Full text of "Illustrations of the manners, customs and 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"

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LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY
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ILLUSTRATIONS

OF THE

MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND 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.

WITH THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ENQRAVINQS,

FROM THE

rtjjtnal paintings!.

BY GEO. CATLIN.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

TENTH EDITION.

LONDON:

HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

1866.

E 7

or. 2

i' KIN TED BY J. . ADLAED,

BABTHOLOJTEW CLOSE.

CONTENTS

THE SECOND VOLUME,

LETTER No. 32.

Cantonment Leaven worth, p. 1, 15. Shiennes, p. 2. Portraits of, pis. 115, 116. Floyd's
Grave, p. 4, pi. 118. Black Bird's Grave, p. 5, pi. 117. Beautiful grassy bluffs, p. 8,
pis. 119, 120. Mandan remains, p. 9, pi. 121 Belle Vue, p. ll.pl. 122. Square
hills, p. 11, pi. 123. Mouth of Platte, p. 13, pi. 125, Buffaloes crossing p. 13,
pi. 126.

LETTER No. 33.

Grouse shooting before the burning prairies, p. 16. Prairie bluffs burning, p. 17, pi.
127. Prairie meadows burning, p. 17, pi. 128.

LETTER No. 34,

loways, p. 22, pis. 129, 130, 132 Konzas, p. 22, pis. 133, 134, 135, 136. Mode of shav
ing the head, p. 23. Pawnees, p. 24. Small-pox amongst Pawnees, p. 25. Major
Dougherty's opinion of the Fur Trade, p. 26. Grand Pawnees, p. 27, pis. 138, 139, 140
Ottoes, p. 27, pis. 143. 144. Omahas, p. 27, pis. 145, 146.

LETTER No. 35-

St. Louis, p. 29. Loss of Indian curiosities, &c. Governor Clarke, p. 30

LETTER No. 36.

Pensacola, Florida Perdido, p. 32. Pine woods of Florida, p. 33, pi. 147. Santa Rosa
Island, p. 33, pi. 148. Prophecy, p- 34 Start for Camancbee country, p. 35.

A A

LETTER No. 37.

Transit up the Arkansas river, p. 36. Fort Gibson, 1st regiment United States' Dragoons
reviewed, p. 38. Equipping and starting of Dragoons for the Camanchee country,
p. 38, 39.

LETTER No. 38.

Fort Gibson, p. 40. Osages, p. 41. Portraits of Osages, p. 41, pis. 150, 151, 152, 3, 4,
5, 6. Former and present condition of, p. 43, 44. Start for Camanchees and Pawcse
Picts, p. 44.

LETTER No. 39.

Mouth of the False Washita and Red River, p. 45. Beautiful prairie country, p. 45.
Arkanzas grapes. Plums. Wild roses, currants, gooseberries, prickly pears, Sue.
p. 46. Buffalo chase, p. 46. Murder of Judge Martin and family, p. 47.

LETTER No. 40.

Sickness at the Mouth of False Washita one-half of the regiment start for the Caman
chees, under command of Col. Dodge, p. 49. Sickness of General Leavenworth,
and cause of, p. 50. Another buffalo hunt, p. 51.

LETTER No. 41.

Great Camanchee village, Texas, p. 53. A stampedo, p. 53. Meeting a Camanchee war
party, and mode of approaching them, p. 55, pi. 157 They turn about and escort the
Dragoons to their village, p. 56. Immense herds of buffaloes, p. 56. Buffaloes
breaking through the ranks of the Dragoon regiment, p. 57, pi. 158. Wild horses
sagacity of wild horses at play, p. 57, pi. 160. Joe Chadwick and I " creasing " a
wild horse, p. 58. Taking the wild horse with laso, and " breaking down, " p. 58,
pis. 161, 162. Chain of the Rocky Mountain, p. 60. Approach to the Camanchee
village, p. 61, pi. 163. Immense number of Camanchee horses prices of Capt.
Duncan's purchase, p. 62, 63.

LETTER No. 42.

Description of the Camanchee village, and view of, p. 64, pi. 164. Painting a family
group, p. 165. Camanchees moving, p. 64, pi. 166. Wonderful feats of riding, p. 65,
pi. 167. Portraits of Camanchee chiefs, p. 67, pis. 168. 169, 170, 171, m. Esti
mates of the Camanchees, p. 68. Pawnee Picts, Kiowas, and Wicos, p. 69.

LETTER No. 43.

The regiment advance towards the Pawnee village Description and view of the Pawnee
village, p. 70, pi. 173. Council in the Pawnee village Recovery of the son of Judge
Martin, and the presentation of the three Pawnee and Kiowa women to their own
people, p. 71. Return of the regiment to the Camanchee village, p. 72. Pawnee Picts,
portraits of, p. 73, pis. 174, 175, 176, 177. Kiowas, p. 74, pis. 178, 179, 180, 181.
Wicos, portraits of, p. 75, pi. 182.

LETTER No. 44.

Camp Canadian Immense herds of buffaloes Great slaughter of them Extraordinary
sickness of the command, p. 76. Suffering from impure water sickness of the men,
p. 77. Horned frogs Curious adventure in catching them, p. 78. Death of General
Leavenworth and Lieutenant M'Clure, p. 78.

LETTER No. 45.

Return to Fort Gibson Severe and fatal sickness at that place Death of Lieutenant
West, p. 80. Death of the Prussian Botanist and his servant, p. 81. Indian Council
at Fort Gibson, p. 82. Outfits of trading-parties to the Camanchees Probable conse
quences of, p. 83. Curious minerals and fossil shells collected and thrown away,
p. 85. Mountain ridges of fossil shells, of iron and gypsum, p. 86. Saltpetre and
salt, p. 86.

LETTER No. 46.

Alton, on the Mississippi Captain Wharton His sickness at Fort Gibson, p. 87. The
Author starting alone for St. Louis, a distance of 500 miles across the prairies His
outfit, p. 88. The Author and his horse " Charley" encamped on a level prairie, p. 89,
pi. 184. Singular freak and attachment of the Author's horse, p. 90. A beautiful
valley in the prairies, p. 91. An Indian's estimation of a newspaper, p. 92. Riqua's
village of Osages Meeting Captain Wharton at the Kickapoo prairie, p. 93. Difficulty
of swimming rivers Crossing the Osage, 94. Boonville on the Missouri Author
reaches Alton, and starts for Florida, p. 95.

LETTER No. 47.

Trip to Florida and Texas, and back to St. Louis, p. 97. Kickapoos, portraits of, p. 98,
pis. 185, 186. Weas, portraits of, p. 99, pis. 187, 188. Potowatomies, portraits of,
p. 100, pis. 189, 190. Kaskasias, portraits of p. 100, pis. 191, 192. Peorias, portraits
of, p. 101, pis. 193, 194. Piankeshaws, p. 101, pis. 195, 196. Delawares, p. 101,
pis. 197, 198. Moheconneuhs, or Mohegans, p. 103, pis. 199, 200. Oneidas, p. 103,
pis. 201. Tuskaroras, p. 103, pi. 202. Senecas, p. 104, pis. 203, 204. 205. Iroquoia
p. 106, pi. 206.

LETTER No. 48.

Flatheads, Nez Perces, p. 108, pis. 207, 208. Flathead mission across the Rocky Moun
tains to St. Louis. Mission of the Reverends Messrs. Lee and Spalding beyond the
Rocky Mountains, p. 109. Chinooks, portraits, p. 110, pis. 209, 210. Process of flatten
ing the head and cradle, p. Ill, pi. 210|. Flathead skulls, p. 111. -^Similar custom of
Choctaws CLoctaw tradition, p. 112 Curious manufactures of the Chinoojks Klicka-
tacks Chuhaylas, and Na-as Indians, p. 113, pi. 2lO. Character and disposition
of the Indians on the Columbia, p. 114.

LETTER No. 49.

Shawanos.p. 115, pis. 211, 212, 213, 214. Shawnee prophet and his transaction*, p. H7.
Cherokees, portraits of, p. 119, pis. 215, 216, 217, 218. Creeks, portraits of,
p 122, pis. 219, 220. Choctaws, portraits of, p. 122, pis. 221, 222. Ball-play, p. 124,
in plates 224, 225, 226. A distinguished ball-player, pi. 223. Eagle-dance, p. 126,
pi. 227. Tradition of the Deluge Of a future state, p, 127. Origin of the Crawfish
band, p. 128.

LETTER No. 50.

f'ort Snelling, near the Fall of St. Anthony Description of the Upper Mississippi,
p. 129, 130. View on the Upper Mississippi and " Dubuque's Grave," p. 130, pis. 128,
129. Fall of St. Anthony, p. 131, pi. 230. Fort Snelling, p. 131, pi. 231. A Sioux
cradle, and modes of carrying their children, p. 132, pi. 232. Mourning cradle, same
plate. Sioux portraits, p. 134, pis. 233, 234, 235, 236.

LETTER No. 51.

Fourth of July at the Fall of St. Anthony, and amusements, p. 135-6. Dog dance of the
Sioux, p. 136, pi. 237. Chippeway village, p. 137, pi. 238. Chippeways making the
portage around the Fall of St. Anthony, p. 138, pi. 239. Chippeway bark canoes
Mandan canoes of skins Sioux canoes Sioux and Chippeway snow-shoes, p. 138,
pi. 240. Portraits of Chippeways, p. 139, pis. 241, 242, 244, 245, Snow-shoe dance,
p. 139, pi. 243.

LETTER No. 52.

The Author descending the Mississippi in a bark canoe Shot at by Sioux Indians, p, 141.
Lake Pepin and " Lover's Leap," p. 143, pi. 248. Pike's Tent, and Cap auTail,
p. 143, pis. 249, 250." Cornice Rocks," p. 144, pi. 251. Prairie du Chien, p. 144,
pi. 253. Ball-play of the women, p. 145, pi. 252. Winnebagoes, portraits of, p. 146,
pis. 254, 255, 256. Menomonies, portraits of, p. 147, pis. 258, 259, 260, 261, 262,
263. Dubuque Lockwood's cave, p. 148. Camp des Moines, and visit to Keokuk'a
village, p. 149.

LETTER No. 53.

The Author and his bark canoe sunk in the Des Moine's Rapids, p. 151. The Author left
on Mascotin Island, p. 153. Death of Joe Chadwick The " West," not the " Far
West," p 155. Author's contemplations on the probable future condition of the Great
Valley of the Mississippi, p. 156 159.

LETTER No. 54.

Coteau des Prairies, p. 160. Mackinaw and Sault de St. Mary's, p. 161, pis. 264, 265.
Catcning white fish Canoe race, p. 162, pis. 266, 267. Chippeways, portraits of,
p. 162, pis. 268, 269. Voyage up the Fox River, p. 162. Voyage down the Ouisconsia

Vll

in bark canoe, p. 163. Red Pipe Stone Quarry, on the C6teau des Prairies, p- 164,
pi. 270. Indian traditions relative to the Red Pipe Stone, p. 168, 169, 170. The
"Leaping Rock." p. 170. The Author and his companion stopped by the Sioux, on
their way, and objections raised by the Sioux, p. 172, 173, 174, 175. British medals
amongst the Sioux, p. 173. Mons. La Framboise, kind reception, p. 176. Encamp
ment at the Pipe Stone Quarry, p. 177. Ba'tiste's " Story of the Medicine Bag,"p.l78.
" Story of the Dog," prelude to, p. 180. Leaving the Mandans in canoe, p. 181.
Passing the Riccarees in the night, p. 182. Encamping on the side of a clay-bluff,
in a thunder-storm, p. 183.

LETTER No. 55.

"Story of the Dog" told, p. 188 to 194. Story of Wi-jun-jon, (the pigeon's egg head,)
p. 194 to 200. Further account of the Red Pipe Stone Quarry, and the Author's
approach to it, p. 201. Boulders of the Prairies, p. 203. Chemical analysis of the
Red Pipe Stone, p. 206

LETTER No. 56.

Author's return from the C6teau des Prairies " Laque du Cygn," p. 207, pi. 276 Sioux
taking Muskrats, pi. 277, same page. Gathering wild rice, p. 208, pi. 278. View on
St. Peters river, p. 208, pi. 279. The Author and his companion embark in a log canoe
at "Traverse de Sioux" Arrive at Fall of St. Anthony, p. 208. Lake Pepin Prairie
du Chien Cassville Rock Island, p. 209. Sac and Fox Indians, portraits of, p. 210,
pis. 280, 281, 282, 283,284, 285, 286, 287, 289. Ke-o-kuk on horseback, p. 212.
pi. 290. Slave-dance, p. 213, pi. 291. " Smoking horses," p. 213, pi. 292. Begging-
dance, p. 214, pi. 293. Sailing in canoes Discovery-dance Dance to the Berdash,
p. 214, pis. 294, 295, 296. Dance to the medicine of the brave, p. 215, pi.' 297.
Treaty with Sacs and Foxes Stipulations of, p. 215, and 216.

LETTER No. 57.

Fort Moultrie. Seminolees, p. 218. Florida war. Prisoners of war. Osceola, p. 219-
pi. 298. Cloud, King Phillip. Co-ee-ha-jo. Creek Billy, Mickenopah. p. 220, pis.
299 to 305. Death of Osceola. p. 221.

LETTER No. 58.

North Western Frontier General remarks on, p. 223. General appearance and habits
of the North American Indians, p. 225 to 230. Jewish customs and Jewish resem
blances, p. 232, 233. Probable origin of the Indians, p. 234. Languages, p. 236.
Government, p. 239. Cruelties of punishments, p. 240. Indian queries 011 white
man's modes, p. 241. Mj)des of war and peace, p. 242. Pipe of peace dance, p. 242.
Religion, p. 242 3. Picture writing, songs and totems, p. 246, pis. 306, 307, 308,
509, 310, 311. Policy of removing the Indians, p. 249. Trade and small-pox, the
principal destroyers of the Indian tribes, p. 250. Murder of the Root Diggers and
Riccarees, 252. Concluding remarks, p. 254 to 256.

vm
APPENDIX A.

Account of the destruction of the Mandans, p. 257. Author's reasons for believing them
to have perpetuated the remains of the Welsh Colony established by Prince Madoc.

APPENDIX B.

Vocabularies of several different Indian languages, shewing their dissimilarity, p. 262.

APPENDIX C.

Comparison of the Indians' original and secondary character, p. 266.

LETTERS AND NOTES

ON THE

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

LETTER No. 32.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWER MISSOURI.

IHE readers, 1 presume, will have felt some anxiety for me and the fate
my little craft, after the close of my last Letter ; and I have the very greal
satisfaction of announcing to them that we escaped snags and sawyers, and
every other danger, and arrived here safe from the Upper Missouri, where my
last letters were dated. We, (that is, Ba'tiste, Bogard and I,) are comfort
ably quartered for awhile, in the barracks of this hospitable Cantonment,
which is now the extreme Western military post on the frontier, and under
the command of Colonel Davenport, a gentleman of great urbanity of man
ners, with a Roman head and a Grecian heart, restrained and tempered by the
charms of an American lady, who has elegantly pioneered the graces of
civilized refinements into these uncivilized regions.

This Cantonment, which is beautifully situated on the west bank of the
Missouri River, and six hundred miles above its mouth, was constructed some
years since by General Leavenworth, from whom it has taken its name. Its
location is very beautiful, and so is the country around it. It is the con
centration point of a number of hostile tribes in the vicinity, and has its
influence in restraining their warlike propensities.

There is generally a regiment of men stationed here, for the purpose of
holding the Indians in check, and of preserving the peace amongst the hostile
tribes. I shall visit several tribes in this vicinity, and most assuredly give
you some further account of them, as fast as I get it.

Since the date of my last epistles, I succeeded in descending the river to
this place, in my little canoe, with my two men at the oars, and myself at
the helm, steering its course the whole way amongst snags and sand-bars.

Before I give further account of this downward voyage, however, I must
recur back for a few moments, to the Teton River, from whence I started, and

VOL. II. B

from whencemy last epistles were written, to record a few more incidents which
I then overlooked in my note-book. Whilst painting my portraits amongst the
Sioux, as I have described, I got the portrait of a noble Shienne chief, by the
name of Nee-hee-o-ee-woo-tis, the wolf on the hill (PLATE 115). The chief
of a party of that tribe, on a friendly visit to the Sioux, and the portrait also of
a woman, Tis-see-woo-na-tis (she who bathes her knees, PLATE 116). The
Shiennes are a small tribe of about 3000 in numbers, living neighbours to
the Sioux, on the west of them, and between the Black Hills and the
Rocky Mountains. There is no finer race of men than these in North
America, and none superior in stature, excepting the Osages ; scarcely a
man in the tribe, full grown, who is less than six feet in height. The
Shiennes are undoubtedly the richest in horses of any tribe on the Continent,
living in a country as they do, where the greatest herds of wild horses
are grazing on the prairies, which they catch in great numbers and vend to
the Sioux, Mandans and" other tribes, as well as to the Fur Traders.

These people are the most desperate set of horsemen, and warriors also,
having carried on almost unceasing wars with the Pawnees and Blackfeet,
" time out of mind." The chief represented in the picture was clothed
in a handsome dress of deer skins, very neatly garnished with broad bands of
porcupine quill-work down the sleeves of his shirt and his leggings, and all
the way fringed with scalp-locks. His hair was very profuse, and flowing
over his shoulders ; and in his hand he held a beautiful Sioux pipe, which
had just been presented to him by Mr. M'Kenzie, the Trader. This was
one of the finest looking and most dignified men that I have met in the Indian
country ; and from the account given of him by the Traders a man of
honour and strictest integrity. The woman was comely, ano beautifully
dressed ; her dress of the mountain-sheep skins, tastefully ornamented with
quills and beads, and her hair plaited in large braids, that hung down on her
breast.

After I had painted these and many more, whom I have not time at pre
sent to name, I painted the portrait of a celebrated warrior of the Sioux,
by the name of Mah-to-chee-ga (the little bear), who was unfortunately
slain in a few moments after the picture was done, by one of his own tribe ;
and which was very near costing me my life for having painted a side view of
his face, leaving one-half of it out of the picture, which had been the cause of
the affray ; and supposed by the whole tribe to have been intentionally left
out by me, as " good for nothing." This was the last picture that I painted
amongst the Sioux, and the last, undoubtedly, that I ever shall paint in that
place. So tremendous and so alarming was the excitement about it, that
my brushes were instantly put away, and I embarked the next day on the
steamer for the sources of the Missouri, and was glad to get underweigh.

The man who slew this noble warrior was a troublesome fellow of the
same tribe, by the name of Shon-ka (the dog). A " hue and cry" has
been on his track for several months ; and my life having been repeatedly

threatened during my absence up the river, I shall defer telling the whole
of this most extraordinary affair, until I see that my own scalp is safe, and
I am successfully out of the country. A few weeks or months will decide
how many are to fall victims to the vengeance of the relatives of this mur
dered brave : and if I outlive the affair, I shall certainly give some further
account of it.*

My voyage from the mouth of the Teton River to this place has been the
most rugged, yet the most delightful, of my whole Tour. Our canoe was
generally landed at night on the point of some projecting barren sand-bar,
where we straightened our limbs on our buffalo robes, secure from the
annoyance of mosquitos, and out of the walks of Indians and grizzly bears.
In addition to the opportunity which this descending Tour has afforded me,
of visiting all the tribes of Indians on the river, and leisurely filling my port
folio with the beautiful scenery which its shores present the sportsman's
fever was roused and satisfied ; the swan, ducks, geese, and pelicans the
deer, antelope, elk, and buffaloes, were " stretched" by our rifles ; and some
times " puil boys ! pull ! ! a war party ! for your lives pull ! or we are
gone !"

I often landed my skiff, and mounted the green carpeted bluffs, whose
soft grassy tops, invited me to recline, where I was at once lost in contem
plation. Soul melting scenery that was about me ! A place where the
mind could think volumes ; but the tongue must be silent that would speak,
and the hand palsied that would write. A place where a Divine would con
fess that he never had fancied Paradise where the painter's palette would
lose its beautiful tints the blood-stirring notes of eloquence would die in
their utterance and even the soft tones of sweet music would scarcely pre
serve a spark to light the soul again that had passed this sweet delirium. I
mean the prairie, whose enamelled plains that lie beneath me, in distance
soften into sweetness, like an essence ; whose thousand thousand velvet-
covered hills, (surely never formed by chance, but grouped in one of
Nature's sportive moods) tossing and leaping down with steep or graceful
declivities to the river's edge, as if to grace its pictured shores, and make it
" a thing to look upon." I mean the prairie at sun-set ; when the green
hill-tops are turned into gold and their long shadows of melancholy are
thrown over the valleys when all the breathings of day are hushed, and
nought but the soft notes of tlie-retiring dove can be heard ; or the still softer
and more plaintive notes of the wolf, who sneaks through these scenes of en
chantment, and mournfully how 1 s, as if lonesome, and lost in the too

beautiful quiet and stillness about him. I mean this prairie ; where Heaven
sheds its purest light, and lends its richest tints this round-toppd bluff,

* Some months after writing the above, and after I had arrived safe in St. Louis, the
news reached there that the I)og had been overtaken and killed, and a brother of his also,
and the affair thus settled. The portraits are in Vol. II. (PLATES 273, 274, and 275), and
the story there told.

where the foot treads soft and light whose steep sides, and lofty head, rear
me to the skies, overlooking yonder pictured vale of beauty this solitary
cedar-post, which tells a tale of grief grief that was keenly felt, and tenderly,
but long since softened in the march of time and lost. Oh, sad and tear-
starting contemplation ! sole tenant of this stately mound, how solitary thy
habitation ! here Heaven wrested from thee thy ambition, and made thee
sleeping monarch of this land of silence.

Stranger ! oh, how the mystic web of sympathy links my soul to thee and
thy afflictions ! I knew thee not, but it was enough ; thy tale was told, and I
a solitary wanderer through thy land, have stopped to drop familiar tears
upon thy grave. Pardon this gush from a stranger's eyes, for they are all
that thou canst have in this strange land, where friends and dear relations
are not allowed to pluck a flower, and drop a tear to freshen recollections of
endearments past.

Stranger ! adieu. With streaming eyes I leave thee again, and thy fairy
land, to peaceful solitude. My pencil has faithfully traced thy beautiful
habitation ; and long shall live in the world, and familiar, the name of
" Floyd's Grave"

Readers, pardon this digression. I have seated myself down, not on a
prairie, but at my table, by a warm and cheering fire, with my journal before
me to cull from it a few pages, for your entertainment ; and if there are
spots of loveliness and beauty, over which I have passed, and whose images
are occasionally beckoning me into digressions, you must forgive me.

Such is the spot I have just named, and some others, on to which I am.
instantly transferred when I cast my eyes back upon the enamelled and
beautiful shores of the Upper Missouri ; and I am constrained to step aside
and give ear to their breathings, when their soft images, and cherished asso
ciations, so earnestly prompt me. " Floyd's Grave" is a name given to one
of the most lovely and imposing mounds or bluffs on the Missouri River,
about twelve hundred miles above St. Louis, from the melancholy fate of
Serjeant Floyd, who was of Lewis and Clark's expedition, in 1806; who
died on the way, and whose body was taken to this beautiful hill, and buried
in its top, where now stands a cedar post, bearing the initials of his name
(PLATE 118).

I landed my canoe in front of this grass-covered mound, and all hands
being fatigued, we encamped a couple of days at its base. I several
times ascended it and sat upon his grave, overgrown with grass and the
most delicate wild flowers, where 1 sat and contemplated the solitude
and stillness of this tenanted mound ; and beheld from its top, the
windings infinite of the Missouri, and its thousand hills and domes of green,
vanishing into blue in distance, when nought but the soft-breathing winds
were heard, to break the stillness and quietude of the scene. Where not the
chirping of bird or sound of cricket, nor soaring eagle's scream, were inter-
nosed 'tween God and man ; nor aught to check man's whole surrender of

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his soul to his Creator. I could not hunt upon this ground, but I roamed
ttom hill-top to hill-top, and culled wild flowers, and looked into the valley
below me, bolh up the river and down, and contemplated the thousand hills
and dales that are now carpeted with green, streaked as they will be, with
the plough, and yellow with the harvest sheaf ; spotted with lowing kine
with houses and fences, and groups of hamlets and villas and these lovely
hill-tops ringing with the giddy din and maze, or secret earnest whispers of
lovesick swains of pristine simplicity and virtue wholesome and well-
earned contentment and abundance and again, of wealth and refinements
of idleness and luxury of vice and its deformities of fire and sword, and
the vengeance of offended Heaven, wreaked in retributive destruction !
and peace, and quiet, and loveliness, and silence, dwelling again, over and
through these scenes, and blending them into futurity !

Many such scenes there are, and thousands, on the Missouri shores. My
canoe has been stopped, and I have clambered up their grassy and flower-
decked sides ; and sighed all alone, as I have carefully traced and fastened
them in colours on my canvass.

This voyage in my little canoe, amid the thousand islands and grass-
covered bluffs that stud the shores of this mighty river, afforded me infinite
pleasure, mingled with pains and privations which I never shall wish to for
get. Gliding along from day to day, and tiring our eyes on the varying
landscapes that were continually opening to our view, my merry voyageurs
were continually chaunting their cheerful boat songs, and " every now and
then," taking up their unerring rifles to bring down the stately elks or ante
lopes, which were often gazing at us from the shores of the river.

But a few miles from " Floyd's Bluff" we landed our canoe, and spent
a day in the vicinity of the " Black Bird's Grave." This is a celebrated
point on the Missouri, and a sort of telegraphic place, which all the travellers
in these realms, both white and red, are in the habit of visiting : the one to
pay respect to the bones of one of their distinguished leaders ; and the others,
to indulge their eyes on the lovely landscape that spreads out to an almost
illimitable extent in every direction about it. This elevated bluff, which may
be distinguished for several leagues in distance (PLATE 117), has received

e name of the " Black Bird's Grave," from the fact, that a famous chief
of the O-ma-haws, by the name of the Black Bird, was buried on its top, at
his own peculiar request; over whose grave a cedar post was erected by his
tribe some thirty years ago, which is still standing. The O -ma-haw village
was about sixty miles above this place ; and this very noted chief, who had
been on a visit to Washington City, in company with the Indian agent, died
of the small-pox, near this spot, on his return home. And, whilst dying,
enjoined on his warriors who were about him, this singular request, which
was literally complied with. He requested them to take his body down the
river to this his favourite haunt, and on the pimacle of this towering bluff,
to bury him on the back of his favourite war-horse, which was to be buried

alive, under him, from whence he could see, as he said, " the Frenchmen
passing up and down the river in their boats." He owned, amongst many
horses, a noble white steed that was led to the top of the grass-covered hill ;
and, with great pomp and ceremony, in presence of the whole nation, and
several of the Fur Traders and the Indian agent, he was placed astride of
his horse's back, with his bow in his hand, and his shield and quiver slung
with his pipe and his medicine-bag with his supply of dried meat, and his
tobacco-pouch replenished to last him through his journey to the " beautiful
hunting grounds of the shades of his fathers" with his flint and steel, and
his tinder, to light his pipes by the way. The scalps that he had taken from
his enemies' heads, could be trophies for nobody else, and were hung to the
bridle of his horse he was in full dress and fully equipped ; and on his
head waved, to the last moment, his beautiful head-dress of the war-eagle's
plumes. In this plight, and the last funeral honours having been performed
by the medicine-men, every warrior of his band painted the palm and fingers
of his right hand with vermilion ; which was stamped, and perfectly im
pressed on the milk-white sides of his devoted horse.

This all done, turfs were brought and placed around the feet and legs of
the horse, and gradually laid up to its sides ; and at last, over the back and
head of the unsuspecting animal, and last of ajl, over the head and even the
eagle plumes of its valiant rider, where altogether have smouldered and
remained undisturbed to the present day.

This mound which is covered with a green turf, and spotted with wild
flowers, with its cedar post in its centre, can easily be seen at the distance of fif
teen miles, bythevoyageur, and forms for him a familiar and useful land-mark.

Whilst visiting this mound in company with Major Sanfo*d, on our way
up the river, I discovered in a hole made in the mound, by a " ground hog"
or other animal, the skull of the horse ; and by a little pains, also came at
the skull of the chief, which I carried to the river side, and secreted till my
return in my canoe, when 1 took it in, and brought with me to this place,
where I now have it, with others which I have collected on my route.

There have been some very surprising tales told of this man, which will
render him famous in history, whether they be truth or matters of fiction. Of
the many, one of the most current is, that he gained his celebrity and
authority by the most diabolical series of murders in his own tribe ; by
administering arsenic (with which he had been supplied by the Fur Traders)
to such of his enemies as he wished to get rid of and even to others in his
tribe whom he was willing to sacrifice, merely to establish his superhuman
powers, and the most servile dread of the tribe, from the certainty with which
his victims fell around him, precisely at the times he saw fit to predict their
death ! It has been said that he administered this potent drug, and to them
unknown medicine, to many of his friends as well as to foes ; and by such
an inhuman .and unparalleled depravity, succeeded in exercising the most
despotic and absolute authority in his tribe, until the time of his death !

This story may bo true, and it may not. I cannot contradict it ; arid 1 am
sure the world will forgive me, if I say, I cannot believe it. If it be true,
two things are also true ; the one, not much to the credit of the Indian
character ; and the other, to the everlasting infamy of the Fur Traders. If
it be true, it furnishes an instance of Indian depravity that I never have else
where heard of in my travels ; and carries the most conclusive proof of the
incredible enormity of white men's dealings in this country ; who, for some
sinister purpose must have introduced the poisonous drug into the country,
and taught the poor chief how to use it ; whilst they were silent accessories
to the murders he was committing. This story is said to have been told by
the Fur Traders ; and although I have not always the highest confidence in
their justice to the Indian, yet, I cannot for the honour of my own species,
believe them to be so depraved and so wicked, nor so weak, as to reveal such
iniquities of this chief, if they were true, which must directly implicate them
selves as accessories to his most wilful and unprovoked murders.

Such he has been heralded, however, to future ages, as a murderer like
hundreds and thousands of others, as " horse thieves" as " drunkards"
as " rogues of the first order," &c. &c. by the historian who catches but a
glaring story, (and perhaps fabrication) of their lives, and has no time nor
disposition to enquire into and. record their long and brilliant list of virtues,
which must be lost in the shade of infamy, for want of an historian.

I have learned much of this noble chieftain, and at a proper time shall
recount the modes of his civil and military life how he exposed his life, and
shed his blood in rescuing the victims to horrid torture, and abolished that
savage custom in his tribe how he led on and headed his brave warriors,
against the Sacs and Foxes ; and saved the butchery of his women and
children how he received the Indian agent, and entertained him in his
hospitable wigwam, in his village and how he conducted and acquitted
himself on his embassy to the civilized world.

So much I will take pains to say, of a man whom I never saw, because
other historians have taken equal pains just to mention his name, and a soli
tary (and doubtful) act of his life, as they have said of hundreds of others,
for the purpose of consigning him to infamy.

How much more kind would it have been for the historian, who never saw
him, to have enumerated with this, other characteristic actions of his life
(for the verdict of the world) ; or to have allowed, in charity, his bones and
his name to have slept in silence, instead of calling them up from the grave,
to thrust a dagger through them, and throw them back again.

Book-making now-a-days, is done for money-making ; and he who takes
the Indian for his theme, and cannot go and see him, finds a poverty in his
matter that naturally begets error, by grasping at every little tale that is
brought or fabricated by their enemies. Such books are standards, because
they are made for white man's reading only ; and herald the character of a
people who never can disprove them. They answer the purpose for which

ihey are written ; and the poor Indian who has no redress, stands stigmati/ed
and branded, as a murderous wretch and beast.

If the system of book-making and newspaper printing were in operation
in the Indian country awhile, to herald the iniquities and horrible barbarities
of white men in these Western regions, which now are sure to be overlooked ;
I venture to say, that chapters would soon be printed, which would sicken the
reader to his heart, and set up the Indian, a fair and tolerable man.

There is no more beautiful prairie country in the world, than that which is
to be seen in this vicinity. In looking back from this bluff, towards the
West, there is, to an almost boundless extent, one of the most beautiful
scenes imaginable. The surface of the country is gracefully and slightly
undulating, like the swells of the retiring ocean after a heavy storm. And
everywhere covered with a beautiful green turf, and with occasional patches
and clusters of trees. The soil in this region is also rich, and capable of
making one of the most beautiful and productive countries in the world.

Ba'tiste and Bogard used their rifles to some effect during the day that
we loitered here, and gathered great quantities of delicious grapes. From
this lovely spot we embarked the next morning, and glided through con
stantly changing scenes of beauty, until we landed our canoe at the base of
a beautiful series of grass-covered bluffs, which, like thousands and thousands
of others on the banks of this river, are designated by no name, that I know
of; and I therefore introduce them as fair specimens of the grassy bluffs
of the Missouri.

My canoe was landed at noon, at the base of these picturesque hills and
there rested till the next morning. As soon as we were ashore, I scrambled
to their summits, and beheld, even to a line, what the reader has before
him in PLATES 119 and 120. I took my easel, and canvass and brushes,
to the top of the bluff, and painted the two views from the same spot ; the
one looking up, and the other down the river. The reader, by imagining
these hills to be five or six hundred feet high, and every foot of them, as
far as they can be discovered in distance, covered with a vivid green turf,
whilst the sun is gilding one side, and throwing a cool shadow on the other,
will be enabled to form something like an adequate idea of the shores of
the Missouri. From this enchanting spot there was nothing to arrest the
eye from ranging over its waters for the distance of twenty or thirty miles,
where it quietly glides between its barriers, formed of thousands of green
and gracefully sloping hills, with its rich and alluvial meadows, and wood
lands and its hundred islands, covered with stately cotton-wood.

In these two views, the reader has a fair account of the general character
of the Upper Missouri; and by turning back to PLATE 39, VOL. I., which
I have already described, he will at once see the process by which this
wonderful formation has been produced. In that plate will be seen the
manner in which the rains are wearing down the clay-bluffs, cutting gullies
or sluices behind them, and leaving them at last to stand out in relief, in

\7 ,.C<

119

120

these rounded and graceful forms, until in time they get seeded over, and
nourish a growth of green grass on their sides, which forms a turf, and pro
tects their surface, preserving them for centuries, in the forms that are here
seen. The tops of the highest of these bluffs rise nearly up to the summit
level of the prairies, which is found as soon as one travels a mile or so from
the river, amongst these picturesque groups, and comes out at their top ;
from whence the country goes off to the East and the West, with an almost
perfectly level surface.

These two views were taken about thirty miles above the village of the
Puncahs, and five miles above " the Tower ;" the name given by the travel
lers through the country, to a high and remarkable clay bluff, rising to the
height of some hundreds of feet from the water, and having in distance, the
castellated appearance of a fortification.

My canoe was not unmoored from the shores of this lovely spot for two
days, except for the purpose of crossing the river; which I several times did,
to ascend and examine the hills on the opposite side. I had Ba'tiste and
Bogard with me on the tops of these green carpeted bluffs, and tried in vain
to make them see the beauty of scenes that were about us. They dropped
asleep, and I strolled and contemplated alone ; clambering "up one hill" and
sliding or running "down anot her," with no other living being; in sight, save now
and then a bristling wolf, which, from my approach, was reluctantly retreating
from his shady lair or sneaking behind me and smelling on my track.

Whilst strolling about on the western bank of the river at this place, 1
found the ancient site of an Indian village, which from the character of the
marks, I am sure was once the residence of the Mandans. I said in a
former Letter, when speaking of the Mandans, that within the recollection of
some of their oldest men, they lived some sixty or eighty miles down the river
from the place of their present residence ; and that they then lived in nine
Tillages. On my way down, I became fully convinced of the fact ; having
landed my canoe, and examined the ground where the foundation of every
wigwam can yet be distinctly seen. At that time, they must have been
much more numerous than at present, from the many marks they have left,
as well as from their own representations.

The Mandans have a peculiar way of building their wigwams, by digging
down a couple of feet in the earth, and there fixing the ends of the poles
which form the walls of their houses. There are other marks, such as their
caches and also their mode of depositing their dead on scaffolds and
of preserving the skulls in circles on the prairies ; which peculiar customs I
have before described, and most of which are distinctly to be recognized in
each of these places, as well as in several similar remains which I have met
with on the banks of the river, between here and the Mandans ; which fully
convince me, that they have formerly occupied the lower parts of the Missouri,
and have gradually made their way quite through the heart of the great
Sioux country ; and having been well fortified in all their locations, as in

VOL. II. c

their present one, by a regular stockade and ditch ; they have been able
successfully to resist the continual assaults of the Sioux, that numerous
tribe, who have been, and still are, endeavouring to effect their entire de
struction. 1 have examined, at least fifteen or twenty of their ancient
locations on the banks of this river, and can easily discover the regular
differences in the ages of these antiquities; and around them all I have
found numerous bits of their broken pottery, corresponding with that which
they are now manufacturing in great abundance ; and which is certainly
made by no other tribe in these regions. These evidences, and others which
I shall not take the time to mention in this place, go a great way in my
mind towards strengthening the possibility of their having moved from the
Ohio river, and of their being a remnant of the followers of Madoc. I have
much further to trace them yet, however, and shall certainly have more to
say on so interesting a subject in future.

Almost every mile I have advanced on the banks of this river, I have met
evidences and marks of Indians in some form or other ; and they have
generally been those of the Sioux, who occupy and own the greater part of
this immense region of country. In the latter part of my voyage, however,
and of which I have been speaking in the former part of this Letter, I met
the ancient sites of the O-ma-ha and Ot-to towns, which are easily detected
when they are met. In PLATE 121 (letter A), is seen the usual mode of the
Omahas, of depositing their dead in the crotches and on the branches of
trees, enveloped in skins, and never without a wooden dish hanging by the
head of the corpse ; probably for the purpose of enabling it to dip up water
to quench its thirst on the long and tedious journey, which they generally
expect to enter on after death. These corpses are so frequent along the
banks of the river, that in some places a dozen or more of them may be
seen at one view.

Letter B in the same plate, shews the customs of the Sioux, which are
found in endless numbers on the river ; and in fact, through every part of
this country. The wigwams of these people are only moveable tents, and
leave but a temporary mark to be discovered. Their burials, however, are
peculiar and lasting remains, which can be long detected. They often de
posit their dead on trees, and on scaffolds ; but more generally bury in the
tops of bluffs, or near their villages ; when they often split out staves and
drive in the ground around the grave, to protect it from the trespass of doga
or wild animals.

Letter c (same plate), shews the character of Mandan remains, that are
met with in numerous places on the river. Their mode of resting their
dead upon scaffolds is not so peculiar to them as positively to distinguish
them from Sioux, who sometimes bury in the same way ; but the excava
tions for their earth-covered wigwams, which I have said are two feet deep
in the ground, with the ends of the decayed timbers remaining in them, are
peculiai and conclusive evidence of their being of Mandan construction ;

121

G.CaiL

and the custom of leaving the skulls bleached upon the ground in circles (as
I have formerly described in PLATE 48, VOL. I.), instead of burying them as
the other tribes do, forms also a strong evidence of the fact that they are
Mandan remains.

In most of these sites of their ancient towns, however, I have been unable
to find about their burial places, these characteristic deposits of the skulls ;
from which I conclude, that whenever they deliberately moved to a different
region, they buried the skulls out of respect to the dead. I found, just back
of one of these sites of their ancient towns, however, and at least 500 miles
below where they now live, the same arrangement of skulls as that I
described in PLATE 48. They had laid so long, however, exposed to the
weather, that they were reduced almost to a powder, except the teeth,
which mostly seemed polished and sound as ever. It seems that no human
hands had dared to meddle with the dead ; and that even their enemies
had respected them ; for every one, and there were at least two hundred in
one circle, had mouldered to chalk, in its exact relative position, as they
had been placed in a circle. In this case, I am of opinion that the village
was besieged by the Sioux, and entirely destroyed ; or that the Mandans
were driven off without the power to stop and bury the bones of their dead.
Belle Vue (PLATE 122) is a lovely scene on the West bank of the river,
about nine miles above the mouth of the Platte, and is the agency of Major
Dougherty, one of the oldest and most effective agents on our frontiers.
This spot is, as I said, lovely in itself; but doubly so to the eye of the
weather-beaten voyageur from the sources of the Missouri, who steers his
canoe in, to the shore, as I did, and soon finds himself a welcome guest at
the comfortable board of the Major, with a table again to eat from and
that (not "groaning," but) standing under the comfortable weight of meat
and vegetable luxuries, products of the labour of cultivating man. It was a
pleasure to see again, in this great wilderness, a civilized habitation ; and
still more pleasant to find it surrounded with corn-fields, and potatoes, with
numerous fruit-trees, bending under the weight of their fruit with pigs and
poultry, and kine ; and what was best of all, to see the kind and benevolent
face, that never looked anything but welcome to the half-starved guests,
who throw themselves upon him from the North, from the South, the East,
or the West.

At this place 1 was in the country of the Pawnees, a numerous tribe,
whose villages are on the Platte river, and of whom I shall say more anon.
Major Dougherty has been for many years the agent for this hostile tribe ;
and by his familiar knowledge of the Indian character, and his strict honesty
and integrity, he has been able to effect a friendly intercourse with them,
and also to attract the applause and highest confidence of the world, as well
as of the authorities who sent him there.

An hundred miles above this, I passed a curious feature, called tl e
"Square Hills" (PLATE 123). I landed my canoe, and went ashore, and

to their tops, to examine them. Though they appeared to be near the river,
I found it half a day's journey to travel to and from them ; they being
several miles from the river. On ascending them I found them to be two or
three hundred feet high, and rising on their sides at an angle of 45 degrees;
and on their tops, in some places, for half a mile in length, perfectly level,
with a green turf, and corresponding exactly with the tabular hills spoken
of above the Mandans, in PLATE 39, VOL. I. I therein said, that I should
visit these hills on my way down the river ; and I am fully convinced, from
close examination, that they are a part of the same original superstratum,
which I therein described, though seven or eight hundred miles separated
from them. They agree exactly in character, and also in the materials of
which they are composed ; and I believe, that some unaccountable gorge
of waters has swept away the intervening earth, leaving these solitary and
isolated, though incontrovertible evidences, that the summit level of all this
great valley has at one time been where the level surface of these hills now
is, two or three hundred feet above what is now generally denominated the
summit level.

The mouth of the Platte (PLATE 124), is a beautiful scene, and no doubt
will be the site of a large and flourishing town, soon after Indian titles shall
have been extinguished to the lands in these regions, which will be done
within a very few years. The Platte is a long and powerful stream, pouring
in from the Rocky Mountains and joining with the Missouri at this place.

In this voyage, as in all others that I have performed, I kept my journal,
but I have not room, it will be seen, to insert more than an occasional extract
from it for my present purpose. In this voyage, Ba'tiste and Bogard were
my constant companions ; and we all had our rifles, and used them often.
We often went ashore amongst the herds of buffaloes, and were obliged to
do so for our daily food. We lived the whole way on buffaloes' flesh and
venison we had no bread ; but laid in a good stock of coffee and sugar.
These, however, from an unforeseen accident availed us but little ; as on
the second or third day of our voyage, after we had taken our coffee on the
shoie, and Ba'tiste and Bogard had gone in pursuit of a herd of buffaloes,
I took it in my head to have an extra very fine dish of coffee to myself, as
the fire was fine. For this purpose, I added more coffee-grounds to the pot,
and placed it on the fire, which I sat watching, when I saw a fine buffalo cow
wending her way leisurely over the hills, but a little distance from me, for
whom I started at once, with my rifle trailed in my hand ; and after creep
ing, and running, and heading, and all that, for half an hour, without get
ting a shot at her ; I came back to the encampment, where I found my
two men with meat enough, but in the most uncontroulable rage, for my
coffee had all boiled out, and the coffee-pot was melted to pieces !

This was truly a deplorable accident, and one that could in no effectual way
be remedied. We afterwards botched up a mess or two of it in our frying-pan,
but to little purpose, and then abandoned it to Bogard alone, who thank

123

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fully received the dry coffee-grounds and sugar, at his meals, which he soon
entirely demolished.

We met immense numbers of buffaloes in the early part of our voyage
and used to land our canoe almost every hour in the day ; and oftentimes
all together approach the unsuspecting herds, through some deep and hidden
ravine within a few rods of them, and at the word, " pull trigger," each
of us bring down our victim (PLATE 125).

In one instance, near the mouth of White River, we met the most immense
herd crossing the Missouri River and from an imprudence got our boat into
imm inent danger amongst them, from which we were highly delighted to
make our escape. It was in the mid&t of the " running season," and we
had heard the " roaring" (as it is called) of the herd, when we were several
miles from them. When we came in sight, we were actually terrified at the
immense numbers that were streaming down the green hills on one side of
the river, and galloping up and over the bluffs on the other. The river was
filled, and in parts blackened, with their heads and horns, as they were
swimming about, following up their objects, and making desperate battle
whilst they were swimming.

I deemed it imprudent for our canoe to be dodging amongst them, and ran
it ashore for a few hours, where we laid, waiting for the opportunity of seeing
the river clear ; but we waited in vain. Their numbers, however, got some
what diminished at last, and we pushed off, and successfully made our way
amongst them. From the immense numbers that had passed the river at
that place, they had torn down the prairie bunk of fifteen feet in height, sr>
as to form a sort of road or landing-place, where they all in succession
clambered up. Many in their turmoil had been wafted below this landing,
and unable to regain it against the swiftness of the current, had fastened
themselves along in crowds, hugging close to the high bank under which
they were standing. As we were drifting by these, and supposing ourselves
out of danger, I drew up my rifle and shot one of them in the head, which
tumbled into the water, and brought with him a hundred others, which
plunged in, and in a moment were swimming about our canoe, and placing it
in great danger (PLATE 126). No attack was made upon us, and in the
confusion the poor beasts knew not, perhaps, the enemy that was amongst
them ; but we were liable to be sunk by them, as they were furiously hooking
and climbing on to each other. I rose in my canoe, and by my gestures
and hallooing, kept them from coming in contact with us, until we were out
of their reach.

This was one of the instances that I formerly spoke of, where thousands
and tens of thousands of these animals congregate in the running season, and
move about from East and West, or wherever accident or circumstances may
lead them. In this grand crusade, no one can know the numbers that may
have made the ford within a few days ; nor in their blinded fury in such
scenes, would feeble man be much respected.

During the remainder of that day we paddled onward, and passed many
of their carcasess floating on the current, or lodged on the heads of islands
and sand-bars. And, in the vicinity of, and not far below the grand tur
moil, we passed several that were mired in the quicksand near the shores;
some were standing fast and half immersed ; whilst others were nearly out
of sight, and gasping for the last breath ; others were standing with all legs
fast, and one half of their bodies above the water, and their heads sunk
under it, where they had evidently remained several days ; and flocks of
ravens and crows were covering their backs, and picking the flesh from theii
dead bodies.

So much of the Upper Missouri and its modes, at present ; though I have
much more in store for some future occasion.

Fort Leavenworth, which is on the Lower Missouri, being below the mouth
of the Platte, is the nucleus of another neighbourhood of Indians, amongst
whom I am to commence my labours, and of whom I shall soon be enabled
to give some account. So, for the present, Adieu.

LETTER No. 33.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWER MISSOURI.

I MENTIONED in a former epistle, that this is the extreme outpost on the
Western Frontier, and built, like several others, in the heart of the Indian
country. There is no finer tract of lands in North America, or, perhaps, in
the world, than that vast space of prairie country, which lies in the vicinity
of this post, embracing it on all sides. This garrison, like many others on
the frontiers, is avowedly placed here for the purpose of protecting our fron
tier inhabitants from the incursions of Indians ; and also for the purpose of
preserving the peace amongst the different hostile tribes, who seem con
tinually to wage, and glory in, their deadly wars. How far these feeble
garrisons, which are generally but half manned, have been, or will be, able
to intimidate and controul the warlike ardour of these restless and revenge
ful spirits ; or how far they will be able in desperate necessity, to protect
the lives and property of the honest pioneer, is yet to be tested.

They have doubtless been designed with the best views, to effect the most
humane objects, though I very much doubt the benefits that are anticipated
to flow from them, unless a more efficient number of men are stationed in
them than I have generally found ; enough to promise protection to the
Indian, and then to ensure it ; instead of promising, and leaving them to
seek it in their own way at last, and when they are least prepared to do it.

When I speak of this post as being on the Lower Missouri, I do not
wish to convey the idea that I am down near the sea-coast, at the mouth of
the river, or near it ; I only mean that 1 am on the lower part of the Mis
souri, yet 600 miles above its junction with the Mississippi, and near 2000
from the Gulf of Mexico, into which the Mississippi discharges its waters.

In this delightful Cantonment there are generally stationed six or seven
companies of infantry, and ten or fifteen officers ; several of whom have
their wives and daughters with them, forming a very pleasant little commu
nity, who are almost continually together in social enjoyment of the peculiar
amusements and pleasures of this wild country. Of these pastimes they
have many, such as riding on horseback or in carriages over the beautiful
green fields of the prairies, picking strawberries and wild plums deer
chasing grouse shooting horse-racing, and other amusements of the gar
risen, in which they are almost constantly engaged ; enjoying life to a very
nigh degree.

In these delightful amusements, and with these pleasing companions, I
have been for a while participating with great satisfaction ; I have joine 1
several times in the deer-hunts, and more frequently in grouse shooting,
which constitutes the principal amusement of this place

This delicious bird, which is found in great abundance in nearly all the
North American prairies, and most generally called the Prairie Hen, is,
from what I can learn, very much like the English grouse, or heath hen,
both in size, in colour, and in habits. They make their appearance in
these parts in the months of August and September, from the higher lati
tudes, where they go in the early part of the summer, to raise their broods.
This is the season for the best sport amongst them ; and the whole garrison,
in fact are almost subsisted on them at this time, owing to the facility
with which they are killed.

I was lucky enough the other day, with one of the officers of the garrison,
to gain the enviable distinction of having brought in together seventy- tive
of these fine birds, which we killed in one afternoon ; and although I am
quite ashamed to confess the manner in which we killed the greater pa t of
them, I am not so professed a sportsman as to induce me to conceal the
fact. We had a fine pointer, and had legitimately followed the sportsman's
style for a part of the afternoon ; but seeing the prairies on fire several miles
ahead of us, and the wind driving the fire gradually towards us, we found
these poor birds driven before its long line, which seemed to extend from
horizon to horizon, and they were flying in swarms or flocks that would at
times almost fill the air. They generally flew half a mile or so, and lit down
again in the grass, where they would sit until the fire was close upon them,
and then they would rise again. We observed by watching their motions,
that they lit in great numbers in every solitary tree ; and we placed our
selves near each of these trees in turn, and shot them down as they settled
in them; sometimes killing five or six at a shot, by getting a range upon
them.

In this way we retreated for miles before the flames, in the midst of the
flocks, and keeping company with them where they were carried alon g in
advance of the fire, in accumulating numbers ; many of which had been
driven along for many miles. We murdered the poor birds in this way,
until we had as many as we could well carry, and laid our course bac k to
the Fort, where we got much credit for our great shooting, and where we
were mutually pledged to keep the secret.

The prairies burning form some of the most beautiful scenes that are to
be witnessed in this country, and also some of the most sublime. Every
acre of these vast prairies (being covered for hundreds and hundreds of
miles, with a crop of grass, which dies and dries in the fall) burns over
during the fall or early in the spring, leaving the ground of a black and
doleful colour.

There are many modes by which the fire is communicated to them, both

by white men and by Indians par accident ; and yet many more where it
is voluntarily done for the purpose of getting a fresh crop of grass, for the
grazing of their horses, and also for easier travelling during the next sum
mer, when there will be no old grass to lie upon the prairies, entangling
the feet of man and horse, as they are passing over them.

Over the elevated lands and prairie bluffs, where the grass is thin and
short, the fire slowly creeps with a feeble flame, which one can easily step
over (PLATE 127) ; where the wild animals often rest in their lairs until the
flames almost burn their noses, when they will reluctantly rise, and leap
over it, and trot off amongst the cinders, where the fire has past and left the
ground as black as jet, These scenes at night become indescribably beau
tiful, when their flames are seen at many miles distance, creeping over the sides
and tops of the bluffs, appearing to be sparkling and brilliant chains of
liquid fire (the hills being lost to the view), hanging suspended in graceful
festoons from the skies.

But there is yet another character of burning prairies (PLATE 128), that
requires another Letter, and a different pen to describe the war, or hell of
fires ! where the grass is seven or eight feet high, as is often the case for many
miles together, on the Missouri bottoms ; and the flames are driven forward
by the hurricanes, which often sweep over the vast prairies of this denuded
country. There are many of these meadows on the Missouri, the Platte,
and the Arkansas, of many miles in breadth, which are perfectly level, with
a waving grass, so high, that we are obliged to stand erect in our stirrups,
in order to look over its waving tops, as we are riding through it. The fire
in these, before such a wind, travels at an immense and frightful rate,
and often destroys, on their fleetest horses, parties of Indians, who are
so unlucky as to be overtaken by it ; not that it travels as fast as a horse
at full speed, but that the high grass is filled with wild pea-vines and other
impediments, which render it necessary for the rider to guide his horse in
the zig-zag paths of the deers and buffaloes, retarding his progress, until he
is overtaken by the dense column of smoke that is swept before the fire
alarming the horse, which stops and stands terrified and immutable, till the
burning grass which is wafted in the wind, falls about him, kindling up in a
moment a thousand new fires, which are instantly wrapped in the swelling
flood of smoke that is moving on like a black thunder-cloud, rolling on the

earth, with its lightning's glare, and its thunder rumbling as it goes.

*******

When Ba'tiste, and Bogard, and I, and Patrick Raymond (who like Bogard
had been a free trapper in the Rocky Mountains), and Pah-me-o-ne-qua
(the red thunder), our guide back from a neighbouring village, were jogging
along on the summit of an elevated bluff, overlooking an immense valley

of high grass, through which we were about to lay our course.

*******

1 Well, then, you say you have seen the prairies on fire ?" Yes. " You

VOL. II. 1>

have seen the fire on the mountains, and beheld it feebly creeping over t.h
grassy hills of the North, where the toad and the timid snail were pacing
from its approach all this you have seen, and who has not ? But who has
seen the vivid lightnings, and heard the roaring thunder of the rolling con
flagration which sweeps over the deep-clad prairies of the West ? Who has
dashed, on his wild horse, through an ocean of grass, with the raging tem
pest at his back, rolling over the land its swelling waves of liquid fire?"
What ! " Aye, even so. Ask the red sarage of the wilds what is awful and
sublime Ask him where the Great Spirit has mixed up all the elements o
death, and if he does not blow them over the land in a storm of fire ? Ask
him what foe he has met, that regarded not his frightening yells, or his sinewy
bow ? Ask these lords of the land, who vauntingly challenge the thunder
and lightning of Heaven whether there is not one foe that travels over their
land, too swift for their feet, and too mighty for their strength at whose
approach their stout hearts sicken, and their strong-armed courage withers
to nothing? Ask him again (if he is sullen, and his eyes set in their sockets)

' Hush ! sh ! sh !' (he will tell you, with a soul too proud

to confess his head sunk on his breast, and his hand over his mouth)
that's medicine!' *****

*******

I said to my comrades, as we were about to descend from the towering
bluffs into the prairie " We will take that buffalo trail, where the travelling
herds have slashed down the high grass, and making for that blue point,
rising, as you can just discern, above this ocean of grass ; a good day's work
will bring us over this vast meadow before sunset." We entered the trail,
and slowly progressed on our way, being obliged to follow the winding paths
of the buffaloes, for the grass was higher than the backs of our horses.
Soon after we entered, my Indian guide dismounted slowly from his horse,
and lying prostrate on the ground, with his face in the dirt, he cried, and
was talking to the Spirits of the brave " For," said he, " over this beautiful
plain dwells the Spirit of fire ! he rides in yonder cloud his face blackens
with rage at the sound of the trampling hoofs the fire-bow is in his hand
he draws it across the path of the Indian, and quicker than lightning, a
thousand flames rise to destroy him ; such is the talk of my fathers, and
the ground is whitened with their bones. It was here," said he, " that the
brave son of Wah-chee-ton, and the strong-armed warriors of his band, just
twelve moons since, licked the fire from the blazing wand of that great
magician. Their pointed spears were drawn upon the backs of the trea
cherous Sioux, whose swifter-flying horses led them, in vain, to the midst of
this valley of death. A circular cloud sprang up from the prairie around
them ! it was raised, and their doom was fixed by the Spirit of fire! It was
on this vast plain of Jire-grass that waves ovei our heads, that the swift
foot of Mah-to-ga was laid. It is here, also, that the fleet-bounding wild
horse mingles his bones with the red man ; and the eagle's wing is melted

128

127

as he darts over its surface. Friends ! it is the season of fire ; and 1 fear
from the smell of the wind, that the Spirit is awake ! "

Pah-:ne-o-ne-qua said no more, but mounted his wild horse, and waving
his hand, his red shoulders were seen rapidly vanishing as he glided through
the thick mazes of waving grass. We were on his trail, and busily traced
him until the midday-sun had brought us to the ground, with our refresh
ments spread before us. He partook of them not, but stood like a statue,
while his black eyes, in sullen silence, swept the horizon round ; and then,
with a deep-drawn sigh, he gracefully sunk to the earth, and laid with his
face to the ground. Our buffalo tongues and pemican, and marrow-fat,
were spread before us ; and we were in the full enjoyment of these dainties
of the Western world, when, quicker than the frightened elk, our Indian
friend sprang upon his feet ! His eyes skimmed again slowly over the
prairies' surface, and he laid himself as before on the ground.

" Red Thunder seems sullen to-day," said Bogard " he startles at
every rush of the wind, and scowls at the whole world that is about him."

" There's a rare chap for you a fellow who would shake his fist at
Heaven, when he is at home , and here, in a grass-patch, must make his
/ire-medicine for a circumstance that he could easily leave at a shake of
his horse's heels."

" Not sae sure o' that, my hooney, though we'll not be making too lightly
of the matter, nor either be frightened at the mon's strange octions. But,
Bogard, I'll tell ye in a 'ord (and thot's enough), there's something more
than odds in all this ' medicine' If this mon's a fool, he was born out of
his own country, that's all and if the divil iver gits him, he must take him
cowld, for he is too swift and too wide-awake to be taken alive you under
stand thot, I suppouse ? But, to come to the plain matter supposin that
the Fire Spirit (and I go for somewhat of witchcraft), I say supposin that
this Fire Spirit should jist impty his pipe on tother side of this prairie, and
strike up a bit of a blaze in this high grass, and send it packing across in
this direction, before sich a death of a wind as this is ! By the bull barley,
I'll bet you'd be after ' making medicine,' and taking a bit of it, too, to get

rid of the racket."

" Yes, but you see, Patrick "

" Neever mind thot (not wishin to distarb you) ; and suppouse the blowiu
wind was coming fast ahead, jist blowin about our ears a warld of smoke
and chokin us to dith, and we were dancin about a Varginny reel among
these little paths, where the divil would we be by the time we got to that bluff,
for it's now fool of a distance? Givin you time to spake, I would say a word
more (askin your pardon), I know by the expression of your face, mon, you
neever have seen the world on fire yet, and therefore you know nothin at all
of a hurly burly of this kind did ye? did ye iver see (and I jist want to
know), did ye iver see the fire in high-grass, runnin with a strong wind,
about five mile and the half, and thin hear it strike into a slash of dry cane

brake ! ! I would jist ax you that ? By thuneder you niver have for your
eyes would jist stick out of your head at the thought of it ! Did ye iver
look way into the backside of Mr. Maelzel's Moscow, and see the flashin
flames a runnin up ; and then hear the poppin of the militia fire jist after
wards? then you have jist a touch of it ! ye're jist beginnin ye may talk
about fires but this is sich a baste of a fire I Ask Jack Sanford, he's a
chop that can tall you all aboot it. Not wishin to distarb you, I would say
a word more and that is this If I were advisin, I would say that we are
gettin too far into this imbustible meadow ; for the grass is dry, and the
wind is too strong to make a light matter of, at this sason of the year ;
an now I'll jist tell ye how M'Kenzie and I were sarved iu this very place
about two years ago ; and he's a worldly chop, and nirer aslape, my word
for that hollo, what's that!"

Red Thunder was on his feet ! his long arm was stretched over the
grass, and his blazing eye-balls starting from their sockets ! " White man
(said he), see ye that small cloud lifting itself from the prairie ? he rises !
the hoofs of our horses have waked him ! The Fire Spirit is awake this
wind is from his nostrils, and his face is this way ! " No more but his
swift horse darted under him, and he gracefully slid over the waving grass
as it was bent by the wind. Oui viands were left, and we were swift on his
trail. The, extraordinary leaps of his wild horse, occasionally raised his red
shoulders to view, and he sank again in the waving billows of grass. The
tremulous wind was hurrying by us fast, and on it was borne the agitated
wing of the soaring eagle. His neck was stretched for the towering bluff,
and the thrilling screams of his voice told the secret that was behind him.
Our horses were swift, and we struggled hard, yet hope was feeble, for the
blufF was yet blue, and nature nearly exhausted ! The sunshine was dying,
and a cool shadow advancing over the plain. Not daring to look back,
we strained every nerve. The roar of a distant cataract seemed gradually
advancing on us the winds increased, the howling tempest was madden
ing behind us and the swift-winged beetle and heath hens, instinctively
drew their straight lines over our heads. The fleet-bounding antelope
passed us also ; and the still swifter long-legged hare, who leaves but a
shadow as he flies ! Here was no time for thought but I recollect the
heavens were overcast the distant thunder was heard the lightning's glare
was reddening the scene and the smell that came on the winds struck
terror to my soul ! * * The piercing yell

of my savage guide at this moment came back upon the winds his robe
was seen waving in the air, and his foaming horse leaping up the towering
bluff.

Our breath and our sinews, in this last struggle for life, were just enough
to bring us to its summit. We had risen from a sea of fire I "Great God 1
(I exclaimed) how sublime to gaze into that valley, where the elements of
nature are so strangely convulsed ! " Ask not the poet or painter how it

looked, for they can tell you not ; but ask the naked savage, and watch the
electric twinge of his manly nerves and muscles, as he pronounces the

lengthened " hush sh '' his hand on his mouth, an4 his glaring

eye-balls looking you to the very soul !

I beheld beneath me an immense cloud of black smoke, which extended
from one extremity of this vast plain to the other, and seemed majestically
to roll over its surface in a bed of liquid fire ; and above this mighty deso
lation, as it rolled along, the whitened smoke, pale with terror, was stream
ing and rising up in magnificent cliffs to heaven !

I stood secure, but tremblingly, and heard the maddening wind, which
hurled this monster o'er the land I heard the roaring thunder, and saw its
thousand lightnings flash ; and then I saw behind, the black and smoking
desolation of this storm of fire I

LETTER No. 34.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWER MISSOURI.

SINCE writing the last epistle, some considerable time has elapsed, which has,
nevertheless, been filled upand used to advantage, as Ihavebeen moving about
and using my brush amongst different tribes in this vicinity. The Indians that
maybe said to belong to this vicinity, and who constantly visit this post, are the
loways Konzas Pawnees Omahas Ottoes, and Missouries (primitive),
and Delawares Kickapoos Potawatomies Weahs Peorias Shawanos,
Kaskaskias (semi-civilized remnants of tribes that have been removed to
this neighbourhood by the Government, within the few years past). These
latter-named tribes are, to a considerable degree, agriculturalists ; getting
their living principally by ploughing, and raising corn, and cattle and horses.
They have been left on the frontier, surrounded by civilized neighbours,
where they have at length been induced to sell out their lands, or exchange
them for a much larger tract of wild lands in these regions, which the
C overnment has purchased from the wilder tribes.

Of the first named, the loways may be said to be the farthest, departed
from primitive modes, as they are depending chiefly on their corn-fields for
subsistence ; though their appearance, both in their dwellings and personal
looks, dress, modes, &c., is that of the primitive Indian.

The loways are a small tribe, of about fourteen hundred persons, living in
a snug little village within a few miles of the eastern bank of the Missouri
River, a few miles above this place.

The present chief of this tribe is Notch-ee-ning-a (the white cloud, PLATE
129), the son of a very distinguished chief of the same name, who died re
cently, after gaining the love of his tribe, and the respect of all the civilized
world who knew him. If my time and space will admit it, and I should not
forget it, I shall take another occasion to detail some of the famous trans
actions of his signal life.

The son of White Cloud, who is now chief, and whose portrait I have just
named, was tastefully dressed with a buffalo robe, wrapped around him, with
a necklace of grizzly bear's claws on his neck ; with shield, bow, and
quiver on, and a profusion of wampum strings on his neck.

Wy-ee-yogh (the man of sense, PLATE 130), is another of this tribe, much
istinguished for his bravery and early warlike achievements. His head was
dressed with a broad silver band passing around it, and decked out with the
crest of horsehair.

G. Cattin.

Pah-ta-coo -che (ihe shooting cedar, PLATE 131), and Was-com-mun
(the busy man, PLATE 132), are also distinguished warriors of ihe tribe;
tastefully dress-ed and clipped, the one with his war-club on his arm, the
other with bow and ar.ows in his hand; both wore around their waists
beautiful buffalo robes, and both had turbans made of vari-colonred cotton
shawls, purchased of the Fur Traders. Around their necks were necklaces
of the bears' claws, and a profusion of beads and wampum. Their ears were
profusely strung with beads ; and their naked shoulders curiously streaked
and daubed with red paint.

Others of this tribe will be found amongst the paintings in my Indian
Museum ; and more of them and their customs given at a future time.

The Konzas, of 1560 souls, reside at the distance of sixty or eighty miles
from this place, on (he Konzas River, fifty miles above its union with the
Missouri, from the West.

This tribe has undoubtedly sprung from the Osages, as their personal
appearance, language and traditions clearly prove. They are living adjoin
ing to the Osages at this time, and although a kindred people, have some
times deadly warfare with them. The present chief of this tribe is known
by the name of the " White Plume;" a very urbane and hospitable man, of
good portly size, speaking some English, and making himself good company
for all white persons who travel through his country and have the good
luck to shake his liberal and hospitable hand.

It has been to me a source of much regret, that I did not get the portrait
of this celebrated chief; but I have painted several others distinguished in
the tribe, which are fair specimens of these people. Sho-me-eos-se (the
wolf, PLATE 1 33), a chief of some distinction, with a bold and manly outline
of head ; exhibiting, like most of this tribe, an European outline of features,
signally worthy the notice of the enquiring world. The head of this chief
was most curiously ornamented, and his neck bore a profusion of wampum
strings.

Meach-o-shin-gaw (the little white bear, PLATE 134). Chesh-oo-hong-ha
(the man of good sense, PLATE 135), and Wa-hon-ga shee (no fool, PLATE
136), are portraits of distinguished Konzas, and all furnish striking instances
of the bold and Roman outline that I have just spoken of.

The custom of shaving the head, and ornamenting it with the crest of
deer's hair, belongs to this tribe ; and also to the Osages, the Pawnees,
the Sacs, and Foxes, and loways, and to no other tribe that I know of;
unless it be in some few instances, where individuals have introduced it into
their tribes, merely by way of imitation.

With these tribes, the custom is one uniformly adhered to by every man
in the nation ; excepting some few instances along the frontier, where efforts
are made to imitate white men, by allowing the hair to grow out.

In PLATE 135, is a fair exhibition of this very curious custom the hair
being cut as close to the head as possible, except a tuft the size of the palm

of the hand, on the crown of the head, which is left of two inches in length :
and in the centre of which is fastened a beautiful crest made of the hair of
the deer's tail (dyed red) and horsehair, and oftentimes surmounted with
the war-eagle's quill. In the centre of the patch of hair, which I said was
left of a couple of inches in length, is preserved a small lock, which is never
cut, but cultivated to the greatest length possible, and uniformly kept
in braid, and passed through a piece of curiously carved bone ; which lies in
the centre of the crest, and spreads it out to its uniform shape, which they
study with great care to preserve. Through this little braid, and outside of
the bone, passes a small wooden or bone key, which holds the crest to the
head. This little braid is called in these tribes, the " scalp-lock" and is
scrupulously preserved in this way, and offered to their enemy if they can
pet it, as a trophy ; which it seems in all tribes they are anxious to yield to
their conquerors, in case they are killed in battle ; and which it would be
considered cowardly and disgraceful for a warrior to shave off, leaving
nothing for his enemy to grasp for, when he falls into his hands in the events
of battle.

Amongst those tribes who thus shave and ornament their heads, the crest
is uniformly blood-red ; and the upper part of the head, and generally a con
siderable part of the face, as red as they can possibly make it with vermilion.
1 found these people cutting off the hair with small scissors, which they pur
chase of the Fur Traders ; and they told me that previous to getting scissors,
they cut it away with their knives ; and before they got knives, they were in
the habit of burning it off with red hot stones, which was a very slow
and painful operation.

With the exception of these few, all the other tribes in North America
cultivate the hair to the greatest length they possibly can ; preserving it to
flow over their shoulders and backs in great profusion, and quite unwilling
to spare the smallest lock of it for any consideration.

The Pawnees are a very powerful and warlike nation, living on the river
Platte, about one hundred miles from its junction with the Missouri ; laying
claim to, and exercising sway over, the whole country, from its mouth to the
base of the Rocky Mountains.

The present number of this tribe is ten or twelve thousand ; about one
half the number they had in 1832, when that most appalling disease, the
small-pox, was accidentally introduced amongst them by the Fur Traders,
and whiskey sellers ; when ten thousand (or more) of them perished in the
course of a few months.

The Omahas, of fifteen hundred ; the Ottoes of six hundred ; and Mis-
souries of four hundred, who are now living under the protection and
surveillance of the Pawnees, and in the immediate vicinity of them, were all
powerful tribes, but so reduced by this frightful disease, and at the same
time, that they were unable longer to stand against so formidable enemies as
they had around them, in the Sioux, Pawnees, Sacs, and Foxes, and at last

133

134-

136

last meiged into the Pawnee tribe, under whose wing and protection they
now live.

The period of this awful calamity in these regions, was one that will be
long felt, and long preserved in the traditions of these people. The great
tribe of the Sioux, of whom I have heretofore spoken, suffered severely with
the same disease ; as well as the Osages and Konzas ; and particularly the
unfortunate Puncahs, who were almost extinguished by it.

The destructive ravages of this most fatal disease amongst these poor
people, who know of no specific for it, is beyond the knowledge, and almost
beyond the belief, of the civilized world. Terror and dismay are carried with
it ; and awful despair, in the midst of which they plunge into the river,
when in the highest state of fever, and die in a moment; or dash themselves
from precipices ; or plunge their knives to their hearts, to rid themselves
from the pangs of slow and disgusting death.

Amongst the formidable tribe of Pawnees, the Fur Traders are yet doing
some business ; but, from what I can learn, the Indians are dealing with
some considerable distrust, with a people who introduced so fatal a calamity
amongst them, to which one half of their tribe have fallen victims. The
Traders made their richest harvest amongst these people, before this disease
broke out; and since it subsided, quite a number of their lives have paid
the forfeit, according to the Indian laws of retribution.*

The Pawnees have ever been looked upon, as a very warlike and hostile
tribe ; and unusually so, since the calamity which I have mentioned.

Major Dougherty, of whom I have heretofore spoken, has been for several

* Since the above was written, I have had the very great pleasure of reading the notes
of the Honourable Charles A. Murray, (who was for several months a guest amongst the
Pawnees), and also of being several times a fellow-traveller with him in America ; and at
last a debtor to him for his signal kindness and friendship in London. Mr. Murray's
account of the Pawnees, as far as he saw them, is without doubt drawn with great fidelity,
and he makes them out a pretty bad set of fellows. As I have before mentioned, there
is probably not another tribe on the Continent, that has been more abused and incensed
by the system of trade, and money-making, than the Pawnees ; and the Honourable
Mr. Murray, with his companion, made his way boldly into the heart of their country,
without guide or interpreter, and I consider at great hazard to his life : and, from all the
circumstances, I have been ready to congratulate him on getting: out of their country as
well as he did.

I mentioned in a former page, the awful destruction of this tribe by the small-pox ; a
few years previous to which, some one of the Fur Traders visited a threat upon these
people, that if they did not comply with some condition, " he would let the small-pox out
of a bottle and destroy the whole of them." The pestilence has since been introduced
accidentally amongst them by the Traders ; and the standing tradition of the tribe now is,
that " the Traders opened a bottle and let it out to destroy them." Under such cir
cumstances, from amongst a people who have been impoverished by the system of trade,
without any body to protect him, I cannot but congratulate my Honourable friend fo
his peaceable retreat, where others before him have been less fortunate ; and regre%
at the same time, that he could not have been my companion to some others of the
remote tribes.

VOL. II t

years their agent ; and by his unremitted endeavours, with an unequalled
familiarity with the Indian character, and unyielding integrity of purpose,
has successfully restored and established, a system of good feeling and
respect between them and the " pale faces," upon whom they looked,
naturally and experimentally, as their destructive enemies.

Of this stern and uncompromising friend of the red man, and of justice,
who has taken them close to his heart, and familiarized himself with their
faults and their griefs, I take great pleasure in recording here for the perusal
of the world, the following extract from one of his true and independent
Reports, to the Secretary at War ; which sheds honour on his name, and
deserves a more public place than the mere official archives of a Government
record.

" In comparing this Report with those of the years preceding, you will
find there has been little improvement on the part of the Indians, either in
literary acquirements or in agricultural knowledge.

" It is my decided opinion, that, so long as the Fur Traders and trappers
are permitted to reside among the Indians, all the efforts of the Government
to better their condition will be fruitless ; or, in a great measure checked by
the strong influence of those men over the various tribes.

" Every exertion of the agents, (and other persons, intended to carry into
effect the views of the Government, and humane societies,) are in such
direct opposition to the Trader and his interest, that the agent finds himself
continually contending with, and placed in direct and immediate contrariety
of interest to the Fur Traders or grossly neglecting his duty by overlooking
acts of impropriety ; and it is a curious and melancholy fact, that while the
General Government is using every means and expense to promote the
advancement of those aboriginal people, it is at the same time suffering the
Traders to oppose and defeat the very objects of its intentions. So long as
the Traders and trappeis are permitted in the Indian country, the introduc
tion of spirituous liquors will be inevitable, under any penalty the law may
require; and until its prohibition is certain and effectual, every effort of
Government, through the most faithful and indefatigable agents, will be use
less. It would be, in my humble opinion, better to give up every thing to
the Traders, and let them have the sole and entire control of the Indians,
than permit them to contend at every point, with the views of the Govern
ment ; and that contention made manifest, even to the most ignorant Indian.

" While the agent is advising the Indians to give up the chase and settle
themselves, with a view to agricultural pursuits, the Traders are urging them
on in search of skins.

" Far be it from me to be influenced or guided by improper or personal
feeling, in the execution of my duty ; but, Sir, I submit my opinion to a
candid world, in relation to the subject, and feel fully convinced you will be
able to see at once the course which will ever place the Indian Trader, and
the present policy of Government, in relation to the Indians, at eternal war.

<* The missionaries sent amongst the several tribes are, no doubt, sincere
in their intentions. I believe them to be so, from what I have seen ; but,
unfortunately, they commence their labours where they should end them.
They should teach the Indians to work, by establishing schools of that
description among them ; induce them to live at home, abandon their rest
less and unsettled life, and live independent of the chase. After they are
taught this, their intellectual faculties would be more susceptible of improve
ment of a moral and religious nature ; and their steps towards civilization
would become less difficult."

The Pawnees are divided into four bands, or families designated by the
names of Grand Pawnees Tappage Pawnee.s Republican Pawnees, and
Wolf Pawnees.

Each of these bands has a chief at its head ; which chiefs, with all the
nation, acknowledge a superior chief at whose voice they all move.

At the head of the Grand Pawnees, is Shon-ka-ki-he-ga (the horse chief,
PLATE 138) ; and by the side of him, Haw-che-ke-sug-ga (he who kills the
Osages, PLATE 139), the aged chief of the Missouries, of whom I have spoken,
and shall yet say more.

La-doo-ke-a (the buffalo bull, PLATE 140), with his medicine or totem
(the head of a buffalo) painted on his breast and his face, with bow and
arrows in his hands, is a warrior of great distinction in the same band.

Le-shaw-loo-lah-le-hoo (the big elk, PLATE 141), chief of the Wolf Paw
nees, is another of the most distinguished of this tribe

In addition to the above, I have also painted of this tribe, for my Museum,
Ah-shaw-wah-rooks-te (the medicine horse) ; La-kee-too-wi-ra-sha (the little
chief): Loo-ra-we-re-coo (the bird that goes to war); Ah-sha-la-coots-a (mole
in the forehead) ; La-shaw-le-staw-hix (the man chief) ; Te-ah-kc-ra-le-re-
coo (the Chayenne) ; Lo-loch-to-hoo-la (the big chief) ; La-wah-ee-coots-lu-
shaw-no (the brave chief) ; and Lhar-e-tar-rushe (the ill-natured man).

The Pawnees live in four villages, some few miles apart, on the banks of
the Platte river, having their allies the Omahas and Ottoes so near to them as
easily to act in concert, in case of invasion from any other tribe ; and from
the fact that half or more of them are supplied with guns and ammunition,
they are able to withstand the assaults of any tribe that may come upon them.

Of the Ottoes, No-way-ke-sug-ga (he who strikes two at once, PLATE 143) ;
and Raw-no-way-woh-krah (the loose pipe-stem, PLATE 144), I have painted
at full length, in beautiful costumes the first with a necklace of grizzly
bear's claws, and his dress profusely fringed with scalp-locks ; the second,
in a tunic made of the entire skin of a grizzly bear, with a head-dress of
the war-eagle's quills.

Besides these, I painted, also, Wah-ro-nee-sak (the surrounder) ; Non-
je-ning-a (no heart) ; and We-ke-ru-law (he who exchanges).

Of the Omahas, Ki-ho-ga-waw-shu-shee (the brave chief, PLATE 145), is
the head chief; and next to him in standing and reputation, is Om-pa-ton-rju

(the big elk, PLATE 146), with his tomahawk in his Land, and his face
painted black, for war.

Besides these, I painted Man-sha-qui-ta (the little soldier), a brave ;
Shaw-da-mon-nee (there he goes) ; and Nom-ba-mon-nee (the double walker).

Of these wild tribes I have much more in store to say in future, and shall
certainly make another budget of Letters from this place, or from other
regions from whence I may wish to write, and possibly, lack material ! All
of these tribes, as well as the numerous semi-civilized remnants of tribes, that
have been thrown out from the borders of our settlements, have missionary
establishments and schools, as well as agricultural efforts amongst them ;
and will furnish valuable evidence as to the success that those philanthropic
and benevolent exertions have met with, contending (as thay have had to do)
with the contaminating influences of whiskey-sellers, and other mercenary
men, catering for their purses and their unholy appetites.

V^ j I '

\ Mil

LETTER No. 35.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MY little bark has been soaked in the water again, and Ba'tiste and
Bogard have paddled, and I have steered and dodged our little craft amongst
the snags and sawyers, until at last we landed the humble little thing
amongst the huge steamers and floating palaces at the wharf of this bustling
and growing city.

And first of all, I must relate the fate of my little boat, which had borne
us safe over two thousand miles of the Missouri's turbid and boiling current,
with no fault, excepting two or three instances, when the waves became
too saucy, she, like the best of boats of her size, went to the bottom, and left
us soused, to paddle our way to the shore, and drag out our things and dry
them in the sun.

When we landed at the wharf, my luggage was all taken out, and removed
to my hotel ; and when I returned a few hours afterwards, to look for my
little boat, to which I had contracted a peculiar attachment (although I had
left it in special charge of a person at work on the wharf) ; some mystery or
medicine operation had relieved me from any further anxiety or trouble
about it it had gone and never returned, although it had safely passed the
countries of mysteries, and had often laid weeks and months at the villages
of red men, with no laws to guard it ; and where it had also often been
taken out of the water by mystery-men, and carried up the bank, and turned
against my wigwam ; and by them again safely carried to the river's edge,
and put afloat upon the water, when I was ready to take a seat in it.

St. Louis, which is 1400 miles west of New York, is a flourishing town,
of 15,000 inhabitants, and destined to be the great emporium of the West
the greatest inland town in America. Its location is on the Western bank
of the Mississippi river, twenty miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and
1400 above the entrance of the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the great depot of all the Fur Trading Companies to the Upper
Missouri and Rocky Mountains, and their starting-place ; and also for the
Santa Fe, and other Trading Companies, who reach the Mexican borders
overland, to trade for silver bullion, from the extensive mines of that rich
country.

I nave also made it my starting-point, and place of deposit, to which 1

send from different quarters, my packages of paintings and Indian articles
minerals, fossils, &c., as I collect them in various regions, here to be stored
till my return ; and where on my lust return, if I ever make it, I shall
hustle them altogether, and remove them to the East.

To this place I had transmitted by steamer and other conveyance, about
twenty boxes and packages at different times, as my note-book shewed ;
and I have, on looking them up and enumerating them, been lucky enough
to recover and recognize about fifteen of the twenty, which is a pretty fair
proportion for this wild and desperate country, and the very conscientious
hands they often are doomed to pass through.

Ba'tiste and Bogard (poor fellows) I found, after remaining here a few
days, had been about as unceremoniously snatched off, as my little canoe ;
and 13ogard, in particular, as he had made show of a few hundred dollars,
which he had saved of his hard earnings in the Rocky Mountains.

He came down with a liberal heart, which he had learned in an Indian
life of ten years, with a strong taste, which he had acquired, for whiskev,
in a country where it was sold for twenty dollars per gallon ; and with an
independent feeling, which illy harmonized with rules and regulations of a
country of laws ; and the consequence soon was, that by the " Hawk and
Buzzard" system, and Rocky Mountain liberality, and Rocky Mountain
prodigality, the poor fellow was soon "jugged up;" where he could deli
berately dream of beavers, and the free and cooling breezes of the mountain
air, without the pleasure of setting his trap for the one, or even indulging
the hope of ever again having the pleasure of breathing the other.

I had imbibed rather less of these delightful passions in the Indian coun
try, and consequently indulged less in them when I came back ; and of
course, was rather more fortunate than poor Bogard, whose feelings I
soothed as far as it laid in my power, and prepared to " lay my course"
to the South, with colours and canvass in readiness for another campaign.

In my sojourn in St. Louis, amongst many other kind and congenial
friends whom I met, 1 have had daily interviews with the venerable Gover
nor Clark, whose whitened locks are still shaken in roars of laughter, and
good jests among the numerous citizens, who all love him, and continually
rally around him in his hospitable mansion.

Governor Clark, with Captain Lewis, were the first explorers across the
Rocky Mountains, and down the Colombia to the Pacific Ocean thirty-two
years ago ; whose tour has been published in a very interesting work, which
has long been before the world. My works and my design have been
warmly approved and applauded by this excellent patriarch of the Western
World ; and kindly recommended by him in such ways as have been of
great service to me. Governor Clark is now Superintendant of Indian
Affairs for all the Western and North Western regions ; and surely, their
interests could never have been intrusted to better or abler hands.*

* Some year or two after writing the above, I saw the announcement of the death of this

So long have I been recruiting, and enjoying- the society of friends in thi*
town, that the navigation of the river has suddenly closed, being entirely
frozen over ; and the earth's surface covered with eighteen inches of drifting
snow, which has driven me to the only means, and I start in a day or two,
with a tough little pony and a packhorse, to trudge through the snow drifts
from this to New Madrid, and perhaps further ; a distance of three or four
hundred miles to the South where I must venture to meet a warmer
climate the river open, and steamers running, to waft me to the Gulf of
Mexico. Of the fate or success that waits me, or of the incidents of that
travel, as they have not transpired, 1 can as yet say nothing; and I close
my book for further time and future entries.

veteran, whose life has been one of faithful service to his country, and, at tne same time,
of strictest fidelity as the guardian and friend of the red men.

LETTER No. 36.

PENSACOLA, WEST FLORIDA.

FROM my long silence of late, you will no doubt have deemed me out of
the civil and perhaps out of the whole world.

I have, to be sure, been a great deal of the time out of the limits of one
and, at times, nearly out of the other. Yet I am living, and hold in my
possession a number of epistles which passing events had dictated, but which
I neglected to transmit at the proper season. In my headlong transit
through the Southern tribes of Indians, I have "popped out" of the woods
upon this glowing land, and I cannot forego the pleasure of letting you into
a few of the secrets of this delightful place.

" Flos -fioris" &c. every body knows the meaning of; and Florida, in
Spanish, is a country of flowers. Perdido is perdition, and Rio Perdido,
River of Perdition. Looking down its perpendicular banks into its black
water, its depth would seem to be endless, and the doom of the unwary to
be gloomy in the extreme. Step not accidentally or wilfully over its fatal
brink, and Nature's opposite extreme is spread about you. You are literally
in the land of the " cypress and myrtle" where the ever-green live oak and
lofty magnolia dress the forest in a perpetual mantle of green.

The sudden transition from the ice-bound regions of the North to this
mild climate, in the midst of winter, is one of peculiar pleasure. At a half
way of the distance, one's cloak is thrown aside ; and arrived on the ever-
verdant borders of Florida, the bosom is opened and bared to the soft breeze
from the ocean's wave, and the congenial warmth of a summer's sun.

Such is the face of Nature here in the rude month of February ; green
peas are served on the table other garden vegetables in great perfection,
and garden flowers, as well as wild, giving their full and sweetest perfume to
the winds.

I looked into the deep and bottomless Perdido, and beheld about it the
thousand charms which Nature has spread to allure the unwary traveller to its
brink. 'Twas not enough to entangle him in a web of sweets upon its bor
ders, but Nature seems to have used an art to draw him to its bottom, by the
voluptuous buds which blossom under its black waters, and whose vivid
colours are softened and enriched the deeper they are seen below its surface
The sweetest of wild flowers enamel the shores and spangle the dark green

tapestry which nangs over its bosom the stately magnolia towers fear
lessly over its black waters, and sheds (with the myrtle and jessamine) the
richest perfume over this chilling pool of death.

How exquisitely pure and sweet are the delicate tendrils which Nature
has hung over these scenes of melancholy and gloom ! and how strong,
also, has she fixed in man's breast the passion to possess and enjoy them !
I could have hung by the tree tops over that fatal stream, or blindly
staggered over its thorny brink to have culled the sweets which are found
only in its bosom ; but the poisonous fang, I was told, was continually
aimed at my heel, and I left the sweetened atmosphere of its dark and
gloomy, yet enamelled shores.

Florida is, in a great degree, a dark and sterile wilderness, yet with spots
of beauty and of loveliness, with charms that cannot be forgotten. Her
swamps and everglades, the dens of alligators, and lurking places of the
desperate savage, gloom the thoughts of the wary traveller, whose mind is
cheered and lit to admiration, when in the solitary pine woods, where he
hears nought but the echoing notes of the sand-hill cranes, or the howling
wolf, he suddenly breaks out into the open savannahs, teeming with their
myriads of wild flowers, and palmettos (PLATE 147) ; or where the winding
path through which he is wending his lonely way, suddenly brings him
out upon the beach, where the rolling sea has thrown up her thousands of hills
and mounds of sand as white as the drifted snow, over which her green waves
are lashing, and sliding back again to her deep green and agitated bosom
(PLATE 148). This sketch was made on Santa Rosa Island, within a few
miles of Pensacola, of a favourite spot for tea (and other convivial) parties,
which are often held there. The hills of sand are as purely white as snow, and
fifty or sixty feet in height, and supporting on their tops, and in their sides,
clusters of magnolia bushes of myrtle of palmetto and heather, all of
which are evergreens, forming the most vivid contrast with the snow-white
sand in which they are growing. On the beach a family of Seminole Indians
are encamped, catching and drying red fish, their chief article of food.

1 have traversed the snow-white shores of Pensacola's beautiful bay,
and 1 said to myself, " Is it possible that Nature has done so much in
vain or will the wisdom of man lead him to add to such works the em
bellishments of art, and thus convert to his own use and enjoyment the
greatest luxuries of life?" As a travelling stranger through the place, I
said " yes : it must be so." Nature has here formed the finest harbour
in the world ; and the dashing waves of the ocean have thrown around
its shores the purest barriers of sand, as white as the drifted snow. Unjike
all other Southern ports, it is surrounded by living fountains of the purest
water, and its shores continually fanned by the refreshing breathings of the
sea. To a Northern man, the winters in this place appear like a continua?
spring time ; and the intensity of a summer's sun is cooled into comfort and
luxury by the ever-cheering sea breeze.

VOL. 11. F

This is the only place I have found in the Southern country to wl.ich
Northern people can repair with safety in the summer season ; and 1
know not of a place in the world where they can go with better guarantees
of good health, and a reasonable share of tire luxuries of life. The town of
Pensacola is beautifully situated on the shore of the bay, and contains at
present about fifteen hundred inhabitants, most of them Spanish Creoles.
They live an easy and idle life, without any energy further than for the mere
means of living. The bay abounds in the greatest variety of fish, which
are easily taken, and the finest quality of oysters are found in profusion,
even alongside of the wharves.

Government having fixed upon this harbour as the great naval dep6t for
all the Southern coast, the consequence will be, that a vast sum of public
money will always be put into circulation in this place ; and the officers of
the navy, together with the officers of the army, stationed in the three forts
built and now building at this place, will constitute the most polished and
desirable society in our country.

What Pensacola has been or is, in a commercial point of view, little can
be said ; but what it can be, and most certainly will be, in a few years, the
most sanguine can hardly predict. I would unhesitatingly recommend this
to the enterprising capitalists of the North, as a place where they can
live, and where (if nature has been kind, as experience has taught us)
they will flourish. A few such men have taken their stand here within a
few months past; and, as a first step towards their aggrandizement, a plan
of a rail-road has been projected, from Pensacola to Columbus, in Georgia ;
which needs only to be completed, to place Pensacola at once "before any
other town on the Southern coast, excepting New Orleans. Of the feasi
bility of such a work, there is not the slightest doubt; and, from the opinions
advanced by Captain Chase and Lieutenant Bowman, two of the most dis
tinguished engineers of the arrny, it would seem as if Nature had formed a
level nearly the whole way, and supplied the best kind of timber on the spot
for its erection. The route of this rail-road would be through or near the
principal cotton-growing part of Alabama, and the quantity of produce from
that state, as well as from a great part of the state of Georgia, which would
seek this market, would be almost incalculable. Had this road been in ope
ration during the past winter, it has been ascertained by a simple calculation,
that the cotton -growers of Alabama, might have saved 2,000,000 of dollars
on their crop ; by being enabled to have got it early into market, and received
the first price of 18| cents, instead of waiting ?.ix weeks or two months for
a rise of water, enabling them to get it to Mobile at which time it had
fallen to nine cents per pound.

As a work also of national utility, it would rank amongst the most
important in our country, and the Government might afford to appropriate
the whole sum necessary for its construction. In a period of war, when
in all probability, for a great part of the time, this port may be in

state of blockade, such a communication with the interior of the country,
would be of incalculable benefit for the transportation of men of produce
and munitions of war.

Of the few remnants of Indians remaining in this part of the country,
I have little to say, at present, that could interest you. The sum total
lhat can be learned or seen of them (like all others that are half civilized)
is, that they are to be pitied.

The direful " trump of war" is blowing in East Florida, where I was
' steering my course ;" and I shall in a few days turn my steps in a
different direction.

Since you last heard from me, I have added on to my former Tour " down
the river," the remainder of the Mississippi (or rather Missouri), from
St. Louis to New Orleans ; and I find that, from its source to the Balize,
the distance is 4500 miles only! I shall be on the wing again in a few days,
for a shake of the hand with the Camanchees, Osages, Pawnees, Kioways,
Arapahoes, &c. some hints of whom I shall certainly give you from their
different localities, provided I can keep the hair on my head.

This Tour will lead me up the Arkansas to its source, and into the Rocky
Mountains, under the protection of the United States dragoons. You will
begin to think ere long, that I shall acquaint myself pretty well with the
manners and customs of our country at least with the out-land-ish part
of it.

I shall hail the day with pleasure, when I can again reach the free land of
the lawless savage ; for far more agreeable to my ear is the India* veil and
war-whoop, than the civilized groans and murmurs about " pressure" " de-
posites," " banks," " boundary questions," &c. ; and I vanish from the
country with the sincere hope that these tedious words may become obsolete
before I return. Adieu.

LETTER No 37.

FORT GIBSON, ARKANSAS TERRITORY.

SINCE the date of my last Letter at Pensacola, in Florida, I travelled to
New Orleans, and from thence up the Mississippi several hundred miles, to
the mouth of the Arkansas; and up the Arkansas, 700 miles to this place.
We wended our way up, between the pictured shores of this beautiful river,
on the steamer " Arkansas," until within 200 miles of this post ; when we
got aground, and the water falling fast, left the steamer nearly on dry ground.
Hunting and fishing, and whist, and sleeping, and eating, were our principal
amusements to deceive away the time, whilst we were waiting for the water
to rise. Lieutenant Seaton, of the army, was one of my companions in
misery, whilst we lay two weeks or more without prospect of further progress
the poor fellow on his way to his post to join his regiment, had left his
trunk, unfortunately, with all his clothes in it ; and by hunting and fishing
in shirts that I loaned him, or from other causes, we became yoked in
amusements, in catering for our table in getting fish and wild fowl ; and,
after that, as the " last kick" for amusement and pastime, with another good
companion by the name of Chadwick, we clambered up and over the rugged
mountains' sides, from day to day, turning stones to catch centipedes and
tarantulas, of which poisonous reptiles we caged a number ; and on the boat
amused ourselves by betting on their battles, which were immediately fought,
and life almost instantly taken, when they came together.*

In this, and fifty other ways, we whiled away the heavy time : but yet, at
last we reached our destined goal, and here we are at present fixed. Fort
Gibson is the extreme south-western outpost on the United States frontier ;
beautifully situated on the banks of the river, in the midst of an extensive
and lovely prairie ; and is at present occupied by the 7th regiment of United
States infantry, heretofore under the command of General Arbuckle, one of
the oldest officers on the frontier, and the original builder of the post.

Being soon to leave this little civilized world for a campaign in the Indian
country, I take this opportunity to bequeath a few words before the moment
of departure. Having sometime since obtained permission from the Secre-

* Several years after writing the above, I was shocked at the announcement of the
death of this amiable and honourable young man, Lieutenant Seaton, who fell a victim to
the deadly disease of that country ; severing another of the many fibres of my heart,
which peculiar circumstances in these wild regions, had woven, but to be broken.

tary of War 10 accompany the regiment of the United States dragoons in their
summer campaign, I reported myself at this place two months ago, where I
have been waiting ever since for their organization. After the many difficul
ties which they have had to encounter, they have at length all assembled the
grassy plains are resounding with the trampling hoofs of the prancing war-
horse and already the hills are echoing back the notes of the spirit-stirring
trumpets, which are sounding for the onset. The natives are again "to be
astonished." and I shall probably again be a witness to the scene. But
whether the approach of eight hundred mounted dragoons amongst the
Camanchees and Pawnees, will afford me a better subject for a picture of a
gaping and astounded multitude, than did the first approach of our steam
boat amongst the Mandans, &c., is a question yet to be solved. I am strongly
inclined to think that the scene will not be less wild and spirited, and I
ardently wish it ; for I have become so much Indian of late, that my pencil
has lost all appetite for subjects that savour of lameness. 1 should delight
in seeing these red knights of the lance astonished, for it is then that they
shew their brightest hues and I care not how badly we frighten them, pro
vided we hurt them not, nor frighten them out of sketching distance. You
will agree with me, that I am going farther to get sitters, than any of my
fellow-artists ever did ; but I take an indescribable pleasure in roaming
through Nature's trackless wilds, and selecting my models, where I am free
and unshackled by the killing restraints of society ; where a painter must
modestly sit and breathe away in agony the edge and soul of his inspiration,
waiting for the sluggish calls of the civil. Though the toil, the privations,
and expense of travelling to these remote parts of the world to get subjects
for my pencil, place almost insurmountable, and sometimes painful obstacles
before me, yet I am encouraged by the continual conviction that JL am
practising in the true School of the Arts ; and that, though I should get as
poor as Lazarus, 1 should deem myself rich in models and studies ior the
future occupation of my life. Of this much I am certain that amongst
these sons of the forest, where are continually repeated the feats and gambols
equal to the Grecian Games, 1 have learned more of the essential parts of
my art. in the three last years, than I could have learned in New York in a
life-time.

The landscape scenes of these wild and beautiful regions, are, of them
selves, a rich reward for the traveller who can place them in his portfolio :
and being myself the only one accompanying the dragoons for scientific
purposes, there will be an additional pleasure to be derived from those pur
suits. The regiment of eight hundred men, with whom I am to travel, will
be an effective force, and a perfect protection against any attacks that will
ever be made by Indians. It is composed principally of young men of
respectable families, who would act, on all occasions, from feelings of pride
and honour, in addition to those of the common soldier.

The day before yesterday the regiment of dragoons and the 7th regiment

of infantry, stationed here, were reviewed by General Leavenworth, who has
lately arrived at this post, superseding Colonel Arbuckle in the command.

Both regiments were drawn up in battle array, in fatigue dress, and pass
ing through a number of the manreuvres of battle, of charge and repulse, &c.,
presenting a novel and thrilling scene in the prairie, to the thousands of Indians
and others who had assembled to wilness the display. The proud and manly
deportment of these young men remind one forcibly of a regiment of Inde
pendent Volunteers, and the horses have a most beautiful appearance from
the arrangement of colours. Each company of horses has been selected of
one colour entire. There is a company of bays, a company of blackt, one
of whites, one of sorrels, one of greys, one of cream colour, &c. &c., which
render the companies distinct, and the effect exceedingly pleasing. This
regiment goes out under the command of Colonel Dodge, and from his well
tested qualifications, and from the beautiful equipment of the command,
there can be little doubt but that they will do credit to themselves and
an honour to their country ; so far as honours can be gained and laurels can
be plucked from their wild stems in a savage country. The object of this
summer's campaign seems to be to cultivate an acquaintance with the Paw
nees and Camanchees. These are two extensive tribes of roaming Indians,
who, from their extreme ignorance of us, have not yet recognized the United
States in treaty, and have struck frequent blows on our frontiers and
plundered our traders who are traversing their country. For this I cannot
so much blame them, for the Spaniards are gradually advancing upon them
on one side, and the Americans on the other, and fast destroying the furs
and game of their country, which God gave them as their only wealth and
means of subsistence. This movement of the dragoons seems to be one of
the rn,ost humane in its views, and I heartily hope that it may prove so
in the event, as well for our own sakes as for that of the Indian. I can see
no reason why we should march upon them with an invading army carrying
with it the spirit of chastisement. The object of Government undoubtedly is
to effect a friendly meeting with them, that they may see and respect us, and
to establish something like a system of mutual rights with them. To penetrate
their country with the other view, that of chastising them, even with five
times the number that are now going, would be entirely futile, and perhaps
disastrous in the extreme. It is a pretty thing (and perhaps an easy one, in
the estimation of the world) for an army of mounted men to be gaily pranc
ing over the boundless green fields of the West, and it is so for a little
distance but it would be well that the world should be apprised of some of
the actual difficulties that oppose themselves to the success of such a cam
paign, that they may not censure too severely, in case this command should
fail to accomplish the objects for which they were organized.

In the first place, from the great difficulty of organizing and equipping,
these troops tire starting too late in the season for their summer's campaign,
by two months. The journey which they have to perform is ? very long one,

and although the first part of it will be picturesque and pleasing, the after
part of it will be tiresome and fatiguing in the extreme. As they advance
to the West, the grass (and consequently the game) will be gradually dimi
nishing, and water in many parts of the county not to be found.

As the troops will bs obliged to subsist themselves a great part of the way,
it will be extremely difficult to do it under such circumstances, and at the
same time hold themselves in readiness, with half- famished horses and men
nearly exhausted, to contend with a numerous enemy who are at home, on
the ground on which they were born, with horses fresh and ready for action. It
is not probable, however, that the Indians will venture to take advantage of
such circumstances ; but I am inclined to think, that the expedition will be
more likely to fail from another source : it is my opinion that the appearance
of so large a military force in their country, will alarm the Indians to that
degree, that they will fly with their families to their hiding-places amongst
those barren deserts, which they themselves can reach only by great fatigue
and extreme privation, and to which our half-exhausted troops cannot possi
bly follow them. From these haunts their warriors would advance and annoy
the regiment as much as they could, by striking at their hunting parties and
cutting off their supplies. To attempt to pursue them, if they cannot be
called to a council, would be as useless as to follow the wind ; for our troops
in such a case, are in a country where they are obliged to subsist themselves,
and the Indians being on fresh horses, with a supply of provisions, would
easily drive all the buffaloes ahead of them ; and endeavour, as far as pos
sible, to decoy our troops into the barren parts of the country, where they
could not find the means of subsistence.

The plan designed to be pursued, and the only one that can succeed, is
to send runners to the different bands, explaining the friendly intentions of
our Government, and to invite them to a meeting. For this purpose several
Camanchee and Pawnee prisoners have been purchased from the Osages,
who may be of great service in bringing about a friendly interview.

I ardently hope that this plan may succeed, for I am anticipating great
fatigue and privation in the endeavour to see these wild tribes together ; that
I may be enabled to lay before the world a just estimate of their manners
and customs.

I hope that my suggestions may not be truly prophetic ; but I am con
strained to say, that I doubt very much whether we shall see anything more
of them than their trails, and the sites of their deserted villages.

Several companies have already started from this place ; and the remain
ing ones will be on their march in a day or two. General Leavenworth will
accompany them 200 miles, to the mouth of False Washita, and I shall be
attached to his staff. Incidents which may occur, I shall record- 4dieu.

NOTE. In the mean time, as u may oe long before I can write again, I end you some
account of the Osages ; whom I hare been visiting and painting during the two months
I have been staying here.

LETTER-No. 38.

FORT GIBSON, ARKANSAS.

NEARLY two months have elapsed since I arrived at this post, on niy
way up the river from the Mississippi, to join the regiment of dragoons on
their campaign into the country of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts ;
during which time, 1 have been industriously at work with my brush and
my pen, recording the looks and the deeds of the Osages, who inhabit the
country on the North and the West of this.

The Osage, or (as they call themselves) Wa-saw-see, are a tribe of about
5200 in numbers, inhabiting and hunting over the head-waters of the
Arkansas, and Neosho or Grand Rivers. Their present residence is about
700 miles West of the Mississippi river ; in three villages, constituted of
wigwams, built of barks and flags or reeds. One of these villages is within
forty miles of this Fort ; another within sixty, and the third about eighty
miles. Their chief place of trade is with the sutlers at this post ; and
there are constantly more or less of them encamped about the garrison.

The Osages may justly be said to be the tallest race of men in North
America, either of red or white skins ; there being very few indeed of the
men, at their full growth, who are less than six feet in stature, and very
many of them six and a half, and others seven feet. They are at the same
time well-proportioned in their limbs, and good looking ; being rather nar
row in the shoulders, and, like most all very tall people, a little inclined to
stoop ; not throwing the chest out, and the head and shoulders back, quite
as much as the Crows and Mandans, and other tribes amongst which I have
been familiar. Their movement is graceful and quick ; and in war and the
chase, I think they are equal to any of the tribes about them.

This tribe, though living, as they long have, near the borders of the civi
lized community, have studiously rejected everything of civilized customs ;
and are uniformly dressed in skins of their own dressing strictly main
taining their primitive looks and manners, without the slightest appearance
of innovations, excepting in the blankets, which have been recently admitted
to their use instead of the buffalo robes, which are now getting scarce
amongst them.

The Osages are one of the tribes who shave the head, as I have before
described when speaking of the Pawnees and Konzas, and they decorate

and paint it with great care, and some considerable taste. There is a pecu
liarity in the heads of these people which is very striking to the eye of a
traveller; and which I find is produced by artificial means in infancy.
Their children, like those of all the other tribes, are carried on a board, and
slung upon the mother's back. The infants are lashed to the boards, with
their backs upon them, apparently in a very uncomfortable condition ; and
with the Osages, the head of the child bound down so tight to the board, as
to force in the occipital bone, and create an unnatural deficiency on the
back part, and consequently more than a natural elevation of the top of the
head. This custom, they told me they practiced, because " it pressed out
a bold and manly appearance in front." This I think, from observation, to
be rather imaginary than real ; as I cannot see that they exhibit any extra
ordinary development in the front ; though they evidently shew a striking
deficiency on the back part, and also an unnatural elevation on the top of
the head, which is, no doubt, produced by this custom. The difference between
this mode and the one practiced by the Flat-head Indians beyond the
Rocky Mountains, consists in this, that the Flat-heads press the head be
tween two boards ; the one pressing the frontal bone down, whilst the other
is pressing the occipital up, producing the most frightful deformity ; whilst
the Osages merely press the occipital in, and that, but to a moderate degree,
occasioning but a slight, and in many cases, almost immaterial, departure from
the symmetry of nature.

These people, like all those tribes who shave the head, cut and slit their
ears very much, and suspend from them great quantities of wampum
and tinsel ornaments. Their necks are generally ornamented also with
a profusion of wampum and beads ; and as they live in a warm climate where
there is not so much necessity for warm clothingj as amongst the more
Northern tribes, of whom I have been heretofore speaking ; their shoulders,
arms, and chests are generally naked, and painted in a great variety of
picturesque ways, with silver bands on the wrists, and oftentimes a profusion
of rings on the fingers.

The head-chief of the Osages at this time, is a young man by the name
of Clermont (PLATE 150), the son of a very distinguished chief of that name,
who recently died ; leaving his son his successor, with the consent of the
tribe. I painted the portrait of this chief at full length, in a beautiful dress,
his leggings fringed with scalp-locks, and in his hand his favourite and
valued war-club.

By his side I have painted also at full length, his wife and child (PLATE
151). She was richly dressed in costly cloths of civilized manufacture,
which is almost a solitary instance amongst the Osages, who so studiously
reject every luxury and every custom of civilized people ; and amongst
those, the use of whiskey, which is on all sides tendered to them
but almost uniformily rejected ! This is an unusual and unaccountable
thing, unless the influence which tr^ missionaries and teachers have exer-

VOL. II.

cisecl over them, has induced them to abandon the pernicious and destructive
habit of drinking to excess. From what I can learn, the Osages were onre
fond of whiskey ; and, like all other tribes who have had the opportunity,
were in the habit of using it to excess. Several very good and exemplary
men have been for years past exerting their greatest efforts, with those of
their families, amongst these people ; having established schools and agri
cultural experiments amongst them. And I am fully of the opinion, that
this decided anomaly in the Indian country, has resulted from the devoted
exertions of these pious and good men.

Amongst the chiefs of the Osages, and probably the next in authority and
respect in the tribe, is Tchong-tas-sab-bee, the black dog (PLATE 15'2),
whom I painted also at full length, with his pipe in one hand, and his toma
hawk in the other ; his head shaved, and ornamented with a beautiful crest
of deers'hair, and his body wrapped in a huge rnackinaw blanket.

This dignitary, who is blind in the left eye, is one of the most conspicuous
characters in all this country, rendered so by his huge size (standing in
height and in girth, above all of his tribe), as well as by his extraordinary
life. The Black Dog is familiarly known to all the officers of the army, as
well as to Traders and all other white men, who have traversed these regions,
and I believe, admired and respected by most of them.

His height, I think, is seven feet ; and his limbs full and rather fat,
making his bulk formidable, and weighing, perhaps, some 250 or 300
pounds. This man is chief of one of the three bands of the Osages, divided
as they are into three families ; occupying, as I before said, three villages,
denominated, " Clermont's Village," " Black Dog's Village," and " White
Hair's Village." The White Hair is another distinguished leader of the
Osages ; and some have awarded to him the title of Head Chief; but in
the jealous feelings of rivalry which have long agitated this tribe, and some
times, even endangered its peace, I believe it has been generally agreed
that his claims are third in the tribe; though he justly claims the title ot' a
chief, and a very gallant and excellent man. The portrait of this man, 1
regret to say, I did not get.

Amongst the many brave and distinguished warriors of the tribe, one of
the most noted and respected is Tal-lee (PLATE 153), painted at full length,
with his lance in his hand his shield on his arm, and his bow and quiver
slung upon his back.

In this portrait, there is a fair specimen of the Osage figure and dress, as
well as of the facial outline, and shape and character of the head, and mode
of dressing and ornamenting it with the helmet-crest, and the eagle's
quill.

If I had the time at present, I would unfold to the reader some of the
pleasing and extraordinary incidents of this gallant fellow's military life ;
diid also the anecdotes that have grown out of the familiar life I have led
with this handsome and high-minded gentleman of the wild woods and

i H

152

153

prairies. Of the Black Dog I should say more also ; and most assuredly
will not fail to do justice to these extraordinary men, when I have leisure to
write off all my notes, and turn biographer. At present, I shake hands
with these two noblemen, and bid them good-bye; promising them, that if
I never get time to say more of their virtues I shall say nothing agai:. st
them.

In PLATES 154, 155, 156, I have represented three braves, Ko-ha-tunk-a
(the big crow) ; Nah-com-e-shee (the man of the bed), and Mun-ne-pus-
kee (he who is not afraid). These portraits set forth fairly the modes of
dress and ornaments of the young men of the tribe, from the tops
of their heads to the soles of their feet. The only dress they wear in
warm weather is the breech-cloth, leggings, and moccasins of dressed skins,
and garters worn immediately below the knee, ornamented profusely with
beads and wampum.*

These three distinguished and ambitious young men, were of the best
families in the Osage nation ; and as they explained to me. having formed
a peculiar attachment to each other they desired me to paint them all on
one canvass, in which wish I indulged them.

Besides the above personages, I also painted the portraits of Wa-lio-

beck-ee ( ), a brave, and said to be the handsomest man in the Osage

nation ; Moi-een-e-shee (the constant walker) ; Wa-mash-ee-sheek (he who

takes away) ; Wa-chesh-uk (war) ; Mink-chesk ( ) ; Wash-im-pe-

shee (the mad man), a distinguished warrior ; Shih-ga-wos-sa (the hand
some bird) ; Cak-he-ga-shin-ga (the little chief), and Tcha-to-ga (the mad
buffalo) ; all of which will hang in my INDIAN MUSEUM for the inspection
of the curious. The last mentioned of these was tried and convicted of the
murder of two white men during Adams's administration, and was afterwards
pardoned, and still lives, though in disgrace in his tribe, as one whose life
had been forfeited. " but (as they say) not worth taking."

The Osages have been formerly, and until quite recently, a powerful and
warlike tribe: carrying their arms fearlessly through all of these realms ;
and ready to cope with foes of any kind that they were liable to meet. At
present, the case is quite different ; they have been repeatedly moved and
jostled along, from the head waters of the White river, and even from the
shores of the Mississippi, to where they now are; and reduced by every war
and every move. The small-pox has taken its share of them at two or three
different times; and the Konzas, as they are now called, having been a

* These three young men, with eight or ten others, were sent out by the order of the
Black Dog and the other chiefs, with the regiment of dragoons, as guides and hunters,
lor the expedition to the Camanchees, an account of which will be found in the following
pages.

1 was a fellow-traveller and hunter with these young men for several months, and
therefore have related in the following pages some of the incidents of our mutual exploit*
whilst in the Camanchee country

part of the Osages, and receded from them, impaired their strength ; and
have at last helped to lessen the number of their warriors ; so that their
decline has been very rapid, bringing them to the mere handful that now
exists of them ; though still preserving their valour as warriors, which they
are continually shewing off as bravely and as professionally as they can,
with the Pawnees and the Camanchees, with whom they are waging incessant
war ; although they are the principal sufferers in those scenes which they
fearlessly persist in, as if they were actually bent on their self-destruction.
Very great efforts have been, and are being made amongst these people to
civilize and christianize them ; and still I believe with but little success.
Agriculture they have caught but little of; and of religion and civilization
still less. One good result has, however, been produced by these faithful
labourers, which is the conversion of these people to temperance ; which I
consider the first important step towards the other results, and which of
itself is an achievement that redounds much to the credit and humanity of
those, whose lives have been devoted to its accomplishment.

Here I must leave the Osages for the present, but not the reader, whose
company I still hope to have awhile longer, to hear how I get along amongst
the wild and untried scenes, that I am to start upon in a few days, in
company with the first regiment of dragoons, in the first grand civilized
foray, into the country of the wild and warlike Camanchees.

V.Cattin

LETTER No 39.

MOUTH OF FALSE WASHITA, RED RIVER.

UXDER the protection of the United States dragoons, I arrived at this
place three days since, on my way again in search of the " Far West."
How far I may this time follow the flying phantom, is uncertain. I am
already again in the land of the buffaloes and the fleet-bounding antelopes :
and I anticipate, with many other beating hearts, rare sport and amuse
ment amongst the wild herds ere long.

We shall start from hence in a few days, and other epistles I may occa
sionally drop you from terra incognita, for such is the great expanse of
country which we expect to range over ; and names we are to give, and
country to explore, as far as we proceed. We are, at this place, on the
banks of the Red River, having Texas under our eye on the opposite bank.
Our encampment is on the point of land between the Red and False Washita
rivers, at their junction ; and the country about us is a panorama too beau
tiful to be painted with a pen : it is, like most of the country in these
regions, composed of prairie and timber, alternating in the most delightful
shapes and proportions that the eye of a connoisseur could desire. The
verdure is everywhere of the deepest green, and the plains about us are
literally speckled with buffalo. We are distant from Fort Gibson about
200 miles, which distance we accomplished in ten days.

A great part of the way, the country is prairie, gracefully undulating
well watered, and continually beautified by copses and patches of timber.
On our way my attention was rivetted to the tops of some of the prairie
bluffs, whose summits I approached with inexpressible delight. I rode to
the top of one of these noble mounds, in company with my friends Lieut.
Wheelock and Joseph Chadwick, where we agreed that our horses instinc
tively looked and admired. They thought not of the rich herbage that was
under their feet, but, with deep-drawn sighs, their necks were loftily curved,
and their eyes widely stretched over the landscape that was beneath us.
From this elevated spot, the horizon was bounded all around us by moun
tain streaks of blue, softening into azure as they vanished, and the pictured
vales that intermediate lay, were deepening into green as the eye was re
turning from its roamings. Beneath us, and winding through the waving
landscape was seen with peculiar effect, the " bold dragoons," marching in
beautiful order forming a tram of a mile in length. Baggage waggons and

Indians (engages) helped to lengthen the procession. From the point where
we stood, the line was seen in miniature ; and the undulating hills ovei
which it was bending its way, gave it the appearance of a huge black snake
gracefully gliding over a rich carpet of green.

This picturesque country of 200 miles, over which we have passed, belongs
to the Creeks and Choctaws, and affords one of the richest and most desi
rable countries in the world for agricultural pursuits.

Scarcely a day has passed, in which we have not crossed oak ridges, ot
several miles in breadth, with a sandy soil and scattering timber ; where
the ground was almost literally covered with vines, producing the greatest
profusion of delicious grapes, of five-eighths of an inch in diameter, and
hanging in such endless clusters, as justly to entitle this singular and solitary
wilderness to the style of a vineyard (and ready for the vintage), for many
miles together.

The next hour we would be trailing through broad and verdant valleys of
green prairies, into which we had descended ; and oftentimes find our
progress completely arrested by hundreds of acres of small plum-trees, of
four or six feet in height ; so closely woven and interlocked together, as
entirely to dispute our progress, and sending us several miles around ; when
every bush that was in sight was so loaded with the weight of its delicious
wild fruit, that they were in many instances literally without leaves on their
branches, and bent quite to the ground. Amongst these, and in patches,
were intervening beds of wild roses, wild currants, and gooseberries. And
underneath and about them, and occasionally interlocked with them, huge
masses of the prickly pears, and beautiful and tempting wild flowers that
sweetened the atmosphere above ; whilst an occasional huge yellow rattle
snake, or a copper-head, could be seen gliding over, or basking across their
vari-coloured tendrils and leaves.

On the eighth day of our march we met, for the first time, a herd of
buffaloes ; and being in advance of the command, in company with General
Leavenworth, Colonel Dodge, and several other officers ; we all had an
opportunity of testing the mettle of our horses and our own tact at the wild
and spirited death. The inspiration of chase took at once, and alike, with
the old and the young ; a beautiful plain lay before us, and we all gave
spur for the onset. General Leavenworth and Colonel Dodge, with their
pistols, gallantly and handsomely belaboured a fat cow, and were in together
at the death. I was not quite so fortunate in my selection, for the one
which I saw fit to gallant over the plain alone, of the same sex, younger
and coy, led me a hard chase, and for a long time, disputed my near ap
proach ; when, at length, the full speed of my horse forced us to close com
pany, and she desperately assaulted his shoulders with her horns. My gun
was aimed, but missing its fire, the muzzle entangled in her mane, and was
instantly broke in two in my hands, and fell over my shoulder. My pistols
were then brought to bear upon her ; and though severely wounded, she

succeeded in reaching the thicket and left me without " a deed of chivalry
to boast." Since that day, the Indian hunters in our charge have supplied
us abundantly with buffalo meat ; and report says, that the country ahead
of us will afford us coniinual sport, and an abundant supply.

We are halting here for a few days to recruit horses and men, after which
the line of march will be resumed ; and if the Pawnees are as near to us as we
have strong reason to believe, from their recent trails and fires, it is probable
that within a few days we shall " thrash" them or "get thrashed;" unless
through their sagacity and fear, they elude our search by flying before us
to their hiding-places.

The prevailing policy amongst the officers seems to be, that of flogging
them first, and then establishing a treaty of peace. If this plan were morally
right, I do not think it practicable ; for, as enemies, I do not believe they will
stand to meet us ; but, as friends, I think we may bring them to a talk, if
the proper means are adopted. We are here encamped on the ground on
which Judge Martin and servant were butchered, and his son kidnapped by
the Pawnees or Camanchees, but a few weeks since ; and the moment they
discover us in a large body, they will presume that we are relentlessly seek
ing for revenge, and they will probably be very shy of our approach. We
are over the Washita the " Rubicon is passed." We are invaders of a
sacred soil. We are carrying war in our front, and " we shall soon see,
what we shall see."

The cruel fate of Judge Martin and family has been published in the
papers ; and it belongs to the regiment of dragoons to demand the surrender
of the murderers, and get for the information of the world, some authentic
account of the mode in which this horrid outrage was committed.

Judge Martin was a very respectable and independent man, living on the
lower part of the Red River, and in the habit of taking his children and a couple
of black men-servants with him, and a tent to live in, every summer, into
these wild regions ; where he pitched it upon the prairie, and spent several
months in killing buffaloes and other wild game, for his own private amuse
ment. The news came to Fort Gibson but a few weeks before we started, that
he had been set upon by a party of Indians and destroyed. A detachment of
troops was speedily sent to the spot, where they found his body horridly
mangled, and also of one of his negroes ; and it is supposed that his son, a
fine boy of nine years of age, has been taken home to their villages by them.
Where they still retain him, and where it is our hope to recover him.

Great praise is due to General Leavenworth for his early and unremitted
efforts to facilitate the movements of the regiment of dragoons, by opening
roads from Gibson and Towson to this place. We found encamped two
companies of infantry from Fort Towson, who will follow in the rear of the
dragoons as far as necessary, transporting with waggons, stores and supplies,
and ready, at the same time, to co-operate with the dragoons in case of ne
cessity. General Leavenworth will advance with us from this post, but how

far lie may proceed is uncertain. We know not exactly the route which we
shall take, for circumstances alone must decide that point. We shall proba
bly reach Cantonment Leavenworth in the fall ; and one thing is certain (in
the opinion of one who has already seen something of Indian life and country),
we shall meet with many severe privations and reach that place a jaded set
of fellows, and as ragged as Jack Falstaff's famous band.

You are no doubt inquiring, who are these Pawnees, Camanchees, and
Arapahoes, and why not tell us all about them ? Their history, numbers and
limits are still in obscurity ; nothing definite is yet known of them, but I
hope I shall soon be able to give the world a clue to them.

If my life and health are preserved, I anticipate many a pleasing scene
for my pencil, as well as incidents worthy of reciting to the world, which I
shall occasionally do, as opportunity may occur.

LETTER No. 40.

MOUTH OF FALSE WASHITA.

SINCE I wrote my last Letter from this place, I have bean detained here
with the rest of the cavalcade from the extraordinary sickness which is
afflicting the regiment, and actually threatening to arrest its progress.

It was, as I wrote the other day, the expectation of the commanding
officer that we should have been by this time recruited and recovered
from sickness, and ready to start again on our march ; but since I wrote
nearly one half of the command, and included amongst them, several
officers, with General Leavenworth, have been thrown upon their backs,
with the prevailing epidemic, a slow and distressing bilious fever. The
horses of the regiment are also sick, about an equal proportion, and seemingly
suffering with the same disease. They are daily dying, and men are calling
sick, and General Leavenworth has ordered Col. Dodge to select all the
men, and all the horses that are able to proceed, and be off to-morrow
at nine o'clock upon the march towards the Camanchees, in hopes thereby
to preserve the health of the men, and make the most rapid advance towards
the extreme point of destination.

General Leavenworth has reserved Col. Kearney to take command of
the remaining troops and the little encampment ; and promises Colonel
Dodge that he will himself be well enough in a few days to proceed with
A party on his trail and overtake him at the Cross Timbers.

I should here remark, that when we started from Fort Gibson, the
regiment of dragoons, instead of the eight hundred which it was sup
posed it would contain, had only organized to the amount of 400 men,
which was the number that started from that place ; and being at this
time half disabled, furnishes but 200 effective men to penetrate the wild
and untried regions of the hostile Camanchees. All has been bustle and
confusion this day, packing up and preparing for the start to-morrow
morning. My canvass and painting apparatus are prepared and ready for
the packhorse, which carries the goods and chattels of my esteemed com
panion Joseph Chadwick and myself, and we shall be the two only guests
of the procession, and consequently the only two who will be at liberty to
gallop about where we please, despite military rules and regulations, chasing
the wild herds, or seeking our own amusements in any such modes as we

VOL. II. It

choose. Mr. Chadwick is a young man from St. Louis, with whom I hare
been long acquainted, and for whom I have the highest esteem. He has so
far stood by me as a faithful friend, and I rely implicitly on his society
during this campaign for much good company and amusement. Though I
have an order from the Secretary at War to the commanding officer, to protect
and supply me, I shall ask but for their protection ; as I have, with my friend
Joe, laid in our own supplies for the campaign, not putting the Govern
ment to any expense on my account, in pursuit of my own private objects.

I am writing this under General Leavenworth's tent, where he has gene
rously invited me to take up my quarters during our encampment here, and he
promises to send it by his express, which starts to-morrow with a mail from
this to Fort Towson on the frontier, some hundreds of miles below this. At
the time I am writing, the General lies pallid and emaciated before me, on his
couch, with a dragoon fanning him, whilst he breathes forty or fifty breaths
a minute, and writhes under a burning fever, although he is yet unwilling
even to admit that he is sick.

In my last Letter I gave a brief account of a buffalo chase, where General
Leavenworth and Col. Dodge took parts, and met with pleasing success.
The next day, while on the march, and a mile or so in advance of the regi
ment, and two days before we reached this place, General Leavenworth,
Col. Dodge, Lieut. Wlieelock and myself were jogging along, and all in turn
complaining of the lameness of our bones, from the chase on the former day,
when the General, who had long ago had his surfeit of pleasure of this kind
on the Upper Missouri, remonstrated against further indulgence, in the follow
ing manner : " Well, Colonel, this running for buffaloes is bad business for us
we are getting too old, and should leave such amusements to the young
men ; I have had enough of this fun in my life, and I am determined not
to hazard my limbs or weary my horse any more with it it is the height of
folly for us, but will do well enough for boys." Col. Dodge assented
at once to his resolves, and approved them ; whilst I, who had tried it
in every form (and I had thought, to my heart's content), on the Upper Mis
souri, joined my assent to the folly of our destroying our horses, which
had a long journey to perform, and agreed that I would join no more in the
buffalo chase, however near and inviting they might come to me.

In the midst of this conversation, and these mutual declarations (or rather
just at the end of them), as we were jogging along in " Indian file" and
General Leavenworth taking the lead, and just rising to the top of a little hill
over which it seems he had had an instant peep, he dropped himself suddenly
upon the side of his horse and wheeled back ! and rapidly informed us with an
agitated whisper, and an exceeding game contraction of the eye, that a snug
little band of buffaloes were quietly grazing just over the knoll in a beautiful
meadow for running, and that if I would take to the left ! and Lieut. Wliee
lock to the right ! and let him and the Colonel dash right into the midst of
them! we could play the devil with them ! ! one half of this at least was

said after he had got upon his feet and taken off his portmanteau and valise,
m which we had ali followed suit, and were mounting for the start ! and I
am almost sure nothing else was said, and if it had been I should not have
heard it, for I was too far off! and too rapidly dashed over the waving
grass ! and too eagerly gazing and plying the whip, to hear or to see, any
thing but the trampling hoofs ! and the blackened throng 1 and the darting
steeds ! and the flashing of guns ! until I had crossed the beautiful lawn !
and the limb of a tree, as my horse was darting into the timber, had crossed
my horse's back, and had scraped me into the grass, from which I soon
raised my head ! and all was silent ! and all out of sight ! save the dragoon
regiment, which I could see in distance creeping along on the top of a high
hill. I found my legs under me in a few moments, and put them in their
accustomed positions, none of which would for some time, answer the usual
purpose ; but I at last got them to work, and brought " Charley" out of
the bushes, where he had " brought up" in the top of a fallen tree, with
out damage.

No buffalo was harmed in this furious assault, nor horse nor rider. Col.
Dodge and Lieut. Wheelock had joined the regiment, and General Leaven-
worth joined me, with too much game expression yet in his eye to allow
him more time than to say, " I'll have that calf before I quit !" and away he
sailed, " up hill and down dale," in pursuit of a fine calf that had been hidden
on the ground during the chase, and was now making its way over the prairies
in pursuit of the herd. I rode to the top of a little hill to witness the suc
cess of the General's second effort, and after he had come close upon the
little affrighted animal, it dodged about in such a manner as evidently to
baffle his skill, and perplex his horse, which at last fell in a hole, and both
were instantly out of my sight. I ran my horse with all possible speed to
the spot, and found him on his hands and knees, endeavouring to get up.
I dismounted and raised him on to his feet, when I asked him if he was hurt,
to which he replied " no, but I might have been," when he instantly fainted,
and I laid him on the grass. I had left my canteen with my portmanteau,
and had nothing to administer to him, nor was there water near us. I took
my lancet from my pocket and was tying his arm to open a vein, when he
recovered, and objected to the operation, assuring me that he was not in the
least injured. I caught his horse and soon got him mounted again, when
we rode on together, and after two or three hours were enabled to join the
regiment.

From that hour to the present, I think I have seen a decided change in
the General's face ; he has looked pale and feeble, and been continually
troubled with a violent cough. I have rode by the side of him from day to
day, and he several times told me that he was fearful he was badly hurt. He
looks very feeble now, and I very much fear the result of the fever that has
set in upon him.

We take up the line of march at bugle-call in the morning, and it may

be a long time before I can send a Letter again, as there are no post-offices
nor mail carriers in the country where we are now going. It will take a
great deal to stop me from writing, however, and as I am now to enter upon
one of the most interesting parts of the Indian country, inasmuch as it
is one of the wildest and most hostile, I shall surely scribble an occasional
Letter, if I have to carry them in my own pocket, and bring them in with
with me on my return.

LETTER-NO. 41.

GREAT CAMANCHEE VILLAGE.

WE are again at rest, and I am with subjects rude and almost infinite around
me, for my pen and my brush. The little band of dragoons are encamped
by a fuie spring of cool water, within half a mile of the principal town
of the Camanchees, and in the midst of a bustling and wild scene, I assure
you ; and before I proceed to give an account of things and scenes that are
about me, I must return for a few moments to the place where I left the
Reader, at the encampment at False Washita, and rapidly travel with him
o/er the country that lies between that place and the Camanchee Village,
where I am now writing.

On the morning after my last Letter was written, the sound and efficient
part of the regiment was in motion at nine o'clock. And with them, my
friend " Joe" and I, with our provisions laid in, and all snugly arranged on
our packhorse, which we alternately led or drove between us.

Our course was about due West, on the divide between the Washita and
Red Rivers, with our faces looking towards the Rocky Mountains. The
country over which we passed from day to day, was inimitably beautiful ;
being the whole way one continuous prairie of green fields, with occasional
clusters of timber and shrubbery, just enough for the uses of cultivating-man,
and for the pleasure of his eyes to dwell upon. The regiment was rather
more than half on the move, consisting of 250 men, instead of 200 as I pre
dicted in my Letter from that place. All seemed gay and buoyant at the
fresh start, which all trusted was to liberate us from the fatal miasma which
we conceived was hovering about the mouth of the False Washita. We
advanced on happily, and met with no trouble until the second night of our
encampment, in the midst of which we were thrown into " pie" (as printers
would say,) in an instant of the most appalling alarm and confusion. We
were encamped on a beautiful prairie, where we were every hour apprehen
sive of the lurking enemy. And in the dead of night, when all seemed to
be sound asleep and quiet, the instant sound and flash of a gun within a few
paces of us ! and then the most horrid and frightful groans that instantly
followed it, brought us all upon our hands and knees in an instant, and our
affrighted horses (which were breaking their lasos,) in full speed and fury
over our heads, with the frightful and mingled din of snorting, and cries of
"Indians! Indians! Pawnees!" &c., which rang from every part of our

little encampment ! In a few moments the excitement was chiefly over, and
silence restored ; when we could hear the trampling hoofs of the horses,
which were making off in all directions, (not unlike a drove of swine that
once ran into the sea, when they were possessed of devils) ; and leaving but
now and then an individual quadruped hanging at its stake within our little
camp. The mode of our encampment was, uniformly in four lines, forming
a square of fifteen or twenty rods in diameter. Upon these lines our saddles
and packs were all laid, at the distance of five feet from each other ; and
each man, after grazing his horse, had it fastened with a rope or laso, to a
stake driven in the ground at a little distance from his feet ; thus enclosing
the horses all within the square, for the convenience of securing them in case
of attack or alarm. In this way we laid encamped, when we were awakened
by the alarm that I have just mentioned ; and our horses affrighted, dashed
out of the camp, and over the heads of their masters in the desperate
" Stampedo."

After an instant preparation for battle, and a little recovery from the fright,
which was soon effected by waiting a few moments in vain, for the enemy to
come on ; a general explanation took place, which brought all to our legs
again, and convinced us that there was no decided obstacle, as yet, to our
reaching the Camanchee towns ; and after that, " sweet home," and the
arms of our wives and dear little children, provided we could ever overtake
and recover our horses, which had swept off in fifty directions, and with
impetus enough to ensure us employment for a day or two to come.

At the proper moment for it to be made, there was a general enquiry for
the cause of this real misfortune, when it was ascertained to have originated
in the following manner. A " raw recruit," who was standing as one of
the sentinels on that night, saw, as he says " he supposed," an Indian creep
ing out of a bunch of bushes a few paces in front of him, upon whom he
levelled his rifle ; and as the poor creature did not " advance and give the
countersign 1 at his call, nor any answer at all, he " let off!" and popped a
bullet through the heart of a poor dragoon horse, which had strayed away
on the night before, and had faithfully followed our trail all the day, and
was now, with a beastly misgiving, coming up, and slowly poking through
a little thicket of bushes into camp, to join its comrades, in servitude again !

The sudden shock of a gun, and the most appalling groans of this poor
dying animal, in the dead of night, and so close upon the heels of sweet
sleep, created a long vibration of nerves, and a day of great perplexity and
toil which followed, as we had to retrace our steps twenty miles or more, in
pursuit of affrighted horses ; of which some fifteen or twenty took up wild
and free life upon the prairies, to which they were abandoned, as they could
not be found. After a detention of two days in consequence of this disaster,
we took up the line of march again, and pursued our course with vigour and
success, over a continuation of green fields, enamelled with wild flowers, and
pleasingly relieved with patches and groves of timber.

On the fourth day of our march, we discovered many fresh signs of buffa
loes ; and at last, immense herds of them grazing on the distant hills. In
dian trails were daily growing fresh, and their smokes were seen in various
directions ahead of us. And on the same day at noon, we discovered a large
party at several miles distance, sitting on their horses and looking at us.
From the glistening of the blades of their lances, which were blazing as they
turned them in the sun, it was at first thought that they were Mexican
cavalry, who might have been apprized of our approach into their country,
and had advanced to contest the point with us. On drawing a little nearer,
however, and scanning them closer with our spy-glasses, they were soon ascer
tained to be a war-party of Camanchees, on the look out for their enemies.

The regiment was called to a halt, and the requisite preparations made and
orders issued, we advanced in a direct line towards them until we had approach
ed to within two or three miles of them, when they suddenly disappeared over
the hill, and soon after shewed themselves on another mound farther off and
in a different direction. The course of the regiment was then changed, and
another advance towards them was commenced, and as before, they disap
peared and shewed themselves in another direction. After several such
efforts which proved ineffectual, Col. Dodge ordered the command to halt,
while he rode forward with a few of his staff, and an ensign carrying a white
flag. I joined this advance, and the Indians stood their ground until we
had come within half a mile of them, and could distinctly observe all their
numbers and movements. We then came to a halt, and the white flag was
sent a little in advance, and waved as a signal for them to approach ; at
which one of their party galloped out in advance of the war-party, on a milk
white horse, carrying a piece of white buffalo skin on the point of his long
lance in reply to our flag.

This moment was the commencement of one of the most thrilling and
beautiful scenes I ever witnessed. All eyes, both from his own party and
ours, were fixed upon the manoauvres of this gallant little fellow, and he well
knew it.

The distance between the two parties was perhaps half a mile, and that
a beautiful and gently sloping: prairie; over which he was for the space of a
quarter of an hour, reining and spurring his maddened horse, and gradually
approaching us by tacking to the right and the left, like a vessel beating
against the wind. He at length came prancing and leaping along till he met
the flag of the regiment, when he leaned his spear for a moment against it,
looking the bearer full in the Vace, when he wheeled his horse, and dashed
up to Col, Dodge (PLATE 157), with his extended hand, which was instantly
grasped and shaken. We all had him by the hand in a moment, and the
rest of the party seeing him received in this friendly manner, instead of being
sacrificed, as they undoubtedly expected, started under " full whip" in a
direct line towards us, and in a moment gathered, like a black cloud, around
us ! The regiment then moved up in regular order, and a general shake of

the hand ensued, which was accomplished by each warrior riding along the
ranks, and shaking the hand of every one as he passed. This necessary form
took up considerable time, and during the whole operation, my eyes were fixed
upon the gallant and wonderful appearance of the little fellow who bore us
the white flag on the point of his lance. He rode a fine and spirited wild
horse, which was as white as the drifted snow, with an exuberant mane, and
its long and bushy tail sweeping the ground. In his hand he tightly drew
the reins upon a heavy Spanish bit, and at every jump, plunged into the
animal's sides, till they were in a gore of blood, a huge pair of spurs, plun
dered, no doubt, from the Spaniards in their border wars, which are con
tinually waged on the Mexican frontiers. The eyes of this noble little steed
seemed to be squeezed out of its head ; and its fright, and its agitation had
brought out upon its skin a perspiration that was fretted into a white foam
and lather. The warrior's quiver was slung on the warrior's back, and his bow
grasped in his left hand, ready for instant use, if called for. His shield was
on his arm, and across his thigh, in a beautiful cover of buckskin, his gun
was slung and in his right hand his lance of fourteen feet in length.

Thus armed and equipped was this dashing cavalier ; and nearly in
the same manner, all the rest of the party ; and very many of them leading
an extra horse, which we soon learned was the favourite war-horse ; and
^rom which circumstances altogether, we soon understood that they were a
war-party in search of their enemy.

After a shake of the hand, we dismounted, and the pipe was lit, and
passed around. And then a " talk" was held, in which we were aided by a
Spaniard we luckily had with us, who could converse with one of the
Camanchees, who spoke some Spanish.

Colonel Dodge explained to them the friendly motives with which we
were penetrating their country that we were sent by the President to reach
their villages to see the chiefs of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts to
shake hands with them, and to smoke the pipe of peace, and to establish
an acquaintance, and consequently a system of trade that would be bene
ficial to both.

They listened attentively, and perfectly appreciated ; and taking Colonel
Dodge at his word, relying with confidence in what he told them ; they in
formed us that their great town was within a few days' march, and pointing
in the direction offered to abandon their war-excursion, and turn about
and escort us to it, which they did in perfect good faith. We were on the
march in the afternoon of that day, and from day to day they busily led us
on, over hill and dale, encamping by the side of us at night, and resuming
the march in the morning.

During this march, over one of the most lovely and picturesque countries
in the world, we had enough continually to amuse and excite us. The whole
country seemed at times to be alive with buffaloes, and bands of wild
horses.

We had with us about thirty Osage and Cherokee, Seneca and Delaware
Indians, employed as guides and hunters for the regiment ; and with the
war-party of ninety or a hundred Camanchees, we formed a most picturesque
appearance while passing over the green fields , and consequently, sad
havoc amongst the herds of buffaloes, which we were almost hourly passing.
We were now out of the influence and reach of bread stuffs, and subsisted
ourselves on buffaloes' meat altogether; and the Indians of the different tribes,
emulous to shew their skill in the chase, and prove the mettle of their horses,
took infinite pleasure in dashing into every herd that we approached; by which
means, the regiment was abundantly supplied from day to day with fresh meat.

In one of those spirited scenes when the regiment were on the march, and
the Indians with their bows and arrows were closely plying a band of these
affrighted animals, they made a bolt through the line of the dragoons, and a
complete breach, through which the whole herd passed, upsetting horses and
riders in the most amusing manner (PLATE 158), and receiving such shots
as came from those guns and pistols that were aimed, and not fired off into
the empty air.

The buffaloes are very blind animals, and owing, probably in a great
measure, to the profuse locks that hang over their eyes, they run chiefly by
the nose, and follow in the tracks of each other, seemingly heedless of what is
about them ; and of course, easily disposed to rush in a mass, and the whole
tribe or gang to pass in the tracks of those that have first led the way.

The tract of country over which we passed, between the False Washita
and this place, is stocked, not only with buffaloes, but with numerous bands
}f wild horses, many of which we saw every day. There is no other animal
Dn the prairies so wild and so sagacious as the horse ; and none other so
difficult to come up with. So remarkably keen is their eye, that they will
generally run " at the sight," when they are a mile distant ; being, no
doubt, able to distinguish the character of the enemy that is approaching
when at that distance ; and when in motion, will seldom stop short of three
or four miles. I made many attempts to approach them by stealth, when
they were grazing and playing their gambols, without ever having been
more than once able to succeed. In this instance, I left my horse, and
with my friend Chadwick, skulked through a ravine for a couple of miles;
until we were at length brought within gun-shot of a fine herd of them, when
I used my pencil for some time, while we were under cover of a little hedge
. of bushes which effectually screened us from their view. In this herd we
saw all the colours, nearly, that can be seen in a kennel of English hounds.
Some were milk white, some jet black others were sorrel, and bay, and
cream colour many were of an iron grey; and others were pied, containing
a variety of colours on the same animal. Their manes were very profuse, and
hanging in the wildest confusion over their necks and faces and their long
tails swept the ground (see PLATE 160).

After we had satisfied our curiosity in looking at these proud and playful

VOL. II. I

animals, we agreed that we would try the experiment of " creasing" one,
as it is termed in this country ; which is done by shooting them through the
gristle on the top of the neck, which stuns them so that they fall, and are
secured with the hobbles on the feet ; after which they rise again without
fatal injury. This is a practice often resorted to by expert hunters, with
good rifles, who are not able to take them in any other way. My friend
Joe and I were armed on this occasion, each with a light fowling-piece,
which have not quite the preciseness in throwing a bullet that a rifle has ;
and having both levelled our pieces at the withers of a noble, fine-looking
iron grey, we pulled trigger, and the poor creature fell, and the rest of the
herd were out of sight in a moment. We advanced speedily to him, and
had the most inexpressible mortification of finding, that we never had thought
of hobbles or halters, to secure him and in a few moments more, had the
still greater mortification, and even anguish, to find that one of our shots
had broken the poor creature's neck, and that he was quite dead.

The laments of poor Chadwick for the wicked folly of destroying this
noble animal, were such as I never shall forget ; and so guilty did we feel
that we agreed that when we joined the regiment, we should boast of all
the rest of our hunting feats, but never make mention of this.

The usual mode of taking the wild horses, is, by throwing the laso, whilst
pursuing them at full speed (PLATE 161), and dropping a noose over their
necks, by which their speed is soon checked, and they are " choked down."
The laso is a thong of rawhide, some ten or fifteen yards in length, twisted
or braided, with a noose fixed at the end of it ; which, when the coil of the
laso is thrown out, drops with great certainty over the neck of the animal,
which is soon conquered.

The Indian, when he starts for a wild horse, mounts one of the fleetest
he can get, and coiling his laso on his arm, starts off under the " full whip,"
till he can enter the band, when he soon gets it over the neck of one of the
number ; when he instantly dismounts, leaving his own horse, and runs as
fast as he can, letting the laso pass out gradually and carefully through his
hands, until the horse falls for want of breath, and lies helpless on the
ground ; at which time the Indian advances slowly towards the horse's head,
keeping his laso tight upon its neck, until he fastens a pair of hobbles on
the animal's two forefeet, and also loosens the laso (giving the horse chance to
breathe), and gives it a noose around the under jaw, by which he gets great
power over the affrighted animal, which is rearing and plunging when it
gets breath ; and by which, as he advances, hand over hand, towards the
horse's nose (PLATE 162), he is able to hold it down and prevent it from
throwing itself over on its back, at the hazard of its limbs. By this means
e gradually advances, until he is able to place his hand on the animal's
nose and over its eyes ; and at length to breathe in its nostrils, when it
soon becomes docile and conquered ; so that he has little else to do than to
remove the hobbles from its feet, and lead or ride it into camp.

This "breaking down" or taming, however, is not without the most des
perate trial on the part of the horse, which rears and plunges in every
possible way to effect its escape, until its power is exhausted, and it becomes
covered with foam ; and at last yields to the power of man, and becomes
his willing slave for the rest of its life. By this very rigid treatment, the
poor animal seems to be so completely conquered, that it makes no furthei
struggle for its freedom ; but submits quietly ever after, and is led or rode
away with very little difficulty. Great care is taken, however, in this and
in subsequent treatment, not to subdue the spirit of the animal, which is
carefully preserved and kept up, although they use them with great severity ;
being, generally speaking, cruel masters.

The wild horse of these regions is a small, but very powerful animal ;
with an exceedingly prominent eye, sharp nose, high nostril, small feet and
delicate leg ; and undoubtedly, have sprung from a stock introduced by
the Spaniards, at the time of the invasion of Mexico ; which having strayed
off upon the prairies, have run wild, and stocked the plains from this to
Lake Winnepeg, two or three thousand miles to the North.*

This useful animal has been of great service to the Indians living on these
vast plains, enabling them to take their game rrore easily, to carry their
burthens, &c. ; and no doubt, render them better and handier service than
if they were of a larger and heavier breed. Vast numbers of them are also
killed for food by the Indians, at seasons when buffaloes and other game
are scarce. They subsist themselves both in winter and summer by biting
at the grass, which they can always get in sufficient quantities for their
food.

Whilst on our march we met with many droves of these beautiful animals,
and several times had the opportunity of seeing the Indians pursue them,
and take them with the laso. The first successful instance of the kind was
effected by one of our guides and hunters, by the name of Beatte, a French
man, whose parents had lived nearly their whole lives in the Osage village ;
and who, himself had been reared from infancy amongst them ; and ia a
continual life of Indian modes and amusements, had acquired all the skill
and tact of his Indian teachers, and probably a little more ; for he is reputed,
without exception, the best hunter in these Western regions.

This instance took place one day whilst the regiment was at its usual halt
of an hour, in the middle of the day.

When the bugle sounded for a halt, and all were dismounted, Beatte and
several others of the hunters asked permission of Col. Dodge to pursue a
drove of horses which were then in sight, at a distance of a mile or more
from us. The permission was given, and they started off, and by following

* There are many very curious traditions about tbe first appearance of horses amongst
the different tribes, and many of wbich bear striking proof of the above fact. Most
of the tribes have some story about the first appearance of horses ; and amongst the Sioux,
they have beautifully recorded tbe fact, by giving it the name of Shonk a-wakon (the me
dicine-dog).

a ravine, approached near to the unsuspecting animals, when they broke
upon them and pursued them for several miles in full view of the regiment.
Several of us had good glasses, with which we could plainly see every move
ment and every manoeuvre. After a race of two or three miles, Beatte was
seen with his wild horse down, and the band and the other hunters rapidly
leaving him.

Seeing him in this condition, I galloped off to him as rapidly as possible,
and had the satisfaction of seeing the whole operation of " breaking down,"
and bringing in the wild animal ; and in PLATE 162, I have given a fair
representation of the mode by which it was done. When he had conquered
the horse in this way, his brother, who was one of the unsuccessful ones in
the chase, came riding back, and leading up the horse of Beatte which he
had left behind, and after staying with us a few minutes, assisted Beatte in
leading his conquered wild horse towards the regiment, where it was satis
factorily examined and commented upon, as it was trembling and covered
with white foam, until the bugle sounded the signal for marching, when all
mounted ; and with the rest, Beatte, astride of his wild horse, which had a
buffalo skin girted on its back, and a halter, with a cruel noose around the
under jaw. In this manner the command resumed its march, and Beatte
astride of his wild horse, on which he rode quietly and without difficulty,
until night ; the whole thing, the capture, and breaking, all having been
accomplished within the space of one hour, our usual and daily halt at
midday.

Several others of these animals were caught in a similar manner during
our march, by others of our hunters, affording us satisfactory instances of
this most extraordinary and almost unaccountable feat.

The horses that were caught were by no means very valuable specimens,
being rather of an ordinary quality ; and I saw to my perfect satisfaction,
that the finest of these droves can never be obtained in this way, as they
take the lead at once, when they are pursued, and in a few moments will be
seen half a mile or more ahead of the bulk of the drove, which they are
leading off. There is not a doubt but there are many very fine and valuable
horses amongst these herds ; but it is impossible for the Indian or other
hunter to take them, unless it be done by " creasing" them, as I have before
described ; which is often done, but always destroys the spirit and character
of the animal.

After many hard and tedious days of travel, we were at last told by our
Camanchee guides that we were near their village ; and having led us to the
top of a gently rising elevation on the prairie, they pointed to their village at
several miles distance, in the midst of one of the most enchanting valleys
that human eyes ever looked upon. The general course of the valley is
from N. W. to S. E., of several miles in width, with a magnificent range of
mountains rising in distance beyond ; it being, without doubt, a huge " spur"
of the Rocky Mountains, composed entirely of a reddish granite or gneis

corresponding with the other links of this stupendous chain. In the midst
of this lovely valley, we could just discern amongst the scattering shrubbery
that lined the banks of the watercourses, the tops of the Camanchee wig
wams, and the smoke curling above them. The valley, for a mile distant
about the village, seemed speckled with horses and mules that were grazing
in it. The chiefs of the war-party requested the regiment to halt, until they
could ride in, and inform their people who were coming. We then dis
mounted for an hour or so ; when we could see them busily running and
catching their horses ; and at length, several hundreds of their braves and
warriors came out at full speed to welcome us, and forming in a line in front
of us, as we were again mounted, presented a formidable and pleasing ap
pearance (PLATE lt>3). As they wheeled their horses, they very rapidly
formed in a line, and " dressed" like well-disciplined cavalry. The regiment
was drawn up in three columns, with a line formed in front, by Colonel
Dodge and his staff, in which rank my friend Chadwick and I were also
paraded ; when we had a fine view of the whole manoeuvre, which was pic
turesque and thrilling in the extreme.

In the centre of our advance was stationed a white flag, and the Indians
answered to it with one which they sent forward and planted by the side of it.*

The two lines were thus drawn up, face to face, within twenty or thirty
yards of each other, as inveterate foes that never had met ; and, to the ever
lasting credit of the Camanchees, whom the world had always looked upon
as murderous and hostile, they had all come out in this manner, with their
heads uncovered, and without a weapon of any kind, to meet a war-party
bristling with arms, and trespassing to the middle of their country. They
had every reason to look upon us as their natural enemy, as they have been
in the habit of estimating all pale faces ; and yet, instead of arms or defences,
or even of frowns, they galloped out and looked us in our faces, without an
expression of fear or dismay, and evidently with expressions of joy and im
patient pleasure, to shake us by the hand, on the bare assertion of Colonel
Dodge, which had been made to the chiefs, that " we came to see them on
a friendly visit.

After we had sat and gazed at each other in this way for some half an
hour or so, the head chief of the band came galloping up to Colonel Dodge,
and having shaken him by the hand, he passed on to the other officers in
turn, and then rode alongside of the different columns, shaking hands with
every dragoon in the regiment ; he was followed in this by his principal

* It is a fact which I deem to be worth noting here, that amongst all Indian tribes, that
I have yet visited, in their primitive, as well as improved state, the white flag is used as a
flag of truce, as it is in the civilized parts of the world, and held to be sacred and inviolable.
The chief going to war always carries it in some form or other, generally of a piece of white
bkin or bark, rolled on a small stick, and carried under his dress, of otherwise ; ard also a
red flag, either to be unfurled when occasion requires the white flag as a truce, and the r^d
one for battle, or, as they say, " for blood."

chiefs and braves, which altogether took up nearly an hour longer, when
the Indians retreated slowly towards their village, escorting us to the bants
of a fine clear stream, and a good spring of fresh water, half a mile from
their village, which they designated as a suitable place for our encampment,
and we were soon bivouacked at the place from which I am now scribbling.

No sooner were we encamped here (or, in other words, as soon as our
things were thrown upon the ground,) Major Mason, Lieutenant Wheelock,
Captain Brown, Captain Duncan, my friend Chadwick and myself, galloped
off to the village, and through it in the greatest impatience to the prairies,
where there were at least three thousand horses and mules grazing ; all of us
eager and impatient to see and to appropriate the splendid Arabian horses,
which we had so often heard were owned by the Camanchee warriors. We
galloped around busily, and glanced our eyes rapidly over them ; and all soon
returned to the camp, quite " crest fallen" and satisfied, that, although
there were some tolerable nags amongst this medley group of all colours and
all shapes, the beautiful Arabian we had so often heard of at the East, as
belonging to the Camanchees, must either be a great ways further South
than this, or else it must be a horse of the imagination.

The Camanchee horses are generally small, all of them being of the wild
breed, and a very tough and serviceable animal ; and from what I can learn
here of the chiefs, there are yet, farther South, and nearer the Mexican borders,
some of the noblest animals in use of the chiefs, yet I do not know that
we have any more reason to rely upon this information, than that which had
made our horse-jockeys that we have with us, to run almost crazy for the
possession of those we were to find at this place. Amongst the immense herds
we found grazing here, one-third perhaps are mules, which are much more
valuable than the horses.

Of the horses, the officers and men have purchased a number of the best,
by giving a very inferior blanket and butcher's knife, costing in all about
four dollars ! These horses in our cities at the East, independent of the name,
putting them upon their merits alone, would be worth from eighty to one
hundred dollars each, and not more.

A vast many of such could be bought on such terms, and are hourly
brought into camp for sale. If we had goods to trade for them, and means
of getting them home, a great profit could be made, which can easily be
learned from the following transaction that took place yesterday. A fine look
ing Indian was hanging about my tent very closely for several days, and con
tinually scanning an old and half-worn cotton umbrella, which I carried over
me to keep off the sun, as I was suffering with fever and ague, and at last
proposed to purchase it of me, with a very neat limbed and pretty pied horse
which he was riding. He proposed at first, that I should give him a knife and
the umbrella, but as I was not disposed for the trade (the umbrella being so
useful an article to me, that I did not know how to part with it, not knowing
whether there was another in the regiment) ; he came a second time, and

offered me the horse for the umbrella alone, which offer I still rejected ; and
he went back to the village, and soon returned with another horse of a much
better quality, supposing that I had not valued the former one equal to the
umbrella.

With this he endeavoured to push the trade, and after 1 had with great
difficulty made him understand that I was sick, and could not part with it,
he turned and rode back towards the village, and in a short time returned
again with one of the largest and finest mules I ever saw, proposing that,
which I also rejected ; when he disappeared again.

la a few moments my friend Captain Duncan, in whose hospitable tent I
was quartered, came in, and the circumstance being related to him, started
up some warm jockey feelings, which he was thoroughly possessed of, when

he instantly sprang upon his feet, and exclaimed, " d mn the fellow !

where is he gone ? here, Gosset ! get my old umbrella out of the pack, I
rolled it up with my wiper and the frying-pan get it as quick as lightning !"
with it in his hand, the worthy Captain soon overtook the young man, and
escorted him into the village, and returned in a short time not with the
mule, but with the second horse that had been offered to me.

LETTER No. 42.

GREAT CAMANCHEE VILLAGE.

THE village of the Camanchees by the side of which we are encamped, '
composed of six or eight hundred skin-covered lodges, made of poles and
buffalo skins, in the manner precisely as those of the Sioux and other Mis
souri tribes, of which I have heretofore given some account. This village
with its thousands of wild inmates, with horses and dogs, and wild sports
and domestic occupations, presents a most curious scene ; and the manners
and looks of the people, a rich subject for the brush and the pen.

In the view I have made of it (PLATE 164), but a small portion of the village
is shewn ; which is as well as to shew the whole of it, inasmuch as the wigwams,
as well as the customs, are the same in every part of it. In the foreground is seen
the wigwam of the chief ; and in various parts, crotches and poles, on which
the women are drying meat, and "graining" buffalo robes. These people,
living in a country where buffaloes are abundant, make their wigwams more
easily of their skins, than of anything else ; and with them find greater
facilities of moving about, as circumstances often require ; when they drag
them upon the poles attached to their horses, and erect them again with
little trouble in their new residence.

We white men, strolling about amongst their wigwams, are looked upon
with as much curiosity as if we had come from the moon ; and evidently
create a sort of chill in the blood of children and dogs, when we make our
appearance. I was pleased to-c'ay with the simplicity of a group which came
out in front of the chief's lodge to scrutinize my faithful friend Chadwick and
I, as we were strolling about the avenues and labyrinths of their village ;
upon which I took out my book and sketched as quick as lightning, whilst
" Joe" rivetted their attention by some ingenious trick or other, over my
shoulders, which I did not see, having no time to turn my head (PLATE 165).
These were, the juvenile parts of the chief's family, and all who at this mo
ment were at home ; the venerable old man, and his three or four wives,
making a visit, like hundreds of others, to the encampment.

In speaking just above, of the mode of moving their wigwams, and chang
ing their encampments, I should have said a little more, and should also
have given to the reader, a sketch of one of these extraordinary scenes, which
I have had the good luck to witness (PLATE 166) ; where several thousands

were on the march, and furnishing one of those laughable scenes which daily
happen, where so many dogs, and so many squaws, are travelling in such a
confused mass ; with so many conflicting interests, and so many local and
individual rights to be pertinaciously claimed and protected. Each horse
drags his load, and each dog, z. e. each dog that will do it (and there are
many that will not}, also dragging his wallet on a couple of poles ; and each
squaw with her load, and all together (notwithstanding their burthens)
cherishing their pugnacious feelings, which often bring them into general
conflict, commencing usually amongst the dogs, and sure to result in fisti
cuffs of the women ; whilst the men, riding leisurely on the right or the left,
take infinite pleasure in overlooking these desperate conflicts, at which they
are sure to have a laugh, and in which, as sure never to lend a hand.

The Camanchees, like the Northern tribes, have many games, and in
pleasant weather seem to be continually practicing more or less of them, on
the prairies, back of, and contiguous to, their village.

In their ball-plays, and some other games, they are far behind the
Sioux and others of the Northern tribes ; but, in racing horses and riding,
they are not equalled by any other Indians on the Continent. Racing
horses, it would seem, is a constant and almost incessant exercise, and
their principal mode of gambling; and perhaps, a more finished set of
jockeys are not to be found. The exercise of these people, in a country
where horses are so abundant, and the country so fine for riding, is chiefly
done on horseback ; and it " stands to reason," that such a people, who
have been practicing from their childhood, should become exceedingly
expert in this wholesome and beautiful exercise. Amongst their feats of
riding, there is one that has astonished me more than anything of the kind
1 have ever seen, or expect to see, in my life : a stratagem of war, learned
and practiced by every young man in the tribe ; by which he is able to drop
his body upon the side of his horse at the instant he is passing, effectually
screened from his enemies' weapons (PLATE 167) as he lays in a horizonta'
position behind the body of his horse, with his heel hanging over the horses
back ; by which he has the power of throwing himself up again, and changing
to the other side of the horse if necessary. In this wonderful condition, he
will hang whilst his horse is at fullest speed, carrying with him his bow and
his shield, and also his long lance of fourteen feet in length, all or either of
which he will wield upon his enemy as he passes ; rising and throwing his
arrows over the horse's back, or with equal ease and equal success under
the horse's neck.* This astonishing feat which the young men have been
repeatedly playing off to our surprise as well as amusement, whilst they have

* Since writing the above, I have conversed with some of the young men of the Paw
nees, who practice the same feat, and who told me they could throw the arrow from under
the horse's belly, and elevate it upon an enemy with deadly effect !

This feat I did not see performed, but from what I did see, I feel inclined to believe that
these young men were boasting of no more than they were able to perform.
VOL. II. K

been galloping about in front of our tents, completely puzzled the whole O f
us ; and appeared to be the result of magic, rather than of skill acquired by
practice. I had several times great curiosity to approach them, to ascertain
by what means their bodies could be suspended in this manner, where nothing
could be seen but the heel hanging over the horse's back. In these endea
vours I was continually frustrated, until one day I coaxed a young fellow up
within a little distance of me, by offering him a few plugs of tobacco, and he
in a moment solved the difficulty, so far as to render it apparently more
feasible than before ; yet leaving it one of the most extraordinary results of
practice and persevering endeavours. 1 found on examination, that a shorthair
halter was passed around under the neck of the horse, and both ends tightly
braided into the mane, on the withers, leaving a loop to hang under the neck,
and against the breast, which, being caught up in the hand, makes a sling into
which the elbow falls, taking the weight of the body on the middle of the
upper arm. Into this loop the rider drops suddenly and fearlessly, leaving
his heel to hang over the back of the horse, to steady him, and also to restore
him when he wishes to regain his upright position on the horse's back.

Besides this wonderful art, these people have several other feats of horse
manship, which they are continually showing off; which are pleasing and
extraordinary, and of which they seem very proud. A people who spend so
very great a part of their lives, actually on their horses' backs, must
needs become exceedingly expert in every thing that pertains to riding to
war, or to the chase ; and I am ready, without hesitation, to pronounce the
Camanchees the most extraordinary horsemen that 1 have seen yet in all my
travels, and I doubt very much whether any people in the world can surpass
them.

The Camanchees are in stature, rather low, and in person, often approach
ing to corpulency. In their movements, they are heavy and ungraceful ;
and on their feet, one of the most unattractive and slovenly-looking races of
Indians that I have ever seen ; but the moment they mount their horses,
they seem at once metamorphosed, and surprise the spectator with the ease
and elegance of their movements. A Cumanchee on his feet is out of his
element, and comparatively almost as awkward as a monkey on the ground,
without a limb or a branch to cling to ; but the moment he lays his hand
upon his horse, his/ace, even, becomes handsome, and he gracefully flies away
like a different being.

Our encampment is surrounded by continual swarms of old and young
of middle aged of male and female of dogs, and every moving thing that
constitutes their community ; and our tents are lined with the chiefs and other
worthies of the tribe. So it will be seen there is no difficulty of getting sub
jects enough for my brush, as well as for my pen, whilst residing in this place.

The head chief of this village, who is represented to us here, as the head
of the nation, is a mild and pleasant looking gentleman, without anything
striking or peculiar in his looks (PLATE 168) ; dressed in a very humble

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170

manner, with very few ornaments upon him, and his hair carelessly falling
about his face, and over his shoulders. The name of this chief is Ee-shah-
ko-nee (the bow and quiver)- The only ornaments to be seen about him
were a couple of beautiful shells worn in his ears, and a boar's tusk attached
to his neck, and worn on his breast.

For several days after we arrived at this place, there was a huge mass
of flesh (PLATE 169), Ta-wah-que-nah (the mountain of rocks), who was
put forward as head chief of the tribe ; and all honours were being paid to
him by the regiment of dragoons, until the above-mentioned chief arrived
from the country, where it seems he was leading a war-party ; and had been
sent for, no doubt, on the occasion. When he arrived, this huge monster,
who is the largest and fattest Indian I ever saw, stepped quite into the back
ground, giving way to this admitted chief, who seemed to have the confidence
and respect of the whole tribe.

This enormous man, whose flesh would undoubtedly weigh three hundred
pounds or more, took the most wonderful strides in the exercise of his tem
porary authority; which, in all probability, he was lawfully exercising in the
absence of his superior, as second chief of the tribe.

A perfect personation of Jack FalstafF, in size and in figure, with an African
face, and a beard on his chin of two or three inches in length. His name,
he tells me, he got from having conducted a large party of Camanchees
through a secret and subterraneous passage^ entirely through the mountain
of granite rocks, which lies back of their village ; thereby saving their lives
from their more powerful enemy, who had " cornered them up" in such a
way, that there was no other possible mode for their escape. The mountain
under which he conducted them, is called Ta-wah-que-nah (the mountain
of rocks), and from this he has received his name, which would certainly have
been far more appropriate if it had been a mountain of flesh.

Corpulency is a thing exceedingly rare to be found in any of the tribes,
amongst the men, owing, probably, to the exposed and active sort of lives
they lead ; and that in the absence of all the spices of life, many of which
have their effect in producing this disgusting, as well as unhandy and awk
ward extravagance in civilized society.

Ish-a-ro-yeh (he who carries a wolf, PLATE 170) ; and Is-sa-wah-tam-ah
(the wolf tied with hair, PLATE 171) ; are also chiefs of some standing in the
tribe, and evidently men of great influence, as they were put forward by the
head chiefs, for their likenesses to be painted in turn, after their own. The
first of the two seemed to be the leader of the war- party which we met, and
of which I have spoken ; and in escorting us to their village, this man took
the lead and piloted us the whole way, in consequence of which Colonel
Dodge presented him a very fine gun.

His-oo-san-ches (the Spaniard, PLATE 172), a gallant little fellow, is
represented to us as one of the leading warriors of the tribe ; and no doubt
is one of the most extraordinary men at present living in these regions.

He is half Spanish, and being a half-bieed, for whom they generally have
the most contemptuous feelings, he has been all his life thrown into the
front of battle and danger ; at which posts he has signalized himself, and
commanded the highest admiration and respect of the tribe, for his daring
and adventurous career. This is the man of whom I have before spoken,
who dashed out so boldly from the war-party, and came to us with the
white flag raised on the point of his lance, and of whom I have made a
sketch in PLATE 157. I have here represented him as he stood for me, with
his shield on his arm, with his quiver slung, and his lance of fourteen feet
in length in his right hand. This extraordinary little man, whose figure was
light, seemed to be all bone and muscle, and exhibited immense power, by
the curve of the bones in his legs and his arms. We had many exhibitions
of his extraordinary strength, as well as agility ; and of his gentlemanly
politeness and friendship, we had as frequent evidences. As an instance of
this, I will recite an occurrence which took place but a few days since, when
we were moving our encampment to a more desirable ground on another side
of their village. We had a deep and powerful stream to ford, when we had
several men who were sick, and obliged to be carried on litters. My friend
" Joe" and I came up in the rear of the regiment, where the litters with the
sick were passing, and we found this little fellow up to his chin in the
muddy water, wading and carrying one end of each litter on his head, as
they were in turn, passed over. After they had all passed, this gallant little
fellow beckoned to me to dismount, and take a seat on his shoulders, which
I declined ; preferring to stick to my horse's back, which I did, as he took
it by the bridle and conducted it through the shallowest ford. When 1 was
across, I took from my belt a handsome knife and presented it to him, which
seemed to please him very much.

Besides the above-named chiefs and warriors, I painted the portrait of
Kots-o-ko-ro-ko (the hair of the bull's neck) ; and Hah-nee (the beaver) ,
the first, a chief, and the second, a warrior of terrible aspect, and also of
considerable distinction. These and many other paintings, as well as manu
factures from this tribe, may be always seen in my MUSEUM, if I have the
good luck to get them safe home from this wild and remote region.

From what I have already seen of the Camanchees, I am fully convinced
that they are a numerous and very powerful tribe, and quite equal in num
bers and prowess, to the accounts generally given of them.

It is entirely impossible at present to make a correct estimate of their
numbers ; but taking their own account of villages they point to in such
numbers, South of the banks of the Red River, as well as those that lie
farther West, and undoubtedly North of its banks, they must be a very
numerous tribe ; and I think I am able to say, from estimates that these
chiefs have made me, that they number some 30 or 40,000 being able to
shew some 6 or 7000 warriors, well-mounted and well-armed. This estimate
I offer not as conclusive, for so little is as yet known of these people, that

106

172

no estimate can be implicitly relied upon other than that, which, in general
terms, pronounces them to be a very numerous and warlike tribe

We shall learn much more of them before we get out of their country ;
and I trust that it will yet be in my power to give something like a fair
census of them before we have done with them.

They speak much of their allies and friends, the Pawnee Picts, living to
the West some three or four days' march, whom we are going to visit in a
few days, and afterwards return to this village, and then " bend our course"
homeward, or, in other words, back to Fort Gibson. Besides the Pawnee
Picts, there are the Kiowas and Wicos; small tribes that live in the same
vicinity, and also in the same alliance, whom we shall probably see on our
march. Every preparation is now making to be off in a few days and I
shall omit further remarks on the Camanchees, until we return, when I shall
probably have much more to relate of them and their customs. So many
of the men and officers are getting sick, that the little command will be
very much crippled, from the necessity we shall be under, of leaving about
thirty sick, and about an equal number of well to take care of and protect
them ; for which purpose, we are constructing a fort, with a sort of breast
work of timbers and bushes, which will be ready in a day or two ; and
tne sound part of the command prepared to start with several Camanchee
leaders, who have agreed to pilot the way.

LETTER-NO. 43.

GREAT CAMANCHEE VILLAGE.

THE above Letter it will be seen, was written some time ago, and when all
hands (save those who were too sick) were on the start for the Pawne^
village. Amongst those exceptions was I, before the hour of starting
arrived ; and as the dragoons have made their visit there and returned in a
most jaded condition, and I have again got well enough to write, I will
render some account of the excursion, which is from the pen and the pencil
of my friend Joe, who went with them and took my sketch and note-books
in his pocket.

" We were four days travelling over a beautiful country, most of the way
prairie, and generally along near the base of a stupendous range of moun
tains of reddish granite, in many places piled up to an immense height with
out tree or shrubbery on them ; looking as if they had actually dropped from
the clouds in such a confused mass, and all lay where they had fallen.
Such we found the mountains enclosing the Pawnee village, on the bank of
Red River, about ninety miles from the Camanchee town. The dragoon
regiment was drawn up within half a mile or so of this village, and encamped
in a square, where we remained three days. We found here a very nume
rous village, containing some five or six hundred wigwams, all made of long
prairie grass, thatched over poles which are fastened in the ground and bent
in at the top ; giving to them, in distance, the appearance of straw beehives
as in PLATE 173, which is an accurate view of it, shewing the Red River in
front, and the " mountains of rocks" behind it.

"To our very great surprise, we have found these people cultivating quitt
extensive fields of corn (maize), pumpkins, melons, beans and squashes ; so,
with these aids, and an abundant supply of buffalo meat, they may be said
to be living very well.

" The next day after our arrival here, Colonel Dodge opened a council with
the chiefs, in the chief's lodge, where he had the most of his officers around
him. He first explained to them the friendly views with which he came to
see them ; and of the wish of our Government to establish a lasting peace
with them, which they seemed at once to appreciate and highly to estimate.

" The head chief of the tribe is a very old man, and he several times replied

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to Colonel Dodge in a verj eloquent manner ; assuring him of the friendly
feelings of his chiefs and v/arriors towards the pale faces, in the direction
from whence we came.

" After Colonel Dodge had explained in general terms, the objects of our
visit, he told them that he should expect from them some account of the foul
murder of Judge Martin and his family on the False Washita, which had
been perpetrated but a few weeks before, and which the Camanchees had
told us was done by the Pawnee Picts. The Colonel told them, also, that
he learned from the Camanchees, that they had the little boy, the son of the
murdered gentleman, in their possession ; and that he should expect them
to deliver him up, as an indispensable condition of the friendly arrangement
that was now making. They positively denied the fact, and all knowledge
of it ; firmly assuring us that they knew nothing of the murder, or of the
boy. The demand was repeatedly made, and as often denied ; until at
length a negro-man was discovered, who was living with the Pawnees, who
spoke good English ; and coming into the council-house, gave information
that such a boy had recently been brought into their village, and was now a
prisoner amongst them. This excited great surprise and indignation in the
council, and Colonel Dodge then informed the chiefs that the council would
rest here ; and certainly nothing further of a peaceable nature would tran
spire until the boy was brought in. In this alarming dilemma, all remained
in gloomy silence for awhile ; when Colonel Dodge further informed the
chiefs, that as an evidence of his friendly intentions towards them, he had,
on starting, purchased at a very great price, from their enemies the Osages,
two Pawnee (and one Kiowa) girls ; which had been held by them for some
years as prisoners, and which he had brought the whole way home, and had
here ready to be delivered to their friends and relations ; but whom he cer
tainly would never show, until the little boy was produced. He also made
another demand, which was for the restoration of an United States ranger,
by the name of Abbe, who had been captured by them during the summer
before. They acknowledged the seizure of this man, and all solemnly de
clared that he had been taken by a party of the Camanchees, over whom they
had no controul, and carried beyond the Red River into the Mexican pro
vinces, where he was put to death. They held a long consultation about the
boy, and seeing their plans defeated by the evidence of the negro ; and also
being convinced of the friendly disposition of the Colonel, by bringing home
their prisoners from the Osages, they sent out and had the boy brought in,
from the middle of a corn-field, where he had been secreted. He is a smart
and very intelligent boy of nine years of age, and when he came in, he was
entirely naked, as they keep their own boys of that age. There was a great
excitement in the council when the little fellow was brought in ; and as he
passed amongst them, he looked around and exclaimed with some surprise,
" What! are there white men here?" to which Colonel Dodge replied, and asked
his name ; and he promptly answered, " my name is Matthew Wright Martin."

He was then received into Colonel Dodge's arms ; and an order was im
mediately given for the Pawnee and Kiowa girls to be brought forward ; they
were in a few minutes brought into the council-house, when they were at
once recognized by their friends and relatives, who embraced them with the
most extravagant expressions of joy and satisfaction. The heart of the
venerable old chief was melted at this evidence of white man's friendship,
and he rose upon his feet, and taking Colonel Dodge in his arms, and placing
his left cheek against the left cheek of the Colonel, held him for some
minutes without saying a word, whilst tears were flowing from his eyes. He
then embraced each officer in turn, in the same silent and affectionate man
ner ; which form took half an hour or more, before it was completed.*

" From this moment the council, which before had been a very grave and
uncertain one, took a pleasing and friendly turn. And this excellent old
man ordered the women to supply the dragoons with something to eat, as
they were hungry.

" The little encampment, which heretofore was in a woeful condition, having
eaten up their last rations twelve hours before, were now gladdened by the
approach of a number of women, who brought their " back loads" of dried
buffalo meat and green corn, and threw it down amongst them. This seemed
almost like a providential deliverance, for the country between here and the
Camanchees, was entirely destitute of game, and our last provisions were
consumed.

" The council thus proceeded successfully and pleasantly for several days,
whilst the warriors of theKiowas and Wicos, two adjoining and friendly tribes
living further to the West, were arriving ; and also a great many from other
bands of the Camanchees, who had heard of our arrival ; until two thousand
or more of these wild and fearless-looking fellows were assembled, and all,
from their horses' backs, with weapons in hand, vere looking into our pitiful
little encampment, of two hundred men, all in a state of dependence and
almost literal starvation ; and at the same time nearly one half the number too

sick to have made a successful resistance if we were to have been attacked."

********* **

The command returned to this village after an absence of fifteen days, in
a fatigued and destitute condition, with scarcely anything to eat, or chance
of getting anything here ; in consequence of which, Colonel Dodge almost
instantly ordered preparations to be made for a move to the head of the
Canadian river, a distance of an hundred or more miles, where the Indians
represented to us there would be found immense herds of buffaloes ; a place
where we could get enough to eat, and by lying by awhile, could restore
the sick, who are now occupying a great number of litters. Some days have

* The little boy of whom I have spoken, was brought in the whole distance to Fort Gibson,
in the arms of the dragoons, who took turns in carrying him ; and after the command
arrived there, he was transmitted to the Red River, by an officer, who had the enviable
satisfaction of delivering him into the arms of his disconsolate and half-distracted mother.

108

174

176

177

elapsed, however, and we are not quite ready for the start yet. And during
that time, continual parties of the Pawnee Picts and Kioways have come up ;
and also Camanchees, from other villages, to get a look at us, and many of
them are volunteering to go in with us to the frontier.

The world who know me, will see that I can scarcely be idle under such
circumstances as these, where so many subjects for my brush and my pen
are gathering about me.

The Pawnee Picts, Kioways, and Wicos are the subjects that I am most
closely scanning at this moment, and I have materials enough around me.

The Pawnee Picts are undoubtedly a numerous and powerful tribe, occu
pying, with the Kioways and Wicos, the whole country on the head waters
of the Red River, and quite into and through the southern part of the Rocky
Mountains. The old chief told me by signs, enumerating with his hands and
fingers, that they had altogether three thousand warriors ; which if true, esti
mating according to the usual rule, one warrior to four, would make the
whole number about twelve thousand ; and, allowing a fair per-centage for
boasting or bragging, of which they are generally a little guilty in such cases,
there would be at a fair calculation from eight to ten thousand. These then,
in an established alliance with the great tribe of Camanchees, hunting and
feasting together, and ready to join in common defence of their country
become a very formidable enemy when attacked on their own ground.

The name of the Pawnee Picts, we find to be in their own language, Tow-
ee-ahge, the meaning of which I have not yet learned. I have ascertained also,
that these people are in noway related to the Pawnees of thePlatte, who reside
a thousand miles or more North of them, and know them only as enemies.
There is no family or tribal resemblance ; nor any in their language or cus
toms. The Pawnees of the Platte shave the head, and the Pawnee Picts
abominate the custom ; allowing their hair to grow like the Camanchees and
other tribes.

The old chief of the Pawnee Picts, of whom I have before spoken, and
whose name is We-ta-ra-sha-ro (PLATE 174), is undoubtedly a very excel
lent and kind-hearted old man, of ninety or more years of age, and has con
sented to accompany us, with a large party of his people, to Fort Gibson ;
where Colonel Dodge has promised to return him liberal presents from the
Government, for the friendship he has evinced on the present occasion.

The second chief of this tribe, Sky-se-ro-ka (PLATE 175), we found to be
a remarkably clever man, and much approved and valued in his tribe.

The Pawnee Picts, as well as the Camanchees, are generally a very clumsy
and ordinary looking set of men, when on their feet ; but being fine horse
men, are equally improved in appearance as soon as they mount upon their
horses' backs.

Amongst the women of this tribe, there were many that were exceedingly
pretty in feature and in form ; and also in expression, though their skins
are very dark. The dress of the men in this tribe, as amongst the Caman-

V9L. II. L

yhees, consists generally in leggings of dressed skins, and moccasins ; with a
flap or breech clout, made also of dressed skins or furs, and often very
beautifully ornamented with shells, &c. Above the waist they seldom wear
any drapery, owing to the warmth of the climate, which will rarely justify
it ; and their heads are generally uncovered with a head-dress, like the
Northern tribes who live in a colder climate, and actually require them for
comfort.

The women of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts, are always decently
and comfortably clad, being covered generally with a gown or slip, that
reaches from the chin quite down to the ancles, made of deer or elk skins ;
often garnished very prettily, and ornamented with long fringes of elk's
teeth, which are fastened on them in rows, and more highly valued than any
other ornament they can put upon them.

In PLATES 176 and 177, I have given the portraits of two Pawnee girls,
Kah-kee-tsee (the thighs), and She-de-a (wild sage), the two Pawnee women
who had been held as prisoners by the Osages, and purchased by the Indian
Commissioner, the Reverend Mr. Schemmerhom, and brought home to their
own people, and delivered up in the Pawnee town, in the manner that I have
just described.

The Kioways are a much finer looking race of men, than either the Ca
manchees or Pawnees are tall and erect, with an easy and graceful gait
with long hair, cultivated oftentimes so as to reach nearly to the ground.
They have generally the fine and Roman outline of head, that is so frequently
found at the North, and decidedly distinct from that of the Camanchees
and Pawnee Picts. These men speak a language distinct from both of the
others; and in fact, the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts and Kioways, and
Wicos, are all so distinctly different in their languages, as to appear in that
respect as total strangers to each other.*

The head chief of the Kioways, whose name isTeh-toot-sah (PLATE 178),
we found to be a very gentlemanly and high minded man, who treated the
dragoons and officers with great kindness while in his country. His long
hair, which was put up in several large clubs, and ornamented with a great
many silver broaches, extended quite down to his knees. This distinguished
man, as well as several others of his tribe, have agreed to join us on the march
to Fort Gibson ; so I shall have much of their company yet, and probably
much more to say of them at a future period. Bon-son-gee (the new fire,
PLATE 179) is another chief of this tribe, and called a very good man ; the
principal ornaments which he carried on his person were a boar's tusk and
his war-whistle, which were hanging on his breast.

* I have several times, in former parts of this work, spoken of the great number of dif
ferent Indian languages which I have visited, and given my opinion, as to the dissimilarity
and distinctness of their character. And would refer the reader for further information
on this subject, as well as for a vocabulary of several languages, to the Appendix to this
Volume, letter B.

7.5

Quay-ham-kay (the stone shell, PLATE 180), is another fair specimen of
the warriors of this tribe ; and, if I mistake not, somewhat allied to the mys
teries and arcana of the healing art, from the close company he keeps with
my friend Dr. Findley, who is surgeon to the regiment, and by whom I have
been employed to make a copy of my portrait of this distinguished personage.

In PLATE 181, Wun-pan-to-mee (the white weasel), a girl; and Tunk-
aht-oh-ye (the thunderer), a boy ; who are brother and sister, are two Kio-
ways who were purchased from the Osages, to be taken to their tribe by ihe
dragoons. The girl was taken the whole distance with us, on horseback, to the
Pawnee village, and there delivered to her friends, as I have before mentioned ;
and the fine little boy was killed at the Fur Trader's house on the banks of
the Verdigris, near Fort Gibson, the day after I painted his portrait, and
only a few days before he was to have started with us on the march. He
was a beautiful boy of nine or ten years of age, and was killed by a ram,
which struck him in the abdomen, and knocking him against a fence, killed
him instantly.

Kots-a-to-ah (the smoked shield, PLATE 182), is another of the extra
ordinary men of this tribe, near seven feet in stature, and distinguished, not
only as one of the greatest warriors, but the swiftest on foot, in the nation.
This man, it is said, runs down a buffalo on foot, and slays it with his knife
or his lance, as he runs by its side !

In PLATE 183, is the portrait of Ush-ee-kitz (he who fights with a feather)
head chief of the Wi-co tribe, a very polite and polished Indian, in his man
ners, and remarkable for his mode of embracing the officers and others in
council.

In the different talks and councils that we have had with these people,
this man has been a conspicuous speaker ; and always, at the end of his
speeches, has been in the habit of stepping forward and embracing friends
and foes, all that were about him, taking each one in turn, closely and affec
tionately in his arms, with his left cheek against theirs, and thus holding them
tightly for sereral minutes.

All the above chiefs and braves, and many others, forming a very pic
turesque cavalcade, will move off with us in a day or two, on our way back
to Fort Gibson, where it is to be hoped we may arrive more happy than we
are in our present jaded and sickly condition, v

LETTER No. 44.

CAMP CANADIAN, TEXAS.

Six days of severe travelling have brought us from the Camanchee vil
lage to the North bank of the Canadian, where we are snugly encamped on
a beautiful plain, and in the midst of countless numbers of buffaloes ; and
halting a few days to recruit our horses and men, and dry meat to last us
the remainder of our journey.

The plains around this, for many miles, seem actually speckled in dis
tance, and in every direction, with herds of grazing buffaloes ; and for
several days, the officers and men have been indulged in a general licence
to gratify their sporting propensities; and a scene of bustle and cruel
slaughter it has been, to be sure ! From morning till night, the camp has
been daily almost deserted ; the men have dispersed in little squads in all
directions, and are dealing death to these poor creatures to a most cruel
and wanton extent, merely for the pleasure of destroying, generally without
stopping to cut out the meat. During yesterday and this day, several hun
dreds have undoubtedly been killed, and not so much as the flesh of half
a dozen used. Such immense swarms of them are spread over this tract of
country ; and so divided and terrified have they become, finding their ene
mies in all directions where they run, that the poor beasts seem completely
bewildered running here and there, and as often as otherwise, come singly
advancing to the horsemen, as if to join them for their company, and are
easily shot down. In the turmoil and confusion, when their assailants
have been pushing them forward, they have galloped through our encamp
ment, jumping over our fires, upsetting pots and kettles, driving horses
from their fastenings, and throwing the whole encampment into the greatest
instant consternation and alarm. The hunting fever will be satiated in a
few days amongst the young men, who are well enough to take parts in the
chase ; and the bilious fever, it is to be hoped, will be abated in a short
time, amongst those who are invalid, and meat enough will be dried to last
us to Fort Gibson, when we shall be on the march again, and wending
our way towards that garrison.

Many are now sick and unable to ride, and are carried on litters between
two horses. Nearly every tent belonging to the officers has been converted to
hospitals for the sick ; and sighs and groaning are heard in all directions.

From the Camanchee village to this place, the country has been entirely
prairie ; and most of the way high and dry ground, without water, for which
we sometimes suffered very much. From day to day we have dragged along
exposed to the hot and burning rays of the sun, without a cloud to relieve
its intensity, or a bush to shade us, or anything to cast a shadow, ex
cept the bodies of our horses. The grass for a great part of the way, was
very much dried up, scarcely affording a bite for our horses; and some
times for the distance of many miles, the only water we could find, was in
stagnant pools, lying on the highest ground, in which the buffaloes have
been lying and wallowing like hogs in a mud-puddle. We frequently came
to these dirty lavers, from which we drove the herds of wallowing buffaloes,
and into which our poor and almost dying horses, irresistibly ran and
plunged their noses, sucking up the dirty and poisonous draught, until, in
some instances, they fell dead in their tracks the men also (and oftentimes
amongst the number, the writer of these lines) sprang from their horses, and
laded up and drank to almost fatal excess, the disgusting and tepid draught,
and with it filled their canteens, which were slung to their sides, and from
which they were sucking the bilious contents during the day.

In our march we found many deep ravines, in the bottoms of which there
were the marks of wild and powerful streams ; but in this season of drought
they were all dried up, except an occasional one, where we found them
dashing along in the coolest and clearest manner, and on trial, to our great
agony, so salt that even our horses could not drink from them ; so we
had occasionally the tantalizing pleasure of hearing the roar of, and looking
into, the clearest and most sparkling streams ; and after that the dire neces
sity of drinking from stagnant pools which lay from month to month
exposed to the rays of the sun, till their waters become so poisonous and
heavy, from the loss of their vital principle, that they are neither diminished
by absorption, or taken into the atmosphere by evaporation.

This poisonous and indigestible water, with the intense rays of the sun in
the hottest part of the summer, is the cause of the unexampled sickness of
the horses and men. Both appear to be suffering and dying with the same
disease, a slow and distressing bilious fever, which seems to terminate in a
most frightful and fatal affection of the liver.

In these several cruel days' march, I have suffered severely, having had
all the time (and having yet) a distracting fever on me. My real friend,
Joe, has constantly rode by my side, dismounting and filling my canteen for
me, and picking up minerals or fossils, which my jaundiced eyes were able
to discover as we were passing over them ; or doing other kind offices for
me, when I was too weak to mount my horse without aid. During this
march over these dry and parched plains, we picked up many curious things
of the fossil and mineral kind, and besides them a number of the horned
frogs. In our portmanteaux we had a number of tin boxes in which we had
carried Seidlitz powders, in which we caged a number of them safely, in

hopes to carry them home alive. Several remarkable specimens my friend
Joe has secured of these, with the horns of half and three-fourths of an inch
in length, and very sharp at the points.

These curious subjects have so often fallen under my eye while on the
Upper Missouri, that with me, they have lost their novelty in a great degree;
but they have amused and astonished my friend Chadwick so much, that
he declares he will take every one he can pick up, and make a sensation
with them when ne gets home. In this way Joe's fancy for horned frogs
has grown into a sort of frog -mania, and his eyes are strained all day, and
gazing amongst the grass and pebbles as he rides along, for his precious
little prizes, which he occasionally picks up and consigns to his pockets.*

On one of these hard day's march, and just at night, whilst we were
looking out for water, and a suitable place to encamp, Joe and I galloped
off a mile or two to the right of tlie regiment, to a point of timber, to look
for water, where we found a small and sunken stagnant pool ; and as our
horses plunged their feet into it to drink, we saw to our great surprise, a
number of frogs hopping across its surface, as our horses started them from
the shore ! Several of them stopped in the middle of the pool, sitting
quite " high and dry" on the surface of the water; and when we approached
them nearer, or jostled them, they made a leap into the air, and coming
down head foremost went under the water and secreted themselves at the
bottom. Here was a subject for Joe, in his own line ! frogs with horns, and
frogs with webbed feet, that could hop about, and sit upon, the surface of
the water ! We rode around the pool and drove a number of them into it,
and fearing that it would be useless to try to get one of them that evening ;
we rode back to the encampment, exulting very much in the curious dis
covery we had made for the naturalists ; and by relating to some of the
officers what we had seen, got excessively laughed at for our wonderful
discovery ! Nevertheless, Joe and I could not disbelieve what we had seen
so distinctly " with our own eyes ;" and we took to ourselves (or in other
words, I acquiesced in Joe's taking to himself, as it was so peculiarly in
his line) the most unequivocal satisfaction in the curious and undoubted
discovery of this new variety ; and we made our arrangements to ride back
to the spot before " bugle call" in the morning ; and by a thorough effort, to
obtain a specimen or two of the web-footed frogs for Joe's pocket, to be by
him introduced to the consideration of the knowing ones in the East. Well,
our horses were saddled at an early hour, and Joe and I were soon on the
spot and he with a handkerchief at the end of a little pole, with which he
had made a sort of scoop-net, soon dipped one up as it was hopping along
on the surface of the water, and making unsuccessful efforts to dive through
its surface. On examining its feet, we found, to our very great surprise,

* Several months after this, when I visited my friend Joe's room in St. Louis, he
shewed me bis horned frogs in their little tin boxes, in good flesh and good condition,
where they had existed several montLs, without food of any kind.

that we had taken a great, deal of pains to entrap an old and familiar
little acquaintance of our boyhood ; but, somewhat like ourselves, unfortu
nately, from dire necessity, driven to a loathsome pool, where the water was
so foul and slimy, that it could hop and dance about its surface with dry
feet ; and where it oftentimes found difficulty in diving through the sur
face to hide itself at the bottom.

I laughed a great deal at poor Joe's most cruel expense, and we amused
ourselves a few minutes about this filthy and curious pool, and rode back
to the encampment. We found by taking the water up in the hollow of the
hand, and dipping the finger in it, and drawing it over the side, thus con
ducting a little of it out ; it was so slimy that the whole would run over the
side of the hand in a moment !

We were joked and teased a great deal about our web-footed frogs ; and
after this, poor Joe has had repeatedly to take out and exhibit his little
pets in his pockets, to convince our travelling companions that frogs some
times actually have horns.

Since writing the above, an express has arrived from the encampment,
which we left at the mouth of False Washita, with the melancholy tidings
of the death of General Leavenworth, Lieutenant M'Clure, and ten or
fifteen of the men left at that place ! This has cast a gloom over our little,
encampment here, and seems to be received as a fatal foreboding by those
who are sick with the same disease ; and many of them, poor fellows, with
scarce a hope left now for their recovery.

It seems that the General had moved on our trail a few days after we
left the Washita, to the " Cross Timbers," a distance of fifty or sixty miles,
where his disease at last terminated his existence ; and I am inclined to
think, as I before mentioned, in consequence of the injury he sustained in a
fall from his horse when running a buffalo calf. My reason for believing
this, is, that I rode and ate with him every day after the hour of his fall ;
and from that moment I was quite sure that 1 saw a different expression iu
his face, from that which he naturally wore ; and when riding by the side of
him two or three days after his fall, I observed to him, " General, you have
a very bad cough" " Yes," he replied, " I have killed myself in running
that devilish calf; and it was a very lucky thing, Catlin, that you painted
the portrait of me before we started, for it is all that my dear wife will ever
see of me."

We shall be on the move again in a few days ; and I plainly see that I
shall be upon a litter, unless my horrid fever leaves me, which is daily taking
away my strength, and almost, at times, my senses. Adieu !

LETTERING 45.

FORT GIBSON, ARKANSAS.

THE last Letter was written from my tent, and out upon the wild prairies,
when I was shaken and terrified by a burning fever, with home and my dear
wife and little one, two thousand miles ahead of me, whom I was despair
ing of ever embracing again. I am now scarcely better off, except that I
am in comfortable quarters, with kind attendance, and friends about me.
I am yet sick and very feeble, having been for several weeks upon my back
since I was brought in from the prairies. I am slowly recovering, and for
the first time since I wrote from the Canadian, able to use my pen or my
brush.

We drew off from that slaughtering ground a few days after my last
Letter was written,' with a great number sick earned upon litters with
horses giving out and dying by the way, which much impeded our progress
over the long and tedious route that laid between us and Fort Gibson. Fif
teen days, however, of constant toil and fatigue brought us here, but in a
most crippled condition. Many of the sick were left by the way with atten
dants to take care of them, others were buried from their litters on which
they breathed their last while travelling, and many others were brought in,
to this place, merely to die and get the privilege of a decent burial.

Since the very day of our start into that country, the men have been con
stantly falling sick, and on their return, of those who are alive, there are not
well ones enough to take care of the sick. Many are yet left out upon the
prairies, and of those that have been brought in, and quartered in the hospital,
with the soldiers of the infantry regiment stationed here, four or five are
buried daily ; and as an equal number from the 9th regiment are falling by
the same disease, I have the mournful sound of " Roslin Castle" with
muffled drums, passing six or eight times a-day under my window, to the
bury ing-ground ; which is but a little distance in front of my room, where I
can lay in my bed and see every poor fellow lowered down into his silent
and peaceful habitation. During the day before yesterday, no less than eight
solemn processions visited that insatiable ground, and amongst them was
carried the corpse of my intimate and much-loved friend Lieutenant West,
who was aid-de-camp to General Leavenworth, on this disastrous campaign,
and who has left in this place, a worthy and distracted widow, with her little

ones to mourn for his untimely end. On the same day was buried also the
Prussian Botanist, a most excellent and scientific gentleman, who had ob
tained an order from the Secretary at War to accompany the expedition for
scientific purposes. He had at St. Louis, purchased a very comfortable
dearborn waggon, and a snug span of little horses to convey himself and his
servant with his collection of plants, over the prairies. In this he travelled
in company with the regiment from St. Louis to Fort Gibson some five or
six hundred miles and from that to the False Washita, and the Cross Tim
bers and back again. In this Tour he had made an immense, and no doubt,
very valuable collection of plants, and at this place had been for some weeks
indefatigably engaged in changing and drying them, and at last, fell a
victim to the disease of the country, which seemed to have made an easy
conquest of him, from the very feeble and enervated state he was evidently
in, that of pulmonary consumption. This fine, gentlemanly and urbane,
excellent man, to whom I became very much attached, was lodged in a room
adjoining to mine, where he died, as he had lived, peaceably and smiling, and
that when nobody knew that his life was in immediate danger. The surgeon who
was attending me, (Dr. Wright,) was sitting on my bed-side in his morning-
call at my room, when a negro boy, who alone had been left in the room
with him, came into my apartment and said Mr. Beyrich was dying we in
stantly stepped into his room and found him, not in the agonies of death, but
quietly breathing his last, without a word or a struggle, as he had laid himself
upon his bed with his clothes and his boots on. In this way perished this
worthy man, who had no one here of kindred friends to drop tears for him ;
and on the day previous to his misfortune, died also, and much in the same
way, his devoted and faithful servant, a young man, a native of Germany.
Their bodies were buried by the side of each other, and a general feeling of
deep grief was manifested by the officers and citizens of the post, in the
respect that was paid to their remains in the appropriate and decent com
mittal of them to the grave.

After leaving the head waters of the Canadian, my illness continually in
creased, and losing strength every day, I soon got so reduced that I was neces
sarily lifted on to and off from, my horse ; and at last, so that I could not ride
at all. I was then put into a baggage-waggon which was going back empty,
except with several soldiers sick, and in this condition rode eight days, most
of the time in a delirious state, lying on the hard planks of the waggon, and
made still harder by the jarring and jolting, until the skin from my elbows and
knees was literally worn through, and I almost " worn out ;" when we at
length reached this post, and I was taken to abed, in comfortable quarters,
where I have had the skilful attendance of my friend and old schoolmate
Dr. Wright, under whose hands, thank God, I have been restored, and an?
now daily recovering my flesh and usual strength.

The experiment has thus been made, of sending an army of men from the
North, into this Southern and warm climate, in the hottest months of the

VOL. II. M

year, of July and August ; and from this sad experiment I am sure a secret
will be learned that will be of value on future occasions.

Of the 450 fine fellows who started from this place four months since,
about one-third have already died, and I believe many more there are whose
fates are sealed, and will yet fall victims to the deadly diseases contracted
in that fatal country. About this post it seems to be almost equally un
healthy, and generally so during this season, all over this region, which ia
probably owing to an unusual drought which has been visited on the country,
and unknown heretofore to the oldest inhabitants.

Since we came in from the prairies, and the sickness has a little abated,
we have had a bustling time with the Indians at this place. Colonel Dodge
sent runners to the chiefs of all the contiguous tribes of Indians, with an
invitation to meet the Pawnees, &c. in council, at this place. Seven or
eight tribes flocked to us, in great numbers on the first day of the month,
when the council commenced ; it continued for several days, and gave these
semi-civilized sons of the forest a fair opportunity of shaking the hands of
their wild and untamed red brethren of the West of embracing them in
their arms, with expressions of friendship, and of smoking the calumet to
gether, as the solemn pledge of lasting peace and friendship.

Colonel Dodge, Major Armstrong (the Indian agent), and General Stokes
(the Indian commissioner), presided at this council, and I cannot name a
scene more interesting and entertaining than it was ; where, for several days in
succession, free vent was given to the feelings of men civilized, half -civilized,
and wild ; where the three stages of man were fearlessly asserting their rights*
their happiness, and friendship for each other. The vain orations of the half-
polished (and half-breed) Cherokees and Choctaws, with all their finery and art,
found their match in the brief and jarring gutturals of the wild and naked man.

After the council had adjourned, and the fumes of the peace-making
calumet had vanished away, and Colonel Dodge had made them additional
presents, they soon made preparations for their departure, and on the next
day started, with an escort of dragoons, for their own country. This move
ment is much to be regretted ; for it would have been exceedingly gratifying
to the people of the East to have seen so wild a group, and it would have
been of great service to them to have visited Washington a journey, though,
which they could not be prevailed upon to make.

We brought with us to this place, three of the principal chiefs of the
Pawnees, fifteen Kioways, one Camanchee, and one Wico chief. The group
was undoubtedly one of the most interesting that ever visited our frontier;
and, I have taken the utmost pains in painting the portraits of all of them,
as well as seven of the Camanchee chiefs, who came part of the way with
us, and turned back. These portraits, together with other paintings which
I have made, descriptive of their manners and customs views of their vil
lages landscapes of the country, &c., will soon be laid before the amateuis
of the East, and, I trust, will be found to be very interesting.

Although the achievement has been a handsome one, of bringing these
unknown people to an acquaintance, and a general peace ; and at first sight
would appear to be of great benefit to them yet I have my strong doubts,
whether it will better their condition, unless with the exercised aid of the
strong arm of Government, they can be protected in the rights which by
nature, they are entitled to.

There is already in this place a company of eighty men fitted out, who
are to start to-morrow, to overtake these Indians a few miles from this place,
and accompany them home, with a large stock of goods, with traps for
catching beavers, &c., calculating to build a trading-house amongst them,
where they will amass, at once, an immense fortune, being the first traders
and trappers that have ever been in that part of the country.

I have travelled too much among Indian tribes, and seen too much, not
to know the evil consequences of such a system. Goods are sold at such
exorbitant prices, that the Indian gets a mere shadow for his peltries, &c.
The Indians see no white people but traders and sellers of whiskey ; and of
course, judge us all by them they consequently hold us, and always will,
in contempt; as inferior to themselves, as they have reason to do and they
neither fear nor respect us. When, on the contrary, if the Government
would promptly prohibit such establishments, and invite these Indians to our
frontier posts, they would bring in their furs, their robes, horses, mules, &c.,
to this place, where there is a good market for them all where they would
get the full value of their property where there are several stores of goods
where there is an honourable competition, and where they would get four
or five times as much for their articles of trade, as they would get from a
trader in the village, out of the reach of comoetition, and out of sight of the
civilized world.

At the same time, as they would be continually coming where they would
see good and polished society, they would be gradually adopting our modes
of living introducing to their country our vegetables, our domestic animals,
poultry, &c., and at length, our arts and manufactures ; they would see
and estimate our military strength, and advantages, and would be led to
fear and respect us. In short, it would undoubtedly be the quickest and
surest way to a general acquaintance to friendship and peace, and at last
to civilization. If there is a law in existence for such protection of the
Indian tribes, which may have been waived in the case of those nations
with which we have long traded, it is a great pity that it should not be
rigidly enforced in this new and important acquaintance, which we have
just made with thirty or forty thousand strangers to the civilized world ;
yet (as we have learned from their unaffected hospitality when in their
villages), with hearts of human mould, susceptible of all the noble feelings
belonging to civilized man.

This acquaintance has cost the United States a vast sum ot money, as
well as the lives of several valuable and esteemed officers and more than

100 of the dragoons; and for the honour of the American name, I think we
ought, in forming an acquaintance with these numerous tribes, to adopt and
enforce some different system from that which has been generally practiced
on and beyond our frontiers heretofore.

What the regiment of dragoons has suffered from sickness since they
started on their summer's campaign is unexampled in this country, and
almost incredible. When we started from this place, ten or fifteen were
sent back the first day, too sick to proceed ; and so afterwards our numbers
were daily diminished, and at the distance of 200 miles from this place we
could muster, out of the whole regiment, but 250 men who were able to
proceed, with which little band, and that again reduced some sixty or
seventy by sickness, we pushed on, and accomplished all that was done.
The beautiful and pictured scenes which we passed over had an alluring
charm on their surface, but (as it would seem) a lurking poison within, that
spread a gloom about our encampment whenever we pitched it.

We sometimes rode day after day, without a tree to shade us from the
burning rays of a tropical sun, or a breath of wind to regale us or cheer our
hearts and with mouths continually parched with thirst, we dipped our
drink from stagnant pools that were heated by the sun, and kept in fermen
tation by the wallowing herds of buffaloes that resort to them. In this way
we dragged on, sometimes passing picturesque and broken country, with
fine springs and streams, affording us the luxury of a refreshing shade and
a cool draught of water.

Thus was dragged through and completed this most disastrous campaign ;
and to Colonel Dodge and Colonel Kearny, who so indefatigably led and
encouraged their men through it, too much praise cannot be awarded.

During my illness while I have been at this post, my friend Joe has been
almost constantly by my bedside ; evincing (as he did when we were creep
ing over the vast prairies) the most sincere and intense anxiety for my reco
very ; whilst he has administered, like a brother, every aid and every comfort
that lay in his power to bring. Such tried friendship as this, I shall ever
recollect ; and it will long hence and often, lead my mind back to retrace, at
least, the first part of our campaign, which was full pleasant ; and many of
its incidents have formed pleasing impressions on my memory, which I would
preserve to the end of my life.

When we started, we were fresh and ardent for the incidents that were
before us our little packhorse carried our bedding and culinary articles ;
amongst which we had a coffee-pot and a frying-pan coffee in good store,
and sugar and wherever we spread our bear-skin, and kindled our fire in
the grass, we were sure to take by ourselves, a delightful repast, and a refresh
ing sleep. During the march, as we were subject to no military subordination,
we galloped about wherever we were disposed, popping away at whatever
we chose to spend ammunition upon and running our noses into every wild
nook and crevice, as we saw fit. In this way we travelled happily, until

our coffee was gone, and our bread ; and even then we were happy upon
meat alone, until at last each one in his turn, like every other moving thing
about us, both man and beast, were vomiting and fainting, under the poisonous
influence of some latent enemy, that was floating in the air, and threatening
our destruction. Then came the " tug of war," and instead of catering for
our amusements, every one seemed desperately studying the means that were
to support him on his feet, and bring him safe home again to the bosoms of his
friends. In our start, our feelings were buoyant and light, and we had the
luxuries of life the green prairies, spotted with wild flowers, and the clear
blue sky, were an earthly paradise to us, until fatigue and disease, and at
last despair, made them tiresome and painful to our jaundiced eyes.

On our way, and while we were in good heart, my friend Joe and I had
picked up many minerals and fossils of an interesting nature, which we put
in our portmanteaux and carried for weeks, with much pains, and some pain
also, until the time when our ardour cooled and our spirits lagged, and then
we discharged and threw them away ; and sometimes we came across speci
mens again, still more wonderful, which we put in their place, and lugged
along till we were tired of them, and their weight, and we discharged them as
before ; so that from our eager desire to procure, we lugged many pounds
weight of stones, shells, &c. nearly the whole way, and were glad that
their mother Earth should receive them again at our hands, which was done
long before we got back.

One of the most curious places we met in all our route, was a mountain
ridge of fossil shells, from which a great number of the above-mentioned
specimens were taken. During our second day's march from the mouth of
the False Washita, we were astonished to find ourselves travelling over a bed
of clam and oyster shells, which were all in a complete state of petrifaction.
This ridge, which seemed to run from N. E. to S.W. was several hundred feet
high, and varying from a quarter to half a mile in breadth, seemed to be com
posed of nothing but a concretion of shells, which, on the surface, exposed to
the weather for the depth of eight or ten inches, were entirely separated from
the cementing material which had held them together, and were lying on the
surface, sometimes for acres together, withcut a particle of soil or grass
upon them ; with the colour, shapes and appearance exactly, of the natural
shells, lying loosely together, into which our horses' feet were sinking at every
step, above their fetterlocks. These I consider the most extraordinary
petrifactions I ever beheld. In any way they could be seen, individually
or in the mass together, they seemed to be nothing but the pure shells
themselves, both in colour and in shape. In many instances we picked
them up entire, never having been opened ; and taking our knives out, and
splitting them open as we would an oyster, the fish was seen petrified in
perfect form, and by dipping it into water, it shewed all the colours and
freshness of an oyster just opened and laid on a plate to be eaten. Joe and
I had carefully tied up many of these, with which we felt quite sure we could

deceive our oyster-eating friends when we got back to the East ; yet, like
many other things we collected, they shared the fate that I have mentioned,
without our bringing home one of them, though we brought many of them
several hundreds of miles, and at last threw them away. This remarkable
ridge is in some parts covered with grass, but generally with mere scattering
bunches, for miles together, partially covering this compact mass of shells,
forming (in my opinion) one of the greatest geological curiosities now to be
seen in this country, as it lies evidently some thousands of feet above the
level of the ocean, and seven or eight hundred miles from the nearest point
on the sea-coast.

Tn another section of the country, lying between Fort Gibson and the
Washita, we passed over a ridge for several miles, running parallel to this,
where much of the way there was no earth or grass under foot, but our horses
were travelling on a solid rock, which had on its surface a reddish or oxidized
appearance ; and on getting from my horse and striking it with my hatchet,
I found it to contain sixty or eighty per cent of solid iron, which produced a
ringing noise, and a rebounding of the hatchet, as if it were struck upon an
anvil.

In other parts, and farther West, between the Camanchee village and the
Canadian, we passed over a similar surface for many miles denuded, with
the exception of here and there little bunches of grass and wild sage, a level
and exposed surface of solid gypsum, of a dark grey colour ; and through it,
accasionally, as far as the eye could discover, to the East and the West
streaks of three and five inches wide of snowy gypsum, which was literally
as white as the drifted snow.

Of saltpetre and salt, there are also endless supplies ; so it will be seen
that the mineral resources of this wilderness country are fnexhaustible and
rich, and that the idle savage who never converts them to his use, must
soon yield them to the occupation of enlightened and cultivating man.

In the vicinity of this post there ate an immense number of Indians, most
of whom have been removed to their present locations by the Government,
from their Eastern original positions, within a few years past ; and previous to
my starting with the dragoons, I had two months at my leisure in this
section of the country, which I used in travelling about with my canvass
and note-book, and visiting all of them in their villages. I have made many
paintings amongst them, and have a curious note-book to open at a future
day, for which the reader may be prepared. The tribes whom I thus visited,
and of whom my note-book will yet speak, are the Cherokees, Choctaws,
Creeks, Seminoles, Chickasaws, Quapaws, Senecas, Delawares, and several
others, whose customs are interesting, and whose history, from their proximity
to, and dealings with the civilized community, is one of great interest, and
some importance, to the enlightened world. Adieu.

LETTER No. 46.

ALTON, ILLINOIS.

A FEW days after the date of the above Letter, I took leave of Fort Gib
son, and made a transit across the prairies to this place, a distance of 550
miles, which I have performed entirely alone, and had the satisfaction of
joining my wife, whom I have found in good health, in a family of my
esteemed friends, with whom she has been residing during my last year of
absence.

While at Fort Gibson, on my return from the Camanchees, I was
quartered for a month or two in a room with my fellow-companion in misery,
Captain Wharton, of the dragoons, who had come in from the prairies in a
condition very similar to mine, and laid in a bed in the opposite corner of the
room ; where we laid for several weeks, like two grim ghosts, rolling our
glaring and staring eyeballs upon each other, when we were totally unable
to hold converse, other than that which was exchanged through the expres
sive language of our hollow, and bilious, sunken eyes.

The Captain had been sent with a company of dragoons to escort the
Santa Fee Traders through the country of the Camanchees <xnd Pawnees,
and had returned from a rapid and bold foray into the country, with many
of his men sick, and himself attacked with the epidemic of the country.
The Captain is a gentleman of high and noble bearing, of one of the most
respected families in Philadelphia, with a fine and chivalrous feeling ; but
with scarce physical stamina sufficient to bear him up under the rough vicis
situdes of his wild and arduous sort of life in this country.

As soon as our respective surgeons had clarified our flesh and our bones
with calomel, had brought our pulses to beat calmly, our tongues to ply
gently, and our stomachs to digest moderately; we began to feel pleasure
exquisitely in our convalescence, and draw amusement from mutual relations
of scenes and adventures we had witnessed on our several marches. The
Captain convalescing faster than I did, soon got so as to eat (but not to
digest) enormous meals, which visited back upon him the renewed horrors of
his disease ; and I, who had got ahead of him in strength, but not in pru
dence, was thrown back in my turn, by similar indulgence; and so we were
mutually and repeatedly, until he at length got so as to feel strength enough
to ride, and resolution enough to swear that he would take leave of that
deadly spot, and seek restoration and health in a cooler and more congenial

latitude. So he had his horse brought up one morning, whilst he was so
weak that he could scarcely mount upon its back, and with his servant, a
small negro boy, packed on another, he steered off upon the prairies towards
Fort Leaven worth, 500 miles to the North, where his company had long
since marched.

I remained a week or two longer, envying the Captain the good luck to
escape from that dangerous ground ; and after I had gained strength suf
ficient to warrant it, I made preparations to take informal leave, and wend
my way also over the prairies to the Missouri, a distance of 500 miles, and
most of the way a solitary wilderness. For this purpose I had my horse
" Charley" brought up from his pasture, where he had been in good keeping
during my illness, and got so fat as to form almost an objectionable contrast
to his master, with whom he was to embark on a long and tedious journey
again, over the vast and almost boundless prairies.

I had, like the Captain, grown into such a dread of that place, from the
scenes of death that were and had been visited upon it, that I resolved to be
off as soon as I had strength to get on to my horse, and balance myself
upon his back. For this purpose I packed up my canvass and brushes,
and other luggage, and sent them down the river to the Mississippi, to be
forwarded by steamer, to meet me at St. Louis. So, one fine morning,
Charley was brought up and saddled, and a bear-skin and a buffalo robe
being spread upon his saddle, and a coffee-pot and tin cup tied to it also
with a few pounds of hard biscuit in my portmanteau with my fowling-
piece in my hand, and my pistols in my belt with my sketch-book slung
on my back, and a small pocket compass in my pocket ; I took leave of
Fort Gibson, even against the advice of my surgeon and all the officers of
the garrison, who gathered around me to bid me farewell. No argument
could contend with the fixed resolve in my own mind, that if I could get
out upon the prairies, and moving continually to the Northward, I should
daily gain strength, and save myself, possibly, from the jaws of that vora
cious burial-ground that laid in front of my room; where I had for months
laid and imagined myself going with other poor fellows, whose mournful
dirges were played under my window from day to day. No one can ima
gine what was the dread I felt for that place ; nor the pleasure, which was
extatic, when Charley was trembling under me, and I turned him around
on the top of a prairie bluff at a mile distance, to take the last look upon it,
and thank God, as I did audibly, that I was not to be buried within its
enclosure. I said to myself, that " to die on the prairie, and be devoured
by wolves ; or to fall in combat and be scalped by an Indian, would be far
more acceptable than the lingering death that would consign me to the jaws
of that insatiable grave," for which, in the fever and weakness of my mind,
I had contracted so destructive a terror.

So, alone, without other living being with me than my affectionate horse
Charley, I turned my face to the North, and commenced on my long journey,

with confidence full and strong, that I should gain strength daily ; and
no one can ever know the pleasure of that moment, which placed me
alone, upon the boundless sea of waving grass, over which my proud horse
was prancing, and I with my life in my own hands, commenced to steer my
course to the banks of the Missouri.

For the convalescent, rising and escaping from the gloom and horrors of
a sick bed, astride of his strong and trembling horse, carrying him fast and
safely over green fields spotted and tinted with waving wild flowers ; and
through the fresh and cool breezes that are rushing about him, as he daily
shortens the distance that lies between him and his wife and little ones,
there is an exquisite pleasure yet to be learned, by those who never have
felt it.

Day by day I thus pranced and galloped along, the whole way through
waving grass and green fields, occasionally dismounting and lying in the
grass an hour or so, until the grim shaking and chattering of an ague chill
had passed off; and through the nights, slept on my bear-skin spread upon
the grass, with my saddle for my pillow, and my buffalo robe drawn over me
for my covering. My horse Charley was picketed near me at the end of
his laso, which gave him room for his grazing ; and thus we snored and nod
ded away the nights, and never were denied the doleful serenades of the gangs
of sneaking wolves that were nightly perambulating our little encampment,
and stationed at a safe distance from us at sun-rise in the morning gazing
at us, and impatient to pick up the crumbs and bones that were left, when we
moved away from our feeble fire that had faintly flickered through the night,
and in the absence of timber, had been made of dried buffalo dung, (PLATE
184).

This " Charley" was a noble animal of the Camanchee wild breed, of a
clay bank colour ; and from our long and tried acquaintance, we had be
come very much attached to each other, and acquired a wonderful facility
both of mutual accommodation, and of construing each other's views and
intentions. In fact, we had been so long tried together, that there would
have seemed to the spectator almost an unity of interest ; and at all events,
an unity of feelings on the subject of attachment, as well as on that of
mutual dependence and protection.

I purchased this very showy and well-known animal of Colonel Burbank,
of the ninth regiment, and rode it the whole distance to the Camanchee
villages and back again ; and at the time when most of the horses ot the
regiment were drooping and giving out by the way Charley flourished
and came in in good flesh and good spirits.

On this journey, while he and I were twenty-five days alone, we had
much time, and the best of circumstances, under which to learn what we
had as yet overlooked in each other's characters, as well as to draw great
pleasure and real benefit from what we already had learned of each other,
in our former travels.

VOL. 11. N

I generally halted on the bank of some little stream, at half an hour's
sun, where feed was good for Charley, and where I could get wood to kindle
my fire, and water for my coffee. The first thing was to undress " Charley"
and drive down his picket, to which he was fastened, to graze over a circle
that he could inscribe at the end of his laso. In this wise he busily
fed himself until nightfall; and after my coffee was made and drank, I
uniformly moved him up, with his picket by my head, so that I could lay
my hand upon his laso in an instant, in case of any alarm that was liable
to drive him from me. On one of these evenings when he was grazing as
usual, he slipped the laso over his head, and deliberately took his sup
per at his pleasure, wherever he chose to prefer it, as he was strolling around.
When night approached, I took the laso in hand and endeavoured to catch
him, but I soon saw that he was determined to enjoy a little freedom ; and
he continually evaded me until dark, when I abandoned the pursuit, making
up my mind that I should inevitably lose him, and be obliged to perform the
rest of my journey on foot. He had led me a chase of half a mile or more,
when I left him busily grazing, and relumed to my little solitary bivouac,
and laid .myself on my bear skin, and went to sleep.

In the middle of the night I waked, whilst I was lying on my back, and
on half opening my eyes, I was instantly shocked to the soul, by the huge
figure (as I thought) of an Indian, standing over me, and in the very instant
of taking my scalp ! The chill of horror that paralyzed me for the first
moment, held me still till I saw there was no need of my moving that my
faithful horse " Charley" had played shy" till he had " filled his belly,"
and had then moved up, from feelings of pure affection, or from instinctive
fear, or possibly, from a due share of both, and taken his position with his
forefeet at the edge of my bed, with his head hanging directly over me, while
he was standing fast asleep !

My nerves, which had been most violently shocked, were soon quieted,
and I fell asleep, and so continued until sunrise in the morning, when I
waked, and beheld my faithful servant at some considerable distance, busily
at work picking up his breakfast amongst the cane-brake, along the bank
of the creek. I went as busily to work, preparing my own, which was eaten,
and after it, I had another half-hour of fruitless endeavours to catch Charley,
whilst he seemed mindful of success on the evening before, and continually
tantalized me by turning around and around, and keeping out of my reach.
I recollected the conclusive evidence of his attachment and dependence,
which he had voluntarily given in the night, and I thought I would try them
in another way. So I packed up my things and slung the saddle on my
back, trailing my gun in my hand, and started on my route. After I had
advanced a quarter of a mile, I looked back, and saw him standing with
his head and tail very high, looking alternately at me and at the spot where
I had been encamped, and left a little fire burning. In this condition he
stood and surveyed the prairies around for a while, as I continued on. He,

at length, walked with a hurried step to the spot, and seeing everything
gone, began to neigh very violently, and at last started off at fullest speed,
and overtook me, passing within a few paces of me, and wheeling about at
a few rods distance in front of me, trembling like an aspen leaf.

I called him by his familiar name, and walked up to him with the bridle
in my hand, which I put over his head, as he held it down for me, and the
saddle on his back, as he actually stooped to receive it. I was soon ar
ranged, and on his back, when he started off upon his course as if he was
well contented and pleased, like his rider, with the manoeuvre which had
brought us together again, and afforded us mutual relief from our awkward
positions. Though this alarming freak of " Charley's" passed off and ter
minated so satisfactorily ; yet I thought such rather dangerous ones to play,
and I took good care after that night, to keep him under my strict authority ;
resolving to avoid further tricks and experiments till we got to the land of
cultivated fields and steady habits.

On the night of this memorable day, Charley and 1 stopped in one of
the most lovely little valleys I ever saw, and even far more beautiful than
could have been imagined by mortal man. An enchanting little lawn of
five or six acres, on the banks of a cool and rippling stream, that was alive
with fish ; and every now and then, a fine brood of young ducks, just old
enough for delicious food, and too unsophisticated to avoid an easy and
simple death. This little lawn was surrounded by bunches and copses of
the most luxuriant and picturesque foliage, consisting of the lofty bois d'arcs
and elms, spreading out their huge branches, as if offering protection to the
rounded groups of cherry and plum-trees that supported festoons of grape
vines, with their purple clusters that hung in the most tempting manner
over the green carpet that was everywhere decked out with wild flowers, of
all tints and of various sizes, from the modest wild sun-flowers, with their
thousand tall and drooping heads, to the lillies that stood, and the violets
that crept beneath them. By the side of this cool stream, Charley was
fastened, and near him my bear-skin was spread in the grass, and by it my
little fire, to which I soon brought a fine string of perch from the brook ;
from which, and a broiled duck, and a delicious cup of coffee, I made
my dinner and supper, which were usually united in one meal, at half
an hour's sun. After this I strolled about this sweet little paradise, which
I found was chosen, not only by myself, but by the wild deer, which were
repeatedly rising from their quiet lairs, and bounding out, and over the
graceful swells of the prairies which hemmed in, and framed this little
picture of sweetest tints and most masterly touches.

The Indians also, I found, had loved it once, and left it; for here and
there were their solitary and deserted graves, which told, though briefly, of
former chaunts and sports ; and perhaps, of wars a. id deaths, that have
once rung and echoed through this little silent vale.

On my return to my encampment, 1 laid down upon my back, and

looked awhile into the blue heavens that were over me, with their pure and
milk white clouds that were passing with the sun just setting in the West,
and the silver moon rising in the East, and renewed the impressions of rny
own insignificance, as I contemplated the incomprehensible mechanism of
that wonderful clock, whose time is infallible, and whose motion is eternity !
I trembled, at last, at the dangerous expanse of my thoughts, and turned
them again, and my eyes, upon the little and more comprehensible things
that were about me. One of the first was a newspaper, which I had brought
from the Garrison, the National Intelligencer, of Washington, which I had
read for years, but never with quite the zest and relish that I now conversed
over its familiar columns, in this clean and sweet valley of dead silence !

And while reading, I thought of (and laughed), what I had almost forgotten,
the sensation Iproduced amongst the Minatarees while on the Upper Mis
souri, a few years since, by taking from amongst my painting apparatus an old
number of the New York Commercial Advertiser, edited by my kind and tried
friend Colonel Stone. The Minatarees thought that I was mad, when they saw
me for hours together, with my eyes fixed upon its pages. They had different
and various conjectures about it ; the most current of which was, that I was
looking at it to cure my sore eyes, and they called it the " medicine cloth
for sore eyes !" I at length put an end to this and several equally ignorant
conjectures, by reading passages in it, which were interpreted to them, and
the objects of the paper fully explained ; after which, it was looked upon as
much greater mystery than before ; and several liberal offers were made me
for it, which I was obliged to refuse, having already received a beautifully
garnished robe for it, from the hands of a young son of Esculapius, who told
me that if he could employ a good interpreter to explain everything in it, he
could travel about amongst the Minatarees and Mandans, and Sioux, and
exhibit it after I was gone ; getting rich with presents, and adding greatly
to the list of his medicines, as it would make him a great Medicine- Man. I left
with the poor fellow his painted robe, and the newspaper ; and just before I de
parted, I saw him unfolding it to show to some of his friends, when he took
from around it, some eight or ten folds of birch bark and deer skins ; all of
which were carefully enclosed in a sack made of the skin of a pole cat, and un
doubtedly destined to become, and to be called, his mystery or medicine-bag.

The distance from Fort Gibson to the Missouri, where I struck the river,
is about five hundred miles, and most of the way a beautiful prairie, in a
wild and uncultivated state without roads and without bridges, over a great
part of which I steered my course with my pocket-compass, fording and
swimming the streams in the best manner I could ; shooting prairie hens, and
occasionally catching fish, which I cooked for my meals, and slept upon the
ground at night. On my way I visited " Riqwa's Village" of Osages, and
lodged d iring the night in the hospitable cabin of my old friend Beatte, of
whom I have often spoken heretofore, as one of the guides and hunters for
the dragoons on their campaign in the Camanchee country. This was the

most extraordinary hunter, I think, that 1 ever have met in all my travels.
To " hunt" was a phrase almost foreign to him, however, for when he went
out with his rifle, it was "for meat" or " for cattle ;" and he never came
in without it. He never told how many animals he had seen how many
he had wounded, &c. but his horse was always loaded with meat, which
was thrown down in camp without comment or words spoken. Riqua was
an early pioneer of Christianity in this country, who has devoted many years
of his life, with his interesting family, in endeavouring to civilize and chris
tianize these people, by the force of pious and industrious examples, which
he has successfully set them ; and, I think, in the most judicious way, by
establishing a little village, at some miles distance from the villages of the
Osages ; where he has invited a considerable number of families who have
taken their residence by the side of him ; where they are following his virtu
ous examples in their dealings and modes of life, and in agricultural pursuits
which he is teaching them, and showing them that they may raise the com
forts and luxuries of life out of the ground, instead of seeking for them in
the precarious manner in which they naturally look for them, in the uncer
tainty of the chase.

It was a source of much regret to me, that I did not see this pious man,
as he was on a Tour to the East, when I was in his little village.

Beatte lived in this village with his aged parents, to whom he introduced
me ; and with whom, altogether, I spent a very pleasant evening in conversa
tion. They are both French, and have spent the greater part of their lives
with the Osages, and seem to be familiar with their whole history. This
Beatte was the hunter and guide for a party of rangers (the summer before
our campaign), with whom Washington Irving made his excursion to the
borders of the Pawnee country ; and of whose extraordinary character and
powers, Mr. Irving has drawn a very just and glowing account, excepting
one error which I think he has inadvertently fallen into, that of calling him
a " half breed." Beatte had complained of this to me often while out on
the prairies ; and when I entered his hospitable cabin, he said he was glad
to see me, and almost instantly continued, " Now you shall see, Monsieur
Catline, I am not ' half breed,' here I shall introduce you to my father and
my mother, who you see are two very nice and good old French people."

From this cabin where I fared well and slept soundly, I started in the
morning, after taking with them a good cup of coffee, and went smoothly on
over the prairies on my course.

About the middle of my journey, I struck a road leading into a small civi
lized settlement, called the " Kickapoo prairie" to which I " bent my
course ;" and riding up to a log cabin which was kept as a sort of an hotel
or tavern, I met at the door, the black boy belonging to my friend Captain
\Vharton, who 1 have said took his leave of Fort Gibson a few weeks before
nie ; I asked the boy where his master was, to which he replied, " My good
massa, Massa Wharton, in dese house, jist dead ob de libber complim^' '"

I dismounted and went in, and to my deepest soriow and anguish, I found
him, as the boy said, nearly dead, without power to raise his head or his
voice his eyes were rolled upon me, and as he recognized me he took me
by the hand, which he firmly gripped, whilst both shed tears in profusion.
By placing my ear to his lips, his whispers could be heard, and he was able
in an imperfect manner to make his views and his wishes known. His disease
seemed to be a repeated attack of his former malady, and a severe affection
of the liver, which was to be (as his physician said) the proximate cause of
his death. 1 conversed with his physician who seemed to be a young and
inexperienced man, who told me that he certainly could not live more than
ten days. I staid two days with him, and having no means with me of
rendering him pecuniary or other aid amongst strangers, I left him in kind
hands, and started on my course again. My health improved daily, from
the time of my setting out at Fort Gibson ; and I was now moving along
cheerfully, and in hopes soon to reach the end of my toilsome journey. I
had yet vast prairies to pass over, and occasional latent difficulties, which
were not apparent on their smooth and deceiving surfaces. Deep sunken
streams, like ditches, occasionally presented themselves suddenly to my view,
when I was within a few steps of plunging into them from their perpendicular
sides, which were overhung with long wild grass, and almost obscured from
the sight. The bearings of my compass told me that I must cross them, and
the only alternative was to plunge into them, and get out as well as I could.
They were often muddy, and I could not tell whether they were three or ten
feet deep, until my horse was in them ; and sometimes he went down head
foremost, and I with him, to scramble out on the opposite shore in the best
condition we could. In one of these canals, which I had followed for
several miles in the vain hope of finding a shoal, or an accustomed ford, I
plunged, with Charley, where it was about six or eight yards wide (and God
knows how deep, for we did not go to the bottom), and swam him to the
opposite bank, on to which I clung ; and which, being perpendicular and of
clay, and three or four feet higher than the water, was an insurmountable
difficulty to Charley ; and I led the poor fellow at least a mile, as I walked
on the top of the bank, with the bridle in my hand, holding his head above
the water as he was swimming ; and I at times almost inextricably entangled
in the long grass that was often higher than my head, and hanging over the
brink, filled and woven together, with ivy and wild pea- vines. I at length
(and just before I was ready to drop the rein of faithful Charley, in hopeless
despair), came to an old buffalo ford, where the banks were graded down,
and the poor exhausted animal, at last got out, and was ready and willing
to take me and my luggage (after I had dried them in the sun) on the
journey again.

The Osage river which is a powerful stream, I struck at a place which
seemed to stagger my courage very much. There had been heavy rains but
a few days before, and this furious stream was rolling along its wild and

turbid waters, with a freshet upon it, that spread its waters, in many places
over its banks, as was the case at the place where I encountered it. There
seemed to be but little choice in places with this stream, which, with its banks
full, was sixty or eighty yards in width, with a current that was sweeping
along at a rapid rate. I stripped everything from Charley, and tied him
with his laso, until I travelled the shores up and down for some distance,
and collected drift wood enough for a small raft, which I constructed, to
carry my clothes and saddle, and other things, safe over. This being com
pleted, and my clothes taken off, and they with other things, laid upon the
raft, I took Charley to the bank and drove him in and across, where he soon
reached the opposite shore, and went to feeding on the bank. Next was to
come the " great white medicine ;" and with him, saddle, bridle, saddle-bags,
sketch-book, gun and pistols, coffee and coffee-pot, powder, and his clothes,
all of which were placed upon the raft, and the raft pushed into the stream, and
the " medicine man" swimming behind it, and pushing it along before him,
until it reached the opposite shore, at least half a mile below ! From this,
his things were carried to the top of the bank, and in a little time, Charley
was caught and dressed, and straddled, and on the way again.

These are a few of the incidents of that journey of 500 miles, which I
performed entirely alone, and which at last brought me out at Boonville on
the Western bank of the Missouri. While I was crossing the river at
that place, I met General Arbuckle, with two surgeons, who were to start
the next day from Boonville for Fort Gibson, travelling over the route that
I had just passed. I instantly informed them of the condition of poor
Wharton, and the two surgeons were started off that afternoon at fullest
speed, with*orders to reach him in the shortest time possible, and do every
thing to save his life. I assisted in purchasing for him, several little things
that he had named to me, such as jellies acids apples, &c. &c. ; and
saw them start ; and (God knows), I shall impatiently hope to hear of
their timely assistance, and of his recovery.*

From Boonville, which is a very pretty little town, building up with the finest
style of brick houses, I crossed the river to New Franklin, where I laid by
several days, on account of stormy weather ; and from thence proceeded
with success to the end of my journey, where I now am, under the roof of
kind and hospitable friends, with my dear wife, who has patiently waited
one year to receive me back, a wreck, as I now am ; and who is to start in
a few days with me to the coast of Florida, 1400 miles South of this, to
spend the winter in patching up my health, and fitting me for future cam
paigns.

On this Tour (from which 1 shall return in the spring, if my health will

* I have great satisfaction in informing the reader, that I learned a year or so after the
above date, that those two skilful surgeons hastened on with all possible speed to the
assistance of this excellent gentleman, and had the satisfaction of conducting him to his
post after he had entirely and permanently recovered his health.

admit of it), I shall visit the Seminoles in Florida, the Euchees the
Creeks in Alabama and Georgia, and the Choctaws and Cherokees, who
are yet remaining on their lands, on the East side of the Mississippi.

We take steamer for New Orleans to morrow, so, till after another cam
paign, Adieu

LETTER No. 47.

SAINT LOUIS.

SINCE the date of my last Letter, a whole long winter has passed oft",
which I have whiled away on the Gulf of Mexico and about the shores of
Florida- and Texas. My health was soon restored by the congenial climate
I there found, and my dear wife was my companion the whole way. We
visited the different posts, and all that we could find to interest us in these
delightful realms, and took steamer from New Orleans to this place, where
we arrived but a few days since.

Supposing that the reader by this time may be somewhat tired of follow
ing me in my erratic wanderings over these wild regions, I have resolved to
sit down awhile before I go further, and open to him my sketch-book, in
which I have made a great many entries, as I have been dodging about,
and which I have not as yet shewed to him, for want of requisite time and
proper opportunity.

In opening this book, the reader will allow me to turn over leaf after leaf,
and describe to him, tribe after tribe, and chief after chief, of many of those
whom I have visited, without the tediousness of travelling too minutely over
the intervening distances ; in which I fear I might lose him as a fellow-
traveller, and leave him fagged out by the way-side, before he would see
all that I am anxious to show him.

About a year since I made a visit to the

KICKAPOOS,

At present but a small tribe, numbering six or 800, the remnant of a once
numerous and warlike tribe. They are residing within the state of Illinois,
near the south end of Lake Michigan, and living in a poor and miserable
condition, although they have one of the finest countries in the world.
They have been reduced in numbers by whiskey and small-pox, and the
game being destroyed in their country, and having little industiy to work,
they are exceedingly poor and dependent. In fact, there is very little in
ducement for them to build houses and cultivate their farms, for they own
so large and so fine a tract of country, which is now completely surrounded
by civilized settlements, that they know, from experience, they will soon
be obliged to sell out their country for a trifle, and move to the West.
TOL. u o

This system of moving has already commenced with them, and a consider
able party have located on a tract of lands offered to them on the West
bank of the Missouri river, a little north of Fort Leaven worth.*

The Kickapoos have long lived in alliance with the Sacs and Foxes, and
speak a language so similar that they seem almost to be of one family. The
present chief of this tribe, whose name is Kee-an-ne-kuk (the foremost mart,
PLATE 185), usually called the Shawnee Prophet, is a very shrewd and
talented man. When he sat for his portrait, he took his attitude as seen
in the picture, which was that of prayer. And I soon learned that he was
a very devoted Christian, regularly holding meetings in his tribe, on the
sabbath, preaching to them and exhorting them to a belief in the Christian
religion, and to an abandonment of the fatal habit of whiskey-drinking,
which he strenuously represented as the bane that was to destroy them all,
if they did not entirely cease to use it. I went on the sabbath, to hear
this eloquent man preach, when he had his people assembled in the woods ;
and although I could not understand his language, 1 was surprised and
pleased with the natural ease and emphasis, and gesticulation, which carried
their own evidence of the eloquence of his sermon.

I was singularly struck with the noble efforts of this champion of the mere
remnant of a poisoned race, so strenuously labouring to rescue the remainder
of his people from the deadly bane that has been brought amongst them by
enlightened Christians. How far the efforts of this zealous man have suc
ceeded in christianizing, I cannot tell, but it is quite certain that his exem
plary and constant endeavours have completely abolished the practice of
drinking whiskey in his tribe ; which alone is a very praiseworthy achieve
ment, and the first and indispensable step towards all other improvements.
1 was some time amongst these people, and was exceedingly pleased, and
*urprised also, to witness their sobriety, and their peaceable conduct ; not
having seen an instance of drunkenness, or seen or heard of any use made
of spirituous liquors whilst I was amongst the tribe.

Ah-ton-we-tuck (the cock turkey, PLATE 1 86), is another Kickapoo of
some distinction, and a disciple of the Prophet ; in the attitude of prayer
also, which he is reading off from characters cut upon a stick that he holds
in his hands. It was told to me in the tribe by the Traders (though I am
afraid to vouch for the whole truth of it), that while a Methodist preacher
was soliciting him for permission to preach in his village, the Prophet refused
him the privilege, but secretly took him aside and supported him until he
learned from him his creed, and his system of teaching it to others ; when he
discharged him, and commenced preaching amongst his people himself; pre
tending to have had an interview with some superhuman mission, or inspired
personage ; ingeniously resolving, that if there was any honour or emolu
ment, or influence to be gained by the promulgation of it, he might as well

* Since the above was written, the whole of this tribe have been removed beyond the
Missouri, having sold out their lauds in the state of Illinois to the Government,

112

186

188

have it as another person ; and with this view he commenced preaching and
instituted a prayer, which he ingeniously carved on a maple-stick of an inch
and a half in breadth, in characters somewhat resembling Chinese letters.
These sticks, with the prayers on them, he has introduced into every family of
the tribe, and into the hands of every individual ; and as he has necessarily
the manufacturing of them all, he sells them at his own price ; and has thus
added lucre to fame, and in two essential and effective ways, augmented his
influence in his tribe. Every man, woman and child in the tribe, so far as
I saw them, were in the habit of saying their prayer from this stick when
going to bed at night, and also when rising in the morning ; which was in
variably done by placing the fore-finger of the right hand under the upper
character, until they repeat a sentence or two, which it suggests to them ;
and then slipping it under the next, and the next, and so on, to the bottom
of the stick, which altogether required about ten minutes, as it was sung
over in a sort of a chaunt, to the end.

Many people have called all this an ingenious piece of hypocrisy on the
part of the Prophet, and whether it be so or not, I cannot decide ; yet one
thing I can vouch to be true, that whether his motives and his life be as pure
as he pretendsor not, his example has done much towards correcting the habits
of his people, and has effectually turned their attention from the destructive
habits of dissipation and vice, to temperance and industry, in the pursuits of
agriculture and the arts. The world may still be unwilling to allow him
much credit for this, but I am ready to award him a great deal, who can by
his influence thus far arrest the miseries of dissipation and the horrid de
formities of vice, in the descending prospects of a nation who have so long
had, and still have, the white-skin teachers of vices and dissipation amongst
them.

Besides these two chiefs, I have also painted Ma-shee-na (the elk's horn)
Ke-chim-qua (the big bear), warriors, and Ah-tee-wot-o-mee, and She-nah-
wee, women of the same tribe, whose portraits are in the Gallery.

WEE-AHS.

These are also the remnant of a once powerful tribe, and reduced by the
same causes, to the number of 200. This tribe formerly lived in the State
of Indiana, and have been moved with the Piankeshaws, to a position forty
or fifty miles south of Fort Leaven worth.

Go-to-kow-pah-a (he who stands by himself, PLATE 187), and Wa-pon-
je-a (the swan), are two of the most distinguished warriors of the tribe,
both with intelligent European heads.

POT-O-WAT-O-MIES.

The remains of a tribe who were once very numerous and warlike, but
reduced by whiskey and small-pox, to their present number, which is not
more than 2700. This tribe may be said to be semi-civilized, inasmuch

100

as they have so long lived in contiguity with white people, with whom
their blood is considerably mixed, and whose modes and whose manners
they have in many respects copied. From a similarity of language as
well as of customs and personal appearance, there is no doubt that they
have formerly been a part of the great tribe of Chippeways or Ot-ta-was.
living neighbours and adjoining to them, on the North. This tribe live
within the state of Michigan, and there own a rich and very valuable
tract of land ; which, like the Kickapoos, they are selling out to the Go
vernment, and about to remove to the west bank of the Missouri, where
a part of the tribe have already gone and settled, in the vicinity of Fort
Leavenworth. Of this tribe I have painted the portraits of On-saw-kie
(the Sac, PLATE 189), in the attitude of prayer, and Na-pow-sa (the Bear
travelling in the night,) PLATE 190, one of the principal chiefs of the tribe.
These people have for some time lived neighbours to, and somewhat under
the influence of the Kickapoos ; and very many of the tribe have become
zealous disciples of the Kickapoo prophet, using his prayers most devoutly,
and in the manner that I have already described, as is seen in the first
of the two last-named portraits.

KAS-KAS-KI-AS.

This is the name of a tribe that formerly occupied, and of course owned,
a vast tract of country lying on the East of the Mississippi, and between
its banks and the Ohio, and now forming a considerable portion of the great
and populous state of Illinois. History furnishes us a full and extraordinary
account of the once warlike character and numbers of this tribe; and also
of the disastrous career that they have led, from their first acquaintance
with civilized neighbours; whose rapacious avarice in grasping for their
fine lands with the banes of whiskey and small-pox, added to the unex
ampled crirelty of neighbouring hostile tribes, who have struck at them in
the days of their adversity, and helped to erase them from existence.

Perhaps there has been no other tribe on the Continent of equal power
with the Kas-kas-ki-as, that have so suddenly sank down to complete an
nihilation and disappeared. The remnant of this tribe have long since merged
into the tribe of Peorias of Illinois ; and it is doubtful whether one dozen
of them are now existing. With the very few remnants of this tribe will
die in a few years a beautiful language, entirely distinct from all others
about it, unless some enthusiastic person may preserve it from the lips ^f
those few who are yet able to speak it. Of this tribe I painted Kee-mon-
saw (the little chief), half-civilized, and, I should think, half-breed (PLATE
191 ;) and Wah-pe-seh-see (PLATE 192), a very aged woman, mother of the
same.

This young man is chief of the tribe ; and I was told by one of the
Traders, that his mother and his son, were his only subjects ! Whether
this be true or not I cannot positively say, though I can assert with safety

113

189

190

193

194

G-. Catlm

195

196

101

that there are but a very few of them left, and that those, like all of the last
of tribes, will soon die of dissipation or broken hearts.

PE-O-RI-AS.

The name of another tribe inhabiting a part of the state of Illinois; and, like
the above tribes, but a remnant and civilized (or cicatrized, to speak more
correctly). This tribe number about 200, and are, like most of the other
remnants of tribes on the frontiers, under contract to move to the West of
the Missouri. Of this tribe I painted the portrait of Pah-me-cow-e-tah
(the man who tracks, PLATE 193) ; and Kee-mo-ra-ni-a (no English,
PLATE 194). These are said to be the most influential men in the tribe,
and both were very curiously and well dressed, in articles of civilized manu
facture.

. PI-AN-KE-SHAWS.

The remnant of another tribe, of the states of Illinois and Indiana, who have
also recently sold out their country to Government, and are under contract
to move to the West of the Missouri, in the vicinity of Fort Leavenworth.
Ni-a-co-mo (to fix with the foot, PLATE 195), a brave of distinction; and
Men-son-se-ah (the left hand, PLATE 196), a fierce-looking and very dis
tinguished warrior, with a stone-hatchet in his hand, are fair specimens of
this reduced and enfeebled tribe, which do not number more than 170 per
sons at this time.

DELAWARES.

The very sound of this name has carried terror wherever it has been heard
in the Indian wilderness ; and it has travelled and been known, as well as
the people, over a very great part of the Continent. This tribe originally
occupied a great part of the Eastern border of Pennsylvania, and great part
of the states of New Jersey and Delaware. No other tribe on the Continent
has been so much moved and jostled about by civilized invasions ; and none
have retreated so far, or fought their way so desperately, as they have
honourably and bravely contended for every foot of the ground they have
passed over. From the banks of the Delaware to the lovely Susquehana,
and my native valley, and to the base of and over, the Alleghany moun
tains, to the Ohio river to the Illinois and the Mississippi, and at last to
the West of the Missouri, they have been moved by Treaties after Treaties
with the Government, who have now assigned to the mere handful of them
that are left, a tract of land, as has been done a dozen times before, in fee
simple, for ever ! In every move the poor fellows have made, they have
been thrust against their wills from the graves of their fathers and their
children ; and planted as they now are, on the borders of new enemies,
where their first occupation has been to take up their weapons in self-de
fence, and fight for the ground they have been planted on. There is no

102

tribe, perhaps, amongst which greater and more continued exertions have
been made for their conversion to Christianity ; and that ever since the
zealous efforts of the Moravian missionaries, who first began with them ;
nor any, amongst whom those pious and zealous efforts have been squan
dered more in vain ; which has, probably, been owing to the bad faith with
which they have so often and so continually been treated by white people,
which has excited prejudices that have stood in the way of their mental
improvement.

This scattered and reduced tribe, which once contained some 10 or
15,000, numbers at this time but 800 ; and the greater part of them have
been for the fifty or sixty years past, residing in Ohio and Indiana. In
these states, their reservations became surrounded by white people, whom
they dislike for neighbours, and their lands too valuable for Indians and
the certain consequence has been, that they have sold out and taken lands
West of the Mississippi ; on to which they have moved, and on which it is,
and always will be, almost impossible to find them, owing to their desperate
disposition for roaming about, indulging in the chase, and in wars with their
enemies.

The wild frontier on which they are now placed, affords them so fine an
opportunity to indulge both of these propensities, that they will be con
tinually wandering in little and desperate parties over the vast buffalo plains,
and exposed to their enemies, till at last the new country, which is given to
them, in " fee simple, for ever," and which is destitute of game, will be
deserted, and they, like the most of the removed remnants of tribes, will be
destroyed ; and the faith of the Government well preserved, which has
offered t his as their last move, and these lands as theirs in fee simple,
for ever.

In my travels on the Upper Missouri, and in the Rocky Mountains, I
learned to my utter astonishment, that little parties of these adventurous
myrmidons, of only six or eight in numbers, had visited those remote tribes,
at 2000 miles distance ; and in several instances, after having cajoled a whole
tribe having been feasted in their villages having solemnized the articles
of everlasting peace with them, and received many presents at their hands,
and taken affectionate leave, have brought away six or eight scalps with
them ; and nevertheless, braved their way, and defended themselves as they
retreated in safety out of their enemies' country, and through the regions of
other hostile tribes, where they managed to receive the same honours, and
come off with similar trophies.

Amongst this tribe there are some renowned chiefs, whose lives, if correctly
written, would be matter of the most extraordinary kind for the reading
world ; and of which, it may be in my power at some future time, to give
a more detailed account. In PLATE 197 will be seen the portrait of one of
the leading chiefs of the tribe, whose name is Ni-co-man (the answer), with
his bow and arrows in his hand. Non-on-da-gon (I-LATE 198), with a

197

198

199

200

103

silver ring in his nose, is another of the chiefs of distinction, whose history
I admired very much, and whom, from his very gentlemanly attentions to me,
I became much attached to. In both of these instances, their dresses were
principally of stuffs of civilized manufacture ; and their heads were bound
with vari-coloured handkerchiefs or shawls, which were tastefully put on
like a Turkish turban.

MO-HEE-CON-NEUHS, oil MOHEGANS (THE GOOD CANOEMEN).

There are 400 of this once powerful and still famous tribe, residing near
Green Bay, on a rich tract of land given to them by the Government, in the
territory of Wisconsin, near Winnebago lake on which they are living
very comfortably ; having brought with them from their former country, in
the state of Massachusetts, a knowledge of agriculture, which they had
there effectually learned and practiced.

This tribe are the remains, and all that are left, of the once powerful and
celebrated tribe of Pequots of Massachusetts. History tells us, that in their
wars and dissensions with the whites, a considerable portion of the tribe
moved off under the command of a rival chief, and established a separate
tribe or band, and took the name of Mo-hee-con-neuhs, which they have
preserved until the present day ; the rest of the tribe having long since
been extinct.

The chief of this tribe, Ee-tow-o-kaum (both sides of the river, PLATE
199), which I have painted at full length, with a psalm-book in one hand,
and a cane in the other, is a very shrewd and intelligent man, and a pro
fessed, and I think, sincere Christian. Waun-naw-con (the dish), John
W. Quinney (PLATE 200), in civilized dress, is a civilized Indian, well-
educated speaking good English is a Baptist missionary preacher, and a
very plausible and eloquent speaker.

O-NEI-DA'S.

The remnant of a numerous tribe that have been destroyed by wars with
the whites by whiskey and small-pox, numbering at present but five or
six hundred, and living in the most miserable poverty, on their reserve in
the state of New York, near Utica and the banks of the Mohawk river.
This tribe was one of the confederacy, called the Six Nations, and much
distinguished in the early history of New York. The present chief is known
by the name of Bread (PLATE 201). He is a shrewd and talented man,
well educated, speaking good English is handsome, and a polite and
gentlemanly man in his deportment.

TUS-KA-RO-RA'S.

Another of the tribes in the confederacy of the Six Nations, once numerous,
but reduced at present to the number of 500. This little tribe are living oa
their reserve, a fine tract of laud, near Buffalo, in the state of New York,

104

and surrounded by civilized settlements. Many of them are good farmers,
raising abundant and fine crops.

The chief of the tribe is a very dignified man, by the name of Cu-sick,
and his son, of the same name, whom I have painted (PLATE 202), is a very
talented man has been educated for the pulpit in some one of our public
institutions, and is now a Baptist preacher, and I am told a very eloquent
speaker.

SEN-E-CA'S.

One thousand two hundred in numbers at present, living on their reserve,
near Buffalo, and within a few miles of Niagara Falls, in the state of New
York. This tribe formerly lived on the banks of the Seneca and Cayuga
lakes ; but, like all the other tribes who have stood in the way of the
" march of civilization," have repeatedly bargained away their country, and
removed to the West ; which easily accounts for the origin of the familiar
phrase that is used amongst them, that " they are going to the setting sun."

This tribe, when first known to the civilized world, contained some eight
or ten thousand ; and from their position in the centre of the state of New
York, held an important place in its history. The Senecas were one of the
most numerous and effective tribes, constituting the compact called the " Six
Nations ;" which was a confederacy formed by six tribes, who joined in a
league as an effective mode of gaining strength, and preserving themselves
by combined efforts which would be sufficiently strong to withstand the assaults
of neighbouring tribes, or to resist the incursions of white people in their
country. This confederacy consisted of the Senecas, Oneidas, Onondagas,
Cayugas, Mohawks, and Tuskaroras ; and until the innovations of white
people, with their destructive engines of war with whiskey and small-pox,
they held their sway in the country, carrying victory, and consequently terror
and dismay, wherever they warred. Their war-parties were fearlessly sent
into Connecticut and Massachusetts, to Virginia, and even to the Carolinas.
and victory everywhere crowned their efforts. Their combined strength,
however, in all its might, poor fellows, was not enough to withstand the siege
of their insidious foes a destroying flood that has risen and advanced, like a
flood-tide upon them, and covered their country ; has broken up their strong
holds, has driven them from land to land ; and in their retreat, has drowned
the most of them in its waves.

The Senecas are the most numerous remnant of this compact ; and have
at their head an aged and very distinguished chief, familiarly known
throughout the United States, by the name of Red Jacket (PLATE 205). I
painted this portrait from the life, in the costume in which he is represented ;
and indulged him also, in the wish he expressed, " that he might be seen
standing on the Table Rock, at the Falls of Niagara ; about which place he
thought his spirit would linger after he was dead."

Good Hunter (PLATE 203), and Hard Hickory (PLATE 204), are fair

201

202

G--CntLin.

203

204

105

specimens of the warriors of this tribe or rather hunters ; or perhaps, still more
correctly speak ing, farmers; for the Senecas have had no battles to fight
lately, and very little game to kill, except squirrels and pheasants ; and their
hands are turned to the plough, having become, most of them, tolerable
farmers; raising the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life, from
the soil.

Of this interesting tribe, the visitors to my Gallery will find several other
portraits and paintings of their customs ; and in books that have been writ
ten, and are being compiled, a much more able and faithful account than I
can give in an epistle of this kind.

The fame as well as the face of Red Jacket, is generally familiar to the
citizens of the United States and the Canadas ; and for the information of
those who have not known him, I will briefly say, that he has been for many
years the head chief of the scattered remnants of that once powerful compact,
the Six Nations ; a part of whom reside on their reservations in the vicinity
of the Senecas, amounting perhaps in all, to about four thousand, and own
ing some two hundred thousand acres of fine lands. Of this Confederacy,
the Mohawks and Cayugas, chiefly emigrated to Canada, some fifty years
ago, leaving the Senecas, the Tuskaroras, Oneidas, and Onondagas in the
state of New York, on fine tracts of lands, completely surrounded with
white population ; who by industry and enlerprize, are making the Indian
lands too valuable to be long in their possession, who will no doubt be in
duced to sell out to the Government, or, in other words, to exchange them
for lands West of the Mississippi, where it is the avowed intention of the
Government to remove all the border tribes.*

Red Jacket has been reputed one of the greatest orators of his day ; and,
no doubt, more distinguished for his eloquence and his influence in council,
than as a warrior, in which character I think history has not said much of
him. This may be owing, in a great measure, to the fact that the wars of
his nation were chiefly fought before his fighting days ; and that the greater
part of his life and his talents have been spent with his tribe, during its
downfall ; where, instead of the horrors of Indian wars, they have had a
more fatal and destructive enemy to encounter, in the insidious encroach
ments of pale faces, which he has been for many years exerting his eloquence
and all his talents to resist. Poor old chief not all the eloquence of Cicero
and Demosthenes would be able to avert the calamity, that awaits his de
clining nation to resist the despoiling hand of mercenary white man, that
opens and spreads liberally, but to entrap the unwary and ignorant within
its withering grasp.

This talented old man has for many years past, strenuously remonstrated

* Since the above was written, the Seuecas and all the other remnants of the Six Nations
residing in the state of New York, have agreed in Treaties with the United States to re
move to tracts of country assigned them, West of the Mississippi, twelve hundred mile*
from their reservations in the state of New York.

VOL. II. P

106

both to the Governor of New York, and the President of the United States,
Ggainst the continual encroachments of white people ; whom he represented
as using every endeavour to wrest from them their lands to destroy their
game, introducing vices of a horrible character, and unknown to his people
by nature ! and most vehemently of all, has he continually remonstrated
against the preaching of missionaries in his tribe ; alleging, that the " black
coats" (as he calls the clergymen), did more mischief than good in
his tribe, by creating doubts and dissensions amongst his people ! which are
destructive of his peace, and dangerous to the success, and even existence of"
his tribe. Like many other great men who endeavour to soothe broken and
painful feelings, by the kindness of the bottle, he has long since taken up
whiskey-drinking to excess ; and much of his time, lies drunk in his cabin,
or under the corner of a fence, or wherever else its kindness urges the neces
sity of his dropping his helpless body and limbs, to indulge in the delightful
spell. He is as great a drunkard as some of our most distinguished law
givers and law-makers ; and yet ten times more culpable, as he has little
to do in life, and wields the destinies of a nation in his hands !*

There are no better people to be found, than the Seneca Indians none
that I know of that are by Nature more talented and ingenious ; nor any
that would be found to be better neighbours, if tire arts and abuses of white
men and whiskey, could be kept away from them. They have mostly laid
down their hunting habits, and become efficient farmers, raising fine crops of
corn, and a great abundance of hogs, cattle and horses, and other necessaries
and luxuries of life.

I-RO-QUOIS.

One of the most numerous and powerful tribes that ever existed in the
Northern regions of our country, and now one of the most completely an
nihilated. This tribe occupied a vast tract of country on the River St. Law
rence, between its banks and Lake Champlain ; and at times, by conquest,
actually over-run the whole country, from that to the shores of Lakes Erie,
Huron, and Michigan. But by their continual wars with the French,
English, and Indians, and dissipation and disease, they have been almost
entirely annihilated. The few remnants of them have long since merged
into other tribes, and been mostly lost sight of.f Of this tribe I have

* This celebrated chief died several years since, in his village near Buffalo ; and since
his death our famous comedian, Mr. Placide, has erected a handsome and appropriate
monument over his grave ; and I am pleased also to learn, that my friend Wm. L. Stone,
Esq., is building him a still more lasting one in history, which he is compiling, of the life
of this extraordinary man, to an early perusal of which, I can confidently refer the world
for much curious and valuable information.

t The whole of the Six Nations have been by some writers denominated Iroquois how
correct this may be, I am not quite able to say ; one thing is certain, that is, that the Iro
quois tribe did not all belong to that Confederacy, their original country was on the shores
of the St. Lawrence ; and, although one branch of their nation, the Mohawks, formed a
part, and the most effective portion of that compact, yet the other members of it spoke

lie

206

107

painted but one, Not-o-way (the thinker, PLATE 206). This was an ex
cellent man, and was handsomely dressed for his picture. I had much con
versation with him, and became very much attached to him. He seemed to
be quite ignorant of the early history of his tribe, as well as of the position
and condition of its few scattered remnants, who are yet in existence. He told
me, however, that he had always learned that the Iroquois had conquered
nearly all the world ; but the Great Spirit being offended at the great slaugh
ters by his favourite people, resolved to punish them ; and he sent a dreadful
disease amongst them, that carried the most of them off, and all the rest that
could be found, were killed by their enemies that though he was an Iroquois,
which he was proud to acknowledge to me, as I was to " make him live
after he was dead ;" he wished it to be generally thought, that he was a
Chippeway, that he might live as long as the Great Spirit had wished it
when he made him.*

different languages ; and a great part of the Iroquois moved their settlements further
North and East, instead of joining in the continual wars carried on by the Six Nations. It
is of this part of the tribe that I am speaking, when I mention them as nearly extinct : and
it is from, this branch of the family that I got the portrait which 1 have introduced above.
* Since the above Letter was written, all the tribes and remnants of tribes mentioned in
it have been removed by the Government, to lands West of the Mississippi and Missouri,
given to them t in addition to considerable annuities, in consideration for the immense
tracts of country they have left on the frontier, and within the States. The present
positions of these tribes, and their relative locations to the civilized frontier and the wild,
unjostled tribes, can be seen on a map in the beginning of this Volume. There are also
other tribes there laid down, who have also been removed by Treaty stipulations, in the
same way, which are treated of in subsequent Letters. The Government, under General
Jackson, streauously set forth and carried out, the policy of removing all the semi-civi
lized and border Indians, to a country West of the Mississippi ; and although the project
had many violent opponents, yet there were very many strong reasons in favour of it, and
the thing has been at last done ; and a few years will decide, by the best of all arguments,
whether the policy was a good one or not. I may have occasion to saymore on this sub
ject hereafter ; and in the mean time recommend the reader to examine their relative
positions, and contemplate their prospects between their mortal foes on the West, and
their acquisitive /nends following them up from the East.

198

LETTER No. 48.

ST. LOUIS.

WHILST I am thus taking a hasty glance at the tribes on the Atlantic
Coast, on the borders of Mexico, and the confines of Canada, the reader will
pardon me for taking him for a few minutes to the mouth of the Columbia,
on the Pacific Coast ; which place I have not yet quite reached myself, in
my wild rambles, but most undoubtedly shall erelong, if my strolling career
be not suddenly stopped. 1 scarcely need tell the reader where the Colum
bia River is, since its course and its character have been so often, and so
well described, by recent travellers through those regions. I can now but
glance at this remote country and its customs ; and revert to it again after I
shall have examined it in all its parts, and collected my materials for a fuller
account.

FLAT HEADS.

These are a very numerous people, inhabiting the shores of the Columbia
River, and a vast tract of country lying to the South of it, and living in a
country which is exceedingly sterile and almost entirely, in many parts,
destitute of game for the subsistence of the savage ; they are mostly obliged
to live on roots, which they dig from the ground, and fish which they take
from the streams ; the consequences of which are, that they are generally
poor and miserably clad ; and in no respect equal to the Indians of whom I
have heretofore spoken, who live on the East of the Rocky Mountains, in
the ranges of the buffaloes; where they are well-fed, and mostly have good
horses to ride, and materials in abundance for manufacturing their beautiful
and comfortable dresses.

The people generally denominated Flat Heads, are divided into a great
many bands, and although they have undoubtedly got their name from the
custom of flattening the head ; yet there are but very few of those so deno
minated, who actually practice that extraordinary custom.

The Nez Perces who inhabit the upper waters and mountainous parts of
the Columbia, are a part of this tribe, though they are seldom known to
flatten the head like those lower down, and about the mouth of the river.
Hee-oh'ks-te-kin (the rabbit skin leggings, PLATE 207), and H'co-a-h'co a-
h'cotes-min (no horns on his head, PLATE 208), are young men of this tribe.
These two young men, when I painted them, w,ere in beautiful Sioux dnsse?,

109

which had been presented to them in a talk with the Sioux, who treated
them very kindly, while passing through the Sioux country. These two men
were part of a delegation that came across the Rocky Mountains to St.
Louis, a few years since, to enquire for the truth of a representation which
they said some white man had made amongst them, " that our religion was
better than theirs, and that they would all be lost if they did not embrace it."

Two old and venerable men of this party died in St. Louis, and I travelled
two thousand miles, companion with these two young fellows, towards their
own country, and became much pleased with their manners and dispositions.

The last mentioned of the two, died near the mouth of the Yellow Stone
River on his way home, with disease which he had contracted in the civi
lized district; and the other one I have since learned*, arrived safely amongst
his friends, conveying to them the melancholy intelligence of the deaths of
all the rest of his party ; but assurances at the same time, from General
Clark, and many Reverend gentlemen, that the report which they had heard
was well founded ; and that missionaries, good and religious men, would soon
come amongst them to teach this religion, so that they could all understand
and have the benefits of it.

When I first heard the report of the object of this extraordinary mission
across the mountains, I could scarcely believe it ; but on conversing with
General Clark on a future occasion, 1 was fully convinced of the fact ; and
I, like thousands of others, have had the satisfaction of witnessing the com
plete success that has crowned the bold and daring exertions of Mr. Lee and
Mr. Spalding, two Reverend gentlemen who have answered in a Christian
manner to this unprecedented call ; and with their wives have crossed the
most rugged wilds and wildernesses of the Rocky Mountains, and trium
phantly proved to the world, that the Indians, in their native wilds are a
kind and friendly people, and susceptible of mental improvement.

I had long been of the opinion, that to ensure success, the exertions of pious
men should be carried into the heart of the wilderness, beyond the reach and
influence of civilized vices ; and I so expressed my opinion to the Reverend
Mr. Spalding and his lady, in Pittsburgh, when on their way, in their first
Tour to that distant country. I have seen the Reverend Mr. Lee and several
others of the mission, several years since the formation of their school ; as
well as several gentlemen who have visited their settlement, and from all, I
am fully convinced of the complete success of these excellent and persever
ing gentlemen, in proving to the world the absurdity of the assertion that
has been often made, " that the Indian can never be civilized or christian
ized." Their uninterrupted transit over such a vast and wild journey, also,
with their wives on horseback, who were everywhere on their way, as well as
amongst the tribes where they have located, treated with the utmost kind
ness and respect, bears strong testimony to the assertions so often made by
travellers in those countries, that these are, in their native state, a kind aud
excellent people.

110

I hope I shall on a future occasion, be able to give the reader some further
detailed account of the success of these zealous and excellent men, whose
example, of penetrating to the heart of the Indian country, and there teach
ing the Indian in the true and effective way, will be a lasting honour to
themselves, and I fully believe, a permanent benefit to those ignorant and
benighted people.

THE CH1NOOKS,

Inhabiting the lower parts of the Columbia, are a small tribe, and correctly
come under the name of Flat Heads, as they are almost the only people who
strictly adhere to the custom of squeezing and flattening the head. PLATE
209, is the portrait of a Chinook boy, of fifteen or eighteen years of age, on
whose head that frightful operation has never been performed. And in
PLATE 210, will be seen the portrait of a Chinook woman, with her child
in her arms, her own head flattened, and the infant undergoing the process
of flattening ; which is done by placing its back on a board, or thick plank,
to which it is lashed with thongs, to a position from which it cannot escape,
and the back of the head supported by a sort of pillow, made of moss or
rabbit skins, with an inclined piece (as is seen in the drawing), resting on
the forehead of the child ; being every day drawn down a little tighter by
means of a cord, which holds it in its place, until it at length touches the
nose ; thus forming a straight line from the crown of the head to the end of
the nose.

This process is seemingly a very cruel one, though I doubt whether
it causes much pain ; as it is done in earliest infancy, whilst the bones
are soft and cartilaginous, and easily pressed into this distorted shape,
by forcing the occipital up, and the frontal down ; so that the skull at the
top, in profile, will show a breadth of not more than an inch and a half, or
two inches ; when in a front view it exhibits a great expansion on the sides,
making it at the top, nearly the width of one and a half natural heads.

By this remarkable operation, the brain is singularly changed from its
natural shape ; but in all probability, not in the least diminished or injured
in its natural functions. This belief is drawn from the testimony of many
credible witnesses, who have closely scrutinized them ; and ascertained that
those who have the head flattened, are in no way inferior in intellectual
powers to those whose heads are in their natural shapes.

In the process of flattening the head, there is often another form of crib
or cradle, into which the child is placed, much in the form of a small canoe,
dug out of a log of wood, with a cavity just large enough to admit the body
of the child, and the head also, giving it room to expand in width ; while
from the head of the cradle there is a sort of lever, with an elastic spring to
it that comes down on the forehead of the child, and produces the same
effects as the one I have above described.

The child is wrapped in rabbits' skins, and placed in this little coffin-like

2 10' 2

111

looking cradle, from which it is not, in some instances, taken out for several
weeks. The bandages over and about the lower limbs, and as high up as
the breast, are loose, and repeatedly taken off in the same day, as the
child may require cleansing; but the head and shoulders are kept strictly
in the same position, and the breast given to the child by holding It up in
the cradle, loosing- the outer end of the lever that comes over the nose,
and raising it up of turning it aside, so as to allow the child to come at the
breast, without moving its head.

The length of time that the infants are generally carried in these cradles
is three, five, or eight weeks, until the bones are so formed as to keep their
shapes, and preserve this singular appearance through life.

This little cradle has a strap, which passes over the woman's forehead
whilst the cradle rides on her back ; and if the child dies during its subjec
tion to this rigid mode, its cradle becomes its coffin, forming a little canoe,
in which it lies floating on the water in some sacred pool, where they are
often in the habit of fastening the canoes, containing the dead bodies of the
old and the young ; or which is often the case, elevated into the branches
of trees, where their bodies are left to decay, and their bones to dry ;
whilst they are bandaged in many skins, and curiously packed in their
canoes, with paddles to propel, and ladles to bail them out, and provisions
to last, and pipes to smoke, as they are performing their " long journey
after death, to their contemplated hunting-grounds," which these people
think is to be performed in their canoes.

In PLATE 210| letter a, is an accurate drawing of the above-mentioned
cradle, perfectly exemplifying the custom described ; and by the side of it
(letter &,) the drawing of a Chinook skull, giving the front and profile view
of it. Letter c, in the same plate, exhibits an Indian skull in its natural
shape, to contrast with the artificial.*

This mode of flattening the head is certainly one of the most unaccount
able, as well as unmeaning customs, found amongst the North American
Indians. What it could have originated in, or for what purpose, other than
a mere useless fashion, it could have been invented, no human being can
probably ever tell. The Indians have many curious and ridiculous fashions,
which have come into existence, no doubt, by accident, and are of no earthly
use (like many silly fashions in enlightened society), yet they are per
petuated much longer, and that only because their ancestors practiced them
in ages gone by. The greater part of Indian modes, however, and particularly
those that are. accompanied with much pain or trouble in their enactment,
are most wonderfully adapted to the production of some good or useful re
sults ; for which the inquisitive world, I am sure, may for ever look in va-'r. to
this stupid and useless fashion, that has most unfortunately been engendered
on these ignorant people, whose superstition forbids them to lay it down.

* Besides these, there are a number of other skulls in the Collection, most interesting
specimens, from various tribes.

112

It is a curious fact, and one that should be mentioned here, that these
people have not been alone in this strange custom ; but that it existed and
was practiced precisely the same, until recently, amongst the Choctaws and
Chickasaws; who occupied a large part of the states of Mississippi and
Alabama, where they have laid their bones, and hundreds of their skulls
have been procured, bearing incontrovertible evidence of a similar treatment,
with similar results.

The Choctaws who are now living, do not flatten the head ; the custom,
like that of the medicine- bag , and many others, which the Indians have de
parted from, from the assurances of white people, that they were of no use,
and were utterly ridiculous to be followed. Whilst amongst the Choctaws, I
could learn little more from the people about such a custom, than that " their
old men recollected to have heard it spoken of" which is much less satis
factory evidence than inquisitive white people get by referring to the grave,
which the Indian never meddles with. The distance of the Choctaws from
the country of the Chinooks, is certainly between two and three thousand
miles ; and there being no intervening tribes practicing the same custom
and no probability that any two tribes in a state of Nature, would ever hit
upon so peculiar an absurdity, we come, whether willingly or not, to the
conclusion, that these tribes must at some former period, have lived neigh
bours to each other, or have been parts of the same family ; which time and
circumstances have gradually removed to such a very great distance from
each other. Nor does this, in my opinion (as many suppose), furnish any
very strong evidence in support of the theory, that the different tribes have
all sprung from one stock ; but carries a strong argument to the other side,
by furnishing proof of the very great tenacity these people have for their
peculiar customs ; many of which are certainly not general, but often carried
from one end of the Continent to the other, or from ocean to ocean, by
bands or sections of tribes, which often get " run off" by their enemies
in wars, or in hunting, as I have before described ; where to emigrate
to a vast distance is not so unaccountable a thing, but almost the inevitable
result, of a tribe that have got set in motion, all the way amongst deadly
foes, in whose countries it would be fatal to stop.

I am obliged therefore, to believe, that either the Chinooks emigrated from
the Atlantic, or that the Choctaws came from the West side of the Rocky
Mountains ; and I regret exceedingly that I have not been able as yet, to
compare the languages of these two tribes, in which I should expect to find
some decided resemblance. They might, however, have been near neigh
bours, and practicing a copied custom where there was no resemblance in
their language.

Whilst among the Choctaws I wrote down from the lips of one of their
chiefs, the following tradition, which seems strongly to favour the supposi
tion that they came from a great distance in the West, and probably from
beyond the Rocky Mountains : Tradition. " The Choctaws, a great many

113

winters ago, commenced moving from the country where they then lived, which
was a great distance to the West of the great river, and the mountains of
snow ; and they were a great many years on their way. A great medicine-man
led them the whole way, by going before with a red pole, which he stuck in the
ground every night where they encamped. This pole was every morning
found leaning to the East ; and he told them that they must continue to
travel to the East, until the pole would stand upright in their encampment,
and that there the Great Spirit had directed that they should live. At a
place which they name.d Nah-ne-wa-ye (the sloping hill) ; the pole stood
straight up, where they pitched their encampment, which was one mile square,
with the men encamped on the outside, and the women and children in the
centre ; which is the centre of the old Choctaw nation to ' this day.' "

In the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia, there are, besides the
Chinooks, the Klick-a-tacks, Cheehaylas, Na-as, and many other tribes,
whose customs are interesting, and of whose manufactures, my Museum con
tains many very curious and interesting specimens, from which I have
inserted a few outlines in PLATE 210|, to which the reader will refer. Letter
d, is a correct drawing of a Chinook canoe e, a Na-as war-canoe, curiously
carved and painted -f, two dishes or ladles for baling their canoes g, a
Stikeen mask, curiously carved and painted, worn by the mystery-men when
in councils, for the purpose of calling up the Great or Evil Spirits to consult
on the policy of peace or war h, custom of the Na-as women of wearing a
block of wood in the under lip, which is almost as unaccountable as the
custom of flattening the head. Letter i, is a drawing of the block, and the
exact dimensions of one in the Collection, taken out of the lip of a deceased
Na-as woman k, " wapito diggers," instruments used by the women for
digging the wapito, a bulbous root, much like a turnip, which the French
Traders call pomme blanche, and which I have before described. Letter /,
pau-to-mau-gons, or po-ko-mo-kons, war-clubs, the one made by the Indians
from a piece of native copper, the other of the bone of the sperm whale.
Letter n, two very curiously carved pipes, made of black slate and highly
polished.

Besides these, the visitor will find in the Collection a great number
of their very ingenious articles of dress ; their culinary, war, and hunting
implements, as well as specimens of their spinning and weaving, by which
they convert dog's hair and the wool of the mountain-sheep into durable and
splendid robes, the production of which, I venture to say, would bid defiance
to any of the looms in the American or British Factories.

The Indians who inhabit the rugged wildernesses of the Rocky Mountains,
are chiefly the Blackfeet and Crows, of whom I have heretofore spoken, and
the Shoshonees or Snakes, who are a part of the Camanchees, speaking the
same language, and the Shoshokies or root diggers, who inhabit the southern,
parts of those vast and wild realms, with the Arapohoes and Navahoes, who
are neighbours to the Camanchees on the West, having Santa Fe on tlw
VOL. n. Q

114

South, and the coast of California on the West. Of the Shoshonees and
Shoshokies, all travellers who have spoken of them, give them a good cha
racter, as a kind and hospitable and harmless people ; to which fact I could
cite the unquestionable authorities of the excellent Rev. Mr. Parker, who
has published his interesting Tour across the Rocky Mountains Lewis and
Clarke Capt. Bonneville and others; and I allege it to be a truth, that the
reason why we find them as they are uniformly described, a kind and inoffen
sive people, is, that they have not as yet been abused that they are in their
primitive state, as the Great Spirit made and endowed them with good
hearts and kind feelings, unalloyed and untainted by the vices of the money-
making world.

To the same fact, relative to the tribes on the Columbia river, I have been
allowed to quote the authority of H. Beaver, a very worthy and kind Reve
rend Gentleman of England, who has been for several years past living with
these people, and writes to me thus :

" I shall be always ready, with pleasure, to testify my perfect accordance
with the sentiments I have heard you express, both in your public lectures,
and private conversation, relative to the much-traduced character of our
Red brethren, particularly as it relates to their honesty, hospitality and
peaceableness, throughout the length and breadth of the Columbia. What
ever of a contrary disposition has at any time, in those parts, been dis
played by them, has, I am persuaded been exotic, and forced on them by
the depravity and impositions of the white Traders."

115

LETTER No. 49

ST. LOUIS.

IN one of my last Letters from Fort Gibson, written some months since,
I promised to open my note-book on a future occasion, to give some further
account of tribes and remnants of tribes located in that, vicinity, amongst
whom 1 had been spending some time with my pen and my pencil ; and
having since that time extended my rambles over much of that ground again,
and also through the regions of the East and South East, from whence
the most of those tribes have emigrated ; I consider this a proper time to
say something more of them, and their customs and condition, before I go
farther.

The most of these, as I have said, are tribes or parts of tribes which the
Government has recently, by means of Treaty stipulations, removed to that
wild and distant country, on to lands which have been given to them in
exchange for their valuable possessions within the States, ten or twelve hun
dred miles to the East.

Of a number of such reduced and removed tribes, who have been located
West of the Missouri, and North of St. Louis, 1 have already spoken in a
former Letter, and shall yet make brief mention of another, which has been
conducted to the same region and then direct the attention of the reader
to those which are settled in the neighbourhood of Fort Gibson, who are tht
Cherokees Creeks Choctaws Chickasaws Seminoles, and Euchees.

The people above alluded to are the

SHA-WA-NO'S.

The history of this once powerful tribe is so closely and necessarily con
nected with that of the United States, and the revolutionary war, that it is
generally pretty well understood. This tribe formerly inhabited great parts
of the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, (and for the last sixty years,) a
part of the states of Ohio and Indiana, to which they had removed ; and
now, a considerable portion of them, a tract of country several hundred
miles West of the Mississippi, which has been conveyed to them by Govern
ment in exchange for their lands iu Ohio, from which it is expected the re
mainder of the tribe will soon move. It has been said that this tribe came
formerly from Florida, but 1 do not believe it. The mere fact, that there is

116

found in East Florida a river by the name of Su wa-nee, which bears some
resemblance to Sha-wa-no, seems, as far as I can learn, to be the principal
evidence that has been adduced for the fact. They have evidently been
known, and that within the scope of our authenticated history, on the Atlantic
coast on the Delaware and Chesapeak bays. And after that, have fought
their way against every sort of trespass and abuse against the bayonet
and disease, through the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ohio, In
diana, Illinois and Missouri, to their present location near the Kon-zas
River, at least 1500 miles from their native country.

This tribe and the Delawares, of whom I have spoken, were neighbours
on the Atlantic coast, and alternately allies and enemies, have retrograded
and retreated together have fought their enemies united, and fought each
other, until their remnants that have outlived their nation's calamities, have
now sel.tled as neighbours together in the Western wilds ; where, it is pro
bable, the sweeping hand of death will soon relieve them from further
necessity of warring or moving ; and the Government, from the necessity or
policy of proposing to them a yet more distant home. In their long and
disastrous pilgrimage, both of these tribes laid claim to, and alternately
occupied the beautiful and renowned valley of Wy-6-ming ; and after strew
ing the Susquehana's lovely banks with their bones, and their tumuli, they
both yielded at last to the dire necessity, which follows all civilized inter
course with natives, and fled to the Alleghany, and at last to the banks of
the Ohio ; where necessity soon came again, and again, and again, until the
great " Guardian" of all "red children" placed them where they now are.

There are of this tribe remaining about 1200 ; some few of whom are
agriculturists, and industrious and temperate, and religious people ; but the
greater proportion of them are miserably poor and dependent, having
scarcely the ambition to labour or to hunt, and a passion for whiskey-drink
ing, that sinks them into the most abject poverty, as they will give the last
thing they possess for a drink of it.

There is not a tribe on the Continent whose history is more interesting
than that of the Shawanos, nor any one that has produced more extra
ordinary men.

The great Tecumseh, whose name and history I can but barely allude to
at this time, was the chief of this tribe, and perhaps the most extraordinary
Indian of his age.

The present chief of the tribe Lay-law-she-kaw (he who goes up the
river, PLATE 211), is a very aged, but extraordinary man, with a fine and
intelligent head, and his ears slit and stretched down to his shoulders, a
custom highly valued in this tribe; which is done by severing the rim of
the ear with a knife, and stretching it down by wearing heavy weights
attached to it at times, to elongate it as much as possible, making a large
orifice, through which, on parades, &c. they often pass a bunch- of arrows or
quill5 7 and wear them as ornaments.

117

In this instance (which was not an unusual one), the rims of the ears
were so extended down, that they touched the shoulders, making a ring
through which the whole hand could easily be passed. The daughter of
this old chief, Ka-te-qua (the female eagle, PLATE 212), was an agreeable-
looking girl, of fifteen years of age, and much thought of by the tribe.
Pah-te-coo-saw (the straight man, PLATE 213), a warrior of this tribe, has
distinguished himself by his exploits ; and when he sat for his picture, had
painted his face in a very curious manner with black and red paint.

Ten-squa-ta-way (the open door, PLATE 214), called the " Shawnce
Prophet," is perhaps one of the most remarkable men, who has flourished
on these frontiers for some time past. This man is brother of the famous
Tecumseh, and quite equal in his medicines or mysteries, to what his brother
was in arms ; he was blind in his left eye, and in his right hand he was hold
ing his " medicine Jire," and his " sacred string of beans" in the other.
With these mysteries he made his way through most of the North Western
tribes, enlisting warriors wherever he went, to assist Tecumseh in effecting
his great scheme, of forming a confederacy of all the Indians on the frontier,
to drive back the whites and defend the Indians' rights ; which he told them
could never in any other way be protected. His plan was certainly a correct
one, if not a very great one ; and his brother, the Prophet, exercised his
astonishing influence in raising men for him to fight his battles, and carry
out his plans. For this purpose, he started upon an embassy to the various
tribes on the Upper Missouri, nearly all of which he visited with astonishing
success; exhibiting his mystery fire, and using his sacred string of beans,
which every young man who was willing to go to war, was to touch ; thereby
taking the solemn oath to start when called upon, and not to turn back.

In this most surprising manner, this ingenious man entered the villages of
most of his inveterate enemies, and of others who never had heard of the
name of his tribe ; and manoeuvred in so successful a way, as to make
his medicines a safe passport for him to all of their villages ; and also the
means of enlisting in the different tribes, some eight or ten thousand warriors,
who had solemnly sworn to return with him on his way back ; and to assist
in the wars that Tecumseh was to wage against the whites on the frontier. I
found, on my visit to the Sioux to the Puncahs, to the Riccarees and the
Mandans, that he had been there, and even to the Blackfeet; and every
where told them of the potency of his mysteries, and assured them, that if they
allowed the fire to go out in their wigwams, it would prove fatal to them in
every case. He carried with him into every wigwam that he visited, the image
of a dead person of the size of life ; which was made ingeniously of some light
material, and always kept concealed under bandages of thin white muslin
cloths and not to be opened ; of this he made great mystery, and got his
recruits to swear by touching a sacred string of white beans, which he had
attached to its neck or some other way secreted about it. In this way, by
his extraordinary cunning, he had carried terror into the country as far as

118

he went ; and had actually enlisted some eight or ten thousand men, who
were sworn to follow him home ; and in a few days would have been on their
way with him, had not a couple of his political enemies in his own tribe, fol
lowed on his track, even to those remote tribes, and defeated his plans, by
pronouncing him an impostor ; and all of his forms and plans an imposition
upon them, which they would be fools to listen to. In this manner, this
great recruiting officer was defeated in his plans, for raising an army of men
to fight his brother's battles ; and to save his life, he discharged his medi
cines as suddenly as possible, and secretly travelled his way home, over
those vast regions, to his own tribe, where the death of Tecumseh, and the
opposition of enemies, killed all his splendid prospects, and doomed him to
live the rest of his days in silence, and a sort of disgrace ; like all men in
Indian communities who pretend to great medicine, in any way, and fail ; as
they all think such failure an evidence of the displeasure of the Great Spirit,
who always judges right.

This, no doubt, has been a very shrewd and influential man, but circum
stances have destroyed him, as they have many other great men before him ;
and he now lives respected, but silent and melancholy in his tribe. I con
versed with him a great deal about his brother Tecumseh, of whom he spoke
frankly, and seemingly with great pleasure ; but of himself and his own great
schemes, he would say nothing. He told me that Tecumseh's plans were
to embody all the Indian tribes in a grand confederacy, from the province of
Mexico, to the Great Lakes, to unite their forces in an army that would be
able to meet and drive back the white people, who were continually ad
vancing on the Indian tribes, and forcing them from their lands towards the
Rocky Mountains that Tecumseh was a great general, and that nothing
but his premature death defeated his grand plan.

The Shawanos, like most of the other remnants of tribes, in whose coun
tries the game has been destroyed, and by the use of whiskey, have been
reduced to poverty and absolute want, have become, to a certain degree,
agriculturists; raising corn and beans, potatoes, hogs, horses, &c., so as to be
enabled, if they could possess anywhere on earth, a country which they could
have a certainty of holding in perpetuity, as their own, to plant and raise
their own crops, and necessaries of life from the ground.

The Government have effected with these people, as with most of the
other dispersed tribes, an arrangement by which they are to remove West of
the Mississippi, to lands assigned them ; on which they are solemnly pro
mised a homeybr ever ; the uncertain definition of which important word,
time and circumstances alone will determine.

Besides the personages whom I have above-mentioned, I painted the por
traits of several others of note in the tribe ; and amongst them Lay-loo-ah-
pe-ai shee-kaw (the grass-bush and blossom), whom I introduce in this place,
rather from the very handy and poetical name, than from any great personal
distinction known to have been acquired by him.

t^_ \ v \\\: Wfc&

213

214

119

THE CHER-O-KEE3.

Living in the vicinity of, and about Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas, and
700 miles west of the Mississippi river, are a third part or more of the
once very numerous and powerful tribe who inhabited and still inhabit, a
considerable part of the state of Georgia, and under a Treaty made with the
United States Government, have been removed to those regions, where
they are settled on a fine tract of country ; and having advanced some
what in the arts and agriculture before they started, are now found to be
mostly living well, cultivating their fields of corn and other crops, which
they raise with great success.

Under a serious difficulty existing between these people (whom their for
mer solemn Treaties with the United States Government, were acknowledged
a free and independent nation, with powers to make and enforce their own
laws), and the state of Georgia, which could not admit such a Government
within her sovereignty, it was thought most expedient by the Government of
the United States, to propose to them, for the fourth or fifth time, to enter
into Treaty stipulations again to move ; and by so doing to settle the difficult
question with the state of Georgia, and at the same time, to place them in
peaceable possession of a large tract of fine country, where they would for
ever be free from the continual trespasses and abuses which it was supposed
they would be subjected to, if they were to remain in the state of Georgia,
under the present difficulties and the high excited feelings which were then
existing in the minds of many people along their borders.

John Ross, a civilized and highly educated and accomplished gentleman,
who is the head-chief of the tribe, (PLATE 215), and several of his leading
subordinate chiefs, have sternly and steadily rejected the proposition of such
a Treaty ; and are yet, with a great majority of the nation remaining on their
own ground in the state of Georgia, although some six or 7000 of the tribe
have several years since removed to the Arkansas, under the guidance and con-
troul of an aged and dignified chief by the name of Jol-lee (PLATE 217).

This man, like most of the chiefs, as well as a very great proportion of
the Cherokee population, has a mixture of white and red blood in his veins,
of which, in this instance, the first seems decidedly to predominate. Another
chief, and second to this, amongst this portion of the Cherokees, by the
name of Teh-ke-neh-kee (the black coat), I have also painted and placed
in my Collection, as well as a very interesting specimen of the Cherokee
women (PLATE 216).

I have travelled pretty generally through the several different locations of
this interesting tribe, both in the Western and Eastern divisions, and have
found them, as well as the Choctaws and Creeks, their neighbours, very far
advanced in the arts; affording to the world the most satisfactory evidences
that are to be found in America, of the fact, that the Indian was not made
to shun and evade good example, and necessarily to live and die a brute,

120

as many speculating men would needs record them and treat them, until
they are robbed and trampled into the dust ; that no living evidences miglu
give the lie to their theories, or draw the cloak from their cruel and horrible
iniquities.

As I have repeatedly said to my readers, in the course of my former
epistles, that the greater part of my time would be devoted to the condition
and customs of the tribes that might be found in their primitive state, they
will feel disposed to pardon me for barely introducing the Cherokees, and
several others of these very interesting tribes, and leaving them and their cus
toms and histories (which are of themselves enough for volumes), to the reader,
who is, perhaps, nearly as familiar as I am myself, with the full and fair ac
counts of these people, who have had their historians and biographers.

The history of the Cherokees and other numerous remnants of tribes, who
are the exhabitants of the finest and most valued portions of the United
States, is a subject of great interest and importance, and has already been
woven into the most valued histories of the country, as well as forming
material parts of the archives of the Government, which is my excuse for
barely introducing the reader to them, and beckoning him off again to the
native and untrodden wilds, to teach him something new and unrecorded.
Yet I leave the subject, as I left the people (to whom I became attached,
for their kindness and friendship), with a heavy heart, wishing them success
and the blessing of the Great Spirit, who alone can avert the doom that
would almost seem to be fixed for their unfortunate race.

The Cherokees amount in all to about 22,000, 16,000 of whom are yet
living in Georgia, under the Government of their chief, John Ross, whose
name I have before mentioned ; with this excellent man, who has been for
many years devotedly opposed to the Treaty stipulations for moving from
their country, I have been familiarly acquainted ; and, notwithstanding the
bitter invective and animadversions that have been by his political enemies
heaped upon him, I feel authorized, and bound, to testify to the unassuming
and gentlemanly urbanity of his manners, as well as to the rigid temperance
of his habits, and the purity of his language, in which I never knew him to
transgress for a moment, in public or private interviews.

At this time, the most strenuous endeavours are making on the part of
the Government and the state of Georgia, for the completion of an arrange
ment for the removal of the whole of this tribe, as well as of the Choctaws
and Seminoles ; and I have not a doubt of their final success, which seems,
from all former experience, to attend every project of the kind made by the
Government to their red children.*

* Since writing the above, the Government have succeeded in removing the remainder
of the Cherokees beyond the Mississippi, where they have taken up their residence along
side of their old friends, who emigrated several years since under Jol-lee, as I have before
mentioned. In the few years past, the Government has also succeeded in stipulating
with, and removing West of the Mississippi, nearly every remnant of tribes spoken of in

215

216

217

218

121

It is not for me to decide, nor in this place to reason, as to the justice or
injustice of the treatment of these people at the hands of the Government
or individuals ; or of the wisdom of the policy which is to place them in a
new, though vast and fertile country, 1000 miles from the land of their
birth, in the doubtful dilemma whether to break the natural turf with their
rusting ploughshares, or string their bows, and dash over the boundless
prairies, beckoned on by the alluring dictates of their nature, seeking laurels
amongst the ranks of their new enemies, and subsistence amongst the herds
of buffaloes.

Besides the Cberokees in Georgia, and those that I have spoken of in the
neighbourhood of Fort Gibson, there is another band or family of the same
tribe, of several hundreds, living on the banks of the Canadian river, an
hundred or more miles South West of Fort Gibson, under the Government
of a distinguished chief by the name of Tuch-ee (familiarly called by the
white people, " Dutch" PLATE 218). This is one of the most extraordinary
men that lives on the frontiers at the present day, both for his remarkable
history, and for his fine and manly figure, and character of face.

This man was in the employment of the Government as a guide and
hunter for the regiment of dragoons, on their expedition to the Camanchees,
where I had him for a constant companion for several months, and opportu
nities in abundance, for studying his true character, and of witnessing his
wonderful exploits in the different varieties of the chase. The history of
this man's life has been very curious and surprising ; and 1 sincerely hope
that some one, with more leisure and more talent than myself, will take it
up, and do it justice. I promise that the life of ihis man furnishes the best
materials for a popular tale, that are now to be procured on the Western
frontier.

He is familiarly known, and much of his life, to all the officers who have been
stationed at Fort Gibson, or at any of the posts in that region of country.

Some twenty years or more since, becoming fatigued and incensed with
civilized encroachments, that were continually making on the borders of the
Cherokee country in Georgia, where he then resided, and probably, fore
seeing the disastrous results they were to lead to, he beat up for volunteers
to emigrate to the West, where he had designed to go, and colonize in a wild
country beyond the reach and contamination of civilized innovations ; and
succeeded in getting several hundred men, women, and children, whom he led
over the banks of the Mississippi, and settled upon the head waters of White
River, where they lived until the appearance of white faces, which began to
peep through the forests at them, when they made another move of 600
miles to the banks of the Canadian, where they now reside ; and where, by

tins and the two last Letters, so that there are at this time but a few hundreds of the red
men East of the Mississippi ; and it is probable, that a few months more will effect the
removal of the remainder of them. See their present locations West of the Mississippi;
ou the map at the beginning of this Volume.

VOL. II. R

the system ot despeiate warfare, which he has carried on against the Osages
and the Camanchees, he has successfully cleared away from a large tract
of fine country, all the enemies that could contend for it, and now holds it,
with his little band of myrmidons, as their own undisputed soil, where they
are living comfortably by raising from the soil fine crops of corn and pota
toes, and other necessaries of life ; whilst they indulge whenever they please,
in the pleasures of the chase amongst the herds of buffaloes, or in the
natural propensity for ornamenting their dresses and their war-clubs with
the scalp-locks of their enemies.

THE CREEKS (on MUS-KO-GEES).

Of 20,000 in numbers, have, until quite recently, occupied an immense
tract of country in the states of Mississippi and Alabama ; but by a similar
arrangement (and for a similar purpose) with the Government, have ex
changed their possessions there for a country, adjoining to the Cherokees,
on the South side of the Arkansas, to which they have already all removed,
and on which, like the Cherokees, they are laying out fine farms, and
building good houses, in which they live ; in many instances, surrounded
by immense fields of corn and wheat. There is scarcely a finer country on
earth than that now owned by the Creeks ; and in North America, certainly
no Indian tribe more advanced in the arts and agriculture than they are.
It is no uncommon thing to see a Creek with twenty or thirty slaves at work
on his plantation, having brought them from a slave-holding country, from
which, in their long journey, and exposure to white man's ingenuity, I ven
ture to say, that most of them got rid of one-half of them, whilst on their
long and disastrous crusade.

The Creeks, as well as the Cherokees and Choctaws, have good schools
and churches established amongst them, conducted by excellent and pious
wen, from whose example they are drawing great and lasting benefits.

In PLATES 219 and 220, I have given the portraits of two distinguished
men, and I believe, both chiefs. The first by the name of Stee-cha-co-me-co
(the great king), familiarly called " Ben Ferryman ;" and the other, Hol-te-

mal-te-tez-te-neehk-ee ( ), called " Sam Ferryman." These two men

are brothers, and are fair specimens of the tribe, who are mostly clad in
calicoes, and other cloths of civilized manufacture ; tasselled and fringed off
by themselves in the most fantastic way, and sometimes with much true and
picturesque taste . They use a vast many beads, and other trinkets, to hang
upon their necks, and ornament their moccasins and beautiful belts.

THE CHOCTAWS,

Of fifteen thousand, are another tribe, removed from the Northern parts of
Alabama, and Mississippi, within the few years past, and now occupying a
large and rich tract ot country, South of the Arkansas and the Canadian

123

219

220

124

^ 123

rivers ; adjoining to the country of the Creeks and the Cherokees, equally
civilized, and living much in the same manner.

In this tribe I painted the portrait of their famous and excellent chief, Mo-
sho-la-tub-bee (he who puts out and kills, PLATE 221), who has since died
of the small-pox. In the same plate will also be seen, the portrait of a dis
tinguished and very gentlemanly man, who has been well-educated, and who
gave me much curious and valuable information, of the history and traditions
of his tribe. The name of this man, is Ha-tchoc-tuck-nee (the snapping
turtle, PLATE 222), familiarly called by the whites "Peter Pincklin."

These people seem, even in their troubles, to be happy ; and have, like all
the other remnants of tribes, preserved with great tenacity their different
games, which it would seem they are everlastingly practicing for want of
other occupations or amusements in life. Whilst I was staying at the Choc-
taw agency in the midst of their nation, it seemed to be a sort of season of
amusements, a kind of holiday : when the whole tribe almost, were assembled
around the establishment, and from day to day we were entertained with
some games or feats that were exceedingly amusing : horse-racing, dancing,
wrestling, foot- racing, and ball-playing, were amongst the most exciting ; and
of all the catalogue, the most beautiful, was decidedly that of ball-playing.
This wonderful game / which is the favourite one amongst all the tribes, and
with these Southern tribes played exactly the same, can never be appreciated
by those who are not happy enough to see it.

It is no uncommon occurrence for six or eight hundred or a thousand of
these young men, to engage in a game of ball, with five or six times that
number of spectators, of men, women and children, surrounding the ground,
and looking on. And I pronounce such a scene, with its hundreds of Nature's
most beautiful models, denuded, and painted of various colours, running and
leaping into the air, in all the most extravagant and varied forms, in the
desperate struggles for the ball, a school for the painter or sculptor, equal
to any of those which ever inspired the hand of the artist in the Olympian
games or the Roman forum.

J have made it an uniform rule, whilst in the Indian country, to attend
every ball-play I could hear of, if I could do it by riding a distance of twenty or
thirty miles ; and my usual custom has been on such occasions, to straddle
the back of my horse, and look on to the best advantage. In this way I have
sat, and oftentimes reclined, and almost dropped from my horse's back, with
irresistible laughter at the succession of droll tricks, and kicks and scuffles
which ensue, in the almost superhuman struggles for the ball. These plays gene
rally commence at nine o'clock, or near it, in the morning ; and I have more
than once balanced myself on my pony, from that time till near sundown,
without more than one minute of intermission at a time, before the game has
been decided.

It is impossible for pen and ink alone, or brushes, or even with their com
bined efforts, to give more than a caricature of such a scene ; but such as I

124

have been able to do, I have put upon the canvass, and in the slight outlines
which I , have here attached in PLATES 224, 225, 226, taken from those
paintings, (for the colouring to which the reader must look to my pen,) I
will convey as correct an account as I can, and leave the reader to imagine
the rest ; or look to other books for what I may have omitted.

While at the Choctaw agency it was announced, that there was to be a
great play on a certain day, within a few miles, on which occasion I attended,
and made- the three sketches which are hereto annexed ; and also the follow
ing entry in my note-book, which I literally copy out.

' Monday afternoon at three, o'clock, I rode out with Lieutenants S. and
M., to a very pretty prairie, about six miles distant, to the ball-play-ground
of the Choctaws, where we found several thousand Indians encamped. There
were two points of timber about half a mile apart, in which the two parties
for the play, with their respective families and friends, were encamped ; and
lying between them, thf prairie on which the game was to be played. My
companions and myself, although we had been apprised, that to see the
whole of a ball-play, we must remain on the ground all the night previous,
had brought nothing to sleep upon, resolving to keep our eyes open, and see
what transpired through the night. During the afternoon, we loitered about
amongst the different tents and shantees of the two encampments, and after
wards, at sundown, witnessed the ceremony of measuring out the ground,
and erecting the " byes" or goals which were to guide the play. Each party
had their goal made with two upright posts, about 25 feet high and six feet
apart, set firm in the ground, with a pole across at the top. These goals
were about forty or fifty rods apart ; and at a point just half way between,
was another small stake, driven down, where the ball was to be thrown up
at the firing of a gun, to be struggled for by the players. All this prepara
tion was made by some old men, who were, it seems, selected to be the
judges of the play, who drew a line from one bye to the other ; to which
directly came from the woods, on both sides, a great concourse of women
and old men, boys and girls, and dogs and horses, where bets were to be made
on the play. The betting was all done across this line, and seemed to be chiefly
left to the women, who seemed to have martialled out a little of everything
that their houses and their fields possessed. Goods and chattels knives
dresses blankets pots and kettles dogs and horses, and guns ; and all
were placed in the possession of stake-holders, who sat by them, and watched
them on the ground all night, preparatory to the play.

The sticks with which this tribe play, are bent into an oblong hoop at the
end, with a sort of slight web of small thongs tied across, to prevent the ball
from passing through. The players hold one of these in each hand, and by
leaping into the air, they catch the ball between the two nettings arid throw
it, without being allowed to strike it, or catch it in their hands.

The mode in which these sticks are constructed and used, will be seen in
the portrait of Tullock-chish-ko (he who drinks the juice of the stone), the

125

most distinguished ball-player of the Choctaw nation (PLATE 223), lepre-'
sented in his ball-play dress, with hiis ball-sticks in his hands. In every bail-
play of these people, it is a rule of the play, that no man shall wear mocca
sins on his feet, or any other dress, than his breech-cloth around his waist,
with a beautiful bead belt, and a " tail," made of white horsehair or quills,
and a " mane" on the neck, of horsehair dyed of various colours.

This game had been arranged and " made up," three or four months be
fore the parties met to play it, and in the following manner : The two
champions who led the two parties, and had the alternate choosing of the
players through the whole tribe, sent runners, with the ball-sticks most fan
tastically ornamented Avith ribbons and red paint, to be touched by each one
of the chosen players ; who thereby agreed to be on the spot at the appointed
time and ready for the play. The ground having been all prepared and
preliminaries of the game all settled, and the bettings all made, and goods
all " staked," night came on without the appearance of any players on the
ground. But soon after dark, .a procession of lighted flambeaux was seen
coming from each encampment, to the ground where the players assembled
around their respective byes ; and at the beat of the drums and chaunts of
the women, each party of players commenced the "ball-play dance" (PLATE
224). Each party danced for a quarter of an hour around their respective
byes, in their ball-play dress ; rattling their ball-sticks together in the most
violent manner, and all singing as loud as they could raise their voices;
whilst the women of each party, who had their goods at stake, formed into
two rows on the line between the two parties of players, and danced also, in
an uniform step, and all their voices joined in chaunts to the Great Spirit;
in which they were soliciting his favour in deciding the game to their advan
tage ; and also encouraging the players to exert every power they possessed,
in the struggle that was to ensue. In the mean time, four old medicine-men,
who were to have the starting of the ball, and who were to be judges of the
play, were seated at the point where the ball was to be started ; and busily
smoking to the Great Spirit for their success in judging rightly, and impar
tially, between the parties in so important an affair.

This dance was one of the most picturesque scenes imaginable, and was
repeated at intervals of every half hour during the night, and exactly in the
same manner; so that the players were certainly awake all the night, and
arranged in their appropriate dress, prepared for the play which was to com
mence at nine o'clock the next morning. In the morning, at the hour, the
two parties and all their friends, were drawn out and over the ground ; when
at length the game commenced, by the judges throwing up the ball at the
firing of a gun ; when an instant struggle ensued between the players, who
were some six or seven hundred in numbers, and were mutually endeavouring
to catch the ball in their sticks, and throw it home and between their respec
tive stakes ; which, whenever successfully done, counts one for game. In this
g;ime every player was dressed alike, that is, divested of all dress, except the

126

girdle and the tail, which I have before described ; and m these desperate
struggles for the ball, when it is up (PLATE 225, where hundreds are run
ning together and leaping, actually over each other's heads, and dartin-
between their adversaries' legs, tripping and throwing, and foiling each other
in every possible manner, and every voice raised to the highest key, in shrill
yelps and barks) ! there are rapid successions of feats, and of incidents, that
astonish and amuse far beyond the conception of any one who has not had
the singular good luck to witness them. In these struggles, erery mode is
used that can be devised, to oppose the progress of the foremost, who is likely
to get the ball ; and these obstructions often meet desperate individual resis
tance, which terminates in a violent scuffle, and sometimes in fisticuffs ; when
their stricks are dropped, and the parties are unmolested, whilst they are set
tling it between themselves; unless it be by a general stampedo, to which
they are subject who are down, if the ball happens to pass in their direction.
Every weapon, by a rule of all ball-plays, is laid by in their respective en
campments, and no man allowed to go for. one; so that the sudden broils
that take place on the ground, are presumed to be as suddenly settled with
out any probability of much personal injury ; and no one is allowed to inter
fere in any way with the contentious individuals.

There are times, when the ball gets to the ground (PLATE 226), and such
a confused mass rushing together around it, and knocking their sticks to
gether, without the possibility of any one getting or seeing it, for the dust
that they raise, that the spectator loses his strength, and everything else but
his ser.ses ; when the condensed mass of ball-sticks, and shins, and bloody
noses, is carried around the different parts of the ground, for a quarter of
an hour at a time, without any one of the mass being able to see the ball ;
and which they are often thus scuffling for, several minutes after it has been
thrown off, and played over another part of the ground.

For each time that the ball was passed between the stakes of either party,
one was counted for their game, and a halt of about one minute ; when it
was again started by the judges of the play, and a similar struggle ensued ;
and so on until the successful party arrived to 100, which was the limit of
the game, and accomplished at an hour's sun, when they took the stakes ;
and then, by a previous agreement, produced a number of jugs of whiskey,
which gave all a wholesome drink, and sent them all off merry and in good
humour, but not drunk.

After this exciting day, the concourse was assembled in the vicinity of
the agency house, where we had a great variety of dances and other
amusements; the most of which I have described on former occasions.
One, however, was new to me, and I must say a few words of it : this was
the Eagle Dance, a very pretty scene, which is got up by their young
men, in honour of that bird, for which they seem to have a religious
regrard. This picturesque dance was given by twelve or sixteen men, whose
bodies were chiefly naked and painted white, wilh white clay, and each

SIM !/ Jk^

127

one holding in his hand the tail of the eagle, while his head was also deco
rated with an eagle's quill (PLATE 227). Spears were stuck in the ground,
around which the dance was performed by four men at a time, who had
simultaneously, at the beat of the drum, jumped up frora the ground where
they had all sat in rows of four, one row immediately behind the other,
and ready to take the place of the first four when they left the ground
fatigued, which they did by hopping or jumping around behind the rest,
and taking their seats, ready to come up again in their turn, after each of
the other sets had been through the same forms.

In this dance, the steps or rather jumps, were different from anything
I had ever witnessed before, as the dancers were squat down, with their
bodies almost to the ground, in a severe and most difficult posture, as will
have been seen in the drawing.

I have already, in a former Letter, while speaking of the ancient custom
of flattening the head, given a curious tradition of this interesting tribe,
accounting for their having come from the West, and I here insert another .
or two, which I had, as well as the former one, from the lips of Peter
Pinchlin, a very intelligent and influential man in the tribe, of whom I have
spoken in page 123.

The Deluge. " Our people have always had a tradition of the Deluge,
which happened in this way : there was total darkness for a great time over
the whole of the earth ; the Choctaw doctors or mystery-men looked out for
daylight for a long time, until at last they despaired of ever seeing it, and the
whole nation were very unhappy. At last a light was discovered in the
North, and there was great rejoicing, until it was found to be great mountains
of water rolling on, which destroyed them all, except a few families who
had expected it and built a great raft, on which they were saved."

Future State. " Our people all believe that the spirit lives in a future
state that it has a great distance to travel after death towards the West
that it has to cross a dreadful deep and rapid stream, which is hemmed in
on both sides by high and rugged hills over this stream, from hill to hill,
there lies a long and slippery pine-log, with the bark peeled off, over which
the dead have to pass to the delightful hunting-grounds. On the other side
of the stream there are six persons of the good hunting-grounds, with rocks
in their hands, which they throw at them all when they are on the middle
of the log. The good walk on safely, to the good hunting-grounds, where
there is one continual day where the trees are always green where the sky
has no clouds where there are continual fine and cooling breezes where
there is one continual scene of feasting, dancing and rejoicing where there
is no pain or trouble, and people never grow old, but for ever live young and
enjoy the youthful pleasures.

"The wicked see the stones coming, and try to dodge, by which they fall
from the log, and go down thousands of feet to the water, which is dashing
over the rocks, and is stinking with dead fish, and animals, where they are

128

carried around and brought continually back to the same place in whirl
pools where the trees are all dead, and the waters are full of toads and
lizards, and snakes where the dead are always hungry, and have nothing
to eat are always sick, and never die where the sun never shines, and
where the wicked are continually climbing up by thousands on the sides ot
a high rock from which they can overlook the beautiful country of the good
bunting-grounds, the place of the happy, but never can reach it. "*-->

Origin of the Craw-fish band. *' Our people have amongst them a band
which is called, the Craw-fish band. They formerly, but at a very remote
period, lived under ground, and used to come up out of the mud they
were a species of craw-fish ; and they went on their hands and feet, and
lived in a large cave deep under ground, where there was no light for several
miles. They spoke no language at all, nor could they understand any.
The entrance to their cave was through the mud and they used to run
down through that, and into their cave ; and thus, the Choctaws were for
a long time unable to molest them. The Choctaws used to lay and wait
for them to come out into the sun, where they would try to talk to them,
and cultivate an acquaintance.

" One day, a parcel of them were run upon so suddenly by the Choctaws,
that they had no time to go through the mud into their cave, but were
driven into it by another entrance, which they had through the rocks.
The Choctaws then tried a long time to smoke them out, and at last suc
ceeded they treated them kindly taught them the Choctaw language
taught them to walk on two legs made them cut oft' their toe nails, and
pluck the hair from their bodies, after which they adopted them into their
nation and the remainder of them are living under ground to this day."

129

LETTER No. 50.

FORT SNELLING, FALL OF ST. ANTHONY.

HAVING recruited my health during the last winter, in recreation and
amusements on the Coast of Florida, like a bird of passage I started, at the
rallying notes of the swan and the wild goose, for the cool and freshness of
the North, but the gifted passengers soon left me behind. I found them
here, their nests built their eggs hatched their offspring fledged and
figuring in the world, before I arrived.

The majestic river from the Bahze to the Fall of St. Anthony, I have
just passed over ; with a high-wrought mind filled with amazement and
wonder, like other travellers who occasionally leave the stale and profitless
routine of the " Fashionable Tour," to gaze with admiration upon the wild
and native grandeur and majesty of this great Western world. The Upper Mis
sissippi, like the Upper Missouri, must be approached to be appreciated ; for
all that can be seen on the Mississippi below St. Louis, or for several hundred
miles above it, gives no hint or clue to the magnificence of the scenes which
are continually opening to the view of the traveller, and riveting him to the
deck of the steamer, through sunshine, lightning or rain, from the mouth of
the Ouisconsin to the Fall of St. Anthony.

The traveller in ascending the river, will see but little of picturesque
beauty in the landscape, until he reaches Rock Island ; and from that point
he will find it growing gradually more interesting, until he reaches Prairie
du Chien ; and from that place until he arrives at Lake Pepin, every reach
and turn in the river presents to his eye a more immense and magnificent
scene of grandeur and beauty. From day to day, the eye is riveted in list
less, tireless admiration, upon the thousand bluffs which tower in majesty
above the river on either side, and alternate as the river bends, into countless
fascinating forms.

The whole face of the country is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass,
whether there is timber or not ; and the magnificent bluffs, studding the
sides of the river, and rising in the forms of immense cones, domes and ram
parts, give peculiar pleasure, from the deep and soft green in which they are
clad up their broad sides, and to their extreme tops, with a carpet of grass,
with spots and clusters of timber of a deeper green ; and apparently in many
places, arranged in orchards and pleasure-grounds by the hands of art.

The scenes that are passed between Prairie du Chien and St. Peters, in
eluding Lake Pepin, between whose magnificently turretted shores one passes
for twenty-two miles, will amply reward the tourist for the time and expense

VOL. ir. a

130

of a visit to them. And to him or her of too little relish for Nature's rude
works, to profit as they pass, there will be found a redeeming pleasure
at the mouth of St. Peters and the Fall of St. Anthony. This scene has
often been described, and I leave it for the world to come and gaze upon
for themselves ; recommending to them at the same time, to denominate
the next " Fashionable Tour," a trip to St. Louis ; thence by steamer to Rock
Island, Galena, Dubuque, Prairie du Chien, Lake Pepin, St. Peters, Fall
of St. Anthony, back to Prairie du Chien, from thence to Fort Winnebago,
Green Bay, Mackinaw, Sault de St. Mary, Detroit, Buffalo, Niagara, and
home. This Tour would comprehend but a small part of the great "Far West;"
but it will furnish to the traveller a fair sample, and being a part of it
which is now made so easily accessible to the world, and the only part of
it to which ladies can have access, I would recommend to all who have time
and inclination to devote to the enjoyment of so splendid a Tour, to wait not,
but make it while the subject is new, and capable of producing the greatest
degree of pleasure. To the world at large, this trip is one. of surpassing
interest to the artist it has a double relish, and to me, still further induce
ments ; inasmuch as, many of the tribes of Indians which I have met with,
furnish manners and customs which have awakened my enthusiasm, and
afforded me interesting materials for my Gallery.

To give to the reader a better idea of the character of the scenes which I
have above described, along the stately shores of the Upper Mississippi, I
have here inserted a river view taken about one hundred miles below this
place (PLATE 228) ; and another of " Dubuque's Grave" (PLATE 229),
about equi-distant between this and St. Louis ; and both fairly setting forth
the predominant character of the shores of the Upper Mississippi, which are
every where covered, as far as the eye can behold, with a green turf, and
occasional forest trees, as seen in the drawings.

Dubuque's Grave is a place of great notoriety on this river, in conse
quence of its having been the residence and mining place of the first lead
mining pioneer of these regions, by the name of Dubuque, who held his
title under a grant from the Mexican Government (1 think), and settled by
the side of this huge bluff, on the pinnacle of which he erected the tomb
to receive his own body, and placed over it a cross with his own inscription
on it. After his death, his body was placed within the tomb, at his request,
lying in state (and uncovered except with his winding-sheet), upon a large
flat stone, where it was exposed to the view, as his bones now are, to the
gaze, of every traveller who takes the pains to ascend this beautiful, grassy
and lilly-covered mound to th *. top, and peep through the gratings of two
little windows, which have admitted the eyes, but stopped the sacrilegious
hands of thousands who have taken a walk to it.

At the foot of this bluff, there is now an extensive smelting furnace,
where vast quantities of lead are melted from the ores which are dug out of
the hills in all directions about it.

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The Fall of St. Anthony (PLATE 230), which is 900 miles above St.
Louis, is the natural curiosity of this country, and nine miles above the
mouth of St. Peters, from whence I am at this time writing. At this
place, on the point of land between the Mississippi and the St. Peters
rivers, the United States' Government have erected a strong Fort, which
has taken the name of Fort Snelling, from the name of a distinguished
and most excellent officer of that name, who superintended the building
of it. The site of this Fort is one of the most judicious that could have
been selected in the country, both for health and defence ; and being on
an elevation of 100 feet or more abore the water, has an exceedingly

bold and picturesque effect, as seen in PLATE 231.

This Fort is generally occupied by a regiment of men placed here to
keep the peace amongst the Sioux and Chippeways, who occupy the coun
try about it, and also for the purpose of protecting the citizens on the frontier.

The Fall of St. Anthony is about nine miles above this Fort, and the
junction of the two rivers ; and, although a picturesque and spirited scene,
is but a pigmy in size to Niagara, and other cataracts in our country the
actual perpendicular fall being but eighteen feet, though of half a mile or so
in extent, which is the width of the river ; with brisk and leaping rapids
above and below, giving life and spirit to the scene.

The Sioux who live in the vicinity of the Falls, and occupy all the country
about here, West of the Mississippi, are a part of the great tribe on the
Upper Missouri ; and the same in most of their customs, yet very dissimilar
in personal appearance, from the changes which civilized examples have
wrought upon them. I mentioned in a former Letter, that the country of
the Sioux, extended from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the banks of
the Mississippi ; and for the whole of that way, it is more or less settled by
this immense tribe, bounding the East side of their country by the Missis
sippi River.

The Sioux in these parts, who are out of reach of the beavers and buf
faloes, are poor and very meanly clad, compared to those on the Missouri,
where they are in the midst of those and other wild animals, whose skins
supply them with picturesque and comfortable dresses. The same deterio
ration also is seen in the morals and constitutions of these, as amongst all
other Indians, who live along the frontiers, in the vicinity of our settlements,
where whiskey is sold to them, and the smali-pox and other diseases are
introduced to shorten their lives.

The principal bands of the Sioux that visit this place, and who live in the
vicinity of it, are those known as the Black Dog's oand Red Wing's band,
and Wa-be-sha's band ; each band known in common parlance, by the
name of its chief, as I have mentioned. The Black Dog's band reside but
a few miles above Fort Snelling, on the banks of the St. Peters, and num
ber some five or six hundred. The Red Wing's band are at the head of
Lake Pepiu, sixty miles below thi? lace on the West side of the river. And

132

Wa-be-sha's band and village are some sixty or more miles below Lake
Pepin on the West side of the river, on a beautiful prairie, known (and
ever will be) by the name of " Wa-be-sha's prairie." Each of these bands,
and several others that live in this section of country, exhibit considerable
industry in their agricultural pursuits, raising very handsome corn-fields,
laying up their food, thus procured, for their subsistence during the long
and tedious winters.

The greater part of the inhabitants of these bands are assembled here
at this time, affording us, who are visitors here, a fine and wild scene of
dances, amusements, &c. They seem to take great pleasure in " showing
off" in these scenes, to the amusement of the many fashionable visitors,
both ladies and gentlemen, who are in the habit of reaching this post, as
steamers are arriving at this place every week in the summer from St. Louis.

Many of the customs of these people create great surprise in the minds
of the travellers of the East, who here have the first satisfactory opportunity of
seeing them ; and none, I observe, has created more surprise, and pleasure
also, particularly amongst the ladies, than the mode of carrying their infants,
slung on their backs, in their beautifully ornamented cradles.

The custom of carrying the child thus is not peculiar to this tribe, but
belongs alike to all, as far as I have yet visited them ; and also as far as I
have been able to learn from travellers, who have been amongst tribes that
1 have not yet seen. The child in its earliest infancy, has its back lashed
to a straight board, being fastened to it by bandages, which pass around it
in front, and on the back of the board they are tightened to the necessary
degree by lacing strings, which hold it in a straight and healthy position,
with its feet resting on a broad hoop, which passes around the foot of the
cradle, and the child's position (as it rides about on its mother's back, sup
ported by a broad strap that passes across her forehead), that of standing
erect, which, no doubt, has a tendency to produce straight limbs, sound
lungs, and long life. In PLATE 232, letter a, is a correct drawing of a
Sioux cradle, which is in my Collection, and was purchased from a Sioux
woman's back, as she was carrying her infant in it, as is seen in letter d of
the same plate.

In this instance, as is often the case, the bandages that pass around the
cradle, holding the child in, are all the way covered with a beautiful em
broidery of porcupine quills, with ingenious figures of horses, men, &c. A
broad hoop of elastic wood passes around in front of the child's face, to
protect it in case of a fall, from the front of which is suspended a little toy
of exquisite embroidery, for the child to handle and amuse itself with. To
this and other little trinkets hanging in front of it, there are attached many
little tinselled and tinkling things, of the brightest colours, to amuse both
the eyes and the ears of the child. Whilst travelling on horseback, the
arms of the child are fastened under the bandages, so as not to be endan
gered if the cradle falls ; and when at rest, they are generally taken out,

131

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232

133

allowing the infant to reach and amuse itself with the little toys and trinkets
that are placed before it, and within its reach. This seems like a cruel
mode, but I am inclined to believe that it is a very good one for the people
who use it, and well adapted to the circumstances under which they live ;
in support of which opinion, I offer the universality of the custom, which
has been practiced for centuries amongst all the tribes of North America,
as a legitimate and very strong reason. It is not true that amongst all the
tribes the cradle will be found sr much ornamented as in the present in
stance ; but the model is essentially the same, as well as the mode of carry
ing it.

Along the frontiers, where the Indians have been ridiculed for the custom,
as they are for everything that is not civil about them, they have in many
instances departed from it ; but even there, they will generally be seen lug
ging their child about in this way, when they have abandoned almost
every other native custom, and are too poor to cover it with more than rags
and strings, which fasten it to its cradle.

The infant is carried in this manner until it is five, six or seven months
old, after which it is carried on the back, in the manner represented in two
of the figures of the same plate, and held within the folds of the robe or
blanket.

The modes of carrying the infant when riding, are also here shewn, and
the manner in which the women ride, which, amongst all the tribes, is
astride, in the same manner as that practiced by the men.

Letter b in the same plate is a mourning cradle, and opens to the view of
the reader another very curious and interesting custom. If the infant dies
during the time that is allotted to it to be carried in this cradle, it is buried,
and the disconsolate mother fills the cradle with black quills and feathers, in
the parts which the child's body had occupied, and in this way carries it
around with her wherever she goes for a year or more, with as much care
as if her infant were alive and in it ; and she often lays or stands it leaning
against the side of the wigwam, where she is all day engaged in her needle
work, and chatting and talking to it as familiarly and affectionately as if it
were her loved infant, instead of its shell, that she was talking to. So lasting
and so strong is the affection of these women for the lost child, that it mat
ters not how heavy or cruel their load, or how rugged the route they have
to pass over, they will faithfully carry this, and carefully from day to day,
and even more strictly perform their duties to it, than if the child were alive
and in it.

In the little toy that I have mentioned, and which is suspended before
the child's face, is carefully and superstitiously preserved the umbilicus, which
is always secured at the time of its birth, and being rolled up into a little wad of
the size of a pea, and dried, it is enclosed in the centre of this little bag, and
placed before the child's face, as its protector and its security for " good luck'''
and long life. Letter c, same plate, exhibits a number of forms and different

134

tastes of several of these little toys, which I have purchased from the women,
which they were very willing to sell for a trifling present ; but in every instance,
they cut them open, and removed from within a bunch of cotton or moss, the
little sacred medicine, which, to part with, would be to " endanger the health
of the child" a thing that no consideration would have induced them in
any instance to have done.

My brush has been busily employed at this place, as in others ; and amongst
the dignitaries that I have painted, is, first and foremost, Wa-nah-de-tunck-a
the big eagle), commonly called the " Black Dog " (PLATE 234). This is a very
noted man, and chief of the 0-hah-kas-ka-toh-y-an-te (long avenue) band.

By the side of him Toh-to-wah-kon-da-pee(t\\e blue medicine PLATE 233),
a noted medicine-man, of theTing-tah-to-a band ; with his medicine or mystery
drum, made of deer-skins; and his mystery rattles made of antelopes' hoofs,
in his hands. This notorious old man was professionally a doctor in his tribe,
but not very distinguished, until my friend Dr. Jarvis, who is surgeon for
the post, very liberally dealt out from the public medicine-chest, occasional
" odds and ends" to him, and with a professional concern for the poor old
fellow's success, instructed him in the modes of their application ; since
which, the effects of his prescriptions have been so decided amongst his
tribe, whom he holds in ignorance of his aid in his mysterious operations ;
that he has risen quite rapidly into notice, within the few last years, in
the vicinity of the Fort ; where he finds it most easy to carry out his new
mode of practice, for reasons above mentioned.

In PLATES 235 and 236, there are portraits of the two most distinguished
ball-players in the Sioux tribe, whose names are Ah-no-je-nahge (he who
stands on both sides), and We-chush-ta-doo-ta (the red man). Both of
these young men stood to me for their portraits, in the dresses precisely in
which they are painted ; with their ball-sticks in their hands, and in the
attitudes of the play. We have had several very spirited plays here within
the few past days ; and each of these young men came from the ball-play
ground to my painting-room, in the dress in which they had just struggled
in the play.

It will be seen by these sketches, that the custom in this tribe, differs in
some respects from that of the Choctaws and other Southern tribes, of which
I have before spoken ; and I there showed that they played with a stick in
each hand, when the Sioux use but one stick, which is generally held in
both hands, with a round hoop at the end, in which the ball is caught and
thrown with wonderful tact ; a much more difficult feat, I should think, than
that of the Choctaws, who catch the ball between two sticks. The tail also,
in this tribe, differs, inasmuch as it is generally made of quills, instead of
white horsehair, a? described amongst the Choctaws. In other respects, the
rules and manner of the game are the same as amongst those tribes.

Several others of the distingues of the tribe, I have also painted here, and
must needs refer the reader to the Museum for further information of them.

135

LETTER No. 51.

FORT SNELLING, FALL OF ST. ANTHONY.

THE fourth of July was hailed and celebrated by us at this place, in an
r usual, and not uninteresting manner. With the presence of several hun
dreds of the wildest of the Chippeways, and as many hundreds of the Sioux ;
we were prepared with material in abundance for the novel for the wild
and grotesque, as well as for the grave and ludicrous. Major Talliaflerro,
the Indian agent, to aid my views in procuring sketches of manners and
customs, represented to them that I was a great medicine-man, who had
visited, and witnessed the sports of, a vast many Indians of different tribes,
and had come to see whether the Sioux and Chippeways were equal in a
ball-play, &c. to their neighbours ; and that if they would come in on the
next day (fourth of July), and give us a ball-play, and some of their dances,
in their best style, he would have the big gun fired twenty-one times (the
customary salute for that day), which they easily construed into a high com
pliment to themselves. This, with still stronger inducements, a barrel of
flour a quantity of pork and tobacco, which I gave them, brought the
scene about on the day of independence, as follows : About eleven o'clock
(the usual time for Indians to make their appearance on any great occasion),
the young men, who were enlisted for ball-play, made their appearance on
the ground with ball-sticks in hand with no other dress on than the flap,
and attached to a girdle or ornamental sash, a tail, extending nearly to the
ground, made of the choicest arrangement of quills and feathers, or of tlie
hair of white horses' tails. After an excited and warmly contested play of
two hours, they adjourned to a place in front of the agent's office, where
they entertained us for two or three hours longer, with a continued variety
of their most fanciful and picturesque dances. They gave us the beggar's
dance the buffalo-dance the bear-dance the eagle-dance and dance of
the braves. This last is peculiarly beautiful, and exciting to the feelings in
the highest degree.

At intervals they stop, and one of them steps into the ring, and voci
ferates as loud as possible, with the most significant gesticulations, the feats
of bravery which he has performed during his lifp he boasts of the scalps
he has taken of the enemies he has vanquished, and at the same time
carries his body through all the motions and gestures, which have been used

136

during these scenes when they were transacted. At the end of his boasting,
all assent to the truth of his story, and give in their approbation by the
guttural "waugh /" and the dance again commences. At the next interval,
another makes his boasts, and another, and another, and so on.

During this scene, a little trick was played off in the following manner,
which produced much amusement and laughter. A woman of goodly size,
and in woman's attire, danced into the ring (which seemed to excite some
surprise, as women are never allowed to join in the dance), and commenced
" sawing the air," and boasting of the astonishing feats of bravery she had
performed of the incredible number of horses she had stolen of the scalps
she had taken, &c. &c. ; until her feats surpassed all that had ever been
heard of sufficient to put all the warriors who had boasted, to the blush.
They all gave assent, however, to what she had said, and apparently credence
too ; and to reward so extraordinary a feat of female prowess, they presented
to her a kettle, a cradle, beads, ribbons, &c. After getting her presents,
and placing them safely in the hands of another matron for safe keeping, she
commenced disrobing herself ; and, almost instantly divesting herself of a
loose dress, in the presence of the whole company, came out in a soldiers
coat and pantaloons ! and laughed at them excessively for their mistake !
She then commenced dancing and making her boasts of her exploits, assur
ing them that she was a man, and a great brave. They all gave unqualified
assent to this, acknowledged their error, and made her other presents of a
gun, a horse, of tobacco, and a war-club. After her boasts were done, and
the presents secured as before, she deliberately threw off the pantaloons and
coat, and presented herself at once, and to their great astonishment and con
fusion, in a beautiful woman's dress. The tact with which she performed these
parts, so uniformily pleased, that it drew forth thundering applause from the
Indians, as well as from the spectators ; and the chief stepped up and
crowned her head with a beautiful plume of the eagle's quill, rising from a
crest of the swan's down. My wife, who was travelling this part of the
country with me, was a spectator of these scenes, as well as the ladies and
officers of the garrison, whose polite hospitality we are at this time enjoying.

Several days after this, the plains of St. Peters and St. Anthony, rang
with the continual sounds of drums and rattles, in time with the thrilling yells
of the dance, until it had doubly ceased to be novelty. General Patterson,
of Philadelphia, and his family arrived about this time, however, and a dance
was got up for their amusement; and it proved to be one of an unusual
kind, and interesting to all. Considerable preparation was made for the
occasion, and the Indians informed me, that if they could get a couple of
dogs that were of no use about the garrison, they would give us their favour
ite, the "dog dance." The two dogs were soon produced by the officers,
and in presence of the whole assemblage of spectators, they butchered them
and placed their two hearts and livers entire and uncooked, on a couple of
crotches about as high as a man's face (PLATE 237). These were then

137

cut into strips, about an inch in width, and left hanging in this condition,
with the blood and smoke upon them. A spirited dance then ensued ; and,
in a confused manner, every one sung forth his own deeds of bravery m
ejaculatory gutturals, which were almost deafening ; and they danced up,
two at a time to the stakes, and after spitting several times upon the liver and
hearts, catched a piece in their mouths, bit it off, and swallowed it. This
was all done without losing the step (which was in time to their music), or
interrupting the times of their voices.

Each and every one of them in this wise bit off and swallowed a piece of
the livers, until they were demolished ; with the exception of the two last
pieces hanging on the stakes, which a couple of them carried in their mouths,
and communicated to the mouths of the two musicians who swallowed them.
This is one of the most valued dances amongst the Sioux, though by no
means the most beautiful or most pleasing. The beggar's dance, the discovery
dance, and the eagle dance, are far more graceful and agreeable. The
dog dance is one of distinction, inasmuch as it can only be danced by those
who have taken scalps from the enemy's heads, and come forward boasting,
that they killed their enemy in battle, and swallowed a piece of his heart in
the same manner.

As the Sioux own and occupy all the country on the West bank of the
river in this vicinity ; so do the Chippeways claim all lying East, from the
mouth of the Chippeway River, at the outlet of Lake Pepin, to the source of
the Mississippi ; and within the month past, there have been one thousand or
more of them encamped here, on business with the Indian agent and Sioux,
with whom they have recently had some difficulty. These two hostile foes,
who have, time out of mind, been continually at war, are now encamped
here, on different sides of the Fort ; and all difficulties having been arranged
by their agent, in whose presence they have been making their speeches, for
these two weeks past, have been indulging in every sort of their amusements,
uniting in their dances, ball- plays and other games; and feasting and
smoking together, only to raise the war-cry and the tomahawk again, when
they get upon their hunting grounds.

Major Talliafferro is the Government agent for the Sioux at this place, and
furnishes the only instance probably, of a public servant on these frontiers,
who has performed the duties of his office, strictly and faithfully, as well as
kindly, for fifteen years. The Indians think much of him, and call him
Great Father, to whose advice they listen with the greatest attention.

The encampment of the Chippeways, to which I have been a daily visitor,
was built in the manner seen in PLATE 238 ; their wigwams made of birch
bark, covering the frame work, which was of slight poles stuck in the ground,
and bent over at the top, so as to give a roofltke shape to the lodge, best
calculated to ward off rain and winds.

Through this curious scene 1 was strolling a few days since with my wife,
and I observed the Indian women gathering around her, anxious to shake

VOL. II. T

138

hands with her, and shew her their children, of winch she took especial
notice ; and they literally filled her hands and hei arms, with muk-kuks of
maple sugar which they manufacture, and had brought in, in great quantities
for sale.

After the business and amusements of this great Treaty between the Chip-
peways and Sioux were all over, the Chippeways struck their tents by taking
them down and rolling up their bark coverings, which, with their bark
canoes seen in the picture, turned up amongst their wigwams, were carried to
the water's edge ; and all things being packed in, men, women, dogs, and all,
were swiftly propelled by paddles to the Fall of St. Anthony, where we had
repaired to witness their mode of passing the cataract, by " making (as it is
called) t he portage," which we found to be a very curious scene ; and was
done by running all their canoes into an eddy below the Fall, and as near
as they could get by paddling ; when all were landed, and every thing taken
out of the canoes (PLATE 239), and with them carried by the women, around
the Fall, and half a mile or so above, where the canoes were put into the
water again ; and goods and chattels being loaded in, and all hands seated,
the paddles were again put to work, and the light and bounding crafts upon
their voyage.

The bark canoe of the Chippeways is, perhaps, the most beautiful and
light model of all the water crafts that ever were invented. They are gene
rally made complete with the rind of one birch tree, and so ingeniously
shaped and sewed together, with roots of the tamarack, which they call
wat-tap, that they are water-tight, and ride upon the water, as light as a cork.
They gracefully lean and dodge about, under the skilful balance of an In
dian, or the ugliest squaw ; but like everything wild, are timid and trea
cherous under the guidance of white man ; and, if he be not an experienced
equilibrist, he is sure to get two or three times soused, in his first endeavours
at familiar acquaintance with them. In PLATE 240, leiter a, the reader will
see two specimens of these canoes correctly drawn ; where he can contrast
them and their shapes, with the log canoe, letter b, (or " dug out," as it is
often called in the Western regions) of the Sioux, and many other tribes ;
which is dug out of a solid log, with great labour, by these ignorant people,
who have but few tools to work with.

In the same plate, letter c, I have also introduced the skin canoes of the
Mandans', (of the Upper Missouri, of whom I have spoken in Volume I),
which are made almost round like a tub, by straining a buffalo's skin over a
frame of wicker work, made of willow or other boughs. The woman in
paddling these awkward tubs, stands in the bow, and makes the stroke
with the paddle, by reaching it forward in the water and drawing it to her, by
which means she xmlls the canoe along with some considerable speed. These
very curious anfl rudely constructed canoes, are made in the form of the
Welsh, coracle ; a.id, if I mistake not, propelled in the same manner, which
is a very curious ircumstance ; inasmuch as they are found in the heart of

238

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239

240

139

the great wilderness of America, when all the other surrounding tribes
construct their canoes in decidedly different forms, and of different ma
terials.

In the same plate, letter d, is a pair of Sioux (and in letter e, of Chippe-
way) snow shoes, which are used in the deep snows of the winter, under the
Indians' feet, to buoy him up as he runs in pursuit of his game. The hoops
or frames of these are made of elastic wood, and the webbing, of strings of
rawhide, which form such a resistance to the snow, as to carry them over
without sinking into it ; and enabling them to come up with their game,
which is wallowing through the drifts, and easily overtaken ; as in the buf
falo hunt, in PLATE 109, Volume I.

Of the portraits of chiefs and others I have painted amongst the Chippe-
ways at this place, two distinguished young men will be seen in PLATES
241, 242. The first by the name of Ka-bes-kunk (he who travels every
where), the other, Ka-be-mub-be (he who sits everywhere), both painted at
full length, in full dress, and just as they were adorned and equipped, even
to a quill and a trinket.

The first of these two young men is, no doubt, one of the most remark
able of his age to be found in the tribe. Whilst he was standing for his
portrait, which was in one of the officer's quarters in the Fort, where there
were some ten or fifteen of his enemies the Sioux, seated on the floor around
the room ; he told me to take particular pains in representing eight quills
which were arranged in his head-dress, which he said stood for so many
Sioux scalps that he had taken with his left hand, in which he was grasping
his war-club, with which hand he told me he was in the habit of making all
his blows.

In PLATE 244, is the portrait of a warrior by the name of Ot-ta-wa (the

otaway), with his pipe in his hand ; and in PLATE 245, the portrait

of a Chippeway woman, Ju-ah-kis-c/aw, with her child in its crib or cradle.
In a former Letter I gave a minute account of the Sioux cradle, and here
the reader sees the very similar mode amongst the Chippeways ; and as ia
all instances that can be found, the ni-ahkust-ahg (or umbilicus) hanging
before the child's face for its supernatural protector.

This woman's dress was mostly made of civilized manufactures, but curi
ously decorated and ornamented according to Indian taste

Many were the dances given to me on different places, of which I may
make further use and further mention on future occasions : but of which I
shall name but one at present, the snow-shoe dance (PLATE 243), which
is exceedingly picturesque, being danced with the snow shoes under the feet,
at the falling of the first snow in the beginning of winter ; when they sing s
song of thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for sending them a retum of snow,
when they can run on their snow shoes in their valued hunts and easily
lake the game for their food.

140

About this lovely spot I have whiled away a few months with great plea
sure, and having visited all the curiosities, and all the different villages of
Indians in the vicinity, I close my note-book and start in a few days for
Prairie du Chien, which is 300 miles below this ; where I shall have new
subjects for my brush and new themes for my pen, when I may continue my
epistles. Adieu.

141

LETTER No. 52.

CAMP DES MOINES.

SOON after the date of my last Letter, written at St. Peters, having placed
my wife on board of the steamer, with a party of ladies, for Prairie du Chien,
I embarked in a light bark canoe, on my homeward course, with only one
companion, Corporal Allen, from the garrison ; a young man of considerable
taste, who thought he could relish the transient scenes of a voyage in com
pany with a painter, having gained the indulgence of Major Bliss, the com
manding officer, with permission to accompany me.

With stores laid in for a ten days' voyage, and armed for any emergency
with sketch-book and colours prepared, we shoved off and swiftly glided
away with paddles nimbly plied, resolved to see and relish every thing
curious or beautiful that fell in our way. We lingered along, among the
scenes of grandeur which presented themselves amid the thousand bluffs,
and arrived at Prairie du Chien in about ten days, in good plight, without
accident or incident of a thrilling nature, with the exception of one instance
which happened about thirty miles below St. Peters, and on the first day of
our journey. In the after part of the day, we discovered three lodges of
Sioux Indians encamped on the bank, all hallooing and waving their blankets
for us to come in, to the shore. We had no business with them, and resolved
to keep on our course, when one of them ran into his lodge, and coming out
with his gun in his hand, levelled it at us, and gave us a charge of buck-shot
about our ears. One of them struck in my canoe, passing through several folds
of my cloak, which was folded, and lying just in front of my knee, and
several others struck so near on each side as to spatter the water into our
faces. There was no fun in this, and I then ran my canoe to the shore as
fast as possible they all ran, men, women, and children, to the water's
edge, meeting us with yells and laughter as we landed. As the canoe struck
the shore, I rose violently from my seat, and throwing all the infuriated
demon I could into my face thrusting my pistols into my belt a half
dozen bullets into my mouth and my double-barrelled gun in my hand
I leaped ashore and chased the lot of them from the beach, throwing
myself, by a nearer route, between them and their wigwams, where I kept
them for some time at a stand, with my barrels presented, and threats
^corroborated with looks which they could not misunderstand) that I would

142

annihilate the whole of them in a minute. As the gun had been returned to
the lodge, and the man who fired it could not be identified, the rascal's life
was thereby probably prolonged. We stood for some time in this position,
and no explanation could be made, other than that which could be read from
the lip and the brow, a language which is the same, and read alike, among
all nations. I slipped my sketch-book and pencil into my hand, and under
the muzzle of my gun, each fellow stood for his likeness, which I made them
'understand, by signs, were to be sent to " Muzzabucksa" (iron cutter), the
name they gave to Major Talliafferro, their agent at St. Peters.

This threat, and the continued vociferation of the corporal from the canoe,
that I was a " Grande Capitaine," seemed considerably to alarm them. I at
length gradually drew myself off, but with a lingering eye upon the sneaking
rascals, who stood in sullen silence, with one eye upon me, and the other
upon the corporal ; who I found had held them at bay from the bow of his
canoe, with his musket levelled upon them his bayonet fixed his cartouch
box slung, with one eye in full blaze over the barrel, and the other drawn
down within two parts of an inch of the upper corner of his mouth. At my
approach, his muscles were gradually (but somewhat reluctantly) relaxed.
We seated ourselves, and quietly dipped our paddles again on our way.

Some allowance must be made for this outrage, and many others that
could be named, that have taken place amongst that part of the Sioux
nation ; they have been for many years past made drunkards, by the solici
tations of white men, and then abused, and their families also ; for which,
when they are drunk (as in the present instance), they are often ready, and
disposed to retaliate and to return insult for injuries.

We went on peaceably and pleasantly during the rest of our voyage,
having ducks, deer, and bass for our game and our food ; our bed was
generally on the grass at the foot of some towering bluff, where, in the
melancholy stillness of night, we were lulled to sleep by the liquid notes of
the whip-poor-will ; and after his warbling ceased, roused by the mournful
complaints of the starving wolf, or surprised by the startling interrogation,
" who ! who ! who !" by the winged monarch of the dark.

There is a something that fills and feeds the mind of an enthusiastic man,
when he is thrown upon natural resources, amidst the rude untouched scenes
of nature, which cannot be described ; and I leave the world to imagine the
feelings of pleasure with which I found myself again out of the din of artful
life, among scenes of grandeur worthy the whole soul's devotion, and
admiration.

When the morning's dew was shaken off, our coffee enjoyed our light
bark^again launched upon the water, and the chill of the morning banished
by the quick stroke of the paddle, and the busy chaunt of the corporal's
boat-song, our ears and our eyes were open to the rude scenes of romance
that were about us our light boat ran to every ledge dodged into every
slough 01 cut-off"' to be seen every mineral was examined every cave ex-

- : ^^-^ -^ Afe^y ^W'

^^^<^^^^^^^^?^^

(7. (Mai,

143

plored and almost every bluff of grandeur ascended to the top. These
lowering edifices of nature, which will stand the admiration of thousands
and tens of thousands, unchanged and unchangeable, though grand and
majestic to the eye of the passing traveller, will be found to inspire new
ideas of magnitude when attempted to be travelled to the top. From the
tops of many of them I have sketched for the information of the world, and
for the benefit of those who travel much, I would recommend a trip to the
summit of " Pike's Tent" (the highest bluff on the river), 100 miles above
Prairie du Chien ; to the top also of " La Montaigne qui tromps a 1'eau" the
summit of Bad Axe Mountain and a look over Lake Pepin's turretted
shores from the top of the bluff opposite to the " Lover's Leap," being the
highest on the lake, and the point from which the greater part of its shores
can be seen.

Along the shores of this beautiful lake we lingered for several days, and
our canoe was hauled a hundred times upon the pebbly beach, where we
spent hours and days, robbing it of its precious gems, which are thrown up
by the waves. We found many rich agates, carnelians, jaspers, and por-
phyrys. The agates are many of them peculiarly beautiful, most of them
water-waved their colours brilliant and beautifully striated. " Point aux
Sables" has been considered the most productive part of the lake for these
gems ; but owing to the frequent landings of the steam-boats and other craft
on that point, the best specimens of them have been picked up ; and the
traveller will now be best remunerated for his trouble, by tracing the shore
around into some of its coves, or on some of its points less frequented by
the footsteps of man.

The Lover's Leap (PLATE 248), is a bold and projecting rock, of six or
seven hundred feet elevation on the East side of the lake, from the sum
mit of which, it is said, a beautiful Indian girl, the daughter of a chief,
threw herself off in presence of her tribe, some fifty years ago, and dashed
herself to pieces, to avoid being married to a man whom her father had
decided to be her husband, and whom she would not marry. On our way,
after we had left the beautiful shores of Lake Pepin, we passed the magni
ficent bluff called " Pike's Tent" (PLATE 249), and undoubtedly, the
highest eminence on the river, running up in the form of a tent; from which
circumstance, and that of having first been ascended by Lieutenant Pike,
it has taken the name of Pike's Tent, which it will, doubtless, for ever retain.

The corporal and I run our little craft to the base of this stupendous
pyramid, and spent half a day about its sides and its pinnacle, admiring the
lovely and almost boundless landscape that lies beneath it.

To the top of this grass-covered mound I would advise every traveller in
the country, who has the leisure to do it, and sinew enough in his leg, to
stroll awhile, and enjoy what it may be difficult for him to see elsewhere.

" Cap au rail" (Garlic Cape, PLATE 250), about twenty miles above
Prairie du Chien is another beautiful scene and the " Cornice Rocks"

144

(PLATE 251), on the West bank, where my little bark rested two days, till
the corporal and I had taken bass from every nook and eddy about them,
where our hooks could be dipped. To the lover of fine fish, and fine sport
in fishing, I would recommend an encampment for a few days on this pic
turesque ledge, where his appetite and his passion will be soon gratified.

Besides these picturesque scenes, I made drawings also of all the Indian
villages on the way, and of many other interesting points, which are curious
in my Collection, but too numerous to introduce in this place.

In the midst, or half-way of Lake Pepin, which is an expansion of the
river of four or five miles in width, and twenty-five miles in length, the
corporal and I hauled our canoe out upon the beach of Point aux Sables,
where we spent a couple of days, feasting on plums and fine fish and wild fowl,
and filling our pockets with agates and carnelions we were picking up along
the pebbly beach ; and at last, started on our way for the outlet of the
lake, with a fair North West wind, which wafted us along in a delightful
manner, as I sat in the stern and steered, while the corporal was " catching
the breeze" in a large umbrella, which he spread open and held in the bow.
We went merrily and exultingly on in this manner, until at length the wind
increased to anything but a gale ; and the waves were foaming white, and
dashing on the shores where we could not land without our frail bark being
broken to pieces. We soon became alarmed, and saw that our only safety
was in keeping on the course that we were running at a rapid rate, and that
with our sail full set, to brace up and steady our boat on the waves, while
we kept within swimming distance of the shore, resolved to run into the
first cove, or around the first point we could find for our protection.
We kept at an equal distance from the shore and in this most critical
condition, the wind drove us ten or fifteen miles, without a landing-place,
till we exultingly steered into the mouth of the Chippeway river, at the
outlet of the lake, where we soon found quiet and safety ; but found our
canoe in a sinking condition, being half full of water, and having three of
the five of her beams or braces broken out, with which serious disasters, a
few rods more of the fuss and confusion would have sent us to the bottom.
We here laid by part of a day, and having repaired our disasters, wended
our way again pleasantly and successfully on.

At Prairie du Chien, which is near the mouth of the Ouisconsin River,
and 600 miles above St. Louis, where we safely landed my canoe, I found
my wife enjoying the hospitality of Mrs. Judge Lockwood, who had been a
schoolmate of mine in our childhood, and is now residing with her interesting
family in that place. Under her hospitable roof we spent a few weeks with
great satisfaction, after which my wife took steamer for Dubuque, and I took
to my little bark canoe alone (having taken leave of the corporal), which 1
paddled to this place, quite leisurely cooking my own meat, and having
my own fun as I passed along.

Prairie du Chien (PLATE 253) has been one of the earliest and principal

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251

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145

trading posts of the Fur Company, and they now have a large establishment
at that place ; but doing far less business than formerly, owing to the great
mortality of the Indians in its vicinity, and the destruction of the game,
which has almost entirely disappeared in these regions. The prairie is a beau
tiful elevation above the river, of several miles in length, and a mile or so in
width, with a most picturesque range of grassy bluffs encompassing it in
the rear. The Government have erected there a substantial Fort, in which
are generally stationed three or four companies of men, for the purpose (as
at the Fall of St. Anthony) of keeping the peace amongst the hostile tribes,
and also of protecting the frontier inhabitants from the attacks of the ex
cited savages. There are on the prairie some forty or fifty families, mostly
French, and some half-breeds, whose lives have been chiefly spent in the
arduous and hazardous occupations of trappers, and traders, and voyageursj
which has well qualified them for the modes of dealing with Indians, where
they have settled down and stand ready to compete with one another for
their shares of annuities, &c. which are dealt out to the different tribes who
concentrate at that place, and are easily drawn from the poor Indians' hands
by whiskey and useless gew-gaws.

The consequence of this system is, that there is about that place, almost
one continual scene of wretchedness, and drunkenness, and disease amongst
the Indians, who come there to trade and to receive their annuities, that
disgusts and sickens the heart of every stranger that extends his travels
to it.

When I was there, Wa-be-sha's band of the Sioux came there, and re
mained several weeks to get their annuities, which, when they received them,
fell (as they always will do), far short of paying off the account, whick the
Traders take good care to have standing against them for goods furnished
them on a year's credit. However, whether they pay off or not, they can
always get whiskey enough for a grand carouse and a brawl, which lasts
for a week or two, and almost sure to terminate the lives of some of their
numbers.

At the end of one of these a few days since, after the men had enjoyed
their surfeit of whiskey, and wanted a little more amusement, and felt dis
posed to indulge the weaker sex in a little recreation also ; it was announced
amongst them, and through the village, that the women were going to havp
a ball-play !

For this purpose the men, in their very liberal trades they were making
and filling their canoes with goods delivered to them on a year's credit, laio.
out a great quantity of ribbons and calicoes, with other presents well adapted
to the wants and desires of the women ; which were hung on a pole resting
on crotches, and guarded by an old man, who was to be judge and umpire
of the play which was to take place amongst the women, who were divided
into two equal parties, and were to play a desperate game of ball, for the
valuable stakes that were hanging before them (PLATE 252).

VOL. u. c

146

In the ball-play of the women, they have two balls attached to the ends of
a string, about a foot and a half long; and each woman has a short stickin
each hand, on which she catches the string with the two balls, and throws
them, endeavouring to force them over the goal of her own party. The men
are more than half drunk, when they feel liberal enough to indulge the
women in such an amusement ; and take infinite pleasure in rolling about on
the ground and laughing to excess, whilst the women are tumbling about in
all attitudes, and scuffling for the ball. The game of " hunt the slipper"
even, loses its zest after witnessing one of these, which sometimes last for
hours together ; and often exhibits the hottest contest for the balls, exactly
over the heads of the men ; who, half from whiskey, and half from inclina
tion, are laying in groups and flat upon the ground.

Prairie du Chien is the concentrating place of the Winnebagoes and Me-
nomonies, who inhabit the waters of the Ouisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the
chief part of the country lying East of the Mississippi, and West of Green
Bay.

The Winnebagoes are the remnant of a once powerful and warlike tribe, but
are now leit in a country where they have neither beasts or men to war with ;
and are in a most miserable and impoverished condition. The numbers of this
tribe do not exceed four thousand ; and the most of them have sold even
their guns and ammunition for whiskey. Like the Sioux and Menomonies
that come in to this post, they have several times suffered severely with the
small-pox, which has in fact destroyed the greater proportion of them

In PLATE 254, will be seen the portrait of an old chief, who died a few
years since ; and who was for many years the head chief of the tribe, by the
name of Naw-kaw (wood). This man has been much distinguished in his
time, for his eloquence ; and he desired me to paint him in the attitude of
an orator, addressing his people.

PLATE 255, is a distinguished man of the Winnebago tribe, by the name
of Wah-ckee-hahs-ka (the man who puts all out of doors), commonly called
the " boxer." The largest man of the tribe, with rattle-snakes' skins on his
arms, and his war-club in his hand.*

In PLATE 256 is seen a warrior, Kaw-kaw-ne-choo-a ; and in PLATE
257 another, Wa-kon-zee-kaw (the snake), both at full length ; and fair
specimens of the tribe, who are generally a rather short and thick-set, square
shouldered set of men, of great strength, and of decided character as brave
and desperate in war.

Besides the chief and warriors above-named, I painted the portraits of
Won-de-tow-a (the wonder), Wa-kon-chash-kaw (he who comes on the

* This man died of the small-pox the next summer after this portrait was painted.
Whilst the small-pox was raging so bad at the Prairie, he took the disease, and in a
rage plunged into the river, and swam across to the island where he dragged his body
out upon the beach, and there died, and his bones were picked by dogs, without any
friend to give him k trial.

258

259

G. Ca-tLin.

260

261

147

thunder), Nau-naw-pay-ee (the soldier), Span-e-o-nee-kaw (the Spaniard)
Hoo-wan-ee-kaw (the little elk), No-ah-choo-she-kaw (he who breaks the
bushes), and Naugh-haigh-ke-kaw (he who moistens the wood), all distin
guished men of the tribe ; and all at full length, as they will be seen stand
ing in my Collection.

THE MENOMONIES,

Like the Winnebagoes, are the remnant of a much more numerous and in
dependent tribe, but have been reduced and enervated by the use of whiskey
and the ravages of the small-pox, and number at this time, something like
three thousand, living chiefly on the banks of Fox River, and the Western
shore of Green Bay. They visit Prairie du Chien, where their annuities are
paid them ; and they indulge in the bane, like the tribes that I have
mentioned.

Of this tribe, I have painted quite a number of their leading characters, and
at the head of them all, Mah-kee-me-teuv (the grizzly bear, PLATE 258),
with a handsome pipe in his hand ; and by the side of him his wife Me-
cheet-e-neuh (the wounded bear's shoulder, PLATE 259). Both of these
have died since their portraits were painted. This dignified chief led a dele
gation of fifteen of his people to Washington City, some years since, and there
commanded great respect for his eloquence, and dignity of deportment.

In PLATE 260 is the portrait of Chee-me-na-na-quet (the great cloud),
son of the chief an ill-natured and insolent fellow who has since been killed
for some of his murderous deeds. PLATE 261, is the portrait of a fine boy,
whose name is Tcha-kauks-o-ko-maugh (the great chief). This tribe living
out of the reach of buffaloes, cover themselves with blankets, instead of
robes, and wear a profusion of beads and wampum, and other trinkets.

In PLATE 262, is Coo-coo-coo (the owl), a very aged and emaciated
chief, whom I painted at Green Bay, in Fort Howard. He had been a
distinguished man, but now in his dotage, being more than 100 years old
and a great pet of the surgeon and officers of the post.

In PLATE 263, are two Menominee youths at full length, in beautiful
dresses, whose names I did not get one with his war-club in 4 his hand,
and the other blowing on his " courting flute," which I have before de
scribed.

In addition to these I have painted of this tribe, and placed in my Col
lection, the portraits of Ko-man-i-kin-o-shaw (the little whale) ; Sha-wa-no

(the South) ; Mash-kee-wet (the thought) ; Pah-shee-nau-shaw ( -) ;

Au-nah-quet-o-hau-pay-o (the one sitting in the clouds) ; Auh-ka-na-paw-
wak (earth standing) ; Ko-man-ni-kin (the big wave) ; 0-ho-pa-sha (the
small whoop) ; Au-wah-shew-kew (the female bear) ; and Chesh-ko-tong
(he who sings the war-song).

It will be seen by the reader, from the above facts, that I have been lay
ing up much curious and valuable record of people and customs in these

148

regions ; and it will be seen at the same time, from the brief manner in
which I have treated of these semi-civilized tribes, which every body can see,
and thousands have seen, that my enthusiasm, as I have before explained,
has led me more into minuteness and detail amongst those tribes which are
living in their unchanged native modes, whose customs 1 have been ambi
tious to preserve for ages to come, before the changes that civilized acquain
tance will soon work upon them.

The materials which I am daily gathering, however, are interesting ; and
I may on a future occasion use them but in an epistle of this kind, there is
not room for the incidents of a long voyage, or for a minute description of
the country and the people in it ; so, what I have said must suffice for the
present. I lingered along the shores of this magnificent river then, in my
fragile bark, to Prairie du Chien Dubuque Galena, to Rock Island, and
lastly to this place.

During such a Tour between the almost endless banks, carpeted with green,
with one of the richest countries in the world, extending back in every direc
tion, the mind of a contemplative man is continually building for posterity
splendid seats, cities, towers and villas, which a few years of rolling time
will bring about, with new institutions, new states, and almost empires ; for
it would seem that this vast region of rich soil and green fields, was almost
enough for a world of itself.

I hauled my canoe out of the water at Pubuque, where I joined my wife
again in the society of kind and hospitable friends, and found myself amply
repaid for a couple of weeks' time spent in the examination of the extensive
lead mines; walking and creeping through caverns, some eighty or one hun
dred feet below the earth's surface, decked in nature's pure livery of stalactites
and spar with walls, and sometimes ceilings, of glistening massive lead.
And I hold yet (and ever shall) in my mind, without loss of a fraction of
feature or expression, the image of one of my companions, and the scene
that at one time was about him. His name is Jeffries. We were in " Lock-
wood's Cave," my wife and another lady were behind, and he advancing
before me.; his ribs, more elastic than mine, gave him entrance through a
crevice, into a chamber yet unexplored ; he dared the pool, for there was
one of icy water, and translucent as the air itself. We stood luckless spec
tators, to gaze and envy, while he advanced. The lighted flambeau in his
hand brought the splendid furniture of this tesselated palace into view ; the
surface of the jostled pool laved his sides as he advanced, and the rich
stalagmites that grew up from the bottom reflected a golden light through
the water, while the walls and ceiling were hung with stalactites which
glittered like diamonds.

In this wise he stood in silent gaze, in awe and admiration of the hidden
works of Nature ; his figure, as high as the surface of the water, was mag
nified into a giant and his head and shoulders not unfit for a cyclop. In
fact, he was a perfect figure of Vulcan. The water in which he stood was

149

a lake of liquid fire he held a huge hammer in his right hand, and a
flaming thunderbolt in his left, which he had just forged for Jupiter. There
was but one thing wanting, it was the " sound of the hammer ! " which was
soon given in peals upon the beautiful pendents of stalactite and spar, which
sent back and through the cavern, the hollow tones of thunder.

A visit of a few days to Dubuque will be worth the while of every travel
ler ; and for the speculator and man of enterprize, it affords the finest field
now open in our country. It is a small town of 200 houses, built entirely
within the last two years, on one of the most delightful sites On the river,
and in the heart of the richest and most productive parts of the mining
region; having this advantage over most other mining countries, that im
mediately over the richest (and in fact all) of the lead mines ; the land on
the surface produces the finest corn, and all other vegetables that may be
put into it. This is certainly the richest section of country on the Continent,
and those who live a few years to witness the result, will be ready to sanction
my assertion, that it is to be the mint of our country.

From Dubuque, I descended the river on a steamer, with my bark canoe
laid on its deck, and my wife was my companion, to Camp Des Moines,
from whence I am now writing.

After arriving at this place, which is the wintering post of Colonel Kear
ney, with his three companies of dragoons, I seated my wife and two
gentlemen of my intimate acquaintance, in my bark canoe, and paddled
them through the Des Moine's Rapids, a distance of fourteen miles, which
we performed in a very short time ; and at the foot of the Rapids, placed
my wife on the steamer for St. Louis, in company with friends, when I had
some weeks to return on my track, and revert back again to the wild and
romantic life that 1 occasionally love to lead. I returned to Camp Des
Moines, and in a few days joined General Street, the Indian Agent, in a
Tour to Ke-o-kuck's village of Sacs and Foxes.

Colonel Kearney gave us a corporal's command of eight men, with horses,
&c. for the journey ; and we reached the village in two days' travel, about
sixty miles up the Des Moines. The whole country that we passed over
was like a garden, wanting only cultivation, being mostly prairie, and we
found their village beautifully situated on a large prairie, on the bank of the
Des Moines River. They seemed to be well supplied with the neces
saries of life, and with some of its luxuries. I found Ke-o-kuck to be a
chief of fine and portly figure, with a good countenance, and great dignity
and grace in his manners.

General Street had some documents from Washington, to read to him,
which he and his chiefs listened to with great patience ; after which he
placed before us good brandy and good wine, and invited us to drink, and to
lodge with him ; he then called up five of his runners or criers, communi
cated to them in a low, but emphatic tone, the substance of the talk from
the agent, and of the letters read to him, and they started at full gallop

150

one of them proclaiming it through his village, and the others sent express
to the other villages, comprising the whole nation. Ke-o-kuck came in with
us, with about twenty of his principal men he brought in all his costly
wardrobe, that I might select for his portrait such as suited me best; but
at once named (of his own accord) the one that was purely Indian. In that
he paraded for several days, and in it I painted him at full length. He is a
man of a great deal of pride, and makes truly a splendid appearance on his
black horse. He owns the finest horse in the country, and is excessively
vain of his appearance when mounted, and arrayed, himself and horse, in all
their gear and trappings. He expressed a wish to see himself represented
on horseback, and I painted him in that plight. He rode and nettled his
prancing steed in front of my door, until its sides were in a gore of blood.
I succeeded to his satisfaction, and his vanity is increased, no doubt, by
seeing himself immortalized in that way. After finishing him, I painted his
favourite wife (the favoured one of seven), his favourite boy, and eight or
ten of his principal men and women ; after which, he and all his men shook
hands with me, wishing me well, and leaving, as tokens of regard, the most
valued article of his dress, and a beautiful string of wampum, which he took
from his wife's neck.

They then departed for their village in good spirits, to prepare for their
fall hunt.

Of this interesting interview and its incidents, and of these people, I shall
soon give the reader a further account, and therefore close my note-book
for the present. Adieu.

151

LETTER No 53.

SAINT LOUIS.

IT will be seen by the heading of this Letter that I am back again to
" head-quarters," where I have joined my wife, and being seated down by a
comfortable fire, am to take a little retrospect of my rambles, from the time
of my last epistle.

The return to the society of old friends again, has been delightful, and
amongst those whom I more than esteem, I have met my kind and faithful
friend Joe Chadwick, whom I have often mentioned, as my companion in
distress whilst on that disastrous campaign amongst the Camanchees. Joe
and I have taken great pleasure in talking over the many curious scenes we
have passed together, many of which are as yet unknown to others than
ourselves. We had been separated for nearly two years, and during that
time I had passed many curious scenes worthy of Joe's knowing, and while
he sat down in the chair for a portrait I painted of him to send to his mother,
on leaving the States, to take an appointment from Governor Houston in the
Texan army ; I related to him one or two of my recent incidents, which
were as follow, and pleased Joe exceedingly :

" After I had paddled my bark canoe through the rapids, with my wife
and others in it, as I mentioned, and had put them on board a steamer
for St. Louis, I dragged my canoe up the east shore of the rapids, with
a line, for a distance of four miles, when I stopped and spent half of the
day in collecting some very interesting minerals, which I had in the bottom
of my canoe, and ready to get on the first steamer passing up, to take me
again to Camp Des Moines, at the head of the rapids.

" I was sitting on a wild and wooded shore, and waiting, when I at length
discovered a steamer several miles below me, advancing through the rapids,
and in the interim I set too and cleaned my fowling-piece and a noble pair
of pistols, which I had carried in a belt at my side, through my buffalo and
other sports of the West, and having put them in fine order and deposited
them in the bottom of the canoe before me, and taken my paddle in hand,
with which my long practice had given me unlimited confidence, I put off
from the shore to the middle of the river, which was there a mile and a half
in width, to meet the steamer, which was stemming the opposing torrent,
and slowly moving up the rapids. I made my signal as I neared the steamer,
and desired my old friend Captain Rogers, not to stop his engine ; feeling
full confidence that I could, with an Indian touch of the paddle, toss my
little bark around, and gently grapple to the side of the steamer, which was

152

loaded down, with her gunnels near to the water's edge. Ol , that my skill
had been equal to my imagination, or that I could have had at that moment
the balance and the skill of an Indian woman, for the sake of my little
craft and what was in it ! I had brought it about, with a master hand,
however, but the waves of the rapids and the foaming of the waters by her
sides were too much for my peaceable adhesion, and at the moment of
wheeling, to part company with her, a line, with a sort of " laso throw," came
from an awkward hand on the deck, and falling over my shoulder and
around the end of my canoe, with a simultaneous " haul" to it, sent me down
head foremost to the bottom of the river ; where 1 was tumbling along with
the rapid current over the huge rocks on the bottom, whilst my gun and
pistols, which were emptied from my capsised boat, were taking their perma
nent position amongst the rocks; and my trunk, containing my notes of travel
for several years, and many other valuable things, was floating off upon
the surface. If I had drowned, my death would have been witnessed by at
least an hundred ladies and gentlemen who were looking on, but I did not.
I soon took a peep, by the side of my trunk &c., above the water, and
for the first time in my life was " collared," and that by my friend Captain
Rogers, who undoubtedly saved me from making further explorations on the
river bottom, by pulling me into the boat, to the amusement of all on deck,
many of whom were my old acquaintance, and not knowing the prelimina
ries, were as much astounded at my sudden appearance, as if I had been
disgorged from a whale's belly. A small boat was sent off for my trunk,
which was picked up about half a mile below and brought on board full of
water, and consequently, clothes, and sketch-books and everything else
entirely wet through. My canoe was brought on board, which was several
degrees dearer to me now than it had been for its long and faithful service ;
but my gun and pistols are there yet, and at the service of the lucky one
who may find them. I remained on board for several miles, till we were
passing a wild and romantic rocky shore, on which the sun was shining warm,
and I launched my little boat into the water, with my trunk in it and
put off to the shore, where I soon had every paper and a hundred other
things spread in the sun, and at night in good order for my camp, which
was at the mouth of a quiet little brook, where I caught some fine bass
and fared well, till a couple of hours paddling the next morning brought
me back to Camp Des Moines."

Here my friend Joe laughed excessively, but said not a word, as I kept
on painting and told him also, that a few days after this, I put my
little canoe on the deck of a steamer ascending the river, and landed at
Rock Island, ninety miles above, on some business with General Street,
the Indian Agent after which I "put off" in my little bark, descending
the river alone, to Camp Des Moines, with a fine double-barrelled fowiing-
piece, which I had purchased at the garrison, lying in the canoe before me
as the means of procuring wild fowl, and other food on my passage. " Egad !"

153

said Joe, " how I should like to have been with you !" " Sit still," said I,
"or I shall lose your likeness." So Joe kept his position, and I proceeded'
" I left Rock Island about eleven o'clock in the morning, and at half-past
three in a pleasant afternoon, in the eool month of October, run my canoe
to the shore of Mas-co-tin Island, where 1 stepped out upon its beautiful
pebbly beach, with my paddle in my hand, having drawn the bow of my
canoe, as usual, on to the beach, so as to hold it in its place. This beauti
ful island, so called from a band of the Illinois Indians of that name, who
once dwelt upon it, is twenty-five or thirty miles in length, without habitation
on or in sight of it, and the whole way one extended and lovely prairie ;
with high banks fronting the river, and extending back a great way, covered
with a high and luxuriant growth of grass. To the top of this bank I went
with my paddle in my hand, quite innocently, just to range my eye over its
surface, and to see what might be seen ; when, in a minute or two, I turned
towards the river, and, to my almost annihilating surprise and vexation, I
saw my little canoe some twenty or thirty rods from the shore, and some
distance below me, with its head aiming across the river, and steadily gliding
along in that direction, where the wind was roguishly wafting it ! What
little swearing I had learned in the whole of my dealings with the civilized
world, seemed then to concentrate in two or three involuntary exclamations,
which exploded as I was running down the beach, and throwing off my
garments one after the other, till I was denuded and dashing through the
deep and boiling current in pursuit of it, I swam some thirty rods in a
desperate rage, resolving that this must be my remedy, as there was no other
mode ; but at last found, to my great mortification and alarm, that the
canoe, having got so far from the shore, was more in the wind, and travelling
at a speed quite equal to my own ; so that the only safe alternative was to
turn and make for the shore with all possible despatch. This I did and
had but just strength to bring me where my feet could reach the bottom,
and I waded out with the appalling conviction, that if I had swam one rod
farther into the stream, my strength would never have brought me to the shore ;
for it was in the fall of the year, and the water so cold as completely to have
benumbed me, and paralyzed my limbs. I hastened to pick up my clothes,
which were dropped at intervals as I had run on the beach, and having
adjusted them on my shivering limbs, I stepped to the top of the bank, and
took a deliberate view of my little canoe, which was steadily making its way
to tnt other shore with my gun, with my provisions and fire apparatus,
and sleeping apparel, all snugly packed in it.

" The river at that place is near a mile wide ; and I watched the mis
chievous thing till it ran quite into a bunch of willows on the opposite shore,
and out of sight. I walked the shore awhile, alone and solitary as a
Zealand penguin, when I at last sat down, and in one minute passed the
following resolves from premises that were before me, and too imperative to
be evaded or unappreciated. ' I am here on a desolate island, with no-

VOL. II. X

164

thing to eat, and destitute of the means of procuring anything- ; and if I pass
the night, or half a dozen of them here, I shall have neither fire or clothes to
make me comfortable ; and nothing short of having my canoe will answer
me at all.' For this, the only alternative struck me, and I soon commen
ced upon it. An occasional log or limb of drift wood was seen along the
beach and under the bank, and these I commenced bringing together from
all quarters, and some I had to lug half a mile or more, to form a raft to
float me up and carry me across the river. As there was a great scarcity
of materials, and I had no hatchet to cut anything; I had to use my scanty
materials of all lengths and of all sizes and all shapes, and at length ven
tured upon the motley mass, with paddle in hand, and carefully shoved
it off from the shore, finding it just sufficient to float me up. I took a
seat in its centre on a bunch of barks which I had placed for a seat, and
which, when I started, kept me a few inches above the water, and conse
quently dry, whilst my feet were resting on the raft, which in most parts was
sunk a little below the surface. The only alternative was to go, for there
was no more timber to be found ; so I balanced myself in the middle, and
by reaching forward with my paddle, to a little space between the timbers of
my raft, I had a small place to dip it, and the only one, in which I could
make but a feeble stroke propelling me at a very slow rate across, as I
was floating rapidly down the current. I sat still and worked patiently,
however, content with the little gain ; and at last reached the opposite
sfiore about three miles below the place of my embarkation ; having passed
close by several huge snags, which I was lucky enough to escape, without
the power of having cleared them except by kind accident.

" My craft was ' unseaworthy' when I started, and when I had got to the
middle of the river, owing to the rotten wood, with which a great part of it
was made, and which had now become saturated with water, it had sunk
entirely under the surface, letting me down nearly to the waist, in the water.
In this critical way I moved slowly along, keeping the sticks together under
me ; and at last, when I reached the shore, some of the long and awkward
limbs projecting from my raft, having reached it before me, and being sud
denly resisted by the bank, gave the instant signal for its dissolution, and
my sudden debarkation, when I gave one grand leap in the direction of the
bank, yet some yards short of it, and into the water, from head to foot ; but
soon crawled out, and wended my way a mile or two up the shore, where I
found my canoe snugly and safely moored in the willows, where I stepped
into it, and paddled back to the island, and to the same spot where my mis
fortunes commenced, to enjoy the pleasure of exultations, which were to
flow from contrasting my present with my former situation.

" Thus, the Island of Mas-co-tin soon lost its horrors, and I strolled two
days and encamped two nights upon its silent shores with prairie hens and
wild fowl in abundance for my meals. From this lovely ground, which
shews the peaceful graves of hundreds of red men, who have valued it before

155

me, I paddled off in my light bark, and said, as I looked back, Sleep
there in peace, ye brave fellows ! until the sacrilegious hands of white man,
and the unsympathizing ploughshare shall turn thy bones from their quiet
and beautiful resting-place !

" Two or three days of strolling, brought me again to the Camp Des Moines,
and from thence, with my favourite little bark canoe, placed upon the deck of
the steamer, I embarked for St. Louis, where I arrived in good order,and soon
found the way to the comfortable quarters from whence I am now writing. "
When I finished telling this story to Joe, his portrait was done, and I
rejoiced to find that I had given to it all the fire and all the game look that
had become so familiar and pleasing to me in our numerous rambles in the
far distant wilds of our former campaigns.*

When I had landed from the steamer Warrior, at the wharf, I left all other
'considerations to hasten and report myself to my dear wife, leaving my little
canoe on deck and in the especial charge of the Captain, till I should return
for it in the afternoon, and remove it to safe storage with my other Indian
articles, to form an interesting part of my Museum. On my return to the
steamer it was " missing," and like one that I have named on a former occa
sion, by some medicine operation, for ever severed from my sight, though
not from my recollections, where it will long remain, and also in a likeness
which I made of it (PLATE 240, a), just after the trick it played me on the
shore of the Mascotin Island.

After I had finished the likeness of my friend Joe, and had told him the
two stories, I sat down and wrote thus in my note-book, and now copy it
into my Letter:

The West not the " Far West," for that is a phantom, travelling on its
tireless wing : but the West, the simple West the vast and vacant wilds
which lie between the trodden haunts of present savage and civil life the
great and almost boundless garden-spot of earth ! This is the theme at
present. The " antres vast and deserts idle," where the tomahawk sleeps with
the bones of the savage, as yet untouched by the trespassing ploughshare
the pictured land of silence, which, in its melancholy alternately echoes
backward and forward the plaintive yells of the vanished red men, and the
busy chaunts of the approaching pioneers. I speak of the boundless plains
of beauty, and Nature's richest livery, where the waters of the " great deep'*
parted in peace, and gracefully passed off without leaving deformity behind
them. Over whose green, enamelled fields, as boundless and free as the
ocean's wave, Nature's proudest, noblest men have pranced on their wild
horses, and extended, through a series of ages, their long arms in orisons of
praise and gratitude to the Great Spirit in the sun, for the freedom and

* Poor Chad wick ! a few days after the above occasion, he sent his portrait to his mother,
and started for Texas, where he joined the Texan army, with a commission from Governor
Houston ; was taken prisoner in the first battle that he fought, and was amongst the lour
hundred prisoners who were shot down in cold blood by the order of Santa Anna.

156

happiness of their existence. The land that was beautiful and famed, but
had no chronicler to tell where, while " civilized" was yet in embryo, dwelt
the valiant and the brave, whose deeds of chivalry and honour have passed
away like themselves, unembalmed and untold where the plumed war
horse has pranced in time with the shrill sounding war-cry, and the eagle
calumet as oft sent solemn and mutual pledges in fumes to the skies. I
speak of the neutral ground (for such it may be called), where the smoke
of the wigwam is no longer seen, but the bleaching bones of the buffaloes,
and the graves of the savage, tell the story of times and days that are passed
the land of stillness, on which the red man now occasionally re-treads in
sullen contemplation, amid the graves of his fathers, and over which civilized
man advances, filled with joy and gladness.

Such is the great valley of the Mississippi and Missouri, over almost every
part of which I have extended my travels, and of which and of its future
wealth and improvements, I have had sublime contemplations.

I have viewed man in the artless and innocent simplicity of nature, in the
full enjoyment of the luxuries which God had bestowed upon him. I have
seen him happier than kings or princes can be ; with his pipe and little ones
about him. I have seen him shrinking from civilized approach, which came
with all its vices, like the dead of night, upon him : I have seen raised, too,
in that darkness, religions torch, and seen him gaze and then retreat like
the frightened deer, that are blinded by the light ; I have seen him shrink
ing from the soil and haunts of his boyhood, bursting the strongest ties which
bound him to the earth, and its pleasures ; 1 have seen him set fire to his
wigwam, and smooth over the graves of his fathers ; I have seen him ('tis the
only thing that will bring them) with tears of grief sliding over his cheeks,
clap his hand in silence over his mouth, and take the last look over his fair
hunting grounds, and turn his face in sadness to the setting sun. All this I
have seen performed in Nature's silent dignity and grace, which forsook him
not in the last extremity of misfortune and despair ; and I have seen as often,
the approach of the bustling, busy, talking, whistling, hopping, elated and
exulting white man, with the first dip of the ploughshare, making sacrilegious
trespass on the bones of the valiant dead. I have seen the skull, i\\epipe,
and the tomahawk rise from the ground together, in interrogations which the
sophistry of the world can never answer. I have seen thus, in all its forms
and features, the grand and irresistible march of civilization. 1 have seen
this splendid Juggernaut rolling on, and beheld its sweeping desolation ; and
held converse with the happy thousands, living, as yet, beyond its influence,
who have not been crushed, nor yet have dreamed of its approach.

I have stood amidst these unsophisticated people, and contemplated with
feelings of deepest regret, the certain approach of this overwhelming system,
which will inevitably march on and prosper, until reluctant tears shall have
watered every rod of this fair land ; and from the towering cliffs of the Rocky
Mountains, the luckless savage will turn back his swollen eye, over the blue

157

and illimitable hunting grounds from whence he has fled, and there contem
plate, like Caius Marius on the ruins of Carthage, their splendid desolation.

Such is the vast expanse of country from which Nature's men are at this
time rapidly vanishing, giving way to the modern crusade which is following
the thousand allurements, and stocking with myriads, this world of green
fields. This splendid area, denominated the " Valley of the Mississippi," em
braced between the immutable barriers on either side, the Alleghany and Rocky
Mountains ; with the Gulf of Mexico on the South, and the great string of
lakes on the North, and the mighty Mississippi rolling its turbid waters
through it, for the distance of four thousand miles, receiving its hundred
tributaries, whose banks and plateaus are capable of supporting a population
of one hundred millions, covered almost entirely with the richest soil in the
world, with lead, iron, and coal, sufficient for its population with twelve
thousand miles of river navigation for steamers, within its embrace, besides
the coast on the South, and the great. expanse of lakes on the North with
a population of five millions, already sprinkled over its nether half, and a
greater part of the remainder of it, inviting the world to its possession, for one
dollar and 25 cents (five shillings) per acre !

I ask, who can contemplate, without amazement, this mighty river alone,
eternally rolling its boiling waters through the richest of soil, for the distance
of four thousand miles ; over three thousand five hundred of which, I have
myself been wafted on mighty steamers, ensconced within " curtains dam
asked, and carpets ingrain ;" and on its upper half, gazed with tireless ad
miration upon its thousand hills and mounds of grass and green, sloping
down to the water's edge, in all the grace and beauty of Nature's loveliest
fabrication. On its lower half, also, whose rich alluvial shores are studded
with stately cotton wood and elms, which echo back the deep and hollow
cough of the puffing steamers. I have contemplated the bed of this vast
river, sinking from its natural surface ; and the alligator driven to its bosom,
abandoning his native bog and fen, which are drying and growing into beauty
and loveliness under the hand of the husbandman.

I have contemplated these boundless forests melting away before the fatal
axe, until the expanded waters of this vast channel, and its countless tribu
taries, will yield their surplus to the thirsty sunbeam, to which their shorn
banks will expose them ; and I have contemplated, also, the never-ending
transit of steamers, ploughing up the sand and deposit from its bottom,
which its turbid waters are eternally hurrying on to the ocean, sinking its
channel, and thereby raising its surrounding alluvions for the temptations
and enjoyment of man.

All this is certain. Man's increase, and the march of human improve
ments in this New World, are as true and irresistible as the laws of nature,
and he who could rise from his grave and speak, or would speak from the
life some half century from this, would proclaim my prophecy true and ful
filled. I said above, (and I again say it,) that these are subjects for " sublime

158

contemplation !" At all events they are so to the traveller, who has wandered
over and seen this vast subject in all its parts, and able to appreciate who
has seen the frightened herds, as well as multitudes of human, giving way
and shrinking from the mountain wave of civilization, which is busily rollino-
on behind them.

From Maine to Florida on the Atlantic coast, the forefathers of those
hardy sons who are now stocking this fair land, have, from necessity? in a
hard and stubborn soil, inured their hands to labour, and their habits and
taste of life to sobriety and economy, which will ensure them success in the
new world.

This rich country which is now alluring the enterprising young men from
the East, being commensurate with the whole Atlantic States, holds out the
extraordinary inducement that every emigrant can enjoy a richer soil, and
that too in his own native latitude. The sugar planter, the rice, cotton, and
tobacco growers corn, rye, and wheat producers, from Louisiana to Mon
treal, have only to turn their faces to the West, and there are waiting for
them the same atmosphere to breathe, and green fields already cleared, and
ready for the plough, too tempting to be overlooked or neglected.

As far west as the banks of the Mississippi, the great wave of emigration
has rolled on, and already in its rear the valley is sprinkled with towns und
cities, with their thousand spires pointing to the skies. For several hundred
miles West, also, have the daring pioneers ventured their lives and fortunes,
with their families, testing the means and luxuries of life, which Nature has
spread before them ; in the country where the buried tomahawk is scarce
rusted, and the war-cry has scarcely died on the winds. Among these
people have I roamed. On the Red River I have seen the rich Louisianian
chequering out his cotton and sugar plantations, where the sunbeam could
be seen reflected from the glistening pates of his hundred negroes, making
first trespass with the hoe. 1 have sat with him at his hospitable table in his
log cabin, sipping sherry and champaigne. He talks of " hogsheads and
price of stocks," or " goes in for cotton."

In the western parts of Arkansas and Missouri, I have shared the genuine
cottage hospitality of the abrupt, yet polite and honourable Kentuckian ; the
easy, affable and sociable Tennesseean ; this has " a smart chance of corn ;"
the other, perhaps, " a power of cotton ;" and then, occasionally, (from the
" Old Dominion,") " I reckon I shall have a mighty heap of tobacco this
season," &c.

Boys in this country are "peart," fever and ague renders one "powerful
weak," and sometimes it is almost impossible to get " shet" of it. Intelli
gence, hospitality, and good cheer reign under all of these humble roofs, and
the traveller who knows how to appreciate those things, with a good cup of
coffee, "corn* bread," and fresh butter, can easily enjoy moments of bliss in
converse with the humble pioneer.

On the Upper Mississippi and Missouri, for the distance of seven or eight

* Maize.

159

nundred miles above St. Louis, is one of the most beautiful champaigne
countries in the world, continually alternating into timber and fields of the
foftest green, calculated, from its latitude, for the people of the northern and
eastern states, and " Jonathan" is already here and almost every body else
from " down East" with fences of white, drawn and drawing, like chalk
lines, over the green prairie. " By gosh, this ere is the biggest clearin I
ever see." " I expect we had'nt ought to raise nothin but wheat and rye
here." " I guess you've come arter land, ha'nt you ?"

Such is the character of'this vast country, and such the manner in which
it is filled up, with people from all parts, tracing their own latitudes, and
carrying with them their local peculiarities and prejudices. The mighty
Mississippi, however, the great and everlasting highway on which these
people are for ever to intermingle their interests and manners, will effectually
soften down those prejudices, and eventually result in an amalgamation of
feelings and customs, from which this huge mass of population will take one
new and general appellation.

It is here that the true character of the American is to be formed here
where the peculiarities and incongruities which detract from his true character
are surrendered for the free, yet lofty principle that strikes between meanness
and prodigality between literal democracy and aristocracy between low
cunning and self-engendered ingenuousness. Such will be found to be the
true character of the Americans when jostled awhile together, until their local
angles are worn off; and such may be found and already pretty well formed,
in the genuine Kentuckian, the first brave and daring pioneer of the great
West ; he is the true model of an American the nucleus around which the
character must form, and from which it is to emanate to the world. This is
the man who first relinquished the foibles and fashions of Eastern life, trail
ing his rifle into the. forest of the Mississippi, taking simple Nature for his
guide. From necessity (as well as by nature), bold and intrepid, with the
fixed and unfaltering brow of integrity, and a hand whose very grip (without
words) tells you welcome.

And yet, many people of the East object to the Mississippi, " that it is
too far off is out of the world." But how strange and insufficient is such
an objection to the traveller who has seen and enjoyed its hospitality, and
reluctantly retreats from it with feelings of regret ; pronouncing it a " world
of itself, equal in luxuries and amusements to any other." How weak is
such an objection to him who has ascended the Upper Mississippi to the Fall
of St. Anthony, traversed the States of Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan, and
territory of Ouisconsin; over all of which nature has spread her green fields,
smiling and tempting man to ornament with painted house and fence, with
prancing steed and tasseled carriage with countless villages, silvered spires
and domes, denoting march of intellect and wealth's refinement. The sun
is sure to look upon these scenes, and we, perhaps, " may hear the tinkling
Jrum our graves." Adieu.

160

LETTER No 54.

RED PIPE STONE QUARRY, COTEAU DES PRAIRIES.

THE reader who would follow me from the place where my last epistle
was written, to where I now am, must needs start, as I did, from St. Louis,
and cross the Alleghanny mountains, to my own native state ; where I left
my wife with my parents, and wended my way to Buffalo, on Lake Erie,
where I deposited my Collection ; and from thence trace, as I did, the zig
zag course of the Lakes, from Buffalo to Detroit to the Sault de St. Marys
to Mackinaw to Green Bay, and thence the tortuous windings of the
Fox and Ouisconsin Rivers, to Prairie du Chien ; and then the mighty Mis
sissippi (for the second time), to the Fall of St. Anthony then the sluggish,
yet decorated and beautiful St. Peters, towards its source ; and thence again
(on horseback) the gradually and gracefully rising terraces of the shorn, yet
green and carpeted plains, denominated the " Coteau des Prairies" (being
the high and dividing ridge between the St. Peters and the Missouri Rivers),
where I am bivouacked, at the " Red Pipe Stone Quarry." The distance
of such a Tour would take the reader 4,000 miles ; but I save him the
trouble by bringing him, in a moment, on the spot.

This journey has afforded me the opportunity of seeing, on my way, Mac
kinaw the Sault de St. Marys, and Green Bay points which I had not
before visited ; and also of seeing many distinguished Indians among the
Chippeways, Menomonies and Winnebagoes, whom I had not before painted
or seen.

I can put the people of the East at rest, as to the hostile aspect of this
part of the country, as I have just passed through the midst of these tribes,
as well as of the Sioux, in whose country I now am, and can, without con
tradiction, assert, that, as far as can be known, they are generally well-dis
posed, and have been so, towards the whites.

There have been two companies of United States dragoons, ordered and
marched to Green Bay, where I saw them ; and three companies of infantry
from Prairie du Chien to Fort Winnebago, in anticipation of difficulties ;
but in all probability, without any real cause or necessity, for the Winnebago
chief answered the officer, who asked him if they wanted to fight, " that
they could not, had they been so disposed ; for," said he, " we have no
guns, no ammunition, nor anything to eat ; and, what is worst of all, one half

264

5. Caktin.

265

161

of our men are dying with the small-pox. If you will give us guns and
ammunition, and pork, and flour, and feed and take care of our squaws
and children, we will fight you ; nevertheless, we will try to fight if you
want us to, as it is."

There is, to appearance (and there is no doubt of the truth of it), the most
humble poverty and absolute necessity for peace among these people at
present, that can possibly be imagined. And, amidst their poverty and
wretchedness, the only war that suggests itself to the eye of the traveller
through their country, is the war of sympathy and pity, which wages in the
breast of a feeling, thinking man.

The small-pox, whose ravages have now pretty nearly subsided, has taken
off a great many of the Winnebagoes and Sioux. The famous Wa-be-sha,
of the Sioux, and more than half of his band, have fallen victims to it within
a few weeks, and the remainder of them, blackened with its frightful distor
tions, look as it they had just emerged fiom the sulphurous regions below.
At Prairie du Chien, a considerable number of the half-breeds, and French
also, suffered death by this baneful disease ; and at that place I learned one
fact, which may be of service to science, which was this : that in all cases
of vaccination, which had been given several years ago, it was an efficient
protection ; but in those cases where the vaccine had been recent (and there
were many of them), it had not the effect to protect, and in almost every
instance of such, death ensued.

At the Sault de St. Marys on Lake Superior, I saw a considerable num
ber of Chippeways, living entirely on fish, which they catch with great ease
at that place.

1 need not detain the reader a moment with a description of St. Marys,
or of the inimitable summer's paradise, which can always be seen at Mac
kinaw; and which, like the other, has been an hundred times described.
1 shall probably have the chance of seeing about 3,000 Chippeways at the
latter place on my return home, who are to receive their annuities at that
time through the hands of Mr. Schoolcraft, their agent.

In PLATE 264, I have given a distant view of Mackinaw, as seen ap
proaching it from the East ; and in PLATE 265, a view of the Sault de St
Marys, taken from the Canada shore, near the missionary-house, which is
seen in the fore-ground of the picture, and in distance, the United States
Garrison, and the Rapids ; and beyond them the Capes at the outlet of Lake
Superior.

I mentioned that the Chippeways living in the vicinity of the Sault, live
entirely on fish; and it is almost literally true also, that the French and
English, and Americans, who reside about there live on fish, which are
caught in the greatest abundance in the rapids at that place, and are, per
haps, one of the greatest luxuries of the world. The white fish, which is in
appearance much like a salmon, though smaller, is the luxury I am speaking
of, and is caught in immense quantities by the scoop-nets of the Indians and

VOL. II. y

162

Frenchmen, amongst the foaming and dashing water of tlie rapids (PLATE
266), where it gains strength and flavour not to be found in the same fish
in any other place. This unequalled fishery has long been one of vast im
portance to the immense numbers of Indians, who have always assembled
about it ; but of late, has been found by money-making men, to be too valu
able a spot for the exclusive occupancy of the savage, like hundreds of
others, and has at last been filled up with adventurers, vho have dipped
their nets till the poor Indian is styled an intruder ; and his timid bark is
seen dodging about in the coves for a scanty subsistence, whilst he scans
and envies insatiable white man filling his barrels and boats, and sending
them to market to be converted into money.

In PLATE 267 is seen one of their favourite amusements at this place,
which I was lucky enough to witness a few miles below the Sault, when
high bettings had been made, and a great concourse of Indians had assem
bled to witness an Indian regatta or canoe race, which went ofF with great
excitement, firing of guns, yelping, &c. The Indians in this vicinity are all
Chippeways, and their canoes all made of birch bark, and chiefly of one
model ; they are exceedingly light, as I have before described, and propelled
with wonderful velocity.

Whilst I stopped at the Sault, I made excursions on Lake Superior, and
through other parts of the country, both on the Canada and United States
sides, and painted a number of Chippeways ; amongst whom were On-daig
(the crow, PLATE 268), a young man of distinction, in an extravagant and
beautiful costume ; and Gitch-ee-gaw-ga-osh (the point that remains for
ever), PLATE 269, an old and respected chief.* And besides these, Gaw-
zaw-que-dung (he who hallows; Kay-ee-qua-da-kum-ee-gish-kum (he whe
tries the ground with his foot) ; and I-an-be-wa-dick (the male carabou.)

From Mackinaw I proceeded to Green Bay, which is a flourishing begin
ning of a town, in the heart of a rich country, and the head-quarters of
land speculators.

From thence, I embarked in alarge bark canoe, with five French voyageurs at
the oars, where happened to be grouped and messed together, five "jolly com
panions" of us, bound for Fort Winnebago and the Mississippi. All our stores
and culinary articles were catered for by, and bill rendered to, mine host,
Mr. C. Jennings (quondam of the city hotel in New Yurk), who was one of
our party, and whom we soon elected " Major" of the expedition ; and shortly
after, promoted to " Colonel" from the philosophical dignity and patience
with which he met the difficulties and exposure which we had to encounter,
as well as for his extraordinary skill and taste displayed in the culinary art.
Mr. Irving, a relative of W. Irving, Esq., and Mr. Robert Serril Wood, an
Englishman (both travellers of European realms, with fund inexhaustible

* This very distinguished old chief, I have learned, died a few weeks after I painted
hi* portrait.

149

266

163

for amusement and entertainment) ; Lieutenant Reed, of the army, and my
self, forming the rest of the party. The many amusing little incidents which
enlivened our transit up the sinuous windings of the Fox river, amid its rapids,
its banks of loveliest prairies and ' oak openings," and its boundless shores
of wild rice, with the thrilling notes of Mr. Wood's guitar, and " chansons
pour rire," from our tawny boatmen, &c. were too good to be thrown away,
and have been registered, perhaps for a future occasion. Suffice it for the
present, that our fragile bark brought us in good time to Fort Winnebago,
with impressions engraven on our hearts which can never be erased, of this
sweet and beautiful little river, and of the fun and fellowship which kept us
awake during the nights, almost as well as during the days. At this post,
after remaining a day, our other companions took a different route, leaving
Mr. Wood and myself to cater anew, and to buy a light bark canoe for our
voyage down the Ouisconsin, to Prairie du Chien ; in which we embarked
the next day, with paddles in hand, and hearts as light as the zephyrs, amid
which we propelled our little canoe. Three days' paddling, embracing two
nights' encampment, brought us to the end of our voyage. We entered the
mighty Mississippi, and mutually acknowledged ourselves paid for our
labours, by the inimitable scenes of beauty and romance, through which we
had passed, and on which our untiring eyes had been riveted during the
whole way.

The Ouisconsin, which the French most appropriately denominate " La
belle riviere," may certainly vie with any other on the Continent or in the
world, for its beautifully skirted banks and prairie bluffs. It may justly be
said to be equal to the Mississippi about the Prairie du Chien in point of
sweetness and beauty, but not on quite so grand a scale.

My excellent and esteemed fellow-traveller, like a true Englishman, has
untiringly stuck by me through all difficulties, passing the countries above-
mentioned, and also the Upper Mississippi, the St. Peters, and the overland
route to our present encampment on this splendid plateau of the Western
world. ******

* Thus far have I strolled, within the space of a few weeks,

for the purpose of reaching classic ground.

Be not amazed if I have sought, in this distant realm, the Indian Muse,
for here she dwells, and here she must be invoked nor be offended if my
narratives from this moment should savour of poetry or appear like romance.
If I can catch the inspiration, I may sing (or yell) a few epistles from
this famed ground before I leave it ; or at least I will prose a few of its
leading characteristics and mysterious legends. This place is great (not in
history, for there is none of it, but) in traditions, and stories, of which this
Western world is full and rich.

*' Here (according to their traditions), happened the mysterious birth of
the red pipe, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the remotest
corners of the Continent ; which has visited every warrior, and passed through

164

its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and desolation. And here
also, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and fringed with the eagle's
quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes over the land, and soothed the fury
of the relentless savage.

" The Great Spirit at an ancient period, here called the Indian nations
together, and standing on the precipice of the red pipe stone rock, broke
from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand, which
he smoked over them, and to the North, the South, the East, and the West,
and told them that this stone was red that it was their flesh that they
must use it for their pipes of peace that it belonged to them all, and that
the war-club and scalping knife must not be raised on its ground. At the
last whiff of his pipe his head went into a great cloud, and the whole surface
of the rock for several miles was melted and glazed ; two great ovens were
opened beneath, and two women (guardian spirits of the place), entered
them in a blaze of fire ; and they are heard there yet (Tso-mec-cos-tee, and
Tso-me-cos-te-won-dee), answering to the invocations of the high priests or
medicine-men, who consult them when they are visitors to this sacred
place.''

Near this spot, also, on a high mound, is the " Thunder 's nest" (nid-
du-Tonnere), where "a very small bird sits upon her eggs during fair
weather, and the skies are rent with bolts of thunder at the approach of a
storm, which is occasioned by the hatching of her brood !"

" This bird is eternal, and incapable of reproducing her own species :
she has often been seen by the medicine-men, and is about as large as the
end of the little finger ! Her mate is a serpent, whose fiery tongue destroys
the young ones as they are hatched, and the fiery noise darts through
the skies."

Such are a few of the stories of this famed land, which of itself, in
its beauty and loveliness, without the aid of traditionary fame, would be
appropriately denominated a paradise. Whether it has been an Indian Eden
or not, or whether the thunderbolts of Indian Jupiter are actually forged
here, it is nevertheless a place renowned in Indian heraldry and tradition,
which I hope I may be able to fathom and chronicle, as explanatory of
many of my anecdotes and traditionary superstitions of Indian history, which
I have given, and am giving, to the world.

With my excellent companion, I am encamped on, and writing from, the
very rock where "the Great Spirit stood when he consecrated the pipe of
peace, by moulding it from the rock, and smoking it over the congregated
nations that were assembled about him." (See PLATE 270.)

Lifted up on this stately mound, whose top is fanned with air as light to
breathe as nitrous oxide gas and bivouacked on its very ridge, (where
nought on earth is seen in distance save the thousand treeless, bushless,
weedless hills of grass and vivid green which all around me vanish into
an infinity of blue and azure), stretched on our bears'-skins, my fellow-

m
I

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Sir-- -' :

Mflli

sfa&iji

^-=^/nL-\

165

traveller, Mr. Wood, and myself, have laid and contemplated the splendid
orrery of the heavens. With sad delight, that shook me with a terror, have
I watched the swollen sun shoving down (too fast for time) upon the mystic
horizon ; whose line was lost except as it was marked in blue across his
blood-red disk. Thus have we laid night after night (two congenial spirits
who could draw pleasure from sublime contemplation), and descanted on
our own insignificance ; we have closely drawn our buffalo robes about us,
talked of the ills of life of friends we had lost of projects that had failed
and of the painful steps we had to retrace to reach our own dear native
lands again. We have sighed in the melancholy of twilight, when the busy
winds were breathing their last, the chill of sable night was hovering around
us, and nought of noise was heard but the silvery tones of the howling wolf,
and the subterraneous whistle of the busy gophirs that were ploughing and
vaulting the earth beneath us. Thus have we seen wheeled down in the
West, the glories of day ; and at the next moment, in the East, beheld her
silver majesty jutting up above the horizon, with splendour in her face that
seemed again to fill the world with joy and gladness. We have seen here,
too, in all its sublimity, the blackening thunderstorm the lightning's glare,
and stood amidst the jarring thunder-bolts, that tore and broke in awful
rage about us, as they rolled over the smooth surface, with nought but empty
air to vent their vengeance on. There is a sublime grandeur in these scenes
as they are presented here, which must be seen and felt, to be understood.
There is a majesty in the very ground that we tread upon, that inspires with
awe and reverence ; and he must have the soul of a brute, who could gallop
his horse for a whole day over swells and terraces of green that rise contin
ually a-head. and tantalize (where hills peep over hills, and Alps on Alps
arise), without feeling his bosom swell with awe and admiration, and himself
as well as his thoughts, lifted up in sublimity when he rises the last terrace,
and sweeps his eye over the wide spread, blue and pictured infinity that lies
around and beneath him.*

Man feels here, and startles at the thrilling sensation, the force of illimi
table freedom his body and his mind both seem to have entered a new
element the former as free as the very wind it inhales, and the other as
expanded and infinite as the boundless imagery that is spread in distance
around him. Such is (and it is feebly told) the Coteau du Prairie. The rock
on which I sit to write, is the summit of a precipice thirty feethigh, extending
two miles in length and much of the way polished, as if a liquid glazing had
been poured over its surface. Not far from us, in the solid rock, are the deep
impressed " footsteps of the Great Spirit (in the form of a track of a large
bird), where he formerly stood when the blood of the buffaloes that he was
devouring, ran into the rocks and turned them red." At a few yards from us,
leaps a. beautiful little stream, from the top of the precipice, into a deep basin

* The reader and traveller who may have this book with him, should follow the Cdteau
a few miles to the North of the Quarry, for the highest elevation and greatest sublimity of

166

below. Here, amid rocks of the loveliest hues, but wildest contour, is seen
the poor Indian performing ablution ; and at a little distance beyond, on the
plain, at the base of five huge granite boulders, he is humbly propitiating
the guardian spirits of the place, by sacrifices of tobacco, entreating for per
mission to take away a small piece of the red stone for a pipe. Farther
along, and over an extended plain are seen, like gophir hills, their excava
tions, ancient and recent, and on the surface of the rocks, various marks
and their sculptured hieroglyphics their wakons, totems and medicines
subjects numerous and interesting for the antiquary or the merely curious.
Graves, mounds, and ancient fortifications that lie in sight the pyra
mid or leaping-rock, and its legends ; together with traditions, novel and
numerous, and a description, graphical and geological, of this strange place,
have all been subjects that have passed rapidly through my contemplation,
and will be given in future epistles.

On our way to this place, my English companion and myself were arrested
by a rascally band of the Sioux, and held in durance vile, for having dared
to approach the sacred fountain of the pipe! While we had halted at the
trading-hut of " Le Blanc," at a place called Traverse des Sioux, on the
St. Peters river, and about 150 miles from the Red Pipe, a murky cloud of
dark-visaged warriors and braves commenced gathering around the house,
closing and cramming all its avenues, when one began his agitated and in
sulting harangue to us, announcing to us in the preamble, that we were
prisoners, and could not go ahead. About twenty of them spoke in turn ;
and we were doomed to sit nearly the whole afternoon, without being allowed
to speak a word in our behalf, until they had all got through. We were
compelled to keep our seats like culprits, and hold our tongues, till all had
brandished their fists in our faces, and vented all the threats and invective
which could flow from Indian malice, grounded on the presumption that we
had come to trespass on their dearest privilege, their religion.

There was some allowance to be made, and some excuse, surely, for the
rashness of these poor fellows, and we felt disposed to pity, rather than re
sent, though their unpardonable stubbornness excited us almost to despera
tion. Their superstition was sensibly touched, for we were persisting, in
the most peremptory terms, in the determination to visit this, their greatest
medicine (mystery) place ; where, it seems, they had often resolved no
white man should ever be allowed to go. They took us to be " officers
sent by Government to see what this place was worth," &c. As " this
red stone was a part of their flesh," it would be sacrilegious for white
man to touch or take it away" " a hole would be made in their flesh,
and the blood could never be made to stop running." My companion and
myself were here in a fix, one that demanded the use of every energy we
had about us ; astounded at so unexpected a rebuff, and more than ever
excited to go ahead, and see what was to be seen at this strange place ; in
this emergency, we mutually agreed to go forward, even if it should be at

167

the hazard of our lives ; we heard all they had to say, and then made our
own speeches and at length had our horses brought, which we mounted
and rode off without further molestation ; and having arrived upon this in
teresting ground, have found it quite equal in interest and beauty to our
sanguine expectations, abundantly repaying us for all our trouble in travel
ing to it.

I had long ago heard many curious descriptions of this spot given by the
Indians, and had contracted the most impatient desire to visit it.* It will
be seen by some of the traditions inserted in this Letter, from my notes
taken on the Upper Missouri four years since, that those tribes have visited
this place freely in former times ; and that it has once been held and owned
in common, as neutral ground, amongst the different tribes who met here to
renew their pipes, under some superstition which stayed the tomahawk of
natural foes, always raised in deadly hate and vengeance in other places.
It will be seen also, that within a few years past (and that, probably, by
the instigation of the whites, who have told them that by keeping off other
tribes, and manufacturing the pipes themselves, and trading them to other
adjoining nations, they can acquire much influence and wealth), the Sioux
have laid entire claim to this quarry ; and as it is in the centre of their
country, and they are more powerful than any other tribes, they are able
successfully to prevent any access to it.

That this place should have been visited for centuries past by all the
neighbouring tribes, who have hidden the war-club as they approached it,
and stayed the cruelties of the scalping-knife, under the fear of the vengeance
of the Great Spirit, who overlooks it, will not seem strange or unnatural,
when their religion and superstitions are known.

That such has been the custom, there is not a shadow of doubt ; and that
even so recently as to have been witnessed by hundreds and thousands of
Indians of different tribes, now living, and from many of whom I have per
sonally drawn the information, some of which will be set forth in the fol
lowing traditions ; and as an additional (and still more conclusive) evidence
of the above position, here are to be seen (and will continue to be seen for

* I have in former epistles, several times spoken of the red pipes of the Indians
which are found in almost every tribe of Indians on the Continent ; and in every instance
have, I venture to say, been brought from the Coteau des Prairies, inasmuch as no tribe
of Indians that I have yet visited, have ever apprized me of any other source than this ;
and the stone from which they are all manufactured, is of the same character exactly, and
different from any known mineral compound ever yet discovered in any part of Europe,
or other parts of the American Continent. This may be thought a broad assertion yet it
is one I have ventured to make (and one I should have had no motive for making, except
for the purpose of eliciting information, if there be any, on a subject so curious and so
exceedingly interesting). In my INDIAN MUSEUM there can always be seen a great many
beautiful specimens of this mineral selected on the spot, by myself, embracing all of its
numerous varieties ; ard I challenge the world to produce anything like it, except it be
from the same locality. In a following Letter will be found a further account of it, ana
its chemical analysis.

168

ages to come), the totems and arms of the different tribes, who have visit e
this place for ages past, deeply engraved on the quartz rocks, where they are
to be recognized in a moment (and not to be denied) by the passing traveller,
who has been among these tribes, and acquired even but a partial knowledge
of them and their respective modes.*

The thousands of inscriptions and paintings on the rocks at this place, as
well as the ancient diggings for the pipe-stone, will afford amusement for the
world who will visit it, without furnishing the least data, I should think, of
the time at which these excavations commenced, or of the period at which the
Sioux assumed the exclusive right to it.

Among the many traditions which I have drawn personally from the
different tribes, and which go to support the opinion above advanced, is the
following one, which was related to me by a distinguished Knisteneaux, on
the Upper Missouri, four years since, on occasion of presenting to me a hand
some red stone pipe. After telling me that he had been to this place and
after describing it in all its features, he proceeded to say :

" That in the time of a great freshet, which took place many centuries
ago, and destroyed all the nations of the earth, all the tribes of the red men
assembled on the Coteau du Prairie, to get out of the way of the waters.
After they had all gathered here from all parts, the water continued to rise,
until at length it covered them all in a mass, and their flesh was converted
into red pipe stone. Therefore it -has always been considered neutral ground
it belonged to all tribes alike, and all were allowed to get it and smoke it
together.

" While they were all drowning in a mass, a young woman, K-wap-tah-w
(a virgin), caught hold of the foot of a very large bird that was flying over,
and was carried to the top of a high cliff, not far off, that was above the
water. Here she had twins, and their father was the war-eagle, and her
children have since peopled the earth.

" The pipe stone, which is the flesh of their ancestors, is smoked by them
as the symbol of peace, and the eagle's quill decorates the head of the brave."

Tradition of the Sioux. " Before the creation of man, the Great Spirit
(whose tracks are yet to be seen on the stones, at the Red Pipe, in form of the
tracks of a large bird) used to slay the buffaloes and eat them on the ledge of
the Red Rocks, on the top of the Coteau des Prairies, and their blood running
on to the rocks, turned them red. One day when a large snake had crawled

* I am aware that this interesting fact may be opposed by subsequent travellers, wLo
will find nobody but the Sioux upon this ground, who now claim exclusive rigbtto it ; and
for the satisfaction of those who doubt, I refer them to Lewis and Clark's Tour thirty-three
years since, before the influence of Traders had deranged the system and truth of things,
in these regions. I have often conversed with General Clark, of St. Louis, on this subject,
and he told me explicitly, and authorized me to say it to the world, that every tribe on
the Missouri told him they had been to this place, and that the Great Spirit kept the peace
amongst bis red children on that ground, where they had smoked with their enemies.

169

Into the nest of the bird to eat his eggs, one of the eggs hatched ou t in a clap
of thunder, and the Great Spirit catching hold of a piece of the pipe stone
to throw at the snake, moulded il into a man. This man's feet grew fastm
the ground where he stood for many ages, like a great tree, and therefore he
grew very old ; he was older than an hundred men at the present day ; and
at last another tree grew up by the side of him, when a large snake ate them
both off at the roots, and they wandered off together ; from these have
sprung all the people that now inhabit the earth."

The above tradition I found amongst the Upper Missouri Sioux, but which,
when I related to that part of the great tribe of Sioux who inhabit the Upper
Mississippi, they seemed to know nothing about it. The reason for this may
have been, perhaps, as is often the case, owing to the fraud or excessive
ignorance of the interpreter, on whom we are often entirely dependent in
this country ; or it is more probably owing to the very vague and numerous
fables which may often be found, cherished and told by different bands or
families in the same tribe, and relative to the same event.

I shall on a future occasion, give you a Letter on traditions of this kind,
which will be found to be very strange and amusing ; establishing the fact
at the same time, that theories respecting their origin, creation of the world,
&c. &c., are by no means uniform throughout the different tribes, nor even
through an individual tribe ; and that very many of these theories are but
the vagaries, or the ingenious systems of their medicine or mystery-men,
conjured up and taught to their own respective parts of a tribe, for the pur
pose of gaining an extraordinary influence over the minds and actions of the
remainder of the tribe, whose superstitious minds, under the supernatural
controul and dread of these self-made magicians, are held in a state of mys
terious vassalage.

Amongst the Sioux of the Mississippi, and who live in the region of the
Red Pipe Stone Quarry, I found the following and not less strange tradition
on the same subject. ; ' Many ages after the red men were made, when all
the different tribes were at war, the Great Spirit sent runners and called them
all together at the ' Red Pipe.' He stood on the top of the rocks, and the
red people were assembled in infinite numbers on the plains below. He
took out of the rock a piece of the red stone, and made a large pipe ; he
smoked it over them all ; told them that it was part of their flesh ; that
though they were at war, they must meet at this place as friends ; that it
belonged to them all ; that they must make their calumets from it and smoke
them to him whenever they wished to appease him or get his good-will the
smoke from his big pipe rolled over them all, and he disappeared in its cloud ;
at the last whiff of his pipe a blaze of fire rolled over the rocks, and melted
their surface at that moment two squaws went in a blaze of fire under the
two medicine rocks, where they remain to this day, and must be consulted
and propitiated whenever the pipe stone is to be taken away."

The following speech of a Mandan, which was made to me in the Mandan

VOL. 11. 2

170

village four years since, after I had painted his picture, I have copied from
my note-book as corroborative of the same facts :

' My brother You have made my picture and I like it much. My friends
tell me they can see the eyes move, and it must be very good it must be
partly alive. I am glad it is done though many of my people are afraid.
I am a young man, but my heart is strong. I have jumped on to the medi
cine-rock I have placed my arrow on it and no Mandan can take it away.*
The red stone is slippery, but my foot was true it did not slip. My brother,
this pipe which I give to you, I brought from a high mountain, it is toward
the rising sun many were the pipes that we brought from there and we
brought them away in peace. We left our totems or marks on the rocks
we cut them deep in the stones, and they are there now. The Great Spirit
told all nations to meet there in peace, and all nations hid the war-club and
the tomahawk. The Dah-co-tahs, who are our enemies, are very strong
they have taken up the tomahawk, and the blood of our warriors has run on
the rocks. My friend, we want to visit our medicines our pipes are old and
worn out. My friend, I wish you to speak to our Great Father about this."

The chief of the Puncahs, on the Upper Missouri, also made the following
allusion to this place, in a speech which he made to me on the occasion of
presenting me a very handsome pipe about four years since :

"My friend, this pipe, which I wish you to accept, was dug from the
ground, and cut and polished as you now see it, by my hands. I wish you
to keep it, and when you smoke through it, recollect that this red stone is a
part of our flesh. This is one of the last things we can ever give away. Our
enemies the Sioux, have raised the red flag of blood over the Pipe Stone Quarry,
and our medicines there are trodden under foot by them. The Sioux are
many, and we cannot go to the mountain of the red pipe. We have seen all
nations smoking together at that place but, my brother, it is not so now."f

* The medicine (or leaping) rock is a part of the precipice which has become severed
from the main part, standing about seven or eight feet from the wall, just equal in height,
end about seven feet in diameter.

It stands like an immense column of thirty-five feet high, and highly polished on
its top and sides. It requires a daring effort to leap on to its top from the main wall, and
back again, and many a heart has sighed for the honour of the feat without daring to make
the attempt. Some few have tried it with success, and left their arrows standing in its
crevice, several of which are seen there at this time ; others have leapt the cha&m and
fallen from the slippery surface on which they could not hold, and suffered instant death
upon the craggy rocks below. Every young man in the nation is ambitious to perform
this feat ; and those who have successfully done it are allowed to boast of it all their lives.
In the sketch already exhibited, there will be seen, a view of the " leaping rock ;" and in
the middle of the picture, a mound, of a conical form, of ten feet height, which was erected
over the body of a distinguished young man who was killed by making this daring effort,
about two years before I was there, and whose sad fate was related to me by a Sioux
chief, who was father of the young man, and was visiting the Red Pipe Stone Quarry,
with thirty others of his tribe, when we were there, and cried over the grave, as he related
the story to Mr. Wood and myself, of his son's death.

t (H my return from the Pipe Stone Quarry, one of the old chiefs of the Sacs, OB seeing

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Such are a few of the stories relating to this curious place, and many others
might be give which I have procured, though they amount to nearly the
same thing, with equal contradictions and equal absurdities.

The position of the Pipe Stone Quarry, is in a direction nearly West from
the Fall of St. Anthony, at a distance of three hundred miles, on the summit
of the dividing ridge between the St. Peters and the Missouri rivers, being
about equi-distant from either. This dividing ridge is denominated by the
French, the " Coteau des Prairies," and the " Pipe Stone Quarry" is situ
ated near its southern extremity, and consequently not exactly on its highest
elevation, as its general course is north and south, and its southern extremity
terminates in a gradual slope.

Our approach to it was from the East, and the ascent, for the distance
of fifty miles, over a continued succession of slopes and terraces, almost
imperceptibly rising one above another, that seemed to lift us to a great
height. The singular character of this majestic mound, continues on the
West side, in its descent toward the Missouri. There is not a tree or bush
to be seen from the highest summit of the ridge, though the eye may range
East and West, almost to a boundless extent, over a surface covered with a
short grass, that is green at one's feet, and about him, but changing to blue
in distance, like nothing but the blue and vastness of the ocean.

The whole surface of this immense tract of country is hard and smooth,
almost without stone or gravel, and coated with a green turf of grass of three
or four inches only in height. Over this the wheels of a carriage would run
as easily, for hundreds of miles, as they could on a Me Adamized road, and
its graceful gradations would in all parts, admit of a horse to gallop, with
ease to himself and his rider.

The full extent and true character of these vast prairies are but imperfectly
understood by the world yet; who will agree with me that they are a subject
truly sublime, for contemplation, when I assure them, that "a coach and
four" might be driven with ease, (with the exception of rivers and ravines,
which are in many places impassable), over unceasing fields of green,
from the Fall of St. Anthony to Lord Selkirk's Establishment on the Red

some specimens of the stone which I brought with me from that place, observed as
follows :

" My friend, when I was young, I used to go with our young men to the mountain of
the Red Pipe, and dig out pieces for our pipes. We do not go now ; and our red pipes as
you see, are few. The Dah-co-tah's have spilled the blood of red men on that place, and
the Great Spirit is offended. The white traders have told them to draw their bows upon
us when we go there; and they have offered us many of the pipes for sale, but we do not
want to smoke them, for we know that the Great Spirit is offended. My mark is on the
rocks in many places, but I shall never see them again. They lie where the Great Spirit
sees them, for his eye is over that place, and he sees everything that is here."

Ke-o-kuck chief of the Sacs and Foxes, when I asked him whether he had ever been
there, replied

" No, I have never seen it ; it is in our enemies' country, I wish it was in ours I
would sell it to the whites for a great many boxes of money."

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River, QI the North ; from that to the month of Yellow Stone on the Mis
souri thence to the Platte to the Arkansas, and Red Rivers of the South,
and through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of more than three
thousand miles.

I mentioned in a former Letter, that we had been arrested by the Sioux,
on our approach to this place, at the trading-post of Le Blanc, on the
banks of the St. Peters ; and I herein insert the most important part of the
speeches made, and talks held on that momentous occasion, as near as my
friend and I could restore them, from partial notes and recollection. After
these copper- visaged advocates of their country's rights had assembled about
us, and filled up every avenue of the cabin, the grave council was opened in
the following manner :

Te-o-kun-hko (the swift man), first rose and said

"My friends, I am not a chief, but the son of a chief I am the son of my
father he is a chief and when he is gone away, it is my duty to speak for
him he is not here but what I say is the talk of his mouth. We have
been t.old that you are going to the Pipe Stone Quarry. We come now to
ask for what purposa you are going, and what business you have to go
there." (' How ! how !' vociferated all of them, thereby aj proving what
was said, giving assent by the word how, which is their word for yes).

" Brothers I am a brave, but not a chief my arrow stands in the top of
the leaping-rock ; all can see it, and all know that Te-o-kun-hko's foot has
been there. (' How ! how !')

" Brothers We look at you and we see that you are Che-mo-ke-mon
capitains (white men officers) : we know that you have been sent by
your Government, to see what that place is worth, and we think the white
people want to buy it. (' How, how').

" Brothers We have seen always that the white people, when they see
anything in our country that they want, send officers to value it, and then if
they can't buy it, they will get it some other way. (' How ! how!')

" Brothers I speak strong, my heart is strong, and I speak fast ; this red
pipe was given to the red men by the Great Spirit it is a part of our flesh,
and therefore is great medicine. (' How ! how !')

" Brothers We know that the whites are like a great cloud that rises in
the East, and will cover the whole country. We know that they will have
all our lands ; but, if ever they get our Red Pipe Quarry they will have to
pay very dear for it. (' How ! how ! how !')

" Brothers We know that no white man has ever been to the Pipe Stone
Quarry, and our chiefs have often decided in council that no white man shall
ever go to it. (' How ! how !')

" Brothers You have heard what I have to say, and you can go no fur
ther, but you must turn about and go back. (' How ! how ! how !')

" Brothers You see that the sweat runs from my face, for I am troubled,"

Then I commenced to reply in the following manner :

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" My friends, I am sorry that you have mistaken us so much, and the
object of our visit to your country. We are not officers we are not sent
by any one we are two poor men travelling to see the Sioux and shake
hands with them, and examine what is curious or interesting in their countiy.
This man who is with me is my friend ; he is a Sa-ga-nosh (an Englishman).

(' How ! how ! how !')

(All rising and shaking hands with him, and a number of them taking out
and showing British medals which were carried in their bosoms.)

" We have heard that the Red Pipe Quarry was a great curiosity, and we
have started to go to it, and we will not be stopped." (Here 1 was inter
rupted by a grim and black-visaged fellow, who shook his long shaggy locks
as he rose, with his sunken eyes fixed in direst hatred on me, and his fist
brandished within an inch of my face.)

" Pale faces I you cannot speak till we have all done ; you are our
prisoners our young men (our soldiers) are about the house, and you must
listen to what we have to say. What has been said to you is true, you must
go back. (' How ! how !')

" We heard the word Saganosh, and it makes our hearts glad ; we shook
hand with our brother his father is our father he is our Great Father he
lives across the big lake his son is here, and we are glad we wear our
Great Father the sag-a-nosh on our bosoms, and we keep his face br