Animals—Sioux and Omawhaw Indians—Winter Residence at Engineer Cantonment The subsequent account of the transactions at and near Council Bluff, and of the observations made there, we copy from the journal of Mr. Say. Descriptions of some of the animals which occurred, are given in the notes below. The prairie wolves Their bark is much more distinctly like that of the domestic dog, than of any other animal; in fact the first two or three notes could not be distinguished from the bark of a small terrier, but these notes are succeeded by a lengthened scream. The wonderful intelligence of this animal is well worthy This trap proving useless, another was constructed in a different part of the country, formed like a large cage, but with a small entrance on the top, through which the animals might enter, but not return; this was equally unsuccessful; the wolves attempted in vain to get at the bait, as they would not enter by the route prepared for them. A large double "steel trap" was next tried; this was profusely baited, and the whole, with the exception of the bait, was carefully concealed beneath the fallen leaves. This was also unsuccessful. Tracks of the anticipated victims were next day observed to be impressed in numbers on the earth near the spot, but still the trap, with its seductive charge, remained untouched. The bait was then removed from the trap, and suspended over it from the branch of a tree; several pieces of meat were also suspended in a similar manner, from trees in the vicinity; the following morning the bait over the trap alone remained. In no respect disheartened by these futile attempts, many times repeated, and varied in every obvious manner, another scheme was executed, which eventuated in complete success. This was the log trap, in which one log is elevated above another at one end, by means of an upright stick, which rests upon a rounded horizontal trigger stick, on the inferior log. The latrans does not diffuse the offensive odour, so remarkable in the two species of jackalls, (C. aureus and C. anthus) though in many respects it resembles those animals. Like the Mexicanus, the hair on the vertebral line is elongated; and we should be disposed to regard it as the same animal, but it differs from the description of that species, both in colour and physiognomy. The ears are proportionally longer than those of C. cancrivorus, and, as well as the tail, shorter than the corresponding parts of C. mesomelas. This animal, which does not seem to be known to naturalists, unless it should prove to be the Mexicanus, is most probably the original of the domestic dog, so common in the villages of the Indians of this region, some of the varieties On the 14th of October, four hundred Omawhaw Indians assembled at Camp Missouri. Major O'Fallon addressed them in an appropriate speech, stating the reasons for their being called to council; upon which Ong-pa-ton-ga, the Big Elk, "He had heard that his father wished to see him, and he had wished to see and to hear the words of his father, ever since he learned that he was ascending {156} the river. He was informed last fall of his being at the river Platte, and as he could not then go to see him, he had now come to visit him; and here I am, my father. All these young people you see around here are yours; although they are poor and trifling, yet they are your children. I have always loved the whites since I first remember to have seen them, and this affection increases with my age. All my nation loves the whites, and always have loved them. Amongst all the good things of this world I place the whites first. But it appears that there are many nations that live nearer to you than I, that do not love you, though you have done more for them, than you have done for me. When they meet with you, they flatter you, in order to get presents from you, notwithstanding which, they would not hesitate to kill some of your people on their way home. Some of them shake hands with you in a friendly manner, This speech, contrary to the usual mode of Indian orators, was commenced in a low tone, the voice gradually rising as the speaker proceeded, until it attained its full intonation. Several speakers subsequently went forward and delivered their sentiments, generally alluding to the circumstance of our treating those who injure us kindly, and neglecting our friends. Ta-sone, the White Cow, It is proper to mention, as explanatory of some of the allusions in the above speeches, that the Pawnees, at the conclusion of their council, had been invited to dine at Camp Missouri, and that many of their chiefs were there presented with sabres, as I before stated. It was to this circumstance that the above-mentioned {159} speakers had reference, as being inexplicable to them; as it seemed as if we wished to conciliate the good will of those evil-doers It was evident, however, that the speakers had mentally no reference to Major O'Fallon, as they knew he had not committed or sanctioned the acts of which they complained in their truly delicate and peculiar manner. But they looked upon him as responsible for the actions of his people, knowing him to be the representative of the government, and that in case of wrong, they could not obtain redress from any other person. How much soever Major O'Fallon may have disapproved of the treatment which the Pawnees had received from the military, he was perfectly conscious of having conducted himself towards them according to their deserts, so far as power had been placed in his hands. But being thus verbally accused, pointedly and repeatedly of injustice, for acts not his own, he arose and said, "Omawhaws, you say I called the Pawnees here to feast them and make them presents, after they had killed and insulted us, but it is not true. I did not smoke the pipe of peace with them, neither will I, until our differences are settled. I told the Pawnees that, even if I stood unsupported before them, I would, nevertheless, either compel them to make reparation for their offences, or leave my bones amongst them for my nation to come and bury." The Big Elk, and Big Eyes, were the only chiefs acknowledged by Major O'Fallon, who then made liberal presents to them for their people. Some of these presents were distributed by the Indians after a peculiar manner, but which I learn is very common amongst the Indians of this country. A certain portion of them is placed upon the ground, and whoever can strike From the 24th of October to the 10th of November, the atmosphere was generally filled with a dense smoke, like a fog or stratus, which proceeded from the conflagrated prairies. It sometimes affected our vision painfully, sometimes it so far intercepted the rays of the sun that the disk of that luminary appeared of a blood-red, and the eye could repose upon it uninjured. On the morning of the 8th instant, it occurred in greater quantity than at any other time, when it was so extremely dense as to intercept a view of the opposite shore of the Missouri from Engineer Cantonment. On the 9th of November some rain fell, attended with thunder and lightning. The rain continued on the day following, with the wind from the south-east; at evening the smoke was almost entirely dissipated, and the clouds, which were cirro-cumuli passing to the north-north-west, became visible. A party of Sioux visited us on the 15th of November, to view the steam-boat. As Major Long had left orders to put the steam machinery in action occasionally, in order to preserve it from rust, Lieutenant Graham concluded to exhibit the boat with the engine in action. The Indians In the course of the winter we received frequent supplies of provisions from Camp Missouri; and by means of some exertion and diligence in hunting, we were able to procure plenty of fresh venison and other game. For coffee we substituted the fruit of the gymnocladus canadensis, which afforded a palatable and wholesome beverage. The flesh of the skunk we had sometimes dressed for dinner, and found it a remarkably rich and delicate food. On the 5th of December, the gentlemen of the party dined by invitation with Mr. M. Lisa. The principal Ioway chief was once at our camp; he is a very intelligent Indian, with a solemn dignity of deportment, and would not deign to enter our houses or even to approach them until invited. He is said to have a more intimate knowledge of the manners of the whites, than any This Indian is known by several names, as Grand Batture, Hard Heart, Sandbar, and in his own language, Wang-e-waha. During our late contest with Great Britain, he turned his back upon his nation, in consequence of their raising the tomahawk upon our citizens, and crossing the Missouri, united his destiny with the Otoes, who received and treated him with distinguished respect. Last autumn his nation joined him, and submitted to his guidance; so that the Otoes, Missouries, and Ioways were then united. Some time since in a transaction with a captain, formerly of the United States' army, he thought himself grossly insulted, and demanded on the spot personal satisfaction, He is esteemed the bravest and most intelligent of the Ioways, and amongst the Otoes he was associated with many equally brave with himself. But as there are national prejudices amongst the Indians as well as amongst the whites, he has not escaped from many a keen allusion to his nation. In a quarrel, which arose from some expressions of this nature, Ietan knocked him down with a war-club. He has been in fifty battles, and has commanded in seven. He says the white people often request the Indians to abstain from war, and yet the white people continue {164} to fight each other, as if they wished to monopolize the occupation of war, and thereby deprive the Indian of his principal avenue to honour and dignity. Several Omawhaws, who have been trapping in the country opposite to Blackbird-hill, remained with us last night. The principal one, A-ha-ga-nash-he, or the Upright Horn, has a rather handsome Sioux squaw, to whom he appears to be much attached, paying her great attention in conversation, giving her a portion of his whiskey, and handing her the pipe to smoke. She is, however, not exempted from the ordinary employments of the Indian women, and we had an opportunity to-day of seeing her depart from Mr. Lisa's with a heavy load, consisting of the goods which her husband had received in exchange for his beaver, on her back, whilst he carried only a keg of whiskey slung over his shoulders, and his gun and hunting apparatus. Previously to the departure of the Omawhaws from A-ha-ga-nash-he, whom we invited to take up his lodgings for the night in our room, became alarmed at my repute as a medicine man, fearing that I would cast some spell upon him, or otherwise injure him by the operation of some potent mystic medicine: he removed his quarters to the adjoining room, where he seemed to think he was safe from my incantations. Our hunter, whose name is No-zun-da-je; or, "He {165} that does not dodge," is esteemed a good hunter by his nation; but he is not a distinguished warrior, although he has been in numerous battles. He says he has killed several red skins in action, but never yet had the honour to strike a body. He showed us the scars of many wounds, most of which he had inflicted on himself, when in mourning for the death of his relatives and friends, by thrusting arrows through the skin and a portion of the flesh of his arm. His brother, at the same time, showed many scars which he had caused by cutting out pieces from his body with a knife, on the same occasions. Several Omawhaws visited us on the 8th, and a party of three of them, who were in possession of a keg of whiskey, On the 9th December, Lieutenant Swift, in company with Mr. Pilcher 10th. By a recent occurrence, the late treaty of peace between the Otoes and Konzas was on the eve of being infracted. The Otoes, who were encamped for hunting near the mouth of the Platte, had four horses stolen from them about two weeks since, and {166} subsequently ten more. These robberies were immediately attributed to the Konzas, and a war-party prepared themselves to march and retaliate upon that nation. Hashea, however, prevented them from going, saying that their father (Major O'Fallon) 12th. Many Indians visited us yesterday and to-day, some of whom brought jerked deer meat, mockasins, &c. to exchange for their favourite drink, and for trinkets. But as we have none of the latter, and as the former is interdicted from them by our laws, we are not authorized to make any purchases. That they do contrive to get whiskey elsewhere, perhaps of the traders, we have abundant proof. Yesterday a squaw got drunk, and made much noise; but her companions, after much ado, carried her off to their encampment. As we were cutting up a log for fuel, one of the Omawhaws seeing a knot or protuberance of the wood, suitable to form into a bowl, requested us to cut it off for him; but not choosing to gratify him in that manner, we offered the axe we were using, that he might cut it in his own way; he, however, would not accept of it, but pointed to the palm of his hand, giving us to understand that such labour would make his hand sore and hard; he then called one of his squaws, who immediately went to work, {167} and handled the axe very dexterously. Observing several young Indians passing, I indicated to her the propriety of requesting The Indians are very fickle in bargaining. An Indian, some time since, exchanged his rifle for Mr. Dougherty's shot gun; yesterday he reversed the bargain, giving a pair of mockasins in return; and this morning he requested to exchange again, in which he was gratified. A squaw offered to exchange mockasins for a couple of our military stocks. We could not conceive to what use she would apply them, but, upon inquiry, we learned that she wished to ornament the crupper of her horse with them. The stone quarry, which supplied limestone for building chimnies at camp Missouri, was situate at the distance of an hundred yards below our cantonment. The labourers that were employed in this quarry opened upon many large fissures, in which were found a number of serpents that had entered there for the purpose of hybernating. Of these, three species appear to be new. This morning three Omawhaws were fired upon by a war-party of five Ioway Indians, and two were wounded; this occurred on the east side of the river, nearly opposite to our cantonment. When they fired, each one called out his name agreeably to the Indian custom. A party of Omawhaws then assembled, and pursued them about fifteen miles, but without success. Two Oto warriors, and a boy, nephew of Ishta-gre-ja, Gray Eyes the elder, visited us this afternoon. They have been hunting on Blue Water creek, in the neighbourhood of the Konzas hunting camps, and not distant from the 30th. In the morning a nimbus from the north. An Evening. A complete paraselene appeared about the moon, of the diameter of 45 degrees. The mercury was below Zero the greater part of the day, in Fahrenheit's thermometer. 31st. Several Canadians in the employ of the Missouri Fur Company, came this evening to dance and sing before us, agreeably to the custom of their countrymen, in celebration of the termination of the year. They were adorned with paint after the Indian manner, clothed with bison robes, and had bells attached to different parts of their dress. So completely were they disguised, that three of their employers, who happened to be present, had much difficulty in recognizing them. This dance is called La Gineolet, January 6th, 1820. Mr. Graham and I measured the width of the river in two places, a short distance below our cantonment, and a short distance above; [158] the latter gave two hundred and seventy-seven and one-third yards, and the former one hundred yards. We hear the barking of the prairie wolves every night about us; they venture close to our huts; last night they ran down and killed a doe, within a short distance of our huts; this morning the remains of the carcass were found, consisting only of bones and skin. Mr. Fontenelle, 13th. Ietan, 14th. Ietan called this morning, and as some of our party were going to visit at Camp Missouri, he accompanied them in order to obtain Major O'Fallon's permission for his nation to go to war with the {170} Konzas. He informed the agent that individuals of that nation had sometime since stolen horses from them. That one of the losers, Big Soldier, had gone to the Konza village to demand the horses; but seeing a number of horses belonging to that nation when he arrived near the village, he could not resist the temptation of immediately retaliating by seizing several, and appropriating them to his own use. But, Ietan said, he thought the honour of his nation still called for war, and he solicited the acquiescence of the agent in that measure. The Major replied, that his opinion ought to have been asked previously to the retaliatory measure which had already been prematurely taken, as they were not certain that the Konzas were the offenders, and that this ought to have been ascertained before any depredation on the Konzas had been committed. But the course which he would now advise them to pursue was, to send a deputation to the Konzas, for the purpose of ascertaining the fact, to return the Konzas' horses, and to demand their 15th. Mr. Woods, of the Missouri Fur Company, has returned from a trading excursion. He reports that he saw several of the Pawnee caches, which had been broken open and robbed of their corn by the Omawhaws. This is by no means a rare occurrence with the Indians, but it does not appear that it has ever led to hostilities between nations; they say that when a person is in want of food, he has a right to take any he can find. Corporal Norman, who went out this morning to kill rabbits, returned about noon with twenty-seven, which he had killed with single balls. February 9th. Several Oto Indians have visited us within this day or two, and one of them, Ca-he-ga-in-ya, {171} remained with us last night; he was finely dressed, had on a chief's coat laced with silver, and a profusion of wampum about his neck, and suspended to his ears; he departed this morning on his way to the Omawhaws, to trade for horses. The ice on the Missouri is sixteen inches in thickness, that of the Boyer creek fifteen and three-fourths. 12th. Messrs. Dougherty, Peel [Peale], and myself, with an assistant, encamped at a pond near the Boyer to obtain fish; we cut several holes in the ice of the pond, and obtained one otter and a number of small fishes, amongst which three species appeared to be new; several specimens were of the genus gasterosteus. 15th. Mr. Zenoni, of the Fur Company, who departed the twenty-seventh ultimo on a trading expedition, returned 19th. The sand is blown by the violence of the wind from the sand-bars of the river, so as to resemble a dense fog. We have been hitherto very well supplied with fresh meat, from game killed principally by Mr. Peale, who, on one occasion, killed two deer at a single shot and with one ball, but we are now reduced again to salt pork of a very inferior quality. {172} The party, with the exception of myself, continue to enjoy good health. 22d. Messrs. Dougherty and Peale returned from a hunt, having killed twelve bisons out of a herd of several hundreds they met with near Sioux river, and brought us a seasonable supply of meat. They saw several herds of elk, and yesterday they saw swans, geese, and ducks, flying up the river. A dinner and ball were given at Camp Missouri, in honour of the day, to which our party were invited. 24th. Mr. Graham and I endeavoured to ascertain the rapidity of the current of this part of the Missouri, at the present low water. We availed ourselves of a long vacancy By these experiments, however, the superficial current or stratum only was indicated, and as we had reason to suppose that this stratum was more impeded by friction against the inferior surface of the ice than it would be by the atmosphere, it became an object to ascertain the average velocity of the different depths. With this view a staff ten feet long was made to float vertically, by means of a weight attached to its inferior extremity; a line of one hundred and seventy-eight feet in length was run out by this arrangement, during the following intervals of time, in four experiments, viz. 1' 21—1' 21—1' 19—1' 21, of which the mean is 1' 20½, which would seem to indicate a current of the velocity of 1 mile 893 yards 1 foot per hour. Thus the average velocity of ten feet in depth of the current of the Missouri, is greater by almost 452 yards in a single hour, than {173} that of a superficial stratum of about six inches depth, during the ice-bound state of the river. During these experiments the atmosphere was nearly calm. 25th. Cooked for dinner the entire hump of a bison, after the manner of the Indians; this favourite part of the animal was dissected from the vertebrÆ, after which the spinous processes were taken out, and the denuded part was covered with skin, which was firmly sewed to that of February 28th. I ascertained the temperature of spring water, which, however, was somewhat exposed to the atmosphere, but in a shaded situation, and in a ravine, to be 47°; that of the atmosphere being at {174} the same time 56°, and that of the river 32°, of Fahrenheit's scale. Wednesday, March 8th. The Big Elk, Big Eyes, and The Omawhaw chiefs remained with us the greater part of the following day, and presented us with eight more pieces of jerked meat. We presented them in return with some tobacco, &c. The Big Elk made us a considerable harangue, with all the remarkable vivacity, fluency, and nerve of Indian eloquence, in which he said that he would address me by the title of father; "And you," said he, to Mr. Dougherty, "whom I know so well, I will call brother. The Indians around," said he, "who tell the white people that they love them, speak falsely, as is proved by their killing the white people; but my nation truly love you, they have never stained their hands with the blood of a white man, and this much cannot be said by any nation of this land." He added a strong expression, that such was his attachment to us, that he believed that he should, at a future day, be a white man himself. {175} When they took their leave, we advised them not to visit Camp Missouri, telling them what, in fact, they had already been informed of, that many of the soldiers were sick; (we did not wish them to observe the extent of the malady, with which that camp was afflicted,) but Big Elk remarked, that it had been his intention to go there, and it was not fear that could prevent him; his life was at the disposal of the great Wahconda only, and he could not die before his time; "But," said he, "agreeably to your request I certainly will not go." Of all the objects which we exhibited to the view of the chiefs, quicksilver (mercury) seemed to excite the most surprise; they weighed the vessel, in which it was contained, in their hands, dipped their fingers into it, and were surprised at the resistance which it offered to the immersion, and what appeared most singular was, that they should be withdrawn without any appearance of moisture upon them; that they might not be deceived they repeated the experiment again and again. A couple of iron nails were then thrown upon the mercury, and as these did not sink to the bottom, they pressed them down with their fingers; but finding that the nails constantly arose again to the surface, the Big Elk returned the vessel to me, saying, with a smile of pleasure strongly impressed on his strongly marked countenance, that the fluid was the Omawhaw's Wahconda. The last load of stone, which was taken from the quarry early in December last, was prevented from reaching Camp Missouri by the floating ice; the boat was driven ashore and abandoned. It was now observed floating down the river, with a large quantity of drift ice; and, when opposite our cantonment, was readily secured by Major Ketchum, without having received any injury On the 19th, Mr. Immel, An igneous meteor, or jack-o'-lantern, was seen on the evening of the 20th, near our cantonment; it was described to me as of the size of a double fist, {177} with a caudate appendage, or tail, of the length of about two feet; it emitted a light of the colour of the flame of burning sulphur; it passed along the river shore nearly over the observer's head, at but a very small elevation, nearly in a right line, with an equable motion, about as rapid as the flight of a bird, and with an audible sound like the blowing of a moderate stream of air through a thicket; it was visible about one half a minute, when it crossed the river, became paler, and disappeared. The waters of the Missouri have been as clear during the winter as ordinary rivers; the earthy matter, which they hold in suspension during the temperate and warm weather, and which every person who views the river remarks as characteristic of its waters, subsides as soon as the wintry temperature occurs, but is again renewed in the spring. They have been gradually more and more turbid, these two or three days past. The ice in the river broke up on the 29th ult., and entirely disappeared on the 19th instant. Great flights of geese, swans, ducks, brant, and cranes have been passing up the river, at their usual migrating altitude above the surface of the earth; but this migration of these aquatic birds has nearly ceased. April 5th. A war-party of Omawhaws arrived at the trading house of the Missouri Fur Company. They are one of three parties, which have been for ten days past in pursuit of a war-party of thirteen Sauks who carried off a number of horses from near the Omawhaw village. They pursued the trail of the Sauks, until they lost it nearly opposite to this place; they, nevertheless, continued the pursuit in the direction which they supposed the enemy had taken, but are now returning unsuccessful; they say they are in hopes, that one of the other parties may overtake them. It seems probable, that it was this same {178} party of Sauks who fired upon a soldier on the 30th ult. 6th. The war-party mentioned yesterday visited us this morning, on their way home. They danced for us, and after receiving bread, buffaloe meat, and tobacco, departed well pleased. In the afternoon, another war-party of eleven Omawhaws, who had also been in pursuit of the same Sauks, arrived. We were notified of their proximity by hearing their war-song, and going out, we observed them at a short distance arranged in a line, from the centre of which were elevated two handsome streamers, which, upon their approach, we found to be two long lances, to which feathers of different colours, fancifully arranged, were attached. The partizan advanced, and made us a speech as usual, in which he gave an account of their adventures, and concluded by praising the kindness of the whites, their hospitality, and their greatness in arts and The Indians departed early on the 7th, with many thanks for the attention they had received. Before they went, they presented to us a wild cat, which {180} they had shot, but we advised them to keep it to eat on the way home, upon which they thanked us for it, as if they had never owned it. 11th. We learn that a third war-party of Omawhaws, who departed in pursuit of the Sauks before either of the others, were met by a strong party of that nation, who were on their way to the Omawhaw village; they however escaped |