History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 4

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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MERIWETHER LEWIS

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

received a commission as captain. The plans for the exploration of Louisiana contemplated a voyage up the Missouri River, which was to be explored to its source, thence to cross the mountains and go on by any practical river route to the Pacific. Information was to be gathered regarding the character of the country, its inhabitants, rivers, soil, climate, geography, woods and animals. Captain Lewis left Washington July 5, 1803, and proceeded to Pittsburgh, thence by the Ohio and Mississippi to St. Louis. The soldiers for the expedition were taken from military posts on the Ohio. At Louisville, Kentucky, he was joined by Capt. William Clark, his associate, and they proceeded to St. Louis, where they arrived in December. Here the expedition was organized with as little delay as possible, intending to ascend the Missouri to the highest practicable point they could reach before the channel closed and there establish winter quarters. But the Spanish commander of the province, not having received an official account of the transfer to the United States, was obliged by the general policy of his government to forbid the passage of the expedition through Spanish territory. The expedition then encamped at the mouth of Wood River on the eastern bank of the Mississippi and opposite the mouth of the Missouri, where the winter passed in instructing the men and preparing for the journey.

Including the leaders, the party was made up of nine young Kentuckians enlisted for the expedition. fourteen soldiers of the regular army, who had volunteered, two French boatmen, and an interpreter and hunter, and a black servant belonging to Captain Clark, named York. (Their names are given in a subsequent chapter.) Their fleet of boats numbered three, the first a keel boat fifty-five feet long, drawing three feet of water, carrying one large square sail and twenty-two oars. A deck of ten feet in the bow and stern formed a forecastle and cabin, while the middle was covered by lockers which might be raised so as to form a breastwork in case of attack. This was accom- panied by two pirogues, or open boats, one of six and the other of seven oars. Two horses were led along the banks of the river for the purpose of bringing in game or hunting. In addition to the force above described, a corporal, six soldiers and nine watermen were taken to accompany the expedition as far as Mandan Village to assist in carrying stores and in case of necessity to repel an attack. A large quantity of Indian goods, besides the necessary outfit of the party, were included in the cargo. The expedition entered the mouth of the Missouri on the 14th day of May. 1804. and proceeded without serious mishap until nearing the present boundary between Iowa or Nebraska and South Dakota. At a council held with the Indians a few days before reaching this point, the explorers first mention meeting with three Yankton-Avan Indians, who were on a visit to the Mahas, and from whom some information is gleaned regarding the disposition of the Dakotah Indians.

We have thought proper to introduce that portion of the journal which describes the passage of the expedition through Dakota as it appears in the published record, beginning with the death of Sergeant Floyd, the first and only fatality that occurred during this memorable journey :

On the 20th of August the party had been holding a council with the Ottoes a few mites below (Sioux City), and that morning. after passing two islands on the north, came to one on that side of the river under some bluffs, the first near the river since we left the Ayauwa village. Here we had the misfortune to lose one of our sergeants. Charles Floyd. He had been seized with a bilious colic the day before, and all the care and attention possible was bestowed upon him, but failed to give him relief. A little before his death he said to Captain Clark, "I am going to leave you"; and his strength failing, he added, "I want you to write me a letter," and died composedly, justifying the high opinion that had been formed of him. tte was buried on top of the bluff with the honors due to a brave soldier, and the place of his interment marked by a cedar post on which his name and the day of his death were inscribed. About a mile beyond this place, to which we gave his name, is a small river about thirty yards wide on the north, which we called Floyd's River, where we encamped.

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

The narrative then gives the entrance of the expedition into the region to become known as Dakota, on the 21st of August, 1804:

The breeze from the southeast carried us by a small willow creek ( Perry Creek) on the north, about 11/2 miles above Floyd's River. Here began a range of bluffs which continued till near the mouth of the great Sioux River, three miles beyond Floyd's. This river comes in from the north and is about one hundred yards wide. Mr. Durion, our Sioux interpreter, who is well acquainted with it, says it is navigable upwards of two hundred miles to the falls, and even beyond them; that its sources are near those of the Peters. He also says that below the falls a creek falls in from the eastward, after passing through cliffs of red rock. Of this the Indians make their pipes, and the necessity for procuring that article has introduced a sort of law of nations, by which the banks of the creek are sacred, and even tribes at war meet without hostility at these quarries, which possess a right of asylum. Thus we find among savages certain privileges deemed sacred. by which the rigors of their merciless system of warfare are mitigated. A sense of common danger, where stronger ties are wanting, gives all the binding force of more solemn obligations. The importance of preserving the known and settled rules of warfare among civilized nations, in all their integrity, become strikingly evident, since even savages with their few precarious wants cannot exist in a state of peace or war where this faith is once violated. At 414 miles we came to two willow islands, beyond which are several sand-bars; and at twelve miles a spot where the Mahas ( Omahas) once had a village, now no longer existing. We encamped on the south, having come 2434 miles. The country through which we passed has the same uniform appearance ever since we left the River Platte; rich, low grounds near the river. succeeded by undulating prairies with timber near the waters. Some wolves were seen on the sand beaches to the south; we also procured an excellent fruit, resembling the red cur- rant, growing on a shrub like the privet, and about the height of a wild plum. On the 22d, about three miles distant, we joined the men who had been sent from the Mahas village and who brought us two deer. The bluffs, which reach the river at this place on the south, contain alum, copperas, cobalt, which had the appearance of soft isinglass, pyrites and sand- stone, the two first very pure. Above the bluff comes in a small creek on the south, called Rolage Creek. Seven miles above is another cliff on the same side. of alum rock of a dark brown color, containing in its crevices great quantities of cobalt, cemented shells and red earth. From this the river bends to the eastward and approaches the Sioux River within three or four miles. We sailed the greater part of the day and made nineteen miles to our camp on the north side. The sand-bars are, as usual, numerous, and also considerable traces of elk, none of which are yet seen. Captain Lewis, in proving the quality of some of the substance in the first cliff. was considerably injured by the fumes and taste of the cobalt, and took some strong medicine to relieve him from its effects. The appearance of these mineral substances enables us to account for disorders of the stomach with which the party had been affected since we left the River Sioux. We had been in the habit of dipping up the water in the river inadvertently and making use of it till, on examimtion, the sickness was thought to proceed from a scum covering the surface of the water along the southern shore, and which, as we now discovered, proceeded from these bluffs. The men had been ordered, before we reached the bluffs, to agitate the water so as to disperse the scum, and take the water, not at the surface, but at some depth.

The consequence was that these disorders ceased; the biles, too, which had afflicted the men, were not observed beyond the Sioux River.

In order to supply the place of Sergeant Floyd, we permitted the men to name three persons ; and Patrick Gass, having the greatest number of votes, was made a sergeant.

On the following day we set out early, and at four miles came to a small run between cliffs of yellow and blue earth; the wind, however, soon changed, and blew so hard from the west that we proceeded very slowly, the fine sand from the bar being driven in such clouds that we could scarcely see. Three and a quarter miles beyond this run we came to a willow island and a sand island opposite, and we camped on the south side at 1014 miles. On the north side is an extensive and delightful prairie, which we called Buffalo Prairie, from our having there killed the first buffalo. Two elk swam the river today and were fired at, but escaped ; a deer was killed from the boat; one beaver was killed and several prairie wolves were seen.

It began to rain last night and continued this morning, the 24th. We proceeded, how- ever. 214 miles to the commencement of a bluff of blue clay, about one hundred and eighty or one hundred and ninety feet on the south side; it seems to have been lately on fire, and even now the ground is so warm that we cannot keep our hands in it at any depth : there are strong appearances of coal, and also great quantities of cobalt, or a crystallized sub- stance resembling it. There is a fruit now ripe resembling a currant, except that it is double the size and grows on a bush like a privet, the size of a damson and of a delicious favor ; its Indian name means rabbit-berries. We then passed. at the distance of about seven miles, the mouth of a creek on the north side, called by an Indian name, meaning Whitestone River ( Vermillion River ). The beautiful prairie of yesterday has changed into one of greater height, and very smooth and extensive. We encamped on the south side at 1014 miles, and found ourselves much annoyed by the mosquitoes.

SPIRIT MOUND, CLAY COUNTY Lewis and Clark measurements

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

The next morning, September 25th, Captains Lewis and Clark, with ten men, went to see an object deemed very extraordinary among all the neighboring Indians. They dropped down to the mouth of Whitestone River ( Vermillion), about thirty yards wide, where they left the boat, and at the distance of 200 yards ascended a rising ground, from which a plain extended itself as far as the eye could discern. After making four nules, they crossed the creek where it is twenty-three yards wide and waters an extensive valley. The heat was so oppressive that we were obliged to send back our dog to the creek, as he was unable to bear the fatigue; and it was not till after four hours' march that we reached the object of our visit. This was a large mound in the midst of the plain about north twenty degrees west from the mouth of Whitestone River, from which it is nine miles distant. The base of the mound is a regular parallelogram. the longest side being about three hundred yards, the shortest sixty or seventy; from the longest side it rises with a steep ascent from the north and south to the height of sixty or seventy feet, leaving on the top a level plain of twelve feet in breadth and ninety in length. The north and south extremities are connected by two oval borders, which serve as new bases, and divide the whole side into three steep but regu- lar gradations from the plain.

The only thing characteristic in this hill is its extreme symmetry, and this, together with its being totally detached from the other hills, which are at the distance of eight or nine miles, would create a belief that it was artificial; but as the earth and the loose pebbles that compose it are arranged precisely like the steep grounds on the borders of the creek, we concluded from this similarity of texture that it might be natural.

But the Indians have made it a great article of their superstition ; it is called the Moun- tain of Little People, or Little Spirits, and they believe that it is the abode of little devils in the human form, of about eighteen inches high, and with remarkably large heads; they are armed with sharp arrows, with which they are very skillful, and are always on the watch to kill those who should have the hardihood to approach their residence. The tradition is that many have suffered from these little evil spirits, and, among others, three Waha Indians fell a sacrifice to them a few years since. This has inspired all the neighboring nations- Sioux, Wahas and Ottoes-with such terror that no consideration could tempt them to visit the hill. We saw none of the wicked little spirits, nor any place for them except some small holes scattered on the top. We were happy enough to have escaped their vengeance, though we remained some time on the mound to enjoy the delightful prospect of the plain, which spreads itself out till the eye rests upon the northwest hills at a great distance, and those of the northeast still farther off, enlivened by large herds of buffaloes feeding at a distance. The soil of these plains is exceedingly fine ; there is, however, no timber, except on the Mis- souri, all the wood of the Whitestone River not being sufficient to cover thickly one hundred acres. The plain country which surrounds this mound has contributed not a little to its bad reputation : the wind driving from every direction over the level ground obliges the insects to seek shelter on its leeward side, or be driven against it by the wind.

The excessive heat and thirst forced us from the hill, about I o'clock, to the nearest water, which we found in the creek at three miles distance, and remained an hour and a half. We then went down the creek through a lowland about one mile in width, and crossed it three times, to the spot where we first reached it in the morning. Here we gathered some delicious plums, grapes and blue currants, and afterwards arrived at the mouth of the river about sunset. To this place the course from the mound is south twenty degrees, cast nine miles. We there resumed our periogue, and on reaching our encampment of last night set the prairies on fire to warn the Sioux of our approach.

In the meantime the boat under Sergeant Pryor had proceeded during the afternoon one mile to a bluff of blue clay on the south, and after passing a sand-bar and two sand islands, fixed their camp at the distance of six miles on the south. We had killed a duck and several birds; in the boat they had caught some large catfish.

We rejoined the boat at 9 o'clock on Sunday the 26th, before she set out, and then passing by an island and under a cliff on the south, nearly two miles in extent and composed of white and blue earth, encamped at nine miles distance on a sand-bar toward the north. Opposite to this, on the south, is a small creek called Petit Are, or Little Bow, and a short distance above it an old village of the same name. This village, of which nothing remains but the mound of earth about four feet high surrounding it, was built by a Waha chief named Little Bow, who, being displeased with Black Bird (the principal chief ). the late king, seceded with 200 followers and settled at this spot which is now abandoned, as the two villages have reunited since the death of Black Bird. We have great quantities of grapes, and plums of three kinds-two of a yellow color and distinguished by one of the species being longer than the other, and a third round and red ; all have an excellent flavor. particularly those of a yellow kind.

CHAPTER III LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION (Continued)

AT THE MOUTH OF JAMES RIVER-YANKTON INDIANS SEND FRIENDLY GREET- INGS-AT THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF DAKOTA-FOUR DAYS COUNCIL WITH THE YANKTONS-AMERICAN FLAG UNFURLED -ADMIRABLE SPEECIIES-A NEVER- SURRENDER INDIAN BAND- STRIKE-TIIE-REE THE FIRST-CENSUS-CALUMET BLUFF-FORTIFICATIONS AT BON HOMME ISLAND IN RUINS-PRINCE MADOC AND THE MANDAN INDIANS.

August 27th (nearing Yankton). The morning star appears much larger than usual. A gentle breeze from the southeast carried us by some large sand-bars on both sides and in the middle of the river to a cliff on the south side at 712 miles distant; this bluff is of white clay or chalk, under which is much stone, like lime, incrusted with a clear substance supposed to be cobalt, and some dark ore. About this bluff we set the prairie on fire to invite the Sioux. After 121/2 miles we had passed several other sand-bars, and soon reached the mouth of a river called by the French Jacques (James River), or Yankton, from the tribe which inhabits its banks. It is about ninety yards wide at the confluence; the country which it waters is rich prairie, with little timber; it becomes deeper and wider above its mouth, and may be navigated a great distance, as its sources rise near those of St. Peter's of the Mississippi and the Red River of Lake Winnipeg. As we came to the mouth of the river an Indian swam to the boat, and on our landing we were met by two others, who informed us that a large body of Sioux were encamped near us. They accompanied three of our men, with an invitation to meet us at a spot above on the river ; the third Indian remained with us.

He is a Maha boy, and says that his nation has gone to the Pawnees to make peace with them. At fourteen miles we encamped on a sand-bar to the north (11/2 miles above the James). The air was cool, the evening pleasant, the wind from the southeast and light. The river has fallen gradually, and is now low.

On Tuesday, the 28th of August, we passed, with a stiff breeze from the south, several sand-bars. On the south is a prairie which rises gradually from the water to the height of a bluff which is, at four miles distance, of a whitish color and about seventy or eighty feet high. Farther on is another bluff of a brownish color, on the north side; and at the distance of 81/2 miles is the beginning of Calumet Bluff, on the south side (ten miles from the James), under which we formed our camp, in a beautiful plain, to await the arrival of the Sioux. At the first bluff the young Indian left us and joined his camp.

Before reaching Calumet Bluff, one of the periogues ran upon a log in the river and was rendered unfit for service, so that all our loading was put into the second periogue. On both sides of the river are fine prairies with cottonwood, and near the bluff there is more timber at the points and valleys than we have been accustomed to see.

August 20th, on Wednesday, we had a violent storm of wind and rain last evening, and were engaged during the day in repairing the periogue and other necessary occupations, when at 4 o'clock in the afternoon Sergeant Pryor and his party arrived on the opposite side attended by five chiefs and about seventy men and boys. We sent a boat for them and they joined us. as did also Mr. Durion, the son of our interpreter, who happened to be trading with the Sioux at this time. He returned with Sergeant Pryor to the Indians, with a present of tobacco, corn and a few kettles, and told them we would speak to their chiefs in the morning. Sergeant Pryor reported that on reaching their village, which is at twelve

miles distance from our camp, he was met by a party with a buffalo robe on which they de- sired to carry their visitors, an honor which they declined, informing the Indians that they were not the commanders of the boat. As a great mark of respect they were then presented wtih, a fat dog already cooked, of which they partook heartily and found it well flavored.

The camps (lodges) of the Sioux are of conical form, covered with buffalo robes, painted with various figures and colors, with an aperture in the top for the smoke to pass through. The lodges contain from ten to fifteen persons, and the interior arrangement is compact and handsome, each lodge having a place for cooking detached from it.

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

On Thursday, the 30th, the fog was so thick that we could not see the Indian camp on the opposite side ; but it cleared off about 8 o'clock. We prepared a speech and some presents, and then sent for the chiefs and warriors, whom we received at 12 o'clock under a large oak tree, near to which the flag of the United States was flying. Captain Lewis delivered a speech, with the usual advice and counsel for their future conduct. We then acknowledged their chiefs by giving to the grand chief a flag, a medal, a certificate with a string of wampum, to which we added a chief's coat that is a richly laced uniform of the United States Artillery Corps, and a cocked hat and red feather. One second chief and three inferior ones were made or recognized by medals and a suitable present of tobacco and articles of cloth- ing. We then smoked the pipe of peace, and the chiefs retired to a bower formed of bushes by their young men, where they divided among each other the presents, and smoked and ate, and held a council on the answer which they were to make us tomorrow. The young people exercised their bows and arrows in shooting at marks for beads, which we distributed to the best marksmen; and in the evening the whole party danced to a late hour, and in the course of their amusement we threw among them some knives, tobacco, bells, tops and binding, with which they were much pleased. Their musical instruments were the drum and a sort of little bag made of buffalo hide dressed white, with small shot or pebbles in it, and a bunch of hair tied to it. This produces a sort of rattling music, with which the, party was annoyed by four musicians during the council this morning.

On the morning of the 3Ist, after breakfast, the chiefs met and sat down in a row, with pipes of peace highly ornamented, and all pointed toward the seats intended for Captains Lewis and Clark. When they arrived and were seated, the grand chief, whose Indian name, Weucha, is in English Shake Hand, and in French is called Le Liberateur (the deliverer), rose and spoke at some length, approving what we had said and promising to follow our advice.

"I see before me," said he, "my great father's two sons. You see me and the rest of our chiefs and warriors. We are very poor. We have neither powder nor ball, nor knives, and our women and children at the village have no clothes. I wish that, as my brothers have given me a flag, and a medal, they would give something to those poor people or let them stop and trade with the first boat that comes up the river, I will bring chiefs of the Pawnees and Mahas together and make peace between them; but it is better that I should do it than my great father's sons, for they will listen to me more readily. I will also take some chiefs to your country in the spring; but before that time I cannot leave home. I went formerly to the English and they gave me a medal and some clothes; when I went to the Spanish they gave me a medal, but nothing to keep it from my skin; but now you give me a medal and clothes. But still we are poor, and I wish, brothers, you would give us something for our squaws."

When he sat down, Mahtoree, or White Crane, arose: "I have listened," said he, "to what our father's words were yesterday, and I am glad today to see how you have dressed our old chief. I am a young man and do not wish to take much ; my fathers have made me a chief ; I had much sense before, but now I think I have more than ever. What the old chief has declared I will confirm, and do whatever he and. you please; but I wish that you would take pity on us, for we are very poor."

Another chief called Pau-nau-ne-ah-pal-be ( Strike-the-Ree) then said: "I am a young man and know but little. I cannot speak well, but I have listened to what you have told the old chief and will do whatever you agree."

The same sentiments were then repeated by Awea Wechache. We were surprised at find- ing that the first of these titles means, "Struck by the Pawnees," and was occasioned by some blow which the chief received in battle from one of the Pawnee tribe. The second is, in Eng- lish, "Half Man," which seems a singular name for a warrior, till it was explained to have its origin probably in the modesty of the chief, who, on being told of his exploits, would say : "I am no warrior; I am only half a man." The other chiefs spoke very little, but after they had finished, one of the warriors delivered a speech in which he declared he would support them. They promised to make peace with the Ottoes and Missouris, the only nations with whom they are at war. All these harangues concluded by describing the distress of the nation; they begged us to have pity on them ; to send them traders; that they wanted powder and ball, and seemed anxious that we should supply them with some of the great father's milk, the name by which they distinguish ardent spirits.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 4

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198