^ UNIVERSJTV I r ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, & CONDITION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS; ®ith %tntx& anil gaits, Written during Eight Years of Travel and Adventure among the Wildest and most Remarkable Tribes now Existing. By GEORGE CATLIN. with THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS FROM THE author's ORIGINAL PAINTINGS. ..IP^'^^P^^ r IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. H. EontJon: CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY. 1876. lOITDOW : PEINTED BY J. OGDEH" ATTD CO., 172, ST. JOHN STBEET, B.C. HMUO\t CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. LETTEk— No. 32. Caatonment Leavenworth, p. 1, 15. — Sluennes, p. 2. — Portraits of, pis. 115, 116.— Floyd's Grave, p. 4, pi. 118.— Black Bird's Grave, p. 5, pi. 117.— Beautiful grassj bluffs, p. 8, pis. 119, 120. — Mandan remains, p. 9, pi. 121 — Belle Vue, p. 11, pi. 122. — Square hills, p. 11, pi. 123.— Mouth of Platte, p. 13, pi. 125,— Buffaloes crossing, p, 13, pi. 126. ' . . j 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. — Sraall-pox amongst Pawnees, p. 55. — Major Dougherty's opinion of the Fur Trade, p. 26. — Grand Pawnees, p. 27, pis. It-Q, 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 Ros^ Island, p. 33, pi. 148. — Prophecy, p. 34 —Start for Camanchee country, p. 35. A A LETTER— No. 37. Transit up the Arkansas river, p. 36. — Fort Gibson, 1st regiment United States' Drairoona reviewed, p. 33. — Equipping and starting of Dragoons for the Camaachee counv.-y, 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 Pawirse 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, &c. 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 starapedo, p. 53. — Meeting a Camanchee war party, and mode of approaching them, p. 55, pi. l57 — They turn about ^and escort the Dragoons to their village, p. 56. — Immense herds of buffaloes, ^jfT 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 Blountain, 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. (*o, pi. 167.— Portraits of Camanchee chiefs, p. 67, pis. 168. 169, 170, 171, 172.— 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, lt?l.— Wicos, portraits of, p. 75, pi. 182. LETTER— No. 44. Camp Canadian — Immense herds of bufFaloes — Great slaughter of them — Extraordiimiy 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 — Hik, 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.— Iroquois p. 106, pi. 206. LETTER— No. 48. Flatheads, Nez Percys, p. 108, pis. 2()7, 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, ^^10.— Process of flatten^ ing the head— and cradle, p. Ill, pi. 210|.— Fjathp^a H^-a^g. p. Ul.-^Simi^ custom of Choctaws— Choctaw tradition, p. 112 — Curious manufactures of the Chinooks- Klicka- tacks— Chuhaylas, and Na-iis Indians, p. 113, pi. 210^. —Character and disposition of the Indians on the Columbia, p. IIA. V i VI LETTER— No. 49. Shawanos,p. 115, pis. 211, 212, 213, 214.— Shawnee prophet and his transaction*, p. Ii7. — Cherokees, portraits of, p. 119, pis. 215, 216, 217, 218.— Creeks, portraits of, x> 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. r'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, %36. 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 au'l'ail, 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's 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. 15S.— Death of Joe Chad wick— 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. C6*eau 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 Ouisconszn Vll in bark canoe, p. 163. — Red Pipe Stone Quarry, on the C6teau des Praines, p l'J4, 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 Fromboise, kind reception, p. 176. — Encamp- ment at the Pipe Stone Quarry, p. 177. — Ba'tiste's " Story of the Medicine Bag," p. 178. — "Story of the Bog,'* prelude to, p. ISO.— Leaving the Mandans in canoe, p. 181.— Passing the Riccarees in the night, p. 182. — Encamping on the side of a clav-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. 21''>. pL 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. 2t9. pi. 298. — Cloud, King Phillip. — Co-ee-ha-jo.— Creek Billy, Mickenopah. p. 220, pla. 299 to 305.— Death of Osceola, p. 221. LETTER— No. 58. North Western Frontier — General remarks on, p. 223. — General appearance and habits ot toe tiovih 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 on white man's modes, p. 241. — Modesof war and peace, p. 242. — Pipe of peace dance, p. 242.— iieligion, p. 242 — 3. — Picture writing, songs and totems, p. 246, pis. 306, 307, 308, 309, 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. Vlll 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. Vooiibul&ries of several different Indian languages, shewing their dissimilarity, p. ^(i$. APPENDIX C. Cotuparison of the Indians' original and secondary character, p. 26fi>. LETTERS AND NOTES NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. LETTER— No. 32. FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWm MISSOURI. 1 HE readers, 1 presume, will have felt some anxiety for me and the fate of my little craft, after the close of my last Letter ; and I have the very great 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 tho 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, add VOL. II. » from whence my 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, l)y the name of ]See-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, and 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 Ufe 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 tkis 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 — ** pull 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 dista/ice 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 the 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 — I 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 ahove, and after I had arrived safe in St. Louis, the news reached there that the Dog had heen overtaken and killed, and a brother of his also, and the affair thus settled. The portraits are in Vol. II. (plates 273, 274, aud 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 79 ■;^ ' '."Lj ' .,., ' j.- '" .VjiVi,^'.v, V-^l^Si^J-OV •>>■ l5^S'-:f';i'-^ ,,i ,••' ,'- • V ' <<", •''^:» '..Jv ■> t.J.Ul.to his soul to his Creator. I could not hunt upon this ground, but I roamed from hill-top to hill-top, and culled wild flowers, and looked into the valley below me, both 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 it's deformities — of tire 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 Graved 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 the name of the " Black Bird's Grave," from the fact, that a famous chief of the 0-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 piniacle of this towering bluiT, 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 havmg 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 all, 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, by the vo^a^rewr, and forms for him a familiar and useful land -mark. Whilst visiting this mound in company with Major Sanford, 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 I 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 thair 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 bv» true, and it may not. 1 cannot contradict it ; and 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 ghed 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 Jiim, 4,0 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 theii enemies. Such books are standards, because they are made fur white man's reading only ; and herald the character of a pec pie who never can disprove them. They answer the purpose for which 8 they are written ; and the poor Indian who has no redress, stands stigmatized 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 119 Colhy. these rounded and graceful forms, until in time they get seeded over, and nourish a growth of green grass on their sides, whicli forms a turf, and pro- tects their surface, preserving them for centuries, in the forms that are ht re seen. The tops of the highest of these bluffs rise nearly up to the sumni.t 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. 1 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 *'wj9 one hiir and sliding or running "c^ozcw another" with no other living being in si^ht, 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 plare, I 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 coirvince me, that they have formerly occupied the lower parts of the Missouri, aixi 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. * 10 their present one, by a regular stockade and ditch ; they have been able «uccessfully 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 Madod. 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 hav