Chapter I (6)

The replies of the chiefs were simple and short, expressive of their conviction of the justice of the complaints made against them, and of their acquiescence in the terms of reconciliation proposed by the agent. There were present at this council one hundred and sixty-one Konzas, including chiefs and warriors, and thirteen Osages. The most distinguished men were Na-he-da-ba, or _Long Neck_, one of the principal chiefs. Ka-he-ga-wa-ta-ning-ga, _Little Chief_, second in rank. Shon-ga-ne-ga, who had been one of the principal chiefs, but had resigned his authority in favour of Ka-he-ga-wa-ta-ning-ga. Wa-ha-che-ra, _Big Knife_, a partizan or leader of war parties. Wom-pa-wa-ra, _He who scares all men_, more commonly known to the whites as Plume Blanche, or White Plume, a man rising rapidly in importance, and apparently destined to become the leader of the nation.[144] In addition to the Indians, the officers of the garrison and a few gentlemen were present at the council. The ceremonies were commenced by a discharge of ordnance from the steamboat; the flags were hoisted in their appropriate places, a council flag being placed near the chair occupied by the agent. The Indians appeared gratified at the displays made on the occasion, but their attention was more particularly aroused by the exhibition of a few rockets and shells, fired for their entertainment. At our departure, which, on account of the Indians, was delayed until the 25th of August, many {105} of them were present, and manifested some surprise at witnessing the operations of the steam-boat.[145]

It was thought advisable to make some addition to our force at Isle au Vache, as we should soon be in advance of the troops on the Missouri, and might be exposed to insults and depredations, from some of the numerous tribes of Indians. Accordingly, on application to Colonel Morgan, a boat and fifteen men, under the command of Lieutenant Fields, were detailed for this duty, and directed to regulate their movements agreeably to the orders of the commanding officer of the exploring expedition.[146] These men were furnished with provisions for sixty days, and having embarked on board a keel-boat, called the General Smith, they sailed in company with the Western Engineer. A favourable wind springing up, we proceeded in the course of the day about twenty-three miles, and encamped at night near the entrance of a small stream, called Independence Creek. A little above, and on the south side of the river, is the site of an old Konza town, formerly called the village of the Twenty-four.[147] Above Cow Island the Missouri is more serpentine in direction than below, and the difficulties of the navigation we found by no means diminished as we ascended. The bed of the river in many places is broad, and the water distributed into small channels separated by sand-bars. About fifty miles above Cow Island we passed a spot that had lately been occupied as a hunting camp by Captain Martin, who had been here to procure the requisite provisions for the subsistence of his party.

At the Yellow Banks we found the bluffs elevated about one hundred and fifty feet above the surface of the valley.[148] Barometric observations, several times repeated, gave nearly the same result at some points below. One hundred and fifty feet may, therefore, be assumed as the medium depth of the immediate valley of the Missouri; its aggregate width, for the {106} first five hundred miles above the Mississippi, may be estimated at about three miles. The corresponding appearances in the strata of the opposite sides of this valley, as well as its entire form and character, indicate it to have been formed by the river. But far more than that vast body of soil and of rocky strata, which formerly filled the space now occupied by the immediate valley of the river, has been removed by the Missouri. From the summit of the bluffs there is a sloping ascent towards the interior of the country; and it is probable the aggregate elevation of the great plains is not less than three hundred feet above the surface of the river. If we admit that this great valley, with its numerous ramifications, has resulted from the operation of currents, wearing down and transporting to the ocean the solid materials of the earth's surface, it would appear necessary still farther to acknowledge that this channel was once much deeper than at present, for we usually meet with thick alluvial depositions covering the rocks that line the bottom of the Missouri valley. The manifest tendency of the operation of the Mississippi, at this time, upon its valley, is to fill up rather than to excavate; but it may be doubted whether this is equally, or even to any degree, the case with the Missouri. The aggregate mass of alluvion within the valley of the Missouri is, undoubtedly, moving downwards, with considerable rapidity; for the quantity of earthy matter carried into the Mississippi is, at all times, very great. In their descent the alluvial substances are alternately deposited and swept away, as by the variations in the direction of the current any particular point is, from time to time, either exposed to, or sheltered from, the action of the stream.

About eighty-seven miles above Cow Island is the mouth of the Nodowa, a river of some importance, being about seventy yards wide, and navigable to some distance. It is not usually seen in passing, being {107} concealed by the island called the Great Nodowa, which is about five miles long, and covered with heavy forests. The lands on the Nodowa are of an excellent quality.[149]

On the 1st of September, we were under the necessity of remaining encamped near the mouth of Wolf river,[150] that some repairs might be made to the steam engine. Here we sent out some persons to hunt, who after a short time returned, having taken a deer, a turkey, and three swarms of bees, which afforded us about half a barrel of honey. On the trees which margin the river, we frequently observed a fine species of squirrel, which possesses all the graceful activity of the common gray squirrel, as it leaps from bough to bough.[151] After our machinery was adjusted, we resumed our ascent, and had proceeded a short distance, when we were hailed from shore by Mr. Dougherty, who had accompanied Mr. Say's party across the country. We were not a little surprised at this unexpected meeting, and were apprehensive some disaster had befallen the detachment.

Mr. Dougherty being received on board, informed us that Mr. Peale, Mr. Swift, Mr. Seymour, Chaboneau the Indian interpreter,[152] and one of the soldiers, were at a little distance in the rear, having accompanied him across the country, from Cow Island, where they had arrived five days after our departure. Mr. Say and Mr. Jessup had been left sick at Cow Island. We encamped immediately, to give those who were near an opportunity of joining us. It will now be necessary to return to the time of Mr. Say's departure from Fort Osage, and briefly to trace the progress of his detachment to the place where a rencontre with a war-party of Pawnees frustrated their design, and made it necessary for them to rejoin the steam-boat.

Mr. Say's detachment, consisting of twelve men and a boy, furnished with three pack-horses for the {108} transportation of baggage, departed from Fort Osage on the evening of August 6th. Their route lay westward across the woodless plains about the sources of the Hay Cabin, Blue Water, and Warreruza Creek. The cliffs along the Blue Water are naked perpendicular rocks. In the vallies numerous Indian encampments occurred, which appeared not long since to have been occupied. These were most frequently seen at the points, where the streams making almost a complete circuit, and nearly enclosing a small tract of ground, afforded an important protection against the approach of an enemy. The prairies about the head waters of the Warreruza abound in game. Here ravens were first seen by the party, and numbers of large banded rattlesnakes were killed. The blowing flies swarmed in inconceivable numbers, attacking not only the provision of the party, but depositing their eggs upon the blankets, clothing, and even on the furniture of the horses. On the 11th of August they arrived at some elevated ridges, from which they overlooked an extensive country, and could trace the whole course of the Wahrengeho, or Full Creek, diverging slightly from the Konzas, and could readily perceive timber upon several of its head branches. The lands between the head waters of Full Creek and the Konzas are not so good as those about the sources of the Warreruza, and produce less timber. The settlement of this region will be much retarded on account of the want of trees, these being confined to the margins of the watercourses, while tracts of valuable soil, of many miles in extent, have not a single tree or bush upon them. The soil is, however, well adapted to the culture of some of our most valuable forest trees. The sugar-maple, and several of the most important species of carya, the oaks, the tulip-tree, and the linden, would unquestionably succeed.[153]

In consequence of the excessive heat of the weather, the great fatigues of the party, and their constant {109} exposure in the open plains, the health of several of them began to be impaired. The high and coarse grasses, which now covered the plains, greatly impeded their progress, and very rapidly destroyed their clothing and mockasins. Their journey was, therefore, slow and laborious. On the night of the 13th they encamped on the bank of the Konzas, having travelled some distance parallel to the course of that river. The next day several of the party, already much debilitated, began to be afflicted with dysentery; some accidents also occurred to retard their progress, and on that and the following day they advanced only two miles. On the 16th they marched about fifteen miles, and encamped on the bank of the Konzas. Being now in doubt as to the situation of the Konza village, and the illness of some of the party continuing, they determined to remain encamped, while some persons should be sent out to reconnoitre the country, and discover, if possible, whether that part of the river at which they had arrived, was above or below the village they designed to visit.[154] The Konzas river, in this part, bears the closest resemblance to the Missouri, both in the turbulence and rapidity of its current, and the aspect of the country along its banks; it is, however, so shoal as at almost any point to admit of being forded without difficulty.

Willow islands, moving sand-bars, and _falling-in_ banks, are as frequent as in the Missouri. The line of forest which skirts the banks, including the bed of the river, is about half a mile wide, but not entirely uninterrupted. The course of the river is remarkably serpentine, forming woodland points alternately on both sides.

After crossing and recrossing the river, and extending their search in every direction, they had the satisfaction at last to fall in with a beaten path leading up the river, and which their guide and interpreter was confident would conduct them to the Konza village.

{110} On the morning of the 19th, they passed across a wide and fertile prairie to the Vermillion, a stream which enters the Konzas from the north-west. It is four feet deep, and about twenty yards wide.[155] Here they halted in the middle of the day, and dined on the flesh of a black wolf, the only game they were able to procure.

About Vermillion Creek are some open forests of oak, not extending far on either side. The trees are from fifteen to twenty-five feet high, and from one foot to eighteen inches in diameter, standing at a considerable distance from each other.

On the day following, the Konza village was descried at a distance. The detachment immediately halted to arrange their dress, and inspect their firearms. This was thought the more necessary, as no party of whites had visited the village since a number of the Konzas had received a whipping at Isle au Vache, and it was a matter of doubt, whether the party would meet a friendly reception.

As they approached the village, they perceived the tops of the lodges red with the crowds of natives; the chiefs and warriors came rushing out on horseback, painted and decorated, and followed by great numbers on foot. Mr. Say and his party were received with the utmost cordiality, and conducted into the village by the chiefs, who went before and on each side, to protect them from the encroachments of the crowd. On entering the village the crowd readily gave way before the party, but followed them into the lodge assigned to them, and completely and most densely filled the spacious apartment, with the exception only of a small space opposite to the entrance, where the party seated themselves on the beds, still protected from the pressure of the crowd by the chiefs, who took their seats on the ground immediately before them. After the ceremony of smoking with the latter, the object which the party had in view in passing through their territories was explained to them, and {111} seemed to be perfectly satisfactory. At the lodge of the principal chief they were regaled with jerked bison meat and boiled corn, and were afterwards invited to six feasts in immediate succession. Chaboneau and the old Frenchman, who had been despatched from Fort Osage, to summon the Konzas to meet the agent at Isle au Vache, had arrived some days previous; but the nation being at that time absent on a hunting excursion, the interpreters, after reaching the village, had proceeded immediately into the plains in pursuit of them. At the time of the arrival of our detachment, the village was in confusion, the hunters having lately returned, and being then engaged in preparations for the journey to Isle au Vache. Two runners were despatched to give notice to Major O'Fallon, that his summons had been received; and at the same time the chiefs and principal warriors departed for the place appointed. Before his departure, the principal chief was careful to appoint a fit person to attend Mr. Say's party, and arrangements were made to promote their comfort and convenience, while they should remain at the village.

Many reports had been circulated among the Konzas respecting the invitation to council their chiefs had received. They were conscious of having recently offended, by firing on Major O'Fallon, and by insulting and plundering several soldiers of Captain Martin's command. For these offences they had been in some measure punished at the time, Major O'Fallon having returned their fire from his boat, and not entirely without effect, as was supposed; several also had been flogged by the orders of Captain Martin; yet they did not consider themselves secure from the vengeance of the whites. Many believed that at the time of the anticipated council, barrels of gunpowder were to be placed in the earth to destroy them at once. The two runners, who had been despatched, quarrelled before they had gone far; one saying, all {112} the things that had been told them by the interpreters were lies, for which assertion he was struck to the ground by his companion. In this situation they were found by the advancing chiefs. Finally, a dispute happened between the chiefs themselves respecting rank, in consequence of which ten or twelve of them returned to the village.

Mr. Say, who spent some time among the Konzas, gives, in his notes, the following account of that nation:

"The approach to the village is over a fine level prairie of
considerable extent; passing which, you ascend an abrupt bank
of the height of ten feet to a second level, on which the
village is situate in the distance, within about one-fourth of
a mile of the river. It consists of about a hundred and twenty
lodges, placed as closely together as convenient, and
destitute of any regularity of arrangement. The ground area
of each lodge is circular, and is excavated to the depth of
from one to three feet, and the general form of the exterior
may be denominated hemispheric.

"The lodge in which we reside is larger than any other in the
town, and being that of a grand chief, it serves as a
council-house for the nation. The roof is supported by two
series of pillars, or rough vertical posts, forked at top for
the reception of the transverse connecting pieces of each
series; twelve of these pillars form the outer series, placed
in a circle; and eight longer ones the inner series, also
describing a circle; the outer wall, of rude frame-work,
placed at a proper distance from the exterior series of
pillars, is five or six feet high. Poles, as thick as the leg
at base, rest with their butts upon the wall, extending on the
cross-pieces, which are upheld by the pillars of the two
series, and are of sufficient length to reach nearly to the
summit. These poles are very numerous, and, agreeably to the
position which we have indicated, they are placed all round in
a radiating {113} manner, and support the roof like rafters.
Across these are laid long and slender sticks or twigs,
attached parallel to each other by means of bark cord; these
are covered by mats made of long grass, or reeds, or with the
bark of trees; the whole is then covered completely over with
earth, which, near the ground, is banked up to the eaves. A
hole is permitted to remain in the middle of the roof to give
exit to the smoke. Around the walls of the interior, a
continuous series of mats are suspended; these are of neat
workmanship, composed of a soft reed united by bark cord, in
straight or undulated lines, between which lines of black
paint sometimes occur. The bedsteads are elevated to the
height of a common seat from the ground, and are about six
feet wide; they extend in an uninterrupted line around
three-fourths of the circumference of the apartment, and are
formed in the simplest manner of numerous sticks, or slender
pieces of wood resting at their ends on cross pieces, which
are supported by short notched or forked posts, driven into
the ground; bison-skins supply them with a comfortable
bedding. Several medicine or mystic bags are carefully
attached to the mats of the wall; these are cylindrical, and
neatly bound up; several reeds are usually placed upon them,
and a human scalp serves for their fringe and tassels. Of
their contents we know nothing.

"The fire-place is a simple shallow cavity, in the centre of
the apartment, with an upright and a projecting arm for the
support of the culinary apparatus. The latter is very simple
in kind, and limited in quantity, consisting of a brass
kettle, an iron pot, and wooden bowls and spoons; each person,
male as well as female, carries a large knife in the girdle of
the breech cloth behind, which is used at their meals, and
sometimes for self-defence. During our stay with these Indians
they ate four or five times each day, invariably supplying us
with the best pieces, or choice {114} parts, before they
attempted to taste the food themselves.

"They commonly placed before us a sort of soup, composed of
maize of the present season, of that description which, having
undergone a certain preparation, is appropriately named sweet
corn, boiled in water, and enriched with a few slices of bison
meat, grease, and some beans, and to suit it to our palates,
it was generally seasoned with rock salt, which is procured
near the Arkansa river.

"This mixture constituted an agreeable food; it was served up
to us in large wooden bowls, which were placed on bison robes
or mats, on the ground; as many of us as could conveniently
eat from one bowl sat round it, each in as easy a position as
he could contrive, and in common we partook of its contents by
means of large spoons made of bison horn. We were sometimes
supplied with uncooked dried meat of the bison, also a very
agreeable food, and to our taste and reminiscence, far
preferable to the flesh of the domestic ox. Another very
acceptable dish was called _leyed corn_; this is maize of the
preceding season _shelled_ from the cob, and first boiled for
a short time in a ley of wood-ashes until the hard skin, which
invests the grains, is separated from them; the whole is then
poured into a basket, which is repeatedly dipped into clean
water, until the ley and skins are removed; the remainder is
then boiled in water until so soft as to be edible. They also
make much use of maize roasted on the cob, of boiled pumpkins,
of musk-melons, and water-melons, but the latter are generally
pulled from the vine before they are completely ripe.

"Ca-ega-wa-tan-ninga, or the Fool Chief, is the hereditary
principal chief, but he possesses nothing like monarchical
authority, maintaining his distinction only by his bravery and
good conduct. There are ten or twelve inferior chieftains, or
persons who aspire to such dignity, but these do not appear to
{115} command any great respect from the people. Civil as well
as military distinction arises from bravery or generosity.
Controversies are decided amongst themselves; they do not
appeal to their chief, excepting for counsel. They will not
marry any of their kindred, however remote. The females,
before marriage, labour in the fields, and serve their
parents, carry wood and water, and attend to the culinary
duties; when the eldest daughter marries, she commands the
lodge, the mother, and all the sisters; the latter are to be
also the wives of the same individual. When a young man wishes
to marry a particular female, his father gives a feast to a
few persons, generally old men, and acquaints them with his
design; they repair to the girl, who generally feigns an
unwillingness to marry, and urges such reasons as her poverty,
youth, &c.--the old men are often obliged to return six or
seven times before they can effect their object. When her
consent is obtained, the parents of the young man take two or
three blankets and some meat to the parents of the female that
they may feast, and immediately return to their lodge. The
parents put on the meat to cook, and place the same quantity
of meat and merchandize on two horses, and dress their
daughter in the best garments they can afford; she mounts one
of the horses, and leads the other, and is preceded by a crier
announcing, with a loud voice, the marriage of the young
couple, naming them, to the people; in this way she goes to
the habitation of her husband, whose parents take from her
every thing she brings, strip her entirely naked, dress her
again in clothes as good as she brought, furnish her with two
other horses, with meat and merchandize, and she returns with
her crier to her parents. These two horses she retains as her
own, together with all the articles she brings back with her.
Her parents then make a feast, to which they invite the
husband, his parents and friends; the young couple are seated
together, and {116} all then partake of the good cheer, after
which the father of the girl makes a harangue, in which he
informs the young man that he must now assume the command of
the lodge, and of every thing belonging to him and his
daughter. All the merchandize which the bride returned with,
is distributed in presents from herself to the kindred of her
husband in their first visit. The husband then invites the
relatives of his wife to a feast. Whatever peltries the father
possesses are at the disposal of the son to trade with on his
own account; and in every respect the parents, in many
instances, become subservient to the young man.

"After the death of the husband the widow scarifies herself,
rubs her person with clay, and becomes negligent of her dress,
until the expiration of a year, when the eldest brother of the
deceased takes her to wife without any ceremony, considers her
children as his own, and takes her and them to his house; if
the deceased left no brother, she marries whom she pleases.
They have, in some instances, four or five wives; but these
are mostly sisters; if they marry into two families the wives
do not harmonize well together, and give the husband much
inquietude; there is, however, no restriction in this respect,
except in the prudence of the husband. The grandfather and
grandmother are very fond of their grandchildren, but these
have very little respect for them. The female children respect
and obey their parents; but the males are very disobedient,
and the more obstinate they are, and the less readily they
comply with the commands of their parents, the more the latter
seem to be pleased, saying, 'He will be a brave man, a great
warrior; he will not be controlled.'

"The attachment of fraternity is as strong, if not stronger,
than with us. The niece has great deference for the uncle. The
female calls her mother's sister _mother_, and her mother's
brother _uncle_. The male calls his father's brother _father_,
his father's sister [106] _aunt_, his mother's sister
_mother_, and his mother's brother _uncle_. Thirteen children
have occurred in one family. A woman had three children at a
birth; all lived.

"The young men are generally coupled out as friends; the tie
is very permanent, and continues often throughout life.

"They bear sickness and pain with great fortitude, seldom
uttering a complaint; bystanders sympathize with them, and try
every means to relieve them. Insanity is unknown; the blind
are taken care of by their friends and the nation generally,
and are well dressed and fed. Drunkenness is rare, and is much
ridiculed; a drunken man is said to be bereft of his reason,
and is avoided. As to the origin of the nation, their belief
is, that the Master of life formed a man, and placed him on
the earth; he was solitary, and cried to the Master of life
for a companion, who sent him down a woman; from the union of
these two proceeded a son and daughter, who were married, and
built themselves a lodge distinct from that of their parents;
all the nations proceeded from them, excepting the whites,
whose origin they pretend not to know. When a man is killed in
battle, the thunder is supposed to take him up, they do not
know where. In going to battle each man traces an imaginary
figure of the thunder on the soil; and he who represents it
incorrectly is killed by the thunder. A person saw this
thunder one day on the ground, with a beautiful mockasin on
each side of it; having much need of a pair, he took them and
went his way; but on his return, by the same spot, the thunder
took him off, and he has not been since heard of. They seem to
have vague notions of the future state. They think that a
brave warrior, or good hunter, will walk in a good path; but a
bad man, or coward, will find a bad path. Thinking the
deceased has far to travel, they bury with his body mockasins,
some articles of food, &c. {118} to support him on the
journey. Many persons, they believe, have become reanimated,
who had been, during their apparent death, in strange
villages; but as the inhabitants used them ill, they returned.
They say they have never seen the Master of life, and
therefore cannot pretend to personify him; but they have often
heard him speak in the thunder; they wear often a shell which
is in honour, or in representation of him, but they do not
pretend that it resembles him, or has any thing in common with
his form, organization, or dimensions.

"This nation having been at profound peace with the Osages,
since the year 1806,[156] have intermarried freely with them,
so that in stature, features, and customs, they are more and
more closely approaching that people. They are large and
symmetrically well formed, with the usual high cheek bones,
the nose more or less aquiline, colour reddish coppery, the
hair black and straight. Their women are small and homely,
with broad faces. We saw but a single squaw in the village who
had any pretensions to beauty; she was recently married to an
enterprizing warrior, who invited us to a feast, apparently in
order to exhibit his prize to us. The ordinary dress of the
men is a breech cloth of blue or red cloth, secured in its
place by a girdle; a pair of leggings, made of dressed
deer-skin, concealing the leg, excepting a small portion of
the upper part of the thigh; a pair of mockasins made of
dressed deer, elk, or bison-skin, not ornamented; and a
blanket to cover the upper part of the body, often thrown over
one arm in hot weather, leaving that part naked; or it is even
entirely thrown aside. The outer cartilage of the ear is cut
through in three places, and upon the rims, thus separated,
various ornaments are suspended, such as wampum, string beads,
silver or tin trinkets, &c. The hair of most of their chiefs
and warriors is scrupulously removed from the head; being
careful, however, to leave enough, as in honour {119} they are
bound to do, to supply their enemy with a scalp, in case they
should be vanquished. This residuum consists of a portion on
the back of the head, of about the breadth of the hand,
rounded at its upper termination near the top of the head, the
sides rectilinear, and nearly parallel, though slightly
approaching each other towards the origin of the neck, where
it abruptly terminates; on the exterior margin, the hair is
somewhat longer and erect; this strip of hair is variously
decorated; it is sometimes coloured on the margin with
vermilion, sometimes a tail feather of the war eagle is
attached transversely with respect to the head; this feather
is white at base, and black at tip; but the principal
ornament, which appears to be worn by some of their chief
warriors, and which is, at the same time, by far the most
handsome, is the tail of the common deer; this is attached by
the base near to the top of the patch of hair, the back of it
resting on the hair, and the tip secured near the termination
of the patch; the bristly hair of the tail is dyed red by a
beautiful permanent colour, and parted longitudinally in the
middle by a broad silver plate, which is attached at top, and
suffered to hang loose. Many of them are tattooed on different
parts of the body. The young boys are entirely naked, with
the exception of a girdle, generally of cloth, round their
protruding abdomen. This part of the body in the children of
this nation is remarkably prominent; it is more particularly
so when they are very young, but gradually subsides as they
advance in age. In hot weather the men, whilst in the village,
generally use fans, with which they cool themselves, when in
the shade, and protect their heads from the sun whilst walking
out; they are made of the wing or tail of the turkey. The
women rarely use them. The dress of the female is composed of
a pair of mockasins, leggings of blue or red cloth, with a
broad projecting border on the outside, and covering the leg
to the knee, or a {120} little above; many, however, and
perhaps almost a majority of them, do not in common wear this
part of the dress. Around the waist, secured by a belt or
cestus, is wrapped a piece of blue cloth, the sides of which
meet, or come nearly in contact on the outside of the right
thigh, and the whole extends downward as far as the knee, or
to the mid-leg; around the left shoulder is a similar piece of
cloth, which is attached, by two of the corners, at the axilla
of the right arm, and extends downward as far as the waist.
This garment is often laid aside, when the body, from the
waist upward, is entirely exposed. Their hair is suffered to
grow long; it is parted longitudinally on the top of the head,
and flows over the shoulders, the line of separation being
coloured with vermilion. The females, like those of other
aborigines, cultivate the maize, beans, pumpkins, and
water-melons; gather and prepare the two former, when ripe,
and pack them away in skins, or in mats, for keeping; prepare
the flesh of the bison, by drying, for preservation; attend to
all the cooking; bring wood and water; and in other respects
manage the domestic concerns, and appear to have over them
absolute sway. These duties, as far as we could observe, they
not only willingly performed as a mere matter of duty, but
they exhibited in their deportment a degree of pride and
ambition to acquit themselves well; in this respect resembling
a good housewife amongst the civilized fair. Many of them are
tattooed.

"Both sexes of all ages bathe frequently, and enter the water
indiscriminately. The infant is washed in cold water soon
after its birth, and the ablution is frequently repeated; the
mother also bathes with the same fluid soon after delivery.
The infant is tied down to a board, after the manner of many
of the Indian tribes.

"The chastity of the young females is guarded by the mother
with the most scrupulous watchfulness, {121} and a violation
of it is a rare occurrence, as it renders the individual unfit
for the wife of a chief, a brave warrior, or good hunter. To
wed her daughter to one of these, each mother is solicitous;
as these qualifications offer the same attractions to the
Indian mother as family and fortune exhibit to the civilized
parent.

"The men carefully pluck from their chins, axilla of the arms,
eye-brows, &c. every hair of beard that presents itself: this
is done with a spiral wire, which, when used, is placed with
the side upon the part, and the ends are pressed towards each
other so as to close the spires upon the hairs, which can then
be readily drawn out; this instrument we observed to be an
article of dress of the chiefs, who departed to attend the
council at the Isle au Vache."

FOOTNOTES:

[139] For Bissel, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note
182.

Charles Pentland, of Pennsylvania, served during the War of
1812-15 as ensign and third lieutenant in the 4th Rifles.
Retained in 1815, he was in 1821 transferred to the 6th
Infantry, in which, two years later, he became captain. He was
dismissed in 1826.--ED.

[140] The Kansas River and its tributaries drain most of the
state of the same name. It heads in the prairies of eastern
Colorado, and joins the Missouri at the point where the latter
enters the State of Missouri. It is still sometimes called the
Kaw. The name appears in various forms on early French maps--as
Cans, Rivière des Kancés, Rivière des Quans, etc.--ED.

[141] The Little Platte (which the French called Petite Rivière
Platte, or Little Shallow River), rises in southern Iowa and
flows south to its confluence with the Missouri in Platte
County. Its mouth is now opposite Diamond Island, for the
channels of the two rivers have, in their shifting, been brought
together several miles above the old confluence. The abandoned
lower channel is still visible.

Diamond Island is near the Kansas side of the Missouri, on the
line between Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties.

When Lewis and Clark passed this spot in 1804, the two smaller
islands of the group called Three Islands had but recently
appeared. They are opposite the mouth of Nine Mile Creek, five
or six miles below Leavenworth. The principal member of the
group is Spar Island.

The Four Islands are in front of Leavenworth, and one of the
largest has the same name as the city.--ED.

[142] Isle au Vache (Isle des Vaches, Isle de Vache, Buffalo
Island), now Cow Island, is on the line between Atchison and
Leavenworth counties.

Wyly Martin, a Tennesseean, had been captain in the 3d Rifle
regiment at the close of the War of 1812-15, and after an
honorable discharge in 1815, had been reinstated the same
year. He was transferred to the 6th Infantry in 1821, and
resigned two years later.

Lewis and Clark note the site of the Kansa village and French
fort. The former stood in a valley between two high elevations,
and the latter was on another elevation a mile in the rear. They
found few traces of the village, but there remained the general
outline of the fortifications and some ruins of chimneys. It was
near this spot that Fort Leavenworth was established, in 1827.
See Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 37.--ED.

[143] For the early history of the Kansa, see Bradbury's
_Travels_, in our volume v, note 37.--ED.

[144] White Plume became the chief of the tribe, and some
fifteen years later was still in power. Catlin, in _North
American Indians_ (London, 1866), ii, p. 23, described him as
urbane and hospitable, and of portly build.--ED.

[145] The surprise of the Indians will hardly be cause for
wonder, after reading the following description of the "Western
Engineer," which appeared in the St. Louis _Enquirer_, June 19,
1819, ten days after the expedition arrived at that place: "The
bow of the vessel exhibits the form of a huge serpent, black and
scaly, rising out of the water from under the boat, his head
as high as the deck, darted forward, his mouth open, vomiting
smoke, and apparently carrying the boat on his back. From under
the boat, at its stern issues a stream of foaming water, dashing
violently along. All the machinery is hid. . . . The boat is
ascending the rapid stream at the rate of three miles an hour.
Neither wind nor human hands are seen to help her; and to the
eye of ignorance the illusion is complete, that a monster of the
deep carries her on his back smoking with fatigue, and lashing
the waves with violent exertion."

A resident of Franklin, Missouri, thus described the boat and
the impression it made upon the savages: "In place of a
bowsprit, she has carved a great serpent, and as the steam
escapes out of its mouth, it runs out a long tongue, to the
perfect horror of all Indians that see her. They say, 'White
man bad man, keep a great spirit chained and build fire under
it to make it work a boat.'"--ED.

[146] Willoughby Morgan, a Virginian, served during the War
of 1812-15 as captain and major of infantry. In 1815 he was
retained in the rifle regiment as captain, with brevet of major,
becoming lieutenant-colonel in 1818. In 1821 he was transferred
to the infantry; he became colonel of the 1st Infantry in 1830,
and died in 1832.

"Lieutenant Fields" is probably Gabriel Field, whose army record
is given as follows in the registers: "Born in ——. Appointed
from Mo. 2nd Lieut. Rifles, 24 May, 1817; 1st Lieut., 15 April,
1818; transferred to 6th Infantry, 1 June, 1821; resigned 16
April, 1823."--ED.

[147] Independence Creek owes its name to Lewis and Clark, who
reached this point on July 4, 1804. Its mouth is on the line
between Atchison and Doniphan counties, Kansas. Lewis and Clark
named another small stream, fifteen miles below, Fourth of July
Creek. They also visited the site of the Indian village here
mentioned, and thought it must have been a large one, judging
from the remains.--ED.

[148] The color is due to the presence of yellow ochre.--ED.

[149] For data relative to the Nodaway River, see Bradbury's
_Travels_, in our volume v, note 5.--ED.

[150] The name of Wolf River or Creek (Rivière du Loup of early
French maps), is a translation of the Indian name. The stream
debouches four miles below the town of Iowa Point, in Doniphan
County, Kansas.--ED.

[151] _Sciurus macrurus._ SAY.--_Body_ above each side, mixed
gray and black; fur plumbeous, black at base, then pale
cinnamon, then black, then cinereous, with a long black tip;
_ears_ bright ferruginous behind, the colour extending to the
base of the fur, which, in its winter dress, is prominent beyond
the edge; within dull ferruginous, the fur slightly tipped with
black; _side of the head and orbits_ pale ferruginous, cheek
under the eye and ear dusky; _whiskers_ black, in about five
series, of which the four inferior ones are more distinct,
hairs a little flattened; _mouth_ margined with black; _teeth_
reddish yellow; _head_ beneath, _neck_ and _feet_ above pale
ferruginous; _belly_ paler; fur pale plumbeous at base; _palms_
black; _toes_, anterior ones four, the thumb tubercle not longer
than its lobe in the palm, and furnished with a broad flat
nail; posterior toes five; _tail_ beneath bright ferruginous,
the colour extending to the base of the fur, with a submarginal
black line; above mixed ferruginous and black; fur within pale
cinnamon, with the base and three bands black; tip ferruginous.

ft. in.
From nose to tip of tail (exclusive of the hair) 1 7-1/4
Tail, from base to tip (exclusive of the hair) 9-1/10
Ear, from head to tip 0-3/4

The most common species of squirrel on the banks of the
Missouri river. It is allied to _S. cinereus_, but cannot be
considered as a variety of that species; neither does it
approach any of the numerous varieties of the very variable
_S. capistratus_ of Bosc.

The fur of the back in the summer dress is from 3/5 to 7/10 of
an inch long; but in the winter dress the longest hairs of the
middle of the back are one inch and 3/4 in length. This
difference in the length of the hairs, combined with a greater
portion of fat, gives to the whole animal a thicker and
shorter appearance; but the colours continue the same, and it
is only in this latter season that the ears are fringed, which
is the necessary consequence of the elongation of the hair.
This species was not an unfrequent article of food at our
frugal yet social meals at Engineer Cantonment, and we could
always immediately distinguish the bones from those of other
animals, by their remarkably red colour.

The tail is even more voluminous than that of the _S.
cinereus_.

It seems to approach the _Sc. rufiventer_. _Geoff._ v. Dict.
D. Hist. Nat. article Ecu. p. 104.--JAMES.

[152] See sketch of Charbonneau in Brackenridge's _Journal_,
volume vi of our series, note 3.--ED.

[153] Hay Cabin Creek and Blue Water are now known respectively
as the Little Blue River and Big Blue River (or Creek; not to
be confounded with the Big Blue of Kansas). Both debouche in
Jackson County, Missouri. The Warreruza is the modern Wakarusa
(the meaning of which is variously given as "thigh deep" and
"river of big weeds"), which flows across Shawnee and Douglas
counties, Kansas, to the northeast corner of the latter. Full
Creek (or River) is the present Upper Mill Creek, another
southern tributary of the Kansas, the mouth of which is in
northeastern Wabaunsee County, by a direct line about fifty
miles above the confluence of the Wakarusa. Pike's chart of
1806, which Say's party possessed, shows Hay Cabin Creek, Blue
Water, Warreruza, and Full River successively, south of the
Missouri and Kansas. There are several other creeks, however,
between the Blue Water and Warreruza which Pike does not show,
and the Warreruza is a larger stream than his chart indicates.
Say's party apparently mistook one of the small streams for the
Warreruza, and, upon reaching the latter, mistook it in turn for
Full Creek. They could hardly have traced the course of Full
Creek from the lower Warreruza, where they must have been on
August eleventh. This error explains their doubt, while encamped
on the Kansas on August sixteenth, whether they were above or
below the Indian village, which is plainly shown on Pike's chart
as situated at the mouth of Blue Earth (Big Blue) River.--ED.

[154] When Say's party reached the Kansas, they had crossed
Johnson and Douglas counties, following the high prairie country
which lies from six to fifteen miles south of the river. The
camp on the thirteenth was probably not far from Lecompton; by
the sixteenth, they must have been near Topeka.

Big Blue River (Blue Earth on the map), at the mouth of which
the Kansa village stood, rises in Nebraska, flows through
Marshall County, Kansas, and forms the boundary between Riley
and Pottawatomie counties. Near the confluence, a westward bend
of the Big Blue forms a peninsula about two miles long and half
a mile wide, which was the site of the village. A few years
ago the exact locations of the lodges were still indicated by
circular ridges and depressions, from which a map of the village
was prepared (see Kansas Historical Society _Transactions_,
1881, p. 288). The site was partially abandoned in 1830, and
three villages constructed near Topeka; these in turn were
abandoned when the territory which contained them was ceded to
the United States in 1846.--ED.

[155] The Vermillion is a Pottawatomie County stream about
twenty miles east of the Big Blue.--ED.

[156] Pike, p. 144.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The reference is to _An Account of Expeditions
to the Sources of the Mississippi and through the Western Parts
of Louisiana_, etc. (Philadelphia, 1810). Pike mediated a peace
treaty between the Kansa and Osage, at the Pawnee village on
Republican River, September 28, 1806.

{122} CHAPTER VII

Further Account of the Konza Nation--Robbery of Mr. Say's
Detachment by a War-Party of Pawnees--Arrival at the Platte.

The Konza warriors, like those of some others of the Missouri tribes on their departure on a war excursion, sometimes make vows, binding themselves never to return until they have performed some feat which they mention, such as killing an enemy, striking an enemy's dead body, or stealing a horse. An instance lately occurred of a warrior who had been long absent under a vow of this sort, and finding it impossible to meet an enemy, and being in a starving condition, he returned to his own village by night, with the determination of accomplishing his vow, by killing and scalping the first person he should meet. This person happened to be the warrior's own mother, but the darkness of the night prevented the discovery until he had accomplished his bloody purpose.

On the 23d of August, Mr. Say's party began to prepare for leaving the Konza village, where they had been treated with much hospitality. They purchased a number of articles for their use on the journey they proposed to take, such as jerked bison meat, pounded maize, bison fat put up like sausages, mockasins, leggings, spoons made of the horn of the bison, two large wooden dishes, &c. They received also an addition to their cavalcade of two horses, one belonging to Major O'Fallon, and another which they procured from a Frenchman residing in the village.

A Pawnee prisoner, an interesting young man, {123} was brought to them, who said he was desirous to accompany them to his nation, but at the same time was afraid his people would not recognize him, and would kill him for a Konza. He was promised protection, but at the same time it was remarked to him, that if he should attempt to steal the horses of the party on the way, they would certainly pursue him and take his scalp.

On the 24th, says Mr. Say, having been detained until afternoon in searching for our horses, we departed, accompanied by several Indians, who intended to pass the night with us and to return to the village the following morning.

Our path led along the margin of Blue Earth Creek, a stream of the width of twenty-five yards, and greatest depth of three feet, which discharges into the river a mile or two above the Konza village. The soil supports but a thin growth of grass, and the timber is far from abundant, consisting principally of different sorts of oak, confined to the margin of the creek, its ravines and tributaries. One of our Indian followers, who, although a chief of the extinct Missouri nation,[157] has yet much influence with the Konzas, wished to exchange a horse he had with him for one of ours, which was evidently a less valuable animal. The reason he assigned in explanation of his desire of such an apparently disadvantageous exchange was, that his horse had been presented to him by a person, who, he feared, intended to reclaim him, but that if he should exchange him for another horse, he would be secure in the possession of the individual so obtained, as an Indian will not reclaim a present which is not identically the same he had given. At the distance of seven miles from the village, our party encamped by the side of the creek, in a narrow, but beautiful and level prairie bottom, which was bounded by an abrupt, though verdant range of bluffs.

A Fac simile _of a Delineation upon a_ BISON ROBE.

_London, Pub^{d}, by Longman & C^{o.}, 1823_]

Mr. Dougherty and one of the Indians went in {124} quest of game, and having supplied the two remaining Indians with a pipe and tobacco, we were partaking of some refreshment, when one of the party suddenly drew our attention to an extensive cloud of dust, which arose from the plain, and which we soon perceived but partially concealed a body of Indians, who had already approached within a quarter of a mile, and were now running with great swiftness. Our Indian followers now displayed all their activity; the chief seized his gun, and ran towards the advancing multitude to obtain his horse, which he mounted and rode off at full speed, whilst his companion disappeared in the bushes in an instant. This was a sufficient intimation that a hostile party was before us, and a timely admonition of the approach of danger. Our men were therefore drawn up in a line, and all prepared themselves for defence in case of extremity.