History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 4

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

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vanished people, ready to signal the villagers to their place of refuge at the approach of an enemy. As one stands on the top of this weather-beaten relic it requires but a short flight of the imagination to see the cultivated fields, the villages and the people as they once were; and see the smoke as it rises from their pottery kilns and hear in the distance the sharp, quick stroke of the implement maker. What sur- prises! What sacrifices, what victories and defeats, what deeds of violence and heroism have been en- acted upon these fortifications, slopes and valleys will, no doubt, ever be enveloped in the mystery sur- rounding the fate of the builders, whose only history is written in broken and shattered fragments. There is but little evidence within the enclosed fortress to indicate that the builders ever made it a continuous residence. The surface indications seem to show but sufficient resident population to guard and hold the fortification. The pottery shards, spear and arrow heads found here are similar to those found in relic mounds and village sites in the valley. Within easy distance there are four village remains which cover several acres each. The population of these must have been considerable. Away from the village there are many isolated lodge mounds scattered throughout the village for several miles in either direction, indi- cating a people somewhat given to agriculture and to use this fortress as a place of refuge and last defence. The village sites and relic mounds are located upon the terraced lands of the valley, near the edge, looking toward the Missouri. When the builders occupied them they were, no doubt, upon the immediate banks. Large numbers of fragments of pottery, stone and flint implements have been found and picked up on or near these village sites and in the soil between the lodges to a depth of several feet. Some spots that were particularly rich in fragments are found near the break in the plateau and seem to have been used as a dumping ground for the general refuse and breakage of the community.

"Who were these builders of forts and per- manent villages," Dr. Robinson enquires as he proceeds, "and what manner of people were they? When and in what manner and at whose hands did they meet their final fate? Were they the ancient ancestors of the red man of the Co- lumbian time? Were they the red man himself as known in present history, or were these wild and warlike people known to us as Indians the conquerors of a different race of men now extinct ? * * *

That he did not belong to any of the branches of the

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

red race who occupied the valley at the first con- tract with the Europeans is probable, since the evidences of his superiority and ability over the red man is too marked and the results of his in- dustry too stupendous, nor is it certain that he belonged to an era directly preceding the advent of the red man, since there is no reliable tra- ditionary history among the Indian tribes con- cerning the various earthworks and mounds and those who built and occupied them." In the course of his study Dr. Robinson elsewhere more definitely announces his conclusion that the old fortification at Pierre is the probable work of an older, vanished race, not Indians. With this conclusion this writer is not prepared to contend, neither has he found sufficient evidence to con- firm him in its acceptance. Nothing has been shown so radically different from the known work of the Ree Indians, who were the im- mediate and recent predecessors of the Sioux in the Missouri valley, as to make it clearly ap- parent that they did not build the fort. The Rees were excellent stragetic engineers, as is shown in the stockade which they erected to protect the villages above Grand river where they were de- stroyed by Leavenworth in 1823. They made pottery, and the shards found in the old fortifica- tion are similar to their work. All of the arrow- points found in and about the old fortification described by Dr. Robinson are of the blunt, triangular form of the Ree arrow. It is possible that these mounds and fort were built by a pre- historic people of greater intelligence and in- dustry than the Indians, but the evidence is not conclusive. Prof. Jacob V. Brower, whom Dr. Robinson quotes as an authority in his mono- graph as having traced the mound builders clear into the mountain country of the upper Missouri, has since recanted his earlier views upon the sub- ject and in an exhaustive study of the topic which he recently contributed to the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society he takes strong ground in support of the position that all of the mounds of the Western states are the product of the Indians. I am myself strongly inclined to the latter view. Almost every por- tion of the state is dotted with mounds of ac-

knowledged Indian origin. Chiefly these are burial mounds, but some of them are memorials and others pertain to the heathen religious rites of the aborigines. Most of the memorials, which have been the source of much speculation among the white settlers, are really commemorative of" some event which the Indians regarded as un- usual or worthy of permanent record. One of

REV. DR. S. R. RIGGS.

these is explained by President Riggs, of the State Historical Society, in his first biennial ad- dress. Dr. Riggs has spent his life as a mis- sionary among the Sioux and no witness is more competent to testify as to their customs or to any other fact relating to these aborigines. Dr. Riggs gives this example of an Indian monu- ment :

Four miles north of Pierre is a range of hills which we call Snake Buttes. This range extends from southeast to northwest and terminates with the river bluffs on the west. To the north of these hills at their western end, running along on top of and nearly parallel to the edge of the river bluffs, there is a row of stones a mile or more in length. Small piles of stones mark off irregular spaces in the long row and at each end, to mark the beginning and the ending, there is a larger pile of stones. The story told me thirty years ago by an old Sioux, as we walked over the ground together, is this: Long years ago a venturesome Ree Indian came all alone to the

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

southward in search of scalps and horses which he might take from his enemies, the Sioux, who were encamped in this locality. As he scouted among the breaks, he was discovered at earliest dawn by a Sioux doing outpost duty and lying in the curious dip there is between the main range and a little sharp mound there is to the north. The Sioux, himself un- seen, promptly shot his enemy, who turned and ran, though wounded to the death. The arrow had en- tered the hip in such a way as to render the leg useless and an encumbrance. He ran, or hopped rather, with marvelous swiftness, falling to the ground again and again; in agony and desperation he arose and continued his flight until overtaken and slain. The victorious Dakota was filled with wonder and admiration, and that such astonishing spirit and power of endurance should have fitting memorial, re- tracing his steps, he carefully placed a stone over each drop of blood and along the course, where the wounded man had fallen, he gathered small piles of stones and larger piles to show the starting in the race and the end; and as my informant told me the story he added with deep feeling, "That enemy was truly a brave man, the memorial was fittingly placed and the generations which have come and gone since that time joined in honoring him." He then stooped down and picked up a small stone and set it in line with the others. We build monuments for our heroes and great men and for our loved ones. The Indian set up a memorial for an unknown enemy.

These memorials are scattered everywhere and each has an interesting story, but one which in the usual case does not throw any light upon the origin of the Indians or of any possible prede- cessors. Among the Indian memorials those best known are at Medicine Butte, near Blunt, at Punished Woman's lake, in Codington county, near Ashton, Spink county, north of Huron, in Beadle county, and at Turtle Peak, in Jerauld county. Capt. A. J. Comfort, a surgeon of the regular army, stationed at Fort Wadsworth (Sisseton) about 1870, contributes to the report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1871 some in- teresting facts about a large number of mounds which he examined near the Kettle lakes, Marshall county, in the immediate vicinity of the fort. These were all burial mounds, very ancient but still containing the remains of Indians. The most interesting feature of Capt. Comfort's report relates to an ancient village which he describes as follows :

To an elevation or knoll, from forty to sixty feet high, one-quarter of a mile in diameter, arising almost perpendicularly from the southern shore of one of the Kettle lakes and sloping gradually in every direction into an erosion valley, I have applied the Dakota name of Cega Iyeyapi, a name by which Fort Wadsworth and the surrounding country is familiarly known to the Indians. The term signifies in their language "the place where they found the kettle." This knoll has probably been for a long period the favorite camping ground of the aborigines. The valley has at one time been a wide and deep ditch communicating with the Kettle lake and some adjoining sloughs, converting the hill into an island admirably fortified by nature for defence. On the summit of this knoll was an artificial mound whose base was one hundred feet in diameter and the per- pendicular height of its superior plane above the surface of the prairie immediately surrounding it was from one foot and a half to two feet. The de- marcation of the circumference of the base of the mound is somewhat indistinct. At various distances from the surface, to the depth of four feet, I found alternate strata of clay and what appears to be dark vegetable mould such as is found on the prairie else- where. The strata of clay are each about three inches thick, very hard and dry, and contain in their com- position a slight admixture of lime, forming a sort of concrete. It would appear from this arrangement of a series of concrete floors that this locality, so ad- mirably situated for defence, has been the favorite camping ground of one band of aborigines after another, each renovating the locality of the former occupants hy covering it with a layer of soil from eight to twelve inches thick and covering the whole with a new concrete floor. On these floors I found the bones of birds, fish and various edible animals. The lowest floor is about four feet deep and is upon the natural clay soil. In this I found a number of hearths formed by digging an evacuation about a foot deep and three and a half or four feet in diameter. Upon these are found a quantity of ashes and charred bones, the remains of the feasts of men, and a num- her of stones from three to six inches in diameter,

bearing evidences of exposure to a high degree of heat and having probably been used for the purpose of boiling water. The granitic sand entering into the composition of the pottery may have been obtained from this source. Intermixed with the soil at various depths I found fragments of pottery of different sizes and patterns. The undersurface, or most dependent portion of each is encrusted with a white calcareous matter deposited no doubt from the leachings of the soil. The shards are evidently from some vessel no larger than a small jar or goblet, from others whose capacity must have been four or five gallons. The

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

color is either that of a cream or Milwaukee brick color, such as clay destitute of iron assumes when burned, or a dim or slate color of various shades; indeed in some instances it is almost black. The re- cently fractured edges of some of the pieces show a uniformity of color throughout the whole thickness; others are a cream color one-third of the thickness be- tween either surface with a slate-colored streak run- ning through the middle. One of these colors may be seen on the inside of a shard with its opposite on the outside, and vice versa. I can detect no pigmentary matter upon either surface, and am of opinion that whatever has been used, whether for ornament or service, though probably the latter, has been imparted by use has disappeared from the surface, the center retaining it; for while I find no black shards, whose fractures show a cream colored substance within, the converse is true.

The black shards are least brittle. The thickness of these shards varies from an eighth to three- eighths of an inch, according to the size of the vessel, though few exceed one-fourth. Sand has been the only substance used to give stiffness to the mass during the process of moulding and prevent the ware from cracking while burning, and has prob- ably been obtained from disintegrated stones. Some were found in the hearths elsewhere spoken of. I have been able to find no whole vessels, but from the fragments of the rims, sides and bottoms it is not difficult to form a fair conception of their shape, which for aboriginal art was wonderfully symmetrical, gradually widening from the neck, or more con- stricted portion of the vessel until it obtains its greatest diameter at a distance of one-third of its height from the bottom, which is analogous, in curvature, to the crystal of a watch. To the neck is attached the rim, about one inch in width and some- times two; this slopes out from the neck at an angle of about twenty degrees from a perpendicular. Of some of the vessels the rim stands perpendicularly upon an offset resting upon the neck. Some patterns have no rim, but a mere lip arises from the neck of the vessel, the whole distance of its circumference

serving as handhold to lift it by. Some small vessels had neither rims or lips, their shape being spherical. I found no pieces containing ears or handles, though an Indian informant tells me the small vessels are supplied with ears. That the aboriginal potters of the lacustrin village of Cega Iyeyapi were fond of decoration, and practiced it in the ceramic art, is shown by the tracings, confined to the rims, which consist of very smooth lines about one-twentieth of an inch in width and as deep, drawn quite around the vessels parallel to the margin, terminating at the neck of the vessel and the margin of the rim. Lines drawn obliquely across the rim of the vessel and re- turning so far as to form the letter V, with others parallel to the margin of the rim, the same repeated as often as space permits, constitute the only tracing on some vessels. The inside of the vessels are in- variably plain. That the ancient potters failed in the delineatory art, as modern Indians do, may readily be inferred since no object of nature such as a tree, a plant, a flower or a bird has been attempted in their tracings. To the art of glazing the aborigines seem to have been entire strangers, but they rendered their ware durable and impervious to moisture by thor- oughly incorporating throughout its substance a black pigment.

I have quoted very fully from Captain Com- fort's report because it is, so far as I have ob- served, the only detailed description of the Ree pottery, which is now about extinct, though vast quantities of the shards are still found about their old village sites on the Missouri, but the report is more interesting in that Capt. Comfort has undoubtedly come upon the pottery kilns where with incantations and religious rites the old Ree medicine men "turned, turned the wheel." There is nothing in the report, either in relation to the pottery or the nearby burial mounds, which in- dicates anything more than the remains of the ancestors of the Indians.

CHAPTER III

THE ORIGINAL INDIANS.

The territory comprised within the present state of South Dakota was, when it first came to the knowledge of white men, peopled by Indians of two distinct families, having little in common either in habits, customs or language. The older of these in point of residence were the Aricara or Ree Indians, who belong to the Cadoan family, of which the Pawnees are regarded as the chief representatives. The Rees, for a period of time which had outlived their most ancient tradi- tions, had occupied the Missouri valley from the mouth of the Niobrara northward, and the Omahas, a people of the Siouan stock, occupied the lower valleys of the Sioux, Vermillion and James and the north side of the Missouri from the James river to the mouth of the Platte. The Sisseton band of the Dakotas, a Siouan family, even at that early date appeared to have oc- cupied the portion of Dakota which is in the immediate vicinity of Big Stone lake.

The Rees themselves did not subscribe to the theory that they were an offshoot of any tribe, but called themselves "sanish," or "tanish," a word signifying that they were the people, and con- stantly asserted that they were the parent stock from whom all of the other Indians sprung. The landmarks which they have left in the Dakota land, however, as well as the traditions of the Pawnees very clearly indicate that they were in reality a party of Pawnees, who several centuries ago broke away from the parent band, down in Nebraska, and established themselves on the

Missouri, where they waxed strong and prosper- ous through a long period and then, like many another vain people, declined and became of little consequence.

The village remains, which they have left to mark their progress and decline, start in feebly at the Niobrara, constantly expanding and strengthening as they move northward until at Pierre they have blossomed out into their full strength and opulence and thence diminishing 111til at the north line of South Dakota they are little more than a tradition. Like the Pawnees, these people lived in permanent villages of sub- stantial homes, built of poles, willows and earth, and to a considerable extent cultivated the soil, growing corn, beans, pumpkins and squashes in quantities sufficient to base a considerable com- merce with neighboring tribes. It was their custom to build their homes in villages in the midst of some rich alluvial bottom, where gardens thrive. The honses were placed ir- regularly about fifteen or twenty feet apart. In building the home, an excavation was made like a cellar, about three and a half or four feet deep. circular in forni and for the average house about eighteen feet in diameter. Around the circum- ference of this cellar crotched poles about seven feet high were set and another about two feet higher was planted in the center of the excava- tion. Other poles were placed horizontally from crotch to crotch in the outside circle and from 1 these still others were extended to the center

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

poles, to support the roof. Willows were woven among the rafter poles and the whole covered with earth except an opening of about two feet in diameter at the center which was left for the purposes of ventilation and to permit the es- cape of smoke. Sleeping berths were cut out of the banks forming the walls, before which curtains of skins were suspended. The entrance to the house was invariably from the south through a covered "cellarway." In the yard, at

population of the village could take refuge in case of attack by an enemy. The village itself was stockaded by planting small poles close together entirely around it. These poles were about twelve feet high and the tops were bound together with willows. The adjacent bottom lands were cultivated to corn and gardens, the little field of each family being divided off with low fences, rushes, or small willows. All of the farm work was done by the women and the

REE HOME.

the entrance of the cellarway, was the "cache" in which the family stores were kept. This cache was constructed by digging into the earth a small hole, not more than two feet across but which at a depth of three feet expanded like the inner surface of a jug to a width of six feet and continued at the expanded width to a depth of ten feet. The top, after storing the supplies, was kept closed and the path to the house passed over it so that its presence would not be detected by an enemy. Near by on an eminence was con- structed a fortress or heavy earthwork where the 4

hoe, made from the shoulder blade of the deer, was the sole implement, answering for plow, corn planter and cultivator. These people made a very serviceahle pottery, and showed a great deal of skill and taste in its making. It was well burned but not glazed. The arrows of the Recs were the neatest and most delicate of those made by any of the tribes. They were true triangles about three-quarters of an inch on each side and as thin and sharp as a blade of steel. Small notches were made on two sides for binding them to the shaft, into which they were inserted

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

by splitting the end instead of binding on the side of the shaft as do the Sioux. The ma- terial used was usually obsidian, obtained from the western mountains, although native flints were also utilized. So delicate were these arrows that it is not unusual 'to find perfect specimens, gold mounted and used for jewelry, among peo- ple of taste. A full description of a typical Ree fort, or earthwork, will be found in Chapter II of this history.

In the primitive days, Washington Irving de- scribes the Rees as a noble race of men, large and well formed and maintaining a savage gran- deur and gravity of demeanor. Fuller descrip- tions of their domestic customis will be given in subsequent chapters, treating of the visit to them of Lewis and Clarke, the Astorians, and of the Leavenworth conquest. Presumably the Rees reached the zenith of their greatness about the middle of the eighteenth century, when, with their principal seat at Pierre, they were the masters of the Missouri valley for a space of two hundred miles.

About the period mentioned the Dakotas of the Mississippi, having enjoyed a long period of immunity from smallpox and other epidemic dis- eases, had waxed powerful, arrogant and enter- prising and demanded more room for the chase, and consequently began to range out over the prairie of South Dakota and to claim title to its soil. The conflict with the Rees was constant and wearing, but finally successful. The lower settlements of the Rees were slowly ex- tinguished and the people compelled to take refuge in the strong villages at Pierre, where the Rees maintained their footing until 1792, when they were compelled to abandon this hitherto impregnable position and to gradually concen- trate their strength on the west side of the Mis- souri six miles north of the Grand river, where they remained, constantly harassed by the Sioux, until 1823 when they were defeated by Leaven- worth and driven off of the soil of South Dakota. At that date the tribe numbered not more than twenty-five hundred souls, but it is believed that fifty years before they were not less than seven thousand strong. The remnant of the tribe,

about five hundred in all, are now incorporated with the Mandans on Fort Berthold military reservation.

The Omahas, a tribe of Sioux, distantly related to the Dakotas, were principally located in southeastern South Dakota and had one of their strongest settlements at Sioux Falls, but before 1750 had been driven out of their country by the Yanktons and compelled to fight out a home for themselves in the territory of the Pawnees in northern Nebraska. In habits, language and manner of life the Omahas are Siouan, living in tepees and existing almost ex- clusively by the chase in the earlier days. Marquette saw some members of the tribe as early as 1673, when they resided north of the Missouri, and ten years later LeSeuer's voy- ageurs found them at Sioux Falls. In 1699 LeSeuer traded with them at his fort on the Blue Earth, near Mankato, but they then still resided on the Sioux. In 1766 Capt. Johnathan _ Carver found some of them on the Minnesota, but they were certainly not domiciled there at that date, but were doubtless out on a visit or for a hunting party. They left no remains in Dakota from which any knowledge that they ever occupied the land could be determined. Until 1802 they were a strong and independent people, numbering more than thirty-five hundred persons, but that year they were afflicted witlr an epidemic of smallpox which so reduced them that two years later Lewis and Clarke found but six hundred of them remaining. At the present time they have increased to almost twelve hundred, living on lands in severalty in north- eastern Nebraska, where they are described as steady, sober and industrious and peculiarly at- tached to their homes. On the summit of every bluff about them lie whitening the bones of their ancestors and on these bluffs they hope some day to lie with them.

The Poncas are a small band of about eight hundred Indians, related to the Omahas, now residing on a reservation in northern Nebraska. Their tradition is that they once lived on Lake Traverse in South Dakota, but there is no con- firmatory historical record. They are Sioux,

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History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 4

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