
+    been guarding the four sides of the lodge, enter it and bring out the
+    four sacks of water, which they place near the big canoe, where they
+    seat themselves by the side of them and commence thumping on them
+    with the mallets or drumsticks which have been lying on them; and
+    another brandishes and shakes the <i lang="mhq">eeh-na-dees</i> or rattles, and
+    all unite to them their voices, raised to the highest pitch possible,
+    as the music for the <em>bull-dance</em>, which is then commenced and
+    continued for fifteen minutes or more in perfect time, and without
+    cessation or intermission. When the music and dancing stop, which are
+    always perfectly simultaneous, the whole nation raise the huzza! and a
+    deafening shout of approbation; the master of ceremonies dances back to
+    the medicine-lodge, and the old men return to their former place; the
+    sacks of water, and all rest as before, until by the same method, they
+    are again called into a similar action.</p>
+
+  <p>The supernumeraries or other characters who play their parts in this
+    grand spectacle, are numerous and well worth description. By the
+    side of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> big canoe are seen two men with the skins of grizzly
+    bears thrown over them, using the skins as a mask, over their heads.
+    These ravenous animals are continually growling and threatening to
+    devour everything before them and interfering with the forms of their
+    religious ceremony. To appease them, the women are continually bringing
+    and placing before them dishes of meat, which are as often snatched up
+    and carried to the prairie, by two men whose bodies are painted black
+    and their heads white, whom they call bald eagles, who are darting by
+    them and grasping their food from before them as they pass. These are
+    again chased upon the plains by a hundred or more small boys, who are
+    naked, with their bodies painted yellow and their heads white, whom
+    they call <em>Cabris</em> or antelopes; who at length get the food away
+    from them and devour it; thereby inculcating (perhaps) the beautiful
+    moral, that by the dispensations of Providence, his bountiful gifts
+    will fall at last to the hands of the innocent.</p>
+
+  <p>During the intervals between these dances, all these characters, except
+    those from the medicine-lodge, retire to a wigwam close by, which they
+    use on the occasion also as a sacred place, being occupied exclusively
+    by them while they are at rest, and also for the purpose of painting
+    and ornamenting their bodies for the occasion.</p>
+
+  <p>During each and every one of these dances, the old men who beat upon
+    the sacks and sing, are earnestly chanting forth their supplications
+    to the Great Spirit, for the continuation of his influence in sending
+    them buffaloes to supply them with food during the year; they are
+    administering courage and fortitude to the young men in the lodge,
+    by telling them, that “the Great Spirit has opened his ears in their
+    behalf—that the very atmosphere all about them is peace—that their
+    women and children can hold the mouth of the grizzly bear—that they
+    have invoked from day to day O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit)—that they
+    are still challenging him to come, and yet he has not dared to make his
+    appearance!”</p>
+
+  <p>But alas! in the last of these dances, on the fourth day, in the midst
+    of all their mirth and joy, and about noon, and in the height of all
+    these exultations, an instant scream burst forth from the tops of the
+    lodges!—men, women, dogs and all, seemed actually to howl and shudder
+    with alarm, as they fixed their glaring eye-balls upon the prairie
+    bluff, about a mile in the west, down the side of which a man was seen
+    descending at full speed towards the village! This strange character
+    darted about in a zig-zag course in all directions on the prairie,
+    like a boy in pursuit of a butterfly, until he approached the piquets
+    of the village, when it was discovered that his body was entirely
+    naked, and painted as black as a negro, with pounded charcoal and
+    bear’s grease; his body was therefore everywhere of a shining black,
+    except occasionally white rings of an inch or more in diameter, which
+    were marked here and there all over him; and frightful indentures of
+    white around his mouth, resembling canine teeth. Added to his hideous
+    appearance, he gave the most frightful shrieks and screams as he
+    dashed through the village<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> and entered the terrified group, which was
+    composed (in that quarter) chiefly of females, who had assembled to
+    witness the amusements which were transpiring around the “big canoe.”</p>
+
+  <p>This unearthly looking creature carried in his two hands a wand or
+    staff of eight or nine feet in length, with a red ball at the end of
+    it, which he continually slid on the ground a-head of him as he ran.
+    All eyes in the village, save those of the persons engaged in the
+    dance, were centred upon him, and he made a desperate rush towards
+    the women, who screamed for protection as they were endeavouring to
+    retreat; and falling in groups upon each other as they were struggling
+    to get out of his reach. In this moment of general terror and alarm
+    there was an instant check! and all for a few moments were as silent as
+    death.</p>
+
+  <p>The old master of ceremonies, who had run from his position at the
+    big canoe, had met this monster of fiends, and having thrust the
+    <em>medicine-pipe</em> before him, held him still and immoveable under
+    its charm! This check gave the females an opportunity to get out of
+    his reach, and when they were free from their danger, though all
+    hearts beat yet with the instant excitement, their alarm soon cooled
+    down into the most exorbitant laughter and shouts of applause at his
+    sudden defeat, and the awkward and ridiculous posture in which he was
+    stopped and held. The old man was braced stiff by his side, with his
+    eye-balls glaring him in the face, whilst the medicine-pipe held in its
+    mystic chains his <em>Satanic</em> Majesty, annulling all the powers of
+    his magical wand, and also depriving him of the powers of locomotion!
+    Surely no two human beings ever presented a more striking group than
+    these two individuals did for a few moments, with their eye-balls
+    set in direst mutual hatred upon each other; both struggling for the
+    supremacy, relying on the potency of their medicine or mystery. The one
+    held in check, with his body painted black, representing (or rather
+    assuming to be) his sable majesty, O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit),
+    frowning everlasting vengeance on the other, who sternly gazed him back
+    with a look of exultation and contempt, as he held him in check and
+    disarmed under the charm of his sacred mystery-pipe.</p>
+
+  <p>When the superior powers of the medicine-pipe (on which hang all these
+    annual mysteries) had been thus fully tested and acknowledged, and
+    the women had had requisite time to withdraw from the reach of this
+    fiendish monster, the pipe was very gradually withdrawn from before
+    him, and he seemed delighted to recover the use of his limbs again,
+    and power of changing his position from the exceedingly unpleasant and
+    really ridiculous one he appeared in, and was compelled to maintain,
+    a few moments before; rendered more superlatively ridiculous and
+    laughable, from the further information, which I am constrained to
+    give, of the plight in which this demon of terror and vulgarity made
+    his <i lang="fr">entrée</i> into the midst of the Mandan village, and to the
+    centre and nucleus of their first and greatest religious ceremony.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span></p>
+
+  <p>Then, to proceed: I said that this strange personage’s body was
+    naked—was painted jet black with charcoal and bear’s grease, with a
+    wand in his hands of eight feet in length with a red ball at the end of
+    it, which he was rubbing about on the ground in front of him as he ran.
+    In addition to this he had—<i lang="mhq">ung gee ah waheea notch,t oheks teha, ung
+    gee an ung hutch tow a tow ah ches menny. Ung gee ah to to wun nee,
+    ahkst to wan ee eigh’ s ta w.</i></p>
+
+  <p>In this plight, in which I have not dared fully to represent him
+    in the picture, he pursued the groups of females, spreading dismay
+    and alarm wherever he went, and consequently producing the awkward
+    and exceedingly laughable predicament in which he was placed by the
+    sudden check from the medicine-pipe, as I have above stated, when
+    all eyes were intently fixed upon him, and all joined in rounds of
+    applause for the success of the magic spell that was placed upon
+    him; all voices were raised in shouts of satisfaction at his defeat,
+    and all eyes gazed upon him; of chiefs and of warriors—matrons and
+    even of their tender-aged and timid daughters, whose education had
+    taught them to receive the <em>moral</em> of these scenes without the
+    shock of impropriety, that would have startled a more fastidious and
+    consequently sensual-thinking people.</p>
+
+  <p>After repeated attempts thus made, and thus defeated in several parts
+    of the crowd, this blackened monster was retreating over the ground
+    where the buffalo-dance was going on, and having (apparently, par
+    accident) swaggered against one of the men placed under the skin of a
+    buffalo and engaged in the “bull dance,” he started back, and placing
+    himself in the attitude of a buffalo,—<i lang="mhq">hi ung ee a wahkstia, chee a
+    nahk s tammee ung s towa; ee ung ee aht gwaht ee o nunghths tcha ho a,
+    tummee oxt no ah, ughstono ah hi en en ah nahxt gwi aht gahtch gun ne.
+    Gwee en on doatcht chee en aht gunne how how en ahxst tchu!</i></p>
+
+  <p>After this he paid his visits to three others of the eight, in
+    succession, receiving as before the deafening shouts of approbation
+    which pealed from every mouth in the multitude, who were all praying to
+    the Great Spirit to send them buffaloes to supply them with food during
+    the season, and who attribute the coming of buffaloes for this purpose
+    entirely to the strict and critical observance of this ridiculous and
+    disgusting part of the ceremonies.</p>
+
+  <p>During the half hour or so that he had been jostled about amongst man
+    and beasts, to the great amusement and satisfaction of the lookers-on,
+    he seemed to have become exceedingly exhausted, and anxiously looking
+    out for some feasible mode of escape.</p>
+
+  <p>In this awkward predicament he became the laughing-stock and butt
+    for the women, who being no longer afraid of him, were gathering in
+    groups around, to tease and tantalize him; and in the midst of this
+    dilemma, which soon became a very sad one—one of the women, who stole
+    up behind him with both hands full of yellow dirt—dashed it into his
+    face and eyes, and all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> over him, and his body being covered with
+    grease, took instantly a different hue. He seemed heart-broken at this
+    signal disgrace, and commenced crying most vehemently, when, <i lang="fr">a
+    l’instant</i>, another caught his <em>wand</em> from his hand, and broke
+    it across her knee. It was snatched for by others, who broke it still
+    into bits, and then threw them at him. His power was now gone—his
+    bodily strength was exhausted, and he made a bolt for the prairie—he
+    dashed through the crowd, and made his way through the piquets on the
+    back part of the village, where were placed for the purpose, an hundred
+    or more women and girls, who escorted him as he ran on the prairie for
+    half a mile or more, beating him with sticks, and stones, and dirt,
+    and kicks, and cuffs, until he was at length seen escaping from their
+    clutches, and making the best of his retreat over the prairie bluffs,
+    from whence he first appeared.</p>
+
+  <p>At the moment of this signal victory, and when all eyes lost sight of
+    him as he disappeared over the bluffs, the whole village united their
+    voices in shouts of satisfaction. The bull-dance then stopped, and
+    preparations were instantly made for the commencement of the cruelties
+    which were to take place within the lodge, leaving us to draw, from
+    what had just transpired, the following beautiful moral:—</p>
+
+  <p>That in the midst of their religious ceremonies, the Evil Spirit
+    (O-kee-hee-de) made his entrée for the purpose of doing mischief, and
+    of disturbing their worship—that he was held in check, and defeated by
+    the superior influence and virtue of the <em>medicine-pipe</em>, and at
+    last, driven in disgrace out of the village, by the very part of the
+    community whom he came to abuse.</p>
+
+  <p>At the close of this exciting scene, preparations were made, as above
+    stated, by the return of the master of ceremonies and musicians to the
+    medicine-lodge, where also were admitted at the same time a number
+    of men, who were to be instruments of the cruelties to be inflicted;
+    and also the chief and doctors of the tribe, who were to look on, and
+    bear witness to, and decide upon, the comparative degree of fortitude,
+    with which the young men sustain themselves in this most extreme and
+    excruciating ordeal. The chiefs having seated themselves on one side
+    of the lodge, dressed out in their robes and splendid head-dresses—the
+    band of music seated and arranged themselves in another part; and the
+    old master of ceremonies having placed himself in front of a small
+    fire in the centre of the lodge, with his “big pipe” in his hands,
+    and having commenced smoking to the Great Spirit, with all possible
+    vehemence for the success of these aspirants, presented the subject
+    for the third picture, which they call “<i lang="mhq">pohk-hong</i>,” the cutting
+    scene (<a href="#i_068"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 68</a>). Around the sides of the lodge are seen,
+    still reclining, as I have before mentioned, a part of the group,
+    whilst others of them have passed the ordeal of self-tortures, and
+    have been removed out of the lodge; and others still are seen in the
+    very act of submitting to them, which were inflicted in the following
+    manner:—After having removed the <i>sanctissimus sanctorum</i>, or
+    little scaffold, of which I before spoke, and having<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> removed also the
+    buffalo and human skulls from the floor, and attached them to the posts
+    of the lodge; and two men having taken their positions near the middle
+    of the lodge, for the purpose of inflicting the tortures—the one with
+    the scalping-knife, and the other with the bunch of splints (which I
+    have before mentioned) in his hand; one at a time of the young fellows,
+    already emaciated with fasting, and thirsting, and waking, for nearly
+    four days and nights, advanced from the side of the lodge, and placed
+    himself on his hands and feet, or otherwise, as best suited for the
+    performance of the operation, where he submitted to the cruelties in
+    the following manner:—An inch or more of the flesh on each shoulder,
+    or each breast was taken up between the thumb and finger by the man
+    who held the knife in his right hand; and the knife, which had been
+    ground sharp on both edges, and then hacked and notched with the blade
+    of another, to make it produce as much pain as possible, was forced
+    through the flesh below the fingers, and being withdrawn, was followed
+    with a splint or skewer, from the other, who held a bunch of such in
+    his left hand, and was ready to force them through the wound. There
+    were then two cords lowered down from the top of the lodge (by men who
+    were placed on the lodge outside, for the purpose), which were fastened
+    to these splints or skewers, and they instantly began to haul him up;
+    he was thus raised until his body was suspended from the ground where
+    he rested, until the knife and a splint were passed through the flesh
+    or integuments in a similar manner on each arm below the shoulder (over
+    the <i>brachialis externus</i>), below the elbow (over the <i>extensor
+    carpi radialis</i>), on the thighs (over the <i>vastus externus</i>),
+    and below the knees (over the <i>peroneus</i>).</p>
+
+  <p>In some instances they remained in a reclining position on the ground
+    until this painful operation was finished, which was performed, in all
+    instances, exactly on the same parts of the body and limbs; and which,
+    in its progress, occupied some five or six minutes.</p>
+
+  <p>Each one was then instantly raised with the cords, until the weight of
+    his body was suspended by them, and then, while the blood was streaming
+    down their limbs, the bystanders hung upon the splints each man’s
+    appropriate shield, bow and quiver, &amp;c.; and in many instances, the
+    skull of a buffalo with the horns on it, was attached to each lower arm
+    and each lower leg, for the purpose, probably, of preventing by their
+    great weight, the struggling, which might otherwise have taken place to
+    their disadvantage whilst they were hung up.</p>
+
+  <p>When these things were all adjusted, each one was raised higher by the
+    cords, until these weights all swung clear from the ground, leaving
+    his feet, in most cases, some six or eight feet above the ground. In
+    this plight they at once became appalling and frightful to look at—the
+    flesh, to support the weight of their bodies, with the additional
+    weights which were attached to them, was raised six or eight inches by
+    the skewers; and their heads sunk forward on the breasts, or thrown
+    backwards, in a much more frightful condition, according to the way in
+    which they were hung up.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>46</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_069">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_069.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>69</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span></p>
+
+  <p>The unflinching fortitude, with which every one of them bore this part
+    of the torture surpassed credulity; each one as the knife was passed
+    through his flesh sustained an unchangeable countenance; and several of
+    them, seeing me making sketches, beckoned me to look at their faces,
+    which I watched through all this horrid operation, without being able
+    to detect anything but the pleasantest smiles as they looked me in
+    the eye, while I could hear the knife rip through the flesh, and feel
+    enough of it myself, to start involuntary and uncontroullable tears
+    over my cheeks.</p>
+
+  <p>When raised to the condition above described, and completely suspended
+    by the cords, the sanguinary hands, through which he had just passed,
+    turned back to perform a similar operation on another who was
+    ready, and each one in his turn passed into the charge of others,
+    who instantly introduced him to a new and improved stage of their
+    refinements in cruelty.</p>
+
+  <p>Surrounded by imps and demons as they appear, a dozen or more, who seem
+    to be concerting and devising means for his exquisite agony, gather
+    around him, when one of the number advances towards him in a sneering
+    manner, and commences turning him around with a pole which he brings
+    in his hand for the purpose. This is done in a gentle manner at first;
+    but gradually increased, when the brave fellow, whose proud spirit
+    can controul its agony no longer, burst out in the most lamentable
+    and heart-rending cries that the human voice is capable of producing,
+    crying forth a prayer to the Great Spirit to support and protect him
+    in this dreadful trial; and continually repeating his confidence
+    in his protection. In this condition he is continued to be turned,
+    faster and faster—and there is no hope of escape from it, nor chance
+    for the slightest relief, until by fainting, his voice falters, and
+    his struggling ceases, and he hangs, apparently, a still and lifeless
+    corpse! When he is, by turning, gradually brought to this condition,
+    which is generally done within ten or fifteen minutes, there is a close
+    scrutiny passed upon him among his tormentors, who are checking and
+    holding each other back as long as the least struggling or tremour can
+    be discovered, lest he should be removed before he is (as they term it)
+    “entirely dead.”</p>
+
+  <p>When brought to this alarming and most frightful condition, and the
+    turning has gradually ceased, as his voice and his strength have given
+    out, leaving him to hang entirely still, and apparently lifeless; when
+    his tongue is distended from his mouth, and his <em>medicine-bag</em>,
+    which he has affectionately and superstitiously clung to with his left
+    hand, has dropped to the ground; the signal is given to the men on top
+    of the lodge, by gently striking the cord with the pole below, when
+    they very gradually and carefully lower him to the ground.</p>
+
+  <p>In this helpless condition he lies, like a loathsome corpse to look
+    at, though in the keeping (as they call it) of the Great Spirit, whom
+    he trusts will protect him, and enable him to get up and walk away.
+    As soon as he is lowered to the ground thus, one of the bystanders
+    advances, and pulls out the two splints or pins from the breasts and
+    shoulders, thereby disengaging<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span> him from the cords by which he has been
+    hung up; but leaving all the others with their weights, &amp;c. hanging to
+    his flesh.</p>
+
+  <p>In this condition he lies for six or eight minutes, until he gets
+    strength to rise and move himself, for no one is allowed to assist or
+    offer him aid, as he is here enjoying the most valued privilege which a
+    Mandan can boast of, that of “trusting his life to the keeping of the
+    Great Spirit,” in this time of extreme peril.</p>
+
+  <p>As soon as he is seen to get strength enough to rise on his hands and
+    feet, and drag his body around the lodge, he crawls with the weights
+    still hanging to his body, to another part of the lodge, where there is
+    another Indian sitting with a hatchet in his hand, and a dried buffalo
+    skull before him; and here, in the most earnest and humble manner, by
+    holding up the little finger of his left hand to the Great Spirit, he
+    expresses to Him, in a speech of a few words, his willingness to give
+    it as a sacrifice; when he lays it on the dried buffalo skull, where
+    the other chops it off near the hand, with a blow of the hatchet!</p>
+
+  <p>Nearly all of the young men whom I saw passing this horrid ordeal, gave
+    in the above manner, the little finger of the left hand; and I saw also
+    several, who immediately afterwards (and apparently with very little
+    concern or emotion), with a similar speech, extended in the same way,
+    the <em>fore</em>-finger of the same hand, and that too was struck off;
+    leaving on the left hand only the two middle fingers and the thumb;
+    all which they deem absolutely essential for holding the bow, the only
+    weapon for the left hand.</p>
+
+  <p>One would think that this mutilation had thus been carried quite far
+    enough; but I have since examined several of the head chiefs and
+    dignitaries of the tribe, who have also given, in this manner, the
+    little finger of the right hand, which is considered by them to be a
+    much greater sacrifice than both of the others; and I have found also
+    a number of their most famous men, who furnish me incontestible proof,
+    by five or six corresponding scars on each arm, and each breast, and
+    each leg, that they had so many times in their lives submitted to this
+    almost incredible operation, which seems to be optional with them;
+    and the oftener they volunteer to go through it, the more famous they
+    become in the estimation of their tribe.</p>
+
+  <p>No bandages are applied to the fingers which have been amputated, nor
+    any arteries taken up; nor is any attention whatever, paid to them or
+    the other wounds; but they are left (as they say) “for the Great Spirit
+    to cure, who will surely take good care of them.” It is a remarkable
+    fact (which I learned from a close inspection of their wounds from day
+    to day) that the bleeding is but very slight and soon ceases, probably
+    from the fact of their extreme exhaustion and debility, caused by want
+    of sustenance and sleep, which checks the natural circulation, and
+    admirably at the same time prepares them to meet the severity of these
+    tortures without the same degree of sensibility and pain, which, under
+    other circumstances, might result in inflammation and death.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span></p>
+
+  <p>During the whole of the time of this cruel part of these most
+    extraordinary inflictions, the chiefs and dignitaries of the tribe are
+    looking on, to decide who are the hardiest and “stoutest hearted”—who
+    can hang the longest by his flesh before he faints, and who will be
+    soonest up, after he has been down; that they may know whom to appoint
+    to lead a war-party, or place at the most honourable and desperate
+    post. The four old men are incessantly beating upon the sacks of water
+    and singing the whole time, with their voices strained to the highest
+    key, vaunting forth, for the encouragement of the young men, the power
+    and efficacy of the <em>medicine-pipe</em>, which has disarmed the
+    monster O-kee-hee-de (or Evil Spirit), and driven him from the village,
+    and will be sure to protect them and watch over them through their
+    present severe trial.</p>
+
+  <p>As soon as six or eight had passed the ordeal as above described,
+    they were led out of the lodge, with their weights hanging to their
+    flesh, and dragging on the ground, to undergo another, and a still
+    more appalling mode of suffering in the centre of the village, and in
+    presence of the whole nation, in the manner as follows:—</p>
+
+  <p>The signal for the commencement of this part of the cruelties was
+    given by the old master of ceremonies, who again ran out as in
+    the buffalo-dance, and leaning against the big canoe, with his
+    <em>medicine-pipe</em> in his hand, began to cry. This was done several
+    times in the afternoon, as often as there were six or eight who had
+    passed the ordeal just described within the lodge, who were then taken
+    out in the open area, in the presence of the whole village, with the
+    buffalo skulls and other weights attached to their flesh, and dragging
+    on the ground! There were then in readiness, and prepared for the
+    purpose, about twenty young men, selected of equal height and equal
+    age; with their bodies chiefly naked, with beautiful (and similar)
+    head-dresses of war-eagles’ quills, on their heads, and a wreath made
+    of willow boughs held in the hands between them, connecting them
+    in a chain or circle in which they ran around the big canoe, with
+    all possible speed, raising their voices in screams and yelps to
+    the highest pitch that was possible, and keeping the curb or <em>big
+    canoe</em> in the centre, as their nucleus.</p>
+
+  <p>Then were led forward the young men who were further to suffer, and
+    being placed at equal distances apart, and outside of the ring just
+    described, each one was taken in charge of two athletic young men,
+    fresh and strong, who stepped up to him, one on each side, and by
+    wrapping a broad leather strap around his wrists, without tying it,
+    grasped it firm underneath the hand, and stood prepared for what they
+    call <i lang="mhq">Eh-ke-nah-ka-nah-pick</i> (the last race, <a href="#i_069"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 69</a>).
+    This, the spectator looking on would suppose was most correctly named,
+    for he would think it was the last race they could possibly run in this
+    world.</p>
+
+  <p>In this condition they stand, pale and ghastly, from abstinence and
+    loss of blood, until all are prepared, and the word is given, when
+    all start and run around, outside of the other ring; and each poor
+    fellow, with his weights<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span> dragging on the ground, and his furious
+    conductors by his side, who hurry him forward by the wrists, struggles
+    in the desperate emulation to run longer without “dying” (as they
+    call it) than his comrades, who are fainting around him and sinking
+    down, like himself, where their bodies are dragged with all possible
+    speed, and often with their faces in the dirt. In the commencement of
+    this dance or race they all start at a moderate pace, and their speed
+    being gradually increased, the pain becomes so excruciating that their
+    languid and exhausted frames give out, and they are dragged by their
+    wrists until they are disengaged from the weights that were attached
+    to their flesh, and this must be done by such violent force as to
+    tear the flesh out with the splint, which (as they say) can never be
+    pulled out endwise, without greatly offending the Great Spirit and
+    defeating the object for which they have thus far suffered. The splints
+    or skewers which are put through the breast and the shoulders, take
+    up a part of the pectoral or trapezius muscle, which is necessary for
+    the support of the great weight of their bodies, and which, as I have
+    before mentioned, are withdrawn as soon as he is lowered down—but all
+    the others, on the legs and arms, seem to be very ingeniously passed
+    through the flesh and integuments without taking up the muscle, and
+    even these, to be broken out, require so strong and so violent a force
+    that most of the poor fellows fainted under the operation, and when
+    they were freed from the last of the buffalo skulls and other weights,
+    (which was often done by some of the bystanders throwing the weight of
+    their bodies on to them as they were dragging on the ground) they were
+    in every instance dropped by the persons who dragged them, and their
+    bodies were left, appearing like nothing but a mangled and a loathsome
+    corpse! At this strange and frightful juncture, the two men who had
+    dragged them, fled through the crowd and away upon the prairie, as if
+    they were guilty of some enormous crime, and were fleeing from summary
+    vengeance.</p>
+
+  <p>Each poor fellow, having thus patiently and manfully endured the
+    privations and tortures devised for him, and (in this last struggle
+    with the most appalling effort) torn himself loose from them and his
+    tormentors, he lies the second time, in the “keeping (as he terms it)
+    of the Great Spirit,” to whom he issues his repeated prayers, and
+    entrusts his life: and in whom he reposes the most implicit confidence
+    for his preservation and recovery. As an evidence of this, and of the
+    high value which these youths set upon this privilege, there is no
+    person, not a relation or a chief of the tribe, who is allowed, or who
+    would dare, to step forward to offer an aiding hand, even to save his
+    life; for not only the rigid customs of the nation, and the pride of
+    the individual who has entrusted his life to the keeping of the Great
+    Spirit, would sternly reject such a tender; but their superstition,
+    which is the strongest of all arguments in an Indian community, would
+    alone, hold all the tribe in fear and dread of interfering, when
+    they consider they have so good a reason to believe that the Great
+    Spirit has undertaken the special care and protection of his devoted
+    worshippers.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span></p>
+
+  <p>In this “last race,” which was the struggle that finally closed their
+    sufferings, each one was dragged until he fainted, and was thus left,
+    looking more like the dead than the living: and thus each one laid,
+    until, by the aid of the Great Spirit, he was in a few minutes seen
+    gradually rising, and at last reeling and staggering, like a drunken
+    man, through the crowd (which made way for him) to his wigwam, where
+    his friends and relatives stood ready to take him into hand and restore
+    him.</p>
+
+  <p>In this frightful scene, as in the buffalo-dance, the whole nation
+    was assembled as spectators, and all raised the most piercing and
+    violent yells and screams they could possibly produce, to drown the
+    cries of the suffering ones, that no heart could even be touched with
+    sympathy for them. I have mentioned before, that six or eight of the
+    young men were brought from the medicine-lodge at a time, and when
+    they were thus passed through this shocking ordeal, the medicine-men
+    and the chiefs returned to the interior, where as many more were soon
+    prepared, and underwent a similar treatment; and after that another
+    batch, and another, and so on, until the whole number, some forty-five
+    or fifty had run in this sickening circle, and, by leaving their
+    weights, had opened the flesh for honourable scars. I said <em>all</em>,
+    but there was one poor fellow though (and I shudder to tell it), who
+    was dragged around and around the circle, with the skull of an elk
+    hanging to the flesh on one of his legs,—several had jumped upon it,
+    but to no effect, for the splint was under the sinew, which could not
+    be broken. The dragging became every instant more and more furious, and
+    the apprehensions for the poor fellow’s life, apparent by the piteous
+    howl which was set up for him by the multitude around; and at last the
+    medicine-man ran, with his medicine-pipe in his hand, and held them in
+    check, when the body was dropped, and left upon the ground, with the
+    skull yet hanging to it. The boy, who was an extremely interesting and
+    fine-looking youth, soon recovered his senses and his strength, looking
+    deliberately at his torn and bleeding limbs; and also with the most
+    pleasant smile of defiance, upon the misfortune which had now fallen to
+    his peculiar lot, crawled through the crowd (instead of walking, which
+    they are never again at liberty to do until the flesh is torn out, and
+    the article left) to the prairie, and over which, for the distance of
+    half a mile, to a sequestered spot, without any attendant, where he
+    laid three days and three nights, yet longer, without food, and praying
+    to the Great Spirit, until suppuration took place in the wound, and
+    by the decaying of the flesh the weight was dropped, and the splint
+    also, which he dare not extricate in another way. At the end of this,
+    he crawled back to the village on his hands and knees, being too much
+    emaciated to walk, and begged for something to eat, which was at once
+    given him, and he was soon restored to health.</p>
+
+  <p>These extreme and difficult cases often occur, and I learn that in such
+    instances the youth has it at his option to get rid of the weight that
+    is thus left upon him, in such way as he may choose, and some of those
+    modes are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> far more extraordinary than the one which I have just named.
+    Several of the Traders, who have been for a number of years in the
+    habit of seeing this part of the ceremony, have told me that two years
+    since, when they were looking on, there was one whose flesh on the arms
+    was so strong that the weights could not be left, and he dragged them
+    with his body to the river by the side of the village, where he set a
+    stake fast in the ground on the top of the bank, and fastening cords
+    to it, he let himself half-way down a perpendicular wall of rock, of
+    twenty-five or thirty feet, where the weight of his body was suspended
+    by the two cords attached to the flesh of his arms. In this awful
+    condition he hung for several days, equi-distant from the top of the
+    rock and the deep water below, into which he at last dropped and saved
+    himself by swimming ashore!</p>
+
+  <p>I need record no more of these shocking and disgusting instances,
+    of which I have already given enough to convince the world of the
+    correctness of the established fact of the Indian’s superior stoicism
+    and power of endurance, although some recent writers have, from motives
+    of envy, from ignorance, or something else, taken great pains to cut
+    the poor Indian short in everything, and in <em>this</em>, even as if it
+    were a virtue.</p>
+
+  <p>I am ready to accord to them in this particular, the palm; the credit
+    of outdoing anything and everybody, and of enduring more than civilized
+    man ever aspired to or ever thought of. My heart has sickened also
+    with disgust for so abominable and ignorant a custom, and still I
+    stand ready with all my heart, to excuse and forgive them for adhering
+    so strictly to an ancient celebration, founded in superstitions and
+    mysteries, of which they know not the origin, and constituting a
+    material part and feature in the code and forms of their religion.</p>
+
+  <p>Reader, I will return with you a moment to the medicine-lodge, which is
+    just to be closed, and then we will indulge in some general reflections
+    upon what has passed, and in what, and for what purposes this strange
+    batch of mysteries has been instituted and perpetuated.</p>
+
+  <p>After these young men, who had for the last four days occupied the
+    medicine-lodge, had been operated on, in the manner above described,
+    and taken out of it, the old medicine-man, master of ceremonies,
+    returned, (still crying to the Great Spirit) sole tenant of that sacred
+    place, and brought out the “edged tools,” which I before said had been
+    collected at the door of every man’s wigwam, to be given as a sacrifice
+    to the water, and leaving the lodge securely fastened, he approached
+    the bank of the river, when all the medicine-men attended him, and all
+    the nation were spectators; and in their presence he threw them from a
+    high bank into very deep water, from which they cannot be recovered,
+    and where they are, correctly speaking, made a sacrifice to the water.
+    This part of the affair took place just exactly at sun-down, and
+    closed the scene, being the end or finale of the <em>Mandan religious
+    ceremony</em>.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>47</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_070">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_070.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>70</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_071">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_071.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>71</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span></p>
+
+  <p class="hang"><i>The reader will forgive me for here inserting the Certificates which
+    I have just received from Mr. Kipp, of the city of New York, and two
+    others, who were with me; which I offer for the satisfaction of the
+    world, who read the above account.</i></p>
+
+  <p class="mt2">“<i>We hereby certify, that we witnessed, in company with Mr. Catlin,
+    in the Mandan Village, the ceremonies represented in the four
+    paintings, and described in his Notes, to which this Certificate
+    refers; and that he has therein faithfully represented those scenes as
+    we saw them transacted without any addition or exaggeration.</i></p>
+
+  <div>
+    <span class="fright">“<span class="smcap">J. Kipp</span>, <i>Agent Amer. Fur Company</i>.</span><br />
+    <span class="fright" style="margin-right: 5.7em;"><span class="smcap">L. Crawford</span>, <i>Clerk</i>.</span><br />
+    <span>“<i>Mandan Village, July 20, 1833.</i></span><span class="fright" style="margin-right: 5.9em;"><span class="smcap">Abraham Bogard</span>.”</span>
+  </div>
+
+  <p class="mt2">The strange country that I am in—its excitements—its accidents and
+    wild incidents which startle me at almost every moment, prevent me
+    from any very elaborate disquisition upon the above remarkable events
+    at present; and even had I all the time and leisure of a country
+    gentleman, and all the additional information which I am daily
+    procuring, and daily expect to procure hereafter in explanation of
+    these unaccountable mysteries, yet do I fear that there would be
+    that inexplicable difficulty that hangs over most of the customs and
+    traditions of these simple people, who have no history to save facts
+    and systems from falling into the most absurd and disjointed fable and
+    ignorant fiction.</p>
+
+  <p>What few plausible inferences I have as yet been able to draw from the
+    above strange and peculiar transactions I will set forth, but with
+    some diffidence, hoping and trusting that by further intimacy and
+    familiarity with these people I may yet arrive at more satisfactory and
+    important results.</p>
+
+  <p>That these people should have a tradition of the Flood is by no means
+    surprising; as I have learned from every tribe I have visited, that
+    they all have some high mountain in their vicinity, where they insist
+    upon it the big canoe landed; but that these people should hold an
+    annual celebration of the event, and the season of that decided by such
+    circumstances as the full leaf of the willow, and the medicine-lodge
+    opened by such a man as Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (who appears to be a white
+    man), and making his appearance “from the high-mountains in the West;”
+    and some other circumstances, is surely a very remarkable thing, and
+    requires some extraordinary attention.</p>
+
+  <p>This Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (first or only man) is undoubtedly some mystery
+    or medicine-man of the tribe, who has gone out on the prairie on the
+    evening previous, and having dressed and painted himself for the
+    occasion, comes into the village in the morning, endeavouring to keep
+    up the semblance of reality; for their tradition says, that at a very
+    ancient period such a man did actually come from the West—that his
+    body was of the white colour, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> this man’s body is represented—that
+    he wore a robe of four white wolf skins—his head-dress was made of two
+    raven’s skins—and in his left hand was a huge pipe. He said, “he was at
+    one time the only man—he told them of the destruction of every thing on
+    the earth’s surface by water—that he stopped in his <em>big canoe</em> on
+    a high mountain in the West, where he landed and was saved.”</p>
+
+  <p>“That the Mandans, and all other people were bound to make yearly
+    sacrifices of some edged-tools to the water, for of such things the
+    big canoe was made. That he instructed the Mandans how to build
+    their medicine-lodge, and taught them also the forms of these annual
+    ceremonies; and told them that as long as they made these sacrifices,
+    and performed their rites to the full letter, they might be assured of
+    the fact, that they would be the favourite people of the Almighty, and
+    would always have enough to eat and drink; and that so soon as they
+    should depart in one tittle from these forms, they might be assured,
+    that their race would decrease, and finally run out; and that they
+    might date their nation’s calamity to that omission or neglect.”</p>
+
+  <p>These people have, no doubt, been long living under the dread of such
+    an injunction, and in the fear of departing from it; and while they are
+    living in total ignorance of its origin, the world must remain equally
+    ignorant of much of its meaning, as they needs must be of all Indian
+    customs resting on ancient traditions, which soon run into fables,
+    having lost all their system, by which they might have been construed.</p>
+
+  <p>This strange and unaccountable custom, is undoubtedly peculiar to the
+    Mandans; although, amongst the Minatarees, and some others of the
+    neighbouring tribes, they have seasons of abstinence and self-torture,
+    somewhat similar, but bearing no other resemblance to this than a mere
+    feeble effort or form of imitation.</p>
+
+  <p>It would seem from their tradition of the willow branch, and the dove,
+    that these people must have had some proximity to some part of the
+    civilized world; or that missionaries or others have been formerly
+    among them, inculcating the Christian religion and the Mosaic account
+    of the Flood; which is, in this and some other respects, decidedly
+    different from the theory which most natural people have distinctly
+    established of that event.</p>
+
+  <p>There are other strong, and almost decisive proofs in my opinion, in
+    support of the assertion, which are to be drawn from the diversity of
+    colour in their hair and complexions, as I have before described, as
+    well as from their tradition just related, of the “<em>first or only
+    man</em>,” whose body was white, and who came from the West, telling
+    them of the destruction of the earth by water, and instructing them in
+    the forms of these mysteries; and, in addition to the above, I will add
+    the two following very curious stories, which I had from several of
+    their old and dignified chiefs, and which are, no doubt, standing and
+    credited traditions of the tribe.</p>
+
+  <p>“The Mandans (people of the pheasants) were the first people created
+    in the world, and they originally lived inside of the earth; they
+    raised many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span> vines, and one of them had grown up through a hole in
+    the earth, over head, and one of their young men climbed up it until
+    he came out on the top of the ground, on the bank of the river, where
+    the Mandan village stands. He looked around, and admired the beautiful
+    country and prairies about him—saw many buffaloes—killed one with his
+    bow and arrows, and found that its meat was good to eat. He returned,
+    and related what he had seen; when a number of others went up the vine
+    with him, and witnessed the same things. Amongst those who went up,
+    were two very pretty young women, who were favourites of the chiefs,
+    because they were virgins; and amongst those who were trying to get up,
+    was a very large and fat woman, who was ordered by the chiefs not to go
+    up, but whose curiosity led her to try it as soon as she got a secret
+    opportunity, when there was no one present. When she got part of the
+    way up, the vine broke under the great weight of her body, and let her
+    down. She was very much hurt by the fall, but did not die. The Mandans
+    were very sorry about this; and she was disgraced for being the cause
+    of a very great calamity, which she had brought upon them, and which
+    could never be averted; for no more could ever ascend, nor could those
+    descend who had got up; but they built the Mandan village, where it
+    formerly stood, a great ways below on the river; and the remainder of
+    the people live under ground to this day.”</p>
+
+  <p>The above tradition is told with great gravity by their chiefs and
+    doctors or mystery-men; and the latter profess to hear their friends
+    talk through the earth at certain times and places, and even consult
+    them for their opinions and advice on many important occasions.</p>
+
+  <p>The next tradition runs thus:—</p>
+
+  <p>“At a very ancient period, O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit, the black
+    fellow mentioned in the religious ceremonies) came to the Mandan
+    village with Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (the first or only man) from the West,
+    and sat down by a woman who had but one eye, and was hoeing corn. Her
+    daughter, who was very pretty came up to her, and the Evil Spirit
+    desired her to go and bring some water; but wished that before she
+    started, she would come to him and eat some buffalo meat. He told her
+    to take a piece out of his side, which she did and ate it, which proved
+    to be buffalo-fat. She then went for the water, which she brought, and
+    met them in the village where they had walked, and they both drank of
+    it—nothing more was done.</p>
+
+  <p>“The friends of the girl soon after endeavoured to disgrace her, by
+    telling her that she was <i lang="fr">enciente</i>, which she did not deny. She
+    declared her innocence at the same time, and boldly defied any man
+    in the village to come forward and accuse her. This raised a great
+    excitement in the village, and as no one could stand forth to accuse
+    her, she was looked upon as <em>great medicine</em>. She soon after went
+    off secretly to the upper Mandan village, where the child was born.</p>
+
+  <p>“Great search was made for her before she was found; as it was
+    expected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> that the child would also be great <em>medicine</em> or
+    mystery, and of great importance to the existence and welfare of the
+    tribe. They were induced to this belief from the very strange manner
+    of its conception and birth, and were soon confirmed in it from
+    the wonderful things which it did at an early age. They say, that
+    amongst other miracles which he performed, when the Mandans were like
+    to starve, he gave them four buffalo bulls, which filled the whole
+    village—leaving as much meat as there was before they had eaten; saying
+    that these four bulls would supply them for ever. Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah
+    (the first or only man) was bent on the destruction of the child, and
+    after making many fruitless searches for it, found it hidden in a dark
+    place, and put it to death by throwing it into the river.</p>
+
+  <p>“When O-kee-hee-de (the Evil Spirit) heard of the death of this child,
+    he sought for Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah with intent to kill him. He traced
+    him a long distance, and at length found him at <em>Heart River</em>,
+    about seventy miles below the village, with the big medicine-pipe
+    in his hand, the charm or mystery of which protects him from all of
+    his enemies. They soon agreed, however, to become friends, smoked
+    the big pipe together, and returned to the Mandan village. The Evil
+    Spirit was satisfied; and Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah told the Mandans never
+    to pass Heart River to live, for it was the centre of the world,
+    and to live beyond it would be destruction to them; and he named it
+    <i lang="mhq">Nat-com-pa-sa-hah</i> (heart or centre of the world).”</p>
+
+  <p>Such are a few of the principal traditions of these people, which I
+    have thought proper to give in this place, and I have given them in
+    their own way, with all the imperfections and absurd inconsistencies
+    which should be expected to characterize the history of all ignorant
+    and superstitious people who live in a state of simple and untaught
+    nature, with no other means of perpetuating historical events, than by
+    oral traditions.</p>
+
+  <p>I advance these vague stories then, as I have done, and shall do in
+    other instances, not in support of any theory, but merely as I have
+    heard them related by the Indians; and preserved them, as I have
+    everything else that I could meet in the Indian habits and character,
+    for the information of the world, who may get more time to theorize
+    than I have at present; and who may consider better than I can, how far
+    such traditions should be taken as evidence of the facts, that these
+    people have for a long period preserved and perpetuated an imperfect
+    knowledge of the Deluge—of the appearance and death of a Saviour—and of
+    the transgressions of mother Eve.</p>
+
+  <p>I am not yet able to learn from these people whether they have any
+    distinct theory of the creation; as they seem to date nothing further
+    back than their own existence as a people; saying (as I have before
+    mentioned), that they were the first people created; involving the
+    glaring absurdities that they were the only people on earth before
+    the Flood, and the only one saved was a white man; or that they were
+    created inside of the earth, as their tradition says; and that they
+    did not make their appearance on its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> outer surface until after the
+    Deluge. When an Indian story is told, it is like all other gifts, “to
+    be taken for what it is worth,” and for any seeming inconsistency in
+    their traditions there is no remedy; for as far as I have tried to
+    reconcile them by reasoning with, or questioning them, I have been
+    entirely defeated; and more than that, have generally incurred their
+    distrust and ill-will. One of the Mandan doctors told me very gravely
+    a few days since, that the earth was a large tortoise, that it carried
+    the dirt on its back—that a tribe of people, who are now dead, and
+    whose faces were white, used to dig down very deep in this ground to
+    catch <em>badgers</em>; and that one day they stuck a knife through the
+    tortoise-shell, and it sunk down so that the water ran over its back,
+    and drowned all but one man. And on the next day while I was painting
+    his portrait, he told me there were <em>four tortoises</em>,—one in the
+    North—one in the East—one in the South, and one in the West; that each
+    one of these rained ten days, and the water covered over the earth.</p>
+
+  <p>These ignorant and conflicting accounts, and both from the same man,
+    give as good a demonstration, perhaps, of what I have above mentioned,
+    as to the inefficiency of Indian traditions as anything I could at
+    present mention. They might, perhaps, have been in this instance
+    however the creeds of different sects, or of different priests amongst
+    them, who often advance diametrically opposite theories and traditions
+    relative to history and mythology.</p>
+
+  <p>And however ignorant and ridiculous they may seem, they are yet worthy
+    of a little further consideration, as relating to a number of curious
+    circumstances connected with the unaccountable religious ceremonies
+    which I have just described.</p>
+
+  <p>The Mandan chiefs and doctors, in all their feasts, where the pipe
+    is lit and about to be passed around, deliberately propitiate the
+    good-will and favour of the Great Spirit, by extending the stem of
+    the pipe <em>upwards</em> before they smoke it themselves; and also as
+    deliberately and as strictly offering the stem to the four <em>cardinal
+    points</em> in succession, and then drawing a whiff through it, passing
+    it around amongst the group.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>annual religious ceremony</em> invariably lasts <em>four</em>
+    days, and the other following circumstances attending these strange
+    forms, and seeming to have some allusion to the <em>four</em> cardinal
+    points, or the “four tortoises,” seem to me to be worthy of further
+    notice. <em>Four</em> men are selected by Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah (as I
+    have before said), to cleanse out and prepare the medicine-lodge
+    for the occasion—one he calls from the <em>north</em> part of the
+    village—one from the <em>east</em>—one from the <em>south</em>, and one
+    from the <em>west</em>. The <em>four</em> sacks of water, in form of large
+    tortoises, resting on the floor of the lodge and before described,
+    would seem to be typical of the same thing; and also the <em>four</em>
+    buffalo, and the <em>four</em> human skulls resting on the floor of the
+    same lodge—the <em>four</em> couples of dancers in the “bull-dance,” as
+    before described, and also the <em>four</em> intervening dancers in the
+    same dance, and also described</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span></p>
+
+  <p>The bull-dance in front of the medicine-lodge, repeated on the
+    <em>four</em> days, is danced <em>four</em> times on the first day,
+    <em>eight</em> times on the second, <em>twelve</em> times on the third,
+    and <em>sixteen</em> times on the <em>fourth</em>; (adding <em>four</em>
+    dances on each of the <em>four</em> days,) which added together make
+    <em>forty</em>, the exact number of days that it rained upon the earth,
+    according to the Mosaic account, to produce the Deluge. There are
+    <em>four</em> sacrifices of black and blue cloths erected over the door
+    of the medicine-lodge—the visits of O-kee-hee-de (or Evil Spirit)
+    were paid to <em>four</em> of the buffaloes in the buffalo-dance, as
+    above described; and in every instance, the young men who underwent
+    the tortures before explained, had <em>four</em> splints or skewers
+    run through the flesh on their legs—<em>four</em> through the arms and
+    <em>four</em> through the body.</p>
+
+  <p>Such is a brief account of these strange scenes which I have just been
+    witnessing, and such my brief history of the Mandans. I might write
+    much more on them, giving yet a volume on their stories and traditions;
+    but it would be a volume of fables, and scarce worth recording. A
+    nation of Indians in their primitive condition, where there are no
+    historians, have but a temporary historical existence, for the reasons
+    above advanced, and their history, what can be certainly learned of it,
+    may be written in a very small compass.</p>
+
+  <p>I have dwelt longer on the history and customs of these people than I
+    have or shall on any other tribe, in all probability, and that from the
+    fact that I have found them a very peculiar people, as will have been
+    seen by my notes.</p>
+
+  <p>From these very numerous and striking peculiarities in their personal
+    appearance—their customs—traditions and language, I have been led
+    conclusively to believe that they are a people of decidedly a different
+    origin from that of any other tribe in these regions.</p>
+
+  <p>From these reasons, as well as from the fact that they are a small and
+    feeble tribe, against whom the powerful tribe of Sioux are waging a
+    deadly war with the prospect of their extermination; and who with their
+    limited numbers, are not likely to hold out long in their struggle for
+    existence, I have taken more pains to pourtray their whole character,
+    than my limited means will allow me to bestow upon other tribes.</p>
+
+  <p>From the ignorant and barbarous and disgusting customs just recited,
+    the world would naturally infer, that these people must be the most
+    cruel and inhuman beings in the world—yet, such is not the case, and it
+    becomes my duty to say it; a better, more honest, hospitable and kind
+    people, as a community, are not to be found in the world. No set of men
+    that ever I associated with have better hearts than the Mandans, and
+    none are quicker to embrace and welcome a white man than they are—none
+    will press him closer to his bosom, that the pulsation of his heart may
+    be felt, than a Mandan; and no man in any country will keep his word
+    and guard his honour more closely.</p>
+
+  <p>The shocking and disgusting custom that I have just described, sickens<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span>
+    the heart and even the stomach of a traveller in the country, and he
+    weeps for their ignorance—he pities them with all his heart for their
+    blindness, and laments that the light of civilization, of agriculture
+    and religion cannot be extended to them, and that their hearts which
+    are good enough, could not be turned to embrace something more rational
+    and conducive to their true happiness.</p>
+
+  <p>Many would doubtless ask, whether such a barbarous custom could be
+    eradicated from these people? and whether their thoughts and tastes,
+    being turned to agriculture and religion, could be made to abandon the
+    dark and random channel in which they are drudging, and made to flow in
+    the light and life of civilization?</p>
+
+  <p>To this query I answer <em>yes</em>. Although this is a custom of long
+    standing, being a part of their religion; and probably valued as one
+    of their dearest rights; and notwithstanding the difficulty of making
+    inroads upon the religion of a people in whose country there is no
+    severence of opinions, and consequently no division into different
+    sects, with different creeds to shake their faith; I still believe,
+    and I <em>know</em>, that by a judicious and persevering effort, this
+    abominable custom, and others, might be extinguished, and the beautiful
+    green fields about the Mandan village might be turned into productive
+    gardens, and the waving green bluffs that are spread in the surrounding
+    distance, might be spotted with lowing kine, instead of the sneaking
+    wolves and the hobbled war-horses that are now stalking about them.</p>
+
+  <p>All ignorant and superstitious people, it is a well-known fact, are
+    the most fixed and stubborn in their religious opinions, and perhaps
+    the most difficult to divert from their established belief, from the
+    very fact that they are the most difficult to reason with. Here is
+    an ignorant race of human beings, who have from time immemorial been
+    in the habit of worshipping in their own way, and of enjoying their
+    religious opinions without ever having heard any one to question their
+    correctness; and in those opinions they are quiet and satisfied, and
+    it requires a patient, gradual, and untiring effort to convince such
+    a people that they are wrong, and to work the desired change in their
+    belief, and consequently in their actions.</p>
+
+  <p>It is decidedly my opinion, however, that such a thing <em>can</em> be
+    done, and I do not believe there is a race of wild people on earth
+    where the experiment could be more successfully made than amongst the
+    kind and hospitable Mandans, nor any place where the Missionary labours
+    of pious and industrious men would be more sure to succeed, or more
+    certain to be rewarded in the world to come.</p>
+
+  <p>I deem such a trial of patience and perseverance with these people of
+    great importance, and well worth the experiment. One which I shall hope
+    soon to see accomplished, and which, if properly conducted, I am sure
+    will result in success. Severed as they are from the contaminating and
+    counteracting vices which oppose and thwart most of the best efforts
+    of the Missionaries along the frontier, and free from the almost fatal
+    prejudices which they have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> there to contend with; they present a
+    better field for the labours of such benevolent teachers than they
+    have yet worked in, and a far better chance than they have yet had of
+    proving to the world that the poor Indian is not a brute—that he is
+    a human and humane being, that he is capable of improvement—and that
+    his mind is a beautiful blank on which anything can be written if the
+    proper means be taken.</p>
+
+  <p>The Mandans being but a small tribe, of two thousand only, and living
+    all in two villages, in sight of each other, and occupying these
+    permanently, without roaming about like other neighbouring tribes,
+    offer undoubtedly, the best opportunity for such an experiment of any
+    tribe in the country. The land about their villages is of the best
+    quality for ploughing and grazing, and the water just such as would
+    be desired. Their villages are fortified with piquets or stockades,
+    which protect them from the assaults of their enemies at home; and
+    the introduction of agriculture (which would supply them with the
+    necessaries and luxuries of life, without the necessity of continually
+    exposing their lives to their more numerous enemies on the plains, when
+    they are seeking in the chase the means of their subsistence) would
+    save them from the continual wastes of life, to which, in their wars
+    and the chase they are continually exposed, and which are calculated
+    soon to result in their extinction.</p>
+
+  <p>I deem it not folly nor idle to say that these people <em>can be
+    saved</em>, nor officious to suggest to some of the very many excellent
+    and pious men, who are almost throwing away the best energies of their
+    lives along the debased frontier, that if they would introduce the
+    ploughshare and their prayers amongst these people, who are so far
+    separated from the taints and contaminating vices of the frontier, they
+    would soon see their most ardent desires accomplished and be able to
+    solve to the world the perplexing enigma, by presenting a nation of
+    savages, civilized and christianized (and consequently <em>saved</em>),
+    in the heart of the American wilderness.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_23">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 23.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MINATAREE VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Soon</span> after witnessing the curious scenes described in the former
+    Letters, I changed my position to the place from whence I am now
+    writing—to the village of the Minatarees, which is also located on
+    the west bank of the Missouri river, and only eight miles above the
+    Mandans. On my way down the river in my canoe, I passed this village
+    without attending to their earnest and clamorous invitations for me to
+    come ashore, and it will thus be seen that I am retrograding a little,
+    to see all that is to be seen in this singular country.</p>
+
+  <p>I have been residing here some weeks, and am able already to say of
+    these people as follows:—</p>
+
+  <p>The Minatarees (people of the willows) are a small tribe of about 1500
+    souls, residing in three villages of earth-covered lodges, on the
+    banks of Knife river; a small stream, so called, meandering through
+    a beautiful and extensive prairie, and uniting its waters with the
+    Missouri.</p>
+
+  <p>This small community is undoubtedly a part of the tribe of Crows, of
+    whom I have already spoken, living at the base of the Rocky Mountains,
+    who have at some remote period, either in their war or hunting
+    excursions, been run off by their enemy, and their retreat having been
+    prevented, have thrown themselves upon the hospitality of the Mandans,
+    to whom they have looked for protection, and under whose wing they are
+    now living in a sort of confederacy, ready to intermarry and also to
+    join, as they often have done, in the common defence of their country.</p>
+
+  <p>In language and personal appearance, as well as in many of their
+    customs, they are types of the Crows; yet having adopted and so long
+    lived under its influence, the system of the Mandans, they are much
+    like them in many respects, and continually assimilating to the modes
+    of their patrons and protectors. Amongst their vague and various
+    traditions they have evidently some disjointed authority for the manner
+    in which they came here; but no account of the time. They say, that
+    they came poor—without wigwams or horses—were nearly all women, as
+    their warriors had been killed off in their flight; that the Mandans
+    would not take them into their village, nor let them come nearer than
+    where they are now living, and there assisted them to build their
+    villages. From these circumstances their wigwams have been constructed
+    exactly in the same manner as those of the Mandans, which I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> have
+    already described, and entirely distinct from any custom to be seen in
+    the Crow tribe.</p>
+
+  <p>Notwithstanding the long familiarity in which they have lived with the
+    Mandans, and the complete adoption of most of their customs, yet it is
+    almost an unaccountable fact, that there is scarcely a man in the tribe
+    who can speak half a dozen words of the Mandan language; although on
+    the other hand, the Mandans are most of them able to converse in the
+    Minataree tongue; leaving us to conclude, either that the Minatarees
+    are a very inert and stupid people, or that the Mandan language (which
+    is most probably the case) being different from any other language in
+    the country, is an exceedingly difficult one to learn.</p>
+
+  <p>The principal village of the Minatarees which is built upon the bank
+    of the Knife river (<a href="#i_070"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 70</a>), contains forty or fifty
+    earth-covered wigwams, from forty to fifty feet in diameter, and being
+    elevated, overlooks the other two which are on lower ground and almost
+    lost amidst their numerous corn fields and other profuse vegetation
+    which cover the earth with their luxuriant growth.</p>
+
+  <p>The scenery along the banks of this little river, from village to
+    village, is quite peculiar and curious; rendered extremely so by the
+    continual wild and garrulous groups of men, women, and children, who
+    are wending their way along its winding shores, or dashing and plunging
+    through its blue waves, enjoying the luxury of swimming, of which
+    both sexes seem to be passionately fond. Others are paddling about in
+    their tub-like canoes, made of the skins of buffaloes; and every now
+    and then, are to be seen their sudatories, or vapour-baths (<a href="#i_071"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    71</a>), where steam is raised by throwing water on to heated stones;
+    and the patient jumps from his sweating-house and leaps into the river
+    in the highest state of perspiration, as I have more fully described
+    whilst speaking of the bathing of the Mandans.</p>
+
+  <p>The chief sachem of this tribe is a very ancient and patriarchal
+    looking man, by the name of Eeh-tohk-pah-shee-pee-shah (the black
+    moccasin), and counts, undoubtedly, more than an hundred <em>snows</em>.
+    I have been for some days an inmate of his hospitable lodge, where he
+    sits tottering with age, and silently reigns sole monarch of his little
+    community around him, who are continually dropping in to cheer his
+    sinking energies, and render him their homage. His voice and his sight
+    are nearly gone; but the gestures of his hands are yet energetic and
+    youthful, and freely speak the language of his kind heart.</p>
+
+  <p>I have been treated in the kindest manner by this old chief; and have
+    painted his portrait (<a href="#i_072"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 72</a>) as he was seated on the floor
+    of his wigwam, smoking his pipe, whilst he was recounting over to me
+    some of the extraordinary feats of his life, with a beautiful Crow robe
+    wrapped around him, and his hair wound up in a conical form upon his
+    head, and fastened with a small wooden pin, to keep it in its place.</p>
+
+  <p>This man has many distinct recollections of Lewis and Clarke, who were
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span>the first explorers of this country, and who crossed the Rocky
+    Mountains thirty years ago. It will be seen by reference to their very
+    interesting history of their tour, that they were treated with great
+    kindness by this man; and that they in consequence constituted him
+    chief of the tribe, with the consent of his people; and he has remained
+    their chief ever since. He enquired very earnestly for “Red Hair” and
+    “Long Knife” (as he had ever since termed Lewis and Clarke), from the
+    fact, that one had red hair (an unexampled thing in his country), and
+    the other wore a broad sword which gained for him the appellation of
+    “Long Knife.”</p>
+
+  <figure class="mt2 illowp75" id="i_072">
+    <div class="plate"><i>48</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_072.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>72</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>49</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_073">
+      <img style="width: 99.4%;" src="images/i_073.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>73</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_074">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_074.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>74</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <p>I have told him that “Long Knife” has been many years dead; and that
+    “Red Hair” is yet living in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, and no doubt, would be glad to
+    hear of him; at which he seemed much pleased, and has signified to me
+    that he will make me bearer of some peculiar dispatches to him.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+  <p>The name by which these people are generally called (Grosventres) is
+    one given them by the French Traders, and has probably been applied to
+    them with some degree of propriety or fitness, as contradistinguished
+    from the Mandans, amongst whom these Traders were living; and who
+    are a small race of Indians, being generally at or below the average
+    stature of man; whilst the Minatarees are generally tall and heavily
+    built. There is no tribe in the western wilds, perhaps, who are better
+    entitled to the style of warlike, than the Minatarees; for they, unlike
+    the Mandans, are continually carrying war into their enemies’ country;
+    oftentimes drawing the poor Mandans into unnecessary broils, and
+    suffering so much themselves in their desperate war-excursions, that I
+    find the proportion of women to the number of men as two or three to
+    one, through the tribe.</p>
+
+  <p>The son of Black Moccasin, whose name is Ee-a-chin-che-a (the red
+    thunder), and who is reputed one of the most desperate warriors of his
+    tribe, I have also painted at full length, in his war-dress (<a href="#i_073"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    73</a>), with his bow in his hand, his quiver slung, and his shield
+    upon his arm. In this plight, <i>sans</i> head-dress, <i>sans</i> robe,
+    and <i>sans</i> everything that might be an useless incumbrance—with
+    the body chiefly naked, and profusely bedaubed with red and black
+    paint, so as to form an almost perfect disguise, the Indian warriors
+    invariably sally forth to war; save the chief, who always plumes
+    himself, and leads on his little band, tendering himself to his enemies
+    a conspicuous mark, with all his ornaments and trophies upon him; that
+    his enemies, if they get him, may get a prize worth the fighting for.</p>
+
+  <p>Besides chiefs and warriors to be admired in this little tribe, there
+    are many beautiful and voluptuous looking women, who are continually
+    crowding in throngs, and gazing upon a stranger; and possibly shedding
+    more bewitching<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> smiles from a sort of necessity, growing out of the
+    great disparity in numbers between them and the rougher sex, to which I
+    have before alluded.</p>
+
+  <p>From the very numerous groups of these that have from day to day
+    constantly pressed upon me, overlooking the operations of my brush;
+    I have been unable to get more than one who would consent to have
+    her portrait painted, owing to some fear or dread of harm that might
+    eventually ensue in consequence; or from a natural coyness or timidity,
+    which is surpassing all description amongst these wild tribes, when in
+    presence of strangers.</p>
+
+  <p>The one whom I have painted (<a href="#i_074"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 74</a>) is a descendant from
+    the old chief; and though not the most beautiful, is yet a fair sample
+    of them, and dressed in a beautiful costume of the mountain-sheep skin,
+    handsomely garnished with porcupine quills and beads. This girl was
+    almost <em>compelled</em> to stand for her picture by her relatives who
+    urged her on, whilst she modestly declined, offering as her excuse that
+    “she was not pretty enough, and that her picture would be laughed at.”
+    This was either ignorance or excessive art on her part; for she was
+    certainly more than comely, and the beauty of her name, Seet-se-be-a
+    (the midday sun) is quite enough to make up for a deficiency, if there
+    were any, in the beauty of her face.</p>
+
+  <p>I mentioned that I found these people raising abundance of corn or
+    maize; and I have happened to visit them in the season of their
+    festivities, which annually take place when the ears of corn are of the
+    proper size for eating. The green corn is considered a great luxury by
+    all those tribes who cultivate it; and is ready for eating as soon as
+    the ear is of full size, and the kernels are expanded to their full
+    growth, but are yet soft and pulpy. In this green state of the corn,
+    it is boiled and dealt out in great profusion to the whole tribe, who
+    feast and surfeit upon it whilst it lasts; rendering thanks to the
+    <em>Great Spirit</em> for the return of this joyful season, which they do
+    by making sacrifices, by dancing, and singing songs or thanksgiving.
+    This joyful occasion is one valued alike, and conducted in a similar
+    manner, by most of the tribes who raise the corn, however remote they
+    may be from each other. It lasts but for a week or ten days; being
+    limited to the longest term that the corn remains in this tender and
+    palatable state; during which time all hunting, and all war-excursions,
+    and all other avocations, are positively dispensed with; and all join
+    in the most excessive indulgence of gluttony and conviviality that can
+    possibly be conceived. The fields of corn are generally pretty well
+    stripped during this excess; and the poor improvident Indian thanks the
+    Great Spirit for the indulgence he has had, and is satisfied to ripen
+    merely the few ears that are necessary for his next year’s planting,
+    without reproaching himself for his wanton lavishness, which has laid
+    waste his fine fields, and robbed him of the golden harvest, which
+    might have gladdened his heart, with those of his wife and little
+    children, through the cold and dreariness of winter.</p>
+
+  <p>The most remarkable feature of these joyous occasion is the <em>green
+    corn-dance</em><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span>, which is always given as preparatory to the feast,
+    and by most of the tribes in the following manner:—</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>50</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_075">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_075.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>75</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>At the usual season, and the time when from outward appearance of the
+    stalks and ears of the corn, it is supposed to be nearly ready for
+    use, several of the old women who are the owners of fields or patches
+    of corn (for such are the proprietors and cultivators of all crops in
+    Indian countries, the men never turning their hands to such degrading
+    occupations) are delegated by the medicine-men to look at the corn
+    fields every morning at sun-rise, and bring into the council-house,
+    where the kettle is ready, several ears of corn, the husks of which the
+    women are not allowed to break open or even to peep through. The women
+    then are from day to day discharged and the doctors left to decide,
+    until from repeated examinations they come to the decision that it will
+    do; when they dispatch <em>runners</em> or <em>criers</em>, announcing to
+    every part of the village or tribe that the Great Spirit has been kind
+    to them, and they must all meet on the next day to return thanks for
+    his goodness. That all must empty their stomachs, and prepare for the
+    feast that is approaching.</p>
+
+  <p>On the day appointed by the doctors, the villagers are all assembled,
+    and in the midst of the group a kettle is hung over a fire and filled
+    with the green corn, which is well boiled, to be given to the Great
+    Spirit, as a sacrifice necessary to be made before any one can indulge
+    the cravings of his appetite. Whilst this first kettleful is boiling,
+    four medicine-men, with a stalk of the corn in one hand and a rattle
+    (she-she-quoi) in the other, with their bodies painted with white clay,
+    dance around the kettle, chanting a song of thanksgiving to the Great
+    Spirit to whom the offering is to be made (<a href="#i_075"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 75</a>). At the
+    same time a number of warriors are dancing around in a more extended
+    circle, with stalks of the corn in their hands, and joining also in
+    the song of thanksgiving, whilst the villagers are all assembled and
+    looking on. During this scene there is an arrangement of wooden bowls
+    laid upon the ground, in which the feast is to be dealt out, each one
+    having in it a spoon made of the buffalo or mountain-sheep’s horn.</p>
+
+  <p>In this wise the dance continues until the doctors decide that the corn
+    is sufficiently boiled; it then stops for a few moments, and again
+    assumes a different form and a different song, whilst the doctors are
+    placing the ears on a little scaffold of sticks, which they erect
+    immediately over the fire where it is entirely consumed, as they join
+    again in the dance around it.</p>
+
+  <p>The fire is then removed, and with it the ashes, which together are
+    buried in the ground, and <em>new fire</em> is originated on the same
+    spot where the old one was, by friction, which is done by a desperate
+    and painful exertion by three men seated on the ground, facing each
+    other and violently drilling the end of a stick into a hard block of
+    wood by rolling it between the hands, each one catching it in turn
+    from the others without allowing the motion to stop until smoke, and
+    at last a spark of fire is seen and caught in a piece of spunk, when
+    there is great rejoicing in the crowd. With this a fire is kindled,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span>
+    and the kettleful of corn again boiled for the feast, at which the
+    chiefs, doctors, and warriors are seated; and after this an unlimited
+    licence is given to the whole tribe, who surfeit upon it and indulge in
+    all their favourite amusements and excesses, until the fields of corn
+    are exhausted, or its ears have become too hard for their comfortable
+    mastication.</p>
+
+  <p>Such are the general features of the green corn festivity and dance
+    amongst most of the tribes; and amongst some there are many additional
+    forms and ceremonies gone through, preparatory to the indulgence in the
+    feast.</p>
+
+  <p>Some of the southern tribes concoct a most bitter and nauseating
+    draught, which they call <em>asceola</em> (the black drink), which they
+    drink to excess for several days previous to the feast; ejecting
+    everything from their stomachs and intestines, enabling them after this
+    excessive and painful purgation, to commence with the green corn upon
+    an empty and keen stomach.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>51</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_076">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_076.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>76</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> About a year after writing the above, and whilst I was in
+        <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, I had the pleasure of presenting the compliments of this old
+        veteran to General Clarke; and also of shewing to him the portrait,
+        which he instantly recognized amongst hundreds of others; saying, that
+        “they had considered the Black Moccasin quite an old man when they
+        appointed him chief thirty-two years ago.”
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_24">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 24.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MINATAREE VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Epistles</span> from such a strange place as this, where I have no desk to
+    write from, or mail to send them by, are hastily scribbled off in my
+    note-book, as I can steal a little time from the gaze of the wild group
+    that is continually about me; and instead of <em>sending</em> them,
+    <em>keeping</em> them to bring with me when I make my retreat from the
+    country.</p>
+
+  <p>The only place where I can satisfactorily make these entries is in
+    the shade of some sequestered tree, to which I occasionally resort,
+    or more often from my bed (from which I am now writing), enclosed by
+    a sort of curtains made of the skins of elks or buffaloes, completely
+    encompassing me, where I am reclining on a sacking-bottom, made of the
+    buffalo’s hide; making my entries and notes of the incidents of the
+    past day, amidst the roar and unintelligible din of savage conviviality
+    that is going on under the same roof, and under my own eye, whenever I
+    feel disposed to apply it to a small aperture which brings at once the
+    whole interior and all its inmates within my view.</p>
+
+  <p>There are at this time some distinguished guests, besides
+    <em>myself</em>, in the lodge of the Black Moccasin; two chiefs or
+    leaders of a party of Crows, who arrived here a few days since, on a
+    visit to their ancient friends and relatives. The consequence has been,
+    that feasting and carousing have been the “order of the day” here for
+    some time; and I have luckily been a welcome participator in their
+    entertainments. A distinguished chief of the Minatarees, with several
+    others in company, has been for some months past on a visit to the
+    Crows and returned, attended by some remarkably fine-looking fellows,
+    all mounted on fine horses. I have said something of these fine
+    specimens of the human race heretofore; and as I have been fastening
+    more of them to the canvass within the few days past, I must use this
+    occasion to add what follows:—</p>
+
+  <p>I think I have said that no part of the human race could present a
+    more picturesque and thrilling appearance on horseback than a party
+    of Crows rigged out in all their plumes and trappings—galloping about
+    and yelping, in what they call a war-parade, <i>i. e.</i> in a sort of
+    tournament or sham-fight, passing rapidly through the evolutions of
+    battle, and vaunting forth the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span> wonderful character of their military
+    exploits. This is an amusement, of which they are excessively fond; and
+    great preparations are invariably made for these occasional shows.</p>
+
+  <p>No tribe of Indians on the Continent are better able to produce a
+    pleasing and thrilling effect in these scenes, nor any more vain,
+    and consequently better prepared to draw pleasure and satisfaction
+    from them, than the Crows. They may be justly said to be the most
+    beautifully clad of all the Indians in these regions, and bringing
+    from the base of the Rocky Mountains a fine and spirited breed of the
+    wild horses, have been able to create a great sensation amongst the
+    Minatarees, who have been paying them all attention and all honours for
+    some days past.</p>
+
+  <p>From amongst these showy fellows who have been entertaining us and
+    pleasing themselves with their extraordinary feats of horsemanship,
+    I have selected one of the most conspicuous, and transferred him and
+    his horse, with arms and trappings, as faithfully as I could to the
+    canvass, for the information of the world, who will learn vastly
+    more from lines and colours than they could from oral or written
+    delineations.</p>
+
+  <p>I have painted him as he sat for me, balanced on his leaping wild horse
+    (<a href="#i_076"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 76</a>) with his shield and quiver slung on his back,
+    and his long lance decorated with the eagle’s quills, trailed in his
+    right hand. His shirt and his leggings, and moccasins, were of the
+    mountain-goat skins, beautifully dressed; and their seams everywhere
+    fringed with a profusion of scalp-locks taken from the heads of his
+    enemies slain in battle. His long hair, which reached almost to the
+    ground whilst he was standing on his feet, was now lifted in the air,
+    and floating in black waves over the hips of his leaping charger. On
+    his head, and over his shining black locks, he wore a magnificent crest
+    or head-dress, made of the quills of the war-eagle and ermine skins;
+    and on his horse’s head also was another of equal beauty and precisely
+    the same in pattern and material. Added to these ornaments there were
+    yet many others which contributed to his picturesque appearance, and
+    amongst them a beautiful netting of various colours, that completely
+    covered and almost obscured the horse’s head and neck, and extended
+    over its back and its hips, terminating in a most extravagant and
+    magnificent crupper, embossed and fringed with rows of beautiful shells
+    and porcupine quills of various colours.</p>
+
+  <p>With all these picturesque ornaments and trappings upon and about him,
+    with a noble figure, and the bold stamp of a wild <em>gentleman</em>
+    on his face, added to the rage and spirit of his wild horse, in time
+    with whose leaps he issued his startling (though smothered) yelps, as
+    he gracefully leaned to and fro, leaving his plumes and his plumage,
+    his long locks and his fringes, to float in the wind, he galloped
+    about; and felt exceeding pleasure in displaying the extraordinary
+    skill which a lifetime of practice and experiment had furnished him
+    in the beautiful art of riding and managing his horse, as well as in
+    displaying to advantage his weapons and ornaments of dress, by giving
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span>them the grace of motion, as they were brandished in the air and
+    floating in the wind.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>52</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_077">
+      <img style="width: 99.5%;" src="images/i_077.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>77</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_078">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_078.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>78</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>53</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_079">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_079.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>79</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>I have also secured the portraits of Ee-he-a-duck-chee-a (he who ties
+    his hair before, <a href="#i_078"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 78</a>), and Pa-ris-ka-roo-pa (the two
+    Crows, <a href="#i_077"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 77</a>); fine and fair specimens of this tribe, in
+    both of which are exhibited the extraordinary instances of the natural
+    hair reaching to the ground, peculiarities belonging almost exclusively
+    to this tribe, and of which I have in a former Letter given some
+    account. In presenting such instances as these, I offer them, (and the
+    reader will take them of course) as extraordinary and rare occurrences
+    amongst the tribe, who generally fall short of these in this
+    peculiarity, and also in elegance of dress and ornament; although many
+    others from their numbers might be selected of equal extravagance. The
+    Crows are generally handsome, and comfortably clad; every man in the
+    nation oils his hair with a profusion of bear’s grease, and promotes
+    its growth to the utmost of his ability; and the greater part of them
+    cultivate it down on to the calf of the leg, whilst a few are able to
+    make it sweep the ground.</p>
+
+  <p>In a former Letter I gave some account of the form of the head peculiar
+    to this tribe which may well be recorded as a national characteristic,
+    and worthy of further attention, which I shall give it on a future
+    occasion. This striking peculiarity is quite conspicuous in the two
+    portraits of which I have just spoken, exhibiting fairly, as they
+    are both in profile, the <em>semi-lunar</em> outline of the face of
+    which I have before spoken, and which strongly characterizes them
+    as distinct from any relationship or resemblance to, the Blackfeet,
+    Shiennes, Knisteneaux, Mandans, or other tribes now existing in these
+    regions. The peculiar character of which I am speaking, like all other
+    national characteristics, is of course met by many exceptions in the
+    tribe, though the greater part of the men are thus strongly marked
+    with a bold and prominent anti-angular nose, with a clear and rounded
+    arch, and a low and receding forehead; the frontal bone oftentimes
+    appearing to have been compressed by some effort of art, in a certain
+    degree approaching to the horrid distortion thus produced amongst the
+    Flatheads beyond the Rocky Mountains. I learned however from repeated
+    inquiries, that no such custom is practiced amongst them, but their
+    heads, such as they are, are the results of a natural growth, and
+    therefore may well be offered as the basis of a national or tribal
+    <em>character</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>I recollect to have seen in several publications on the antiquities of
+    Mexico, many rude drawings made by the ancient Mexicans, of which the
+    singular profiles of these people forcibly remind me, almost bringing
+    me to the conclusion that these people may be the descendants of the
+    race who have bequeathed those curious and inexplicable remains to the
+    world, and whose scattered remnants, from dire and unknown necessities
+    of those dark and veiled ages that have gone by, have been jostled and
+    thrown along through the hideous and almost impenetrable labyrinths of
+    the Rocky Mountains to the place of their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span> destination where they now
+    live. I am stopped, however, from advancing such as a <em>theory</em>,
+    and much prefer to leave it to other hands, who may more easily get
+    over difficulties which I should be afraid to encounter in the very
+    outset, from the very important questions raised in my mind, as to the
+    correctness of those rude and ignorant outlines, in truly establishing
+    the looks and character of a people. Amongst a people so ignorant and
+    so little advanced in the arts as the ancient Mexicans were, from whose
+    tracings those very numerous drawings are copied, I think it would be
+    assuming a great deal too much for satisfactory argument, to claim
+    that such records were to set up to the world the looks and character
+    of a people who have sunk into oblivion, when the heads of horses and
+    other animals, drawn by the same hands, are so rude and so much out of
+    drawing as scarcely to be distinguished, one from the other. I feel
+    as if such rude outlines should be received with great caution and
+    distrust, in establishing the character of a people; and for a fair
+    illustration of the objection I am raising, I would refer the reader
+    to a number of <em>fac-simile</em> drawings which I have copied from
+    some of the paintings of the Mandans (on the three plates following
+    <a href="#i_065"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 65</a>), where most of the figures have the forehead and
+    nose answering exactly to these Mexican outlines, and strikingly
+    resembling the <em>living Crows</em>, also, when they have certainly
+    borrowed nothing from either, nor have they any living outlines like
+    them in their own tribe to have copied from.</p>
+
+  <p>Since writing the above I have passed through many vicissitudes, and
+    witnessed many curious scenes worthy of relating, some of which I will
+    scribble now, and leave the rest for a more leisure occasion. I have
+    witnessed many of the valued games and amusements of this tribe, and
+    made sketches of them; and also have painted a number of portraits of
+    distinguished warriors and braves which will be found in my collection.</p>
+
+  <p>I have just been exceedingly amused with a formal and grave meeting
+    which was called around me, formed by a number of young men, and even
+    chiefs and doctors of the tribe, who, having heard that I was <em>great
+    medicine</em>, and a great chief, took it upon themselves to suppose
+    that I might (or perhaps must) be, a man of influence amongst the “pale
+    faces,” and capable of rendering them some relief in a case of very
+    great grievance, under which they represented that they were suffering.
+    Several most profound speeches were made to me, setting forth these
+    grievances, somewhat in the following manner:—They represented, that
+    about five or six years ago, an unknown, small animal—not far differing
+    in size from a ground squirrel, but with a long, round tail, shewed
+    himself slily about one of the chief’s wigwams, peeping out from under
+    the pots and kettles, and other such things; which they looked upon as
+    great <em>medicine</em>—and no one dared to kill it; but hundreds came to
+    watch and look at it. On one of these occasions, one of the spectators
+    saw this strange animal catching and devouring a small “deer mouse,”
+    of which little and very destructive animals their lodges contained
+    many. It was then at once determined that this had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> been an act of the
+    Great Spirit, as a means of putting a stop to the spoliations committed
+    by these little sappers, who were cutting their clothing, and other
+    manufactures to pieces in a lamentable manner. Councils had been called
+    and solemn decrees issued for the countenance and protection of this
+    welcome visitor and its progeny, which were soon ascertained to be
+    rapidly increasing, and calculated soon to rid them of these thousands
+    of little depredators. It was soon, however, learned from one of the
+    Fur Traders, that this distinguished object of their superstition
+    (which my man Ba’tiste familiarly calls “<em>Monsr. Ratapon</em>”) had, a
+    short time before, landed himself from one of their keel boats, which
+    had ascended the Missouri river for the distance of 1800 miles; and had
+    taken up its residence, without introduction or invitation, in one of
+    their earth-covered wigwams.</p>
+
+  <p>This information, for a while, curtailed the extraordinary respect they
+    had for some time been paying to it; but its continual war upon these
+    little mice, which it was using for its food, in the absence of all
+    other nutriment, continued to command their respect, in spite of the
+    manner in which it had been introduced; being unwilling to believe that
+    it had come from that source, even, without the agency in some way of
+    the Great Spirit.</p>
+
+  <p>Having been thus introduced and nurtured, and their numbers having
+    been so wonderfully increased in the few last years, that every wigwam
+    was infested with them,—that their <i lang="fr">caches</i>, where they bury
+    their corn and other provisions, were robbed and sacked; and the very
+    pavements under their wigwams were so vaulted and sapped, that they
+    were actually falling to the ground; they were now looked upon as a
+    most disastrous nuisance, and a public calamity, to which it was the
+    object of this meeting to call my attention, evidently in hopes that
+    I might be able to designate some successful mode of relieving them
+    from this real misfortune. I got rid of them at last, by assuring them
+    of my deep regret for their situation, which was, to be sure, a very
+    unpleasant one; and told them, that there was really a great deal of
+    <em>medicine</em> in the thing, and that I should therefore be quite
+    unwilling to have anything to do with it. Ba’tiste and Bogard, who are
+    yet my daily and almost hourly companions, took to themselves a great
+    deal of fun and amusement at the end of this interview, by suggesting
+    many remedies for the evil, and enjoying many hearty laughs; after
+    which, Ba’tiste, Bogard and I, took our hats; and I took my sketch-book
+    in hand, and we started on a visit to the upper town of the Minatarees,
+    which is half a mile or more distant, and on the other bank of the
+    Knife River, which we crossed in the following manner:—The old chief,
+    having learned that we were to cross the river, gave direction to
+    one of the women of his numerous household, who took upon her head
+    a skin-canoe (more familiarly called in this country, a bull-boat),
+    made in the form of a large tub, of a buffalo’s skin, stretched on a
+    frame of willow boughs, which she carried to the water’s edge; and
+    placing it in the water, made signs for us three to get into it. When
+    we were in, and seated flat on its bottom, with scarce room in any
+    way to adjust<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> our legs and our feet (as we sat necessarily facing
+    each other), she stepped before the boat, and pulling it along, waded
+    towards the deeper water, with her back towards us, carefully with the
+    other hand attending to her dress, which seemed to be but a light slip,
+    and floating upon the surface until the water was above her waist, when
+    it was instantly turned off, over her head, and thrown ashore; and she
+    boldly plunged forward, swimming and drawing the boat with one hand,
+    which she did with apparent ease. In this manner we were conveyed to
+    the middle of the stream, where we were soon surrounded by a dozen or
+    more beautiful girls, from twelve to fifteen and eighteen years of age,
+    who were at that time bathing on the opposite shore.</p>
+
+  <p>They all swam in a bold and graceful manner, and as confidently as so
+    many otters or beavers; and gathering around us, with their long black
+    hair floating about on the water, whilst their faces were glowing with
+    jokes and fun, which they were cracking about us, and which we could
+    not understand.</p>
+
+  <p>In the midst of this delightful little aquatic group, we three sat in
+    our little skin-bound tub (like the “three wise men of Gotham, who
+    went to sea in a bowl,” &amp;c.), floating along down the current, losing
+    sight, and all thoughts, of the shore, which was equi-distant from us
+    on either side; whilst we were amusing ourselves with the playfulness
+    of these dear little creatures who were floating about under the
+    clear blue water, catching their hands on to the sides of our boat;
+    occasionally raising one-half of their bodies out of the water, and
+    sinking again, like so many mermaids.</p>
+
+  <p>In the midst of this bewildering and tantalizing entertainment, in
+    which poor Ba’tiste and Bogard, as well as myself, were all taking
+    infinite pleasure, and which we supposed was all intended for our
+    especial amusement; we found ourselves suddenly in the delightful
+    dilemma of floating down the current in the middle of the river; and
+    of being turned round and round to the excessive amusement of the
+    villagers, who were laughing at us from the shore, as well as these
+    little tyros, whose delicate hands were besetting our tub on all
+    sides; and for an escape from whom, or for fending off, we had neither
+    an oar, or anything else, that we could wield in self-defence, or
+    for self-preservation. In this awkward predicament, our feelings of
+    excessive admiration were immediately changed, to those of exceeding
+    vexation, as we now learned that they had peremptorily discharged
+    from her occupation our fair conductress, who had undertaken to ferry
+    us safely across the river; and had also very ingeniously laid their
+    plans, of which we had been ignorant until the present moment, to
+    extort from us in this way, some little evidences of our liberality,
+    which, in fact, it was impossible to refuse them, after so liberal and
+    bewitching an exhibition on their part, as well as from the imperative
+    obligation which the awkwardness of our situation had laid us under. I
+    had some awls in my pockets, which I presented to them, and also a few
+    strings of beautiful beads, which I placed over their delicate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> necks
+    as they raised them out of the water by the side of our boat; after
+    which they all joined in conducting our craft to the shore, by swimming
+    by the sides of, and behind it, pushing it along in the direction where
+    they designed to land it, until the water became so shallow, that their
+    feet were upon the bottom, when they waded along with great coyness,
+    dragging us towards the shore, as long as their bodies, in a crouching
+    position, could possibly be half concealed under the water, when they
+    gave our boat the last push for the shore, and raising a loud and
+    exulting laugh, plunged back again into the river; leaving us the only
+    alternative of sitting still where we were, or of stepping out into
+    the water at half leg deep, and of wading to the shore, which we at
+    once did, and soon escaped from the view of our little tormentors, and
+    the numerous lookers-on, on our way to the upper village, which I have
+    before mentioned.</p>
+
+  <p>Here I was very politely treated by the <em>Yellow Moccasin</em>,
+    quite an old man, and who seemed to be chief of this band or family,
+    constituting their little community of thirty or forty lodges,
+    averaging, perhaps, twenty persons to each. I was feasted in this man’s
+    lodge—and afterwards invited to accompany him and several others to
+    a beautiful prairie, a mile or so above the village, where the young
+    men and young women of this town, and many from the village below, had
+    assembled for their amusements; the chief of which seemed to be that
+    of racing their horses. In the midst of these scenes, after I had been
+    for some time a looker-on, and had felt some considerable degree of
+    sympathy for a fine-looking young fellow, whose horse had been twice
+    beaten on the course, and whose losses had been considerable; for
+    which, his sister, a very modest and pretty girl, was most piteously
+    howling and crying. I selected and brought forward an ordinary-looking
+    pony, that was evidently too fat and too sleek to run against his
+    fine-limbed little horse that had disappointed his high hopes; and I
+    began to comment extravagantly upon its muscle, &amp;c., when I discovered
+    him evidently cheering up with the hope of getting me and my pony on
+    to the turf with him; for which he soon made me a proposition; and
+    I, having lauded the limbs of my little nag too much to “back out,”
+    agreed to run a short race with him of half a mile, for three yards
+    of scarlet cloth, a knife, and half a dozen strings of beads, which I
+    was willing to stake against a handsome pair of leggings, which he was
+    wearing at the time. The greatest imaginable excitement was now raised
+    amongst the crowd by this arrangement; to see a white man preparing to
+    run with an Indian jockey, and that with a scrub of a pony, in whose
+    powers of running no Indian had the least confidence. Yet, there was no
+    one in the crowd, who dared to take up the several other little bets I
+    was willing to tender (merely for their amusement, and for their final
+    exultation); owing, undoubtedly, to the bold and confident manner in
+    which I had ventured on the merits of this little horse, which the
+    tribe had all overlooked; and needs must have some <em>medicine</em>
+    about it.</p>
+
+  <p>So far was this panic carried, that even my champion was ready to
+    withdraw;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> but his friends encouraged him at length, and we galloped
+    our horses off to the other end of the course, where we were to start;
+    and where we were accompanied by a number of horsemen, who were to
+    witness the “set off.” Some considerable delay here took place, from
+    a <em>condition</em>, which was then named to me, and which I had not
+    observed before, that in all the races of this day, every rider was to
+    run entirely denuded, and ride a naked horse! Here I was completely
+    balked, and having no one by me to interpret a word, I was quite at a
+    loss to decide what was best to do. I found however, that remonstrance
+    was of little avail; and as I had volunteered in this thing to gratify
+    and flatter them, I thought it best not positively to displease them
+    in this; so I laid off my clothes, and straddled the naked back of my
+    round and glossy little pony, by the side of my competitor, who was
+    also mounted and stripped to the skin, and panting with a restless
+    anxiety for the start.</p>
+
+  <p>Reader! did you ever imagine that in the <em>middle of a man’s life</em>
+    there could be a thought or a feeling so <em>new</em> to him, as to throw
+    him instantly back to infancy; with a new world and a new genius before
+    him—started afresh, to navigate and breathe the elements of naked and
+    untasted liberty, which clothe him in their cool and silken robes that
+    float about him; and wafting their life-inspiring folds to his inmost
+    lungs? If you never have been inspired with such a feeling, and have
+    been in the habit of believing that you have thought of, and imagined a
+    little of every thing, try for a moment, to disrobe your mind and your
+    body, and help me through feelings to which I cannot give utterance.
+    Imagine yourselves as I was, with my trembling little horse underneath
+    me, and the cool atmosphere that was floating about, and ready, more
+    closely and familiarly to embrace me, as it did, at the next moment,
+    when we “were off,” and struggling for the goal and the prize.</p>
+
+  <p>Though my little Pegasus seemed to dart through the clouds, and I to
+    be wafted on the wings of Mercury, yet my red adversary was leaving
+    me too far behind for further competition; and I wheeled to the left,
+    making a circuit on the prairie, and came in at the starting point,
+    much to the satisfaction and exultation of the jockeys; but greatly
+    to the murmuring disappointment of the women and children, who had
+    assembled in a dense throng to witness the “coming out” of the “white
+    medicine-man.” I clothed myself instantly, and came back, acknowledging
+    my defeat, and the superior skill of my competitor, as well as the
+    wonderful muscle of his little charger, which pleased him much; and
+    his sisters’ lamentations were soon turned to joy, by the receipt of a
+    beautiful scarlet robe, and a profusion of vari-coloured beads, which
+    were speedily paraded on her copper-coloured neck.</p>
+
+  <p>After I had seen enough of these amusements, I succeeded with some
+    difficulty, in pulling Ba’tiste and Bogard from amongst the groups of
+    women and girls, where they seemed to be successfully ingratiating
+    themselves; and we trudged back to the little village of earth-covered
+    lodges, which were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> hemmed in, and almost obscured from the eye, by
+    the fields of corn and luxuriant growth of wild sun-flowers, and other
+    vegetable productions of the soil, whose spontaneous growth had reared
+    their heads in such profusion, as to appear all but like a dense and
+    formidable forest.</p>
+
+  <p>We loitered about this little village awhile, looking into most of its
+    lodges, and tracing its winding avenues, after which we recrossed the
+    river and wended our way back again to head-quarters, from whence we
+    started in the morning, and where I am now writing. This day’s ramble
+    shewed to us all the inhabitants of this little tribe, except a portion
+    of their warriors who are out on a war excursion against the Riccarees;
+    and I have been exceedingly pleased with their general behaviour and
+    looks, as well as with their numerous games and amusements, in many of
+    which I have given them great pleasure by taking a part.</p>
+
+  <p>The Minatarees, as I have before said, are a bold, daring, and warlike
+    tribe; quite different in these respects from their neighbours the
+    Mandans, carrying war continually in their enemies’ country, thereby
+    exposing their lives and diminishing the number of their warriors
+    to that degree that I find two or three women to a man, through the
+    tribe. They are bold and fearless in the chase also, and in their eager
+    pursuits of the bison, or buffaloes, their feats are such as to excite
+    the astonishment and admiration of all who behold them. Of these scenes
+    I have witnessed many since I came into this country, and amongst
+    them all, nothing have I seen to compare with one to which I was an
+    eye-witness a few mornings since, and well worthy of being described.</p>
+
+  <p>The Minatarees, as well as the Mandans, had suffered for some months
+    past for want of meat, and had indulged in the most alarming fears,
+    that the herds of buffaloes were emigrating so far off from them,
+    that there was great danger of their actual starvation, when it was
+    suddenly announced through the village one morning at an early hour,
+    that a herd of buffaloes was in sight, when an hundred or more young
+    men mounted their horses with weapons in hand and steered their course
+    to the prairies. The chief informed me that one of his horses was in
+    readiness for me at the door of his wigwam, and that I had better go
+    and see the curious affair. I accepted his polite offer, and mounting
+    the steed, galloped off with the hunters to the prairies, where we
+    soon descried at a distance, a fine herd of buffaloes grazing, when
+    a halt and a council were ordered, and the mode of attack was agreed
+    upon. I had armed myself with my pencil and my sketch-book only, and
+    consequently took my position generally in the rear, where I could see
+    and appreciate every manœuvre.</p>
+
+  <p>The plan of attack, which in this country is familiarly called a
+    “<em>surround</em>,” was explicitly agreed upon, and the hunters who were
+    all mounted on their “buffalo horses” and armed with bows and arrows or
+    long lances, divided into two columns, taking opposite directions, and
+    drew themselves gradually around the herd at a mile or more distance
+    from them; thus forming a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> circle of horsemen at equal distances
+    apart, who gradually closed in upon them with a moderate pace, at a
+    signal given. The unsuspecting herd at length “got the wind” of the
+    approaching enemy and fled in a mass in the greatest confusion. To
+    the point where they were aiming to cross the line, the horsemen were
+    seen at full speed, gathering and forming in a column, brandishing
+    their weapons and yelling in the most frightful manner, by which means
+    they turned the black and rushing mass which moved off in an opposite
+    direction where they were again met and foiled in a similar manner,
+    and wheeled back in utter confusion; by which time the horsemen had
+    closed in from all directions, forming a continuous line around them,
+    whilst the poor affrighted animals were eddying about in a crowded and
+    confused mass, hooking and climbing upon each ether; when the work of
+    death commenced. I had rode up in the rear and occupied an elevated
+    position at a few rods distance, from which I could (like the general
+    of a battle field) survey from my horse’s back, the nature and the
+    progress of the grand mêlée; but (unlike him) without the power of
+    issuing a command or in any way directing its issue.</p>
+
+  <p>In this grand turmoil (<a href="#i_079"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 79</a>), a cloud of dust was soon
+    raised, which in parts obscured the throng where the hunters were
+    galloping their horses around and driving the whizzing arrows or
+    their long lances to the hearts of these noble animals; which in many
+    instances, becoming infuriated with deadly wounds in their sides,
+    erected their shaggy manes over their bloodshot eyes and furiously
+    plunged forwards at the sides of their assailants’ horses, sometimes
+    goring them to death at a lunge, and putting their dismounted riders to
+    flight for their lives; sometimes their dense crowd was opened, and the
+    blinded horsemen, too intent on their prey amidst the cloud of dust,
+    were hemmed and wedged in amidst the crowding beasts, over whose backs
+    they were obliged to leap for security, leaving their horses to the
+    fate that might await them in the results of this wild and desperate
+    war. Many were the bulls that turned upon their assailants and met
+    them with desperate resistance; and many were the warriors who were
+    dismounted, and saved themselves by the superior muscles of their legs;
+    some who were closely pursued by the bulls, wheeled suddenly around and
+    snatching the part of a buffalo robe from around their waists, threw it
+    over the horns and the eyes of the infuriated beast, and darting by its
+    side drove the arrow or the lance to its heart. Others suddenly dashed
+    off upon the prairies by the side of the affrighted animals which had
+    escaped from the throng, and closely escorting them for a few rods,
+    brought down their hearts blood in streams, and their huge carcasses
+    upon the green and enamelled turf.</p>
+
+  <p>In this way this grand hunt soon resolved itself into a desperate
+    battle; and in the space of fifteen minutes, resulted in the total
+    destruction of the whole herd, which in all their strength and fury
+    were doomed, like every beast and living thing else, to fall before the
+    destroying hands of mighty man.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>54</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_080">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_080.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>80</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span></p>
+
+  <p>I had sat in trembling silence upon my horse, and witnessed this
+    extraordinary scene, which allowed not one of these animals to escape
+    out of my sight. Many plunged off upon the prairie for a distance, but
+    were overtaken and killed; and although I could not distinctly estimate
+    the number that were slain, yet I am sure that some hundreds of these
+    noble animals fell in this grand mêlée.</p>
+
+  <p>The scene after the battle was over was novel and curious in the
+    extreme; the hunters were moving about amongst the dead and dying
+    animals, leading their horses by their halters, and claiming their
+    victims by their private marks upon their arrows, which they were
+    drawing from the wounds in the animals’ sides.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst the poor affrighted creatures that had occasionally dashed
+    through the ranks of their enemy, and sought safety in flight upon the
+    prairie (and in some instances, had undoubtedly gained it), I saw them
+    stand awhile, looking back, when they turned, and, as if bent on their
+    own destruction, retraced their steps, and mingled themselves and their
+    deaths with those of the dying throng. Others had fled to a distance on
+    the prairies and for want of company, of friends or of foes, had stood
+    and gazed on till the battle-scene was over; seemingly taking pains to
+    stay, and hold their lives in readiness for their destroyers, until
+    the general destruction was over, when they fell easy victims to their
+    weapons—making the slaughter complete.</p>
+
+  <p>After this scene, and after arrows had been claimed and recovered, a
+    general council was held, when all hands were seated on the ground, and
+    a few pipes smoked; after which, all mounted their horses and rode back
+    to the village.</p>
+
+  <p>A deputation of several of the warriors was sent to the chief, who
+    explained to him what had been their success; and the same intelligence
+    was soon communicated by little squads to every family in the village;
+    and preparations were at once made for securing the meat. For this
+    purpose, some hundreds of women and children, to whose lots fall all
+    the drudgeries of Indian life, started out upon the trail, which
+    led them to the battle-field, where they spent the day in skinning
+    the animals, and cutting up the meat, which was mostly brought into
+    the villages on their backs, as they tugged and sweated under their
+    enormous and cruel loads.</p>
+
+  <p>I rode out to see this curious scene; and I regret exceedingly that I
+    kept no memorandum of it in my sketch-book. Amidst the throng of women
+    and children, that had been assembled, and all of whom seemed busily at
+    work, were many superannuated and disabled nags, which they had brought
+    out to assist in carrying in the meat; and at least, one thousand
+    semi-loup dogs, and whelps, whose keen appetites and sagacity had
+    brought them out, to claim their shares of this abundant and sumptuous
+    supply.</p>
+
+  <p>I staid and inspected this curious group for an hour or more,
+    during which time, I was almost continually amused by the clamorous
+    contentions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span> that arose, and generally ended, in desperate combats;
+    both amongst the dogs and women, who seemed alike tenacious of their
+    local and recently acquired rights; and disposed to settle their claims
+    by “tooth and nail”—by manual and brute force.</p>
+
+  <p>When I had seen enough of this I rode to the top of a beautiful prairie
+    bluff, a mile or two from the scene, where I was exceedingly amused by
+    overlooking the route that laid between this and the village, which
+    was over the undulating green fields for several miles, that laid
+    beneath me; over which there seemed a continual string of women, dogs
+    and horses, for the rest of the day, passing and repassing as they
+    were busily bearing home their heavy burthens to their village, and in
+    their miniature appearance, which the distance gave them, not unlike
+    to a busy community of ants as they are sometimes seen, sacking and
+    transporting the treasures of a cupboard, or the sweets of a sugar
+    bowl.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_25">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 25.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">LITTLE MANDAN VILLAGE, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> speaking of the Mandans, in a former Letter, I mentioned that they
+    were living in two villages, which are about two miles apart. Of their
+    principal village I have given a minute account, which precludes the
+    necessity of my saying much of their smaller town, to which I descended
+    a few days since, from the Minatarees; and where I find their modes
+    and customs, precisely the same as I have heretofore described. This
+    village contains sixty or eighty lodges, built in the same manner as
+    those which I have already mentioned, and I have just learned that
+    they have been keeping the annual ceremony here, precisely in the same
+    manner as that which I witnessed in the lower or larger town, and have
+    explained.</p>
+
+  <p>I have been treated with the same hospitality here that was extended
+    to me in the other village; and have painted the portraits of several
+    distinguished persons, which has astonished and pleased them very much.
+    The operation of my brush always gains me many enthusiastic friends
+    wherever I go amongst these wild folks; and in this village I have
+    been unusually honoured and even <em>afflicted</em>, by the friendly
+    importunities of one of these reverencing parasites, who (amongst
+    various other offices of hospitality and kindness which he has been
+    bent upon extending to me), has insisted on, and for several nights
+    been indulged in, the honour as he would term it, of offering his body
+    for my pillow, which <em>I</em> have not had the heart to reject, and of
+    course <em>he</em> has not lacked the vanity to boast of, as an act of
+    signal kindness and hospitality on his part, towards a <em>great</em> and
+    <em>a distinguished stranger</em>!</p>
+
+  <p>I have been for several days suffering somewhat with an influenza,
+    which has induced me to leave my bed, on the side of the lodge, and
+    sleep on the floor, wrapped in a buffalo robe, with my feet to the
+    fire in the centre of the room, to which place the genuine politeness
+    of my constant and watchful friend has as regularly drawn him, where
+    his irresistible importunities have brought me, night after night, to
+    the only alternative of using his bedaubed and bear-greased body for a
+    pillow.</p>
+
+  <p>Being unwilling to deny the poor fellow the satisfaction he seemed to
+    be drawing from this singular freak, I took some pains to inquire into
+    his character; and learned that he was a Riccaree brave, by the name of
+    Pah-too-ca-ra (he who strikes), who is here with several others of his
+    tribe, on a friendly visit (though in a hostile village), and living
+    as they are, unprotected,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span> except by the mercy of their enemies. I
+    think it probable, therefore, that he is ingeniously endeavouring thus
+    to ingratiate himself in my affections, and consequently to insure my
+    guardianship and influence for his protection. Be this as it may, he is
+    rendering me many kind services, and I have in return traced him on my
+    canvass for immortality (<a href="#i_083"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 83</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>By the side of him (<a href="#i_084"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 84</a>), I have painted a beautiful
+    little girl of the same tribe, whose name is Pshan-shaw (the
+    sweet-scented grass), giving a very pretty specimen of the dress and
+    fashion of the women in this tribe. The inner garment, which is like
+    a slip or a frock, is entire in one piece, and beautifully ornamented
+    with embroidery and beads, with a row of elks’ teeth passing across
+    the breast, and a robe of the young buffalo’s skin, tastefully and
+    elaborately embroidered, gracefully thrown over her shoulders, and
+    hanging down to the ground behind her.</p>
+
+  <p><a href="#i_082"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 82</a> gives a portrait of one of the chiefs of this tribe
+    by the name of Stan-au-pat (the bloody hand), and (<a href="#i_081"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 81</a>)
+    of Kah-beck-a (the twin), a good-looking matron, who was painted a few
+    weeks since in the principal Mandan village.</p>
+
+  <p>The dresses in both of these portraits are very beautiful, and I have
+    procured them, as well as the one before spoken of, for my collection.</p>
+
+  <p><a href="#i_080"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 80</a>, gives a view of the Riccaree village, which is
+    beautifully situated on the west bank of the river, 200 miles below the
+    Mandans; and built very much in the same manner; being constituted of
+    150 earth-covered lodges, which are in part surrounded by an imperfect
+    and open barrier of piquets set firmly in the ground, and of ten or
+    twelve feet in height.</p>
+
+  <p>This village is built upon an open prairie, and the gracefully
+    undulating hills that rise in distance behind it are everywhere covered
+    with a verdant green turf, without a tree or a bush anywhere to be
+    seen. This view was taken from the deck of the steamer when I was on my
+    way up the river; and probably it was well that I took it then, for so
+    hostile and deadly are the feelings of these people towards the <em>pale
+    faces</em>, at this time, that it may be deemed most prudent for me to
+    pass them on my way down the river, without stopping to make them a
+    visit. They certainly are harbouring the most resentful feelings at
+    this time towards the Traders, and others passing on the river; and no
+    doubt, that there is great danger of the lives of any white men, who
+    unluckily fall into their hands. They have recently sworn death and
+    destruction to every white man, who comes in their way; and there is no
+    doubt, that they are ready to execute their threats.</p>
+
+  <p>When Lewis and Clarke first visited these people thirty years since,
+    it will be found by a reference to their history, that the Riccarees
+    received and treated them with great kindness and hospitality; but
+    owing to the system of trade, and the manner in which it has been
+    conducted in this country, they have been inflicted with real or
+    imaginary abuses, of which they are themselves, and the Fur Traders,
+    the best judges; and for which they are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> now harbouring the most
+    inveterate feelings towards the whole civilized race.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>55</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_081">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_081.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>81</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_082">
+      <img style="width: 99.2%;" src="images/i_082.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>82</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>56</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_083">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_083.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>83</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_084">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_084.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>84</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>57</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_085">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_085.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>85</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>The Riccarees are unquestionably a part of the tribe of Pawnees, living
+    on the Platte River, some hundreds of miles below this, inasmuch
+    as their language is nearly or quite the same; and their personal
+    appearance and customs as similar as could be reasonably expected
+    amongst a people so long since separated from their parent tribe, and
+    continually subjected to innovations from the neighbouring tribes
+    around them; amongst whom, in their erratic wanderings in search of a
+    location, they have been jostled about in the character, alternately,
+    of friends and of foes.</p>
+
+  <p>I shall resume my voyage down the river in a few days in my canoe; and
+    I may, perhaps, stop and pay these people a visit, and consequently, be
+    able to say more of them; or, I may be <em>hauled in</em>, to the shore,
+    and my boat plundered, and my “<em>scalp danced</em>,” as they have dealt
+    quite recently with the <em>last trader</em>, who has dared for several
+    years past, to continue his residence with them, after they had laid
+    fatal hands on each one of his comrades before him, and divided and
+    shared their goods.</p>
+
+  <p>Of the Mandans, who are about me in this little village, I need say
+    nothing, except that they are in every respect, the same as those
+    I have described in the lower village—and in fact, I believe this
+    little town is rather a <em>summer residence</em> for a few of the noted
+    families, than anything else; as I am told that none of their wigwams
+    are tenanted through the winter. I shall leave them in the morning,
+    and take up my residence a few days longer with my hospitable friends
+    Mr. Kipp, Mah-to-toh-pa, &amp;c. in the large village; and then with my
+    canvass and easel, and paint-pots in my canoe; with Ba’tiste and Bogard
+    to paddle, and my own oar to steer, wend my way again on the mighty
+    Missouri towards my native land, bidding everlasting farewell to the
+    kind and hospitable Mandans.</p>
+
+  <p>In taking this final leave of them, which will be done with some
+    decided feelings of regret, and in receding from their country, I shall
+    look back and reflect upon them and their curious and peculiar modes
+    with no small degree of pleasure, as well as surprise; inasmuch as
+    their hospitality and friendly treatment have fully corroborated my
+    fixed belief that the North American Indian in his primitive state is
+    a high-minded, hospitable and honourable being—and their singular and
+    peculiar customs have raised an irresistible belief in my mind that
+    they have had a different origin, or are of a different compound of
+    character from any other tribe that I have yet seen, or that can be
+    probably seen in North America.</p>
+
+  <p>In coming to such a conclusion as this, the mind is at once filled with
+    a flood of enquiries as to the source from which they have sprung,
+    and eagerly seeking for the evidence which is to lead it to the most
+    probable and correct conclusion. Amongst these evidences of which there
+    are many, and forcible ones to be met with amongst these people, and
+    many of which I have named in my former epistles, the most striking
+    ones are those which go, I think, decidedly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> to suggest the existence
+    of looks and of customs amongst them, bearing incontestible proofs of
+    an amalgam of civilized and savage; and that in the absence of all
+    proof of any recent proximity of a civilized stock that could in any
+    way have been engrafted upon them.</p>
+
+  <p>These facts then, with the host of their peculiarities which stare
+    a traveller in the face, lead the mind back in search of some more
+    remote and rational cause for such striking singularities; and in
+    this dilemma, I have been almost disposed (not to advance it as a
+    <em>theory</em>, but) to enquire whether here may not be found, yet
+    existing, the remains of the <em>Welsh colony</em>—the followers of
+    Madoc; who history tells us, if I recollect right, started with ten
+    ships, to colonize a country which he had discovered in the Western
+    Ocean; whose expedition I think has been pretty clearly traced to the
+    mouth of the Mississippi, or the coast of Florida, and whose fate
+    further than this seems sealed in unsearchable mystery.</p>
+
+  <p>I am travelling in this country as I have before said, not to advance
+    or to prove <em>theories</em>, but to see all that I am able to see,
+    and to tell it in the simplest and most intelligible manner I can
+    to the world, for their own conclusions, or for theories I may feel
+    disposed to advance, and be better able to defend after I get out of
+    this singular country; where all the powers of ones faculties are
+    required, and much better employed I consider, in helping him along and
+    in gathering materials, than in stopping to draw too nice and delicate
+    conclusions by the way.</p>
+
+  <p>If my indefinite recollections of the fate of that colony, however,
+    as recorded in history be correct, I see no harm in suggesting the
+    inquiry, whether they did not sail up the Mississippi river in their
+    ten ships, or such number of them as might have arrived safe in its
+    mouth; and having advanced up the Ohio from its junction, (as they
+    naturally would, it being the widest and most gentle current) to a
+    rich and fertile country, planted themselves as agriculturalists
+    on its rich banks, where they lived and flourished, and increased
+    in numbers, until they were attacked, and at last besieged by the
+    numerous hordes of savages who were jealous of their growing condition;
+    and as a protection against their assaults, built those numerous
+    <em>civilized</em> fortifications, the ruins of which are now to be
+    seen on the Ohio and the Muskingum, in which they were at last all
+    destroyed, except some few families who had intermarried with the
+    Indians, and whose offspring, being half-breeds, were in such a manner
+    allied to them that their lives were spared; and forming themselves
+    into a small and separate community, took up their residence on the
+    banks of the Missouri; on which, for the want of a permanent location,
+    being on the lands of their more powerful enemies, were obliged
+    repeatedly to remove; and continuing their course up the river, have in
+    time migrated to the place where they are now living, and consequently
+    found with the numerous and almost unaccountable peculiarities of which
+    I have before spoken, so inconsonant with the general character of the
+    North American Indians; with complexions of every shade; with hair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> of
+    all the colours in civilized society, and many with hazel, with grey,
+    and with blue eyes.</p>
+
+  <p>The above is a suggestion of a <em>moment</em>; and I wish the reader to
+    bear it in mind, that if I ever advance such as a <em>theory</em>, it
+    will be after I have collected other proofs, which I shall take great
+    pains to do; after I have taken a vocabulary of their language, and
+    also in my transit down the river in my canoe, I may be able from my
+    own examinations of the ground, to ascertain whether the shores of the
+    Missouri bear evidences of their former locations; or whether amongst
+    the tribes who inhabit the country below, there remain any satisfactory
+    traditions of their residences in, and transit through their countries.</p>
+
+  <p>I close here my book (and probably for some time, my remarks), on the
+    friendly and hospitable Mandans.</p>
+
+  <blockquote>
+    <p><span class="smcap">Note</span>—Several years having elapsed since the above account
+      of the Mandans was written, I open the book to convey to the
+      reader the melancholy intelligence of the <em>destruction</em> of
+      this interesting tribe, which happened a short time after I left
+      their country; and the manner and causes of their misfortune
+      I have explained in the Appendix to the Second Volume of this
+      Work; as well as some further considerations of the subject just
+      above-named, relative to their early history, and the probable fate
+      of the followers of <em>Madoc</em>, to which I respectfully refer the
+      reader before he goes further in the body of the Work. See Appendix A.</p>
+  </blockquote>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_26">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 26.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Since</span> writing the above Letter I have descended the Missouri, a
+    distance of six or seven hundred miles, in my little bark, with
+    Ba’tiste and Bogard, my old “<i lang="fr">compagnons du voyage</i>,” and have
+    much to say of what we three did and what we saw on our way, which will
+    be given anon.</p>
+
+  <p>I am now in the heart of the country belonging to the numerous tribe
+    of Sioux or Dohcotas, and have Indian faces and Indian customs in
+    abundance around me. This tribe is one of the most numerous in North
+    America, and also one of the most vigorous and warlike tribes to be
+    found, numbering some forty or fifty thousand, and able undoubtedly
+    to muster, if the tribe could be moved simultaneously, at least eight
+    or ten thousand warriors, well mounted and well armed. This tribe
+    take vast numbers of the wild horses on the plains towards the Rocky
+    Mountains, and many of them have been supplied with guns; but the
+    greater part of them hunt with their bows and arrows and long lances,
+    killing their game from their horses’ backs while at full speed.</p>
+
+  <p>The name Sioux (pronounced <i>see-oo</i>) by which they are familiarly
+    called, is one that has been given to them by the French traders, the
+    meaning of which I never have learned; their own name being, in their
+    language, Dah-co-ta. The personal appearance of these people is very
+    fine and prepossessing, their persons tall and straight, and their
+    movements elastic and graceful. Their stature is considerably above
+    that of the Mandans and Riccarees, or Blackfeet; but about equal to
+    that of the Crows, Assinneboins and Minatarees, furnishing at least one
+    half of their warriors of six feet or more in height.</p>
+
+  <p>I am here living with, and enjoying the hospitality of a gentleman
+    by the name of <i>Laidlaw</i>, a Scotchman, who is attached to the
+    American Fur Company, and who, in company with Mr. M‘Kenzie (of whom
+    I have before spoken) and Lamont, has the whole agency of the Fur
+    Company’s transactions in the regions of the Upper Missouri and the
+    Rocky Mountains.</p>
+
+  <p>This gentleman has a finely-built Fort here, of two or three hundred
+    feet square, enclosing eight or ten of their factories, houses and
+    stores, in the midst of which he occupies spacious and comfortable
+    apartments, which are well supplied with the comforts and luxuries of
+    life and neatly and respectably conducted by a fine looking, modest,
+    and dignified Sioux<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> woman, the kind and affectionate mother of his
+    little flock of pretty and interesting children.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_086">
+    <div class="plate"><i>58</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_086.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>86</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>This Fort is undoubtedly one of the most important and productive
+    of the American Fur Company’s posts, being in the centre of the
+    great Sioux country, drawing from all quarters an immense and almost
+    incredible number of buffalo robes, which are carried to the New York
+    and other Eastern markets, and sold at a great profit. This post
+    is thirteen hundred miles above <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, on the west bank of the
+    Missouri, on a beautiful plain near the mouth of the Teton river which
+    empties into the Missouri from the West, and the Fort has received
+    the name of Fort Pierre, in compliment to Monsr. Pierre Chouteau, who
+    is one of the partners in the Fur Company, residing in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis; and
+    to whose politeness I am indebted, as I have before mentioned, for my
+    passage in the Company’s steamer, on her first voyage to the Yellow
+    Stone; and whose urbane and gentlemanly society, I have before said, I
+    had during my passage.</p>
+
+  <p>The country about this Fort is almost entirely prairie, producing along
+    the banks of the river and streams only, slight skirtings of timber.
+    No site could have been selected more pleasing or more advantageous
+    than this; the Fort is in the centre of one of the Missouri’s most
+    beautiful plains, and hemmed in by a series of gracefully undulating,
+    grass-covered hills, on all sides; rising like a series of terraces,
+    to the summit level of the prairies, some three or four hundred feet
+    in elevation, which then stretches off in an apparently boundless
+    ocean of gracefully swelling waves and fields of green. On my way
+    up the river I made a painting of this lovely spot, taken from the
+    summit of the bluffs, a mile or two distant (<a href="#i_085"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 85</a>),
+    shewing an encampment of Sioux, of six hundred tents or skin lodges,
+    around the Fort, where they had concentrated to make their spring
+    trade; exchanging their furs and peltries for articles and luxuries of
+    civilized manufactures.</p>
+
+  <p>The great family of Sioux who occupy so vast a tract of country,
+    extending from the banks of the Mississippi river to the base of
+    the Rocky Mountains, are everywhere a migratory or roaming tribe,
+    divided into forty-two bands or families, each having a chief who
+    all acknowledge a superior or head chief, to whom they all are held
+    subordinate. This subordination, however, I should rather record as
+    their <em>former</em> and <em>native</em> regulation, of which there exists
+    no doubt, than an <em>existing</em> one, since the numerous innovations
+    made amongst these people by the Fur Traders, as well as by the
+    proximity of civilization along a great deal of their frontier, which
+    soon upset and change many native regulations, and particularly those
+    relating to their government and religion.</p>
+
+  <p>There is one principal and familiar division of this tribe into what
+    are called the <em>Mississippi</em> and <em>Missouri</em> Sioux. Those
+    bordering on the banks of the Mississippi, concentrating at Prairie du
+    Chien and Fort Snelling, for the purposes of trade, &amp;c., are called the
+    Mississippi Sioux. These are somewhat advanced towards civilization,
+    and familiar with white people, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> whom they have held intercourse
+    for many years, and are consequently excessive whiskey drinkers, though
+    constituting but a meagre proportion, and at the same time, but a very
+    unfair and imperfect sample of the great mass of this tribe who inhabit
+    the shores of the Missouri, and fearlessly roam on the vast plains
+    intervening between it and the Rocky Mountains, and are still living
+    entirely in their primitive condition.</p>
+
+  <p>There is no tribe on the Continent, perhaps, of finer looking men than
+    the Sioux; and few tribes who are better and more comfortably clad, and
+    supplied with the necessaries of life. There are no parts of the great
+    plains of America which are more abundantly stocked with buffaloes and
+    wild horses, nor any people more bold in destroying the one for food,
+    and appropriating the other to their use. There has gone abroad, from
+    the many histories which have been written of these people, an opinion
+    which is too current in the world, that the Indian is necessarily a
+    poor, drunken, murderous wretch; which account is certainly unjust
+    as regards the savage, and doing less than justice to the world for
+    whom such histories have been prepared. I have travelled several years
+    already amongst these people and I have not had my scalp taken, nor a
+    blow struck me; nor had occasion to raise my hand against an Indian;
+    nor has my property been stolen, as yet to my knowledge, to the value
+    of a shilling; and that in a country where no man is punishable by
+    law for the crime of stealing; still some of them steal, and murder
+    too; and if white men did not do the same, and that in defiance of
+    the laws of God and man, I might take satisfaction in stigmatizing
+    the Indian character as thievish and murderous. That the Indians in
+    their <em>native state</em> are “<em>drunken</em>,” is false; for they are
+    the only temperance people, literally speaking, that ever I saw in my
+    travels, or ever expect to see. If the civilized world are startled at
+    this, it is the <em>fact</em> that they must battle with, not with me;
+    for these people manufacture no spirituous liquor themselves, and know
+    nothing of it until it is brought into their country and tendered to
+    them by Christians. That these people are “<em>naked</em>” is equally
+    untrue, and as easily disproved; for I am sure that with the paintings
+    I have made amongst the Mandans and Crows, and other tribes; and with
+    their beautiful costumes which I have procured and shall bring home, I
+    shall be able to establish the fact that many of these people dress,
+    not only with clothes comfortable for any latitude, but that they also
+    dress with some considerable taste and elegance. Nor am I quite sure
+    that they are entitled to the name of “<em>poor</em>,” who live in a
+    boundless country of green fields, with good horses to ride; where they
+    are all joint tenants of the soil, together; where the Great Spirit
+    has supplied them with an abundance of food to eat—where they are all
+    indulging in the pleasures and amusements of a lifetime of idleness
+    and ease, with no business hours to attend to, or professions to
+    learn—where they have no notes in bank or other debts to pay—no taxes,
+    no tithes, no rents, nor beggars to touch and tax the sympathy of their
+    souls at every step they go. Such might be poverty in the Christian
+    world, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> is sure to be a blessing where the pride and insolence of
+    comparative wealth are unknown.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>59</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_087">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_087.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>87</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_088">
+      <img style="width: 96.6%;" src="images/i_088.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>88</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <p>I mentioned that this is the nucleus or place of concentration of
+    the numerous tribe of the Sioux, who often congregate here in great
+    masses to make their trades with the American Fur Company; and that
+    on my way up the river, some months since, I found here encamped,
+    six hundred families of Sioux, living in tents covered with buffalo
+    hides. Amongst these there were twenty or more of the different bands,
+    each one with their chief at their head, over whom was a <em>superior
+    chief</em> and leader, a middle-aged man, of middling stature, with
+    a noble countenance, and a figure almost equalling the Apollo, and
+    I painted his portrait (<a href="#i_086"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 86</a>). The name of this chief
+    is Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn) of the Mee-ne-cow-e-gee band, who
+    has risen rapidly to the highest honours in the tribe, from his own
+    extraordinary merits, even at so early an age. He told me that he
+    took the name of “One Horn” (or shell) from a simple small shell that
+    was hanging on his neck, which descended to him from his father, and
+    which, he said, he valued more than anything he possessed; affording
+    a striking instance of the living affection which these people often
+    cherish for the dead, inasmuch as he chose to carry this name through
+    life in preference to many others and more honourable ones he had
+    a right to have taken, from different battles and exploits of his
+    extraordinary life. He treated me with great kindness and attention,
+    considering himself highly complimented by the signal and unprecedented
+    honour I had conferred upon him by painting his portrait, and that
+    before I had invited any other. His costume was a very handsome one,
+    and will have a place in my <span class="smcap">Indian Gallery</span> by the side of
+    his picture. It is made of elk skins beautifully dressed, and fringed
+    with a profusion of porcupine quills and scalp-locks; and his hair,
+    which is very long and profuse, divided into two parts, and lifted up
+    and crossed, over the top of his head, with a simple tie, giving it
+    somewhat the appearance of a Turkish turban.</p>
+
+  <p>This extraordinary man, before he was raised to the dignity of chief,
+    was the renowned of his tribe for his athletic achievements. In the
+    chase he was foremost; he could run down a buffalo, which he often had
+    done, on his own legs, and drive his arrow to the heart. He was the
+    fleetest in the tribe; and in the races he had run, he had always taken
+    the prize.</p>
+
+  <p>It was proverbial in his tribe, that Ha-wan-je-tah’s bow never was
+    drawn in vain, and his wigwam was abundantly furnished with scalps that
+    he had taken from his enemies’ heads in battle.</p>
+
+  <p>Having descended the river thus far, then, and having hauled out
+    my canoe, and taken up my quarters for awhile with mine hospitable
+    host, Mr. Laidlaw, as I have before said; and having introduced my
+    readers to the country and the people, and more particularly to the
+    chief dignitary of the Sioux; and having promised in the beginning of
+    this Letter also, that I should give them some amusing and curious
+    information that we picked up,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> and incidents that we met with, on
+    our voyage from the Mandans to this place; I have again to beg that
+    they will pardon me for withholding from them yet awhile longer, the
+    incidents of that curious and most important part of my Tour, the
+    absence of which, at this time, seems to make a “hole in the ballad,”
+    though I promise my readers they are written, and will appear in the
+    book in a proper and appropriate place.</p>
+
+  <p>Taking it for granted then, that I will be indulged in this freak, I am
+    taking the liberty of presuming on my readers’ patience in proposing
+    another, which is to offer them here an extract from my Notes, which
+    were made on my journey of 1300 miles from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis to this place,
+    where I stopped, as I have said, amongst several thousands of Sioux;
+    where I remained for some time, and painted my numerous portraits of
+    their chiefs, &amp;c.; one of whom was the head and leader of the Sioux,
+    whom I have already introduced. On the long and tedious route that lies
+    between <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis and this place, I passed the Sacs and Ioways—the
+    Konzas—the Omahaws, and the Otoes (making notes on them all, which are
+    reserved for another place), and landed at the Puncahs, a small tribe
+    residing in one village, on the west bank of the river, 300 miles below
+    this, and 1000 from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis.</p>
+
+  <p>The Puncahs are all contained in seventy-five or eighty lodges, made of
+    buffalo skins, in the form of tents; the frames for which are poles of
+    fifteen or twenty feet in length, with the butt ends standing on the
+    ground, and the small ends meeting at the top, forming a cone, which
+    sheds off the rain and wind with perfect success. This small remnant
+    of a tribe are not more than four or five hundred in numbers; and I
+    should think, at least, two-thirds of those are women. This disparity
+    in numbers having been produced by the continual losses which their
+    men suffer, who are penetrating the buffalo country for meat, for
+    which they are now obliged to travel a great way (as the buffaloes
+    have recently left their country), exposing their lives to their more
+    numerous enemies about them.</p>
+
+  <p>The chief of this tribe, whose name is Shoo-de-ga-cha (smoke), I
+    painted at full length (<a href="#i_087"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 87</a>), and his wife also, a young
+    and very pretty woman (<a href="#i_088"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 88</a>), whose name is Hee-la’h-dee
+    (the pure fountain); her neck and arms were curiously tattooed, which
+    is a very frequent mode of ornamenting the body amongst this and some
+    other tribes, which is done by pricking into the skin, gunpowder and
+    vermilion.</p>
+
+  <p>The chief, who was wrapped in a buffalo robe, is a noble specimen of
+    native dignity and philosophy. I conversed much with him; and from his
+    dignified manners, as well as from the soundness of his reasoning, I
+    became fully convinced that he deserved to be the sachem of a more
+    numerous and prosperous tribe. He related to me with great coolness
+    and frankness, the poverty and distress of his nation; and with the
+    method of a philosopher, predicted the certain and rapid extinction of
+    his tribe, which he had not the power to avert. Poor, noble chief; who
+    was equal to, and worthy of a greater empire! He sat upon the deck of
+    the steamer, overlooking the little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> cluster of his wigwams mingled
+    amongst the trees; and, like Caius Marius, weeping over the ruins
+    of Carthage, shed tears as he was descanting on the poverty of his
+    ill-fated little community, which he told me “had once been powerful
+    and happy; that the buffaloes which the Great Spirit had given them
+    for food, and which formerly spread all over their green prairies, had
+    all been killed or driven out by the approach of white men, who wanted
+    their skins; that their country was now entirely destitute of game,
+    and even of roots for their food, as it was one continued prairie;
+    and that his young men penetrating the countries of their enemies
+    for buffaloes, which they were obliged to do, were cut to pieces and
+    destroyed in great numbers. That his people had foolishly become fond
+    of <em>fire-water</em> (whiskey), and had given away everything in their
+    country for it—that it had destroyed many of his warriors, and soon
+    would destroy the rest—that his tribe was too small, and his warriors
+    too few to go to war with the tribes around them; that they were met
+    and killed by the Sioux on the North, by the Pawnees on the West; and
+    by the Osages and Konzas on the South; and still more alarmed from the
+    constant advance of the pale faces—their enemies from the East, with
+    whiskey and small-pox, which already had destroyed four-fifths of his
+    tribe, and soon would impoverish, and at last destroy the remainder of
+    them.”</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>60</i></div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_089">
+      <img style="width: 98.7%;" src="images/i_089.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>89</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+  <div class="col50">
+    <figure id="i_090">
+      <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_090.jpg" alt="" />
+       <figcaption>90</figcaption>
+    </figure>
+  </div>
+
+  <p>In this way did this shrewd philosopher lament over the unlucky destiny
+    of his tribe; and I pitied him with all my heart. I have no doubt of
+    the correctness of his representations; and I believe there is no tribe
+    on the frontier more in want, nor any more deserving of the sympathy
+    and charity of the government and Christian societies of the civilized
+    world.</p>
+
+  <p>The son of this chief, a youth of eighteen years, and whose portrait
+    I painted (<a href="#i_090"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 90</a>), distinguished himself in a singular
+    manner the day before our steamer reached their village, by taking to
+    him <em>four wives in one day</em>! This extraordinary and unprecedented
+    freak of his, was just the thing to make him the greatest sort of
+    <em>medicine</em> in the eyes of his people; and probably he may date
+    much of his success and greatness through life, to this bold and
+    original step, which suddenly raised him into notice and importance.</p>
+
+  <p>The old chief Shoo-de-ga-cha, of whom I have spoken above, considering
+    his son to have arrived to the age of maturity, fitted him out for
+    house-keeping, by giving him a handsome wigwam to live in, and nine
+    horses, with many other valuable presents; when the boy, whose name
+    is Hongs-kay-de (the great chief), soon laid his plans for the proud
+    and pleasant epoch in his life, and consummated them in the following
+    ingenious and amusing manner.</p>
+
+  <p>Wishing to connect himself with, and consequently to secure the
+    countenance of some of the most influential men in the tribe, he had
+    held an interview with one of the most distinguished; and easily
+    (being the son of a chief), made an arrangement for the hand of his
+    daughter, which he was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> to receive on a certain day, and at a certain
+    hour, for which he was to give two horses, a gun, and several pounds
+    of tobacco. This was enjoined on the father as a profound secret, and
+    as a condition of the espousal. In like manner he soon made similar
+    arrangements with three other leading men of the tribe, each of whom
+    had a young and beautiful daughter, of marriageable age. To each of
+    the fathers he had promised two horses, and other presents similar
+    to those stipulated for in the first instance, and all under the
+    same injunctions of secrecy, until the hour approached, when he had
+    announced to the whole tribe that he was to be married. At the time
+    appointed, they all assembled, and all were in ignorance of the fair
+    hand that was to be placed in his on this occasion. He had got some
+    of his young friends who were prepared to assist him, to lead up
+    the eight horses. He took two of them by the halters, and the other
+    presents agreed upon in his other hand, and advancing to the first of
+    the parents, whose daughter was standing by the side of him, saying
+    to him, “you promised me the hand of your daughter on this day, for
+    which I was to give you two horses.” The father assented with a “ugh!”
+    receiving the presents, and giving his child; when some confusion
+    ensued from the simultaneous remonstrances, which were suddenly made by
+    the other three parents, who had brought their daughters forward, and
+    were shocked at this sudden disappointment, as well as by the mutual
+    declarations they were making, of similar contracts that each one had
+    entered into with him! As soon as they could be pacified, and silence
+    was restored, he exultingly replied, “You have all acknowledged in
+    public your promises with me, which I shall expect you to fulfil. I am
+    here to perform all the engagements which I have made, and I expect
+    you all to do the same”—No more was said. He led up the two horses for
+    each, and delivered the other presents; leading off to his wigwam his
+    four brides—taking two in each hand, and commenced at once upon his new
+    mode of life; reserving only one of his horses for his own daily use.</p>
+
+  <p>I visited the wigwam of this young installed <em>medicine-man</em>
+    several times, and saw his four modest little wives seated around the
+    fire, where all seemed to harmonize very well; and for aught I could
+    discover, were entering very happily on the duties and pleasures of
+    married life. I selected one of them for her portrait, and painted it
+    (<a href="#i_089"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 89</a>), Mong-shong-shaw (the bending willow), in a very
+    pretty dress of deer skins, and covered with a young buffalo’s robe,
+    which was handsomely ornamented, and worn with much grace and pleasing
+    effect.</p>
+
+  <p>Mr. Chouteau of the Fur Company, and Major Sanford, the agent for the
+    Upper Missouri Indians, were with me at this time; and both of these
+    gentlemen, highly pleased with so ingenious and <em>innocent</em> a
+    freak, felt disposed to be liberal, and sent them many presents from
+    the steamer.</p>
+
+  <p>The ages of these young brides were probably all between twelve and
+    fifteen years, the season of life in which most of the girls in this
+    wild country contract marriage.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_091">
+    <div class="plate"><i>61</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_091.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>91</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span></p>
+
+  <p>It is a surprising fact, that women mature in these regions at that
+    early age, and there have been some instances where marriage has taken
+    place, even at eleven; and the juvenile mother has been blest with her
+    first offspring at the age of twelve!</p>
+
+  <p>These facts are calculated to create surprise and almost incredulity
+    in the mind of the reader, but there are circumstances for his
+    consideration yet to be known, which will in a manner account for these
+    extraordinary facts.</p>
+
+  <p>There is not a doubt but there is a more early approach to maturity
+    amongst the females of this country than in civilized communities,
+    owing either to a natural and constitutional difference, or to the
+    exposed and active life they lead. Yet there is another and more
+    general cause of early marriages (and consequently apparent maturity),
+    which arises out of the modes and forms of the country, where most
+    of the marriages are contracted with the parents, hurried on by the
+    impatience of the applicant, and prematurely accepted and consummated
+    on the part of the parents, who are often impatient to be in receipt
+    of the presents they are to receive as the price of their daughters.
+    There is also the facility of dissolving the marriage contract in this
+    country, which does away with one of the most serious difficulties
+    which lies in the way in the civilized world, and calculated greatly
+    to retard its consummation, which is not an equal objection in Indian
+    communities. Education and accomplishments, again, in the fashionable
+    world, and also a time and a season to flourish and show them off,
+    necessarily engross that part of a young lady’s life, when the poor
+    Indian girl, who finds herself weaned from the familiar embrace of her
+    parents, with her mind and her body maturing, and her thoughts and her
+    passions straying away in the world for some theme or some pleasure
+    to cling to, easily follows their juvenile and ardent dictates,
+    prematurely entering on that system of life, consisting in reciprocal
+    dependence and protection.</p>
+
+  <p>In the instance above described, the young man was in no way censured
+    by his people, but most loudly applauded; for in this country polygamy
+    is allowed; and in this tribe, where there are two or three times the
+    number of women that there are of men, such an arrangement answers a
+    good purpose, whereby so many of the females are provided for and taken
+    care of; and particularly so, and to the great satisfaction of the
+    tribe, as well as of the parties and families concerned, when so many
+    fall to the lot of a chief, or the son of a chief, into whose wigwam it
+    is considered an honour to be adopted, and where they are the most sure
+    of protection.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_27">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 27.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">When</span> we were about to start on our way up the river from the village
+    of the Puncahs, we found that they were packing up all their goods and
+    preparing to start for the prairies, farther to the West, in pursuit
+    of buffaloes, to dry meat for their winter’s supplies. They took down
+    their wigwams of skins to carry with them, and all were flat to the
+    ground and everything packing up ready for the start. My attention
+    was directed by Major Sanford, the Indian Agent, to one of the most
+    miserable and helpless looking objects that I ever had seen in my life,
+    a very aged and emaciated man of the tribe, who he told me was to be
+    <em>exposed</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>The tribe were going where hunger and dire necessity compelled them
+    to go, and this pitiable object, who had once been a chief, and a man
+    of distinction in his tribe, who was now too old to travel, being
+    reduced to mere skin and bones, was to be left to starve, or meet
+    with such death as might fall to his lot, and his bones to be picked
+    by the wolves! I lingered around this poor old forsaken patriarch for
+    hours before we started, to indulge the tears of sympathy which were
+    flowing for the sake of this poor benighted and decrepit old man,
+    whose worn-out limbs were no longer able to support him; their kind
+    and faithful offices having long since been performed, and his body
+    and his mind doomed to linger into the withering agony of decay, and
+    gradual solitary death. I wept, and it was a pleasure to weep, for the
+    painful looks, and the dreary prospects of this old veteran, whose
+    eyes were dimmed, whose venerable locks were whitened by an hundred
+    years, whose limbs were almost naked, and trembling as he sat by a
+    small fire which his friends had left him, with a few sticks of wood
+    within his reach and a buffalo’s skin stretched upon some crotches over
+    his head. Such was to be his only dwelling, and such the chances for
+    his life, with only a few half-picked bones that were laid within his
+    reach, and a dish of water, without weapons or means of any kind to
+    replenish them, or strength to move his body from its fatal locality.
+    In this sad plight I mournfully contemplated this miserable remnant
+    of existence, who had unluckily outlived the fates and accidents of
+    wars to die alone, at death’s leisure. His friends and his children
+    had all left him, and were preparing in a little time to be on the
+    march. He had told<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span> them to leave him, “he was old,” he said, “and too
+    feeble to march.” “My children,” said he, “our nation is poor, and it
+    is necessary that you should all go to the country where you can get
+    meat,—my eyes are dimmed and my strength is no more; my days are nearly
+    all numbered, and I am a burthen to my children—I cannot go, and I wish
+    to die. Keep your hearts stout, and think not of me; I am no longer
+    good for anything.” In this way they had finished the ceremony of
+    <em>exposing</em> him, and taken their final leave of him. I advanced to
+    the old man, and was undoubtedly the last human being who held converse
+    with him. I sat by the side of him, and though he could not distinctly
+    see me, he shook me heartily by the hand and smiled, evidently aware
+    that I was a white man, and that I sympathized with his inevitable
+    misfortune. I shook hands again with him, and left him, steering my
+    course towards the steamer which was a mile or more from me, and ready
+    to resume her voyage up the Missouri.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p>
+
+  <p>This cruel custom of exposing their aged people, belongs, I think, to
+    all the tribes who roam about the prairies, making severe marches,
+    when such decrepit persons are totally unable to go, unable to ride or
+    to walk,—when they have no means of carrying them. It often becomes
+    absolutely necessary in such cases that they should be left; and they
+    uniformly insist upon it, saying as this old man did, that they are
+    old and of no further use—that they left their fathers in the same
+    manner—that they wish to die, and their children must not mourn for
+    them.</p>
+
+  <p>From the Puncah village, our steamer made regular progress from day
+    to day towards the mouth of the Teton, from where I am now writing;
+    passing the whole way a country of green fields, that come sloping down
+    to the river on either side, forming the loveliest scenes in the world.</p>
+
+  <p>From day to day we advanced, opening our eyes to something new and
+    more beautiful every hour that we progressed, until at last our boat
+    was aground; and a day’s work of sounding told us at last, that there
+    was no possibility of advancing further, until there should be a rise
+    in the river, to enable the boat to get over the bar. After laying in
+    the middle of the river about a week, in this unpromising dilemma, Mr.
+    Chouteau started off twenty men on foot, to cross the plains for a
+    distance of 200 miles to Laidlaw’s Fort, at the mouth of Teton river.
+    To this expedition, I immediately attached myself; and having heard
+    that a numerous party of Sioux were there encamped, and waiting to see
+    the steamer, I packed on the backs, and in the hands of several of the
+    men, such articles for painting, as I might want; canvass, paints, and
+    brushes, with my sketch-book slung on my back, and my rifle in my hand,
+    and I started off with them.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span></p>
+
+  <p>We took leave of our friends on the boat, and mounting the green
+    bluffs, steered our course from day to day over a level prairie,
+    without a tree or a bush in sight, to relieve the painful monotony,
+    filling our canteens at the occasional little streams that we passed,
+    kindling our fires with dried buffalo dung, which we collected on the
+    prairie, and stretching our tired limbs on the level turf whenever we
+    were overtaken by night.</p>
+
+  <p>We were six or seven days in performing this march; and it gave me a
+    good opportunity of testing the muscles of my legs, with a number of
+    half-breeds and Frenchmen, whose lives are mostly spent in this way,
+    leading a novice, a cruel, and almost killing journey. Every rod of our
+    way was over a continuous prairie, with a verdant green turf of wild
+    grass of six or eight inches in height; and most of the way enamelled
+    with wild flowers, and filled with a profusion of strawberries.</p>
+
+  <p>For two or three of the first days, the scenery was monotonous,
+    and became exceedingly painful from the fact, that we were (to use
+    a phrase of the country) “out of sight of land,” <i>i. e.</i> out
+    of sight of anything rising above the horizon, which was a perfect
+    straight line around us, like that of the blue and boundless ocean. The
+    pedestrian over such a discouraging sea of green, without a landmark
+    before or behind him; without a beacon to lead him on, or define his
+    progress, feels weak and overcome when night falls; and he stretches
+    his exhausted limbs, apparently on the same spot where he has slept
+    the night before, with the same prospect before and behind him; the
+    same grass, and the same wild flowers beneath and about him; the same
+    canopy over his head, and the same cheerless sea of green to start
+    upon in the morning. It is difficult to describe the simple beauty
+    and serenity of these scenes of solitude, or the feelings of feeble
+    man, whose limbs are toiling to carry him through them—without a hill
+    or tree to mark his progress, and convince him that he is not, like a
+    squirrel in his cage, after all his toil, standing still. One commences
+    on peregrinations like these, with a light heart, and a nimble foot,
+    and spirits as buoyant as the very air that floats along by the side
+    of him; but his spirit soon tires, and he lags on the way that is
+    rendered more tedious and intolerable by the tantalizing <em>mirage</em>
+    that opens before him beautiful lakes, and lawns, and copses; or by
+    the <em>looming</em> of the prairie ahead of him, that seems to rise in
+    a parapet, and decked with its varied flowers, phantom-like, flies and
+    moves along before him.</p>
+
+  <p>I got on for a couple of days in tolerable condition, and with some
+    considerable applause; but my half-bred, companions took the lead at
+    length, and left me with several other novices far behind, which gave
+    me additional pangs; and I at length felt like giving up the journey,
+    and throwing myself upon the ground in hopeless despair. I was not
+    alone in my misery, however, but was cheered and encouraged by looking
+    back and beholding several of our party half a mile or more in the rear
+    of me, jogging along, and suffering more agony in their new experiment
+    than I was suffering myself. Their loitering and my murmurs, at length,
+    brought our leaders to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> halt, and we held a sort of council, in which
+    I explained that the pain in my feet was so intolerable, that I felt as
+    if I could go no further; when one of our half-breed leaders stepped
+    up to me, and addressing me in French, told me that I must “<em>turn my
+    toes in</em>” as the Indians do, and that I could then go on very well.
+    We halted a half-hour, and took a little refreshment, whilst the little
+    Frenchman was teaching his lesson to the rest of my fellow-novices,
+    when we took up our march again; and I soon found upon trial, that by
+    turning my toes in, my feet went more easily through the grass; and by
+    turning the weight of my body more equally on the toes (enabling each
+    one to support its proportionable part of the load, instead of throwing
+    it all on to the joints of the big toes, which is done when the toes
+    are turned out); I soon got relief, and made my onward progress very
+    well. I rigidly adhered to this mode, and found no difficulty on the
+    third and fourth days, of taking the lead of the whole party, which I
+    constantly led until our journey was completed.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p>
+
+  <p>On this journey we saw immense herds of buffaloes; and although we
+    had no horses to <em>run</em> them, we successfully <em>approached</em>
+    them on foot, and supplied ourselves abundantly with fresh meat. After
+    travelling for several days, we came in sight of a high range of blue
+    hills in distance on our left, which rose to the height of several
+    hundred feet above the level of the prairies. These hills were a
+    conspicuous landmark at last, and some relief to us. I was told by our
+    guide, that they were called the Bijou Hills, from a Fur Trader of that
+    name, who had had his trading-house at the foot of them on the banks of
+    the Missouri river, where he was at last destroyed by the Sioux Indians.</p>
+
+  <p>Not many miles back of this range of hills, we came in contact with an
+    immense saline, or “salt meadow,” as they are termed in this country,
+    which turned us out of our path, and compelled us to travel several
+    miles out of our way, to get by it; we came suddenly upon a great
+    depression of the prairie, which extended for several miles, and as
+    we stood upon its green banks, which were gracefully sloping down, we
+    could overlook some hundreds of acres of the prairie which were covered
+    with an incrustation of salt, that appeared the same as if the ground
+    was everywhere covered with snow.</p>
+
+  <p>These scenes, I am told are frequently to be met with in these regions,
+    and certainly present the most singular and startling effect, by the
+    sudden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span>
+    and unexpected contrast between their snow-white appearance, and the
+    green fields that hem them in on all sides. Through each of these
+    meadows there is a meandering small stream which arises from salt
+    springs, throwing out in the spring of the year great quantities of
+    water, which flood over these meadows to the depth of three or four
+    feet; and during the heat of summer, being exposed to the rays of the
+    sun, entirely evaporates, leaving the incrustation of <em>muriate</em>
+    on the surface, to the depth of one or two inches. These places are
+    the constant resort of buffaloes, which congregate in thousands about
+    them, to lick up the salt; and on approaching the banks of this place
+    we stood amazed at the almost incredible numbers of these animals,
+    which were in sight on the opposite banks, at the distance of a mile or
+    two from us, where they were lying in countless numbers, on the level
+    prairie above, and stretching down by hundreds, to lick at the salt,
+    forming in distance, large masses of black, most pleasingly to contrast
+    with the snow white, and the vivid green, which I have before mentioned.</p>
+
+  <p>After several days toil in the manner above-mentioned, all the way
+    over soft and green fields, and amused with many pleasing incidents
+    and accidents of the chase, we arrived, pretty well jaded, at Fort
+    Pierre, mouth of Teton River, from whence I am now writing; where for
+    the first time I was introduced to Mr. M‘Kenzie (of whom I have before
+    spoken), to Mr. Laidlaw, mine host, and Mr. Halsey, a chief clerk in
+    the establishment; and after, to the head chief and dignitaries of the
+    great Sioux nation, who were here encamped about the Fort, in six or
+    seven hundred skin lodges, and waiting for the arrival of the steamer,
+    which they had heard, was on its way up the river, and which they had
+    great curiosity to see.</p>
+
+  <p>After resting a few days, and recovering from the fatigues of my
+    journey, having taken a fair survey of the Sioux village, and explained
+    my views to the Indians, as well as to the gentlemen whom I have
+    above named; I commenced my operations with the brush, and first of
+    all painted the portrait of the head-chief of the Sioux (the one
+    horn), whom I have before spoken of. This truly noble fellow sat for
+    his portrait, and it was finished before any one of the tribe knew
+    anything of it; several of the chiefs and doctors were allowed to see
+    it, and at last it was talked of through the village; and of course,
+    the greater part of their numbers were at once gathered around me.
+    Nothing short of hanging it out of doors on the side of my wigwam,
+    would in any way answer them; and here I had the peculiar satisfaction
+    of beholding, through a small hole I had made in my wigwam, the high
+    admiration and respect they all felt for their chief, as well as
+    the very great estimation in which they held me as a painter and a
+    magician, conferring upon me at once the very distinguished appellation
+    of Ee-cha-zoo-kah-ga-wa-kon (the medicine painter).</p>
+
+  <p>After the exhibition of this chief’s picture, there was much excitement
+    in the village about it; the doctors generally took a decided and noisy
+    stand against the operations of my brush; haranguing the populace, and
+    predicting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> bad luck, and premature death, to all who submitted to so
+    strange and unaccountable an operation! My business for some days was
+    entirely at a stand for want of sitters; for the doctors were opposing
+    me with all their force; and the women and children were crying, with
+    their hands over their mouths, making the most pitiful and doleful
+    laments, which I never can explain to my readers; but for some just
+    account of which, I must refer them to my friends M‘Kenzie and Halsey,
+    who overlooked with infinite amusement, these curious scenes and are
+    able, no doubt, to give them with truth and effect to the world.</p>
+
+  <p>In this sad and perplexing dilemma, this noble chief stepped forward,
+    and addressing himself to the chiefs and the doctors, to the braves and
+    to the women and children, he told them to be quiet, and to treat me
+    with friendship; that I had been travelling a great way to see them,
+    and smoke with them; that I was great <em>medicine</em>, to be sure; that
+    I was a great chief, and that I was the friend of Mr. Laidlaw and Mr.
+    M‘Kenzie, who had prevailed upon him to sit for his picture, and fully
+    assured him that there was no harm in it. His speech had the desired
+    effect, and I was shaken hands with by hundreds of their worthies, many
+    of whom were soon dressed and ornamented, prepared to sit for their
+    portraits.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+  <p>The first who then stepped forward for his portrait was Ee-ah-sa-pa
+    (the Black Rock) chief of the Nee-caw-wee-gee band (<a href="#i_091"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 91</a>),
+    a tall and fine looking man, of six feet or more in stature; in a
+    splendid dress, with his lance in his hand; with his pictured robe
+    thrown gracefully over his shoulders, and his head-dress made of
+    war-eagles’ quills and ermine skins, falling in a beautiful crest over
+    his back, quite down to his feet, and surmounted on the top with a pair
+    of horns denoting him (as I have explained in former instances) head
+    leader or war-chief of his band.</p>
+
+  <p>This man has been a constant and faithful friend of Mr. M‘Kenzie and
+    others of the Fur Traders, who held him in high estimation, both as an
+    honourable and valiant man, and an estimable companion.</p>
+
+  <p>The next who sat to me was Tchan-dee, tobacco (<a href="#i_092"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 92</a>),
+    a desperate warrior, and represented to me by the traders, as one
+    of the most respectable and famous chiefs of the tribe. After him
+    sat Toh-ki-ee-to, the stone with horns (<a href="#i_092"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 93</a>), chief
+    of the Yanc-ton band, and reputed the principal and most eloquent
+    <em>orator</em> of the nation. The neck, and breast, and shoulders
+    of this man, were curiously tattooed, by pricking in gunpowder and
+    vermilion, which in this extraordinary instance, was put on in
+    such elaborate profusion as to appear at a little distance like a
+    beautifully embroidered dress. In his hand he held a handsome pipe,
+    the stem of which was several feet long, and all the way wound with
+    ornamented braids of the porcupine quills. Around his body was wrapped
+    a valued robe, made of the skin of the grizzly bear, and on his neck
+    several strings of <em>wampum</em>, an ornament seldom seen amongst the
+    Indians in the Far West and the North.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> I was much amused with the
+    excessive vanity and egotism of this notorious man, who, whilst sitting
+    for his picture, took occasion to have the interpreter constantly
+    explaining to me the wonderful effects which his oratory had at
+    different times produced on the minds of the chiefs and people of his
+    tribe.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>62</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_092">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_092.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">92</span><span class="col50">93</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_094">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_094.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption><span class="col50">94</span><span class="col50">95</span></figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>63</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_096">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_096.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>96</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_097">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_097.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>97</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span></p>
+
+  <p>He told me, that it was a very easy thing for him to set all the women
+    of the tribe to crying: and that all the chiefs listened profoundly to
+    his voice before they went to war; and at last, summed up by saying,
+    that he was “the greatest orator in the Sioux nation,” by which he
+    undoubtedly meant the greatest in the <em>world</em>.</p>
+
+  <p>Besides these <i lang="fr">distingués</i> of this great and powerful tribe, I
+    painted in regular succession, according to their rank and standing,
+    Wan-ee-ton, chief of the <em>Susseton band</em>; Tah-zee-kah-da-cha
+    (the torn belly), a brave of the <em>Yancton band</em>; Ka-pes-ka-day
+    (the shell), a brave of the <em>O-gla-la band</em>; Wuk-mi-ser (corn),
+    a warrior of the <em>Nee-cow-ee-gee band</em>; Cha-tee-wah-nee-chee
+    (no heart), chief of the <em>Wah-nee-watch-to-nee-nah band</em>;
+    Mah-to-ra-rish-nee-eeh-ee-rah (the grizzly bear that runs without
+    regard), a brave of the <em>Onc-pa-pa band</em>; Mah-to-chee-ga (the
+    little bear), a distinguished brave; Shon-ka (the dog), chief of the
+    <em>Ca-za-zhee-ta</em> (bad arrow points) <em>band</em>; Tah-teck-a-da-hair
+    (the steep wind), a brave of the same band; Hah-ha-ra-pah (the elk’s
+    head), chief of the <em>Ee-ta-sip-shov band</em>; Mah-to-een-nah-pa (the
+    white bear that goes out), chief of the <em>Blackfoot Sioux band</em>;
+    Shon-ga-ton-ga-chesh-en-day (the horse dung), chief of a band, a great
+    conjuror and magician.</p>
+
+  <p>The portraits of all the above dignitaries can be always seen, as large
+    as life, in my very numerous Collection, provided I get them safe
+    home; and also the portraits of two very pretty Sioux women (<a href="#i_094"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    94</a>), Wi-looh-tah-eeh-tchah-ta-mah-nee (the red thing that touches
+    in marching), and (<a href="#i_094"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 95</a>), Tchon-su-mons-ka (the sand bar).
+    The first of these women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span>
+    (<a href="#i_094"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 94</a>), is the daughter of the famous chief called
+    Black Rock, of whom I have spoken, and whose portrait has been given
+    (<a href="#i_091"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 91</a>). She is an unmarried girl, and much esteemed by the
+    whole tribe, for her modesty, as well as beauty. She was beautifully
+    dressed in skins, ornamented profusely with brass buttons and beads.
+    Her hair was plaited, her ears supported a great profusion of curious
+    beads—and over her other dress she wore a handsomely garnished buffalo robe.</p>
+
+  <p>So highly was the Black Rock esteemed (as I have before mentioned), and
+    his beautiful daughter admired and respected by the Traders, that Mr.
+    M‘Kenzie employed me to make him copies of their two portraits, which
+    he has hung up in Mr. Laidlaw’s trading-house, as valued ornaments and
+    keepsakes.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p>
+
+  <p>The second of these women (<a href="#i_094"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 95</a>) was very richly dressed,
+    the upper part of her garment being almost literally covered with brass
+    buttons; and her hair, which was inimitably beautiful and soft, and
+    glossy as silk, fell over her shoulders in great profusion, and in
+    beautiful waves, produced by the condition in which it is generally
+    kept in braids, giving to it, when combed out, a waving form, adding
+    much to its native appearance, which is invariably straight and
+    graceless.</p>
+
+  <p>This woman is at present the wife of a white man by the name of
+    Chardon, a Frenchman, who has been many years in the employment of the
+    American Fur Company, in the character of a Trader and Interpreter;
+    and who by his bold and daring nature, has not only carried dread and
+    consternation amongst the Indian tribes wherever he has gone; but
+    has commanded much respect, and rendered essential service to the
+    Company in the prosecution of their dangerous and critical dealings
+    with the Indian tribes. I have said something of this extraordinary
+    man heretofore, and shall take future occasion to say more of him.
+    For the present, suffice it to say, that <span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span>although from his continual
+    intercourse with the different tribes for twenty-five or thirty years,
+    where he had always been put forward in the front of danger—sent as
+    a sacrifice, or <em>forlorn hope</em>; still his cut and hacked limbs
+    have withstood all the blows that have been aimed at them; and his
+    unfaltering courage leads him to “beard the lion in his den,” whilst
+    his liberal heart, as it always has, deals out to his friends (and even
+    to strangers, if friends are not by) all the dear earnings which are
+    continually bought with severest toil, and at the hazard of his life.</p>
+
+  <p>I acknowledge myself a debtor to this good hearted fellow for much
+    kindness and attention to me whilst in the Indian country, and also for
+    a superb dress and robe, which had been manufactured and worn by his
+    wife, and which he insisted on adding to my <span class="smcap">Indian Gallery</span>
+    since her death, where it will long remain to be examined.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> When passing by the site of the Puncah village a few
+        months after this, in my canoe, I went ashore with my men, and found
+        the poles and the buffalo skin, standing as they were left, over the
+        old man’s head. The firebrands were lying nearly as I had left them,
+        and I found at a few yards distant the skull, and others of his bones,
+        which had been picked and cleaned by the wolves; which is probably all
+        that any human being can ever know of his final and melancholy fate.
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> On this march we were all travelling in moccasins, which
+        being made without any soles, according to the Indian custom, had
+        but little support for the foot underneath; and consequently, soon
+        subjected us to excruciating pain, whilst walking according to the
+        civilized mode, with the toes turned out. From this very painful
+        experience I learned to my complete satisfaction, that man in a state
+        of nature who walks on his naked feet, <em>must</em> walk with his
+        toes turned in, that each may perform the duties assigned to it in
+        proportion to its size and strength; and that civilized man <em>can</em>
+        walk with his toes turned out if he chooses, if he will use a stiff
+        sole under his feet, and will be content at last to put up with an
+        acquired deformity of the big toe joint which too many know to be a
+        frequent and painful occurrence.
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> Several years after I painted the portrait of this
+        extraordinary man, and whilst I was delivering my Lectures in the
+        City of New York, I first received intelligence of his death, in the
+        following singular manner:—I was on the platform in my Lecture-room,
+        in the Stuyvesant Institute, with an audience of twelve or fourteen
+        hundred persons, in the midst of whom were seated a delegation of
+        thirty or forty Sioux Indians under the charge of Major Pilcher, their
+        agent; and I was successfully passing before their eyes the portraits
+        of a number of Sioux chiefs, and making my remarks upon them. The Sioux
+        instantly recognized each one as it was exhibited, which they instantly
+        hailed by a sharp and startling yelp. But when the portrait of this
+        chief was placed before them, instead of the usual recognition, each
+        one placed his hand over his mouth, and gave a “hush—sh—” and hung
+        down their heads, their usual expressions of grief in case of a death.
+        From this sudden emotion, I knew instantly, that the chief must be
+        dead, and so expressed my belief to the audience. I stopped my Lecture
+        a few moments to converse with Major Pilcher who was by my side, and
+        who gave me the following extraordinary account of his death, which I
+        immediately related to the audience; and which being translated to the
+        Sioux Indians, their chief arose and addressed himself to the audience,
+        saying that the account was true, and that Ha-wan-je-tah was killed but
+        a few days before they left home.
+
+      <p>The account which Major Pilcher gave was nearly as follows:—</p>
+
+      <p>“But a few weeks before I left the Sioux country with the delegation,
+        Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn) had in some way been the accidental cause
+        of the death of his only son, a very fine youth; and so great was the
+        anguish of his mind at times, that he became frantic and insane. In one
+        of these moods he mounted his favourite war-horse with his bow and his
+        arrows in his hand, and dashed off at full speed upon the prairies,
+        repeating the most solemn oath, ‘that he would slay the first living
+        thing that fell in his way, be it man or beast, or friend or foe.’</p>
+
+      <p>“No one dared to follow him, and after he had been absent an hour
+        or two, his horse came back to the village with two arrows in its
+        body, and covered with blood! Fears of the most serious kind were
+        now entertained for the fate of the chief, and a party of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> warriors
+        immediately mounted their horses, and retraced the animal’s tracks to
+        the place of the tragedy, where they found the body of their chief
+        horribly mangled and gored by a buffalo bull, whose carcass was
+        stretched by the side of him.</p>
+
+      <p>“A close examination of the ground was then made by the Indians, who
+        ascertained by the tracks, that their unfortunate chief, under his
+        unlucky resolve, had met a buffalo bull in the season when they are
+        very stubborn, and unwilling to run from any one; and had incensed
+        the animal by shooting a number of arrows into him, which had brought
+        him into furious combat. The chief had then dismounted, and turned
+        his horse loose, having given it a couple of arrows from his bow,
+        which sent it home at full speed, and then had thrown away his bow and
+        quiver, encountering the infuriated animal with his knife alone, and
+        the desperate battle resulted as I have before-mentioned, in the death
+        of both. Many of the bones of the chief were broken, as he was gored
+        and stamped to death, and his huge antagonist had laid his body by the
+        side of him, weltering in blood from an hundred wounds made by the
+        chief’s long and two-edged knife.”</p>
+
+      <p>So died this elegant and high-minded nobleman of the wilderness, whom I
+        confidently had hoped to meet and admire again at some future period of
+        my life. (<i>Vide</i> <a href="#i_086"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 86</a>).</p>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> <em>Wampum</em> is the Indian name of ornaments
+        manufactured by the Indians from vari-coloured shells, which they get
+        on the shores of the fresh water streams, and file or cut into bits
+        of half an inch, or an inch in length, and perforate (giving to them
+        the shape of pieces of broken pipe stems), which they string on deers’
+        sinews, and wear on their necks in profusion; or weave them ingeniously
+        into war-belts for the waist.
+
+      <p>Amongst the numerous tribes who have formerly inhabited the Atlantic
+        Coast, and that part of the country which now constitutes the principal
+        part of the United States, wampum has been invariably manufactured, and
+        highly valued as a circulating medium (instead of coins, of which the
+        Indians have no knowledge); so many strings, or so many hands-breadth,
+        being the fixed value of a horse, a gun, a robe, &amp;c.</p>
+
+      <p>In treaties, the wampum belt has been passed as the pledge of
+        friendship, and from time immemorial sent to hostile tribes, as the
+        messenger of peace; or paid by so many fathoms length, as tribute to
+        conquering enemies, and Indian kings.</p>
+
+      <p>It is a remarkable fact, and worthy of observation in this place, that
+        after I passed the Mississippi, I saw but very little wampum used; and
+        on ascending the Missouri, I do not recollect to have seen it worn at
+        all by the Upper Missouri Indians, although the same materials for its
+        manufacture are found in abundance through those regions. I met with
+        but very few strings of it amongst the Missouri Sioux, and nothing of
+        it amongst the tribes north and west of them. Below the Sioux, and
+        along the whole of our Western frontier, the different tribes are found
+        loaded and beautifully ornamented with it, which they can now afford
+        to do, for they consider it of little value, as the Fur Traders have
+        ingeniously introduced a spurious imitation of it, manufactured by
+        steam or otherwise, of porcelain or some composition closely resembling
+        it, with which they have flooded the whole Indian country, and sold at
+        so reduced a price, as to cheapen, and consequently destroy, the value
+        and meaning of the original wampum, a string of which can now but very
+        rarely be found in any part of the country.</p>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> Several years after I left the Sioux country, I saw
+        Messrs. Chardon and Piquot, two of the Traders from that country, who
+        recently had left it, and told me in <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, whilst looking at the
+        portrait of this girl, that while staying in Mr. Laidlaw’s Fort, the
+        chief, Black Rock, entered the room suddenly where the portrait of
+        his daughter was hanging on the wall, and pointing to it with a heavy
+        heart, told Mr. Laidlaw, that whilst his band was out on the prairies,
+        where they had been for several months “making meat,” his daughter
+        had died, and was there buried. “My heart is glad again,” said he,
+        “when I see her here alive; and I want the one the medicine-man made
+        of her, which is now before me, that I can see her, and talk to her.
+        My band are all in mourning for her, and at the gate of your Fort,
+        which I have just passed, are ten horses for you, and Ee-ah-sa-pa’s
+        wigwam, which you know is the best one in the Sioux nation. I wish you
+        to take down my daughter and give her to me.” Mr. Laidlaw, seeing the
+        <em>unusually</em> liberal price that this nobleman was willing to pay
+        for a portrait, and the true grief that he expressed for the loss of
+        his child, had not the heart to abuse such noble feeling; and taking
+        the painting from the wall, placed it into his hands; telling him that
+        it of right belonged to him, and that his horses and wigwam he must
+        take back and keep them, to mend, as far as possible, his liberal
+        heart, which was broken by the loss of his only daughter.
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Several years since writing the above, I made a visit
+        with my wife, to the venerable parent of Mr. Chardon, who lives in her
+        snug and neat mansion, near the City of Philadelphia, where we were
+        treated with genuine politeness and hospitality. His mother and two
+        sisters, who are highly respectable, had many anxious questions to ask
+        about him; and had at the same time, living with them, a fine-looking
+        half-breed boy, about ten years old, the son of Monsr. Chardon and
+        his Indian wife, whom I have above spoken of. This fine boy who had
+        received the name of Bolivar, had been brought from the Indian country
+        by the father, and left here for his education, with which they were
+        taking great pains.
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_28">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 28.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Whilst</span> painting the portraits of the chiefs and braves of the Sioux,
+    as described in my last epistle, my painting-room was the continual
+    rendezvous of the worthies of the tribe; and I, the “lion of the day,”
+    and my art, the <i lang="fr">summum</i> and <i lang="fr">ne plus ultra</i> of mysteries,
+    which engaged the whole conversation of chiefs and sachems, as well
+    as of women and children. I mentioned that I have been obliged to
+    paint them according to rank, as they looked upon the operation as a
+    very great honour, which I, as “a great chief and medicine-man,” was
+    conferring on all who sat to me. Fortunate it was for me, however, that
+    the honour was not a sufficient inducement for all to overcome their
+    fears, which often stood in the way of their consenting to be painted;
+    for if all had been willing to undergo the operation, I should have
+    progressed but a very little way in the “<em>rank and file</em>” of their
+    worthies; and should have had to leave many discontented, and (as they
+    would think) neglected. About one in five or eight was willing to be
+    painted, and the rest thought they would be much more sure of “sleeping
+    quiet in their graves” after they were dead, if their pictures were
+    not made. By this lucky difficulty I got great relief, and easily got
+    through with those who were willing, and at the same time decided by
+    the chiefs to be worthy, of so signal an honour.</p>
+
+  <p>After I had done with the chiefs and braves, and proposed to paint a
+    few of the women, I at once got myself into a serious perplexity, being
+    heartily laughed at by the whole tribe, both by men and by women, for
+    my exceeding and (to them) unaccountable condescension in seriously
+    proposing to paint a woman; conferring on her the same honour that I
+    had done the chiefs and braves. Those whom I had honoured, were laughed
+    at by hundreds of the jealous, who had been decided unworthy the
+    distinction, and were now amusing themselves with the <em>very enviable
+    honour</em> which the <em>great white medicine-man</em> had conferred,
+    <em>especially</em> on <em>them</em>, and was now to confer equally upon
+    the <em>squaws</em>!</p>
+
+  <p>The first reply that I received from those whom I had painted, was,
+    that if I was to paint women and children, the sooner I destroyed
+    <em>their</em> pictures, the better; for I had represented to them
+    that I wanted their pictures to exhibit to white chiefs, to shew who
+    were the most distinguished and worthy of the Sioux; and their women
+    had never taken scalps, nor did anything<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> better than make fires and
+    dress skins. I was quite awkward in this dilemma, in explaining to
+    them that I wanted the portraits of the women to hang <em>under</em>
+    those of their husbands, merely to shew how their women <em>looked</em>,
+    and how they <em>dressed</em>, without saying any more of them. After
+    some considerable delay of my operations, and much deliberation on
+    the subject, through the village, I succeeded in getting a number of
+    women’s portraits, of which the two above introduced are a couple.</p>
+
+  <p>The vanity of these men, after they had agreed to be painted was beyond
+    all description, and far surpassing that which is oftentimes immodest
+    enough in civilized society, where the sitter generally leaves the
+    picture, when it is done to speak for, and to take care of, itself;
+    while an Indian often lays down, from morning till night, in front of
+    his portrait, admiring his own beautiful face, and faithfully guarding
+    it from day to day, to save it from accident or harm.</p>
+
+  <p>This <em>watching</em> or <em>guarding</em> their portraits, I have
+    observed during all of my travels amongst them as a very curious thing;
+    and in many instances, where my colours were not dry, and subjected
+    to so many accidents, from the crowds who were gathering about them,
+    I have found this peculiar guardianship of essential service to
+    me—relieving my mind oftentimes from a great deal of anxiety.</p>
+
+  <p>I was for a long time at a loss for the true cause of so singular
+    a peculiarity, but at last learned that it was owing to their
+    superstitious notion, that there may be life to a certain extent in the
+    picture; and that if harm or violence be done to it, it may in some
+    mysterious way, affect their health or do them other injury.</p>
+
+  <p>After I had been several weeks busily at work with my brush in this
+    village, and pretty well used to the modes of life in these regions—and
+    also familiarly acquainted with all the officers and clerks of the
+    Establishment, it was announced one day, that the steamer which we had
+    left, was coming in the river below, where all eyes were anxiously
+    turned, and all ears were listening; when, at length, we discovered the
+    puffing of her steam; and, at last, heard the thundering of her cannon,
+    which were firing from her deck.</p>
+
+  <p>The excitement and dismay caused amongst 6000 of these wild people,
+    when the steamer came up in front of their village, was amusing in the
+    extreme. The steamer was moored at the shore, however; and when Mr.
+    Chouteau and Major Sanford, their old friend and agent, walked ashore,
+    it seemed to restore their confidence and courage; and the whole
+    village gathered in front of the boat, without showing much further
+    amazement, or even curiosity about it.</p>
+
+  <p>The steamer rested a week or two at this place before she started on
+    her voyage for the head-waters of the Missouri; during which time,
+    there was much hilarity and mirth indulged in amongst the Indians, as
+    well as with the hands employed in the service of the Fur Company. The
+    appearance of a steamer in this wild country was deemed a wonderful
+    occurrence, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> the time of her presence here, looked upon, and used
+    as a holiday. Some sharp encounters amongst the trappers, who come
+    in here from the mountains, loaded with packs of furs, with sinews
+    hardened by long exposure, and seemingly impatient for a <em>fight</em>,
+    which is soon given them by some bullying fisticuff-fellow, who steps
+    forward and settles the matter in a ring, which is made and strictly
+    preserved for <em>fair play</em>, until hard raps, and bloody noses, and
+    blind eyes “<em>settle the hash</em>,” and satisfy his trappership to lay
+    in bed a week or two, and then graduate, a sober and a civil man.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst the Indians we have had numerous sights and
+    amusements to entertain and some to shock us. Shows of
+    dances—ball-plays—horse-racing—foot-racing, and wrestling in abundance.
+    Feasting—fasting, and prayers we have also had; and penance and
+    tortures, and almost every thing short of self-immolation.</p>
+
+  <p>Some few days after the steamer had arrived, it was announced that
+    a grand feast was to be given to the <em>great white chiefs</em>, who
+    were visitors amongst them; and preparations were made accordingly
+    for it. The two chiefs, Ha-wan-je-tah and Tchan-dee, of whom I have
+    before spoken, brought their two tents together, forming the two into a
+    semi-circle (<a href="#i_096"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 96</a>), enclosing a space sufficiently large
+    to accommodate 150 men; and sat down with that number of the principal
+    chiefs and warriors of the Sioux nation; with Mr. Chouteau, Major
+    Sanford, the Indian agent, Mr. M‘Kenzie, and myself, whom they had
+    invited in due time, and placed on elevated seats in the centre of the
+    crescent; while the rest of the company all sat upon the ground, and
+    mostly cross-legged, preparatory to the feast being dealt out.</p>
+
+  <p>In the centre of the semi-circle was erected a flag-staff, on which
+    was waving a white flag, and to which also was tied the calumet, both
+    expressive of their friendly feelings towards us. Near the foot of the
+    flag-staff were placed in a row on the ground, six or eight kettles,
+    with iron covers on them, shutting them tight, in which were prepared
+    the viands for our <em>voluptuous</em> feast. Near the kettles, and on
+    the ground also, bottomside upwards, were a number of wooden bowls, in
+    which the meat was to be served out. And in front, two or three men,
+    who were there placed as waiters, to light the pipes for smoking, and
+    also to deal out the food.</p>
+
+  <p>In these positions things stood, and all sat, with thousands climbing
+    and crowding around, for a peep at the grand pageant; when at length,
+    Ha-wan-je-tah (the one horn), head chief of the nation, rose in front
+    of the Indian agent, in a very handsome costume, and addressed him
+    thus:—“My father, I am glad to see you here to-day—my heart is always
+    glad to see my father when he comes—our Great Father, who sends him
+    here is very rich, and we are poor. Our friend Mr. M‘Kenzie, who
+    is here, we are also glad to see; we know him well, and we shall
+    be sorry when he is gone. Our friend who is on your right-hand we
+    all know is very rich; and we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span> have heard that he owns the great
+    <em>medicine-canoe</em>; he is a good man, and a friend to the red men.
+    Our friend the <em>White Medicine</em>, who sits with you, we did not
+    know—he came amongst us a stranger, and he has made me very well—all
+    the women know it, and think it very good; he has done many curious
+    things, and we have all been pleased with him—he has made us much
+    amusement—and we know he is great medicine.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_098">
+    <div class="plate"><i>64</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_098.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>98</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>“My father, I hope you will have pity on us, we are very poor—we offer
+    you to-day, not the best that we have got; for we have a plenty of good
+    buffalo hump and marrow—but we give you our hearts in this feast—we
+    have killed our faithful dogs to feed you—and the Great Spirit will
+    seal our friendship. I have no more to say.”</p>
+
+  <p>After these words he took off his beautiful war-eagle head-dress—his
+    shirt and leggings—his necklace of grizzly bears’ claws and his
+    moccasins; and tying them together, laid them gracefully down at the
+    feet of the agent as a present; and laying a handsome pipe on top of
+    them, he walked around into an adjoining lodge, where he got a buffalo
+    robe to cover his shoulders, and returned to the feast, taking his seat
+    which he had before occupied.</p>
+
+  <p>Major Sanford then rose and made a short speech in reply, thanking
+    him for the valuable present which he had made him, and for the very
+    polite and impressive manner in which it had been done; and sent to the
+    steamer for a quantity of tobacco and other presents, which were given
+    to him in return. After this, and after several others of the chiefs
+    had addressed him in a similar manner; and, like the first, disrobed
+    themselves, and thrown their beautiful costumes at his feet, one of the
+    three men in front deliberately lit a handsome pipe, and brought it to
+    Ha-wan-je-tah to smoke. He took it, and after presenting the stem to
+    the North—to the South—to the East, and the West—and then to the Sun
+    that was over his head, and pronounced the words “How—how—how!” drew
+    a whiff or two of smoke through it, and holding the bowl of it in one
+    hand, and its stem in the other, he then held it to each of our mouths,
+    as we successively smoked it; after which it was passed around through
+    the whole group, who all smoked through it, or as far as its contents
+    lasted, when another of the three waiters was ready with a second, and
+    at length a third one, in the same way, which lasted through the hands
+    of the whole number of guests. This smoking was conducted with the
+    strictest adherence to exact and established form, and the feast the
+    whole way, to the most positive silence. After the pipe is charged, and
+    is being lit, until the time that the chief has drawn the smoke through
+    it, it is considered an evil omen for any one to speak; and if any one
+    break silence in that time, even in a whisper, the pipe is instantly
+    dropped by the chief, and their superstition is such, that they would
+    not dare to use it on this occasion; but another one is called for
+    and used in its stead. If there is no accident of the kind during the
+    smoking, the waiters then proceed to distribute the meat, which is soon
+    devoured in the feast.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span></p>
+
+  <p>In his case the lids were raised from the kettles, which were all
+    filled with dogs’ meat alone. It being well-cooked, and made into a
+    sort of a stew, sent forth a very savoury and pleasing smell, promising
+    to be an acceptable and palatable food. Each of us civilized guests had
+    a large wooden bowl placed before us, with a huge quantity of dogs’
+    flesh floating in a profusion of soup, or rich gravy, with a large
+    spoon resting in the dish, made of the buffalo’s horn. In this most
+    difficult and painful dilemma we sat; all of us knowing the solemnity
+    and good feeling in which it was given, and the absolute necessity of
+    falling to, and devouring a little of it. We all tasted it a few times,
+    and resigned our dishes, which were quite willingly taken, and passed
+    around with others, to every part of the group, who all ate heartily of
+    the <em>delicious viands</em>, which were soon dipped out of the kettles,
+    and entirely devoured; after which each one arose as he felt disposed,
+    and walked off without uttering a word. In this way the feast ended,
+    and all retired silently, and gradually, until the ground was left
+    vacant to the charge of the waiters or officers, who seemed to have
+    charge of it during the whole occasion.</p>
+
+  <p>This feast was unquestionably given to us, as the most undoubted
+    evidence they could give us of their friendship; and we, who knew
+    the spirit and feeling in which it was given, could not but treat it
+    respectfully, and receive it as a very high and marked compliment.</p>
+
+  <p>Since I witnessed it on this occasion, I have been honoured with
+    numerous entertainments of the kind amongst the other tribes, which I
+    have visited towards the sources of the Missouri, and all conducted in
+    the same solemn and impressive manner; from which I feel authorized
+    to pronounce the <em>dog-feast</em> a truly religious ceremony, wherein
+    the poor Indian sees fit to sacrifice his faithful companion to bear
+    testimony to the sacredness of his vows of friendship, and invite his
+    friend to partake of its flesh, to remind him forcibly of the reality
+    of the sacrifice, and the solemnity of his professions.</p>
+
+  <p>The dog, amongst all Indian tribes, is more esteemed and more valued
+    than amongst any part of the civilized world; the Indian who has more
+    time to devote to his company, and whose untutored mind more nearly
+    assimilates to that of his faithful servant, keeps him closer company,
+    and draws him nearer to his heart; they hunt together, and are equal
+    sharers in the chase—their bed is one; and on the rocks, and on their
+    coats of arms they carve his image as the symbol of fidelity. Yet, with
+    all of these he will end his affection with this faithful follower, and
+    with tears in his eyes, offer him as a sacrifice to seal the pledge he
+    has made to man; because a feast of venison, or of buffalo meat, is
+    what is due to every one who enters an Indian’s wigwam; and of course,
+    conveys but a passive or neutral evidence, that generally goes for
+    nothing.</p>
+
+  <p>I have sat at many of these feasts, and never could but appreciate
+    the moral and solemnity of them. I have seen the master take from the
+    bowl the head of his victim, and descant on its former affection and
+    fidelity with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span> tears in his eyes. And I have seen guests at the same
+    time by the side of me, jesting and sneering at the poor Indian’s folly
+    and stupidity; and I have said in my heart, that they never deserved a
+    name so good or so honourable as that of the poor animal whose bones
+    they were picking.</p>
+
+  <p>At the feast which I have been above describing, each of us tasted a
+    little of the meat, and passed the dishes on to the Indians, who soon
+    demolished everything they contained. We all agreed that the meat was
+    well cooked, and seemed to be a well-flavoured and palatable food; and
+    no doubt, could have been eaten with a good relish, if we had been
+    hungry, and ignorant of the nature of the food we were eating.</p>
+
+  <p>The flesh of these dogs, though apparently relished by the Indians,
+    is, undoubtedly, inferior to the venison and buffalo’s meat, of which
+    feasts are constantly made where friends are invited, as they are in
+    civilized society, to a pleasant and convivial party; from which fact
+    alone, it would seem clear, that they have some extraordinary motive,
+    at all events, for feasting on the flesh of that useful and faithful
+    animal; even when, as in the instance I have been describing, their
+    village is well supplied with fresh and dried meat of the buffalo. The
+    dog-feast is given, I believe, by all tribes in North America; and
+    by them all, I think, this faithful animal, as well as the horse, is
+    sacrificed in several different ways, to appease offended Spirits or
+    Deities, whom it is considered necessary that they should conciliate in
+    this way; and when done, is invariably done by giving the best in the
+    herd or the kennel.</p>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_29">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 29.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">Another</span> curious and disgusting scene I witnessed in the after part of
+    the day on which we were honoured with the dog feast. In this I took no
+    part, but was sufficiently near to it, when standing some rods off, and
+    witnessing the cruel operation. I was called upon by one of the clerks
+    in the Establishment to ride up a mile or so, near the banks of the
+    Teton River, in a little plain at the base of the bluffs, where were
+    grouped some fifteen or twenty lodges of the Ting-ta-to-ah band, to see
+    a man (as they said) “<em>looking at the sun</em>!” We found him naked,
+    except his breech-cloth, with splints or skewers run through the flesh
+    on both breasts, leaning back and hanging with the weight of his body
+    to the top of a pole which was fastened in the ground, and to the upper
+    end of which he was fastened by a cord which was tied to the splints.
+    In this position he was leaning back, with nearly the whole weight
+    of his body hanging to the pole, the top of which was bent forward,
+    allowing his body to sink about half-way to the ground (<a href="#i_097"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    97</a>). His feet were still upon the ground, supporting a small part
+    of his weight; and he held in his left hand his favourite bow, and in
+    his right, with a desperate grip, his medicine-bag. In this condition,
+    with the blood trickling down over his body, which was covered with
+    white and yellow clay, and amidst a great crowd who were looking on,
+    sympathizing with and encouraging him, he was hanging and “looking at
+    the sun,” without paying the least attention to any one about him.
+    In the group that was reclining around him, were several mystery-men
+    beating their drums and shaking their rattles, and singing as loud as
+    they could yell, to encourage him and strengthen his heart to stand
+    and look at the sun, from its rising in the morning ’till its setting
+    at night; at which time, if his heart and his strength have not failed
+    him, he is “cut down,” receives the liberal donation of presents (which
+    have been thrown into a pile before him during the day), and also the
+    name and the style of a doctor, or <em>medicine-man</em>, which lasts
+    him, and ensures him respect, through life.</p>
+
+  <p>This most extraordinary and cruel custom I never heard of amongst any
+    other tribe, and never saw an instance of it before or after the one I
+    have just named. It is a sort of worship, or penance, of great cruelty;
+    disgusting and painful to behold, with only one palliating circumstance
+    about it, which is, that it is a voluntary torture and of very rare
+    occurrence. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span> poor and ignorant, misguided and superstitious man who
+    undertakes it, puts his everlasting reputation at stake upon the issue;
+    for when he takes his stand, he expects to face the sun and gradually
+    turn his body in listless silence, till he sees it go down at night;
+    and if he faints and falls, of which there is imminent danger, he loses
+    his reputation as a brave or mystery-man, and suffers a signal disgrace
+    in the estimation of the tribe, like all men who have the presumption
+    to set themselves up for braves or mystery-men, and fail justly to
+    sustain the character.</p>
+
+  <p>The Sioux seem to have many modes of worshipping the Great or Good
+    Spirit, and also of conciliating the Evil Spirit: they have numerous
+    fasts and feasts, and many modes of sacrificing, but yet they seem
+    to pay less strict attention to them than the Mandans do, which may
+    perhaps be owing in a great measure to the wandering and predatory
+    modes of life which they pursue, rendering it difficult to adhere so
+    rigidly to the strict form and letter of their customs.</p>
+
+  <p>There had been, a few days before I arrived at this place, a great
+    medicine operation held on the prairie, a mile or so back of the
+    Fort, and which, of course, I was not lucky enough to see. The poles
+    were still standing, and the whole transaction was described to me by
+    my friend Mr. Halsey, one of the clerks in the Establishment. From
+    the account given of it, it seems to bear some slight resemblance to
+    that of the <em>Mandan religious ceremony</em>, but no nearer to it
+    than a feeble effort by so ignorant and superstitious a people, to
+    copy a custom which they most probably have had no opportunity to see
+    themselves, but have endeavoured to imitate from hearsay. They had an
+    awning of immense size erected on the prairie which is yet standing,
+    made of willow bushes supported by posts, with poles and willow boughs
+    laid over; under the centre of which there was a pole set firmly in the
+    ground, from which many of the young men had suspended their bodies by
+    splints run through the flesh in different parts, the numerous scars of
+    which were yet seen bleeding afresh from day to day, amongst the crowds
+    that were about me.</p>
+
+  <p>During my stay amongst the Sioux, as I was considered by them to be
+    great <em>medicine</em>, I received many pipes and other little things
+    from them as presents, given to me in token of respect for me, and
+    as assurances of their friendship; and I, being desirous to collect
+    and bring from their country every variety of their manufactures, of
+    their costumes, their weapons, their pipes, and their mystery-things,
+    purchased a great many others, for which, as I was “medicine”
+    and a “great white chief!” I was necessarily obliged to pay very
+    <em>liberal</em> prices.</p>
+
+  <p>Of the various costumes (of this, as well as of other tribes), that I
+    have collected, there will be seen fair and faithful representations in
+    the numerous portraits; and of their war-clubs, pipes, &amp;c. I have set
+    forth in the following illustrations, a few of the most interesting of
+    the very great numbers of those things which I have collected in this
+    and other tribes which I have visited.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span></p>
+
+  <p>The luxury of smoking is known to all the North American Indians,
+    in their primitive state, and that before they have any knowledge
+    of tobacco; which is only introduced amongst them by civilized
+    adventurers, who teach them the use and luxury of whiskey at the same
+    time.</p>
+
+  <p>In their native state they are excessive smokers, and many of them (I
+    would almost venture the assertion), would seem to be smoking one-half
+    of their lives. There may be two good reasons for this, the first
+    of which is, that the idle and leisure life that the Indian leads,
+    (who has no trade or business to follow—no office hours to attend
+    to, or profession to learn), induces him to look for occupation and
+    amusement in so innocent a luxury, which again further tempts him
+    to its excessive use, from its feeble and harmless effects on the
+    system. There are many weeds and leaves, and barks of trees, which are
+    narcotics, and of spontaneous growth in their countries, which the
+    Indians dry and pulverize, and carry in pouches and smoke to great
+    excess—and which in several of the languages, when thus prepared, is
+    called <i lang="mhq">k’nick k’neck</i>.</p>
+
+  <p>As smoking is a luxury so highly valued by the Indians, they have
+    bestowed much pains, and not a little ingenuity, to the construction
+    of their pipes. Of these I have procured a collection of several
+    hundreds, and in <a href="#i_098"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 98</a>, have given fac-simile outlines of
+    a number of the most curious. The bowls of these are generally made of
+    the red steatite, or “pipe-stone” (as it is more familiarly called in
+    this country), and many of them designed and carved with much taste
+    and skill, with figures and groups in <i>alto relievo</i>, standing or
+    reclining upon them.</p>
+
+  <p>The red stone of which these pipe bowls are made, is, in my estimation,
+    a great curiosity; inasmuch as I am sure it is a variety of steatite
+    (if it be steatite), differing from that of any known European
+    locality, and also from any locality known in America, other than the
+    one from which all these pipes come; and which are all traceable I have
+    found to one source; and that source as yet unvisited except by the
+    red man who describes it, everywhere, as a place of vast importance to
+    the Indians—as given to them by the Great Spirit, for their pipes, and
+    strictly forbidden to be used for anything else.</p>
+
+  <p>The source from whence all these pipes come, is, undoubtedly, somewhere
+    between this place and the Mississippi River; and as the Indians all
+    speak of it as a great <em>medicine</em>-place, I shall certainly lay my
+    course to it, ere long, and be able to give the world some account of
+    it and its mysteries.</p>
+
+  <p>The Indians shape out the bowls of these pipes from the solid stone,
+    which is not quite as hard as marble, with nothing but a knife. The
+    stone which is of a cherry red, admits of a beautiful polish, and the
+    Indian makes the hole in the bowl of the pipe, by drilling into it a
+    hard stick, shaped to the desired size, with a quantity of sharp sand
+    and water kept constantly in the hole, subjecting him therefore to a
+    very great labour and the necessity of much patience.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_099">
+    <div class="plate"><i>65</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_099.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>99</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span></p>
+
+  <p>The shafts or stems of these pipes, as will be seen in <a href="#i_098"><span class="smcap">plate</span>
+    98</a>, are from two to four feet long, sometimes round, but most
+    generally flat; of an inch or two in breadth, and wound half their
+    length or more with braids of porcupines’ quills; and often ornamented
+    with the beaks and tufts from the wood-pecker’s head, with ermine skins
+    and long red hair, dyed from white horse hair or the white buffalo’s
+    tail.</p>
+
+  <p>The stems of these pipes will be found to be carved in many ingenious
+    forms, and in all cases they are perforated through the centre, quite
+    staggering the wits of the enlightened world to <em>guess how</em> the
+    holes have been <em>bored</em> through them; until it is simply and
+    briefly explained, that the stems are uniformly made of the stalk of
+    the young ash, which generally grows straight, and has a small pith
+    through the centre, which is easily burned out with a hot wire or a
+    piece of hard wood, by a much slower process.</p>
+
+  <p>In <a href="#i_098"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 98</a>, the pipes marked <i>b</i> are ordinary
+    pipes, made and used for the <em>luxury</em> only of smoking; and
+    for this purpose, every Indian designs and constructs his own
+    pipe. The <em>calumet</em>, or pipe of peace (<a href="#i_098"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 98</a>
+    <i>a</i>), ornamented with the war-eagle’s quills, is a sacred
+    pipe, and never allowed to be used on any other occasion than that
+    of <em>peace-making</em>; when the chief brings it into treaty, and
+    unfolding the many bandages which are carefully kept around it—has
+    it ready to be mutually smoked by the chiefs, after the terms of
+    the treaty are agreed upon, as the means of <em>solemnizing</em> or
+    <em>signing</em>, by an illiterate people, who cannot draw up an
+    instrument, and sign their names to it, as it is done in the civilized
+    world.</p>
+
+  <p>The mode of solemnizing is by passing the sacred stem to each chief,
+    who draws one breath of smoke only through it, thereby passing the most
+    inviolable pledge that they can possibly give, for the keeping of the
+    peace. This sacred pipe is then carefully folded up, and stowed away in
+    the chief’s lodge, until a similar occasion calls it out to be used in
+    a similar manner.</p>
+
+  <p>There is no custom more uniformly in constant use amongst the poor
+    Indians than that of smoking, nor any other more highly valued. His
+    pipe is his constant companion through life—his messenger of peace;
+    he pledges his friends through its stem and its bowl—and when its
+    care-drowning fumes cease to flow, it takes a place with him in his
+    solitary grave, with his tomahawk and war-club, companions to his long
+    fancied, “mild and beautiful hunting-grounds.”</p>
+
+  <p>The weapons of these people, like their pipes, are numerous, and mostly
+    manufactured by themselves. In a former place (<a href="#i_018"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 18</a>) I
+    have described a part of these, such as the bows and arrows, lances,
+    &amp;c., and they have yet many others, specimens of which I have collected
+    from every tribe; and a number of which I have grouped together in
+    <a href="#i_099"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 99</a>; consisting of knives, war-clubs, and tomahawks. I
+    have here introduced the most general and established forms that are
+    in use amongst the different tribes, which are all strictly copied
+    from amongst the great variety of these articles to be found in my
+    Collection.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span></p>
+
+  <p>The scalping-knives <i>a</i> and <i>b</i>, and tomahawks <i>e</i>
+    <i>e</i> <i>e</i> <i>e</i> are of civilized manufacture, made expressly
+    for Indian use, and carried into the Indian country by thousands
+    and tens of thousands, and sold at an enormous price. The scabbards
+    of the knives and handles for the tomahawks, the Indians construct
+    themselves, according to their own taste, and oftentimes ornament them
+    very handsomely. In his rude and unapproached condition, the Indian
+    is a stranger to such weapons as these—he works not in the metals;
+    and his untutored mind has not been ingenious enough to design or
+    execute anything so <em>savage</em> or destructive as these civilized
+    <em>refinements on Indian barbarity</em>. In his native simplicity
+    he shapes out his rude hatchet from a piece of stone, as in letter
+    <i>f</i>, heads his arrows and spears with flints; and his knife is a
+    sharpened bone, or the edge of a broken silex. The war-club <i>c</i> is
+    also another civilized refinement, with a blade of steel, of eight or
+    ten inches in length, and set in a club, studded around and ornamented
+    with some hundreds of brass nails.</p>
+
+  <p>Their primitive clubs <i>d</i> are curiously carved in wood, and
+    fashioned out with some considerable picturesque form and grace; are
+    admirably fitted to the hand, and calculated to deal a deadly blow with
+    the spike of iron or bone which is imbedded in the ball or bulb at the
+    end.</p>
+
+  <p>Two of the tomahawks that I have named, marked <i>e</i>, are what
+    are denominated “pipe-tomahawks,” as the heads of them are formed
+    into bowls like a pipe, in which their tobacco is put, and they smoke
+    through the handle. These are the most valued of an Indian’s weapons,
+    inasmuch as they are a matter of luxury, and useful for cutting his
+    fire-wood, &amp;c. in time of peace; and deadly weapons in time of war,
+    which they use in the hand, or throw with unerring and deadly aim.</p>
+
+  <p>The scalping-knife <i>b</i> in a beautiful scabbard, which is carried
+    under the belt, is the form of knife most generally used in all
+    parts of the Indian country, where knives have been introduced. It
+    is a common and cheap butcher knife with one edge, manufactured at
+    Sheffield, in England, perhaps, for sixpence; and sold to the poor
+    Indian in these wild regions for a horse. If I should live to get
+    home, and should ever cross the Atlantic with my Collection, a curious
+    enigma would be solved for the English people, who may enquire for a
+    scalping-knife, when they find that every one in my Collection (and
+    hear also, that nearly every one that is to be seen in the Indian
+    country, to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean) bears on its
+    blade the impress of G.R., which they will doubtless understand.</p>
+
+  <p>The huge two-edged knife, with its scabbard of a part of the skin of a
+    grizzly bear’s head, letter <i>a</i>, is one belonging to the famous
+    chief of the Mandans, of whom I have before said much. The manufacture
+    of this knife is undoubtedly American; and its shape differs altogether
+    from those which are in general use.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>66</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_100">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_100.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>100</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span></p>
+
+  <p>The above weapons, as well as the bow and lance, of which I have before
+    spoken, are all carried and used on horseback with great effect. The
+    Indians in this country of green fields, all <em>ride</em> for their
+    enemies, and also for their game, which is almost invariably killed
+    whilst their horses are at full-speed. They are all cruel masters
+    for their horses; and in war or the chase goad them on with a heavy
+    and cruel whip (<a href="#i_099"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 99</a> <i>g</i>), the handle of which is
+    generally made of a large prong of the elk’s horn or of wood, and the
+    lashes of rawhide are very heavy; being braided, or twisted, or cut
+    into wide straps. These are invariably attached to the wrist of the
+    right arm by a tough thong, so that they can be taken up and used at
+    any moment, and dropped the next, without being lost.</p>
+
+  <p>During the time that I was engaged in painting my portraits, I was
+    occasionally inducing the young men to give me their dances, a great
+    variety of which they gave me by being slightly paid; which I was glad
+    to do, in order to enable me to study their character and expression
+    thoroughly, which I am sure I have done; and I shall take pleasure in
+    shewing them to the world when I get back. The dancing is generally
+    done by the young men, and considered undignified for the chiefs or
+    doctors to join in. Yet so great was my <em>medicine</em>, that chiefs
+    and medicine-men turned out and agreed to compliment me with a dance
+    (<a href="#i_100"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 100</a>). I looked on with great satisfaction; having been
+    assured by the Interpreters and Traders, that this was the highest
+    honour they had ever known them to pay to any stranger amongst them.</p>
+
+  <p>In this dance, which I have called “the dance of the chiefs,” for want
+    of a more significant title, was given by fifteen or twenty chiefs and
+    doctors; many of whom were very old and venerable men. All of them came
+    out in their head-dresses of war-eagle quills, with a spear or staff in
+    the left hand, and a rattle in the right. It was given in the midst of
+    the Sioux village, in front of the head chief’s lodge; and beside the
+    medicine-man who beat on the drum, and sang for the dance, there were
+    four young women standing in a row, and chanting a sort of chorus for
+    the dancers; forming one of the very few instances that I ever have
+    met, where the women are allowed to take any part in the dancing, or
+    other game or amusement, with the men.</p>
+
+  <p>This dance was a very spirited thing, and pleased me much, as well as
+    all the village, who were assembled around to witness what most of them
+    never before had seen, their aged and venerable chiefs united in giving
+    a dance.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span></p>
+
+  <p>As I have introduced the <em>scalping-knife</em> above, it may be well
+    for me to give some further account in this place of the custom and the
+    mode of taking the scalp; a custom practiced by all the North American
+    Indians, which is done when an enemy is killed in battle, by grasping
+    the left hand into the hair on the crown of the head, and passing the
+    knife around it through the skin, tearing off a piece of the skin with
+    the hair, as large as the palm of the hand, or larger, which is dried,
+    and often curiously ornamented and preserved, and highly valued as a
+    trophy. The scalping is an operation not calculated of itself to take
+    life, as it only removes the skin, without injuring the bone of the
+    head; and necessarily, to be a genuine scalp, must contain and show the
+    crown or centre of the head; that part of the skin which lies directly
+    over what the phrenologists call “self-esteem,” where the hair divides
+    and radiates from the centre; of which they all profess to be strict
+    judges, and able to decide whether an effort has been made to produce
+    two or more scalps from one head. Besides taking the scalp, the victor
+    generally, if he has time to do it without endangering his own scalp,
+    cuts off and brings home the rest of the hair, which his wife will
+    divide into a great many small locks, and with them fringe off the
+    seams of his shirt and his leggings, as will have been seen in many of
+    the illustrations; which also are worn as trophies and ornaments to the
+    dress, and then are familiarly called “<em>scalp-locks</em>.” Of these
+    there are many dresses in my Collection, which exhibit a continuous row
+    from the top of each shoulder, down the arms to the wrists, and down
+    the seams of the leggings, from the hips to the feet, rendering them
+    a very costly article to buy from the Indian who is not sure that his
+    success in his military exploits will ever enable him to replace them.</p>
+
+  <p>The scalp, then, is a patch of the skin taken from the head of an enemy
+    killed in battle, and preserved and highly appreciated as the record of
+    a death produced by the hand of the individual who possesses it; and
+    may oftentimes during his life, be of great service to a man living
+    in a community where there is no historian to enrol the names of the
+    famous—to record the heroic deeds of the brave, who have gained their
+    laurels in mortal combat with their enemies; where it is as lawful
+    and as glorious to slay an enemy in battle, as it is in Christian
+    communities, and where the poor Indian is bound to keep the record
+    himself, or be liable to lose it and the honour, for no one in the
+    tribe will keep it for him. As the scalp is taken then as the evidence
+    of a death, it will easily be seen, that the Indian has no business or
+    inclination to take it from the head of the living; which I venture to
+    say is never done in North America, unless it be, as it sometimes has
+    happened, where a man falls in the heat of battle, stunned with the
+    blow of a weapon or a gunshot, and the Indian, rushing over his body,
+    snatches off his scalp, supposing him dead, who afterwards rises from
+    the field of battle, and easily recovers from this superficial wound
+    of the knife, wearing a bald spot on his head during the remainder
+    of his life, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span> which we have frequent occurrences on our Western
+    frontiers. The scalp must be from the head of <em>an enemy</em> also, or
+    it subjects its possessor to disgrace and infamy who carries it. There
+    may be many instances where an Indian is justified in the estimation
+    of his tribe in taking the life of one of his own people; and their
+    laws are such, as oftentimes make it his imperative duty; and yet no
+    circumstances, however aggravating, will justify him or release him
+    from the disgrace of taking the scalp.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_101">
+    <div class="plate"><i>67</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_101.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>101</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>There is no custom practised by the Indians, for which they are
+    more universally condemned, than that of taking the scalp; and, at
+    the same time, I think there is some excuse for them, inasmuch as
+    it is a general custom of the country, and founded, like many other
+    apparently absurd and ridiculous customs of these people, in one of
+    the necessities of Indian life, which necessities we are free from in
+    the civilized world, and which customs, of course, we need not and do
+    not practice. From an ancient custom, “time out of mind,” the warriors
+    of these tribes have been in the habit of going to war, expecting to
+    take the scalps of their enemies whom they may slay in battle, and all
+    eyes of the tribe are upon them, making it their duty to do it; so from
+    custom it is every man’s right, and his duty also, to continue and keep
+    up a regulation of his society, which it is not in his power as an
+    individual, to abolish or correct, if he saw fit to do it.</p>
+
+  <p>One of the principal denunciations against the custom of taking the
+    scalp, is on account of its alleged <em>cruelty</em>, which it certainly
+    has not; as the cruelty would be in the <em>killing</em>, and not in the
+    act of cutting the skin from a man’s head after he is dead. To say the
+    most of it, it is a disgusting custom, and I wish I could be quite sure
+    that the civilized and Christian world (who kill hundreds, to where the
+    poor Indians kill one), do not often treat their <em>enemies dead</em>,
+    in equally as indecent and disgusting a manner, as the Indian does by
+    taking the scalp.</p>
+
+  <p>If the reader thinks that I am taking too much pains to defend the
+    Indians for this, and others of their seemingly abominable customs,
+    he will bear it in mind, that I have lived with these people, until I
+    have learned the necessities of Indian life in which these customs are
+    founded; and also, that I have met with so many acts of kindness and
+    hospitality at the hands of the poor Indian, that I feel bound, when I
+    can do it, to render what excuse I can for a people, who are dying with
+    broken hearts, and never can speak in the civilized world in their own
+    defence.</p>
+
+  <p>And even yet, reader, if your education, and your reading of Indian
+    cruelties and Indian barbarities—of scalps, and scalping-knives, and
+    scalping, should have ossified a corner of your heart against these
+    unfortunate people, and would shut out their advocate, I will annoy
+    you no longer on this subject, but withdraw, and leave you to cherish
+    the very beautiful, humane and parental moral that was carried out by
+    the United States and British Governments during the last, and the
+    revolutionary wars, when they mutually employed thousands of their
+    “<em>Red children</em>,” to aid and to bleed, in fighting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> their battles,
+    and paid them, according to contract, so many pounds, shillings and
+    pence or so many dollars and cents for every “<em>scalp</em>” of a “red”
+    or a “blue coat” they could bring in!</p>
+
+  <p>In <a href="#i_101"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 101</a>, there will be seen the principal modes in which
+    the scalps are prepared, and several of the uses to which they are
+    put. The most usual way of preparing and dressing the scalp is that
+    of stretching it on a little hoop at the end of a stick two or three
+    feet long (letter <i>a</i>), for the purpose of “dancing it,” as they
+    term it; which will be described in the <em>scalp-dance</em>, in a few
+    moments. There are many again, which are small, and not “dressed;”
+    sometimes not larger than a crown piece (letter <i>c</i>), and hung to
+    different parts of the dress. In public shows and parades, they are
+    often suspended from the bridle bits or halter when they are paraded
+    and carried as trophies (letter <i>b</i>). Sometimes they are cut out,
+    as it were into a string, the hair forming a beautiful fringe to line
+    the handle of a war-club (letter <i>e</i>). Sometimes they are hung at
+    the <em>end</em> of a club (<em>letter d</em>), and at other times, by the
+    order of the chief, are hung out, over the wigwams, suspended from a
+    pole, which is called the “<em>scalp-pole</em>.” This is often done by
+    the chief of a village, in a pleasant day, by his erecting over his
+    wigwam a pole with all the scalps that he had taken, arranged upon it
+    (letter <i>f</i>); at the sight of which all the chiefs and warriors of
+    the tribe, who had taken scalps, “follow suit;” enabling every member
+    of the community to stroll about the village on that day and “count
+    scalps,” learning thereby the standing of every warrior, which is
+    decided in a great degree by the number of scalps they have taken in
+    battles with their enemies. Letters <i>g</i>, <i>g</i>, shew the usual
+    manner of taking the scalp, and (letter <i>h</i>), exhibits the head of
+    a man who had been scalped and recovered from the wound.</p>
+
+  <p>So much for scalps and scalping, of which I shall yet say more, unless
+    I should unluckily <em>lose one</em> before I get out of the country.</p>
+
+  <figure class="illowp75 mt2" id="i_101a">
+    <div class="plate"><i>68</i></div>
+    <img src="images/i_101a.jpg" alt="" />
+    <figcaption>101½</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> This celebrated knife is now in my <span class="smcap">Indian
+        Museum</span>, and there is no doubt, from its authentic history, that
+        it has been several times plunged to the hearts of his enemies by the
+        hand of Mah-to-toh-pa, who wielded it. Several years after I left that
+        country, and one year after the destruction of the Mandans, I received
+        the following letter from Mr. M‘Kenzie, accompanying the knife and
+        other things sent to me by him from that country: <span class="smcap">Extract</span>—“The
+        poor Mandans are gone, and amongst them your old friend, Mah-to-toh-pa.
+        I have been able to send you but a very few things, as the Riccarees
+        immediately took possession of everything they had. Amongst the
+        articles I have been able to procure, I send you the war-knife of
+        Mah-to-toh-pa, which is now looked upon as the greatest <em>medicine</em>
+        in this country; and as you will recollect it, it will be highly
+        appreciated by you.”
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_30">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 30.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> the last letter I gave an account of many of the weapons and other
+    manufactures of these wild folks; and as this has been a day of
+    <em>packing</em> and <em>casing</em> a great many of these things, which
+    I have obtained of the Indians, to add to my <i lang="fr">Musée Indienne</i>,
+    I will name a few more, which I have just been handling over; some
+    description of which may be necessary for the reader in endeavouring
+    to appreciate some of their strange customs and amusements, which I am
+    soon to unfold. In <a href="#i_101a"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 101½</a>, letters <i>a</i> and <i>b</i>,
+    will be seen the <em>quiver</em> made of the fawn’s skin, and the Sioux
+    <em>shield</em> made of the skin of the buffalo’s neck, hardened with
+    the glue extracted from the hoofs and joints of the same animal. The
+    process of “<em>smoking the shield</em>” is a very curious, as well as
+    an important one, in their estimation. For this purpose a young man
+    about to construct him a shield, digs a hole of two feet in depth, in
+    the ground, and as large in diameter as he designs to make his shield.
+    In this he builds a fire, and over it, a few inches higher than the
+    ground, he stretches the raw hide horizontally over the fire, with
+    little pegs driven through holes made near the edges of the skin. This
+    skin is at first, twice as large as the size of the required shield;
+    but having got his particular and best friends (who are invited on
+    the occasion,) into a ring, to dance and sing around it, and solicit
+    the Great Spirit to instil into it the power to protect him harmless
+    against his enemies, he spreads over it the glue, which is rubbed and
+    dried in, as the skin is heated; and a second busily drives other and
+    other pegs, inside of those in the ground, as they are gradually giving
+    way and being pulled up by the contraction of the skin. By this curious
+    process, which is most dexterously done, the skin is kept tight whilst
+    it contracts to one-half of its size, taking up the glue and increasing
+    in thickness until it is rendered as thick and hard as required (and
+    his friends have pleaded long enough to make it arrow, and almost ball
+    proof), when the dance ceases, and the fire is put out. When it is
+    cooled and cut into the shape that he desires, it is often painted with
+    his <em>medicine</em> or <em>totem</em> upon it, the figure of an eagle,
+    an owl, a buffalo or other animal, as the case may be, which he trusts
+    will guard and protect him from harm; it is then fringed with eagles’
+    quills, or other ornaments he may have chosen, and <em>slung</em> with a
+    broad leather strap that crosses his breast. These shields are carried
+    by all the warriors in these regions, for their protection in battles,
+    which are almost invariably fought from their horses’ backs.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span></p>
+
+  <p>Of <em>pipes</em>, and the custom of smoking, I have already spoken; and
+    I then said, that the Indians use several substitutes for tobacco,
+    which they call <i>K’nick K’neck</i>. For the carrying of this
+    delicious weed or bark, and preserving its flavour, the women construct
+    very curious pouches of otter, or beaver, or other skins (letters
+    <i>c</i>, <i>c</i>, <i>c</i>,), which are ingeniously ornamented with
+    porcupine quills and beads, and generally carried hanging across the
+    left arm, containing a quantity of the precious <em>narcotic</em>, with
+    flint and steel, and spunk, for lighting the pipe.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>musical instruments</em> used amongst these people are few, and
+    exceedingly rude and imperfect, consisting chiefly of rattles, drums,
+    whistles, and lutes, all of which are used in the different tribes.</p>
+
+  <p>In <a href="#i_101a"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 101½</a> (letters <i>d</i>, <i>d</i>,) will be seen
+    the <em>rattles</em> (or She-she-quois) most generally used, made of
+    rawhide, which becomes very hard when dry, and charged with pebbles
+    or something of the kind, which produce a shrill noise to mark the
+    time in their dances and songs. Their <em>drums</em> (letters <i>e</i>,
+    <i>e</i>,) are made in a very rude manner, oftentimes with a mere
+    piece of rawhide stretched over a hoop, very much in the shape of a
+    tambourin; and at other times are made in the form of a keg, with a
+    head of rawhide at each end; on these they beat with a drum-stick,
+    which oftentimes itself is a rattle, the bulb or head of it being made
+    of rawhide and filled with pebbles. In other instances the stick has,
+    at its end, a little hoop wound and covered with buckskin, to soften
+    the sound; with which they beat on the drum with great violence, as
+    the chief and <em>heel-inspiring</em> sound for all their dances, and
+    also as an accompaniment for their numerous and never-ending songs of
+    amusement, of thanksgiving, and <em>medicine</em> or <em>metai</em>. The
+    <em>mystery whistle</em>, (letter <i>f</i>,) is another instrument of
+    their invention, and very ingeniously made, the sound being produced
+    on a principle entirely different from that of any wind instrument
+    known in civilized inventions; and the notes produced on it, by the
+    sleight or trick of an Indian boy, in so simple and successful a
+    manner, as to baffle entirely all civilized ingenuity, even when it
+    is seen to be played. An Indian boy would stand and blow his notes on
+    this repeatedly, for hundreds of white men who might be lookers-on, not
+    one of whom could make the least noise on it, even by practising with
+    it for hours. When I first saw this curious exhibition, I was charmed
+    with the peculiar sweetness of its harmonic sounds, and completely
+    perplexed, (as hundreds of white men have no doubt been before me, to
+    the great amusement and satisfaction of the women and children,) as to
+    the mode in which the sound was produced, even though it was repeatedly
+    played immediately before my eyes, and handed to me for my vain and
+    amusing endeavours. The sounds of this little simple toy are liquid and
+    sweet beyond description; and, though here only given in harmonics,
+    I am inclined to think, might, by some ingenious musician or musical
+    instrument-maker, be modulated and converted into something very
+    pleasing.</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>War-whistle</em> (letter <i>h</i>,) is a well known and valued
+    little instrument,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> of six or nine inches in length, invariably made
+    of the bone of the deer or turkey’s leg, and generally ornamented with
+    porcupine quills of different colours which are wound around it. A
+    chief or leader carries this to battle with him, suspended generally
+    from his neck, and worn under his dress. This little instrument has
+    but two notes, which are produced by blowing in the ends of it. The
+    note produced in one end, being much more shrill than the other, gives
+    the signal for battle, whilst the other sounds a retreat; a thing that
+    is distinctly heard and understood by every man, even in the heat and
+    noise of battle, where all are barking and yelling as loud as possible,
+    and of course unable to hear the commands of their leader.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>69</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_102">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_102.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>102</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>There is yet another wind instrument which I have added to my
+    Collection, and from its appearance would seem to have been borrowed,
+    in part, from the civilized world (letter <i>g</i>). This is what is
+    often on the frontier called a “<em>deer-skin flute</em>,” a “Winnebago
+    courting flute,” a “tsal-eet-quash-to,” &amp;c.; it is perforated with
+    holes for the fingers, sometimes for six, at others for four, and in
+    some instances for three only, having only so many notes with their
+    octaves. These notes are very irregularly graduated, showing clearly
+    that they have very little taste or ear for melody. These instruments
+    are blown in the end, and the sound produced much on the principle of a
+    whistle.</p>
+
+  <p>In the vicinity of the Upper Mississippi, I often and familiarly heard
+    this instrument, called the Winnebago courting flute; and was credibly
+    informed by traders and others in those regions, that the young men
+    of that tribe meet with signal success, oftentimes, in wooing their
+    sweethearts with its simple notes, which they blow for hours together,
+    and from day to day, from the bank of some stream—some favourite rock
+    or log on which they are seated, near to the wigwam which contains the
+    object of their tender passion; until her soul is touched, and she
+    responds by some welcome signal, that she is ready to repay the young
+    <em>Orpheus</em> for his pains, with the gift of her hand and her heart.
+    How true these representations may have been made, I cannot say, but
+    there certainly must have been some ground for the present cognomen by
+    which it is known in that country.</p>
+
+  <p>From these rude and exceedingly defective instruments, it will at once
+    be seen, that music has made but little progress with these people; and
+    the same fact will be still more clearly proved, to those who have an
+    opportunity to hear their vocal exhibitions, which are daily and almost
+    hourly serenading the ears of the traveller through their country.</p>
+
+  <p>Dancing is one of the principal and most frequent amusements of all
+    the tribes of Indians in America; and, in all of these, both vocal and
+    instrumental music are introduced. These dances consist in about four
+    different steps, which constitute all the different varieties: but the
+    figures and forms of these scenes are very numerous, and produced by
+    the most violent jumps and contortions, accompanied with the song and
+    beats of the drum, which are given in exact time with their motions.
+    It has been said by some travellers, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> the Indian has neither
+    harmony or melody in his music, but I am unwilling to subscribe to such
+    an assertion; although I grant, that for the most part of their vocal
+    exercises, there is a total absence of what the musical world would
+    call melody; their songs being made up chiefly of a sort of violent
+    chaunt of harsh and jarring gutturals, of yelps and barks, and screams,
+    which are given out in perfect time, not only with “method (but with
+    harmony) in their madness.” There are times too, as every traveller
+    of the Indian country will attest, if he will recall them to his
+    recollection, when the Indian lays down by his fire-side with his drum
+    in his hand, which he lightly and almost imperceptibly touches over, as
+    he accompanies it with his stifled voice of dulcet sounds that might
+    come from the most tender and delicate female.</p>
+
+  <p>These quiet and tender songs are very different from those which are
+    sung at their dances, in full chorus and violent gesticulation; and
+    many of them seem to be quite rich in plaintive expression and melody,
+    though barren of change and variety.</p>
+
+  <p><em>Dancing</em>, I have before said, is one of the principal and most
+    valued amusements of the Indians, and much more frequently practised by
+    them than by any civilized society; inasmuch as it enters into their
+    forms of worship, and is often their mode of appealing to the Great
+    Spirit—of paying their usual devotions to their <em>medicine</em>—and of
+    honouring and entertaining strangers of distinction in their country.</p>
+
+  <p>Instead of the “giddy maze” of the quadrille or the country dance,
+    enlivened by the cheering smiles and graces of silkened beauty, the
+    Indian performs his rounds with jumps, and starts, and yells, much to
+    the satisfaction of his own exclusive self, and infinite amusement
+    of the gentler sex, who are always lookers on, but seldom allowed so
+    great a pleasure, or so signal an honour, as that of joining with
+    their lords in this or any other entertainment. Whilst staying with
+    these people on my way up the river, I was repeatedly honoured with
+    the dance, and I as often hired them to give them, or went to overlook
+    where they were performing them at their own pleasure, in pursuance
+    of their peculiar customs, or for their own amusement, that I might
+    study and correctly herald them to future ages. I saw so many of their
+    different varieties of dances amongst the Sioux, that I should almost
+    be disposed to denominate them the “<em>dancing Indians</em>.” It would
+    actually seem as if they had dances for every thing. And in so large a
+    village, there was scarcely an hour in any day or night, but what the
+    beat of the drum could somewhere be heard. These dances are almost as
+    various and different in their character as they are numerous—some of
+    them so exceedingly grotesque and laughable, as to keep the bystanders
+    in an irresistible roar of laughter—others are calculated to excite his
+    pity, and forcibly appeal to his sympathies, whilst others disgust,
+    and yet others terrify and alarm him with their frightful threats and
+    contortions.</p>
+
+  <p>All the world have heard of the “<em>bear-dance</em>,” though I doubt
+    whether more than a very small proportion have ever seen it; here it
+    is (<a href="#i_102"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 102</a>).<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span> The Sioux, like all the others of these
+    western tribes, are fond of bear’s meat, and must have good stores
+    of the “bear’s-grease” laid in, to oil their long and glossy locks,
+    as well as the surface of their bodies. And they all like the fine
+    pleasure of a bear hunt, and also a participation in the bear dance,
+    which is given several days in succession, previous to their starting
+    out, and in which they all join in a song to the <em>Bear Spirit</em>;
+    which they think holds somewhere an invisible existence, and must be
+    consulted and conciliated before they can enter upon their excursion
+    with any prospect of success. For this grotesque and amusing scene,
+    one of the chief medicine-men, placed over his body the entire skin
+    of a bear, with a war-eagle’s quill on his head, taking the lead in
+    the dance, and looking through the skin which formed a masque that
+    hung over his face. Many others in the dance wore masques on their
+    faces, made of the skin from the bear’s head; and all, with the motions
+    of their hands, closely imitated the movements of that animal; some
+    representing its motion in running, and others the peculiar attitude
+    and hanging of the paws, when it is sitting up on its hind feet,
+    and looking out for the approach of an enemy. This grotesque and
+    amusing masquerade oftentimes is continued at intervals, for several
+    days previous to the starting of a party on the bear hunt, who would
+    scarcely count upon a tolerable prospect of success, without a strict
+    adherence to this most important and indispensible form!</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>70</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_103">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_103.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>103</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>Dancing is done here too, as it is oftentimes done in the enlightened
+    world, to get favours—to buy the world’s goods; and in both countries
+    danced with about equal merit, except that the Indian has surpassed
+    us in honesty by christening it in his own country, the “<em>beggar’s
+    dance</em>.” This spirited dance (<a href="#i_103"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 103</a>), was given, not by
+    a set of <em>beggars</em> though, literally speaking, but by the first
+    and most independent young men in the tribe, beautifully dressed,
+    (<i>i. e.</i> not dressed at all, except with their breech clouts or
+    <em>kelts</em>, made of eagles’ and ravens’ quills,) with their lances,
+    and pipes, and rattles in their hands, and a medicine-man beating the
+    drum, and joining in the song at the highest key of his voice. In this
+    dance every one sings as loud as he can halloo; uniting his voice with
+    the others, in an appeal to the Great Spirit, to open the hearts of
+    the bystanders to give to the poor, and not to themselves; assuring
+    them that the Great Spirit will be kind to those who are kind to the
+    helpless and poor.</p>
+
+  <p>Of <em>scalps</em>, and of the modes and objects of scalping, I have
+    before spoken; and I therein stated, “that most of the scalps were
+    stretched on little hoops for the purpose of being used in the
+    scalp-dance, of which I shall say more at a future time.”</p>
+
+  <p>The <em>Scalp-dance</em> (<a href="#i_104"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 104</a>) is given as a celebration
+    of a victory; and amongst this tribe, as I learned whilst residing
+    with them, danced in the night, by the light of their torches, and
+    just before retiring to bed. When a war party returns from a war
+    excursion, bringing home with them the scalps of their enemies, they
+    generally “dance them” for fifteen nights in succession,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span> vaunting
+    forth the most extravagant boasts of their wonderful prowess in war,
+    whilst they brandish their war weapons in their hands. A number of
+    young women are selected to aid (though they do not actually join in
+    the dance), by stepping into the centre of the ring, and holding up the
+    scalps that have been recently taken, whilst the warriors dance (or
+    rather <em>jump</em>), around in a circle, brandishing their weapons,
+    and barking and yelping in the most frightful manner, all jumping on
+    both feet at a time, with a simultaneous stamp, and blow, and thrust
+    of their weapons; with which it would seem as if they were actually
+    cutting and carving each other to pieces. During these frantic leaps,
+    and yelps, and thrusts, every man distorts his face to the utmost of
+    his muscles, darting about his glaring eye-balls and snapping his
+    teeth, as if he were in the heat (and actually breathing through his
+    inflated nostrils the very hissing death) of battle! No description
+    that can be written, could ever convey more than a feeble outline of
+    the frightful effects of these scenes enacted in the dead and darkness
+    of night, under the glaring light of their blazing flambeaux; nor could
+    all the years allotted to mortal man, in the least obliterate or deface
+    the vivid impress that one scene of this kind would leave upon his
+    memory.</p>
+
+  <p>The precise object for which the scalp is taken, is one which is
+    definitely understood, and has already been explained; but the motive
+    (or motives) for which this strict ceremony is so scrupulously held
+    by all the American tribes, over the scalp of an enemy, is a subject,
+    as yet not satisfactorily settled in my mind. There is no doubt, but
+    one great object in these exhibitions is public exultation; yet there
+    are several conclusive evidences, that there are other and essential
+    motives for thus formally and strictly displaying the scalp. Amongst
+    some of the tribes, it is the custom to bury the scalps after they
+    have gone through this series of public exhibitions; which may in a
+    measure have been held for the purpose of giving them notoriety, and of
+    awarding public credit to the persons who obtained them, and now, from
+    a custom of the tribe, are obliged to part with them. The great respect
+    which seems to be paid to them whilst they use them, as well as the
+    pitying and mournful song which they howl to the <em>manes</em> of their
+    unfortunate victims; as well as the precise care and solemnity with
+    which they afterwards bury the scalps, sufficiently convince me that
+    they have a superstitious dread of the spirits of their slain enemies,
+    and many conciliatory offices to perform, to ensure their own peace;
+    one of which is the ceremony above described.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>71</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_104">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_104.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>104</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <hr class="chap" />
+  <div class="chapter">
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span>
+    <h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_31">LETTER—<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 31.</h2>
+  </div>
+  <div class="subheadc">MOUTH OF TETON RIVER, <i>UPPER MISSOURI</i>.</div>
+
+  <p><span class="smcap">In</span> former Letters I have given some account of the <em>Bisons</em>,
+    or (as they are more familiarly denominated in this country)
+    <em>Buffaloes</em>, which inhabit these regions in numerous herds; and of
+    which I must say yet a little more.</p>
+
+  <p>These noble animals of the ox species, and which have been so well
+    described in our books on Natural History, are a subject of curious
+    interest and great importance in this vast wilderness; rendered
+    peculiarly so at this time, like the history of the poor savage; and
+    from the same consideration, that they are rapidly wasting away at the
+    approach of civilized man—and like him and his character, in a very few
+    years, to live only in books or on canvass.</p>
+
+  <p>The word buffalo is undoubtedly most incorrectly applied to these
+    animals, and I can scarcely tell why they have been so called; for
+    they bear just about as much resemblance to the Eastern buffalo, as
+    they do to a zebra or to a common ox. How nearly they may approach to
+    the bison of Europe, which I never have had an opportunity to see, and
+    which, I am inclined to think, is now nearly extinct, I am unable to
+    say; yet if I were to judge from the numerous engravings I have seen
+    of those animals, and descriptions I have read of them, I should be
+    inclined to think, there was yet a wide difference between the bison
+    of the American prairies, and those in the North of Europe and Asia.
+    The American bison, or (as I shall hereafter call it) buffalo, is the
+    largest of the ruminating animals that is now living in America; and
+    seems to have been spread over the plains of this vast country, by the
+    Great Spirit, for the use and subsistence of the red men, who live
+    almost exclusively on their flesh, and clothe themselves with their
+    skins. The reader, by referring back to <span class="smcap">plates</span> <a href="#i_007">7</a> and <a href="#i_008">8</a>, in the
+    beginning of this Work, will see faithful traces of the male and female
+    of this huge animal, in their proud and free state of nature, grazing
+    on the plains of the country to which they appropriately belong. Their
+    colour is a dark brown, but changing very much as the season varies
+    from warm to cold; their hair or fur, from its great length in the
+    winter and spring, and exposure to the weather, turning quite light,
+    and almost to a jet black, when the winter coat is shed off, and a new
+    growth is shooting out.</p>
+
+  <p>The buffalo bull often grows to the enormous weight of 2000 pounds, and
+    shakes a long and shaggy black mane, that falls in great profusion and
+    <em>confusion</em>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> over his head and shoulders; and oftentimes falling
+    down quite to the ground. The horns are short, but very large, and have
+    but one turn, <i>i. e.</i> they are a simple arch, without the least
+    approach to a spiral form, like those of the common ox, or of the goat
+    species.</p>
+
+  <p>The female is much smaller than the male, and always distinguishable
+    by the peculiar shape of the horns, which are much smaller and more
+    crooked, turning their points more in towards the centre of the
+    forehead.</p>
+
+  <p>One of the most remarkable characteristics of the buffalo, is the
+    peculiar formation and expression of the eye, the ball of which is
+    very large and white, and the iris jet black. The lids of the eye seem
+    always to be strained quite open, and the ball rolling forward and
+    down; so that a considerable part of the iris is hidden behind the
+    lower lid, while the pure white of the eyeball glares out over it in an
+    arch, in the shape of a moon at the end of its first quarter.</p>
+
+  <p>These animals are, truly speaking, gregarious, but not migratory—they
+    graze in immense and almost incredible numbers at times, and roam about
+    and over vast tracts of country, from East to West, and from West to
+    East, as often as from North to South; which has often been supposed
+    they naturally and habitually did to accommodate themselves to the
+    temperature of the climate in the different latitudes. The limits
+    within which they are found in America, are from the 30th to the 55th
+    degrees of North latitude; and their extent from East to West, which is
+    from the border of our extreme Western frontier limits, to the Western
+    verge of the Rocky Mountains, is defined by quite different causes,
+    than those which the degrees of temperature have prescribed to them
+    on the North and the South. Within these 25 degrees of latitude, the
+    buffaloes seem to flourish, and get their living without the necessity
+    of evading the rigour of the climate, for which Nature seems most
+    wisely to have prepared them by the greater or less profusion of fur,
+    with which she has clothed them.</p>
+
+  <p>It is very evident that, as high North as Lake Winnepeg, seven or eight
+    hundred miles North of this, the buffalo subsists itself through the
+    severest winters; getting its food chiefly by browsing amongst the
+    timber, and by pawing through the snow, for a bite at the grass, which
+    in those regions is frozen up very suddenly in the beginning of the
+    winter, with all its juices in it, and consequently furnishes very
+    nutritious and efficient food; and often, if not generally, supporting
+    the animal in better flesh during these difficult seasons of their
+    lives, than they are found to be in, in the 30th degree of latitude,
+    upon the borders of Mexico, where the severity of winter is not known,
+    but during a long and tedious autumn, the herbage, under the influence
+    of a burning sun, is gradually dried away to a mere husk, and its
+    nutriment gone, leaving these poor creatures, even in the dead of
+    winter, to bask in the warmth of a genial sun, without the benefit of a
+    green or juicy thing to bite at.</p>
+
+  <p>The place from which I am now writing, may be said to be the very heart
+    or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span> nucleus of the buffalo country, about equi-distant between the two
+    extremes; and of course, the most congenial temperature for them to
+    flourish in. The finest animals that graze on the prairies are to be
+    found in this latitude; and I am sure I never could send from a better
+    source, some further account of the death and destruction that is dealt
+    among these noble animals, and hurrying on their final extinction.</p>
+
+  <p>The Sioux are a bold and desperate set of horsemen, and great hunters;
+    and in the heart of their country is one of the most extensive
+    assortments of goods, of whiskey, and other saleable commodities, as
+    well as a party of the most indefatigable men, who are constantly
+    calling for every robe that can be stripped from these animals’ backs.</p>
+
+  <p>These are the causes which lead so directly to their rapid destruction;
+    and which open to the view of the traveller so freshly, so vividly, and
+    so familiarly, the scenes of archery—of lancing, and of death-dealing,
+    that belong peculiarly to this wild and shorn country.</p>
+
+  <p>The almost countless herds of these animals that are sometimes met with
+    on these prairies, have been often spoken of by other writers, and may
+    yet be seen by any traveller who will take the pains to visit these
+    regions. The “<em>running season</em>,” which is in August and September,
+    is the time when they congregate into such masses in some places, as
+    literally to blacken the prairies for miles together. It is no uncommon
+    thing at this season, at these gatherings, to see several thousands
+    in a mass, eddying and wheeling about under a cloud of dust, which
+    is raised by the bulls as they are pawing in the dirt, or engaged in
+    desperate combats, as they constantly are, plunging and butting at each
+    other in the most furious manner (<a href="#i_105"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 105</a>). In these scenes,
+    the males are continually following the females, and the whole mass are
+    in constant motion; and all bellowing (or “roaring”) in deep and hollow
+    sounds; which, mingled altogether, appear, at the distance of a mile or
+    two, like the sound of distant thunder.</p>
+
+  <p>During the season whilst they are congregated together in these dense
+    and confused masses, the remainder of the country around for many
+    miles, becomes entirely vacated; and the traveller may spend many a
+    toilsome day, and many a hungry night, without being cheered by the
+    sight of one; where, if he retraces his steps a few weeks after, he
+    will find them dispersed, and grazing quietly in little families and
+    flocks, and equally stocking the whole country. Of these quiet little
+    herds, a fair representation will be seen in <a href="#i_106"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 106</a>, where
+    some are grazing, others at play, or lying down, and others indulging
+    in their “wallows.” “A bull in his wallow” is a frequent saying in this
+    country; and has a very significant meaning with those who have ever
+    seen a buffalo bull performing <em>ablution</em>, or rather endeavouring
+    to cool his heated sides, by tumbling about in a mud puddle.</p>
+
+  <p>In the heat of summer, these huge animals, which, no doubt, suffer very
+    much with the great profusion of their long and shaggy hair or fur,
+    often graze on the low grounds in the prairies, where there is a little
+    stagnant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span> water lying amongst the grass, and the ground underneath
+    being saturated with it, is soft, into which the enormous bull, lowered
+    down upon one knee, will plunge his horns, and at last his head,
+    driving up the earth, and soon making an excavation in the ground, into
+    which the water filters from amongst the grass, forming for him in a
+    few moments, a cool and comfortable bath, into which he plunges like a
+    hog in his mire.</p>
+
+  <p>In this <em>delectable</em> laver, he throws himself flat upon his side,
+    and forcing himself violently around, with his horns and his huge hump
+    on his shoulders presented to the sides, he ploughs up the ground by
+    his rotary motion, sinking himself deeper and deeper in the ground,
+    continually enlarging his pool, in which he at length becomes nearly
+    immersed; and the water and mud about him mixed into a complete mortar,
+    which changes his colour, and drips in streams from every part of him
+    as he rises up upon his feet, a hideous monster of mud and ugliness,
+    too frightful and too eccentric to be described!</p>
+
+  <p>It is generally the leader of the herd that takes upon him to make
+    this excavation; and if not (but another one opens the ground), the
+    leader (who is conqueror) marches forward, and driving the other from
+    it plunges himself into it; and having cooled his sides, and changed
+    his colour to a walking mass of mud and mortar; he stands in the pool
+    until inclination induces him to step out, and give place to the next
+    in command, who stands ready; and another, and another, who advance
+    forward in their turns, to enjoy the luxury of the wallow; until the
+    whole band (sometimes an hundred or more) will pass through it in turn;
+    each one throwing his body around in a similar manner; and each one
+    adding a little to the dimensions of the pool, while he carries away in
+    his hair an equal share of the clay, which dries to a grey or whitish
+    colour, and gradually falls off. By this operation, which is done,
+    perhaps, in the space of half an hour, a circular excavation of fifteen
+    or twenty feet in diameter, and two feet in depth, is completed, and
+    left for the water to run into, which soon fills it to the level of the
+    ground.</p>
+
+  <p>To these sinks, the waters lying on the surface of the prairies, are
+    continually draining, and in them lodging their vegetable deposits;
+    which, after a lapse of years, fill them up to the surface with a rich
+    soil, which throws up an unusual growth of grass and herbage; forming
+    conspicuous circles which arrest the eye of the traveller, and are
+    calculated to excite his surprise for ages to come.</p>
+
+  <p>Many travellers who have penetrated not quite far enough into the
+    Western country to see the habits of these animals, and the manner
+    in which these <em>mysterious</em> circles are made; but who have seen
+    the prairies strewed with their bleached bones, and have beheld
+    these strange circles, which often occur in groups, and of different
+    sizes—have come home with beautiful and ingenious theories (which
+    <em>must needs be made</em>), for the origin of these singular and
+    unaccountable appearances, which, for want of a rational<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span> theory,
+    have generally been attributed to <em>fairy feet</em>, and gained the
+    appellation of “<em>fairy circles</em>.”</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>72</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_105">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_105.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>105</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_106">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_106.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>106</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>Many travellers, again, have supposed that these rings were produced
+    by the dances of the Indians, which are oftentimes (and in fact
+    most generally) performed in a circle; yet a moment’s consideration
+    disproves such a probability, inasmuch as the Indians always select the
+    ground for their dancing near the sites of their villages, and that
+    always on a dry and hard foundation; when these “fairy circles” are
+    uniformly found to be on low and wet ground.</p>
+
+  <p>As my visit to these parts of the “<em>Great Far West</em>” has brought
+    me into the heart of the buffalo country, where I have had abundant
+    opportunities of seeing this noble animal in all its phases—its habits
+    of life, and every mode of its death; I shall take the liberty of being
+    yet a little more particular, and of rendering some further accounts of
+    scenes which I have witnessed in following out my sporting propensities
+    in these singular regions.</p>
+
+  <p>The chief hunting amusement of the Indians in these parts consists in
+    the chase of the buffalo, which is almost invariably done on horseback,
+    with bow and lance. In this exercise, which is highly prized by them,
+    as one of their most valued amusements, as well as for the principal
+    mode of procuring meat for their subsistence, they become exceedingly
+    expert; and are able to slay these huge animals with apparent ease.</p>
+
+  <p>The Indians in these parts are all mounted on small, but serviceable
+    horses, which are caught by them on the prairies, where they are often
+    running wild in numerous bands. The Indian, then, mounted on his little
+    wild horse, which has been through some years of training, dashes off
+    at full speed amongst the herds of buffaloes, elks, or even antelopes,
+    and deals his deadly arrows to their hearts from his horse’s back. The
+    horse is the fleetest animal of the prairie, and easily brings his
+    rider alongside of his game, which falls a certain prey to his deadly
+    shafts, at the distance of a few paces.</p>
+
+  <p>In the chase of the buffalo, or other animal, the Indian generally
+    “strips” himself and his horse, by throwing off his shield and quiver,
+    and every part of his dress, which might be an encumbrance to him in
+    running; grasping his bow in his left hand, with five or six arrows
+    drawn from his quiver, and ready for instant use. In his right hand (or
+    attached to the wrist) is a heavy whip, which he uses without mercy,
+    and forces his horse alongside of his game at the swiftest speed.</p>
+
+  <p>These horses are so trained, that the Indian has little use for the
+    rein, which hangs on the neck, whilst the horse approaches the animal
+    on the right side (<a href="#i_107"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 107</a>), giving his rider the chance
+    to throw his arrow to the left; which he does at the instant when the
+    horse is passing—bringing him opposite to the heart, which receives the
+    deadly weapon “to the feather.” When pursuing a large herd, the Indian
+    generally rides close in the rear, until he selects the animal he
+    wishes to kill, which he separates from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span> throng as soon as he can,
+    by dashing his horse between it and the herd, and forcing it off by
+    itself; where he can approach it without the danger of being trampled
+    to death, to which he is often liable by too closely escorting the
+    multitude.</p>
+
+  <p>In <a href="#i_107"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 107</a>, I have fairly represented the mode of
+    <em>approaching</em>, at the instant the arrow is to be thrown; and the
+    striking disparity between the size of a huge bull of 2000 pounds
+    weight, and the Indian horse, which, it will be borne in mind, is but a
+    pony.</p>
+
+  <p>No bridle whatever is used in this country by the Indians, as they have
+    no knowledge of a bit. A short halter, however, which answers in place
+    of a bridle, is in general use; of which they usually form a noose
+    around the under jaw of the horse, by which they get great power over
+    the animal; and which they use generally to <em>stop</em> rather than
+    <em>guide</em> the horse. This halter is called by the French Traders in
+    the country, <i lang="fr">l’arrêt</i>, the stop, and has great power in arresting
+    the speed of a horse; though it is extremely dangerous to use too
+    freely as a guide, interfering too much with the freedom of his limbs,
+    for the certainty of his feet and security of his rider.</p>
+
+  <p>When the Indian then has directed the course of his steed to the animal
+    which he has selected, the training of the horse is such, that it knows
+    the object of its rider’s selection, and exerts every muscle to give it
+    close company; while the halter lies loose and untouched upon its neck,
+    and the rider leans quite forward, and off from the side of his horse,
+    with his bow drawn, and ready for the deadly shot, which is given
+    at the instant he is opposite to the animal’s body. The horse being
+    instinctively afraid of the animal (though he generally brings his
+    rider within the reach of the end of his bow), keeps his eye strained
+    upon the furious enemy he is so closely encountering; and the moment
+    he has approached to the nearest distance required, and has passed the
+    animal, whether the shot is given or not, he gradually sheers off, to
+    prevent coming on to the horns of the infuriated beast, which often
+    are instantly turned, and presented for the fatal reception of its
+    too familiar attendant. These frightful collisions often take place,
+    notwithstanding the sagacity of the horse, and the caution of its
+    rider; for in these extraordinary (and inexpressible) exhilarations of
+    chase, which seem to drown the prudence alike, of instinct and reason,
+    both horse and rider often seem rushing on to destruction, as if it
+    were mere pastime and amusement.<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+  <p>I have always counted myself a prudent man, yet I have often
+    <em>waked</em> (as it were) out of the delirium of the chase (into which
+    I had fallen, as into an agitated sleep, and through which I had passed
+    as through a delightful dream), where to have died would have been but
+    to have remained, riding on, without a struggle or a pang.</p>
+
+  <p>In some of these, too, I have arisen from the prairie, covered with
+    dirt and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span>blood, having severed company with gun and horse, the one
+    lying some twenty or thirty feet from me with a broken stalk, and the
+    other coolly brousing on the grass at half a mile distance, without
+    man, and without other beast remaining in sight.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>73</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_107">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_107.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>107</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_108">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_108.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>108</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>For the novice in these scenes there is much danger of his limbs and
+    his life, and he finds it a hard and a desperate struggle that brings
+    him in at <em>the death</em> of these huge monsters, except where it has
+    been produced by hands that have acquired more sleight and tact than
+    his own.</p>
+
+  <p>With the Indian, who has made this the every day sport and amusement of
+    his life, there is less difficulty and less danger; he rides without
+    “losing his breath,” and his unagitated hand deals <em>certainty</em> in
+    its deadly blows.</p>
+
+  <p>In <a href="#i_108"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 108</a>, I have represented a party of Indians in chase
+    of a herd some of whom are pursuing with lance and others with bows and
+    arrows. The group in the foreground shews the attitude at the instant
+    after the arrow has been thrown and driven to the heart; the Indian at
+    full speed, and the <em>laso</em> dragging behind his horse’s heels. The
+    laso is a long thong of rawhide, of ten or fifteen yards in length,
+    made of several braids or twists, and used chiefly to catch the wild
+    horse, which is done by throwing over their necks a noose which is made
+    at the end of the <em>laso</em>, with which they are “choked down.” In
+    running the buffaloes, or in time of war, the <em>laso</em> drags on the
+    ground at the horse’s feet, and sometimes several rods behind, so that
+    if a man is dismounted, which is often the case, by the tripping or
+    stumbling of the horse, he has the power of grasping to the laso, and
+    by stubbornly holding on to it, of stopping and securing his horse, on
+    whose back he is instantly replaced, and continuing on in the chase.</p>
+
+  <p>In the dead of the winters, which are very long and severely cold in
+    this country, where horses cannot be brought into the chase with any
+    avail, the Indian runs upon the surface of the snow by the aid of his
+    snow shoes, which buoy him up, while the great weight of the buffaloes,
+    sinks them down to the middle of their sides, and completely stopping
+    their progress, ensures them certain and easy victims to the bow or
+    lance of their pursuers, as in <a href="#i_109"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 109</a>. The snow in these
+    regions often lies during the winter, to the depth of three and four
+    feet, being blown away from the tops and sides of the hills in many
+    places, which are left bare for the buffaloes to graze upon, whilst
+    it is drifted in the hollows and ravines to a very great depth, and
+    rendered almost entirely impassable to these huge animals, which, when
+    closely pursued by their enemies, endeavour to plunge through it,
+    but are soon wedged in and almost unable to move, where they fall an
+    easy prey to the Indian, who runs up lightly upon his snow shoes and
+    drives his lance to their hearts. The skins are then stripped off, to
+    be sold to the Fur Traders, and the carcasses left to be devoured by
+    the wolves. This is the season in which the greatest number of these
+    animals are destroyed for their robes—they are most easily killed at
+    this time, and their hair or fur being longer and more abundant, gives
+    greater value to the robe.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span></p>
+
+  <p>The Indians generally kill and dry meat enough in the fall, when it
+    is fat and juicy, to last them through the winter; so that they have
+    little other object for this unlimited slaughter, amid the drifts
+    of snow, than that of procuring their robes for traffic with their
+    Traders. The snow shoes are made in a great many forms, of two and
+    three feet in length, and one foot or more in width, of a hoop or
+    hoops bent around for the frame, with a netting or web woven across
+    with strings of rawhide, on which the feet rest, and to which they are
+    fastened with straps somewhat like a skate.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> With these the Indian
+    will glide over the snow with astonishing quickness, without sinking
+    down, or scarcely leaving his track where he has gone.</p>
+
+  <p>The poor buffaloes have their enemy <em>man</em>, besetting and beseiging
+    them at all times of the year, and in all the modes that man in his
+    superior wisdom has been able to devise for their destruction. They
+    struggle in vain to evade his deadly shafts, when he dashes amongst
+    them over the plains on his wild horse—they plunge into the snow-drifts
+    where they yield themselves an easy prey to their destroyers, and they
+    also stand unwittingly and behold him, unsuspected under the skin of
+    a white wolf, insinuating himself and his fatal weapons into close
+    company, when they are peaceably grazing on the level prairies, and
+    shot down before they are aware of their danger (<a href="#i_110"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 110</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>There are several varieties of the wolf species in this country, the
+    most formidable and most numerous of which are white, often sneaking
+    about in gangs or families of fifty or sixty in numbers, appearing in
+    distance, on the green prairies like nothing but a flock of sheep.
+    Many of these animals grow to a very great size, being I should think,
+    quite a match for the largest Newfoundland dog. At present, whilst the
+    buffaloes are so abundant, and these ferocious animals are glutted
+    with the buffalo’s flesh, they are harmless, and everywhere sneak away
+    from man’s presence; which I scarcely think will be the case after
+    the buffaloes are all gone, and they are left, as they must be, with
+    scarcely anything to eat. They always are seen following about in the
+    vicinity of herds of buffaloes and stand ready to pick the bones of
+    those that the hunters leave on the ground, or to overtake and devour
+    those that are wounded, which fall an easy prey to them. While the herd
+    of buffaloes are together, they seem to have little dread of the wolf,
+    and allow them to come in close company with them. The Indian then has
+    taken advantage of this fact, and often places himself under the skin
+    of this animal, and crawls for half a mile or more on his hands and
+    knees, until he approaches within a few rods of the unsuspecting group,
+    and easily shoots down the fattest of the throng.</p>
+
+  <p>The buffalo is a very timid animal, and shuns the vicinity of man
+    with the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span>keenest sagacity; yet, when overtaken, and harassed or
+    wounded, turns upon its assailants with the utmost fury, who have only
+    to seek safety in flight. In their desperate resistance the finest
+    horses are often destroyed; but the Indian, with his superior sagacity
+    and dexterity, generally finds some effective mode of escape, as in
+    <a href="#i_111"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 111</a>.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>74</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_109">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_109.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>109</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_110">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_110.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>110</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>During the season of the year whilst the calves are young, the male
+    seems to stroll about by the side of the dam, as if for the purpose
+    of protecting the young, at which time it is exceedingly hazardous
+    to attack them, as they are sure to turn upon their pursuers, who
+    have often to fly to each others assistance (<a href="#i_112"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 112</a>). The
+    buffalo calf, during the first six months is red, and has so much the
+    appearance of a red calf in cultivated fields, that it could easily be
+    mingled and mistaken amongst them. In the fall, when it changes its
+    hair it takes a brown coat for the winter, which it always retains.
+    In pursuing a large herd of buffaloes at the season when their calves
+    are but a few weeks old, I have often been exceedingly amused with the
+    curious manœuvres of these shy little things. Amidst the thundering
+    confusion of a throng of several hundreds or several thousands of
+    these animals, there will be many of the calves that lose sight
+    of their dams; and being left behind by the throng, and the swift
+    passing hunters, they endeavour to secrete themselves, when they are
+    exceedingly put to it on a level prairie, where nought can be seen but
+    the short grass of six or eight inches in height, save an occasional
+    bunch of wild sage, a few inches higher, to which the poor affrighted
+    things will run, and dropping on their knees, will push their noses
+    under it, and into the grass, where they will stand for hours, with
+    their eyes shut, imagining themselves securely hid, whilst they are
+    standing up quite straight upon their hind feet and can easily be seen
+    at several miles distance. It is a familiar amusement for us accustomed
+    to these scenes, to retreat back over the ground where we have just
+    escorted the herd, and approach these little trembling things, which
+    stubbornly maintain their positions, with their noses pushed under
+    the grass, and their eyes strained upon us, as we dismount from our
+    horses and are passing around them. From this fixed position they are
+    sure not to move, until hands are laid upon them, and then for the
+    shins of a novice, we can extend our sympathy; or if he can preserve
+    the skin on his bones from the furious buttings of its head, we know
+    how to congratulate him on his signal success and good luck. In these
+    desperate struggles, for a moment, the little thing is conquered,
+    and makes no further resistance. And I have often, in concurrence
+    with a known custom of the country, held my hands over the eyes of
+    the calf, and breathed a few strong breaths into its nostrils; after
+    which I have, with my hunting companions, rode several miles into our
+    encampment, with the little prisoner busily following the heels of my
+    horse the whole way, as closely and as affectionately as its instinct
+    would attach it to the company of its dam!</p>
+
+  <p>This is one of the most extraordinary things that I have met with
+    in the habits of this wild country, and although I had often heard
+    of it, and felt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span> unable exactly to believe it, I am now willing to
+    bear testimony to the fact, from the numerous instances which I have
+    witnessed since I came into the country. During the time that I resided
+    at this post, in the spring of the year, on my way up the river, I
+    assisted (in numerous hunts of the buffalo, with the Fur Company’s
+    men,) in bringing in, in the above manner, several of these little
+    prisoners, which sometimes followed for five or six miles close to
+    our horses’ heels, and even into the Fur Company’s Fort, and into the
+    stable where our horses were led. In this way, before I left for the
+    head waters of the Missouri, I think we had collected about a dozen,
+    which Mr. Laidlaw was successfully raising with the aid of a good milch
+    cow, and which were to be committed to the care of Mr. Chouteau to be
+    transported by the return of the steamer, to his extensive plantation
+    in the vicinity of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p>
+
+  <p>It is truly a melancholy contemplation for the traveller in this
+    country, to anticipate the period which is not far distant, when the
+    last of these noble animals, at the hands of white and red men, will
+    fall victims to their cruel and improvident rapacity; leaving these
+    beautiful green fields, a vast and idle waste, unstocked and unpeopled
+    for ages to come, until the bones of the one and the traditions of the
+    other will have vanished, and left scarce an intelligible trace behind.</p>
+
+  <p>That the reader should not think me visionary in these contemplations,
+    or romancing in making such assertions, I will hand him the following
+    item of the extravagancies which are practiced in these regions, and
+    rapidly leading to the results which I have just named.</p>
+
+  <p>When I first arrived at this place, on my way up the river, which was
+    in the month of May, in 1832, and had taken up my lodgings in the Fur
+    Company’s Fort, Mr. Laidlaw, of whom I have before spoken, and also his
+    chief clerk, Mr. Halsey, and many of their men, as well as the chiefs
+    of the Sioux, told me, that only a few days before I arrived, (when an
+    immense herd of buffaloes had showed themselves on the opposite side of
+    the river, almost blackening the plains for a great distance,) a party
+    of five or six hundred Sioux Indians on horseback, forded the river
+    about mid-day, and spending a few hours amongst them, recrossed the
+    river at sun-down and came into the Fort with <em>fourteen hundred fresh
+    buffalo tongues</em>, which were thrown down in a mass, and for which
+    they required but a few gallons of whiskey, which was soon demolished,
+    indulging them in a little, and harmless carouse.</p>
+
+  <p>This profligate waste of the lives of these noble and useful animals,
+    when, from all that I could learn, not a skin or a pound of the
+    meat (except the tongues), was brought in, fully supports me in
+    the seemingly extravagant <span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span>predictions that I have made as to
+    their extinction, which I am certain is near at hand. In the above
+    extravagant instance, at a season when their skins were without fur and
+    not worth taking off, and their camp was so well stocked with fresh and
+    dried meat, that they had no occasion for using the flesh, there is a
+    fair exhibition of the improvident character of the savage, and also of
+    his recklessness in catering for his appetite, so long as the present
+    inducements are held out to him in his country, for its gratification.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>75</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_111">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_111.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>111</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_112">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_112.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>112</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>In this singular country, where the poor Indians have no laws or
+    regulations of society, making it a vice or an impropriety to drink to
+    excess, they think it no harm to indulge in the delicious beverage, as
+    long as they are able to buy whiskey to drink. They look to white men
+    as wiser than themselves, and able to set them examples—they see none
+    of these in their country but sellers of whiskey, who are constantly
+    tendering it to them, and most of them setting the example by using it
+    themselves; and they easily acquire a taste, that to be catered for,
+    where whiskey is sold at sixteen dollars per gallon, soon impoverishes
+    them, and must soon strip the skin from the last buffalo’s back that
+    lives in their country, to “be dressed by their squaws” and vended to
+    the Traders for a pint of diluted alcohol.</p>
+
+  <p>From the above remarks it will be seen, that not only the red men, but
+    red men and white, have aimed destruction at the race of these animals;
+    and with them, <em>beasts</em> have turned hunters of buffaloes in this
+    country, slaying them, however, in less numbers, and for far more
+    laudable purpose than that of selling their skins. The white wolves, of
+    which I have spoken in a former epistle, follow the herds of buffaloes
+    as I have said, from one season to another, glutting themselves on the
+    carcasses of those that fall by the deadly shafts of their enemies,
+    or linger with disease or old age to be dispatched by these sneaking
+    cormorants, who are ready at all times kindly to relieve them from the
+    pangs of a lingering death.</p>
+
+  <p>Whilst the herd is together, the wolves never attack them, as they
+    instantly gather for combined resistance, which they effectually make.
+    But when the herds are travelling, it often happens that an aged or
+    wounded one, lingers at a distance behind, and when fairly out of sight
+    of the herd, is set upon by these voracious hunters, which often gather
+    to the number of fifty or more, and are sure at last to torture him
+    to death, and use him up at a meal. The buffalo, however, is a huge
+    and furious animal, and when his retreat is cut off, makes desperate
+    and deadly resistance, contending to the last moment for the right of
+    life—and oftentimes deals death by wholesale, to his canine assailants,
+    which he is tossing into the air or stamping to death under his feet
+    (<a href="#i_113"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 113</a>).</p>
+
+  <p>During my travels in these regions, I have several times come across
+    such a gang of these animals surrounding an old or a wounded bull,
+    where it would seem, from appearances, that they had been for several
+    days in attendance, and at intervals desperately engaged in the
+    effort to take his life. But a short time since, as one of my hunting
+    companions and myself were returning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span> to our encampment with our horses
+    loaded with meat, we discovered at a distance, a huge bull, encircled
+    with a gang of white wolves; we rode up as near as we could without
+    driving them away, and being within pistol shot, we had a remarkably
+    good view, where I sat for a few moments and made a sketch in my
+    note-book (<a href="#i_114"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 114</a>); after which, we rode up and gave the
+    signal for them to disperse, which they instantly did, withdrawing
+    themselves to the distance of fifty or sixty rods, when we found, to
+    our great surprise, that the animal had made desperate resistance,
+    until his eyes were entirely eaten out of his head—the grizzle of his
+    nose was mostly gone—his tongue was half eaten off, and the skin and
+    flesh of his legs torn almost literally into strings. In this tattered
+    and torn condition, the poor old veteran stood bracing up in the midst
+    of his devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a few minutes, to
+    enjoy a sort of parley, recovering strength and preparing to resume
+    the attack in a few moments again. In this group, some were reclining,
+    to gain breath, whilst others were sneaking about and licking their
+    chaps in anxiety for a renewal of the attack; and others, less lucky,
+    had been crushed to death by the feet or the horns of the bull. I rode
+    nearer to the pitiable object as he stood bleeding and trembling before
+    me, and said to him, “Now is your time, old fellow, and you had better
+    be off.” Though blind and nearly destroyed, there seemed evidently
+    to be a recognition of a friend in me, as he straightened up, and,
+    trembling with excitement, dashed off at full speed upon the prairie,
+    in a straight line. We turned our horses and resumed our march, and
+    when we had advanced a mile or more, we looked back, and on our left,
+    where we saw again the ill-fated animal surrounded by his tormentors,
+    to whose insatiable voracity he unquestionably soon fell a victim.</p>
+
+  <p>Thus much I wrote of the buffaloes, and of the accidents that befall
+    them, as well as of the fate that awaits them; and before I closed my
+    book, I strolled out one day to the shade of a plum-tree, where I laid
+    in the grass on a favourite bluff, and wrote thus:—</p>
+
+  <p>“It is generally supposed, and familiarly said, that a man
+    ‘<em>falls</em>’ into a rêverie; but I seated myself in the shade a few
+    minutes since, resolved to <em>force</em> myself into one; and for this
+    purpose I laid open a small pocket-map of North America, and excluding
+    my thoughts from every other object in the world, I soon succeeded in
+    producing the desired illusion. This little chart, over which I bent,
+    was seen in all its parts, as nothing but the green and vivid reality.
+    I was lifted up upon an imaginary pair of wings, which easily raised
+    and held me floating in the open air, from whence I could behold
+    beneath me the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans—the great cities of the
+    East, and the mighty rivers. I could see the blue chain of the great
+    lakes at the North—the Rocky Mountains, and beneath them and near
+    their base, the vast, and almost boundless plains of grass, which were
+    speckled with the bands of grazing buffaloes!</p>
+
+  <p>“The world turned gently around, and I examined its surface; continent
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span>after continent passed under my eye, and yet amidst them all, I saw
+    not the vast and vivid green, that is spread like a carpet over the
+    Western wilds of my own country. I saw not elsewhere in the world, the
+    myriad herds of buffaloes—my eyes scanned in vain, for they were not.
+    And when I turned again to the wilds of my native land, I beheld them
+    all in motion! For the distance of several hundreds of miles from North
+    to South, they were wheeling about in vast columns and herds—some were
+    scattered, and ran with furious wildness—some lay dead, and others
+    were pawing the earth for a hiding-place—some were sinking down and
+    dying, gushing out their life’s blood in deep-drawn sighs—and others
+    were contending in furious battle for the life they possessed, and
+    the ground that they stood upon. They had long since assembled from
+    the thickets, and secret haunts of the deep forest, into the midst of
+    the treeless and bushless plains, as the place for their safety. I
+    could see in an hundred places, amid the wheeling bands, and on their
+    skirts and flanks, the leaping wild horse darting among them. I saw
+    not the arrows, nor heard the twang of the sinewy bows that sent them;
+    but I saw their victims fall!—on other steeds that rushed along their
+    sides I saw the glistening lances, which seemed to lay across them;
+    their blades were blazing in the sun, till dipped in blood, and then
+    I lost them! In other parts (and there were many), the vivid flash of
+    <em>fire-arms</em> was seen—<em>their</em> victims fell too, and over their
+    dead bodies hung suspended in air, little clouds of whitened smoke,
+    from under which the flying horsemen had darted forward to mingle again
+    with, and deal death to, the trampling throng.</p>
+
+  <div class="plate mt2"><i>76</i></div>
+  <figure id="i_113">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_113.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>113</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <figure class="mt2" id="i_114">
+    <img class="illowp100" src="images/i_114.jpg" alt="" />
+     <figcaption>114</figcaption>
+  </figure>
+
+  <p>“So strange were men mixed (both red and white) with the countless
+    herds that wheeled and eddyed about, that all below seemed one vast
+    extended field of battle—whole armies, in some places, seemed to
+    blacken the earth’s surface;—in other parts, regiments, battalions,
+    wings, platoons, rank and file, and “<em>Indian-file</em>”—all were in
+    motion; and death and destruction seemed to be the watch-word amongst
+    them. In their turmoil, they sent up great clouds of dust, and with
+    them came the mingled din of groans and trampling hoofs, that seemed
+    like the rumbling of a dreadful cataract, or the roaring of distant
+    thunder. Alternate pity and admiration harrowed up in my bosom and my
+    brain, many a hidden thought; and amongst them a few of the beautiful
+    notes that were once sung, and exactly in point: ‘<i lang="la">Quadrupedante
+    putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.</i>’ Even such was the din amidst
+    the quadrupeds of these vast plains. And from the craggy cliffs of the
+    Rocky Mountains also were seen descending into the valley, the myriad
+    Tartars, who had not horses to ride, but before their well-drawn bows
+    the fattest of the herds were falling. Hundreds and thousands were
+    strewed upon the plains—they were flayed, and their reddened carcasses
+    left; and about them bands of wolves, and dogs, and buzzards were
+    seen devouring them. Contiguous, and in sight, were the distant and
+    feeble smokes of wigwams and villages, where the skins were dragged,
+    and dressed for white man’s luxury! where they were all sold for
+    <em>whiskey</em>, and the poor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span> Indians laid drunk, and were crying.
+    I cast my eyes into the towns and cities of the East, and there I
+    beheld buffalo robes hanging at almost every door for traffic; and I
+    saw also the curling smokes of a thousand <em>Stills</em>—and I said,
+    ‘Oh insatiable man, is thy avarice such! wouldst thou tear the skin
+    from the back of the last animal of this noble race, <em>and rob thy
+    fellow-man of his meat, and for it give him poison</em>!’” <span class="gesperrtstar">* * * * * * * * * * *</span></p>
+
+  <p>Many are the rudenesses and wilds in Nature’s works, which are destined
+    to fall before the deadly axe and desolating hands of cultivating man;
+    and so amongst her ranks of <em>living</em>, of beast and human, we
+    often find noble stamps, or beautiful colours, to which our admiration
+    clings; and even in the overwhelming march of civilized improvements
+    and refinements do we love to cherish their existence, and lend our
+    efforts to preserve them in their primitive rudeness. Such of Nature’s
+    works are always worthy of our preservation and protection; and the
+    further we become separated (and the face of the country) from that
+    pristine wildness and beauty, the more pleasure does the mind of
+    enlightened man feel in recurring to those scenes, when he can have
+    them preserved for his eyes and his mind to dwell upon.</p>
+
+  <p>Of such “rudenesses and wilds,” Nature has no where presented more
+    beautiful and lovely scenes, than those of the vast prairies of the
+    West; and of <em>man</em> and <em>beast</em>, no nobler specimens than
+    those who inhabit them—the <em>Indian</em> and the <em>buffalo</em>—joint
+    and original tenants of the soil, and fugitives together from the
+    approach of civilized man; they have fled to the great plains of the
+    West, and there, under an equal doom, they have taken up their <em>last
+    abode</em>, where their race will expire, and their bones will bleach
+    together.</p>
+
+  <p>It may be that <em>power</em> is <em>right</em>, and <em>voracity</em> a
+    <em>virtue</em>; and that these people, and these noble animals, are
+    <em>righteously</em> doomed to an issue that <em>will</em> not be averted.
+    It can be easily proved—we have a civilized science that can easily do
+    it, or anything else that may be required to cover the iniquities of
+    civilized man in catering for his unholy appetites. It can be proved
+    that the weak and ignorant have no <em>rights</em>—that there can be no
+    virtue in darkness—that God’s gifts have no meaning or merit until they
+    are appropriated by civilized man—by him brought into the light, and
+    converted to his use and luxury. We have a mode of reasoning (I forget
+    what it is called) by which all this can be proved, and even more. The
+    <em>word</em> and the <em>system</em> are entirely of <em>civilized</em>
+    origin; and latitude is admirably given to them in proportion to
+    the increase of civilized wants, which often require a <em>judge</em>
+    to overrule the laws of nature. I say that <em>we</em> can prove such
+    things; but an <em>Indian</em> cannot. It is a mode of reasoning unknown
+    to him in his nature’s simplicity, but admirably adapted to subserve
+    the interests of the enlightened world, who are always their own
+    judges, when dealing with the savage; and who, in the present refined
+    age, have many appetites that can only be lawfully indulged, by proving
+    God’s laws defective.</p>
+
+  <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span></p>
+
+  <p>It is not enough in this polished and extravagant age, that we get from
+    the Indian his lands, and the very clothes from his back, but the food
+    from their mouths must be stopped, to add a new and useless article to
+    the fashionable world’s luxuries. The ranks must be thinned, and the
+    race exterminated, of this noble animal, and the Indians of the great
+    plains left without the means of supporting life, that white men may
+    figure a few years longer, enveloped in buffalo robes—that they may
+    spread them, for their pleasure and elegance, over the backs of their
+    sleighs, and trail them ostentatiously amidst the busy throng, as
+    things of beauty and elegance that had been made for them!</p>
+
+  <p>Reader! listen to the following calculations, and forget them not.
+    The buffaloes (the quadrupeds from whose backs your beautiful robes
+    were taken, and whose myriads were once spread over the whole country,
+    from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean) have recently fled
+    before the appalling appearance of civilized man, and taken up their
+    abode and pasturage amid the almost boundless prairies of the West.
+    An instinctive dread of their deadly foes, who made an easy prey of
+    them whilst grazing in the forest, has led them to seek the midst of
+    the vast and treeless plains of grass, as the spot where they would be
+    least exposed to the assaults of their enemies; and it is exclusively
+    in those desolate fields of silence (yet of beauty) that they are to
+    be found—and over these vast steppes, or prairies, have they fled,
+    like the Indian, towards the “setting sun;” until their bands have
+    been crowded together, and their limits confined to a narrow strip of
+    country on this side of the Rocky Mountains.</p>
+
+  <p>This strip of country, which extends from the province of Mexico to
+    lake Winnepeg on the North, is almost one entire plain of grass, which
+    is, and ever must be, useless to cultivating man. It is here, and
+    here chiefly, that the buffaloes dwell; and with, and hovering about
+    them, live and flourish the tribes of Indians, whom God made for the
+    enjoyment of that fair land and its luxuries.</p>
+
+  <p>It is a melancholy contemplation for one who has travelled as I have,
+    through these realms, and seen this noble animal in all its pride and
+    glory, to contemplate it so rapidly wasting from the world, drawing the
+    irresistible conclusion too, which one must do, that its species is
+    soon to be extinguished, and with it the peace and happiness (if not
+    the actual existence) of the tribes of Indians who are joint tenants
+    with them, in the occupancy of these vast and idle plains.</p>
+
+  <p>And what a splendid contemplation too, when one (who has travelled
+    these realms, and can duly appreciate them) imagines them as they
+    <em>might</em> in future be seen, (by some great protecting policy of
+    government) preserved in their pristine beauty and wildness, in a
+    <em>magnificent park</em>, where the world could see for ages to come,
+    the native Indian in his classic attire, galloping his wild horse,
+    with sinewy bow, and shield and lance, amid the fleeting herds of elks
+    and buffaloes. What a beautiful and thrilling specimen for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> America to
+    preserve and hold up to the view of her refined citizens and the world,
+    in future ages! A <em>nation’s Park</em>, containing man and beast, in
+    all the wild and freshness of their nature’s beauty!</p>
+
+  <p>I would ask no other monument to my memory, nor any other enrolment of
+    my name amongst the famous dead, than the reputation of having been the
+    founder of such an institution.</p>
+
+  <p>Such scenes might easily have been preserved, and still could be
+    cherished on the great plains of the West, without detriment to
+    the country or its borders; for the tracts of country on which the
+    buffaloes have assembled, are uniformly sterile, and of no available
+    use to cultivating man.</p>
+
+  <p>It is on these plains, which are stocked with buffaloes, that the
+    finest specimens of the Indian race are to be seen. It is here, that
+    the savage is decorated in the richest costume. It is here, and here
+    only, that his wants are all satisfied, and even the <em>luxuries</em> of
+    life are afforded him in abundance. And here also is he the proud and
+    honourable man (before he has had teachers or laws), above the imported
+    wants, which beget meanness and vice; stimulated by ideas of honour and
+    virtue, in which the God of Nature has certainly not curtailed him.</p>
+
+  <p>There are, by a fair calculation, more than 300,000 Indians, who are
+    now subsisted on the flesh of the buffaloes, and by those animals
+    supplied with all the luxuries of life which they desire, as they
+    know of none others. The great variety of uses to which they convert
+    the body and other parts of that animal, are almost incredible to
+    the person who has not actually dwelt amongst these people, and
+    closely studied their modes and customs. Every part of their flesh is
+    converted into food, in one shape or another, and on it they entirely
+    subsist. The robes of the animals are worn by the Indians instead of
+    blankets—their skins when tanned, are used as coverings for their
+    lodges, and for their beds; undressed, they are used for constructing
+    canoes—for saddles, for bridles—l’arrêts, lasos, and thongs. The horns
+    are shaped into ladles and spoons—the brains are used for dressing the
+    skins—their bones are used for saddle trees—for war clubs, and scrapers
+    for graining the robes—and others are broken up for the marrow-fat
+    which is contained in them. Their sinews are used for strings and backs
+    to their bows—for thread to string their beads and sew their dresses.
+    The feet of the animals are boiled, with their hoofs, for the glue
+    they contain, for fastening their arrow points, and many other uses.
+    The hair from the head and shoulders, which is long, is twisted and
+    braided into halters, and the tail is used for a fly brush. In this
+    wise do these people convert and use the various parts of this useful
+    animal, and with all these luxuries of life about them, and their
+    numerous games, they are happy (God bless them) in the ignorance of the
+    disastrous fate that awaits them.</p>
+
+  <p>Yet this interesting community, with its sports, its wildnesses, its
+    languages, and all its manners and customs, could be perpetuated, and
+    also the buffaloes, whose numbers would increase and supply them with
+    food for ages and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> centuries to come, if a system of non-intercourse
+    could be established and preserved. But such is not to be the case—the
+    buffalo’s doom is sealed, and with their extinction must assuredly sink
+    into real despair and starvation, the inhabitants of these vast plains,
+    which afford for the Indians, no other possible means of subsistence;
+    and they must at last fall a prey to wolves and buzzards, who will have
+    no other bones to pick.</p>
+
+  <p>It seems hard and cruel, (does it not?) that we civilized people with
+    all the luxuries and comforts of the world about us, should be drawing
+    from the backs of these useful animals the skins for our luxury,
+    leaving their carcasses to be devoured by the wolves—that we should
+    draw from that country, some 150 or 200,000 of their robes annually,
+    the greater part of which are taken from animals that are killed
+    expressly for the robe, at a season when the meat is not cured and
+    preserved, and for each of which skins the Indian has received but a
+    pint of whiskey!</p>
+
+  <p>Such is the fact, and that number or near it, are annually destroyed,
+    in addition to the number that is necessarily killed for the
+    subsistence of 300,000 Indians, who live entirely upon them. It may
+    be said, perhaps, that the Fur Trade of these great western realms,
+    which is now limited chiefly to the purchase of buffalo robes, is of
+    great and national importance, and should and must be encouraged. To
+    such a suggestion I would reply, by merely enquiring, (independently
+    of the poor Indians’ disasters,) how much more advantageously would
+    such a capital be employed, both for the weal of the country and for
+    the owners, if it were invested in machines for the manufacture of
+    <em>woollen robes</em>, of equal and superior value and beauty; thereby
+    encouraging the growers of wool, and the industrious manufacturer,
+    rather than cultivating a taste for the use of buffalo skins; which is
+    just to be acquired, and then, from necessity, to be dispensed with,
+    when a few years shall have destroyed the last of the animals producing
+    them.</p>
+
+  <p>It may be answered, perhaps, that the necessaries of life are given in
+    exchange for these robes; but what, I would ask, are the necessities
+    in Indian life, where they have buffaloes in abundance to live on? The
+    Indian’s necessities are entirely artificial—are all created; and when
+    the buffaloes shall have disappeared in his country, which will be
+    within <em>eight</em> or <em>ten</em> years, I would ask, who is to supply
+    him with the necessaries of life then? and I would ask, further, (and
+    leave the question to be answered ten years hence), when the skin shall
+    have been stripped from the back of the last animal, who is to resist
+    the ravages of 300,000 starving savages; and in their trains, 1,500,000
+    wolves, whom direst necessity will have driven from their desolate and
+    gameless plains, to seek for the means of subsistence along our exposed
+    frontier? God has everywhere supplied man in a state of Nature, with
+    the necessaries of life, and before we destroy the game of his country,
+    or teach him new desires, he has no wants that are not satisfied.</p>
+
+  <p>Amongst the tribes who have been impoverished and repeatedly removed,
+    the necessaries of life are extended with a better grace from the
+    hands of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> civilized man; 90,000 of such have already been removed, and
+    they draw from Government some 5 or 600,000 dollars annually in cash;
+    <em>which money passes immediately into the hands of white men</em>, and
+    for it the necessaries of life <em>may be</em> abundantly furnished. But
+    who, I would ask, are to furnish the Indians who have been instructed
+    in this unnatural mode—living upon <em>such</em> necessaries, and even
+    luxuries of life, extended to them by the hands of white men, when
+    those annuities are at an end, and the skin is stripped from the last
+    of the animals which God gave them for their subsistence?</p>
+
+  <p>Reader, I will stop here, lest you might forget to answer these
+    important queries—these are questions which I know will puzzle the
+    world—and, perhaps it is not right that I should ask them. <span class="gesperrtstar">* * * * * * * * *</span></p>
+
+  <p><span class="gesperrtstar">* *</span> Thus much I wrote and painted at this place, whilst on my way up
+    the river: after which I embarked on the steamer for the Yellow Stone,
+    and the sources of the Missouri, through which interesting regions I
+    have made a successful Tour; and have returned, as will have been seen
+    by the foregoing narrations, in my canoe, to this place, from whence
+    I am to descend the river still further in a few days. If I ever get
+    time, I may give further Notes on this place, and of people and their
+    doings, which I met with here; but at present, I throw my note-book,
+    and canvass, and brushes into my canoe, which will be launched
+    to-morrow morning, and on its way towards <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, with myself at
+    the steering-oar, as usual; and with Ba’tiste and Bogard to paddle, of
+    whom, I beg the readers’ pardon for having said nothing of late, though
+    they have been my constant companions. Our way is now over the foaming
+    and muddy waters of the Missouri, and amid snags and drift logs (for
+    there is a sweeping freshet on her waters), and many a day will pass
+    before other Letters will come from me; and possibly, the reader may
+    have to look to my biographer for the rest. Adieu.</p>
+
+  <div class="footnotes">
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> The reader will be further instructed on this subject, by
+        referring back to <a href="#i_009"><span class="smcap">plate</span> 9</a>, in the beginning of the book.
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> The readers will look forward to
+        <span class="smcap">plates</span> 240 and 243, in the Second Volume, for snow shoes.
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="footnote">
+      <a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> The fate of these poor little prisoners, I was informed
+        on my return to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis a year afterwards, was a very disastrous
+        one. The steamer having a distance of 1600 miles to perform, and lying
+        a week or two on sand bars, in a country where milk could not be
+        procured, they all perished but one, which is now flourishing in the
+        extensive fields of this gentleman.
+    </div>
+  </div>
+
+<div class="center small mt5">END OF VOL. I.</div>
+
+  <div class="transnote mt5">
+    <div class="large center"><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></div>
+    <ul class="spaced">
+      <li>Blank pages have been removed.</li>
+      <li>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.</li>
+      <li>All illustrations are attributed to <i>G. Catlin</i>.</li>
+      <li>There is no illustration 23, and some are out of sequence.</li>
+    </ul>
+  </div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &AMP; CONDITION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, VOL. I (OF 2) ***</div>
+<div style='text-align:left'>
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-02 21:36:10 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-02 21:36:10 -0800
commit	a6a09974677569dd68de36c6127a7acd17ed3feb (patch)
tree	14e238a8cec254a0cc331023b0ff1c72458c7517