volume v, p. 140, note 88.--ED.

[86] The rendezvous in 1840 was held in the upper valley of Green River, near Fort Bonneville, in western Wyoming. Near the headwaters of the Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado rivers, this place was a natural and well-known meeting point. For a description of Green River, see Wyeth's _Oregon_, in our volume xxi, p. 60, note 38; for the rendezvous at this place in 1834, see Townsend's _Narrative_, in the same volume, p. 192, note 40.--ED.

[87] For a sketch of the Snake Indians, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, p. 227, note 123.--ED.

[88] In the _Voyages aux Montagnes Rocheuses_, De Smet says, "on the 4th of July, I resumed my travels, with my Flatheads."--ED.

[89] Flathead was a term applied to various tribes of Indians who were supposed to practice the custom of flattening the heads of their infants. A division of the Choctaw was known by this name. The tribe here referred to belonged to the Salishan stock; see Franchère's _Narrative_, in our volume vi, p. 340, note 145. They were not in the habit of flattening the head, and the origin of their cognomen is unknown. The specific tribe visited by De Smet dwelt along the lake and river which bear their name, with their chief centre in the Bitterroot Valley. By the treaty of 1855 they ceded to the government an extensive tract of land in this region, being nearly two degrees in width and extending from near the forty-second parallel to the British line. In November, 1871, the president issued an order for their removal from Bitterroot Valley to the Jocko reservation. Arrangements were further completed by the article of agreement of August 27, 1872. After considerable delay they removed thither, and together with the Pend d'Oreille and Kutenai, kindred tribes, still inhabit the reservation. See Peter Ronan, _Historical Sketch of the Flathead Indian Nation_ (Helena, 1890).

The Pend d'Oreille (Ear-ring) Indians, whose native name was Kalispel, were kindred to the Flathead, speaking a similar dialect. Their habitat lay northwest of the Flathead proper, upon the Idaho lake and its tributary river bearing their name.--ED.

[90] The Bishop.--DE SMET.

[91] Evidently a misprint for 27th of August. Consult the succeeding letter.--ED.

[92] For sketches of the Blackfeet and the Crows, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, pp. 225 and 226, notes 120, 121 respectively. In _Voyages aux Montagnes Rocheuses_, De Smet says that this camp of Crows consisted of one thousand souls.

The Big Horn River, so called from the Rocky Mountain sheep, rises in the Wind River range, near the centre of Wyoming, flows north through the Big Horn Mountains into Montana, and bending toward the northeast joins the Yellowstone as its principal tributary. South of the Big Horn Mountains, the stream is usually called Wind River. The Big Horn Valley, the home of the Crows, was a rich fur-bearing region and frequently visited by trappers and traders.--ED.

[93] The post visited by Father de Smet was Fort Van Buren, located on the south bank of the Yellowstone, at the mouth of the Rosebud. It was built in 1835 by A. J. Tulloch for the American Fur Company, and stood until 1842, when it was burned by instructions from Charles J. Larpenteur, who at once ordered the erection of Fort Alexander, on the north side of the Yellowstone, twenty miles higher up. De Smet was mistaken when he said that Fort Van Buren was the first fort of the Yellowstone erected by the American Fur Company. Fort Cass was built by A. J. Tulloch in 1832 at the mouth of the Big Horn, but three years later was abandoned. The fourth and last fort erected in this region by the American Fur Company was Fort Sarpy, on the south side of this river, twenty-five miles below the old site of Fort Cass. Consult Major Frederick T. Wilson, "Old Fort Pierre and its Neighbors," with editorial notes by Charles E. De Land, in _South Dakota Hist. Colls._ (Aberdeen, S. D., 1902), i, pp. 259-379.--ED.

[94] Ensyla (Insula), sometimes called Little Chief because of his station, also named Red Feather from his official emblem, and christened Michael because of his faithfulness, was one of the most influential of the Flathead chiefs, and figures prominently in De Smet's work among the Indians of his tribe. In 1835 he had visited the rendezvous in Green River Valley, in the hope of securing missionary aid, and there met Samuel Parker and Marcus Whitman. See Samuel Parker, _Journal of an Exploring Tour among the Rocky Mountains_ (Ithaca, 1838), p. 77. According to L. B. Palladino, _Indian and White in the Northwest_ (Baltimore, 1894), Insula was disappointed not to find a "black robe," and preserved his tribe for Catholic missionaries. His integrity, judgment, and bravery made him highly esteemed.--ED.

[95] For sketches of the Arikara and Sioux, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, pp. 113 and 90, notes 76 and 55 respectively; for the Assiniboin, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 370, note 346; for the Gros Ventres, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our