Читать книгу Makers of American History: The Lewis and Clark Exploring Expedition - Graeme Mercer Adam - Страница 5

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By the close of August, the country of the great Sioux nation was entered upon, now South Dakota, and intercourse was had with several of its warlike tribes, including first the Yanktons, and afterwards the Mandans, Tetons, Minnetarees, and Ricara. The Yankton-Sioux, about one thousand strong, were found inhabiting Bon Homme Island and the country around the Yankton, or Dakota, River, other lodges of the tribe being found on the banks of the Des Moines and the Sioux Rivers. Only with the ugly-tempered and rascally Tetons did the Expedition have any trouble; with the others, relations were made pleasant by the exercise of tact, and by the presents distributed to their chief men at the palavers that ensued. In the intercourse of the white explorers with the Yanktons, Lewis and Clark were aided by the friendly offices of Pierre Dorion, an intelligent halfbreed, whom they met on the Missouri on his way to St. Louis, and whom they were successful in inducing to return to the lodges of the Yankton-Sioux, to act as interpreter and intermediary with the tribe. He it was who guided the messengers of the Expedition to the chief village of the Yanktons, for the purpose of calling them into council. Here they were amicably received, and had set before them, for their refreshment and as an evidence of their friendly disposition, a tempting dish of roast dog! In return, the Yanktons were rewarded with presents of tobacco, together with some highly appreciated cooking utensils.

The conference with the Yanktons occurred on the last day of August, under an oak tree near by the lodges of the tribe, and from the top of which the “Stars and Stripes” had been given to the breeze. Here the pipe of peace was smoked, and before the harangue began the Indians’ head chief was presented with sundry gifts, including a richly laced uniform of the United States artillery, with cocked hat and red feather. This brought to his feet the native chieftain, Weucha, or “Shake Hand,” who, after some reference to Captain Lewis’s opening speech of counsel and instruction, thus addressed the white leaders of the party:

“I see before me my Great Father’s two sons. You see me and the rest of our chiefs and warriors. We are very poor; we have neither powder, nor ball, nor knives; and our women and children at the village have no clothes. I wish that as my brothers have given me a flag and a medal, they would give something to those poor people, or let them stop and trade with the first boat which comes up the river. I will bring the chiefs of the Pawnees and Mahas (Omahas) together and make peace between them; but it is better that I should do it than my Great Father’s sons, for they will listen to me more readily. I will also take some chiefs to your country in the Spring; but before that time I cannot leave home. I went formerly to the English, and they gave me a medal and some clothes; when I went to the Spanish they gave me a medal, but nothing to keep it from my skin; but now you give me a medal and clothes. But still we are poor; and I wish, brothers, that you would give us something for our squaws.”

Other chiefs of the tribe spoke briefly, endorsing the poverty of the band as set forth by the head chief, and their need of many things to relieve their distress, including powder and ball, and a supply of their Great Father’s milk—an euphemism for ardent spirits! From the Lewis and Clark “Journal” we further learn that the Yanktons promised to make peace with the Ottoes and Missouris, the only nations with whom they were then at war. From the same source, we also learn of other matters which engaged the attention of the scientific members of the Expedition in the region, chiefly in respect to the animal life of the district, including “burrowing squirrels,” as the prairie-dog, or, more properly, the marmot, was then termed; together with “barking squirrels,” mule-deer, antelopes, etc. Besides these animals noted and reported in the journal of the explorers, mention is also made of fossil remains being met with of fish, reptiles and other life belonging to early geological periods, in addition to the ever-present and actively troublesome mosquito. The mule-deer spoken of as being found in the vicinity were afterwards discovered to be of the rather rare species of black-tailed deer, with noticeably long ears.

In the Journal of Captain Clark, we are given an account, in his curiously misspelled English, of an encounter, about the end of September, with the villanous Tetons, whose lodges the Expedition had now come to in their passage up the Missouri. The leaders of the tribe, in accordance with custom, had been invited to a friendly conference with the whites, and they and some of their people were afterwards asked to inspect at close quarters the Expedition’s chief vessel. What followed is thus narrated by Clark, prefaced by some little detail of the meeting with the Tetons:

“On the morning of September 25th, relates the Journal, we raised a flagstaff and an awning, under which we assembled, with all the party parading under arms. The chiefs and warriors from the camps two miles up the river met us, about fifty or sixty in number, and after smoking we delivered them a speech; but as our interpreter, M. Dorion, had been left with the Yanktons, we were obliged to make use of a Frenchman who could not speak fluently, and therefore we curtailed our harangue. After this we went through the ceremony of acknowledging the chiefs, by giving to the grand chief a medal, a flag of the United States, a laced uniform coat, a cocked hat and feather; to the two other chiefs, a medal and some small presents; and to two warriors of consideration, certificates. The name of the great chief is Untongasabau, or Black Buffalo; the second, Tortohango, or the Partisan; the third, Tartongawaka, or Buffalo Medicine; the name of one of the warriors was Wawzinggo; that of the second, Matocoquepa, or Second Bear. We then invited the chiefs on board, and showed them the boat, the air-gun, and such curiosities as we thought might amuse them. In this we succeeded too well; for, after giving them a quarter of a glass of whiskey, which they seemed to like very much, and sucked the bottle, it was with much difficulty that we could get rid of them. They at last accompanied Captain Clark on shore, in a pirogue with five men; but it seems they had formed a design to stop us; for no sooner had the party landed than three of the Indians seized the cable of the pirogue, and one of the soldiers of the chief put his arms round the mast. The second chief, who affected intoxication, then said that we should not go on; that they had not received presents enough from us. Captain Clark told him that he would not be prevented from going on; that we were not squaws, but warriors; that we were sent by our Great Father, who could in a moment exterminate them. The chief replied that he too had warriors, and was proceeding to offer personal violence to Captain Clark, who immediately drew his sword, and made a signal to the boat to prepare for action. The Indians, who surrounded him, drew their arrows from their quivers, and were bending their bows, when the swivel in the boat was instantly pointed toward them, and twelve of our most determined men jumped into the pirogue and joined Captain Clark. This movement made an impression on them, for the grand chief ordered the young men away from the pirogue, and they withdrew and held a short council with the warriors. Being unwilling to irritate them, Captain Clark then went forward and offered his hand to the first and second chiefs, who refused to take it. He then turned from them and got into the pirogue; but he had not gone more than ten paces when both of the chiefs and two of the warriors waded in after him, and he brought them on board. We then proceeded on for a mile, and anchored off a willow island, which, from the circumstances which had just occurred, we called “Bad-humored Island.”

The union of firmness with gentleness which marked the command, in its relations with the Tetons, not only averted what might have been serious trouble, but enabled the party to gain the respect, if not the amity, of the tribe; though it was found difficult to eradicate from the minds of the Tetons hostile designs upon the Expedition, in the way either of destroying it or of effectually barring its progress. The next day, better thoughts having prevailed, and the tribe manifesting a more amicable disposition, friendly relations were renewed. Such was the improved state of things between the red and the white men, that the representative men of the tribe came, in a contrite mood, to the leaders of the Expedition and begged that their squaws and young folk might be allowed to see the exploring party and look over the boats. This, of course, was agreed to; and when the visitors had had their fill of sights and were about to withdraw they expressed their delight at what they had seen, and, in turn, invited the whites ashore to a pow-wow, feast, and dance. The incidents of the meeting are thus related in the Journal of the Expedition:

“Captains Lewis and Clark, who went on shore one after the other, were met on landing by ten well-dressed young men, who took them in a robe highly decorated and carried them to a large council-house, where they were placed on a dressed buffalo-skin by the side of the grand chief. The hall or council-room was in the shape of three-quarters of a circle, covered at the top and sides with skins well-dressed and sewed together. Under this shelter sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before whom were placed a Spanish flag and the one we had given them yesterday. This left a vacant circle of about six feet in diameter, in which the pipe of peace was raised on two forked sticks, about six or eight inches from the ground, and under it the down of the swan was scattered. A large fire, in which they were cooking provisions, stood near, and in the centre were about four hundred pounds of buffalo meat designed as a present to us. As soon as we were seated, an old man got up, and after approving what we had done, begged us to take pity on their unfortunate situation. To this we replied with assurances of protection. After he had ceased, the great chief rose and delivered a harangue to the same effect; then with great solemnity he took some of the most delicate parts of the dog which was cooked for the festival, and held it to the flag by way of sacrifice; this done, he held up the pipe of peace, and first pointed it to the heavens, then to the four quarters of the globe, then to the earth, made a short speech, lighted the pipe, and presented it to us. We smoked, and he again harangued his people, after which the repast was served up to us. It consisted of the dog which they had just been cooking, this being a great dish among the Sioux and used on all festivals; to this were added pemitigon (pemmican), a dish made of buffalo meat, dried or jerked, and then pounded and mixed raw with grease and a kind of ground potato, dressed like the preparation of Indian corn called hominy, to which it is little inferior. Of all these luxuries, which were placed before us in platters with horn spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potatoes, which we found good, though we could as yet partake but sparingly of the dog.”

This characteristic Indian feast and palaver ended with a tribal dance, which lasted until midnight, when the white guests took leave of their Teton entertainers. Next day, after being mulcted of more tobacco, which the young braves of the tribe wanted, the Expedition was permitted, without further molestation, to proceed on the journey up the river. At this point in the narrative, the Lewis and Clark “Journal” supplies an interesting account of the Teton band of the Sioux nation, their customs, manners, and personal appearance, which we extract for the benefit of the curious modern-day reader:

“In their persons, the Tetons,” relates the explorer-chroniclers, “are rather ugly and ill-made, their legs and arms being too small, their cheekbones high, and their eyes projecting. The females, with the same character of form, are more handsome; and both sexes appear cheerful and sprightly; though in our intercourse with them we discovered that they were cunning and vicious. ... The men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top, which they suffer to grow, and wear in plaits over the shoulders; to this they seem much attached, as the loss of it is the usual sacrifice at the death of near relations. In full dress, the men of consideration wear a hawk’s feather, or calumet feather worked with porcupine quills, and fastened to the top of the head, from which it falls back. The face and body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. Over the shoulders is a loose robe or mantle of buffalo skin dressed white, adorned with porcupine quills, loosely fixed, so as to make a jingling noise when in motion, and painted with various uncouth figures, unintelligible to us, but to them emblematic of military exploits or any other incident. The hair of the robe is worn next the skin in fair weather, but when it rains the hair is put outside, and the robe is either thrown over the arm or wrapped round the body, all of which it may cover. Under this, in the winter season, they wear a kind of shirt resembling ours, made either of skin or cloth, and covering the arms and body. Round the middle is fixed a girdle of cloth, or procured dressed elk-skin, about a foot wide, which passes between the legs, to this is attached a piece of cloth, blanket, or skin, about a foot wide, which passes between the legs, and is tucked under the girdle both before and behind. From the hip to the ankle is covered by leggings of dressed antelope skins, with seams at the sides two inches in width, and ornamented by little tufts of hair, the product of the scalps they have taken in war, which are scattered down the leg. The winter moccasins are of dressed buffalo skin, the hair being worn inward, and soled with thick elk-skin parchment; those for summer are of deer or elk-skin, dressed without the hair, and with soles of elk-skin. On great occasions, or whenever they are in full dress, the young men drag after them the entire skin of a polecat fastened to the heel of the moccasin. Another skin, of the same animal, either tucked into the girdle or carried in the hand, serves as a pouch for their tobacco, or what the French traders call bois roule (rolled wood). This is the inner bark of a species of red willow, which, being dried in the sun or over the fire, is rubbed between the hands and broken into small pieces, and used alone or mixed with tobacco. The pipe is generally of red earth, the stem made of ash, about three or four feet long, and highly decorated with feathers, hair, and porcupine quills.”

With a measure of relief at getting out of the Teton country, the Expedition, which even now was pursued by menacing bands of its late entertainers, reached the village of the Ricara or Rickaree, situate some little distance beyond what is now known as the mining region of the Black Hills, several days’ journey from the district of Deadwood, in North Dakota. On the way was passed the Chien, or Dog River, near the habitat of the Cheyenne Indians, where the “grizzly” of the Rockies were first met with and described, and where the weather began to get cool, for the month of October had come, and white frosts were the morning greetings at the high elevations the exploring party had reached. The Rickaree were agreeably found to be amicable and trustful, and readily met the Expedition commanders in friendly conference. Unlike the Yanktons and other Indian tribes hitherto met with, the Ricara eschewed the use of spirituous liquors and could not be tempted to touch them. The pow-wow with them was, nevertheless, most satisfactory; while they appeared content, and indeed delighted, with the gifts distributed to their representative men and warrior chiefs. It is related that the tribe was particularly attracted by Captain Clark’s negro servant and flocked about him as an unusual curiosity. As an uncommon sight also to the tribe, their chiefs looked on, and with compassion, at the punishment, by lashes, of a mutinous white soldier, who had at this time to bear the penalty of his fractiousness, after due trial by court-martial. Their consideration for the soldier, it seems, was due to the fact that the seniors of the tribe never make use of corporal punishment, and never whip offenders among their young, though when apprised of the soldier’s offence they acknowledged the justice of his punishment, and added, that in their case they would, instead of whipping the culprit, have put him to death.

The close of the month of October brought the Expedition to the Mandan country, lying between the Cannon Ball and the Heart Rivers, both of which find their outlets in the Missouri, the latter stream having its exit where now stands Mandan City, close to Bismarck, the present capital of the State of North Dakota. Here, one thousand six hundred miles from St. Louis, the party selected with care a camping-place for the winter, now approaching, and proceeded to put up suitable log cabins for the shelter of the force and to erect Fort Mandan for the common defence. In this they were encouraged by the hospitality of the Mandan Indians and their allies of the Minnetaree tribe who occupied the region, as well as by the abundance of game in the vicinity, including deer, antelope, pelicans, and buffaloes. Aside from the scientific objects of the Expedition, which were to engage the savants of the party during the winter months, there was much to occupy all ranks in preparing for the undertakings of the Spring, and especially in building canoes and light craft for passage over shallower waters, it being designed to despatch the large batteau back to St. Louis, since it was too unwieldly for portaging, and of too deep a draught for the headwaters of the Missouri. Though encamped in a fortified post, the exploring party had little to fear from Indian enemies during their prolonged halt, for they got on well with the Mandans, who were not now the strong tribe they once were, having lost numbers by repeated visitations of smallpox, as well as by long existing strife with their Sioux brethren lower down the river. Nor had the Minnetarees their old-time strength of forces, and so were not likely to give trouble to the whites; though they had an unscrupulous, rascally chief in the one-eyed despot, Le Borgne, whose ferocity and bloodthirstiness had given him an evil name in the region. As a past-master in the arts of extortion and low cunning, the whites were under the necessity of keeping a close watch upon him; though their disposition, very properly, was to have as little as possible to do with him.

Not a little trouble was given the Expedition during the winter, which was an unduly severe one, by having to protect their Mandan friends from the attacks not only of other and stronger tribes who love to prey upon weaker ones, but from the depredations of thievish bands of Indians, separated from hunting-parties, who frequent the region in the pursuit of the winter game. The stealing of horses was the one thing they had frequently to guard the tribe and themselves against; and so common as well as annoying had this become that Captain Clark proposed joint action with the Mandans to put a stop by force of arms to the practice. The proposal, however, was not accepted by the tribe, though the offer, becoming known, had a gratifyingly deterrent effect. One of the chief diversions of the winter, to the exploring party, was an occasional buffalo hunt with their Indian allies. This frequently was full of exciting interest, while, more practically, it supplied the inmates of the fort with plenty of choice game, in addition to gifts of buffalo steaks and venison, which the camp was enabled to send to the Mandan villages. Besides the buffalo hunts, there were the outdoor sports and games frequently indulged in, and that in spite of the extreme coldness of the season—the thermometer often ranging, for many days at a time, from thirty-two to forty degrees below zero. These indulgences caused the winter to pass pleasantly for all; while there was the occasional night’s dance with the lasses and young braves of the neighboring Mandan village to give variety and the spice of fun to the youthful hearts of the Expedition. There were, moreover, the holiday and national-day entertainments to break in on and enliven the tedium of the winter’s hard work. Perhaps most interest, however, was taken in buffalo hunts with the Mandans; one such is recorded in the Lewis and Clark “Journal,” as having occurred on a cold day in December, when Captain Clark, with fifteen men of the party, by invitation joined the Indians in one of these exciting sports. Here is the manner in which the hunt is set forth:

“The hunters, mounted on horseback and armed with bows and arrows, encircle the herd and gradually drive them into a plain or an open space fit for the movement of horse; they then ride in among them, and singling out a buffalo, a female being preferred, go as close as possible and wound her with arrows till they think they have given the mortal stroke; when they pursue another till the quiver is exhausted. If, which rarely happens, the wounded buffalo attacks the hunter, he evades his blow by the agility of his horse, which is trained for the combat with great dexterity. When they have killed the requisite number they collect their game, and the squaws and attendants come up from the rear and skin and dress the animals. Captain Clark killed ten buffalo, of which five only were brought to the fort, the others, which could not be conveyed home, being seized by the Indians, among whom the custom is that whenever a buffalo is found dead without an arrow or any particular mark, he is the property of the finder; so that often a hunter secures scarcely any of the game he kills, if the arrow happens to fall off.”

In another entry in the “Journal,” we are informed that in these hunts the Indians are often joined by their women and children. An instance of this is cited, under date January 13, 1805, when, as the “Journal” relates, “Nearly one-half of the Mandan nation passed down the river to hunt for several days. In these excursions, men, women, and children, with their dogs, all leave the village together, and, after discovering a spot convenient for the game, fix their tents; all the family bear their part in the labor, and the game is equally divided among the families of the tribe. When a single hunter returns from the chase with more than is necessary for his own immediate consumption, the neighbors are entitled by custom to a share of it; they do not, however, ask for it, but send a squaw, who, without saying anything, sits down by the door of the lodge till the master understands the hint, and gives her gratuitously a part for her family.”

In the Expedition’s sojourn among the Mandans, opportunity, of course, was taken, as in the case of visits to other tribes, to inform the Indians of the new, United States, masters of the territory. In the case of the Mandan tribes, the effect of the news was neutralized in no little degree by the hostility of stray French and English trappers and hunters, with whom the tribe had long had friendly dealings. These hunters were for the most part members of one or other of the two great Fur-trading Companies (the Hudson Bays, and the North-West Fur Company of Canada), whose operations extended as far south as the Mandan country, and trade with whom the Fur Companies were naturally loth to surrender.

Of this matter, and all other important incidents that had befallen the Expedition since it had set forth on its mission, Messrs. Lewis and Clark were now to send report to Washington, when they despatched the batteau, with an extemporized crew, back to St. Louis. This they did on April 7th (1805), the escorting contingent that had joined the party at St. Louis returning on the barge at the same time. With extracts from the official Journal of the Expedition’s proceedings, so far as it had gone, and the scientific reports and collections, advantage was taken of the return of the batteau to forward sundry presents for President Jefferson, consisting of stuffed specimens of the animals of the region, cases of plants, insects, etc., a variety of skins, buffalo robes, and some fine elk-horns, together with a collection of gay articles of Indian attire. These, in due time, reached the national capital, and were much appreciated, not only by the President, but by the curators of the Washington museums, where they were duly mounted, labelled, and placed on exhibition. When this had been done, the Expedition commanders now proceeded to resume their journey, all arrangements for doing so having by this time been completed; while the river was now open after its long winter sleep.