Chapter XII (2)

The pipe has a long, flat, broad wooden tube, which is ornamented with tufts of horse-hair, dyed red, yellow, or green, and wound round with strings of porcupine quills of divers colours. We looked at the women as they were at work. For the shoes which they made they had softened the leather in a tub of water, and stretched it in the breadth and length with their teeth. In the middle of the hut was a fire, over which the kettle was suspended by a wooden hook; they now all use iron kettles, which they obtain from the traders. Before most of the tents poles were placed, leaning against each other, to which gaily-painted parchment pouches were hung, and likewise the medicine-bags, as they are called, in which the medicine, or charms, are preserved, and which they open and consult only on solemn or important occasions, such as campaigns and the like. Here, too, were suspended the bow and quiver of arrows, spears, and a round shield of thick leather, with a thin cover, also of the same material. In another tent the women were dressing the skins, either with a pumice-stone, or with the before-described toothed instrument, which was here entirely of iron. They then pulled the skin over a line, in all directions, backwards and forwards, to make it pliable.

The Sioux at Fort Pierre were in general slender, sometimes muscular-men, of middling stature, though some of them were tall. They had oval faces, with prominent cheek-bones, slightly-curved and well-formed noses; the inner angle of the eye often drawn down. Their faces were painted red, some with white rings round the eyes, and others with a black point on the forehead, or a white circle with a black point on each cheek. Some had strings of wampum in their ears, but the greater part of them strings of white or blue glass beads, and round their necks an elegant, and frequently broad necklace, embroidered with white beads. The neck and breast of several were marked with dark blue tattooed stripes, or only with some small figures. These Indians let their hair grow as long as possible, and plait it behind in a long tail, which is ornamented with round pieces of brass, and often hangs down to a great length, as among the Chinese. Many of the Dacotas have three such tails, one behind, and one at each side, for the Indians on the Upper Missouri take much pride in long hair, whereas those in the country lower [pg. 159] down the river, cut it short. Some wore feathers in their hair, which are tokens of their exploits, and are determined with great precision, according to the merit of the wearer. The annexed figure of a Dacota shows the manner in which the hair is divided into plaits.[287]

The women wore their hair hanging down, naturally parted on the middle of the head, and the parting painted red. Their robes were coloured red and black. Their shoes are neatly ornamented with various figures made of dyed porcupine quills. I purchased several Dacota shoes; and, among them, a pair, on the upper part of which the figure of a bear's footstep was very neatly embroidered in bright colours.[288] The old women are generally very ugly and dirty, as they are obliged to do very hard work.

The Sioux, who live on Teton River, near Fort Pierre, are mostly of the branch of the Tetons; though there are some Yanktons here. The former are divided into five branches, and the latter into three.[289] Like all the North American Indians, they highly prize personal bravery, and, therefore, constantly wear the marks of distinction which they have received for their exploits; among these are, especially, tufts of human hair attached to their arms and legs, and feathers on their heads. He who, in the sight of the adversaries, touches a slain or a living enemy, places a feather horizontally in his hair for this exploit. They look upon this as a very distinguished act, for many are often killed in the attempt, before the object is attained. He who kills an enemy by a blow with his fist, sticks a feather upright in his hair. If the enemy is killed with a musket, a small piece of wood is put in the hair, which is intended to represent a ramrod. If a warrior is distinguished by many deeds, he has a right to wear the great feather-cap, with ox-horns, [pg. 160] which will be described in the sequel. This cap, composed of eagle's feathers, which are fastened to a long strip of red cloth, hanging down the back, is highly valued by all the tribes on the Missouri, and they never part with it except for a good horse. In a battle with the Pawnees, a Sioux chief was killed, who wore such a cap; the conqueror wore it as a trophy, and the Sioux recognized him by it in the next battle; they made great efforts to kill him, and succeeded in wounding him; but his horse was too fleet for them, and he always escaped. Whoever first discovers the enemy, and gives notice to his comrades of their approach, is allowed to wear a small feather, which is stripped, except towards the top.[290] The scalps taken in battle are drawn over small hoops, and hung on the top of the tent-poles. He who takes a prisoner wears a particular bracelet. These Indians frequently possess from thirty to forty horses, and are then reckoned to be rich. The tents are generally composed of fourteen skins, each worth two dollars. We were told, that wealthy people sometimes have eight or nine wives, because they are able to support them. The Sioux do not understand the treatment of diseases, but generally cure wounds very well. Before their death, they usually determine whether they will be buried, or be placed on a stage, or in a tree.

There was, among the Dacotas at this place, a young Punca Indian, whose name was Ho-Ta-Ma, a handsome, friendly man, who often amused himself with different games; frequently he was seen with his comrades playing at what was called the hoop game, at which sticks, covered with leather, are thrown through a hoop in motion. In the daytime the Indians were often seen galloping their horses, mostly riding on their bare backs: sometimes they ran races, as Mr. Bodmer has represented.[291] In the evening they drive their horses into the fort, as they are more safe from a hostile attack, and horse-stealing is universally practised by the Indians. The Indian families residing here are mostly related to the white inhabitants of the fort, and, therefore, constantly abide near them. The men lead a very indolent life; for, besides the chase and war, their only occupations are eating, smoking, sleeping, and making their weapons.

During our stay here, on board the vessel, we were continually besieged by Indians, who did not move from the spot. Our time was, therefore, divided between these visitors and our excursions into the prairie. On the 2nd of June, 7,000 buffalo skins and other furs were put on board the Yellow Stone, with which it was to return to St. Louis. We took this opportunity of sending letters to Europe: the Assiniboin was assigned us for the continuation of the voyage. The weather, at this time, was very unfavourable; it rained at a temperature of 57 deg., and we were obliged to have a fire in our cabin throughout the day. The Assiniboin had already taken our baggage on board, but still lay on the east bank, for an attempt to bring it over to our side had failed, because the water was too low. In the afternoon, when we visited Mr. Laidlow in the fort, six Sioux, from the prairie, arrived on horseback, whose horde, of 200 tents, was at the distance of a [pg. 161] day's journey. They brought word that, two days' march from the fort, there were numerous herds of buffaloes. Among these new comers there were some elderly men; the plaits of their hair were wound about with strips of skin, and their faces were painted red; their bodies were fleshy, which was a proof that they had suffered less from hunger than those in the fort. They paid a visit first to the Assiniboin, and then to Mr. Laidlow, who gave them food and tobacco. Mr. Lamont, who had taken leave of us to-day, to go by the steam-boat to St. Louis, embarked with some of the Company's clerks: he was saluted with several cannon shot, and before evening the Yellow Stone rapidly descended the river. While Messrs. Mc Kenzie, Sandford, and Mitchell took up their abode in the fort, we went on board the Assiniboin, from which I made, on the 4th of June, an interesting excursion into the prairie, in order to make myself acquainted with the eastern bank.

I left the vessel at half-past seven o'clock, the thermometer being at 59 deg., and immediately ascended the steep eminences, of which the lower were covered partly with bright green, partly with dry, yellow grass, and the higher ones bare, with the surface frequently blackened by fire. A path, trodden by the elks to the river, led me to the highest summit, from which I had a pleasing prospect of the opposite bank and the fort. It lay, clearly delineated, in the extensive verdant plain, bounded by a singular chain of hills; and I again distinguished, half way up the mountains, the black stripe of the extensive stratum of coal. At noon it was warm and I returned much heated, the thermometer being at 72 deg. We received a visit from six or seven newly arrived Tetons, whom the interpreter, Dorion, introduced to us. They were particularly interested by the steam-boat, and, after they had very minutely examined it, they were served with dinner and pipes. The dinner chiefly consisted of bacon, which the Indians do not like; [pg. 162] they, however, swallowed it, in order that they might not appear uncourteous. Among them was a Teton, named Wah-Menitu (the spirit, or god, in the water), and who had such a voracious appetite, that he devoured everything which the others had left; his face was painted red; he had a remarkably projecting upper lip, and an aquiline nose much bent. In his hair, which hung in disorder about his head, with a plait coming over one of his eyes or nose, the feather of a bird of prey was placed horizontally; but observe that he had a right to wear three. Mr. Bodmer, who desired to draw this man's portrait, gave him some vermilion, on which he spat, and rubbed his face with it, drawing parallel lines, in the red colour, with a wooden stick.[292] Wah-Menitu stayed on board for the night; sung, talked, laughed, and joked without ceasing; and seemed quite to enjoy himself.

FOOTNOTES:

[254] This river rises in the Black Hills, near the sources of Tongue River, and discharges itself into the Missouri, about 1,000 miles from its mouth. The mouth of this river is said to be 150 paces broad, and its current very rapid. In the American descriptions of travels, the French name of this river is generally written incorrectly; for instance, "Qui-courre River," &c. It likewise bears the name of the Rapid River. Bradbury gives the names of some plants which he gathered on its banks.--MAXIMILIAN.

[255] Ponca Creek, a small prairie stream, rises in the eastern part of Tripp County, South Dakota, and flows east and southeast about parallel to the Niobrara. Lewis and Clark speak of mineral springs on the northern bank, but do not mention them as warm.--ED.

[256] A conspicuous landmark in Wheeler County, South Dakota, just below Fort Randall, at the 969 mile mark from the mouth of the Missouri. Lewis and Clark speak of it as the Dome.--ED.

[257] Hugh Glass's adventures with wild beasts and Indians formed a kind of frontier epic, and were told around many a camp-fire. All that is known of his early life is that he came from Pennsylvania, and was spoken of as "old man Glass." He was in the Ankara campaign of 1823, and seriously wounded. Nevertheless he set out with Andrew Henry for the Yellowstone, but was nearly killed by a grizzly bear, and left to die. He survived, made his way to Fort Kiowa, and later joined Henry on the Yellowstone. See Chittenden, _Fur-Trade_, ii, pp. 698-705. For his death, see _post_, volume xxiv.--ED.

[258] Sir George Back (1796-1878), a well-known explorer of arctic North America. He entered the navy in 1808, and in 1817 made his first northern journey in company with Sir John Franklin. Later he accompanied Franklin on several expeditions, being one of his most trusted lieutenants. In 1833 Back organized an expedition to search for Sir John Ross; his account of this latter enterprise was published as _Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition, 1833, 1834, and 1835_ (London, 1836). In 1836 Back made a final voyage in the "Terror," whose narrative was published in 1838. Upon his return he received many honors, being knighted, made rear-admiral (1857), and admiral (1867). Maximilian quotes either from his earlier book, or from some of his narratives published with those of Franklin's expeditions.--ED.

[259] Little Cedar Island, still so-called, is just above Wheeler, South Dakota, about 1010 miles up the river. Maximilian has confused the distance with that of an island beyond, upon which Fort Recovery stood, given by Bradbury as 1075 miles up. See note 261, _post_, p. 304, and Bradbury's _Travels_, our volume v, p. 99, note 66.--ED.

[260] Bijoux Hills are on the east bank of the river, not far below Chamberlain, South Dakota. Bijoux was an engage with Long. See our volume xvi, pp. 58-59. Catlin, _North American Indians_, ii, p. 432, says Bijoux was ultimately killed by the Sioux.--ED.

[261] The name Shannon was given to the first creek by Lewis and Clark, for one of their men, George Shannon, who here rejoined them after an absence of sixteen days, when he had been lost on the prairies. It is now called Dry (or Rosebud) Creek, with Rosebud Landing at its mouth.

White, a South Dakota river, entering the Missouri in Lyman County, from the west.--ED.

[262] This is the post usually known as Fort Recovery; see Bradbury's _Travels_, our volume v, p. 99, note 67.--ED.

[263] Fort Lookout had originally been built (about 1822) by the Columbia Fur Company, and from them passed into the hands of the American Fur Company. Later, the Indian agency was established here, as Maximilian notes. It later became a military post where troops were quartered until the building of Fort Randall in 1857. The site was some ten miles above Chamberlain, on the west bank--ED.

[264] For the Yankton, see our volume v, p. 90, note 55.--ED.

[265] Maximilian's classification of the Dakota (or Sioux) is in accord with modern philological conclusions. J. W. Powell, "Indian Linguistic Families," in United States Bureau of Ethnology _Report_, 1885-86, gives six subdivisions of this great tribe--Santee, Wahpeton, Sisseton, Yankton, Yanktonnai, and Teton; the last three, or Missouri, tribes corresponding with those given by Maximilian.--ED.

[266] See p. 287, for illustration of method of wearing hair.--ED.

[267] See his portrait, which Maximilian calls "a striking likeness," Plate 41, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[268] See p. 287, for illustration of bows, arrows, and quiver.--ED.

[269] See p. 319, for illustration of Sioux tents.--ED.

[270] See Plate 81, figure 8, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[271] Schoolcraft (Expedition of Gov. Cass, p. 323) says, that the Dacotas, on the Mississippi, tanned their skins with oak bark, which I did not observe on the Missouri: they probably learned it from the Whites. The Aucas, in South America, seem to use such an instrument.--D'Orbigny Voyage, t. ii. p. 234.--MAXIMILIAN.

[272] Apparently the creeks took somewhat different courses in the time of Clark's visit--at least Crow, Wolf, and Campbell are now some distance apart in the Crow Creek Indian reservation of Buffalo County, South Dakota.--ED.

[273] This is a climbing plant, and the leaves are a very nourishing food for horses and oxen, which are said to thrive upon it. The root has a bulb, about the size of a walnut, with a violet outer skin, and white inside, which is said to be a wholesome food for man.--MAXIMILIAN.

[274] Clark describes the Big Bend as being from a mile to a mile and a quarter at its neck, with a low range of hills running across, from ninety to a hundred and eighty feet high. He himself walked across the "gouge;" but the boats were a day and a half in passing around.--ED.

[275] Medicine Creek was called by Lewis and Clark Tyler's River. It is a western affluent of the Missouri, and the hills mentioned are known as Medicine Butte, in Lyman County. The mouth of the creek is the site of the Red Cloud or Lower Brule Indian agency. This creek and hills should be distinguished from Medicine Knoll and a creek of that name, eastern affluents a few miles higher up.--ED.

[276] Daniel Lamont, supposed to be of a Scotch family, was one of the original members of the Columbia Fur Company, and became one of the three partners of the "Upper Missouri Outfit." He was for many years in the fur-trade, but little is known of his personal history.

Colonel David D. Mitchell was a Virginian by birth (1806), who early entered the fur-trade--first as a clerk, later as a partner in the American Fur Company. In 1832 he built the first fort for that company among the Blackfeet (see our volume xxiii), and was for some time in charge at Fort Clark, where Larpenteur speaks of him as "very much of a gentleman." In 1841, Mitchell was chosen superintendent of Indian affairs for the Western Department, with headquarters at St. Louis--a position which he filled until 1852. Joining the volunteer service for the Mexican War, he was chosen lieutenant-colonel of Colonel Sterling Price's regiment, and advanced first to New Mexico and later to Chihuahua with Colonel Alexander Doniphan. Mitchell died in St. Louis in 1861.--ED.

[277] This island is now known as Fort George (or Airhart's) Island.--ED.

[278] The second Fort Teton was built about 1828; it has been contended by several authorities that its site was south of or below Teton River; but in the light of Maximilian's testimony, this appears improbable. The first Fort Teton was probably that built by Joseph La Framboise in 1817. Maximilian does not state that Fort Tecumseh was the successor of Fort Teton, and the predecessor of Fort Pierre, although alluding to the former--see note 278, _post_. On the entire subject see "Fort Pierre and its Neighbors," in _South Dakota Historical Collections_ (Aberdeen, 1902), i, pp. 263-379.--ED.

[279] Fort Pierre was built by the American Fur Company in 1831-32 to replace Fort Tecumseh, which had begun to be undermined by the river. The site chosen was three miles above the mouth of the Teton, about one thousand yards back from the river. The post was christened in June, 1832, upon the visit of Pierre Chouteau, jr., in whose honor it was named. Fort Pierre continued to be the entrepot of the upper Missouri until 1855, when the company sold the post to the United States, then engaged in a campaign against the hostile Sioux. General Harney wintered here (1855-56) with one thousand two hundred men. The following year (1857), Fort Pierre was abandoned for Fort Randall, a hundred miles farther down the river; the old post was demolished, the best of its fittings transferred to the new post, and the rest allowed to fall into the hands of the Indians. The same year a trader built a new post, also popularly called Fort Pierre, three miles above the old one. New Fort Pierre, a company trading post, was built in 1859 about two miles above the original stockade. This was abandoned in the Sioux outbreak of 1863, and the goods removed to the neighborhood of Fort Sully, a government post established on an island below the city of Pierre, South Dakota.--ED.

[280] Fort Tecumseh was the principal establishment on this part of the river for the Columbia Fur Company, being built about 1822. When this concern was consolidated with the American Fur Company, the latter made headquarters at Fort Tecumseh until the building of the original Fort Pierre (1831-32). Its site has been thought, by a misreading of authorities, to have been on the east bank; but it was probably only a short distance below old Fort Pierre, on the western bank.--ED.

[281] William Laidlaw was a Scotchman who had been trained in the British fur companies, and came to the Missouri with the Columbia Fur Company. He was for several years the factor of Forts Tecumseh and Pierre, and was then promoted to the charge of Fort Union, where he was as late as 1845--probably for some time after. When he finally retired, it was to settle near Liberty, Missouri, where he died a poor man. He was an able trader, but of quick, irascible temper, and unpopular with his subordinates.--ED.

[282] See p. 319, for plan of Fort Pierre.--ED.

[283] For Pierre Dorion, see our volume v, p. 38, note 7. Although Maximilian speaks of him as "old Dorion," it is probable that this was another son of Pierre, sr.; for Pierre, jr., was a grown man at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and his father was a Frenchman, not a half-breed.--ED.

[284] See the portrait of the Dakota woman, Plate 42, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[285] The red pipe-clay is found chiefly on a lateral stream of the Big Sioux River, but also in other places, for instance, on St. Peter's River; and it is said, that the several Indian tribes behave peaceably towards each other while they are digging up the stone in that place, but again treat each other as enemies as soon as they have left it. Persons who have visited the quarries on the Big Sioux River have given me the following description of them: the red stone occurs in large beds or strata, where the perpendicular sides of the stream show divers alternating layers. The strata of red stone, which are at the most a foot thick, alternate with yellow, blue, white, and other kinds of clay. The green turf on the surface, and the upper stratum, are removed, and the red-brown colour of the stone is generally more lively and beautiful the deeper you go down. It is possible to obtain large pieces, and to make beautiful slabs of them. The Indians make not only pipe-heads of this stone, but likewise war-clubs, which, however, are only carried in their hands for show.--MAXIMILIAN.

_Comment by Ed._ The first white person to visit the Pipestone quarries in southwest Minnesota was the artist George Catlin, who in 1836 obtained permission from the Indians to inspect this sacred spot. The mineral has since been called "catlinite," from his name. There are, however, other quarries in Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

[286] See Plate 81, figure 12, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv, for a figure of a Dakota pipe; also illustration on opposite page of Dakota pipes.--ED.

[287] See p. 323, for illustration of a Dakota with plaited hair.--ED.

[288] See Plate 81, figure 9, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[289] For the Teton, see our volume v, p. 104, note 71. The Teton bands (as at present classified) are the Brule, Sans Arcs, Blackfeet (not to be confused with the Blackfoot tribe of Algonquian origin), Miniconjou, Two Kettle, Oglala, and Hunkpapa. The Yankton bands are not classified by Powell.--ED.

[290] See p. 287, for illustration of method of wearing hair.--ED.

[291] See Plate 30, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv, for an Indian horse-race.--ED.

[292] See p. 323, for illustration of this Teton.--ED.