They Promised To Make Peace
With The Ottoes And Missouris, The Only Nations With Whom They Are At War.
All
These harangues concluded by describing the distress of the nation:
they begged us to have pity on them; to send
Them traders; that they
wanted powder and ball; and seemed anxious that we should supply
them with some of their great father's milk, the name by which they
distinguish ardent spirits. We gave some tobacco to each of the chiefs,
and a certificate to two of the warriors who attended the chief We
prevailed on M. Durion [interpreter] to remain here, and accompany as
many of the Sioux chiefs as he could collect to the seat of government.
We also gave his son a flag, some clothes, and provisions, with directions
to bring about a peace between the surrounding tribes, and to convey
some of their chiefs to see the President.
"The Indians who have just left us are the Yanktons, a tribe of the great
nation of Sioux. These Yanktons are about two hundred men in number,
and inhabit the Jacques, Des Moines, and Sioux Rivers. In person they
are stout, well proportioned, and have a certain air of dignity and boldness.
In their dress they differ nothing from the other bands of the nation whom
we met afterwards."
Of the Sioux let us say here, there are many bands, or subdivisions.
Some writers make eighteen of these principal branches.
But the first importance is given to the Sioux proper,
or Dakotas. The name "Sioux" is one of reproach, given by their enemies,
and signifies "snake;" whereas "Dakota" means "friend" or "ally."
The Lewis and Clark journal says of the Yankton-Sioux: -
"What struck us most was an institution peculiar to them and to
the Kite (Crow) Indians further to the westward, from whom it is said
to have been copied. It is an association of the most active and brave
young men, who are bound to each other by attachment, secured by a vow,
never to retreat before any danger, or give way to their enemies.
In war they go forward without sheltering themselves behind trees, or aiding
their natural valor by any artifice. Their punctilious determination
not to be turned from their course became heroic, or ridiculous, a short
time since, when the Yanktons were crossing the Missouri on the ice.
A hole lay immediately in their course, which might easily have been
avoided by going around. This the foremost of the band disdained to do,
but went straight forward and was lost. The others would have followed
his example, but were forcibly prevented by the rest of the tribe.
These young men sit, camp, and dance together, distinct from the rest
of the nation; they are generally about thirty or thirty-five years old,
and such is the deference paid to courage that their seats in council
are superior to those of the chiefs and their persons more respected.
But, as may be supposed, such indiscreet bravery will soon
diminish the numbers of those who practise it; so that the band
is now reduced to four warriors, who were among our visitors.
These were the remains of twenty-two who composed the society not long ago;
but, in a battle with the Kite (Crow) Indians of the Black Mountains,
eighteen of them were killed, and these four were dragged from the field
by their companions."
Just above the site of the city of Yankton, and near
what is still known as Bon Homme Island, Captain Clark
explored a singular earth formation in a bend of the river.
This had all the appearance of an ancient fortification,
stretching across the bend and furnished with redoubts
and other features of a great fort. In the journal is given
a glowing account of the work and an elaborate map of the same.
Modern research, however, has proved that this strange
arrangement of walls and parapets is only a series of sand ridges
formed by the currents of the river and driftings of sand.
Many of these so-called earthworks are situated on the west
bank of the Upper Missouri, in North Dakota and South Dakota.
A few days later, the party saw a species of animal which they
described as "goats," - very fleet, with short pronged horns inclining
backward, and with grayish hair, marked with white on the rump.
This creature, however, was the American antelope, then unknown
to science, and first described by Lewis and Clark. While visiting
a strange dome-shaped mountain, "resembling a cupola," and now known
as "the Tower," the explorers found the abode of another animal,
heretofore unknown to them. "About four acres of ground,"
says the journal, "was covered with small holes." The account continues:
"These are the residence of a little animal, called by the French
petit chien (little dog), which sit erect near the mouth, and make
a whistling noise, but, when alarmed, take refuge in their holes.
In order to bring them out we poured into one of the holes five barrels
of water without filling it, but we dislodged and caught the owner.
After digging down another of the holes for six feet, we found,
on running a pole into it, that we had not yet dug half-way to the bottom:
we discovered, however, two frogs in the hole, and near it we killed
a dark rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie dog.
We were also informed, though we never witnessed the fact,
that a sort of lizard and a snake live habitually with these animals.
The petit chien are justly named, as they resemble a small dog
in some particulars, although they have also some points of similarity
to the squirrel. The head resembles the squirrel in every respect,
except that the ear is shorter; the tail like that of the ground squirrel;
the toe nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray."
Great confusion has been caused in the minds of readers on account
of there being another burrowing animal, called by Lewis and Clark "the
burrowing squirrel," which resembles the petit chien in some respects.
But the little animal described here is now well known as the prairie-dog, - an
unfortunate and misleading name.
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