History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 16

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998

USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 16

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On July 6th a similar treaty was made with the Cheyennes, who had appeared at this place, and it was signed by four chiefs and nine war- riors, none of whom ever came into prominence in South Dakota history. It is noteworthy, how- ever, that the names of all of these Cheyennes were pure Sioux, as Tatoncapa, a chief, whose name means buffalo head; and Napatonka, the big hand. This is somewhat remarkable, since the Cheyennes are Algonkin and not Siouan. The head chief appeared to be the wolf with a high back, and another illustrious citizen of South Dakota who subscribes this convention labored under the impressive cognomen of "the pile of buffalo bones."

On the 7th they were off again, after Lieu- tenant Holmes had thrown six shells from the howitzer in the presence of the Indians. "They exploded handsomely and made a deep im- pression on the savages." Before leaving, the cavalry horses were sent back to Fort Atkinson. At nine in the morning, the wind being fair, the boats set off in regular procession up through the Peoria bottoms, the shores being lined with more than three thousand Indians. They arrived at the Little Cheyenne, near the present Forest City, on the 11th, where they met the Fire Hearts, as previously stated, and while here Gen- cral Atkinson and Major O'Fallon borrowed a

pair of Indian ponies and rode out to examine Medicine Rock. This is the first mention of this curiosity which appears in any of the journals of Missouri river exploration. The phenomenon has changed little from that time. The descrip- tion they give is as follows: "We found the im- pression of three tracks of the foot of a common- sized man. The first, near the upper edge of the rock, is made by the right foot and is about an inch deep, making a full impression of the whole track, with the full impression of the five toes three-fourths of an inch deep. The next track

JOHN GRASS, SIOUX CHIEF.

is of the left foot and about three and one-half feet from the first. The next footprint of the right foot is not visible, but at about six feet from the second track an impression is again made by the left foot as large and plain as the others. This is near the lower edge of the rock, which of itself is about eleven feet long by nine, lying at an angle of about thirty degrees of elevation." Several years since Prof. Collester, superintendent of the Pierre schools. made plas- ter casts of these footprints and submitted them to the Smithsonian Institution and they were

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examined by some of the scientific bodies con- nected with the institution and it is the judgment of these that they are petroglyphs, that is, im- pressions cut into the rocks artificially by artistic- ally inclined aborigines. These plaster casts are now in the possession of the State Historical Society at the capitol. A study of the whole sub- ject by Prof. H. D. Enoe may be found at page 162 of the fourth volume of the Monthly South Dakotan.

The commission arrived at Arickara on July 15th. The Rees, recovered from the scare which sent them wanderers in the wilderness im- mediately after concluding a peace agreement with Colonel Leavenworth, had gradually re- turned and re-established themselves in the old towns. They met the commission on the friend- liest of terms and readily signed the treaty, which is similar to the Sioux treaties except that in the preamble it refers to the Ashley massacre as fol- lows : "To put an end to an unprovoked hostility on the part of the Ricara tribe of Indians against the United States and to restore harmony be- tween the parties." The first article, too, is an addition to the other treaties and provides : Art. I. Henceforth there shall be a firm and lasting peace between the United States and the Ricara tribe of Indians, and a friendly intercourse shall immediately take place between them."

The treaty was signed on the 18th by the fol- lowing representatives: Chiefs Stanaupat, the bloody hand; Carcarweta, the little bear ; Scare- naus, the skunk; Chansonnah, the fool chief ; Chanotenena, the chief that is afraid, and Coon- canenossee, the bad bear. Fourteen warriors also appended their names to the convention. It is to be noted that the officious and cowardly Little Soldier, who negotiated peace with Leavenworth, does not appear among the signers. Catlin saw Stanaupat in 1832 and painted his likeness. The radical difference between the language of the Rees and the Sioux is also revealed by the names of the signers. As the Ree language is not easily available for comparative study it may be propcr to transcribe the names of all the signers of the treaty here inasmuch as they afford a pretty full vocabulary. They are Enhapetar, the two

nights ; Cacaneshow, the Crow chief ; Pahcan- wah, the old head; Wahtaan, the light in the night ; Honehcooh, the buffalo that urinates and smells it; Tahason, the lip of the buffalo; Coo- woohwarescoonhoon, the long-haired bear ; Nesh- anonnack, the chief by himself ; Ahreesquish, the buffalo that has horns; Oucousnonnair, the good buffalo : Nacksanouwees, the dead heart ; Pahtoo carrah, the man that strikes; Toon highonh, the man that runs ; Carcarweas, the heart of the crow.

On the 16th, two days previous to the making of the Ree treaty, a treaty was made with the Un- capas, which, as was the case with many of the older manuscripts, calls them Hunkpapas, and Leavenworth two years before calls them Anka- pats. To this tribe subsequently belonged Gall, Sitting Bull and John Grass. The treaty is signed by seven men, but whether chiefs or warriors is not stated. They were Mato Che- gallah, little white bear; Chasawaneche, the one that has no name: Tahhahneeah, the one that scares the game; Tawomeneeotah, the womb; Mahtoweetah, the white bear's face; Pahsalsa, the Auricara : Hahahkuska, the white elk. Black Moon, afterward the leading chief of the Unc- papas, at this time a young man, does not appear in the treaty.

The expedition proceeded to the mouth of the Yellowstone and further, where they picked up General Ashley, who was returning from the Salt Lake country with one hundred packs of beaver, and they gave him accommodations to St. Louis for his men and merchandise. No incident of concern is noted on the down trip, except that when three miles above the mouth of James river the "Muskrat," one of the transports upon which was embarked a portion of General Ashley's beaver, ran upon a snag and was wrecked. There was no loss of life and the beaver was saved ; the boat also was raised and repaired and continued the voyage safely. The result of the expedition was most satisfactory. The treaties entered into with the South Dakota Indians were so well observed that more than thirty years elapsed before the government had occasion to send its military into South Dakota to preserve peace or put down hostilities.

CHAPTER XIII

A QUIET PERIOD ON THE RIVER.

Very little of record has been left for the period extending from the return of the treaty- makers in the autumn of 1825 until the summer of 1831 and yet it is certain that the fur and Indian trade was being carried forward with constantly increasing extent and profit. By this time the trade was thoroughly established on systematic lines and in the hands of strong companies who had secured the best locations for the accommodation of the Indian population. The rivalry between these concerns was intense and frequently led to methods savoring of desperation.

In 1826 there were strong posts at the mouth of the Sioux, at the James, at Fort Randall, on American island, at the mouth of White river, at Forts Lookout and Kiowa; probably one at or near the big bend, two at the Teton river and at Arickara. It is also probable that there were many auxiliary posts in the interior of which no definite record has been left.

The two strong companies contending for the South Dakota trade at this period were the Columbia, of which we have previously learned, whose chief posts were at Lake Traverse and at Fort Tecumseh, near Fort Pierre, and the Upper Missouri Outfit of the American Fur Company, both of which began operations in this field about 1822. Both companies had posts at the Sioux, James, Niobrara and the Teton. Fort Lookout was a Columbian and Fort Kiowa, but a few yards away, was American. Wherever one located the other was found near by. The

rivalry was so intense that Ramsey Crooks. western manager of the American, designated it as "a species of civil war," and that "this com- petition costs us not less than ten thousand dollars annually."

Crooks wisely began to make overtures for consolidation as early as 1825, but it was not until July, 1827, that this consummation was reached. The Columbia Fur Company then passed out of existence and the business was continued as the Upper Missouri Outfit of the American Fur Company, or in common usage simply the U. M. O., the dividing line being at the mouth of the Sioux river, and Kenneth Mc- Kenzie, William Laidlaw and Daniel Lamont, of the Columbia, became partners of the American Fur Company and the absolute managers of the U. M. O. The transfer of Fort Lookout was made on November 28, 1827, and of Fort Te- cumseh on December 5th. The entire property of all the Columbia posts was inventoried at this date at a little over seventeen thousand dollars, while Fort Tecumseh alone made up fourteen thousand four hundred fifty-three dollars of this sum, which will indicate its relative importance.

While the business of the Dakota region was upon a steady basis, always regular and depend- able, it was to the mountains and westward that the company looked for profitable adventures and to that region directed its greatest energy.

The success of the Columbia not only as an independent business venture, but in forcing the great American to recognize it and take its

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managers into partnership, encouraged others to take up the same tactics and with more or less success. In fact the American was constantly harassed by this sort of competition, which it first attempt to crush by the most strenuous competitive tactics, and, failing to remove the opposition by this method, it bought out the "parasites."

Brothers, Denis Guion, Louis Bonfort and Chenie and DeLaurier. They established them- selves in 1828, built their post the next year and by October 14, 1830, had become so formidable that the American was compelled in self-defense to take them in, purchasing the property of the Frenchmen, and took the management into partnership, or gave them employment.

SITTING BULL

SITTING BULL.

Almost immediately after the absorption of the Columbia a strong opposition came into the field and built its principal post on the south bank of the Teton. It was known as the French Fur Company, a soubriquet given it by Prince Maximilian, but which was technically P. D. Papin & Company. The members of the com- pany were Papin, Honore Picotte, the Cerre

For the first two years after the consolidation with the Columbia. Fort Tecumseh was con- tinued as the principal depot of the U. M. O., and Kenneth McKenzie himself was in immediate charge, but with the building of Fort Floyd (Union), at the mouth of the Yellowstone in 1829. Mckenzie went there where he could have more direct control of his ambitious mountain

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schemes and William Laidlaw became the manager at Tecumseh. Mckenzie and Laidlaw, who were so active in South Dakota affairs of three-quarters of a century ago, came onto the river from Lake Traverse in 1822. They had formerly been in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, but, with nine hundred others, lost their positions when the Hudson and North- west companies consolidated in 1820. Mckenzie was a Scotchman by· birth, came of a good family, was a relative of Sir Alexander Mc- Kenzie, the explorer. He came to America in his youth. "He seemed born to command, was a most severe disciplinarian and had little regard for human life when it stood in his way." He liked "to throw on dog" and lived in a kind of state, wearing uniform generally and proud of his title as "king of the Missouri." He was hospitable to visitors to his posts He had an Indian and a white family. He was killed by Malcolm Clark in St. Louis, Missouri, April 6, 1861.

William Laidlaw was of Scotch descent and. like Mckenzie, was a hard master, but was a valuable servant of his company. He was in- temperate in his habits. He retired from the fur business in fair circumstances and bought a home at Liberty, Missouri, where he spent his means in hospitality and high living and died a poor man.

In 1829 the U. M. O. established at least three important auxiliary posts in South Dakota. Post Oakwood was built on the James river in the northern Spink county, by Colin Campbell, the obstreperous in- terpreter to Joshua Pilcher in the Arickara cam- paign of 1823, and was soon placed in charge of William Dickson, son of Robert Dickson, the "red-headed" English colonel of the war of 1812. Dickson remained in charge of this post for several years. We too, have record of posts es- tablished on the Cheyenne. at the mouth of Cherry creek and at the Forks. The Cherry creek plant was placed in charge of Frederick LeBeau and the one at the Forks was managed by one Chadron. There is reason to believe that at least two other posts were planted at this time

on the James river but no definite record of them is obtainable. Captain Chittenden says that a post, known to the traders as old Fort George, existed on the Missouri just below the mouth of the Cheyenne. This must not be confused with the Fort George of the 'forties, which stood twenty-one miles below Pierre.

The foregoing completes about all that is known of affairs in South Dakota from 1825 to 1831. In the latter year occurred an event which in a way revolutionized the fur trade. That was the first steamboat trip into the Dakota country. The enterprise was brought about by the ever alert Mckenzie who, after extended and earnest argument, succeeded in getting the company to make the experiment. A boat was built at Louis- ville, Kentucky, at a cost of about seven thousand dollars, and named the Yellowstone. The con- tract was made in October, 1830, and the finished boat delivered to the company at St. Louis be- fore April first following. In apprehension of breakage far away from shops, duplicate parts of most of the machinery were supplied and the boat carried a complete blacksmith's outfit. The vessel was entrusted to Captain B. Young, but Pierre Chouteau. Jr., who had seconded Mc- Kenzie in his arguments for the boat, accom- panied the vessel on its maiden trip. Loaded with merchandise, she left St. Louis on April 16, 1831. It proceeded very slowly and was.six weeks reaching the Niobrara, where it was hung up by low water on May 31. Chouteau, impatient of delay, sent to Fort Pierre for lighters, mean- while tramping the bluffs to give vent to his pent-up energy. The lighters duly arrived and with their assistance the "Yellowstone" .was got- ten over the bars and arrived at Fort Pierre on June 19th.

While at the fort William Laidlaw called Mr. Chouteau's attention to the manner in which the Missouri was cutting into the bank and im- periling Fort Tecumseh. Upon examination Chouteau determined that it was unsafe to leave the post so exposed and he ordered a new post constructed in a safer locality, and work was immediately begun getting out material for the new buildings which were to be located further

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back from the river and about three miles north of the Teton.

The "Yellowstone" took on a cargo of buffalo robes, furs and peltries and ten thousand pounds of buffalo tongues and returned to St. Louis, arriving safely there on July 15th. The success- ful voyage gave much satisfaction to the com- pany and was the subject of wide notoriety in the newspapers both at home and abroad. Mr. Astor, writing to Chouteau from Bellevue, France, said: "Your voyage in the ‘Yellow- stone' attracted much attention in Europe, and has been noted in all of the papers here."

But it was upon the Indians that the most profound impression was made. It was regarded

as something supernatural and excited feelings among them varying from the keenest astonish- ment to absolute peril. It greatly increased their respect for the Americans and so helped the trade. Captain Chittenden quotes a writer in the Missouri Republican of that date as follows : "Many of the Indians who had been in the habit of trading with the Hudson's Bay Company, declared that the company could no longer con- pete with the Americans, and concluded there- after to bring all their skins to the latter; and said the British might turn out their dogs and burn their sledges as they would no longer be useful while the fire boat walked on the water.

CHAPTER XIV

FORT PIERRE FINISHED-THE POST JOURNAL.

The American Fur Company required that daily journals of leading events be kept at each of its more important posts and some of these have survived and are among the best authorities relating to the affairs of the times. Captain Chittenden has secured the following portion of the journal kept at Fort Tecumseh and its suc- cessor, Fort Pierre, covering the time of the transfer from the former to the latter. The running comment on the journal's statements are by the writer of this history.

Saturday, March 3, 1832. Fair, pleasant weath- er. Mr. Laidlaw and the Indians went out to sur- round. They killed meat enough to load their horses.

"To surround." This expression appears to have been the commonly used one in the buffalo country, signifying the manner in which a herd of buffaloes was rounded up before shooting began. Ultimately any hunting of buffalo was called a surround.

Sunday, 4th. Moderate and cloudy, with rain at intervals. Gabriel V. Fipe and five Indians arrived from White River post with seven horses and mules and two hundred buffalo tongues.

White River post was located somewhere on White river, southwest of Pierre. That it was not at the mouth of the stream is evident from the entry of April 5th, which relates that Mr. Papin (commandant of White River post) had arrived at the month of White river with robes.

Wednesday, 7th. Several Indians of the Gens de Poches band arrived today on a begging visit. The Blackfeet Indians who arrived yesterday left us to- day. One of them stole a kettle; we fortunately missed it before the fellow had proceeded far. Mr. Laidlaw and some Indians went out after them and succeeded in recovering the kettle. The Gens de Poches who arrived today say Baptiste Dorion has lately been killed by a Sawon Indian; but we have reason to believe the story to be fictitious.

This was the Jean Baptiste Dorion who signed the Yankton treaty of 1825, being the half-breed son of old Pierre Dorion, Lewis and Clarke's guide. He was not killed at the time indicated, but later was killed near Fort Pierre. I have not been able to precisely determine what Indians were meant by the Sawons, but they were probably the band of Sioux which Leaven- worth called the Sciones and Atkinson the Siounes. They ranged along the Missouri above Fort Pierre. Neither do I know whom these mendicant people of the pocket were.

Friday, 9th. Five more lodges of Yanktons ar- rived and camped. There is now about three feet of water on top of the ice in the Missouri. Two men arrived from Cedar Island. They were obliged to leave their plank and trains on the way, the ice be- ing so bad that they could not travel on it.

It has frequently been stated that the material for Fort Pierre was secured from Farm island. The above indicates that the plank was whip- sawed down upon Cedar island, thirty-five miles down river, while, as we shall see in another

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entry, the pickets for the stockade were cut at the Navy Yard, twenty miles above.

Tuesday, 13th. Still continue strong gales from north, but weather is now clear and the Indians are crossing on the ice in great numbers with robes to trade.

Friday, 16th. Baptiste Defond arrived last even- ing from Sawon post with horses and mules.

Sunday, 18th. Two Indians arrived from White river post with a letter from Mr. Papin, the comman- dant.

Friday, 23d. The ice broke up in the river at this place today.

Wednesday, 25th. Mr. Picotte and a voyageur arrived from the Navy Yard in a canoe.

Friday, 30th. Baptiste Defond departed down stream to meet the steamboat "Yellowstone."

Tuesday, April 3. Last evening J. Jewett arrived here from Oglalla post with horses and mules, in all sixteen.

The Oglala post was probably at the forks of the Cheyenne. In any event it was on the Cheyenne river.

Thursday, 5th. Messrs. Laidlaw and Halsey moved up with their baggage to the new fort.

This note fixes the exact date of the first occupation of Fort Pierre. It was not yet com- plete and it was some weeks later before the transfer wes completed.

Friday, 6th. Two men arrived from Yankton post with three horses. They report the arrival of Mr. P. D. Papin at the mouth of the White river with two skin canoes laden with buffalo robes.

Saturday, 7th. Mr. William Dickson arrived from Riviere au Jacques with twelve packs of furs.

Dickson's post, on the Jim, was at the Tall Oaks, or Oakwood settlement, in northern Spink county.

Sunday, 8th. Two men arrived from the Navy Yard with the news that the Indians have stolen all of the company's horses at that place.

Monday, 9th. The water was so high that the old fort was nearly surrounded. Employed variously hauling property from old fort. At eleven a. m. five skin canoes arrived, loaded with buffalo robes, under charge of Colin Campbell, from the Oglalla post on Cheyenne river. They bring news of the murder of · Francois Querrel by Frederick LaBoue, the company trader at Cherry river. LaBoue arrived in the ca- noes.

This is the same Colin Campbell who, nine years previously, cut so sorry a figure at Arickara. Frederick LaBeau was an uncle of the elder LeBeau, now residing on the Moreau, and whose name is preserved in a postoffice in Walworth county.

Friday, 13th. William Dickson left for Riviere au Jacques. (Evidently William was not afraid of the combined evil influence of a Friday and a thir- teen.)

Saturday, 21st. Sent off Campbell to Cherry river to bring down the peltries at that place. Twen- ty-two men accompanied him.

Friday, 27th. At five o'clock P. M. Messrs. Mc. Kenzie, Kipp and Bird, with nine Blackfeet Indians, arrived in a bateau from Fort Union. Mckenzie brought down one hundred and eleven packs of beaver skins.

Wednesday, May 2. Mr. Cerre arrived yesterday from the Yantonnais with ninety odd packs of robes. Hands employed making and pressing them.

The location of this Yanktonais post is un- certain, but it is supposed to have been on Elm river, in northwestern Brown county, where the remains of a post are still visible.

Monday, 7th. Colin Campbell, with eleven skin canoes laden with buffalo robes, arrived from Cherry river. Mr. Campbell, while at Cherry river, disin- terred the body of the deceased F. Querrel; and, as seven wounds were found in the body, Frederick La- Boue was put in irons immediately on the arrival of the canoes.

I have been unable to learn anything further about this matter, or how Frederick got out of the irons or if he continued in them. There was at this date no legal method of procedure, but as it appears that Kenneth Mckenzie was present at this time the absence of a statute cut but little figure, for Mckenzie was law unto himself and all of the other denizens of the upper Missouri.

Friday, 11th. Sent off two men to the Rees with goods for trade with those Inuians. Pierre Ortubize and two men left in a skiff in search of the steam- boat.

Monday, 21st. Sent off twenty men to the Navy Yard to cut timber and bring it down on rafts.

Tuesday, 22d. Mr. Fontenelle with twenty men and a number of horses arrived here from St. Louis.

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They bring news of the steamboat "Yellowstone." She is now between this place and the Poncas.

Wednesday, 23d. Cloudy with rain at intervals. Eighteen men arrived from the steamboat "Yellow- stone." She is stopped for want of water, sixty miles below White river. William Dickson and family ar- rived from Riviere au Jacques.

It is probable that George Catlin, the artist, was among the men who arrived this day. It has been stated by good authority that they left the boat just west of Yankton. This is the testimony of Thomas Donaldson, who edited the works of Catlin for the Smithsonian Institution, and the time employed in the overland journey to Fort Pierre and the direction taken would justify the belief.

Friday, 25th. Baptiste Defond arrived from the steamboat at the big bend. Messrs. Mckenzie, Fon- tenelle and others left in a keelboat to meet her.

Thursday, 31st. Steamboat "Yellowstone" ar- rived at 5 P. M.

Tuesday, June 5th. Steamboat "Yellowstone" left here for Fort Union.

Wednesday, 6th. Mr. Fontenelle left for Fort Union with forty odd men and one hundred ten or fifteen horses.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 16

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 998

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998