Part 10

Early the following year Henry made a visit to an Assiniboin village, to reach which he crossed many miles of the frozen wilderness. He was accompanied by a party of Indians and the short account of the journey contains much of interest. They left Fort des Prairies, "built on the margin of the Pasquayah, or Sascatchiwaine," February 5, 1776, and, as is recorded in the journal, "At noon, we crossed a small river, called Moose-river, flowing at the feet of very lofty banks. Moose-river is said to fall into Lake Dauphin. Beyond this stream, the wood grows still more scanty, and the land more and more level. Our course was southerly. The snow lay four feet deep. The Indians travelled swiftly; and, in keeping pace with them, my companions and myself had too much exercise, to suffer from the coldness of the atmosphere; but, our snow-shoes being of a broader make than those of the Indians, we had much fatigue in following their track. The women led, and we marched till sunset, when we reached a small coppice of wood, under the protection of which we encamped. The baggage of the Indians was drawn by dogs, who kept pace with the women, and appeared to be under their command. As soon as we halted, the women set up the tents, which were constructed, and covered, like those of the Cristinaux.

"The tent, in which I slept, contained fourteen persons, each of whom lay with his feet to the fire, which was in the middle; but, the night was so cold, that even this precaution, with the assistance of our _buffalo-robes_ was insufficient to keep us warm. Our supper was made on the tongues of the wild ox, or buffalo, boiled in my kettle, which was the only one in the camp."

On the morning of February 7, "I was still asleep, when the women began their noisy preparations for our march. The striking of the tents, the tongues of the women, and the cries of the dogs, were all heard at once. At the first dawn of day, we commenced our journey. Nothing was visible but the snow and sky; and the snow was drifted into ridges, resembling waves.

"Soon after sunrise, we descried a herd of oxen, extending a mile and a half in length, and too numerous to be counted. They travelled, not one after another, as, in the snow, other animals usually do, but, in a broad phalanx, slowly, and sometimes stopping to feed."

One week was required to reach their destination, and during the morning of the 12th of February the party arrived at a small wood, in which the Assiniboin village stood. And "at the entrance of the wood, we were met by a large band of Indians, having the appearance of a guard; each man being armed with his bow and spear, and having his quiver filled with arrows.... Forming themselves in regular file, on either side of us, they escorted us to the lodge, or tent, which was assigned us. It was of a circular form, covered with leather, and not less than twenty feet in diameter. On the ground within, ox-skins were spread, for beds and seats."

Later, the same day of their arrival, they were invited to a feast in the tent of the chief. An Indian appeared. "We followed him accordingly, and he carried us to the tent of the great chief, which we found neither more ornamented, nor better furnished, than the rest." And another feast followed in the evening, "Every thing was nearly as before, except that in the morning all the guests were men, and now half were women. All the women were seated on one side of the floor of the tent, and all the men on the other, with a fire placed between them."

The village consisted of about 200 tents, "each tent containing from two to four families." And here "I saw, for the first time, one of those herds of horses which the Osinipoilles possess in numbers. It was feeding on the skirts of the plain." (Henry, (1), pp. 275-289.) Such was a great Assiniboin village nearly a century and a half ago.

The entire village was to return to Fort des Prairies, and so, on the morning of February 20, 1776, the tents were struck, and "Soon after sunrise, the march began. In the van were twenty-five soldiers, who were to beat the path, so that the dogs might walk. They were followed by about twenty men, apparently in readiness for contingent services; and after these went the women, each driving one or two, and some, five loaded dogs. The number of these animals, actually drawing loads, exceeded five hundred. After the baggage, marched the main body of men, carrying only their arms. The rear was guarded by about forty soldiers. The line of march certainly exceeded three miles in length." (Op. cit., p. 309.)

It is easy to visualize this great body of Indians passing over the frozen plain, camping at night under the scant protection of a small cluster of trees. The hundreds of dogs carrying the skin lodges of the villages, the men and women moving forward on snowshoes, undoubtedly stopping to kill buffalo and thus to obtain food for all. An exciting and animated scene it must have been, but only typical and characteristic, not unusual.

The preceding description of the movement of an entire village suggests a passage in the journal of La Verendrye, treating of the same people a generation earlier. Late in the autumn of 1738 a small party of French, accompanied by a numerous band of Assiniboin, set out from the village of the latter to visit the Mandan, who lived many leagues distant. La Verendrye, the leader of the expedition, wrote: "I observed to M. de la Marque the good order in which the Assiniboins march to prevent surprise, marching always on the prairies, the hillsides and valleys from the first mountain, which did not make them fatigued by mounting and descending often in their march during the day. There are magnificent plains of three or four leagues. The march of the Assiniboins, especially when they are numerous, is in three columns, having skirmishers in front, with a good rear guard, the old and lame march in the middle, forming the central column.... If the skirmishers discovered herds of cattle on the road, as often happens, they raise a cry which is soon returned by the rear guard, and all the most active men in the columns join the vanguard to hem in the cattle, of which they secure a number, and each takes what flesh he wants. Since that stops the march, the vanguard marks out the encampment which is not to be passed; the women and dogs carry all the baggage, the men are burdened only with their arms; they make the dogs even carry wood to make the fires, being often obliged to encamp in the open prairie, from which the clumps of wood may be at a great distance." (La Verendrye, (1), p. 13.)

The Assiniboin appear to have possessed a great fondness for visiting other tribes, and many narratives of journeys in the upper Missouri Valley contain references to meeting with such parties.

The size of the Assiniboin camps was often mentioned by the early writers. Thus Tanner wrote: "When we came from the Little Saskawjawun into the Assinneboin river, we came to the rapids, where was a village of one hundred and fifty lodges of Assinneboins, and some Crees." (James, (2), p. 57.) This was a century ago, when the villages retained their primitive appearance, and so it is to be regretted that no detailed description was prepared of this large group of skin-covered tipis.

The two associated tribes extended their wanderings to the southward, reaching the Missouri, a large gathering of the allies being encountered by Lewis and Clark at the Mandan towns in November, 1804. In their journal, on November 14, appears this entry: "The river rose last night half an inch, and is now filled with floating ice. This morning was cloudy with some snow: about seventy lodges of Assiniboins and some Knistenaux are at the Mandan village, and this being the day of adoption and exchange of property between them all, it is accompanied by a dance, which prevents our seeing more than two Indians to-day: these Knistenaux are a band of Chippeways whose language they speak; they live on the Assiniboin and Saskashawan rivers, and are about two hundred and forty men...." And on the following day: "The ceremony of yesterday seem to continue still, for we were not visited by a single Indian. The swan are still passing to the south." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, p. 127.)

As will be recalled, the expedition under command of Lewis and Clark wintered near the Mandan towns, and on April 7, 1805, proceeded on their journey up the Missouri. On the 13th of April they arrived at a small creek which entered the Missouri about 20 miles above the mouth of the Little Missouri. They ascended the creek and at a distance of about 1-1/2 miles reached a pond "which seemed to have been once the bed of the Missouri: near this lake were the remains of forty-three temporary lodges which seem to belong to the Assiniboins, who are now on the river of the same name." The following day, April 14, 1805, after advancing about 15 miles beyond the creek entered on the 13th, "we passed timbered low grounds and a small creek: in these low grounds are several uninhabited lodges built with the boughs of the elm, and the remains of two recent encampments, which from the hoops of small kegs found in them we judged could belong to Assiniboins only, as they are the only Missouri Indians who use spirituous liquors: of these they are so passionately fond that it forms their chief inducement to visit the British on the Assiniboin." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 185-186.)

During the days following many Assiniboin camps were discovered.

From these brief statements recorded in 1804 and 1805 it will be understood that when a large party of the Assiniboin moved, or when on a visit to another tribe, they carried with them their skin lodges, but when on a hunting trip they raised temporary shelters of brush and boughs, and the same custom was undoubtedly followed by war parties.

Evidently the establishment in after years of posts of the American Fur Company at certain points along the course of the upper Missouri served to attract bands of the Assiniboin as well as representatives of other tribes. Several interesting accounts of the arrival of such parties at Fort Union, near the mouth of the Yellowstone, are preserved. Thus Maximilian wrote when at the fort, June 29, 1833: "The expected arrival of more Assiniboins was delayed; they do not willingly travel with their leather tents in wet weather, because their baggage then becomes very heavy.... On the 30th of June, at noon, a band of Indians had arrived, and twenty-five tents were set up near the fort. The women, who were short, and mostly stout, with faces painted red, soon finished this work, and dug up with their instruments the clods of turf, which they lay round the lower part of the hut. One of these tents, the dwelling of a chief, was distinguished from the rest. It was painted of the colour of yellow ochre, had a broad reddish-brown border below, and on each of its sides a large black bear was painted (something of a caricature it must be confessed), to the head of which, just above the nose, a piece of red cloth, that fluttered in the wind, was fastened, doubtless a medicine." Continuing, the narrative recorded the arrival of others. "Another band of Assiniboins appeared at a distance. To the west, along the wood by the river-side, the prairie was suddenly covered with red men, most of whom went singly, with their dogs drawing the loaded sledges. The warriors, about sixty in number, formed a close column.... The whole column entered the fort, where they smoked, ate, and drank: and, meantime, forty-two tents were set up. The new camp had a very pretty appearance; the tents stood in a semicircle, and all the fires were smoking, while all around was life and activity." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 202-204.)

A painting of the dwelling of the chief, with a broad border at the bottom, "and on each of its sides a large black bear," was made by Bodmer and reproduced by Maximilian. It is here shown in plate 24, _c._ Several interesting details are represented in this graphic sketch. The dog travois is well shown, both the manner in which a dog appeared when the frame was attached, and the several pairs of poles with the small net-covered frames, standing together to the left of the principal tipi.

The preceding quotation from Maximilian is suggestive of an entry in the journal of the Swiss artist Friedrich Kurz, made some years later. Kurz wrote while at Fort Union: "October 13, 1851. As we were weighing and hanging up dried meat, a lot of Assiniboins came to the fort with squaws and many horse and dog travois. As a whole these trading parties do not show much of interest, but there are always many details to be picked up, of great value to a painter." (Bushnell, (3), p. 15.) Kurz remained at Fort Union until April 19, 1852, when he descended the Missouri to St. Louis, and thence returned to his native city of Bern. While still at Fort Union on March 21, 1852, he made the sketch now reproduced in plate 25, _b_, which bears the legend, "Horse camp of the Assiniboins." It shows a group of skin-covered lodges in the midst of a grove of cottonwoods, and evidently the Missouri is in the distance on the right. At that time (1851-52), according to Kurz, the Assiniboin then living in the vicinity of Fort Union numbered 420 lodges, with 1,050 men, but "from 2-3000 Assiniboins live far above, near lake Winnibeg."

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 24

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 25

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 26

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 27

The Assiniboin living in the far northwest had another and simpler form of temporary structure, as mentioned by Kane. He wrote, when arriving at Rocky Mountain Fort, a post of the Hudson's Bay Company, April 21, 1848: "This fort is beautifully situated on the banks of the Saskatchewan, in a small prairie, backed by the Rocky Mountains in the distance. In the vicinity was a camp of Assiniboine lodges, formed entirely of pine branches." (Kane, (1), p. 408.) The painting made by him showing the fort and lodges is reproduced in plate 25, _a_.

DHEGIHA GROUP.

Five tribes are considered as belonging to this group of the Siouan linguistic family: Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, Osage, and Kansa. Distinct from the Dakota-Assiniboin tribes already mentioned, these undoubtedly some centuries ago lived in the central and upper Ohio valleys, whence they moved westward to and beyond the Mississippi. To these tribes may be attributed the great earthworks of the southern portion of Ohio and the adjacent regions bordering the Ohio River. To quote from the Handbook: "Hale and Dorsey concluded from a study of the languages and traditions that, in the westward migration of the Dhegiha from their seat on Ohio and Wabash rivers, after the separation, at least as early as 1500, of the Quapaw, who went down the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio, the Omaha branch moved up the great river, remaining awhile near the mouth of the Missouri while war and hunting parties explored the country to the northwest. The Osage remained on Osage River, and the Kansa continued up the Missouri, while the Omaha, still including the Ponca, crossed the latter stream and remained for a period in Iowa, ranging as far as the Pipestone quarry at the present Pipestone, Minnesota."

While living in the heavily timbered valleys reaching to the Ohio the several tribes now being considered unquestionably occupied villages consisting of groups of mat-covered lodges of the type erected by the Osage and Quapaw until the present time. But with the Omaha, Ponca, and Kansa, it was different, and when they reached the intermediate region, where forest and prairie joined, they were compelled to adopt a new form of structure, one suited to the natural environments, and thus they began to make use of the earth-covered lodge, and the conical skin tipi, with certain variations in form. The characteristic structures of the five tribes will now be briefly described, beginning with those of the Omaha.

OMAHA.

When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri in 1804 they found the Omaha village not far from the Missouri, in the present Dakota County, Nebraska. On the 13th of August the expedition reached the mouth of a creek entering the right bank of the Missouri. Just beyond they encamped on a sandbar, "opposite the lower point of a large island." From here Sergeant Ordway and four men were sent to the Omaha village and returned the following day. "After crossing a prairie covered with high grass, they reached the Maha creek, along which they proceeded to its three forks, which join near the village: they crossed the north branch and went along the south; the walk was very fatiguing, as they were forced to break their way through grass, sunflowers, and thistles, all above ten feet high, and interspersed with wild pea. Five miles from our camp they reached the position of the ancient Maha village: it had once consisted of three hundred cabins, but was burnt about four years ago, soon after the smallpox had destroyed four hundred men, and a proportion of women and children. On a hill, in the rear of the village, are the graves of the nation." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 44-45.)

Seven years after Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri the traveler Bradbury visited the Omaha village standing on or near the site of the one mentioned in the earlier narrative. May 12, 1811, while away from the boat and traversing the country in search of botanical specimens, he arrived on the summit of the bluffs, and, to quote from his journal: "I had a fine view of the town below. It had a singular appearance; the framework of the lodges consists of ten or twelve long poles, placed in the periphery of a circle of about sixteen feet in diameter, and are inclined towards each other, so as to cross at a little more than half their length from the bottom; and the tops diverging with the same angle, exhibit the appearance of one cone inverted on the apex of another. The lower cone is covered with dressed buffalo skins, sewed together, and fancifully painted; some with an undulating red or yellow band of ten or twelve inches in breadth, surrounding the lodge at half its height; on others, rude figures of horses, buffaloes, or deer were painted; others again with attempts at the human face, in a circle, as the moon is sometimes painted; these were not less than four feet in diameter. I judged there were not fewer than eighty lodges. I did not remain long on the summit of the bluffs, as I perceived, from the heaps of earth, some of these recent, that it was a burial ground, and I knew the veneration they have for the graves of their ancestors." (Bradbury, (1), pp. 65-67.)

It is interesting to read of the number of decorated lodges then standing in an Omaha village, but in later years fewer structures were so ornamented. A typical example of a tipi of half a century ago is shown in plate 26, _a_, from a photograph made by Jackson in 1871.

According to the best authorities on the Omaha, from whose monographs much of the following information has been gleaned, the earth lodge and the skin tipi are the only forms of habitations made use of by the Omaha in recent generations. The earth lodge resembled those of other tribes of the upper Missouri, and among the Omaha the work of erecting such a structure was shared in by both man and woman.

"The marking out of the site and the cutting of the heavy logs were done by the men. When the location was chosen, a stick was thrust in the spot where the fireplace was to be, one end of a rawhide rope was fastened to the stick and a circle 20 to 60 feet in diameter was drawn on the earth to mark where the wall was to be erected. The sod within the circle was removed, the ground excavated about a foot in depth, and the earth thrown around the circle like an embankment. Small crotched posts about 10 feet high were set 8 or 10 feet apart and 1-1/2 feet within the circle, and on these were laid beams. Outside this frame split posts were set close together, having one end braced against the bottom of the bank and the other end leaning against the beams, thus forming a wall of timber. The opening generally, though not always, faced the east. Midway between the central fireplace and the wall were planted 4 to 8 large crotched posts about 10 feet in height, on which heavy beams rested, these serving to support the roof. This was made of long, slender, tapering trees stripped of their bark. These were tied at their large ends with cords (made from the inner bark of the linden) to the beams at the top of the stockade and at the middle to those resting in the crotches of the large posts forming the inner circle about the fireplace. The slender ends were cut so as to form the circular opening for the smoke, the edges being woven together with elm twine, so as to be firm. Outside the woodwork of the walls and roof, branches of willow were laid crosswise and bound tight to each slab and pole. Over the willows a heavy thatch of coarse grass was arranged so as to shed water. On the grass was placed a thick coating of sod. The sods were cut to lap and be laid like shingles. Finally they were tamped with earth and made impervious to rain. The entrance way, 6 to 10 feet long, projected from the door and was built in the same manner as the lodge and formed a part of it. A curtain of skin hung at the inner and one at the outer door of this entrance way. Much labor was expended on the floor of the lodge. The loose earth was carefully removed and the ground then tamped. It was next flooded with water, after which dried grass was spread over it and set on fire. Then the ground was tamped once again. This wetting and heating was repeated two or three times, until the floor became hard and level and could be easily swept and kept clean. Brooms were made of brush or twigs tied together. Couches were arranged around the wall in the spaces between the posts of the framework. These were provided with skins and pillows, and served as seats by day and as beds by night. In the building of an earth lodge the cutting and putting on of the sods was always done by women, and as this part of the task had to be accomplished rapidly to prevent the drying out of the sods, which must hold well together, kindred helped one another. The erection of this class of dwelling required considerable labor, hence only the industrious and thrifty possessed these lodges." (Fletcher and La Flesche, (1), pp. 97-98.)

Although the earth-covered lodge, as just described, was used in the permanent villages, nevertheless in the same villages were to have been seen many of the conical skin tipis. Both types of habitation were standing at the Omaha village in 1871 when the photograph, now reproduced in plate 27, was made by W. H. Jackson.