S\ CIRC mm SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 147 Journal of an Expedition to theMauvaises Terres and theUpper Missouri in 1850 By THADDEUS A. CULBERTSONEdited byJOHN FRANCIS McDERMOTT UNITED STATESGOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON : 1952 For sale by the Superintendent of Dociunente, U. S. Government Printing OfficeWashington 25, D. C. ? Price 75 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Smithsonian Institution,Bureau of American Ethnology,Washington, D. 6'., May 1, 1960.Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled "Journal of an Expedition to the Mauvaises Terres and the UpperMissouri in 1850," by Thaddeus A. Culbertson, edited by John FrancisMcDermott, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of theBureau of American Ethnology.Very respectfully yours, M. W. Stirling, Director.Dr. AiiEXANDER Wetmore,Secretary, /Smithsonian Institution. m CONTENTS PAGEPreface viiIntroduction 1Journal of an Expedition to the Mauvaises Terres and the Upper Missouriin 1850, by Thaddeus A. Culbertson 15Departure from St. Louis, Steamer, Mary Blane, Missouri River 15Lexington?Liberty?Independence 19Kansas?Kansas River 20Weston 20St. Joseph 21Nodaway River?Prairie 24Nishnabotana River 25Iowa 26Kanesville 29Boyer River 30Little Sioux River 30Floyd's Grave 32Crossing of Willow River 33Hog Weed Creek 33Big Sioux River?Bruyiere's 34Crossing Big Sioux 35Vermilion Post 36High waters 40Prairie fire 41White Earth Fork 42River k Jacques 44Chouteau Creek 49Andy's Lake?Prairie dogs 49American Fork 50Bute Bijoux 60Yankton Trading House 51Indians 52Fort Pierre 55Start for the Bad Lands 55White River Bad Lands 59Fort Pierre?Indian customs?Sioux?Hunting 67The El Paso?Journey up the Missouri 85Fort Clark?Rees 95Fort Berthold?Gros Ventres 99Fort Union? Assiniboines 105Elk Horn Prairie 109Milk River?Return to St. Louis 114V VI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY PAGKAppendix 1 123List of plants collected by Mr. Culbertson. By Professor Thomas C.Porter 124List of Birds and Mammalia found on the Missouri River from FortLeavenworth to Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone River.By Edward Harris, Esq 128An explanation of the Tabular view of the Indian Tribes of the UpperMissouri. By Thaddeus A. Culbertson, July 1850 132Explanation of the Tabular view of the Sioux Nation of the U[pper]Missouri 132Explanation of the Tabular view of several Indian Nations of theUpper Missouri 133The Cheyenne Nation 133The Ariccaree Nation 133The Mandan Nation 133The Gros Ventre Nation 134The Assiniboine Nation 134The Crow Nation 134The Blackfoot Nation 134Summary 137Appendix 2, Culbertson's Report to Baird 139Appendix 3. Alexander Harvey and the "Opposition" Company 147From the Upper Missouri 147From the Plains: Three thousand miles up the Missouri River 148Late from Council Bluffs 150Appendix 4. The St. Ange 151Bibliography 153Index 159ILLUSTRATIONSMAPS 1. Section of map compiled in Pacific Railroad Office with additions de-signed to illustrate Lt. Warren's Report of Military Reconnaissancesin the Dacota Country, 1855 152. Map showing the position of the Bad Lands or Mauvaises Terres ofNebraska, from a draft by John Evans of the United States Geo-logical Corps 60 PREFACEThe present edition of Thaddeus A. Culbertson's Journal of anExpedition to the Mauvaises Terres and the Upper Missouri in 1850is based on four sources. First, a portion of the original journalbought from a descendant of Alexander Culbertson by the MissouriHistorical Society ; this section runs from March 21 through May 27.Second, a portion of the original journal, also in Culbertson's hand-writing, now owned by the Historical Society of Montana ; this section,paged 260-307, contains the entries for June 13-18. Third, part ofa copy presumably made by Culbertson for the use of Spencer F.Baird (it is very likely that the original notebooks did not at anytime leave the possession of the Culbertson family). This manu-script, in possession of the Bureau of American Ethnology, runs fromMarch 21 to about halfway through the entry for April 25. Writtenin ink on 48 sheets of blue foolscap, in the same hand and using thesame ink and paper as the letter-report written to Baird from FortPierre on May 30, 1850, it is in all probability a revised draft whichCulbertson made from his notebooks during the leisure of his stayat Fort Pierre from May 18 to June 5. It is essentially the same asthe original notebook but contains some variations and changes writteninto the copy. Baird or some other person crossed out numerous pas-sages which Culbertson would hardly have removed from his journal;furthermore, they are crossed out in a different ink. Some correctionsof style also were made in this second ink. If we ignore these cor-rections and excisions, we may reasonably assume that this manuscriptrepresents Culbertson's own revised and preferred copy. Fourth, theportion of the Journal printed as Appendix IV to the Fifth AnnualReport of the Smithsonian Institution for 1850, pages 84-132. Itappears that Baird, for editorial reasons satisfactory to himself, beganhis selection with the entry for April 27. Working with the entirecopy before him, he cut and corrected and revised as he thought fit.For the portion published, the working copy was destroyed ; the Bu-reau of American Ethnology manuscript represents the portion notused.To make the present version of Culbertson's work as complete aspossible, I have used for the first section (pp. 15-49) the Bureau ofAmerican Ethnology manuscript, for I regard this as the author's re-vised copy. I have retained all those passages which Baird struck outand have rejected all the editorial changes in diction and sentenceVII Vm BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 structure. For the middle portion of the book (pp. 48-77) I have usedthe original notebook of the Missouri Historical Society, since it isa good deal fuller than the corresponding portion of the printed jour-nal. For the last part (pp. 77-121) I have had to use Baird's revisionas printed in the Smithsonian Report for 1850, except for the June13-18 entries, which are reproduced from the Montana HistoricalSociety manuscript. In a few places in the first and second sections,as well as in the "Montana" section, I have added a syllable or a wordto make the context clear; otherwise all bracketed words or phrasesare Culbertson's own variants. Spelling and punctuation, of course,are as faithful a rendering of the author's as possible.The material of Appendix 1 in this edition is from the SmithsonianReport for 1850, pages 133-145. Appendix 2 is a 12-page letter,hitherto unpublished, from Culbertson to Baird, Fort Pierre, May 30,1850, which forms part of the Culbertson manuscripts of the Bureauof American Ethnology. Although Baird's name does not appearon the letter, it is clearly a report to him ; it is signed by Culbertson.Appendixes 3 and 4 present related material extracted from St.Louis newspapers.For permission to publish the Bureau of American Ethnologymanuscript and for other assistance I am indebted to Dr. M. W. Stir-ling, Director of the Bureau. The Missouri Historical Society ofSt. Louis has generously allowed me to use its original notebook ascopy for part of this edition, and Miss Stella M. Drumm (now Mrs.Chilton Atkinson, but librarian of the Society at the time this editionwas being prepared) was particularly considerate and helpful. TheHistorical Society of Montana has kindly permitted me to use itsportion of the Culbertson journal, and Mrs. Anne McDonnell has madeuseful suggestions to me. For biographical information aboutThaddeus Culbertson, I am indebted to the office of the Secretary ofPrinceton University. To the libraries of Washington Universityand the Missouri Botanical Garden, and to the Mercantile Library ofSt. Louis, I am grateful for special courtesies. I wish to thank alsoLawrence K. Fox, South Dakota historian, for his helpful interest inthis book. Most thanks of all, as usual, I owe to my wife for greatpatience and forbearance in the preparation of the manuscript and ofthe index. John Francis McDermott.Washington University^ St. Louis^ Mo..,April 1,1950. INTRODUCTIONThaddeus Culbertson was 10 years old when his brother Alexandertraveled first up the Missouri River. There can be little doubt thatthe boy's interest in the West was soon aroused by letters writtenhome by the adventurous young man. The particular influence thatled to Thaddeus' own excursion, however, must have been a trip thatAlexander made through the Bad Lands, probably in the fall of 1843,when he went on business from Fort Pierre to Fort Laramie, foreither at this time or in the next year or two Alexander made a col-lection of bones and fossils, which is the beginning of scientific in-terest in that particular region.The first news of record is to be found in a letter by Dr. Hiram A.Prout, dated at St. Louis, December 10, 1846 : The Palaeotherial bone here described, was sent to me sometime ago by afriend residing at one of the trading posts of the St. Louis Fur Company onthe Missouri River. From information since obtained from him, I have learnedthat it was discovered in the Mauvais Terre on the White River.^In the summer of 1845 Alexander made a trip to New York andmust have visited his family in Pennsylvania. Certainly about thistime he gave his father, Joseph Culbertson of Chambersburg, some "fossil bones of a new genus of extinct Ruminants, consisting of thecranium and parts of a humerus, ulna, and radius," as they weredescribed when they were placed on deposit at the Academy of NaturalSciences of Philadelphia in the fall of 1847.^ Another deposit wasmade by Joseph Culbertson a few months later ; it consisted of "twofragments of a jaw of a new fossil genus of Mammalia {MerycoidodonCulbertsonii, Leidy) found near the 'Black Hills,' Western Missouri." ^Eventually these and other bones were given to the Museum of the 1 Prout credited this bone to the "St. Louis Fur Company," but he could hardly havemeant Harvey, Primeau, and Co., for that firm was just organized. " Entered on November 23, 1847. Acad. Nat. Scl. Phila., Proc, vol. 3, p. 315. 1846-47. ' Entered on April 4, 1848. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Proc, vol. 4, p. 52. 1848. Thesebones were discussed by Joseph Leidy in a paper entitled "On a New Fossil and Species ofRuminantoid Pachydermata : Merycoidodon Culbertsonii." Ibid., vol. 4, pp. 47-50.Elsewhere Leidy wrote : "Mr. J. S. Phillips, when on a visit to Chambersburg, Pennsyl-vania, observed in the possession of Dr. S. D. Culbertson, several remarkable mammalianfossils, which had been sent as curiosities from the Bad Lands by his nephew, Mr.Alexander Culbertson, of the American Fur Company. These specimens, at the suggestionof the late distinguished Dr. S. G. Morton, were obtained through Dr. John H. B. McClellan,a friend of Dr. Culbertson, and were obligingly placed in my hands for examination . . .they were afterwards presented by Alexander Culbertson to the Academy" (Leidy, 1854,p. 13). 2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Academy,* The Prout letter and the deposit of the bones in posses-sion of Joseph Culbertson aroused so much interest that David DaleOwen sent John Evans into the Bad Lands in 1849, and Spencer F.Baird in the following year arranged for young Thaddeus Culbertsonto visit that region under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution.Thaddeus Ainsworth Culbertson was born in Chambersburg, Pa.,on February 18, 1823. His father, Joseph Culbertson, was the son ofColonel Robert Culbertson and Annie Duncan, and the grandson ofJoseph Culbertson, who had come to Pennsylvania from the North ofIreland in the middle of the eighteenth century.'' The youngerJoseph married first Mary Finley, the daughter of Captain JamesFinley of Chambersburg; one of their six children was Alexander.?The second wife, Frances Stuart, who came from the neighborhoodof Harrisburg, was the mother of Michael Simpson?to whom Thad-deus refers in his Journal?and Thaddeus. Thaddeus attendedChambersburg Academy and in 1844 entered the College of NewJersey (Princeton University) as a sophomore. He received theBachelor of Arts degree in 1847 and for a time taught school inVirginia. On several occasions in his Journal he referred to hislife there?apparently he was in Clifton, now West Virginia, andmade a botanizing tour at least as far south as the James River. In1849-50 he studied at the Princeton Theological Seminary. He leftChambersburg in February 1850, to make the trip up the MissouriRiver and returned to his home town in August, to die on the 28thof that month.^Thaddeus Culbertson was not an unreasonable choice for the expe-dition to the Bad Lands. He and his family were interested in the * "Mr. Joseph Culbertson, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, presented the specimens of Meri-coidodon and Poebrotherium and also other (undetermined) mammalian fragments, for-merly deposited by him in the Academy" (Acad. Nat. Scl. Phila., Proc, vol. 5, p. 37,1850-51). Somie credit for this gift was claimed by Spencer F. Baird, who, writing toJoseph Leidy from Carlisle, Feb. 16, 1850, announced, "I have persuaded Dr. Joseph Cul-bertson of Chambersburg to present some of his Merycoidodon fossils to the Academy"(Dall, 1915, p. 207).*For some account of this family consult Culbertson, (1893)?particularly pp. 163-165,168-170, 180-185. * Alexander Culbertson (1809-78) was employed in the Upper Mississippi fur trade asearly as 1830 ; in 1833 he joined the Upper Missouri Outfit and within half a dozen yearssufficiently proved his worth to be granted a share in that business. On the retirementof Kenneth McKenzie in 1840, he succeeded to the command of Fort Union ; in 1848 hebecame agent in charge of all the forts on the Upper Missouri and the Yellowstone andfor at least 10 years he continued in that position. The best brief sketch of him and ofhis Indian family is that of Anne McDonnell (1940, pp. 240-246). There is a wealthof material, for all the travelers to the Upper Missouri were acquainted with him : Maxi-milian (1904-7), Abel (1932), Audubon and Coues (1897), T. A. Culbertson (Journal,this edition), Chittenden and Richardson (1905), Kurz (1937), McDonnell (1940),Bradley (1900), pp. 201-287, are principal sources to consult. ' For biographical information concerning Thaddeus Culbertson, I am indebted to Mrs.Harry J. Wright, Jr., in the Office of the Secretary, Princeton University ; some of thestatements In this paragraph are drawn from the Journal ; that concerning his death Isfrom the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1850, p. 44. MCDERMOTT] INTRODUCTION 6fossil remains in that region; he was planning to make a long tripfor his health ; his brother Alexander could guarantee him the free-dom of the country, the aid of the most powerful business organizationoperating there, the assistance of adequate guides, and would pay themajor part of the expense. The Smithsonian could acquire a valuablecollection of material at little cost.For several years [Baird declared in his report] I have been receiving valuablespecimens from different friends, in the Upper Missouri, whose other duties,however, prevented them from collecting as much as could be wished. Mr.Culbertson being about to visit this region for the benefit of his health, offeredto make for the Smithsonian Institution such collections in Natural History,as might be indicated to him as desirable; I accordingly prepared a list ofdesired data, and among others, directed his attention to the eocene depositsof White River, known as the Mauvaises Terres or bad lands. [5th Ann. Rep.Smithsonian Inst. 1850, p. 43.]The Smithsonian made an appropriation of "about $200" to cover partof the expense Thaddeus might incur (ibid., p. 12), but AlexanderCulbertson "bore the entire expense of the trip from Fort Pierre to theMauvaises Terres, besides paying a considerable sum to hunters andothers for many of the specimens sent" (ibid., p. 45) . The Culbertsons left Chambersburg soon after the middle of Feb-ruary.^ On the 19th of March, they started up river from SaintLouis in the steamboat Maiy Blane, landed at Saint Joseph, Mo., onthe 26th, and?proceeded . . . thence by land, in a carriage to Fort Pierre. A day or twoafter arriving at this fort, Mr. Culbertson started out to the "Bad Lands" witha party, and after several days march reached the spot where Mr. A. Culberstonhad previously found the fossil Mammalia (Poebrotherium Wilsonii, Merycoido-don Culbertsonii, &c.) presented by him to the Academy of Natural Sciences,and described by Dr. Leidy. Here additional specimens were soon found, anda cart was laden to its utmost capacity. With these, the party returned toFort Pierre, whence, after a short rest, Mr. C. embarked on board the El Paso,and in her, ascended the Missouri to a point above Milk river, some hundredsof miles beyond Fort Union, and higher than any steamboat had ever gonepreviously. Descending the river again, after but short stops at the varioustrading posts, Mr. C. arrived in St. Louis in July, and reached his home inChambersburg, Pennsylvania, in August. The main object of his trip, viz:relief from a distressing cough, threatening consumption, had been gained, andhis renewed strength gladdened the hearts of his friends. But shortly afterhis return he was attacked by an unusually fatal form of bilious dysentery, thenprevalent in the neighborhood, and died after an illness of a few weeks. [5thAnn. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1850, p. 44.] sBaird's biographer wrote: "On the day this letter [Feb. 16, 1850] was written Bairdhad been to Chambersburg to bid goodbye to Dr. [Joseph] Culbertson, who was about tostart for the far West. For collections to be made by him the Smithsonian had made asmall appropriation" (Dall, 1915, p. 207). It was, of course, Thaddeus, not his father,who was leaving for the West. 4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147Thacldeus made good use of his opportunities. The fossil remains hebrought back with him constituted, in the words of Baird, "an exceed-ingly interesting series of Mammalian and Reptilian species includingmany that had never been described (ibid., p. 44). In addition heobtained for the Smithsonian skulls, skins, and skeletons of buffalo,grizzly bear, white wolf, prairie wolf, beaver, and other animals. Someof these he had taken himself; others were the gift of Alexander'sassociates and employees.^ He also made a collection of plants alongthe Upper Missouri.^"It was the fossil remains that most deeply interested Baird and theSmithsonian. On the 1st of September Baird wrote enthusiastically tohis brother, William M. Baird : The greatest treasures of the summer, however, were embraced in 7 boxes ofspecimens collected by Mr. Culbertson on the Upper Missouri. Among these wereSkins, Skeletons, and skulls of Elk, Buffalo, Grizzly Bear, Wolves, Antelope,Deer, Beaver, Badger, Wolverene, &c. Best of all were some fossil teeth, skullsand bones of vertebrate animals from the Mauvaise Terres of the Platte. Thesewere embedded in a calcareous marl and belonged to genera allied to Tapir,Anoplotheriiim, Palaeotherium & other extinct forms. Most are entirely new,all are completely petrified, the cavities of the long bones being entirely filledwith quartz. There are turtle shells over an inch thick, and I have three nearlyperfect, one weighing about 150 lbs. These things of course belong to the Smith-sonian. The freight alone amounts to $68.00 and the whole cost of getting willprobably amount to $200.00. [Dall, 1915, p. 218.]Having obtained the specimens the next step was to reduce them toorder and to determine their significance. For this Baird turned toJoseph Leidy, since the latter had worked with the Alexander Culbert-son collection, and in a letter from Washington, November 18, 1850,he asked Leidy to undertake a memoir on mammals and reptiles of theBad Lands : . . . What are the genera from the Bad Lands like? I received last summera collection of perhaps twenty species of mammalia and reptiles, principallythe former, from there, on behalf of the Smithsonian. These are, many of them,in excellent preservation, some nearly, even quite, perfect sets of teeth, etc. Whatdo you say to taking up these and preparing an extended memoir for the Smith-sonian? How long would it take you to do this? Could you not go right towork and anticipate Owen and Norwood? unless, indeed, they put their materialinto your hands, as they should do. It will take them a long time to preparea correct history of these things, as I do not suppose that they have up to ? "Many specimens brought back by Mr. Culbertson were presented, to the Institutionthrough him, by members of the American Fur Company ; among whom may be mentionedMessrs. Alexander Culbertson, Ferdinand Culbertson, Edward [Edwin] T. Denig, Schlagel,and Gilbert [Galpin]. Messrs. Denig, and F. Culbertson, at the request of Mr. AlexanderCulbertson, prepared skins of the Grizzly Bear, and other large Mammalia. ... It Is dueto this company to state, that with their usual liberality, they rendered Mr. C. everyassistance in their power . . ." (ibid., pp. 42-44)."The list of plants was published with his Journal in the Annual Report of theSmithsonian Institution for 1850, pp. 133-136, and is here reprinted in Appendix 1. MCDBEMOTT] INTRODUCTION O this time paid as much attention to the subject as you have, and it is a pityto lose the time they would require.With regard to the exploration of that country, not much could be done in asingle season. Evans has spent two seasons there, and Thaddeus Culbertsonone. Between these, you could only glean here and there. . . . [Dall, 1915,p. 251.]It hardly needs to be added that the Alexander Culbertson gifts to theAcademy of Natural Sciences, the Thaddeus Culbertson collection forthe Smithsonian, the specimens owned by Dr. Prout of Saint Louis,and a collection owned by a Professor O'Loghland of Saint Louis,together with those made by Dr. John Evans and Captain StewartVan Vliet were all used by Leidy in his study of the animal remainsof the Bad Lands.^^Although to the paleontologist the fossil remains were the mostexciting result of Thaddeus Culbertson's journey to the Bad Lands,the ethnologist and the historian have much reason to be pleased withthe journal that he kept during the trip. Baird reported to the Smith-sonian that "Mr. C. left a full journal of all the events connected withhis trip." It was not intended for publication and remained unrevisedat his death, but Baird found it "to contain much interesting matterrelative to the Natural History and topography of the country, themanners and statistics of the Indians, ?S;c." (Ann. Kep. SmithsonianInst. 1850, p. 44) . He applied to the family for permission to publish,and was told by Ferdinand Culbertson to select whatever portions hethought fit for inclusion in his report. CJiamliershurg, Fehy., 25, 1851.Deak Sib:Yours of the 15th duly came to hand, and would have answered you beforethis time, but being absent, did not receive it before yesterday.In regard to my going to the upper Miss' this next spring is now doubtful!,but in case I should, will let you know in time.The wampum shells or moons you speak off \_sic'\ are of no account in thatcounty now, at one time they were very valuable, but at this time are perfectdung.About publishing my cousin's journal of that county, I do not think the com-pany could have any objections, unless there is something mentioned in it whichmight relate to the trade, but I would refer you to a member in Congress fromMinosotta [sic], (his name I do not know) who my uncle tells me is a memberof the company.Nothing would give me more pleasure than to visit you at Washington City,but I do not expect to be near that for some time, please receive my thanks foryour kind invitation, and believe meYour most obt Feed. CtiXBERTSON " Leidy, 1854. Credit to the Individual collections was made with the discussion ofeach specimen. Captain Van Vliet, U. S. A., was with Alexander Culbertson on his tripfrom Fort Pierre to Fort Laramie and made his collection at that time, too. 6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 I expect letters from the Miss", soon if there is anything interesting in themI will send them to youMy father sends his best respects."Sometime in 1851 about two-thirds of the original journal, some-what cut and revised, was published under the title of "Journal ofan Expedition to the Mauvaises Terres and the Upper Missouri in1850." 13It may be well to observe, [Baird wrote] that I have not felt at liberty toalter the original to any material extent, which, combined with the fact of itsentire lack of revision by the author, will be a sufficient excuse for any imper-fections of style. [5th Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1850, p. 44.]Even so, Baird did permit himself much editorial freedom. Themost important of the changes he made in preparing the report forpublication was the omission of the record for the first 5^ weeks(March 19 through April 26), amounting to about three-tenths ofthe whole journal?a passage which described the journey from SaintLouis until the Culbertsons were beyond the James River in SouthDakota. Of the record for the next month about 15 percent wascut. From the scientific point of view most of the matter omittedwas unnecessary for it was chiefly personal, but the record of Cul-bertson's observation and thought is not complete without it. Besidesstriking out such paragraphs, Baird from time to time made a numberof alterations in sentence structure and in diction. The kind ofcorrection made can be best shown by parallel quotation. The firstpassage is the report as printed by Baird : Saturday, April 21, 11 A. M.?Yesterday was an exceedingly unpleasant day ; we found a violent north wind blowing in the morning, nevertheless as soon asbreakfast was over, we were off on the cheerless prairie. We saw but little wood ;the road was hilly and ponds frequent. About ten o'clock, we crossed a smallstream that gave us some trouble on account of the deep mud ; but cold as theday was, the Indians waded through without hesitation. About twelve o'clockwe came to a place where the land was cut up into steep hills and deep ravines,the latter containing a little scrubby timber. At one o'clock we reached thespot where the Indians had confidently expected to meet their chief, Old Eagle,who had been there hunting buffalo, but he was not to be found. The Indiansappeared much disappointed and looked very sad. They had left a good placefor hunting buffalo, and had come here where there were apparently none.There was every appearance of a violent snow-storm, but bad as our situa-tion was, we were thankful that it was no worse ; had these indications overtakenus the night before, when there was not a stick of wood within miles, we might "For the copy of this letter (to be found In Smithsonian Institution, Letters Received)I am indebted to Dr. M. W. Stirling, Director of the Bureau of American Ethnology. For"Mlss^" one should obviously read "Missouri" ; for "county" read "country."" Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 1850, pp. 84-132. The Report wassubmitted to the Senate on March 1, 1851, and ordered published on March 7. De Smetwrote to Denig from Saint Louis in May 1852 : "Tell him [Alexander C] that I readwith the greatest pleasure and profit to myself the ably written journal of the expeditionto the Upper Missouri of his worthy brother Thaddeus . . ." (Chittenden and Richardson,1905, vol. 4, p. 1481). De Smet must have seen the printed copy. McDBEMOTT] mTRODUCTION 7 well have been filled with apprehension, but here we had wood, water and grass,and were encamped in a ravine, well sheltered from the storm. About eighto'clock we retired to our beds in the waggon, anticipating a cheerless day of in-activity on the morrow. We were, however, agreeably disappointed, and at aboutfour o'clock, I was awakened by the bustle of preparation for departure.But Culbertson's original day-by-day journal reads as follows : Saturday. 11 A. M. April 27.?Yesterday was an exceedingly unpleasant dayto travel ; when we arose we found a violent north wind blowing but as soon aswe had breakfasted we were ofC on the dreary, cheerless prairie. We saw butlittle wood but as the road was hilly ponds were frequent ; about ten Oclock wecrossed a little stream that gave us some trouble because of the mire ; coldas the day was the indians waded through without hesitation. About 12 Oclockwe came into a very hilly section ; the land was cut up into steep hills and deepravines with a little scrubby timber in them. At 1 Oclock we reached the spotwhere the indians had been certain of meeting Old Eagle who had been therehunting buffalo, but Old Eagle was not to be found ; be had been there but hadgone and now our indians looked sad ; they had left a good place for buffaloand had come here where there apparently were none. We also had dependedon getting some dried meat here and were at first apprehensive of being short ofprovisions should bad weather overtake [us] ; but a review of the larder showeda supply for 8 or 10 days. There was every appearance of a terrible storm andoccasionally it would snow terribly, but bad as our situation promised to be wewere thankful that it was not worse ; had these appearances of a storm overtakenus the night before when there was not a stick of wood within two miles wemight have been filled with real apprehension for our safety, but here we hadwood, water and grass convenient and we were in a cooly [sic] well sheltered fromthe storm.The afternoon passed away rapidly we had a good fire in the lodge and hadfor a dinner a most delicious piece of meat roasted before the fire; after dinnerI got out my sewing apparatus and put two buttons on my coat, and fixed ourhats with strings to tie under the throat. About 8 Oclock we went to rest inour wagon anticipating a day of cheerless rest on the morrow, but providencewas kinder to us than we anticipated and about 4 Oclock this morning we wereawakened by the stir around indicating a day of travel and sure enough it hasbeen a most delightful day.How much was omitted, how extensive were the alterations of sentencestructure and diction in the final section of the Journal (May 28,through July 6) , it is impossible to say since the original for most of itdoes not exist. The Journal as now reprinted is restored as nearly aspossible to its original state.The Journal of an Expedition to the Mauvaises Terres and the UpperMissouri in 1850 is valuable not merely because it adds to our knowl-edge of the Indians and the fur trade of the Missouri Eiver but alsobecause it is the only account of them for this year. Not one of thefour principal sources for the decade centering around 1850 has any-thing to contribute for the year of Culbertson's trip. Larpenteur, whospent many years before and after this date in the Missouri trade, wason the Mississippi until May and for the remainder of the year was at 8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Vermilion Post. Captain La Barge's many trips up the river havebeen reported in detail by his biographer Chittenden or by persons whoaccompanied him, but Chittenden dismissed the year 1850 with half adozen lines. By this time, too, De Smet was an old traveler in theMissouri Country, but 1850 was one of those years when he did not goto the Northwest. Kurz, who has proved to be one of the most valuableof observers for that region and period, has made us rich with materialfor 1851 and 1852 but during 1850 he was living in the neighborhood ofSaint Joseph (Kurz, 1937). It is to Thaddeus Culbertson that wemust look for information about conditions on the Upper Missouri in1850.On the 19th of March Thaddeus set out from St. Louis with hisbrother Alexander, their party including 4 voyageurs, a Negro servant,10 horses, and a dog named Carlo. More than 250 cabin passengersand 200 deck passengers in a boat designed for about 100 made thebeginning of the trip crowded but fascinating to the young man seeingthe West for the first time. He noted down his impressions of thetowns they passed : St. Charles, Hermann, Jefferson City, Boonville,but for most of them the entries are brief since they did not land.Most interesting here perhaps is the description of the Capitol. Heread his French Bible, he read about missionary labors in Tahiti, hewrote to his friend Will Cattell. Occasionally the Mary Blane ranaground or passed a wreck or met another steamboat. Lexington,Liberty Landing, the Independence Landings, the village of Kansaswere worth some remark. At the latter place Thaddeus saw Indians,possibly for the first time. On the morning of the 26th they reachedWeston and the next day Saint Joseph, where they landed andremained 2 days.They now traveled by land. When they set off on the morning of the29th Alexander was driving a team of mules in a carriage and Thad-deus was riding one of the horses bought from "old Mr. Robidoux."The boredom that Thaddeus had begun to feel on the boat was gone inthe delight he took in riding. They passed through Savannah (theywere, of course, traveling on the left bank of the Missouri) , crossed theNodaway Eiver, the two Tarkios, the Nishnabotana, and passed intothe State of Iowa. Thaddeus had to reconcile himself to the idea ofSunday travel. The prairies, the valleys, the log cabins of the pio-neers, the little settlements are described. Occasionally he would re-port some overnight hotel as a "miserable dirty place," but he wasbeing broken in to the conditions of prairie travel, for he could add "nevertheless I have just eaten a very hearty supper." His firstglimpse of a fur trader at home he had when they visited Peter Sarpyat the Bellevue Post. Mormons he saw in great number at Kanesville. MCDEBMOTT] INTRODUCTION 9Of natural features perhaps it was the bluffs that drew most commentfrom him.He noted the last of the settlements when they passed the LittleSioux Kiver. At Floyd's Bluff a whiskey trader had set up business,but from that point on the only persons met were either fur traders orIndians. The record became one of the lonesomeness of the prairies,the difficulty of crossing rivers, the inclemency of the weather, inter-spersed with comments on food and occasional appreciations of scenery.The journey, for Thaddeus, was so hard that, when they arrived atVermilion Post (the first establishment in the Indian country), hisbrother decided the party should lie over for 2 days to rest. But, inJ5pite of the fatigues, the younger man felt that his health was alreadyimproved : "I bear the cold, the wind, the fatigue of riding, or walkingand then am ready for my meals and enjoy them plain as they may beand not excessively clean, and then I sleep soundly and rise refreshed."Their route now was northwest, roughly paralleling the Missouri,but perhaps 10 or 15 miles from it. The report of river crossings, ofcamping places, of new sights, of the extreme weather is kept livelyand interesting by a good deal of detail. On the 18th of April hespilled his ink and was forced to use a pencil until he was able to geta new supply at Fort Pierre. He hunted. He observed the Indians.He made note of the Yankton Trading House, the first building heslept in since leaving Vermilion Post. At last, on the 4th day of May,they reached Fort Pierre.After a rest of several days, Thaddeus left the Fort for the BadLands, accompanied by Owen McKenzie, an able, intelligent, andpleasant Indian son of the great Kenneth McKenzie, and by a mannamed Joe, whom Culbertson described as an experienced hunter at-tached to the Fort. They had a buggy and provisions for three weeks ; "the whole equipment is at the cost of Alexander." In the days oftravel up the Bad River Valley young McKenzie told Thaddeus muchabout the country and the Indians, On the fifth day out (May 11)they reached the beginning of the mauvaises terres and Thaddeus gavemuch of his space to description of the topography, bursting intoenthusiastic picturing of the fantastic shapes in the Bad Lands. Herecorded, too, the finding of the petrified turtles and other animalremains. He did not remain long in this region, for, he tells us : I had seen enough of the Lands to give a general description of that portionof them and had secured a few good specimens. To do more than this wouldhave required good horses to ride and I had only a pair of very indifferent mules ; the weather was intensely hot and no water to be had in them so that it wouldhave been a great labor to have examined them more thoroughly and besidesthis I felt that a mere general examination such as my limited means and timewould allow would be of but little service. I had already done enough to excite890780?51 2 10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147inquiry and further exploration must be made by scientific men with a corpsof assistants. One day more might have secured a Big Horn but this wouldhardly justify my stay.Thaddeus and his companions reached the Fort again on the 18th;during their 11 days' absence he estimated that they had traveled about300 miles.For nearly 3 weeks Culbertson stayed at Fort Pierre but time didnot drag on his hands. Many pages of the journal are filled with thevariety of activities to which the traveler devoted himself. Aftera few days of rest he was roaming the countryside, botanizing, hunting,skinning and stuffing specimens to be sent home. He collected Indianobjects. He visited the Indians in their village. He watched themplay bandy and billiards. He went to a dance and heard Indianmusic for the first time. He made note of Indian marital, family,and burial customs. He was interested in their secret societies. Hewent to a feast for visiting Indians. In these excursions he wasguided by Charles Galpin and William Hodgkiss, one of Bonneville'smen, and learned much from them. The Fort itself he described ingreat detail as well as the life there and the manner in which thetrading was conducted. He found time, also, to read a life of theScottish preacher McCheyne and Lynch's account of his expeditionto the Dead Sea. Schiller's "Robbers," which he read in translation,filled some hours. He wrote extensively in his journal and at theend of the month prepared a long report to Spencer F. Baird con-cerning the trip into the Bad Lands. With the aid of Galpin hemade a "Tabular View" of the Sioux Indians. At last, however, thesteamer El Paso arrived at Fort Pierre and on the 5th of June hewas once more on his travels up the Missouri.Culbertson said little of the El Paso at this point in his narrative ; it will be pertinent, therefore, to interrupt him for a bit. On May7, 1850, the Missouri Republican announced that the steamboat hadbeen chartered for the Yellowstone : The steamer El Paso is now being prepared at the upper end of the wharffor a voyage of seventeen hundred miles," and which will occupy nearly orquite three months. She has been chartered by the house of P. Chouteau, Jr.,& Co., at the rate of $1,200 per month, and will leave, in all probability, aboutthe latter end of the present week, under the charge of that old and experiencedboatman John Durack. She will start with about two hundred tons of freight,consisting of ammunition, stores, clothing, &c., and with nearly one hundredtrappers and hunters as passengers on board. This is the annual expedition,prepared and fitted out every season by the Fur Company, and it is the longestinland voyage performed by steamers in the world. The cargo of the boat isdestined for the use of the company's trading posts, and the Indians and menin their employ in that region ; and those of them that now go up are principally " That is, the El Paso expected to go 1,700 miles up river. MCDERMOTT] ENTRODUCTION 1 1 hardy mountaineers, many of whom have formerly enjoyed the luxuries of civil-ized life, and who, like the whalemen, return once in two or three years towitness the changes and improvements made and going on in their native city."More than a week later the same newspaper reported that the ElPaso had departed on Saturday, the 11th; according to this story shecarried 70 or 80, not 100, trappers and hunters (Missouri Republican,May 15, 1850). For the voyage to Fort Pierre we must turn to theextracts from her log published in the Missouri Republican, July 8,1850.The El Paso left St. Louis on her upward trip to the head waters of theMissouri, at 12 m.. May 6th, 1850." During the journey the weather was gen-erally cool and pleasant, with occasionally a severe gale or heavy fall of rain.On one occasion, in the middle of June, the wind blew so strong, as for severalhours to preclude the possibility of making any headway, and to oblige us tolie by.The condition of the river was at several points such as to require the utmostexertions of all our united forces to prosecute the trip. On the 18th of May,when near the mouth of Wolfe River, we ran afoul of a snag which crashed ourblacksmith shop, carrying overboard our bellows, &c. On the 23d of the fol-lowing month three or four beams in our hold were started in the same way.At the occurrence of the latter accident, some of the crew were sent out in theyawl furnished with axes, &c., to clear us a passage through the snags ; we foundthis precaution necessary on several subsequent occasions. The greater partof the 21st day of May, was spent near the mouth of Platte River, where weencountered four Mackinaw boats belonging to the American Fur Company, andwhere Mr. Picot [Picotte] desired to consummate some arrangements with thepersons having charge of them. We here saw quite a large party of emigrantsto California crossing the river ; they appeared all in fine health and spirits.Two persons belonging to the boat, were accidentally left at this point. Whena few miles further, we sent back for them, but to no purpose?they could notbe found.On the 29th, we were visited by some traders in the employ of Mr. Sarpy, andon the 30th, by a band of Sioux Indians. To the latter we made presents ofsugar, coffee, powder, balls &c., &c. They were very friendly, and showed everymanner of gratitude for the presents. We continued to see and be visited byIndians, from this time until we had reached our journey's end ; and at varioustimes took aboard several parties of them.Twenty-four days from Saint Louis, the El Paso reached FortPierre where it dropped Dr. John Evans, the geologist, with whomThaddeus had an encouraging talk about the Bad Lands, and took onthe Culbertson brothers. "According to ChappeU (1905-6 b, p. 301) the El Paso was 180 feet by 28 feet, T. H.Brierly was the master, and John Durack was the captain ; it was sunk In the bend belowBoonville, Mo., April 10, 1855. Both Brierly and Durack were men of long experienceon the Missouri Rivers. Durack, for example, was first mate to La Barge on the Nitnrodin 1844 (Chittenden, 1903, vol. 1, pp. 163-164). Brierly operated among other boats theBen W. Lev>i8, the James H. Lucaa, the Morning Star, and the Polar Star (ChappeU,1905-6 b, pp. 299, 304, 307, 308). ^? A number of errors apparently crept Into this news report of the trip. It is certainthat the El Paso left Saint Louis on the 11th. 12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Thaddeus settled down to the recording of a not very energetic butnovel and quite interesting trip.This is certainly the most agreeable traveling I have ever experienced [hevrrote on the 7th of June] the air is delightful?the shores and trees quite green ? only three of us on board, besides the Captain, who are really companions ; my-self, the only "distinguished" sti-anger, living on the best, and treated with themost generous kindness and respect?all these things combine to render thetrip as delightful as possible."He made ample descriptive notes of the country through which theypassed and of practically every other possible matter of interest. Atwooding places he took advantage of the opportunity to botanize.They reached Fort Clark on the morning of the 12th and there Thad-deus found occasion to write at length of the Rees, their lodges, andwhat else he could observe during a ceremonial call at the village.Three hours sufficed, however, to unload freight at Fort Clark andthey were off again in midmorning.Fort Berthold, some 60 miles above Fort Clark, they arrived at thenext morning. On the evening of the 16th they landed at Fort Unionat the mouth of the Yellowstone, and Culbertson wrote that the ElPaso had made "the trip of twenty-five hundred miles in thirty-sixdays and four hours, the quickest one on record." Here they metE. T. Denig and cousin Ferdinand Culbertson, who "showed mequite a good collection of stuffed skins made by them for ProfessorBaird, at the request of my brother. This must have cost them a greatdeal of labor and considerable expense, and they deserve many thanksfrom the students of natural history for whose benefit this collectionwas made." Before noon the next day they were once more on theirway up river; Culbertson reported they would "probably go muchhigher than any other boat has ever gone." On the 20th of June,having reached a spot a few miles above the mouth of Milk River,some 2,700 miles above Saint Louis, Captain John Durack posted asign announcing his record; maps soon acknowledged this place asEl Paso Point. Since this was an occasion of pride and importanceto Captain Durack, I continue with the log of the El Paso:On the 11th of June a considerable quantity of floating ice was met in theriver. We experienced much difficulty in getting over the sand bars, and onthe day following landed at Ft. Clark, where we took aboard a quantity of corn.Mr. Clark and Mrs. Meldrum," took passage with us on the 15th, and on thefollowing day, June 16th, we passed the mouth of the Yellow Stone; lying bythat night at Fort Union. The 17th, a portion of our freight was landed at FortBenton, and in the afternoon of the same day, we passed Mackenzie's winteringhouses, on a bar in the middle of the river. " The third of these companions was Honor6 Picotte, who had come up from Saint Louiaon the El Paso In charge of the Fur Company's business." This must be a misprint for Mr. Meldrum. McDbrmott] INTRODUCTION 13A Mackinaw boat, in tow of the El Paso^ was sunk on June the 18th, at ElkHorn, Pyramid Prairie. Mr. Honore Picot, for many years Commander or Super-intendent at Fort Pierre, here went ashore with a number of his men, and col-lected a large quantity of elk horns, which have been brought down by theEl Paso." At 2 o'clock P. M., of the same day, we passed the point where thesteamer Assineiois [Assiniboine] had wintered some years ago?the highestpoint ever before or since attained by steamboats. The Assinebois, it is remem-bered, was frozen, and before the end of winter entirely broken up.On the 20th of June we got eight miles above the mouth of Milk river, beingabout three hundred and fifty miles above the mouth of the Yellow Stone, Ourfreight and the traders were all landed here. A board bearing the followinginscription was fixed on a tree, by the passengers : "The El Paso landed at thispoint on the 20th of June, 1850?thirty five days from St. Louis : John Durack,Captain." We commenced our downward trip the same day. In the latter daysof the journey we saw on either shore large bands of buffaloes, deer and elk,and succeeded in killing, at different times, many of all.^'Thaddeus Culbertson's account of the down-river trip is brief. Onthe 21st they stopped at the Elk Horn Prairie, because Mr. Picottewanted to take the horns down to Saint Louis. They arrived at FortUnion on the evening of the same day and on the 22nd Thaddeusparted from his brother. "At half past seven o'clock we moved off,firing a salute to the men belonging to the fort who had come over tohelp us take in fuel. Alexander was with them and the last sight Ihad of him he was standing up in the boat which was just pushingoff." The trip was enlivened a bit by the unexpected antics of Picotte.One evening when they landed Picotte "was seen running up a verysteep, high bluff, and while we were admiring his activity he calledto us; we all at once started off, supposing he had seen game. Mr.Clark taking his rifle, and Ferd his knife ; but on coming up to himwe were much amused to hear the old man instead of pointing outthe game, ask us to slide down the hill to the water's edge." Theserious young man continued : "Fortune favored me at this place, foras we descended the hill, I saw for the first time in my life, the cactusin bloom. It was a most agreeable surprise to find this unsightlyplant which is the great annoyance of moccasined voyageurs adornedwith flowers of a fine straw color."The El Paso reached Fort Pierre on the afternoon of the 28th andthere Picotte remained. The next day the St. Ange passed, upwardbound. "Capt. Durack raised a flag, but the civility was not returned," " According to Culbertson, these horns were taken on board during the trip down.2" Missouri Republican, July 8, 1850. Only one more paragraph of Durack's log wasprinted : "A number of cases of cholera occurred on board during the month of May, sixof which terminated fatally. A man named Deshau died on the 15th, above Liberty Landing.One named Richard Adams, was buried on the IGth below latan. Another whose namewas not ascertained, was buried on the 17th, near Savannah Landing. Charles Bardotte,the 5th, was buried on the 18th, and the 6th, named Leperie, was buried on the 21st. Twoor three other cases of the disease were cured." 14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Culbertson reported i n Saint Louis, "and the boats passed each otherwithout exchanging any words." ^^ On the 2d of July Thaddeus metLarpenteur at Vermilion Post. Then in rapid succession the El Pasosfeamed by Council Bluffs, Saint Joseph, Parkville, and other rivertowns to arrive at Saint Louis at 2 P. M. on Saturday the 6th of July.Thaddeus Culbertson's western trip was over and his journal cameto a close. "Weekly Reveille, July 8, 1850, p. 4273. The Reveille credited its "latest from, theYellowstone" to Mr. F [T]. A. Culbertson of Chambersburg. The information supplied byThaddeus merely duplicates what has already been given. It may be added that "Mr.Malcolm Clark, who has been nine years In the Indian country, and is stationed among theBlackfeet Indians; Mr. Disantel [Desautel], from Fort Clark, among the Riccarees, andMr. Kipp, from Fort Berthould, together with three other traders, came as passengers onthe El Paso to the city" (ibid.). It is possible that one of these others was FerdinandCulbertson, since he is mentioned in the Journal on the down-river trip and was InPennsylvania in February of 1851. ^. 7'-^ -- "^' V . '-^.r^r^' , ? I ,^ v^V-'^? ^/, -^ f ^-^. '' V K X ,. ^''' ? . I" ? *l UK I U?- X ,"'<^^^ JOURNAL OF AN EXPEDITION TO THE MAUVAISESTERRES AND THE UPPER MISSOURI IN 1850 By Thaddeus A. Culbertson DEPARTURE FROM ST. LOUIS ''STEAMER, MARY BLANE, MISSOURI RIVERThursday March ^1 ISSO?Kbout 12 O'clock on the night of Tuesdaylast we left St. Louis on board the Mary Blane ^^ bound for St. Joseph's.Our company consists of my brother Alexander, three voyageurs, oneblack servant and ten horses.^* The boat is crowded to overflowinghaving about 250-300 cabin besides 200 deck passengers and certainlyshe cannot accomodate more than 100 with much comfort; howeverbecause of the number of us and of our freight (horses) the clerk gaveus accomodation in the pilot's room. It contains four berths and wehave for our room mates Col. Tilton of Polk County, Missouri, and Mr.Tutt of the same state ; the colonel is an old pioneer having come to thispart of the country from Kentucky : being accustomed to travelling onall kinds of craft and in all kinds of crowds, he was ready to make thebest of our situation, and to unite with us in doing the best we could.Being well acquainted with my Uncle James ^^ in his younger days wesoon became well acquainted and we have found him a very agreeabletraveling companion. We soon found the advantage of having ourown servant, for it was exceedingly difficult, on account of the crowd, toget to the table and when there it was very unpleasant because of the "The first portion (about one-third) of the Culbertson Journal is reproduced from theBureau of American Ethnology manuscript, which is a revised copy of the original notebookcarried by Culbertson on the trip and now in the possession of the Missouri HistoricalSociety of Saint Louis. It is here reproduced without change from the original manuscript.(See page vii of Preface.)23 According to the Missouri Republican, March 19, 1850, the Mary Blane, J. F. Allen,master, a "fine light draught passenger boat," left Saint Louis for Weston and Saint Josephat 12 noon on the 19th.** A note on the fly leaf opposite the first page of the original Journal gives the namesof four voyageurs and the cook : Nerselle, Canadian ; Vincent, Italian ; Antoine, Canadian ; Angelo, Italian; Jim (black), cook. The first of these names is later spelled Nersalle,Nassel, and Nasselle.2S James Culbertson was the youngest of the 12 children of Col. Robert (1755-1801) andAnnie Duncan Culbertson (1755-1827). He was born in Pennsylvania, October 12, 1799,and died in Palmyra, Mo., in 1873. (See L. R, Culbertson, 1893, pp. 163-164, 167).15 16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147rough characters on board. We told our man Jim to bring our mealsinto our cabin, and as the head-Steward proved to be an old Chambers-burgher named Smith, this was easily done ; indeed he was glad to doit for us, and we lived better than any party on board. I fix my trunkfor a table and Jim brings us what we want and we enjoy it very much,seated on the other trunks or berths.To-day we had among other good things a most excellent wild duck,admirably cooked, and it was admirably eaten too. Dinner has justbeen dispatched and I am writing on the upper berth with A. enjoyinga siesta on the lower one and our fine little dog Carlo enjoying one onthe floor. We are now a little above Hermon [sic'], a settlement ofSwiss : we did not land, but the town has a fine appearance.^? It is theseat of one of the best Roman Catholic schools in the state.Yesterday we passed St. Charles City.^^ This is a small place andpresents a very plain appearance, bearing no comparison to that ofHannibal on the Mississippi. Last night the boat did not run becauseof the danger from snags, sand bars &c, so that we have not gone veryfar for the time that we have been out. To-day we are making bettertime ; this morning as I was enjoying some letters from the East in myberth, the boat struck a bar with considerable force. Tutt was alsoin his berth and was quite alarmed ; we both bounced out and foundthe guards and forward deck full but there was no danger and we wereafloat in 5 minutes. The alarm was greater because the Rowena hadbeen snagged last week and we had passed the wreck yesterday.^* The ^ Hermann, on the south side of the Missouri about 5 miles below the mouth of theGasconade Kiver, is the county seat of Gasconade County, Mo. It had its beginning in1837 in the purchase of Gasconade lands by the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia.In 1850 the town had a population of 943. (For its history, consult History of Franlslin,Jefferson, Washington, Crawford, and Gasconade Counties, Missouri, pp. 657-681 ; Missouri,a Guide to the "Show Me" State, pp. 393-394 ; Bels, 1907.)^ Saint Charles, Mo., was first settled by Louis Blanchette about 1769 and became knownby its present name about a dozen years later. It was the seat of government in Missourifrom 1820 to 1826. When Culbertson saw it distantly, it had a population of 11,454.(Consult Houck, 1909, vol. 2, pp. 79-86 ; Missouri, a Guide to the "Show Me" State,pp. 260-268.)=?"The fine steamer Roicena, Capt. Jewett, in descending the Missouri river, about 2o'clock, P. M. on Tuesday, struck a snag at the head of St. Charles Island, and immediatelysunk in 12 or 15 feet of water. She was bound from Glasgow to this city, with a heavycargo, all of which together with the boat will prove a total loss. There were a largenumber of passengers on board, and fortunately none were lost, or sustained serious injury.Shortly after sinking, the boat careened to one side, and at noon, yesterday, she hadsettled to her hurricane roof. The Rowena has been running two or three seasons, andat the time of sinking was in complete repair, and on her first trip in the Missouri thisseason. She is owned principally by her commander, Capt. Wm. C. Jewett, and wasinsured for about $8,000, partly here, and In Eastern offices. The cargo, which was avery valuable one, is no doubt fully covered, and unless a rise takes place sufficient tofloat the boat from her present position, a portion of it may be rescued in a damagedcondition."The steamer Fayaway arrived last evening with the officers and crew, and nearly allthe cabin furniture, &c., of the sunken boat."A transcript of the cargo will be found in another column" (Missouri Republican,Thursday, March 14, 1850). MCDBEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 17banks of the Missouri, except where there are bluffs, present an alluvialappearance and are constantly washing away ; the water is thereforediscolored presenting the appearance of water mixed with ashes, butit is not at all disagreeable to me on that account. I think that thescenery thus far has been more picturesque than that on the Ohio orMississippi as far as I have seen it.Friday March 22nd?^We have had another tedious day on the river,and have not yet reached Boonville.^ This morning about 9 O'clockwe got to Jefferson city, the capitol [sic] of Missouri and there ourold friend Tilton left us : he has proved to be quite a pleasant travellingcompanion and we felt sorry to part company, especially as there is noone on board to supply his place ; our companions are as rascally [un-pleasant] ^? a set of fellows as could be easily found ; nearly every manis at the card table sometime or other and some appear to play allnight. Jefferson City has an unhappy location ; it is built on severalhills which allow no good place for business houses or for choice pri-vate dwellings ; the state prison stands on the first hill reached as youcome up the river and it is a fine looking building built in plain style ; the next hill is intended for the governor's house, but it is not nowoccupied by it as the former one, which stood there, was burnt; justbeyond this hill is the levee and the Capitol Hill.^^The Capitol can be seen about 9 miles down the river and at a dis-tance has quite an imposing appearance. However a near view de-tracts somewhat from the effect because the stone of which it is builthas been discolored by the weather and appears stained. It frontsdown the river?is three stories high?has a large cupola and in thecentre of the front, a semi-circular portico supported by five or sixgood looking pillars. I could not tell what order of architecture wasattempted in its style.A few hours after leaving Jefferson City we took on board a quan-tity of stone coal ; it looked very much like slate and would certainlyhave been rejected in Pennsylvania, but judging from the rapid speedof the boat it must be better than it looks. Wood is abundant alongthe river and when they have coal they mix them together. Steamboat life affords but little variety at best and on our boat no varietyat all.Saturday March 23d?Still progressing slowly and tediously; it israther tiresome pushing our way in such a crowd and on such a boat, 2* Boonville, Cooper County, Mo., then had a population of 2,326.""Bracketed words are generally variants from the Bureau of American Ethnologymanuscript." The first sale of lots in Jefferson City was held in 1823 ; the town was incorporated in1825 and became the capital in fact in 1826. For its early years consult History ofCole . . . Counties, Missouri, pp. 276-299. The first capitol was burned In 1837 ; theone Culbertson saw was finished in 1842. The state prison was completed in 1836. Thefree population of Jefferson City (not including slaves) In 1850 was 1,400. 18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147but then it won't do to complain. This morning we passed Glascow,^^quite an important point, but a plain looking place situated on somevery sterile hills on the north bank of the Missouri. The great amuse-ment of the passengers is card playing, which I dispise, but I took myseat in the midst of them this morning and enjoyed very much the con-clusion of a little book called "Night of toil" ; it gives an account of theearly missionary labors in Tahiti and neighborhood and it suggestedto me some delightful religious thoughts. I was led to think espe-cially of the wonder of a revelation from God such as the Bible, andI hope to think much more of this marvelous fact. After dinner Ifound much pleasure in the account of the crucifixion as recorded inJohn's Gospel and then wrote a long letter to my friend Will Cattell.^^Sunday March 2Ji.?We are still getting slowly towards St. Joe ; itwould have been very agreeable to my feelings to have laid by to-daybut that was out of my power. The day has not been regarded bymost of the passengers except by refraining from cards ; we have hadmore things to excite us than on any previous day ; early in the morn-ing we ran aground and stuck there for an hour or two, during whichtime the steamer St. Ange ^ passed us. Wliile lying there we had asevere snow storm [with a strong blow] from the East. Soon afterwe got off the bar, the Minnesota ^^ also passed much to the annoyanceof our passengers. We moved on quietly until about noon, when inpassing through a dangerous place filled with large snags, one paid avisit to our kitchen interfering somewhat with the dinner but doingno serious injury. The boat was in considerable danger but got offwith no further hurt. This afternoon the sun shines out clear and ofcourse it is warmer than in the morning but we have the prospect of avery cold night. We expect to reach Lexington in a few hours whenwe will lose a number of our passengers much to our comfort.To-day I have read considerably in my French Bible and hope to con-tinue doing so daily. Whenever I look into this Holy Book I feel thatit is my place to have much shame because of the very little knowledgeI have as yet gained of its contents. May God grant me a very great '3 Glasgow, laid out in 1836, was named for James Glasgow, who settled first at Charltonand later moved to Saint Louis. (Consult History of Howard and Chariton Counties,Missouri, pp. 205-235; Missouri, a Guide to the "Show Me" State, pp. 351-352.) =? William Cassaday Cattell (1827-98), the son of Thomas W. Cattell, was born inSalem., N. J., was graduated from Princeton in 1848 and from Princeton TheologicalSeminary in 1852, and was ordained in 1856. He was president of Lafayette College atHarrlsburg from 1863 to 1883 (DAB. vol. 3, n. 578).8* At this moment the St. Ange, Joseph La Barge, master, was on its way to Weston andwould return to Saint Louis on the 31st (Missouri Republican, April 1, 1850). On a latertrip (leaving Saint Louis May 28, 1850), it carried, among other passengers, the Hon.Henry J. Coke ; the voyage from Saint I^ouis to Saint Joseph is described briefly in Coke(1852, pp. 81-88). (For more about the St. Ange and particularly about its trip to theUpper Missouri in 1850, see Appendix 4.)^ The Minnesota, B. H. Glime, master, left Saint Louis on the 20th for Independence,Weston, and Saint Joseph (Missouri Republican, March 21, 1850). MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 19increase of a sanctifying knowledge of its truth. I read also some-what in Rugby School Sermons ^''' and liked them much ; thought ofmany of my dear friends far away?God bless them.LEXINGTON?LIBERTY?INDEPENDENCEMonday Mm^ch 25th?To-day has passed with as little incident asthe others ; the Majy Blane still manages to get up stream but she takesher own time for it; indeed it appears to me that Miss Mary is likesome others of her sex?she requires a great deal of coaxing to do verylittle work. However, our load is much lighter than it was, havinglost yesterday evening a number of passengers at Lexington." This issaid to be quite a large town but as it is entirely on top of the bluff, andthat a very high one, I did not see it. Liberty Landing ^^ was reachedabout 10 O'clock this morning, and there we made a very short stay.The town is about 10 miles from the river. One of the Independencelandings was reached soon after; from this one the town is distantabout 7 miles ; very few passengers landed here but 12 miles further upthe river we came to another landing but 3 miles from the town andthere a large number of our passengers went off.^ Entertainment ishere found in backwoods style, as passengers were informed by severalsigns attached to log houses ; one of these, a small log house affordedentertainment for "Ladies and Gentlemen." The Levee had a verybrisk appearance while we were there as two boats were then puttingfreight ashore and a third had just done so. There were several con-veyances for passengers to the town ; one of these a good four horsevehicle was at the lower landing, took a load from there?went to thetown and came down to the upper landing ready to make some more "dimes."As I was engaged in devotional meditations this afternoon my mindwas led to think of the great dignity of being a child of God and topropose that to myself as a matter for future prayer and study. Iformed also a plan for studying the prophetical Scriptures while inthe mountains. Alexander spends his time very much as I do ; we are 3? Possibly Thomas Arnold, 1845." Lexington was laid out In 1822. For it, consult History of Lafayette County, Mis-souri, pp. 433-463 ; Missouri, A Guide to the "Show Me" State, pp. 373-377. At this timethe population was 2,194.^Liberty Landing was on the Missouri River about 3% miles from the town of Liberty,which had been laid out as the county seat of Clay County in 1822. (Consult History ofClay and Platte Counties, Missouri, pp. 280-373 ; Missouri, a Guide to the "Show Me" State,pp. 516-518.) The United States Census for 1850 lists two towns of this name in ClayCounty ; one had 827 people, the other 2,730. The first apparently was Liberty Landing,the second Liberty proper.*? Independence, Jackson County, Mo., was founded in 1827. (Consult Whitney, 1908,vol. 1, pp. 32-55 ; History of Jackson County, Missouri, pp. 633-667. For interestingglimpses of this town in its early years, see W. Irving, 1944, p. 89 ; Latrobe, 1836, vol. 1,pp. 128, 140; John T. Irving, 1888, p. 11; McDermott and Salvan, 1940, pp. 103-105;Parkman, 1902, p. 9.) 20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147both sick and tired of our boat and hope to get safe to St. Joe in aday or two. KANSAS?KANSAS RIVERWe have just passed the village of Kansas; it is a new place butalready has several good large brick warehouses below the bluff, whilethe town appears to extend back considerably above it.*? Nine Indianmen and a boy were standing on the shore and sang [saluted us with]a song as we came to land ; they were all dressed in Indian costumeand had their faces painted red. One of them went into the ladiescabin and staid until the boat was off ; the passengers had a great dealof amusement about his getting off but at last the boat put ashore againand landed him. As we passed a small island about half a mile belowthe town Alexander told me that that island had once been exceed-ingly fertile and well cultivated and that about 10 years ago therewas an excellent farm with fine improvements on the opposite shore ; since that time the channel has entirely changed and where the boatthen landed him is now but a little more than a swamp and the farmhas again become a wilderness growing up with timber. This is agood illustration of the constant change going on along the Missouri.A very short distance above the town the Kansas River comes in ; it isnow about 200 yards wide ; the land north of it belongs to the Indiansand from this point we have the state on one side and the Indian coun-try on the other. The Missouri here changes its general course andflows in a direction nearly north and south; just below the Kansasthe bank showed a layer of fine golden sand several feet thick andon it were several alluvial deposits making the soil 8 or 10 feet deep.WESTONTuesday March 26th?This morning about 10 O'clock we got toWeston, a fine brisk looking place on the north bank of the Missouri.*^Our ride to-day has had nothing exciting except the usual number ofsnags and sand bars. I saw thousands of wild geese on one bar ; theyhave been very plenty for several days. Wrote several letters to-day ? hope to reach St. Joe to-night. *? Kansas City had its beginning in Francois Chouteau's trading post, established at themouth of the Kaw in 1821. Flooded out some years later, he rebuilt a few miles east ofhis original location ; a settlement developed there known as Chouteau's Landing orWestport Landing. The town of Westport, a few miles south on the Santa Fe Trail, waslaid out by John Calvin McCoy in 1833. The town of Kansas was platted at WestportLanding in 1838 and the village was incorporated as the "City of Kansas" in 1853. Allthese points are within the present limits of Kansas City. (Consult Garraghan, 1920Miller, 1881; Missouri, a Guide to the "Show Me" State, pp. 241-248.) Miller gave thepopulation of Kansas City in 1850 as between 700 and 800 (p. 43)." Weston, Platte County, Mo., laid out In 1837, was an important place in the plainstrade until the shifting of the Missouri River in 1857 left the town high and dry inland.In 1850 Weston had a population of 1,915. One of its most famous early citizens wasBen Holladay, whose overland freighting business has been reported in Frederick, 1940.(Consult History of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri, pp. 1038-85.) MCDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 21ST. JOSEPH "Wednesday March '2,6th?Eeached St. Joseph's *^ last night about 12O'clock and remained on board until morning; it was excessivelycold during the night but has moderated considerably to-day. Allour horses were landed safely and we took up our quarters at theMansion House ; before breakfast we had the pleasure of a very kindwelcome from Alexander's friend McDonald; he appears to be aman of a very kind spirit and ready to accommodate us in all things.^All of us have to-day been making little purchases of things needfulfor the trip and I have had occasion to be thankful for having sokind a brother ; ever since Alexander proposed bringing me with himI have been stinted in nothing; he has been very generous in everything and I hope to repay this kindness by a grateful spirit and bystriving to succeed in the calling to which I have devoted myself.It is my prayer that this kindness may not go unrewarded. My out-fit purchased here is a fine saddle, bridle and martingale ; a belt andknife, leggins and a few minor articles ; these with my previous pur-chase prepare me I think for a trip to the mountains. The town isfull of Californians and the whole business of the place appears tobe able to "outfit" them.^ Horses, mules and cattle are in great de-mand bringing very high prices. French is spoken as commonly hereas Dutch in Pennsylvania ; it sounds strange to my ears to hear thislanguage spoken so commonly, when heretofore it has been very rarefor me to hear it.Thursday March 28th?Still at St. Joe and preparing for our trip.Weather cold, clear and pleasant. Wrote to several friends as itwould be the last chance for sometime to come. Had a pleasant littleride in the country this morning and found Alexander's mules to beall that he said?they travel quietly, quickly and well together. Notvery well but hope to be able to be off in the morning. Our accomoda-tions at the hotel are very good indeed especially our room and beds ; we enjoyed them exceedingly last night.?Read a chapter to-day in ^Joseph Kobidoux (see footnote 45, below) founded the town in 1842. Kurz, in SaintJoseph In April, 1848, wrote that : "there are evidences already of a rapidly expandingand flourishing city." His description of the frontier town with its mountain men, Indians,gold seekers, and the like, and his account of his life there for about 2 years is the mostdetailed and most interesting that we have for this period (Kurz, 1937, pp. 29-54). FatherO'Hanlon (1890, pp. 105-106, 109-137) spent some months there in 1846-47. (Consultalso History of Buchanan County, Missouri, pp. 385-954 ; Missouri, a Guide to the "ShowMe" State, pp. 282-292.) The town In 1850 had a free population of 2,550.<3 This is possibly the Duncan McDonald of Orral Messmore Robidoux (1924, pp. 123-126) and the "MacD." of Kurz (1937, pp. 68-69), who one night in the summer of 1848shot and killed young Charles Robidoux, having mistaken him for a robber. Miss Robidouxdeclared that after the trial he went broke, sold out his store, left town, and died a "miser-able drunkard." Kurz in 1850, however, noted that he was merely a clerk in the storeand that after his acquittal he returned to Saint Joseph to live. Alexander Culbertson'sfriend might as well have been the brother of Duncan and the head man of the store." Cf. Kurz, 1937, pp. 46-48. 22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 ] st John and found much pleasure and profit in thinking of the trainof thought which was probably in the Apostle's mind?^hope that Iunderstood his sentiments and was brought nearer to the cross bysympathizing with him.Friday March Wth?^This morning about 9 O'clock we started fromSt. Joe on our trip by land. As we had spent two days there, restingthe horses and making our preparations we had no detention to-day.My time there had been spent pleasantly enough as Mr. ISIcDonalddid all he could to make us feel comfortable and as our time wassomewhat taken up in making purchases. Alexander bought fromold Mr. Robidoux,*^ the founder of the town, four fine horses for$245.00. This old man came to this place many years ago and tradedwith the Indians: he had a preemption right to the land and whenthe town was laid out, of course made a great deal of money. It is agood location for a town, as the bluff retires from the river and leavesa fine level place for the town, which can easily be drained into theriver, but I have since been told that it will probably wash away.There are a number of fine large brick houses in the place and the courthouse is a handsome brick building standing on the highest point inthe place. I have one of the Robidoux horses while I remain in theupper country ; he is a fine quiet animal and an excellent pacer. Thismorning having put on my belt, knife and shot bag, I mounted myhorse and rode with the men while Alexander drove the mules. Werode through a beautiful rolling country, poorly timbered but affordingthe most beautiful locations for farms. When well settled and culti-vated I think it must make one of the most lovely spots in our country.The sun was obscured by light floating clouds but it was a fine morningfor riding and I enjoyed it much ; had I been perfectly well it wouldhave been very exhilerating ; for the woods resounded with the sweetsong of birds, so that I was constantly reminded of my delightfulevening walks about Clifton."^ I was able to recognise the sweetnotes of a beautiful crimson colored bird that was very common there "Joseph Robidoux (or Robidou or Roubidoux) III, the founder of Saint Joseph, wasthe son of Joseph Robidoux II (who with his father, also Joseph, had come from Montrealto Saint Louis in 1770) and Catherine Rollet dit Laderoute. He was born in Saint Louisin 1783, according to Tass^, or 1784, according to Billon. He was married twice : firstto Eugenie Dellsle, by whom he had a son Joseph ; and second, to Angelique Vaudry ofCahokia, by whom he had seven children. He made his first voyage up the MissouriRiver in 1799 and thereafter was active with his father and others in the Missouri Riverfur trade. Although he had located there earlier as an agent of the company, he boughtthe Blacksnalce Hills post from the American Fur Company in 1834 and laid out the townof Saint Joseph in 1842. According to Kurz, he platted 160 acres as city property ; in1850 a building lot 40 x 140 ft. was bringing from $300 to $600. Robidoux died in SaintJoseph in 1868. Billon and Kurz report interesting anecdotes concerning him ; PrinceMaximilian and Bodmer found his house attractive. For him, consult Billon (1886,pp. 174-177, 444-445), Maximilian (1904-7, p. 257), Tass6 (1878, pp. 119-129) Kurz(1937, pp. 54, 66-69).? Possibly Clifton, W. Va., on the Ohio in Mason County about 15 miles north of PointPleasant. McDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 23and soon I saw one hopping among the bushes. About 121^ O'clockwe reached the town of Savannah, 14 miles N. E. of St. Joe ; it pre-sented a pretty appearance at a distance but it did not look so well ona nearer approach.*^ We found Alexander there, unpacked the animalsand had quite a good dinner, but the place was as dirty a hole [spot]as ever I entered. After dinner Alexander sold a pony he had for$35.00 and we came on five miles further. We started oS again afterdinner and passed through some prairie land which is bordered byscrub oak and tall bushes. The farms look as if they were excellent ; hemp appears to be the staple here as elsewhere in Missouri. Herewe have stopped for the night and have a prospect for a comfortableone.Saturday March 30?To-day we have come about 25 miles : at li/^O'clock we stopped and finding some of the horses tired, Alexanderhas determined to remain here for the night.Mr. Terhune is the name of the person with whom we remainedlast night ; *^ he appears to be a man who by industry and economyhas made himself comfortable ; his farm is a beautiful one, and of therichest soil, and is valued by him at about $20 per acre, although thisis above the average price of land. His house is a comfortable logone and on looking at the compass I noticed that it ranges due northand south, and on mentioning this to him he said that he so rangedit and that he had taken the direction by a rude but simple contri-vance. He had taken it from the north star by ranging with it twosticks, one of which had on its top a moveable piece of paper. Earlyin the morning we all arose refreshed by our night's rest and founda clear bright refreshing morning instead of a rainy one as we hadfeared.We had breakfast and were on the road by 6^/^ o'clock and againI was delighted by the cheerful songs of the birds. Our road laythrough rolling prairies and we passed a number of very neat andcomfortable looking farm houses; both Alexander and myself re-marked the superior air of neatness and thrift here over the farms inthe heavy timbered land of Indiana. The difference shows the ad-vantage of prairie land over timbered land, for new settlers. *^ Kurz went to Savannah, Andrew County, Mo., 14 miles above Saint Joseph, in April1850. According to him, thi.s town was founded 8 years earlier than Saint Joseph butthe better location of the latter town had enabled it to outstrip Savannah. Kurz wasparticularly interested in commenting on the camp meeting and other religious customsof the place and remained there apparently until sometime in 1851 (Kurz, 1937, pp. 53 ff.).Henry Coke set out overland from Saint Joseph on June 3, 1850, and traveled by the sameroad to Council Bluffs by way of Savannah and Kanesville. He arrived at the Bluffson June 16. His account, however, is neither so detailed nor so interesting as that ofCulbertson (Colie, 1852, pp. 88-106). Williams (1915, vol. 1, pp. 313-324) gives 1841 asthe date when Savannah was laid off as the county seat of Andrews County, Mo,*8 That is, at Savannah. 24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147NODAWAY RIVER?PRAIRIEAbout 10 o'clock we crossed Nodoway river ^^ by a ferry ; this is anarrow stream very much like Willis ^^ in Virginia and is a tributaryof the Missouri. After crossing this, we passed over a very extensiveprairie; it is not level but rolling land, the hills generally havinground tops with a gentle declivity on the sides; the view is mostextensive and would be very beautiful if it was in the spring or sum-mer, but now everything presents the bleak aspect of winter. Thewind blew quite hard as we passed over some of the knolls. Thereare pieces of woodland scattered here and there over the prairie andalong the water courses. We had a long ride without any restingplace and were rejoiced to see our stopping place about 1^2 milesahead ; here we again reach the Missouri bottom and can see the riveraway in the distance.Sunday March 31st?This day has not been spent as I have beenaccustomed to spend my sabbaths; we have been travelling all dayinstead of keeping the day sacred as we were wont [have been ac-customed] to do. And yet I do not think it has been a day altogetherwithout profit to me ; it has not been violated heedlessly ; all agreedthat it was my duty to undertake the trip for my health and thereforeit is excusable for me to travel as those do with whom alone I cango. My mind has been very much engaged in meditating on somescriptural truths and I have read with considerable care several ofthe chapters in the Revelations. My thoughts also wandered to mydistant friends and contrasted their privileges with my present situa-tion; it was good to think of them all?at home?at Princeton?atClifton and while I found it pleasant to pray that God might blessthem it was not less delightful to think that some of them would prayfor me while enjoying their own quiet homes and churches. It ishard for me to realize the great contrast between my present situa-tion and what it was two months ago and yet it is my hope that I willgain no less spiritual advantage from this than from that ! We haveseen no churches to-day and no church going crowd, although thereappears to be a general resting from labor. Judging from what I haveseen, our Western Missionaires have a discouraging work to perform.We have travelled 25 miles and are now at a place called the EnglishGrove.^^ We crossed to-day the Little and the Big Tarkio rivers. " Nodaway River is the boundary between Andrew and Holt Counties. Having gonealmost straight north from Saint Joseph to Savannah, they were now headed north-north-west through Holt County. Where they crossed the Nodaway is uncertain.soThe Willis River rises in the southern part of Buckingham County, flows northeastthrough Cumberland, to enter the James River at CartersviUe, Va.?i It is possible that Culbertson should have written Irish Grove. A place of the lattername then existed in Atchison County, Mo., on the western bank of the Big Tarkio. Itwas a station on the Saint Joseph and Council BluflP Stage line (to which Culbertson laterrefers) and is now part of the town of Milton. The 50 miles that Culbertson allows forthe 2 days of travel since their leaving Savannah, the general direction given for their McDBBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 25Land fine?rolling prairies. Cloudy all day and rain morning andevening. NISHNABOTANA RIVERMonday April 1st?To-day we have made 25 miles and are stoppingwith a gentleman named Cromwell just across the NishnabotanaRiver.=2Our host of last night at English Grove was a Mormon and intendsgoing to Salt Lake as soon as he can, and the sooner the better if hetoasts all travellers as he did us; tired as we were we could scarcelyget to sleep because of the intense heat of a big fire in the room andthe incessant chattering of a Magpie in the shape of a little peddlar.Our landlord was not well and could not himself see that the horseswere properly attended ; he expressed his great regret at this becausesaid he, when I know that all is done right I feel like a soldier whohas obeyed his superior?I am too good a soldier to let things be donewrong?I was a soldier once?not in the wars but on the militia paradeand then I took delight in doing every thing as it should be because itwould please the officer and save him trouble. We bid the soldier[our host] good-bye before breakfast and rode about 8 miles whenwe got a very good breakfast in a very plain cabin.The road to-day has been over the rolling prairie as before, and ithas been excellent, except early in the morning where there was mudbecause of rain last night. These prairie roads have been delightfulever since we left St. Joe except in bottom lands and between someof the hills; there is not much level road but it is generally smoothwith some declivity and through timber as it approaches rivers orsmall streams.The view as we approached the ferry over the Nishnabotana wasmagnificent.?^ The river is one of the most crooked [tortuous] I eversaw. A slight shower this evening.Wednesday April 3d?^Last night I could not make my usual en-tries because it was late when we stopped. The morning had beenshowery and therefore we had not left Cromwells, but about 12 O'clockAlex, determined to start although it still threatened to rain. How-ever it proved to be a good afternoon for travelling and we went 20miles. Just after leaving we met the Bluff stage coming down ; ?^this is a new enterprise and marks the progress of civilization ; a few route, and the fact that they have crossed both Little and Big Tarkio Creeks makes thepresumption that they were now at Irish Grove (or Milton) a fairly safe one. (For thisplace, see History of Holt and Atchison Counties, pp. 723-726.)" The Nishnabotana is the last considerable stream to enter the Missouri River in theState of Missouri. The travelers were now in Fremont County, Iowa, for in the entryof April 3d Culbertson says that a few miles before crossing this river they passed intothat state.^ For an account of the Nishnabotana and Its valley consult Petersen (1941, pp.280-291), ?* I. e., the Council Bluffs stage.890780?51 3 26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147years ago and there were scarcely any whites up here and now thereis sufficient travelling to warrant a stage twice a week between theBluffs and St. Joe. IOWAIt is only a two horse stage [vehicle] and like the early stages inthe East it don't travel at night. The distance to the Bluffs fromSt. Joe is 150 miles. The place commonly called Council Bluffs isnot the Council Bluffs marked on the maps but is considerably lowerdowm the River, the original place being now deserted. The presentBluffs is opposite Bellevue where there is a Presbyterian missionarystation, and it is called by different names?Point du Cou ^^ in French,or louse point in English, or the Bluffs.^^ A few miles before crossingthe Nishnabotana we passed into the state of Iowa and will travel inthat state until we cross the Big Sioux. This is the boundary claimedby the state and is much larger than the one proffered by Congress. Itseems to be a good distance from home away out in the western partof Iowa and it feels like it too when we get into these little log cabinswith their big fire places, big air holes and the old rifle over the door,or the mantel piece.Last night we had plenty of provender for man and beast, the formerdone up in plain style ; Alexander and I had a bed on which we hada first rate sleep although I rather think that at home we would havestaid up all night before lying in it. The roof of that part of thehouse in which we slept was of common bark which I am told makesa very good roof when put on with care. The wind blew very hardall night and this morning the whole sky was overcast with clouds bigwith rain. Alex, ordered the horses back but I told him that therewas a man in the house very sick with the measles, chicken pox or somedisease of that character and he soon determined not to stay longer.In about half an hour we packed up and started in a drizzling rainwith a strong wind, and it grew worse as we advanced, so that at theend of 3 miles Alexander thought it best to stop. We have here foundplenty of provender for the animals and good quarters for ourselves.But when I say good quarters I don't mean a fine brick house, or aframe house but a log cabin that has a good roof?a big fire placeand plenty of places for air holes. However it is a cold rain andwould be very unpleasant travelling so that I feel as well contentedas if I were in a much finer house. Our host and hostess are fromOswego Co., New York, near Lake Ontario ; she tells me that there is agreat deal of fever and ague here. And I should think there always " He should have written pou, not cou." It is confusing for Culbertson to speak of this place as "the present bluffs." Thewhole region was then known as Council Bluffs or the Bluffs. He refers particularly toa settlement in Iowa opposite Bellevue and the missionary station. (For Louse Pointsee footnote 58 and for Council Bluffs, some miles to the north, see footnote 63.) MCDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 27 will be ; for the bottom all along here is from 6 to 8 miles wide andvery level.I have forgotten to mention the very singular appearance of theBluffs along which we came yesterday. There are three roads to theBluffs, one called the bottom road along the river, the other runs alongthe foot of the Bluffs, and the third called the Bluff road, passes onthe high grounds; we chose the middle one and found it very goodexcept in several places where for quite a distance we travelled inwater several inches deep but the horses did not cut through. I don'tsee how these roads will ever be made good in wet weather, as thereis no rock in the country to Macadamize them, nor is wood plentyenough to make plank road.As we passed from the Bluffs to the low lands they presented a verysingular appearance, being very irregular in their shape, somethinglike the irregular piles of dirt around on one bank or any great exca-vation. They are about an equal distance from the river here, 6 or8 miles, but not in a continuous line, being broken up into a great manyhills some with a gradual slope and others with a perpendicular side.My brother says that they continue up to the Yellow Stone. Nearthe river there is timber. Alexander bought a fine horse for $100.00from a neighbor of Mr. Cromwell's ; he gave him to Jim to lead, butit was too much almost for him to ride and to lead and his horse threwhim before we had gone far and ran for a mile or two before Alex,could catch him. I found great pleasure in reading several chaptersin Eevelations and think that I have clearer views than I ever beforehad of the nature and design of that book.Thursday April Jfth.?To-day has been a dull one ; here we have beenall day where we stopped yesterday morning, detained by a severeNorth West storm and no signs of quitting yet. This morning it wassnowing, about noon there was no rain and signs of clearing off but inthe afternoon it began to rain again and now [is] almost as bad asever ; the wind is not so hard and is still in the same direction, but Ithink there are signs of a change. There is nothing here to entertainus ; the landlord is very reserved and scarcely speaks, but his wife andher mother are pleasant enough. We feel very much gratified thatwe are not in the crowded, dirty place where we spent Tuesday night.This morning I found an hour to pass away pleasantly in readingthe Scriptures; every day in travelling as at Princeton I have beenenabled to study these and I pray that it may continue to be so through-out my journey. There is but little chance for this at our stoppingplaces but as we seldom go out of a walk in travelling, I read them andread with profit. I have just finished the most profitable reading ofthe Revelations I have ever made and to-day I began to read theEpistles in course beginning at Corinthians. 28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Yesterday I wrote a joint letter to father and mother which we willmail at the Bluffs. It is a delightful occupation for me to think ofmy different friends from whom I am far away and to feel that theysometimes think of me.An old novel, called The Rose of Thistle Island, has afforded meentertainment to-day ; the scene is laid in Sweden and the story hasconsiderable of interest ; it is written in the Swedish language by MissEmilia Carlen and translated by some American gentleman.^^Friday April 5th?This has been the worst day for travelling thatwe have tried but we were so tired of laying by that we started out onthe first appearance of clearing off and we have come 20 miles as faras the Bluffs. The road has been the greater part of the way alongthe bottom and through the timber land of the Missouri and it hasbeen as bad as I want to see.Tliis place [Council Bluffs] is a miserable looking village *** and ourhotel is a miserable dirty place but nevertheless I have just eaten avery hearty supper. Opposite this place is Bellevue the seat of amission ; ?^ I feel very anxious to pay a visit to it but I will not havetime ; as we came up the river I had a fine view of the mission housea large white building on the west bank of the river.Saturday April 6th?I forgot to mention yesterday that we hadcrossed in the morning Five Barrel Creek commonly called KegCreek ; and in the afternoon Mosquito creek within five miles of theBluffs.^"Last evening Alexander and I crossed by the ferry to spend thenight with Mr. Peter A. Sarpy ,^^ a fur trader ; we got there after dark "Emilia Smith Flygars Carlen (1807-92), a prolific Swedish novelist, whose The Roseof Fistelon, published in 1842, was translated into English in 1844. A collected editionof her novels in 31 volumes was published at Stockholm, 1869-75.?8That is, Louse Point. (For the early history of this region consult Babbitt, 1916,pp. 69-239.) The present city of Council Bluffs was then called Kanesville (see note 63).The Culbertsons were at a settlement Kurz called "Iowa Point ... A forlorn place.None of the houses are built near the river, because the inhabitants so much dread losingtheir lives by the constant floods. As a result the town is already a mile from its originalsite . . . Hardly a dozen houses are inhabited here ; the people are, for the most part.Mormons" (Kurz, 1937, p. 60). Parker's map (1856) gives Traders Point as the settle-ment opposite Bellevue."Bellevue, Sarpy County, Nebr., then an American Fur Company post. Kurz visitedthere in May 1851 (1937, pp. 60-69). For Bellevue, consult J. Q. Goss, 1898, pp. 36-47;Edward L. Sayre, 1911, pp. 66-114 ; Mrs. E. Anderson, 1919, pp. 72-77. For SarpyCounty, consult S. D. Bangs, 1887, pp. 293-306. (See also footnote 62.)?" Five Barrel or Keg Creek entered the Missouri in the northwestern corner of FremontCounty, Iowa, a little below the mouth of the Platte ; Mosquito Creek, also from the Iowaside, about half way between the Platte and Bellevue.81 Pierre Abadie Sarpy (son of Gregoire Sarpy and Pelagic Labbadie) was born in SaintLouis in 1805. The Bellevue house was established under his management In the 1830*8.In May and June 1851, Sarpy was still occupying the post, for Kurz visited him (1937,pp. 60, 64). In 1855 he had a store at St. Mary's, Iowa (nearly opposite the mouth of tnePlatte), on the stage route between Council Bluffs and St. Joseph. He was then describedas "about 55 years of age ; rather below the medium height ; black hair, dark complexion ; well-knit and compact frame, and a heavy beard that had scorned a razor's touch formany a year. His manner was commanding; his address fluent, and in the presence ofthe opposite sex polished and refined" (Bangs, 1887, pp. 299-300), (Consult also AUis,1887. DB. 162-163.) MCDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 29and it was too late to visit Mr. M'kinney ^^ the Missionary, which wasa great disappointment for I felt a very great desire to do so. Mr.Sarpy lives in fur trader style and we had it pretty rough. We foundthere 8 or 10 Indians of the Ottoe tribe and I was much struck by thepowerful appearance of two of them. Three appeared to be chiefs;one was an old man and the other two middle aged ; they must havebeen more than six feet tall, finely formed but with countenances notwhat one expects to see with such noble forms. I could not repress afeeling of pity at seeing such men esteeming it a privilege to get aseat on the floor in such a place, where the very stable boys felt as ifthey had a right to curse them for "lousy Indians." Of course theIndians did not know what was said. The poor fellows annoyed usvery much in the night by coming into the place where we slept andtaking up their quarters there too and then talking a great deal. Inoticed that in talking they did not use our conversational key butthey spoke on a musical scale having apparently a regular rise andfall in the voice, and they used many gestures.About 8 O'clock A. M. we left the Bluffs and found the road verylevel until we reached Kanesville ^^ about 8 miles.KANESVILLEThis is a Mormon town and was full of people when we passedthrough because of to-morrow being the day for the meeting of theMormon conference. We met a great many on the road going to thesame meeting. The town is on level ground and it was almost im-passible [sic] on account of the mud. After leaving it, we againentered on the Bluffs and passed over a constant succession of hills.During the whole ride I thought the term "Mountains in Miniature"is the most expressive one to describe these Bluffs. They have allthe irregularity in shape, and in valleys that mountains have, butthey have no rocks and rarely timber. Some of the views affordedby them are very beautiful; one very fine was presented to-day; as ?^ This was the Rev. Edward McKinney who built a mission house and Indian school alittle below the Bellevue post in 1847?48 ; the mission (to the Oto and Omaha) was main-tained by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church (Old School). Thestaff consisted of McKinney and his wife, David B. Kead (assistant), Henry Martin(steward) and his wife, and Martha Fullerton (teacher). (Consult Missionary Herald,vol. 47, 1851, pp. 205-206; Bangs, 1887, p. 294; Allis, 1887, p. 133-166.)?' Henry W. Miller, a Mormon, settled about 1846 a little west of the old Council Bluffsblockhouse, and the village that formed around him was called Miller's Hollow. Uponpetition by Brigham Young, a post office named Kane was established at Miller's Hollow,January 17, 1847, and on April 8, 1848, at a meeting of the Mormons, the settlement wasofficially renamed Kanesville, in honor of Col. Thomas Leiper Kane who, though not aMormon, had been friendly to them. (Kane, 1822-83, was a brother of the celebratedArctic explorer Elisha Kane.) The population of Kanesville was said to have been 7,000In 1849, but after the departure of Orson Hyde it dropped to a little over 2,000. In 1853the name of the town was changed to Council Bluffs. (Consult Babbitt, 1916, pp. 16-17 ; History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, pp. 69-239.) 30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147we rose over the last Bluff I did not know it and thought to see thesame succession of hills that we had before when judge of my surpriseto behold a plain for miles in length before me.BOYER RIVERI had to stop and gaze upon the splendid sight and imagined howit would be improved by the rich carpet of grass which would soonclothe it. For the balance of the distance, we had principally thebottom lands; we crossed several streams the principal of whichwere the Little & Big pigeon creeks. About 5 O'clock we stoppedwith an old Mormon at the Boyer Eiver.^* To-day we had the hardestdinner that we have yet had ; great big buckwheat cakes formed theprincipal part. I begin to feel as though settlements were gettingmighty scarce./Sunday April 7th?To-day we have been travelling again but Iendeavored to fix my thoughts on subjects suitable to the day. Theywould occasionally wander to my different friends and ask whetherthey were employing their privileges as they should. It was pleasantfor me to feel that a bond of sympathy could at the throne of graceand in religious meditation bind pious hearts together. May theirprayers on my behalf be graciously answered by our common Father.To-day we passed Willow Creek, two forks of the Soldier Eiver, andthe main branch itself, and are now on the bank of the Little Siouxready to cross it in the morning.^^ Had some Elk meat for dinnerto-day and the men saw four antelopes.LITTLE SIOUX RIVERLast night we found exceedingly plain but very good quarters inthe house of Mr. Chase.^^ Both he and his wife are from Vermontand as soon as I learned that, I was sure of something good to eat andwell cooked too, and sure enough when supper was ready it was firstrate consisting of wild turkey and wild duck properly done up ; we had ^ Boyer River, the most considerable stream of central western Iowa, enters the Missouria few miles above Council Bluffs. The travelers were now somewhere near the linebetween Pottawattamie and Harrison Counties. The Nicollet map does not list the twoPigeon Creeks ; it does label a stream entering the Missouri immediately below BoyerRiver as Gopher Creek.*> Willow Creek is a branch entering Boyer River from the west in the extreme north-western corner of Pottawattamie County. Soldier River enters the Missouri in HarrisonCounty about halfway between the Boyer and the Little Sioux. The Little Sioux entersthe Missouri in the northwestern corner of Harrison County. The Boyer, the Soldier,and the Little Sioux are all described in Petersen, 1941, pp. 270-279, 264-269, 252-263.?? When he decided not to buy Vermilion Post in 1851, Larpenteur purchased a claim,about 85 miles down the Missouri, from Amos Chase, a Mormon, who had been an originalsettler at the Mormon settlement at the mouth of the Little Sioux. Chase died about1887, (Consult Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 2, pp. 296, 298-299, and footnotes 9, 10.) TheCulbertson were now at Little Sioux, Harrison County, Iowa. MCDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 31for our seats several chests, and two chairs, one a large rocking chairbut never did I relish a supper more. We slept soundly and aroseearly in the morning to enjoy a breakfast of wild fowl. Immediatelyafter, we prepared to cross the Little Sioux River and as there wasneither a bridge nor a ferry this was no slight job. Mr. Chase had acanoe and in that we took over every thing except the horses whichhad to swim for it. The carriage was taken apart and carried overin that way. This occupied us until about 12 o'clock and soon after,we started across a wide prairie.We had now left the settlements ; for several days houses had beenscarce and now we are to expect but one more many miles from this.We have therefore to-day been undisturbed in our travelling not hav-ing met a single person nor seen the signs of inhabitants since leavingthe river this noon and yet I can scarcely realize it ; here we are en-camped in the western wilds far from any house but I don't feel anylonliness [sic] , or any of those feelings which we expect to experiencein these circumstances. Our road this afternoon has been as near alevel as can be which has been favorable to making good travelling.Yesterday also we had a great deal of level road but just before comingto the river we had to cross the steepest bluff that I have yet seen. Weascended quite a steep bluff and I expected something of a declivityon the other side but judge of my fearful surprise to find that I hadto turn the wagon at a right angle to prevent it from going down theother side and then in a few feet I had to start down a very long andsteep ridge scarcely w4de enough for two carriages to pass. This wasrather a fearful undertaking for so unskilful a driver but summoningup all my courage I started and thanks to the good mules, we got downin safety. To-day again I was impressed with the resemblance of thebluffs to mountains ; they are perfect mountains in miniature wantingthe rocks and timber.I have noticed in all the streams the general characteristics of theMissouri ; flowing through an alluvial soil the banks are steep, theirwater dark and they are very crooked; they also have very swiftcurrents. To-day on the bottom I observed for the first time theremains of snails; their shells, injured by the weather, were verynumerous.We saw several antelopes in full flight as we came along the prairie.I have forgotten to notice the addition to our dogs, of a fine grey-hound given by Mr. Peter Sarpy to Alexander ; her name is Juno, butshe is of much more amiable disposition than the honorable personagefor whom she is named.Tuesday April 9th?To-day has been a day of lonesome travelthrough a long dreary prairie. We have made about 30 miles and 32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 14T are again encamped in a couley ^^ [gully] well protected from a stormshould one arise. When we left last night's encampment it was awarm beautiful morning but before 8 O'clock the wind became exceed-ingly cold and dark clouds threatened a storm. About 1 O'clock wecamped for dinner and rest, and I enjoyed our plain meal very much.We had no fresh spring water however and I can't drink this pondwater; to-night we are in the same fix so that tea must suffice me.Just before dinner we had the misfortune to lose our poor little dogTip; he was most likely overcome with fatigue and at the sight ofwater was seized with a fit of madness ; he commenced barking vio-lently, described two or three circles and then started off on the roadwe had just come and that's the last we have seen of him to the greatregret of all the company. After dinner Alexander rode out in searchof him but could see nothing of him. Just after stopping for thenight, the horses frightened and we had a regular stampede, all tookoff full flight but were brought back with some trouble.?^FLOYD'S GRAVEWednesday April 10th?This day has not forwarded us far on ourjourney although it has been a day of labors. We have made onlyabout 10 miles; we had breakfast and were off from our campingground by about 5i^ O'clock; after coming 6 or 8 miles we reachedthe Missouri and here found the house of a man named Thompson, aWhiskey trader with the Indians.^^ There was two men, and theyappeared to be brothers ; here they lived alone in a mean dirty cabinalone to make money by selling whiskey. One of them told me thata very good house which he was putting up was just for the purposeof selling whiskey and that his present house was too small. Al-though we had breakfasted we asked them to prepare some food forus and they soon did it, giving us coffee, warm bread and venison;although I was witness to the filth with which it was prepared I atevery heartily; the venison was good and I felt confirmed in the ?' Culbertson spells this word cooley, cooly, couley, but never uses the correct form : coul6e.^ In the second paragraph of the entry for April 12, he gives a further description ofthis prairie.69 "The title of the Indians . . . became vacant in 1847, and in the summer of 1848 ... a single pioneer, named William Thompson, settled at Floyd's Bluff?the first whiteman who became a permanent settler of the country. In the autumn of the same year hisbrother Charles and another man followed and spent the winter there, being at that timethe only white men in the county [Woodbury]. Anticipating an immense immigration, helaid out a town here and named it in honor of himself?Thompsontown ... To give itan air of business, and aid in its development, he erected here his cabin, and, on theorganization of the county in 1853, this was made the county seat. It was a sort of postfor Indian traders for some years, but the city lots were too steep for cultivating, or forbuilding, and, unfortunately, there was no place for a landing on the bank of the river,and the stakes are all that now remain to mark the progress of the town" (History ofWestern Iowa, 1882, pp. 176-177). McDebmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 33 opinion that venison ought never to be boiled. Thompson's house isjust at the foot of Floyd's Bluff, so called from being the burial placeof a man named Floyd, a Sargeant and member of Lewis and Clark'scompany. I went to the top and found there a part of the stake thatmarks the grave and the hollow indicating where the grave is ; it com-mands a fine extensive view and appears to be a fit place for the reposeof a member of so bold a company.?CROSSING OF WILLOW RIVERImmediately after breakfast we started for the Willow River,marked Floyd's on the maps (the second one of that name) ; ^ there wasonly a canoe to get us over and that was on the other side. How to getit was the question and as that must be by swimming or by raft it wasdetermined in favor of the former as being the more speedy. But hereanother trouble arose and that was, who was to be swimmer ? Being acold morning it required some nerve to jump into a deep and swift river.Nasselle however was preparing for it, when four Sioux squaws ap-peared on the opposite bank; it appeared to be very fortunate andAlexander called to them in their own language to bring the canoeover. They came to the water's edge and one got in, but before theothers could follow her the rope broke and the current bore the canoedownstream and then there was as much laughing and sport at theaccident as there would have been amongst as many civilized women ; their voices and their actions recalled strongly to mind the ways of myfair friends at home and this was still strengthened by their livelinessand pleasantry. Their voices were certainly very agreeable and hadthe softness that we usually ascribe to the female sex. They could nothowever boast of much beauty; their complexion was bordering onashy paleness.As we had the canoe we soon carried our baggage across?^took thecarriage apart and ferried it over and then put the horses in. Nearlyeveryone gave trouble and it would have afforded a horde of schoolboys infinite amusement but to us it was a serious trouble; howeverpatience and perseverance will do a great deal and at length with someaid from themselves all the horses were safely across and we preparedfor a fresh start. HOG WEED CREEKWe had now but five miles to go to our stopping place; this wouldhave been nothing had it not been for a little creek that intervened, "For a description (and sketch) of Floyd's Bluff see Catlin, 1848, vol. 1, pp. 4-5, pis.117, 118. The death of Charles Floyd is recorded in Coues, 1893, vol. 1, pp. 79-80." Floyd's River entered the Missouri a mile or two above Floyd's Bluff ; it is now ofcourse in the heart of Sioux City. What river lower down was also named Floyd's onCulbertson's map I do not Isnow. (For an account of Floyd's River see Petersen, 1941,pp. 245-251.) 34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 called Hog-weed Creek ; " at usual stages this has scarcely any waterin it but now being high it is probably four or -five feet wide; thisappears a trifle especially as the water is not more than three feetdeep but then the banks are nearly perpendicular and are 15 or Wfeet high, or rather low for the water is that far below the surfaceof the plain above. Here we have to unpack and unload the carriageagain, and to let it down by ropes; we then used it as a bridge andpassed most of the goods by it, and then fastened a long rope to thetongue, hitched the mules to the rope and soon were ready for a freshstart. BIG SIOUX RIVER?BRUYIERE'SAn hour's ride brought us to the Big Sioux River ^^ and here westop for the night with a Mr. Bruyiere ^* and will cross the river inthe morning. This will be no trifling job as the river is high andwide. Bruyiere lives here with the Sioux, very much as an Indian ; he has two wives who are very nice looking women indeed ; ^^ theyprepared for us a most excellent dinner of good wheat bread, Elkmeat, potatoes and coffee. This man had a fight with some Indianslately in which he wounded three of them, and yet he apears to bea quiet, modest, honest man.^*' I have to-day for the first time heardthe Sioux language and I think that it sounds very sweetly to the ear.I took a walk to some very high bluffs near this and enjoyed a mostmagnificent and extensive [extended] view of the Missouri and its " The only stream shown on the Parker map between Floyd's River and the Big Sioux islabeled Perry Creek." The Big Sioux was the largest stream they had yet had to cross ; the actual crossingis described in the entry for the 12th. They were still within the limits of the presentSioux City. (For an account of the Big Sioux, consult Petersen, 1941, pp. 229-244.) ''* According to C. R. Marks (1908), Theophile Bruguier was born in Montreal, August31, 1813, and died at Sioux City, February 18, 1895. For a long time he was employed atVermilion Post. He settled at the mouth of the Big Sioux in 1849, and in 1854 SiouxCity was laid out on land Joseph Lionnais bought from Bruguier. Marks located himabove the mouth of the Big Sioux ; but Culbertson's account corrects that statement.Kurz, in 1851-52, knew a Bruyiere who was an independent (?) trader in the Fort Unionregion (Kurz, 1937, pp. 213, 240, 274, 293, 310, 311). Coues located the Vermilion Post,at which Bruguier served in the 1830's, about 25 miles above the Vermilion Post men-tioned by Audubon {in Larpenteur, 1897, vol. 2, p. 287, footnote). (See also footnote 81below. ) " One of these wives was a daughter of War Eagle, chief of the Yankton Sioux, who diedat Bruguier's house in 1851 (History of Western Iowa, pp. 177-178). Marks said thatBruguier married three daughters of War Eagle (1908, p. 264). '? "After Bruguier resided there [at the Big Sioux] he had some trouble with his Indianneighbors. He had probably, after settling down, become less watchful of danger andin this trouble he was shot through the lungs by an Indian but he instantly killed hisassailant and then walked quickly to his house. Near it he fell. He was lifted by hissquaw wife and laid across the doorway in accordance with some Indian custom or etiquetteand his household raised the death song . . . Bruguier soon revived from his swoon anddemanded of her to stop howling and asserted with many oaths that he wasn't dead yetand no Indian could ever kill him . . ." (Marks, 1908, pp. 267-268). McDebmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 35 extensive [grand] prairies. We have just crossed one 50 miles inlength. To-morrow morning we leave Iowa.CROSSING BIG SIOUXFriday April 12th?Yesterday early in the morning the men beganthe work of crossing the Big Sioux River and although they had theaid of Bruyiere and his two men, they did not get through until about2 O'clock. The river at this point is generally very shallow becausethe Missouri backs it so much that all the mud is dropped here, butnow the river is very high and swift so that it was very troublesometo swim the horses. But at length every thing was crossed safelyand we went to enjoy again the good cookery of Bruyiere's Squaws ; they gave us for dinner a kind of fritter, called "bangs," " honeyand coffee. About 3 O'clock we were all over the river and off so asto get out of the timber about 4 miles. The road was very bad as Ihave found it in all the wood lands through which I have passed ; atlength we reached the edge of the woods and made our camp for thenight on the banks of the Sioux.^^ The wind was blowing very hardand right from the north, so that it was not at all pleasant. Our meathad all given out and we had forgotten to get any, so that our supperconsisted of a wild goose which Nersalle had shot in the morning.Our party was increased by Bruyiere and his man who were bringing129 robes to Vermillion, which Alexander had bought from him. Wehad a good deal of talk around the fire ; Bruyiere told me that rattle-snakes are very numerous in the prairies but that a weed called blackweed is a sure and speedy cure for the bite.^^ Nersalle told an adven-ture of his as he came down which illustrates the great danger oftravelling in the prairies at certain seasons of the year. As he wassleeping in the open prairie one night, the fire overtook him beforehe was aware of its approach; there was no chance for escape butby a cooley which was near and into it he rushed in time to save hislife ; the fire came sweeping on with terrific rapidity, but passed overthe cooley only scorching his coat; one of his horses however wasso badly burnt that he died in a few days.The prairies along the Missouri are many miles long and 10 or 15wide ; we passed over one about 50 miles wide between the Big Siouxand Little Sioux and had no running water; we used the pond and '^Beigne?a fried cake, very popular on the western frontier (McDermott, 1941, p. 22)." If Culbertson has not made an error in writing Sioux here, they must have gone northon the west bank of that river for some distance before turning west for Vermilion Post.Parker's map shows a road crossing the Sioux near its mouth and then headed north-west, roughly paralleling and at no great distance from the Missouri."This was probably the "racine noir" of the French (McDermott, 1941, p. 132). 36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147lake water. I have noticed several lakes within the last two daysall of a peculiar shape?that of a half moon and having wood onthe inner side.^? I am told that all these lakes on the prairies are filledwith fish which are left there from the high waters of the Missouri.Last night we encamped just on the edge of the woods; during thenight the wind increased to a powerful gale and roared with tremen-dous violence ; the men were very cold as they had no protection fromit but we were quite comfortable in our carriage, our only fear beingthat a tree might blow on us. We were up bright and early andas soon as we had breakfasted were off for the Vermilion.^^ Thewind had not decreased in violence and our road lay right along thelevel prairie; it was intensely cold and the wind almost stopped thehorses sometimes. Alexander and I got in the buggy and by aid of thediligent use of the lash we reached the trading house about 12 O'clock ; it was about 25 miles from where we had crossed. We were soonenjoying the fire in Schlagel's house and were comforted by somedinner. The men came about 2 O'clock.^*VERMILION POSTHeretofore we have been travelling within the States although outof the settlements, but as soon as we had crossed the Big Sioux wewere on Indian ground. A part of the Sontee ^ Indians stay abouthere ; the main body of the tribe live on the Mississippi and St. Peter'sKivers ; about 60 lodges being here. About 25 lodges of the Yank-tons^ stay about here. But there are none at this post just now as *" The lakes so strange to Culbertson were the ox-bow lakes common to the whole stretchof the Missouri River, as to other similar meandering streams. Parker's map names sev-eral of those he passed in Iowa : Soldier Lake, Silver Lake, Crooked Lake ; Blue Lakeand Brown Lake are names given two of them today." The post, not the river. When Audubon visited the Vermilion Post, May 16, 1843,Pascal Cerr6 was in charge (Audubon and Coues, 1897, vol. 1, pp. 493-495). In February1850, Larpenteur arranged with the Company to take charge of Vermilion on conditionthat he could purchase it at a stipulated price ; he went there in the summer of 1850 andremained one year but decided the post would not suit him and on May 15, 1851, he leftit (Larpenteur, vol. 2, pp. 286-292). In a long note (p. 287) Coues discussed the possiblelocation of Vermilion Post and decided that that of the 1830's with which Bruguier wasconnected was some 25 miles above the later post. Culbertson's narrative shows thelocation of Larpenteur's Vermilion Post, concerning which Coues expressed some doubt."When Kurz headed up the river on the 8t. Ange a year later (as Picotte's clerk)he noted on June 25 that "Fort Vermilion is abandoned. Schlegel, the bourgeois, camewith bag and baggage on board our steamer, to proceed 60 miles farther up the riverand establish a new post . . . [June 26]. The Prussian Schlegel drank all my Frenchbrandy on the sly, as preventive for cholera. . . . Schlegel and his native mistress wereput ashore with all their goods and chattels at the Isle de Bonhomme, where he intendsto establish a new trading post In the land of the Sioux" (Kurz, 1937, p. 70). Kurzstopped there coming down river, May 8, 1852 (ibid., p. 333).? According to Hodge, "the name Santee was applied by the Missouri River Dacota to allthose of the group living on Mississippi and lower Minnesota rs." (Hodge, 1910, p. 460.)* The Yankton, one of the seven primary divisions of the Dakotas, were at this timelocated chiefly on the Vermilion River (Hodge, 1910, pp. 988-989). See Culbertson's"Tabular View" in Appendix 1 below (pp. 132-137). Palliser, who had a poor opinion ofthe post Itself, was much Interested in a Sioux encampment there (1853, pp. 95-99). MCDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 37they are out after Buffalo and therefore provisions are scarce ; we hadsome fresh Buffalo tongue yesterday, however, which tasted very niceand tender. We met on the prairie three Indians going to Bruyieres,ladened with Buffalo meat.The Missouri here is full of snags; indeed it is so at almost everypoint where I have had a chance to look at it; the higher we go up,the worse it appears to get, but the danger from these is of coursedecreased by the high water ; every few miles places can be seen wherethe river has changed its channel, sometimes in one year moving offa mile or two from a place where a good channel had been; it issaid that at Old Council Bluffs the river flows three miles fromwhere it did when the Fort was first built. All along its course theycalculate for these changes and don't put substantial buildings wherethere is danger of the bank moving away. The danger of boatinghere is also increased by what are called Rapicages (I spell as theypronounce) which are fearfully rapid flows of the water as it risesover sand bars and moving them off. The water rushes over [thebar], roars like a cataract and runs [in] high waves so that if a smallboat be struck, it is swallowicd up at once. When the bar has beenswept away and the full rise has been attained these [Rapicages]subside.Alexander determined to remain two days at this post (Vermilion)so that we have had rest to-day and shall have also tomorrow. Weall needed it, or at least I am sure that I did, for although my healthand strength have increased wonderfully since leaving home I feelas though some rest would be very agreeable. And so it has been,but still Monday morning will find me ready for a fresh start. Alex-ander has just been joking me about my increase of flesh and saysthat my shoulders are three inches broader than they were ; certainlyI am much stronger and have endured more fatigue than I could havefor years back; I bear the cold, the wind, the fatigue of riding, orwalking and then am ready for my meals and enjoy them plain asthey may be and not excessively clean, and then I sleep soundly andrise refreshed.Sleeping in the camp does not appear to affect me ; our bed is verygood and we are very warm in the wagon and sleep as comfortableas in most of the houses in this western country ; even during the ter-rible and very cold wind of Thursday night we were very warmalthough the wind seemed as if it would move the wagon sometimes,and it blew in also where the curtains met, but this did no harm. To-day has been one of preparation for the remainder of the trip about300 miles ; my gun has been cleaned and with it I frightened two birdsso badly that they flew from the bushes on which they were sitting.Alexander skinned a canvass back duck killed by one of the men. 38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147The Missouri rose very rapidly this evening. Bruyiere promised tocollect some sculls for me.Sunday April IJi-th?Rested all day.This has been one of the few sabbaths that have been days of restto me since leaving home and although I have been far from anychristian communion it has been a pleasant thing for me even to re-main quiet. My little Testament has been my only religious consellorand I could have had no better ; it has always been my opinion thatchristians are too ready to study very closely the biographies of emi-nently pious men and to imitate perhaps their faults, or at least theireccentricities while they neglect to study the eminently pious spiritof the sacred writers. The Bible is to me the book most prolific inexamples of christian spirit and of christian practice and today asI read some of the Epistles of Paul I could not but think how allchristians would be profited if they would study more than they dohis personal character?if they would overlook for a time his doctrinalwritings and search for the spirit with which these doctrines are urged.Such a study of Paul's writings would bring us all to a more practicaland personal apprehension of Christ and would lead to a cultivationof that spirit of christian sympathy and compassion for the souls ofmen that are such conspicuous characteristics of Paul. I love to readthe lives of eminent christians. I love to have my sluggish soul firedby their burning zeal?I love to regard Edwards," and Nevins ** andM'Cheyne" as my examples in preaching the gospel but still I feelthat if I drink not often at the fountain of spiritual life my draughtsfrom the stream will be of little value. It has been agreeable to havemy thoughts wander off today to my friends who are many?manyhundreds of miles from me. The pleasant days of my Clifton lifehave been renewed ; in imagination I have seen the different ones therein their usual employments and have hoped the dear Mrs. H. is outof her sick room.Why is it that I love to think of that family? It must be prin-cipally because of the christian kindness I there received and of thechristian progress I there made and because the two most usefulyears of my life were spent there. The influence then exerted by me,I was enabled by the grace of God to feel to be very important and1 strove to make it useful to my pupils; it was a constant thought ?? Possibly Jonathan Edwards ; or Bela Bates Edwards, 1802-52, noted clergyman andeducator of Massachusetts (DAB, vol. 6, p. 27).*? Possibly Alfred Nevin, 1816-90, of Shippensburg, Pa., a Presbyterian clergyman, editor,and author ; licensed to preach at Carlisle, 1840 ; served the German Lutheran Church(sic) at Chambersburg, 1845-52. Or; Edwin Henry Nevin, 1814-89, clergyman, educator,and author, brother of Alfred Nevin ; graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, 1836-.(Consult DAB, vol. 13, pp. 438-440.)? Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Scottish clergyman and author, 1813-43 (DNB, vol. 35, p. 3).(See also footnote 140.) MCDKEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 39that they would meet me before God's judgment bar and would bewitnesses for or against me and therefore it was my endeavor to actin view of that account but I well knew that many a time my conductwas not what it should have been. I received great pleasure froman affectionate letter written to me by my esteemed pupil FreddyHobson and received at St. Louis; he spoke in encouraging terms ofhis own spiritual state and then stated that Charles Woodson " hadlately made a profession of religion; my heart was indeed rejoicedat this for I had long hoped for his conversion as well as that of eachof my other pupils and I earnestly pray that my letter to him maybe blessed to the strengthening of his faith.I thought of home?of my aged parents and of my little effort tomake them happy in their old days and prayed for the salvation oftheir own souls and of the souls of each of their household. It is goodindeed to feel that you are remembered by distant friends and thispleasure I always enjoy ; I feel sure that to-day not only those of myown household have thoughts of me and jny kind brother but alsothat my dear young Princeton friends have had a thought of theirdistant friend and classmate. We are not grateful as we should befor this christian and family sympathy; we should ascribe it to itstrue source?the influence of the gospel and we should make an espe-cial thanksgiving to God for it.Alexander and I frequently speak of Simpson ; ?^ we cannot butfeel a regret that he is so situated as to preclude almost all expec-tation of ever seeing him again; how pleasant, we say, would it beto meet him and his family at home, or even to anticipate such a meet-ing but as he is now situated we can't hope for that. For my own partI would love to have his christian counsel and sympathy in mystudies and future labors, should God spare my life?I have duringmy whole course longed for this and yet I feel that he is right indoing as he has done. My own heart don't lead me to do as he hasdone but I understand something of the noble character of the mis-sionary work and I can sympathize somewhat with the spirit thatprompts others to labor in it.?May God bless him and his in theirself-denying labors. *? Freddy Hobson and Charles Woodson apparently had been pupils of Culbertson duringhis short period of teaching at Clifton.?? Michael Simpson Culbertson (Jan. 18, 1819-August 25, 1862) was the oldest child ofJoseph Culbertson by his second wife, Frances Stuart?a half-brother therefore of Alexanderand a full brother of Thaddeus. Michael Simpson entered West Point July 1, 1835, wascommissioned second lieutenant in the First Artillery, July 1, 1839. After service on thenortheastern frontier and as assistant professor of mathematics at West Point, he resignedfrom the Army April 15, 1841, to enter the Princeton Theological Seminary. He was gradu-ated in 1844, married Mary Duncan on May 16 of that year and went out immediately toChina as a missionary, where he published a translation of the Bible into Chinese (1855),and died of cholera. (See Culbertson, 1893), pp. 163-165, 169, 184-185; Cullumi, 1868,vol. 1, p. 575.) 40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY IBull. 147HIGH WATERSMonday April 15?To-night I feel too tired to do much writing:this has been a day of labor without much head way ; Alexander haddespatched two men with an ox-team to take [procure] a canoe toaid us in crossing the Vermillion Rirer and early this morning westarted expecting to overtake them and to get over to-day. But un-certainty always attends human affairs and this has been our experi-ence ; before reaching the bluffs about an hour after we had left thehouse we came on to the water which had filled the low part of theprairie from the high stage of the Missouri ; here we were completelyat a stand for a time, for this water passes down the prairie into theBig Sioux so that there was no possibility of going around it, and theremight be 10 feet of water in some parts ; however after a reconnoitrewe ascertained that the water did not extend to the Bluffs and wasnot more than 4 feet deep in the deepest part ; so we all started acrossand rode about one mile in the water. It was very cold on the feetas the horses splashed the water on us at every step.The mule which Alexander had got from IVIr. Schlagel to draw acart with corn, would not cross, so that he had to send back his mulesto bring the cart, and when they came over he let them remain in thecart and put two horses in the buggy, and fortunately they proved tobe very good for harness. We then moved on and soon reached themouth of the Vermilion *? but there was no crossing then because ofthe extreme high water ; the men had gone up the river with the boatand we followed their track; it soon turned from the bottom to thebluff; here was a very steep hill but the men took hold of the buggyand helped them up with it ; on the top of this bluff was an immensetract of table land the most level that I had seen. Here we soon lostthe track and had the pleasure of describing a great circle and find-ing ourselves at the starting point in a short time.Then there was a look for the track of the ox team and at lengthNassel found it and we followed it ; we kept on for a long time andfinally turned down to the banks of the river and made our camp muchto the comfort of man and beast. My supper of meat, bread andcoffee eaten in camp style, was relished mighty well and here I amwriting this by way of dessert in the buggy, sitting tailor fashionon our bed. The wind is very high and cold and yet I calculate on agood sleep to-night. All the bottom here is full and water and asAlexander says [truly] "you can't see the river for water." How weshall get over, time only will show. The bluffs opposite the Vermilionpost had some large stones and gravel on them. "w Coues estimated the distance between the Post and the river to be about 10 miles. (Seefootnote 81 above.) MCDBEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 41Tuesday April 16th?^We are at length across this Vermilion River ; it is no wider than the Canococheague creek in Chambersburg but ithas given us considerable trouble in getting over it. We have trav-elled about 20 miles to-day and have gotten above where the banks areoverflowed so that by the aid of the canoe brought from the VermilionTrading House we easily got over; to-morrow however we shall haveto swim the horses which will take a few hours. Our route to-daylay over widely extended and very level prairies without wood andwith but little water. Almost as far as the eye could reach therewas nothing to be seen but wide spread level land covered with thedried grass of last season. Did I experience that elevation of mindso often ascribed to the beholding of these grand prairies? No, I didnot, for it is one thing to be thrown in ecstacies by the description ofthese magnificent peculiarities of this western country, as one isseated by a warm fire surrounded by all the comforts of home and itis another to travel over them when they are covered by dry grass only,with a regular North Easter blowing in your face and the thermometerbelow the freezing point. And yet I have been filled with feelings ofdelight as my eyes have rested upon some of the views of this prairieland ; my thoughts have been raised by them to their great Creatorthese wide-spread fields untouched by the artistical skill of man haveled me to think of him from whose hands they came as they are now,and I have felt that when clothed with their rich carpet of green thatthey must be all that the most romantic have pictured them.PRAIRIE FIREWe saw before us to-day for a long time the smoke of burning prai-ries ; at length we came in sight of the flame which must have been milesin length and in a short time our road lay right through it. What isnow to be done, thinks I; my doubts were soon solved for Nasselletramping it out with his foot for a few feet we all passed through.Why how is this ; some may say, we thought it a fearful thing to meetfire in the prairies ? and so it is when the wind blows with the fire, butto-day the wind was against it and therefore the fixe made but slowprogress. About 1 O'clock we reached the river and found here twolodges of Indians. We had our meal prepared in one of them by ourman, and Alexander and I ate there, which was my first meal in anIndian lodge. It is now very cold, and threatens snow. Gravel andlarge red and blue stones still seen on the bluffs.Thursday April 18th?My inkstand has served me a scurvy trick andspilled all my ink so that henceforth I must write with pencil. Yes-terday was the dullest day I have yet had ; it snowed and we could nottravel ; our quarters were a small Indian lodge crowded with childrenand dogs and the small intervening spaces well filled with smoke. I890780?51 4 42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147joined a black man named John from the Vermilion post, in huntingducks ; our success was but poor but I gained an appetite for dinner.In the afternoon it became a little warmer and Alexander fortunatelydetermined to cross over the horses. The Indians also moved and onputting up their lodge again they stretched it to its full capacity, sothat we were more comfortable.The master of the lodge had brought in six fine large ducks and wehad several of them cooked for supper ; plain as the style was I thoughtthem delicious and ate very heartily of them. During the night thewind blew most violently and it became intensely cold. I thought itwas also raining but was mistaken. The men made for their sleepingapartments, little houses of twigs covered with a part of their blanketsand there had very comfortable protection from the storm. I wasdisturbed by the noise of the wind and the cold, but notwithstandingthis I had a delightful dream of being at home on a most beautifulday and enjoying the society of most kind friends. What a contrastbetween the dream and the reality.In the morning we found it clear, very cold and a violent Northwind blowing but we determined to start and soon Indians and allwere on the way. I thought we would have afforded an admirablescene [subject] for a picture illustrating travel on the prairies; inmoving off we got considerable. . . .,^^ and with the strange appear-ance of the Indians, their pack horses and their pack dogs^ theirsqualling babes on the backs of their mothers and our own ratheroutlandish appearance, there was a fine scene; just as we ascendedthe hill and reached the plain I thought the appearance the mostpicturesque. We have not made more than 20 miles to-day and ourway has been over dreary plains for many miles almost perfectlylevel and destitute of wood and water; occasionally however atintervals we would come on a small stream with a little wood.WHITE EARTH FORKWe are now encamped on the White Earth Fork of the Vermilion."^We had not made the camp before the Indians discovered traces ofa Buffalo and were after it ; soon they came back saying it was killed ; it was a cow and had become mired so that they killed it with theknife. This is the first one that we have seen and it is unusual to seethem down this low on the Missouri. I have taken two specimens of *i The blank is in the original manuscript.^ The narrative is not clear, but apparently the Culbertsons traveled north, along theeast bank of the Vermilion, for 20 miles before they were able to cross. They then continued(west?) entil they struck the White Earth Fork. The Vermilion was also known on earlymaps as the White Stone or White Earth River. T. A. Culbertson's White Earth Fork ofVermilion was probably that western (right) branch of the Vermilion which enters themain stream just above the town of Vermilion, S. Dak. McDbemott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 43 stone from this little valley ; one, something like marl in its configu-ration, is from a small mass of rock rising right out of the hill sidefor a few feet; the soil around it being the usual black loam. Theother is a specimen of the rock from which I suppose this is calledWhite Earth Fork; it is from a perpendicular bluff about 50 feethigh on the fork and the whole of it appears to be of the same softwhite stone as the specimen ; it was broken with my fingers from themass of the rock. The bluff fronts nearly due east I think. Thehills on this valley and all along to-day have constantly exhibitedgravel and large red and blue stones which appear to have been de-posited there from water. Timber is very scarce on the VermilionEiver.Friday April 19th?^We were off this morning about 6 O'clock ; theweather was still unsettled but we were anxious to reach the River aJacques and to cross it, for then our trouble in crossing rivers will benearly over. The road to-day was over prairie more undulating thanthat of yesterday. We had gone but a short distance before our Indianguide pointed out some Buffalo but I could only discern somethingblack away in the distance ; soon after he showed some more and in ashort time we could discern several bands in different directions.About 10 O'clock we crossed a small stream called Black Earth River,a fork of the Vermilion.^^ It detained us a short time : the squawswaded over or made a small bridge and then had to pull the packs oftheir animals across, one old woman probably 80 years old had a bigdog for her pack horse; he generally worked very well and kept upwith the horses easily but as we started this morning there was a steepand high hill just at first; up this he appeared unwilling to go andcould only be persuaded so to do by the administration of sundry blowswell put on. ?* What stream Culbertson meant by the Black Earth River cannot be determined, norcan the position of the party at this time. Warren in 1855 traveled from Fort Pierreto Sioux City high up on the prairie ; to his summary of distances he added informationabout another road which more nearly approximates the route of the Culbertsons : "Asthis route has very little wood, it is not safe In very cold weather, and as at such timeswe may calculate on crossing the Vermilion and James rivers, near their mouths, onthe Ice, the route near the Missouri should be talsen. The following distances, &c., alongit were given me by Mr. Henry Goulet : From The Big Sioux ferry go direct to near themouth of the Vermilion, where the point of the bluffs end ; 14 miles from the Big Siouxis a lake, with large willows for fuel ; 4 miles further, plenty of wood at a spring ; thenceto Vermilion 16 miles ; take now the ridge of the high prairie straight to where Jamesriver comes out from the bluffs, in 16 miles you reach White Clay creek ; water in aspring, and wood plenty ; thence to James river, 17 miles ; from this river to the forksof Manuel creek is 25 miles, and here you are 12 miles from the Missouri, not far fromI'Eau qui Court river ; at the forks plenty of wood. The next camp will be on Andy'slake, 27 miles ; here wood is plenty ; from this lake to Yagalinyaka Creek, 14 miles, woodplenty ; thence to Pratt's creek, 20 miles ; thence to Bijou hills, 17 miles ; thence to Crowcreek, 25 miles. If this route should be taken in the spring and summer, the Vermilionand James rivers must be crossed by a ferry" (Warren, 1856, p. 34). From Crow Creekto Fort Pierre the lower road was apparently the same as Warren's own route. 44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147RIVER A JACQUESAfter crossing the creek the two Indian men went after the Buffalowhich were quite near ; we came on and reached the river a Jacques ^about 12 O'clock. I was glad to go into camp for I felt much fatigued ; we have for many days had very high winds and for two days we havebeen travelling through snow a few inches deep ; this is not much buthardly to be expected in April and makes the walking fatiguing. Toget to the river however is not to get over it ; for the river is far beyondits banks, caused principally by the back water of the Missouri fromwhich we are about 10 miles distant. We shall have to go some dis-tance up the river before we shall be able to cross. Soon after campinga buffalo appeared on the bottom above us ; Nasselle started after himbut his gun missed fire and so we missed the game. Dinner wasscarcely ended before Nasselle discovered another below us and he,Alexander, and I, went after him ; we found him in a cooley about i/4of a mile off and soon despatched him but as he was exceedingly poor inflesh we took nothing but the tongue. When we returned to the campwe found the Indian hunters back ; they had killed two cows and theircalves, which perhaps had not seen the light.All afternoon the Indians have been eating; I have taken some ineach man's lodge but as I had eaten very heartily at dinner I was notprepared for feasting much after it. As I was resting in the wagonAlexander called me to come in and eat some of the calf ; I went and ateit although not with much relish, but it was not as disgusting as per-sons might suppose and if my dinner had been a few hours earlier Ithink this very young veal would have tasted well. I took some of thebuyon [sic for bouillon!] that is, the water in which the meat wasboiled and found it very sweet and quite drinkable. Scarcely any partof the buffalo can be mentioned which is not eaten ; the calves in thewomb are taken and cooked in the liquor in which they are and areesteemed a great dish by the Indians ; they eat the liver and the mani-fold raw as it comes from the animal and almost every other part.It is still very cold and cloudy, threatening a storm ; for many dayspast the thermometer has been below the freezing point and we havehad weather suitable for January. The fresh air however has doneme great service and I don't feel at all the worse for the exposure andfatigue. ?^ The Jacques, James, Yankton, or Dakota River. Audubon (1843) wrote that theRivlfere a Jacques was "named after a man who some twenty or more years ago settledupon its banks, and made some money by collecting Beavers, etc., but who is dead andgone" (Audubon and Coues, 1897, vol. 1, p. 501). Audubon, however, was Incorrect, forthe river was called Jacques at least as early as the 1790's. A few lines later in thisparagraph Culbertson Informs us that they reached the Jacques about 10 miles above itsmouth. From the entry for April 20 it will be seen that the party went 15 miles upstreambefore they could cross ; it was not until the morning of the 25th, however, that Culbertsoncould write with satisfaction that they were safely over the Jacques. McDeemott] CTJLBERTSON JOURNAL 45Saturday April 20?Just one month from St. Louis ; what a con-trast between that day and this? We have travelled about 15 milesto-day over prairie land near the river and have at length reached aplace where it is possible to cross although the water is still very high.We were in rather low spirits until this fact was ascertained but wefelt quite a change as soon as it was announced. Plenty of buffalomeat in camp but short allowance of bread. Rocks and gravel stillseen although not so frequent as for several days past ; some are evi-dently the cropping out of rock beneath the surface; saw one verymuch like the one seen in the Wliite Earth Fork. Too tired to writemore?Timber scarce ; more plenty further up.Sunday April 21st?We are yet on the east bank of the River aJacques, and this has been one of the longest days I have ever passed.It really appears as though it had 48 hours instead of the usual allow-ance of 24. We arose early and found it snowing with every appear-ance of storm for the day. This of course put a stop to passing theriver, which I liked very much as afforded a quiet sabbath. But it wastoo unpleasant to read inside or outside of the lodge and besides thatI became fidgetty and restless and could not have read if books hadbeen near me. About 10 O'clock there was some appearance of clear-ing off and a warm afternoon. Alexander determined to cross butby the time that things were ready for it, the wind got around to thenorth again and blew violently so that it was impossible for the horsesto go over. We all then settled down to spend at least one more nighthere ; I felt tired and took a short walk on the hill for exercise. WhenI returned the Indians were preparing to go for buffalo, which hadappeared in great number to the north ; in a few minutes they wereoff and are now probably giving some of them a good chase.It is now intensely cold and threatens a terrible snow storm, and Ialmost wish it would come for then perhaps we would have some clearweather; the sun has been very sparing with his favors lately as wehave not seen the light of his countenance for some days and but veryseldom for two weeks past. But unfavored as we have been in somethings, we have been greatly blessed in others, for if we had not foundbuffalo and Indians to kill them we would now likely be in a campvery scarce of provisions; but as it is, the only thing we feel con-strained to economise in, is bread. This I have not tasted for twodays and probably will not for some days to come ; we have a little butwe save it, lest we should run out of meat. We are rich in buffalomeat and as the cow killed yesterday had some fat we had the pleasureof making a breakfast on steak. I ate some pudding to-day, madeby our hostess, of buffalo meat cut into about as large a piece as a per-son would take at a mouthful and stuffed in a skin which probably hadnot seen water after being taken from the animal. 46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147I am now sitting in the lodge with four little girls playing oppositeme. Alexander is sleeping at one side and Jim frying some fat onthe other, while several dogs of various sizes and colors are enjoyingthemselves about us. There is quite a good fire in the middle andthe smoke ascends from the top ; we find this lodge a great protectionin such weather as we have had. Since the wind has again becomeso cold and violent the men have moved their fire into the hollowjust above where they will be protected from the wind.To-day I hope has been to my distant friends a more agreeableand a more sacred one than it has been to me. Here the sound ofthe church bells are heard not and although there is quiet enough itis not the sacred stillness of the sabbath. The privileges of religionare great if we only knew how to prize them, and far from christiancommunion as I am I feel as if I would not exchange my hope inChrist for anything the world can give.Monday April 22nd?Last night was the coldest we have yet ex-perienced ; it would have done very well for December but in Aprilit feels very much out of place. However we past it very comfort-ably in the buggy but the men must have been very cold, for thewind blew so hard that there was great danger of setting the prairieon fire so that they put their fire out. The sun arose clear this morn-ing and everything had the appearance of winter; the men were outto find the horses which had strayed off during the night and didnot return until about 11 O'clock. I enjoyed the buffalo steaks andcoffee very much and have felt well all day. About 12 O'clock Iwent with one of the men after the meat of two cows which he andone Indian Landlord had killed ; we brought it all home and our campis full of good things to eat. I see [hear] the Indians returning withanother load. The buffalo are seen all around us and on the oppositeshore. All the cows killed have calves which are esteemed a greatrarity. The weather is too cold to swim the horses over so that weare fixed here until warm weather comes again.I was told to-day by a man well acquainted with the River a Jacquesthat there were numerous salt springs along its shores, one is nearour camp and they are more numerous above. Good timber is alsomore plenty above this, here it is scarce.Wednesday April 21^?Yesterday was another dull day ; we are stillbecalmed by the wind if such an expression be allowable; that is weare deterred from crossing the river by the great excess of wind andcold. For variety I took my gun in the afternoon and started afterducks up the river; my first shot was a lucky one and laid low theunfortunate duck that had fallen into my path. I went into thewater about 10 inches deep to get him and walked the remainder ofthe afternoon with wet socks and moccasins, without being injured MCDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 47by it ; this shows how greatly I have been benefited by my trip. Thismorning I armed again and started out after some booty ; my principalobject was to get a good duck to skin and stuff. The first one I shotat was a little diver, a beautiful little duck with a black head, andblack and grey back ; he never noticed my first, second nor third shotbut becoming foolhardy remained very near to me ; I fired again andhe was numbered with the dead. For several hours more I huntedbut had no better success than scaring several ducks and breakingthe wing of one. He was on a small stream in a cooley and whenhit happened to be in a pool quite deep and wide. According to theircustom he ran to the shore and hid but finding himself discovered,ran back into the pool again before I could get him. I made all kindsof noises, threw at him and tried to get him into shallow water butwith no success. There he remained until he tired me out; then Iresorted to cunning and the bird outwitted me; I pretended to goaway but lay down in the grass and watched him; immediately hewent to the shore and struggled out into the grass: thinks I you'remine now, but try my best I could not find him and had to come awaywithout him.When I reached the camp it was 12 O'clock and Jim had dinnerfor me; it consisted of an onion, some boiled sweet corn, water andmost excellent buffalo roast done before the fire on a stick. I stuckthe stick in the ground near me and made one of the most deliciousdinners that my memory bears in mind. After dining I enjoyed apipe and a snooze and then fell to work to skin a large duck whichAngelo had killed : it was no slight job and two hours and a half hadpassed before it was through and badly done at that; it requires thegreatest degree of patience and mine was all in requisition, howeverthinks I, Audubon himself did not learn to skin birds in a day. Herehave I in the wilds of the River a Jacques without any instructor takenmy first lessons in this art : what shall the end be ? It is now a beauti-ful, clear warm evening ; we have been here since Saturday noon andit is now Wednesday but there is a prospect of getting over to-night.The wind has lulled a little and already two horses are over ; the poorfellow had to swim about half a mile but I believe they have arrivedsafely. I must stop and go to work to cross.Thursday April ?5?^We got over the river last night and all againsettled down by 8 O'clock. Just as I went over the scene appeared tome most picturesque and wild; on one side the Indians, their pack-horses and children were scattered for about i/^ a mile ; on the oppositeshore were all our horses grazing at their leisure while the canoewas moving swiftly and smoothly in the water and a glorious sunset was gilding the whole scene. We arose for an early start thismorning but the horses had gone off during the night and the men 48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147did not get back with them until nearly 8 O'clock. I have been muchstruck with the great fatigue endured by these voyageurs without asingle grumble ; this morning they were all out before 4 O'clock afterthe horses and were on the run till 7% O'clock; when they cameback they packed their horses immediately, took a piece of boiled meatin their hand and a cup of coffee and have been travelling hard allday without any thing to eat, and now are off a mile for wood & Ihear no murmurs.This has been a clear and very warm day, so that it has been quitefatiguing to travel. Buffalo ^^ very numerous. The wind has turnedNorth this evening and blows violently. Much to my regret it blewmy thermometer from its place and broke it.We have no wood at this camp and we cooked our supper withrushes ; water bad and all day have had nothing but pond water, whichtastes better than at first. We are now very near the Missouri.Observed to-day more frequent deposites of stone than at any pre-vious place ; came across several little hillocks whose tops were almostwhite with them, some as big as a man's head and the whole prairiewell covered with gravel. No timber.Saturday, 11 A. M. April 27?Yesterday was an exceedingly un-pleasant day to travel ; when we arose we found a violent north windblowing but as soon as we had breakfasted we were off on the dreary,cheerless prairie. We saw but little wood but as the road was hillyponds were frequent ; about ten Oclock we crossed a little stream thatgave us some trouble because of the mire; cold as the day was theIndians waded through without hesitation. About 12 Oclock we cameinto a very hilly section ; the land was cut up into steep hills and deepravines with a little scrubby timber in them. At 1 Oclock we reachedthe spot where the Indians had been certain of meeting Old Eaglewho had been there hunting buffalo, but Old Eagle was not to befound ; he had been there but had gone and now our Indians lookedsad ; they had left a good place for buffalo and had come here wherethere apparently were none. We also had depended on getting somedried meat here and were at first apprehensive of being short of pro-visions should bad weather overtake [us] ; but a review of the lardershowed a supply for 8 or 10 days. There was every appearance of aterrible storm and occasionally it would snow terribly, but bad asour situation promised to be we were thankful that it was no worse ; had these appearances of a storm overtaken us the night before whenthere was not a stick of wood within two miles we might have beenfilled with real apprehension for our safety, but here we had wood, ? The Bureau of American Ethnology manuscript stops at this point ; the original journalat the Missouri Historical Society, however, carries on for another month. The printedform of the Journal, which appeared in the Smithsonian Report for 1850, for some unknownreason, began with the entry for April 27. But the Journal as now reprinted is entirelyfrom the original from the 27th of April to the 28th of May. MCDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 49water and grass convenient and we were in a cooly [sic] well shelteredfrom the storm.The afternoon passed away rapidly we had a good fire in the lodgeand had for a dinner a most delicious piece of meat roasted beforethe fire; after dinner I got out my sewing apparatus and put twobuttons on my coat, and fixed our hats with strings to tie under thethroat. About 8 O'clock we went to rest in our wagon anticipatinga day of cheerless rest on the morrow, but providence was kinder to usthan we anticipated and about 4 O'clock this morning we were awak-ened by the stir around indicating a day of travel and sure enough ithas been a most delightful day.CHOUTEAU CREEKWe were off by 5^^ O'clock and soon crossed Chouteau Creek onwhich we had been camped.^ It is a very small stream. Our coursethus far to day has been over level prairie since we left the creekand its forks. No timber in sight and water very scarce. Buffaloplenty. I forgot to mention that just as we were leaving the River aJacques a very large white wolf came walking leisurely not very farfrom us. Alex shot at her but missed, when the wolf scampered off.It was pure white and quite a beautiful animal.ANDY'S LAKE?PRAIRIE DOGSSunday April ^8?Yesterday after dinner we traveled about 5hours and encamped on the shore of Lake Andy, a long and largelake about 10 miles from the Missouri and about 60 from the a Jac-ques.?^ Our road was over fine prairie land and there was moreappearance of grass than we had previously seen. I put in my booktwo specimens of a small weed the first that I had seen. During theday I got also three specimens of animals, one prairie squirrel whoseskeleton I desire to get?one prairie dog whose skul [s^<7] I will keepand one lizard which appears to have withered and dried up : it wasfound on the shore of the lake. This prairie dog was shot by Alex-ander in the afternoon in the first village that we have seen ; he shotat two others but did not get them ; even when wounded they are soexceedingly quick in their motion that a person can scarcely get them.This morning we were off before 5 Oclock ; it has been a beautifulclear day and very fine for travelling except a strong head wind. Theroad has been very hilly indeed but is now less so ; we have seen notimber except a very few small trees : where we are camping there aresome thorn bushes and three or four small trees, but even these are bet- *? Chouteau Creek, the western boundary of Bon Homme County, S. Dak., was the GoatCreek of Lewis and Clark and the Nawizi River of Nicollet's map (Coues, 1893, vol. 1,p. 108). It enters the Missouri, from the left, a few miles above the Nlobara.*^ Lake Andes is about 12 mUes northwest of Wagner, Charles Mix County, S. Dak. 50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147ter than yesterday noon's camp when we had fire of buffalo dung.This morning the cooleys have been filled with snow 4 or 5 feet deep inplaces, and distant hills appear covered with it.AMERICAN FORK **Tuesday April 30?^Here am I at 8 Oclock in the morning at ourcamp on the American Fork tired and hungry for my breakfast. OnSunday evening about sunset after a long day's march we reached agood camp on Cow creek.^^ This is a small stream, the approach to itis over very steep, irregular hills covered with stones, not rocks ; it isbetter timbered than any stream we had seen for days. During thenight we were awakened by the roaring of the wind and the beating ofsnow against the carriage. Of course we expected to find the groundcovered with snow in the morning but to our agreeable surprise thesun arose clear and the sky almost cloudless. We had breakfast andwere on the march by 4^ Oclock.BUTE BIJOUX "^The road was over gently rolling prairie without any wood, but withfrequent ponds of water probably dry in the summer. About 9^/^Oclock we reached the Bute Bijoux which on Sunday morning we hadseen far in the distance covered with snow. It is a clump of hills risingout of the plain, very irregular and covered with rocks which have theappearance of light coloured limestone, at a distance.There we found some wood, water and grass and rested two hoursfor dinner. It is 18 miles from that to the American Fork ^?^ and asthat would make a forced march it was not without some hesitationthat Alexander determined to go on. Our horses have had no grass butthe dry grass of the prairies and are very much fatigued by their longjourney and the cold. However we all felt so anxious to get throughthat we started. Our route lay across a wide prairie without woodfor many miles : and covered with unburnt grass. We found it verywarm when we first started but a cold north wind soon began to blowmore violently than it had from the East before and in a few hours itbecame intensely cold. About 4 Oclock we discovered Indians at adistance and they also discovered us but took us for buffalo. Soon twoscouts reached us coming at a full gallop. We went on with them totheir lodges of which there were several and there appeared to be a ?? See footnote 101.?9Cow Creek was probably the Pratt's Creek of Warren (see footnote 93).M? Bute Bijoux or Bijou Hills were on the east (left) bank of the Missouri a few milesbelow the White River of South Dakota. Maximilian described them as "Some lofty hills,hereabouts, are called Bijoux Hills, after a person of that name, who resided here manyyears" (1904-7, vol. 1, p. 301). They were named for Louis Blssonet dit BlJou (1774-1836) of Saint Louis (Drummi, ed., 1920, pp. 148-149).101 American Creek enters the Missouri from the east above Chamberlain, Brule County,S. Dak. McDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 51 very friendly conversation between Alex and tlie men for a short timebut we soon passed on. At our arrival men, women, children, dogs,and horses all came out to look. We still continue our fatiguing marchover the dreary prairie but at length as night came on we found itwould be too fatiguing to go to the Fork, and we encamped under alittle hill and beside a pond. No wood however was seen, and the menscoured the country for Buffalo dung. When they brought it, itwould not burn and we had to break up two of our boxes to start thefire and cook our suppers. I ate heartily and went to bed immedi-ately for I was fatigued and there was no comfort outside. We werewarm in the buggy and slept soundly till about 41/2 Oclock when wewere up and off. We are now 12 miles from the first trading post be-longing to Fort Pierre.YANKTON TRADING HOUSE'"Wednesday May 1st?When I made my entry yesterday it was[with] the pleasing anticipation of spending the night at the YanktonTrading House, but travellers must not calculate too certainly on every-thing turning out as they desire ; the previous part of our journey mighthave taught us this and if it did not the present lesson certainly has im-pressed it on my mind. We had a beautiful road over rolling prairieand a fine day for it ; everything seemed to favor us and as we movedalong fatigued by our previous long marches my heart felt glad that atleast one night's rest was before me. Soon the steep hills, that indicatethe nearness of a river, were reached ; we began to go over these gladlyand my eyes were delighted by a most picturesque scene. I thought itwould have been a most enchanting sight for a painter?^beyond thelittle river at the foot of the hills on ground gradually rising werepitched probably 200 Indian lodges with all that irregularity and thosewild appurtenances that well become a scene in the wilderness. Allthat was wanting to make it as lovely as possible were the green grasson the ground and the summer dress of the trees. The hills over whichwe were passing were very steep and very irregular and some of themhad the appearance of volcanic action. I picked up a stone from oneof them that looked as though it had once been melted and the hill wascovered with such.We soon reached the stream called Crow Creek ^"^ I believe andinstead of its being a small rivulet easily crossed it was rolling alongwith great velocity and far out of its banks.Here we were put to a stand again ; and all we could do was to campand wait for a skin boat to be made and then cross. We soon had our 102 The Yankton Trading House was not a "post" like Fort Pierre, but apparently oneof the numerous little trading establishments scattered through the Indian country anddependent on one of the Forts. The next paragraphs show that it was located on the northbank of Crow Creek.10s Crow Creek enters tbe Missouri from the east in Buffalo County, S. Dak. 52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147dinner which was enjoyed as hungry men only know how to enjoy plainfare. Meanwhile a number of Indians had come in, some of themswimming the river cold as the day was and something must be cookedfor them ; fortunately they are content with what we regard as veryplain fare and they eat it in as plain a manner.INDIANSIt was very amusing to see the strange mixture of civilized andsavage costumes exhibited in the dress of some of them: one fellowparticularly struck my attention; he had met us on the hill with afriendly shake of the hand and a "how do you do" ; all his garmentsconsisted of a short shirt and a waist coat with the usual Indians clout ; his nether garments wore [sic] the clothes that nature made them;he was full of talk, was very officious and when the mush was giventhem he always made it convenient to the helper by eating out of thepot between times. During the afternoon many more young fellowscame across swimming the rapid cold stream and remaining all daywith scarcely any clothes. They were all anxious for horses and two ofthem brought the trader's receipt for 30 robes. They of course must beserved and soon one of them was capering around on a fine bay horsewhich he had selected. The horse dealing was carried on as it is donein the states; all the by-standers had a great deal to say and thereappeared to be a great deal of good humor on all hands.During the afternoon the hands from the post had been at work onthe boat and Alex and I expected to go to the houses [i. e. YanktonTrading House] that night but when the boat was done, it was a proofof the old adage?most haste?less speed?the boat would not do,although it was got across the stream. We therefore set down quietlyto spend the night in our good wagon again. Many of the Indiansstayed all night but I went to bed soon very much fatigued; as Iwatched the different countenances around the fire I was struck by thefact, that the circle of faces presented the same variety as to expression,intelligence, &c as would be exhibited by an equal number of Ameri-cans?in none did I notice the expression of ferocity?One young manin particular attracted my notice?he had a very intellectual mouth andexpression and stood by himself with the mark of deep thought on hiscountenance?his appearance interested me greatly and at once sug-gested my friend Wistar Hodge to me but at the same moment my eyerested on a common feather, picked up probably on the prairie?stuckin his head for ornament and I could not keep from smiling at theridiculous contrast between my intelligent young friend and thethoughtful Indian?poor fellow?perhaps if he had an opportunityfor study he would ornament his head with a more honorable featherthan pleased his fancy yesterday.Monday^ May 6th?^While writing on the other page it became so McDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 53dark that I had to stop and since that we have had too fatiguing atime to write.Everything was crossed safely over the river and by evening wewere all safe and snugly fixed at Randells.^?* The Indians had boughtall our horses that were for sale and they came to the houses with us.There Alex had a feast prepared for them and they all appeared wellsatisfied. A feast for the Indians is a very simple affair?a little coffeeand some gammon, or mUsh served in the simplest style serve them.There were 60 or 70 gathered at this one; before it was ready theycame in and out and sat talking, joking and passing around the pipejust as whites spend their time when gathered for a dinner. Whenthe things were prepared the two kettles were placed in the middle ofthe floor and each one was furnished with a pan of some kind to eatin, but they got no spoons or anything to answer the same purpose.Alex then made quite a long speech, not however standing up butsitting on a bench with his hat on his head and pipe in his mouth.One of the old men then arose, shook hands with him, resumed hisseat on the floor and made quite a long and animated speech. I couldnot understand a word but was much interested by his earnest manner.Both of the speeches were frequently interrupted by cries of "how Ihow" corresponding I suppose to our "hear, hear" indicating appro-bation. One of their number then volunteered to help out and he firstserved the coffee giving to each his portion which was received witha "how !" thank you. Then the gammon was served in the same wayand supped from the dishes to the great risk of the tongue and throatas I thought. When this was going on Kandell spoke and with greatanimation. I was surprised?he is a Canadien Frenchman and avery common man but he talked like a lawyer with great earnestnessand animation. Afterwards the Indians gradually dispersed and wesat down to a supper of coffee, bangs and honey, for the whites don'tgenerally eat when they give a feast to the Indians. I could not butthink how amusing it would be to my friends at home to see us en-joying this feast of bangs and honey. We had no forks and had touse the knives we carried in our belts, taking our victuals in ourfingers as when in camp. We drank out of tin mugs and I despatchedtwo of these full of coffee and a whole host of bangs. I felt satisfiedand took a pipe and then went to bed but did not sleep very comfort-ably for a good while as it was too warm. I wished that we had beenin the buggy.In the morning we were off about 6^^ Oclock and hoped to reachFort Pierre on Friday evening but it was beyond our power. Ourmen had been furnished with Indian horses and we had put someother mules into the cart, giving our mules their old place in the buggy.The road was well marked as it is much travelled and is good passing^ BandeU was evidently the trader at the Yankton Trading House. 54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 over rolling prairie. Timber & water scarce. The wind blew quiteviolently which increased the fatigue of travel. About 2 Oclock westopped for dinner on a high hill where we found plenty of wood leftby some Indians. After dinner the wind made the travelling so un-pleasant that we camped early; our camp was in a cooly throughwhich runs a small stream called the Chain of Rocks '^?^ from the factof a chain of rocks extending across the Missouri at its mouth. Thesides of this cooly had on them banks of snow 6 and 10 feet deep.In the morning we made an early start with a clear sky and brightsun : the wind did not seem to be unusually violent but in less thanan hour it came. I felt well and found walking pleasant but soonI had to lean against the wind and became so tired that I had to getin the buggy. The violence of the wind increased and I found it toocold inside and so out I got to try the walking again but it would notdo, and I again got in wrapped myself up as well as possible andbore it quietly.I pitied the men very much they had to press on the best way theycould and Alex did the same. About 10 o'clock we reached La Chapellecreek ^^"^ as tired a set of men as have been there for some time I'llwarrant. We all agreed that of all our bad days that had been theworst. But plenty of hot coffee and meat we found to be gi^eat forour weary bodies and a rest of a few hours made us all again feel fortravelling. The afternoon proved pleasant and we soon reached Medi-cine creek ^?^ which was fordable ; we passed on and about 7 O'clockfound a good camping ground at the foot of an island some milesbelow the fort. We were off before sun rise in the morning and at 7Oclock on the morning of Saturday May 4th I had the pleasure ofcalling a halt opposite Fort Pierre.^"^ 106 Warren made the Chain of Rocks Creek about 15 miles below La Chapelle Creek, buthis route was now out over the prairie towards the Jacques (Warren, 1856, p. 33).106 Warren's road crossed La Chapelle Creek (a stream about 10 yards wide) near Itsmouth ; it was about 9 miles below Medicine Creek and about 25 miles below Fort Pierre(Warren, 1856, p. 33). It enters the Missouri in Hughes County, S. Dak.*<" Medicine Creek enters the Missouri opposite and about 16 miles below Fort Pierrein Hughes County, S. Dak. It was then a stream about 20 yards wide (Warren, 1856,p. 33).I'^Fort Pierre was built in 1831-32 for the American Fur Company, named for PierreChouteau, Jr., and occupied until 1855, when it was sold to the United States and usedas General Harney's quarters in the Sioux troubles of 1855-56. The earliest and bestdescription is that of Maximilian (1904-7, vol. 2, pp. 315 ?f.). Palliser, who was therein October 1847, wrote : "Pierre is the largest fort belonging to the Fur Company's trade.It consists of a large space about 120 yards square, enclosed by piles of timber 24 feethigh driven well into the ground. The roofs of the stores and trading houses are attachedto two of the sides, with the stables, straw-yards, carpenters' and blacksmiths' shops,and a dairy for such cows as may escape the marauding hands of the Indians. A flagstaff,gaily rigged, stands in the center of the square, and the whole establishment has a mostinviting look to a set of weary travelers on jaded horses, and who, with the exceptionof the aforesaid buffalo feast, had not fared over well for many days past. Here, there-fore, we remained a day or two to refresh our horses . . . and to revel In fresh meat andnew milk for the benefit of our own health." (Palliser, 1853, pp. 103-104). (Consultalso Wilson, 1902, vol. 1, pp. 257-379. For Culbertson's own description, see his entryof May 27.) MCDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 55FORT PIERREThe boat could not come for us at once and so we had somethingto eat by way of variety and waited not very patiently for it to come.About 12 Oclock it reached us and as the wind was blowing we werecordelled up about a mile and then crossed and landed at the fortgate. The cannon and guns were fired in honor of the "Boss" andwe were received with great kindness. I was glad to stop : we hadbeen forty-five days from St. Louis and our trip had been a tediousone. Alex's quarters are very comfortable and we got fixed up betterthan we had been for some days. The Indians were soon invitingAlex to a dog feast but he was too tired to go ; however they madeit and at night brought him some over and had a talk with him. Iwas too tired to attend, but he brought me some of the meat which Itasted ; it tasted strongly of dog I thought. Yesterday was Sundayand was not passed as I like to spend my Sabbaths but I found oppor-tunity to read several chapters in the Bible much to my profit Ithought. START FOR THE BAD LANDSThis morning I feel very well and am preparing for a start tomorrowfor the Mauvaise Terre.Tuesday May 7th?This morning at 7 Oclock I started from fortPierre for the Mauvaise Terre or Bad Lands of White River.^*? Ourcompany consists of three, young M'Kenzie,^^? myself and one of themen from the fort. The whole equipment is at the cost of Alexander.We are well furnished with provisions for about two weeks and havethree mules all of which are the worse for wear, but they are the bestwe could get as the Indians have bought up all their best horses andmules and are clamerous for more. We had a pleasant morning forour start although it was a little hazy. By 10 Oclock we had reached >?? Cf. Audubon and Coues, 1897, vol. 2, pp. 148-154 ; Audubon and Bachman, 1852-54,vol. 2., pp. 166-170 (Audubon here quoted from "a notice of them given to us by Mr.Dewey [Denig?], the principal clerk at Fort Union") ; Chittenden and Richardson, 1905,vol. 2, pp. 622-625 ; the report of Dr. John Evans in Owen, 1852, pp. 194-206. Theseseveral visits were made In 1843, 1848, and 1849. Consult also Cleophas C. O'Harra,1920. It must be remembered that "mauvaises terres" was a descriptive term and notthe name of a particular region. (See footnote 138.)"" Owen Mackenzie, son of Kenneth Mackenzie of Saint Louis and an Indian woman.Palliser, late In the winter of 1848, stayed for a time with Owen at the White River Post.He wrote : "My friend, Owen Mackenzie, was a particularly fine young fellow, abouttwenty-one, a splendid rider, first-rate shot, and, taken on the whole, on foot and onhorseback, the best hunter I ever saw" (Palliser, 1853, pp. 165 ff.). Probably the firsttraveler to mention him was Audubon in 1848 (Audubon and Coues, 1897, vol. 2, passim).Kurz saw a good deal of him In 1851 and 1852 (Kurz, 1937, consult index). Larpenteuralso knew him (1898, vol. 1, pp. 223-224; vol. 2, pp. 343-346, pp. 352-353). He waskilled in 1863 by Malcolm Clarke (for whom see footnote 192). 56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147Willow Creek,^" 8 miles from the fort and there we dined. Afterdinner we moved off expecting to go 13 miles further but we foundour mules scarcely able for the trip and have stopped after comingabout 8. I hope to reach Bear Creek our destination on Saturday butfear that we shall not be able ; however I find that to take all thingspatiently is the best way to get along and so I will do. The face ofthe country along the route of today has been hilly ; it is nearly allbarren rolling prairie scarce of water and timber and having the soilstrongly impregnated with saltpetre. I understand this to be thecause of the white appearance I have so often noticed; it looks likelime scattered over the ground and has been very abundant to day.Not so much gravel nor so many stones as on the other side of theMissouri.Mr. M'Kenzie has had great opportunity for learning the customsand habits of the Indians. He told me to day that while they have nopriests nor regular religious systems they all worship something; ? they offer sacrifices of cloth and other articles to the Great Spirit andthis is done by simply casting them in the prairies with some form ofprayer I suppose. Scarlet cloth is generally preferred for this, alsocalico with red in it, and sheet iron kettles that have not been used.The Gros Vents ^" and the Assineboines are more regular in this thanthe other tribes ; they offer great sacrifices every spring at the time ofthe first rain accompanied with thunder and lightning. Besides thisworship of the Great Spirit they all have something else to worshipa pipe stem, a cap feather or whatever suits their fancy."^The tribes along the Missouri have no chiefs ; those who have author-ity amongst them gain it by their valor in war, their skill in stealinghorses and the number of their kindred. They have authority onlybecause they are feared and if accident removes these props to theirauthority, they fall. This is often the case as I have been told byseveral familiar with all the Missouri Tribes.^" They make frequentwar parties but my opinion is that their bravery is overrated, they dontfight open and bold as the whites but their great aim is to surprise.M'K told me of one party of Sioux 900 strong who went to war1" Culbertson was now moving southwest, along the left bank of the Bad River ; WillowCreek is the first of numerous aflSuents. "The Bad river, Wahpa Shicha, Teton, or LittleMissouri river, is about 90 miles long, rising just east of the Bad Lands. The samedifficulty Is experienced as with the lower part of White river. If you attempt to followalong its valley. The valley is from one-half to one mile wide, well grassed and wooded.The bed of the stream is soft and miry, and generally not fordable. The approach tothe valley Is not difficult for wagons in dry weather. Cottonwood exists in considerablequantities mixed with willow, and in some places, ash and oak. Wild plum trees areabundant. When flooded, the river Is from 25 to 40 yards wide ... its immediatebanks . . . are about 10 feet high. The stream flows through a section aboundingIn salt springs, and salt incrustations are almost everywhere visible, but the water isgenerally palatable" (Warren, 1856, p. 12)."^ Culbertson consistently wrote Gros Ventres in this fashion."? Cf. Denig, 1930, pp. 486-500."* Denig had much the same thing to say (1930, pp. 431-434). MCDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 57 against the Gros Vents and returned having murdered only one littleboy whom they caught straying from the village. Another party hadseveral taken prisoners and burnt before their eyes and they instead ofrevenging the insult, returned crying and were laughed at when theygot home. There are about 600 lodges of the Yanktonians and about400 of the Tetons.Wednesday May 8th?^We are encamped this evening on the Shee-poi "? River about 44 miles from the fort ; our old mules have done bet-ter than I expected to day as they have brought us this far althoughgave out again this afternoon. The road to day has again been veryhilly and the land barren. Animals are scarce, we have not seen anybut a single wolf since we left and a few small birds : one of these latteris most beautiful in shape and plumage, it is a small snow bird, white inwinter but now of a dove colour with some white.I picked up a number of small stones to day and quite a number ofsmall pieces of petrified wood which were all lying in the road. Thehills thus far have not been covered with stones and rocks as they wereacross the river; I passed but one hill to day having stones scatteredover the surface and they seemed to have been made by the breaking oflarge rocks ; the pieces were about the size of those for turnpike roads.The wood has been found more abundant than what I expected fromthe accounts given me of its scarcity ; it is scarce but still enough for afire every few miles and water also abundant now but I suppose not soin the summer. We dined to day at Big Hole Creek,"'' now containingplenty of good running water but in the sununer being only a largehole filled with water.Last night we had a good deal of talk around our fire about theBlack Hills. Joe, an experienced hunter, tells me that they are cov-ered with the finest pine timber so thick that a person on horsebackcannot pass through it in some places. There is an abundance of finewater but no fish ; plenty of all other game. Grizzly bears are foundthere sometimes in bands like buffalo; they live on fruit, meat andants; to get these they turn over the largest logs and eat them offthe under side if there. He never knew a man to kill one with youngand less is known about the time of their breeding than about thatof any other animal in this section. They are not found north of theMissouri.Note. Grizzly Bears are often found in the Bad Lands, we saw thefresh tracks of one at Sage creek but saw nothing more of him."' "* This is probably the Chehle Creek on the Evans map of the Bad Lands (Owen, 1852).It is another left bank affluent of the Bad River."' F. V. Ha.vden wrote in 1855 : "The following day we pursued the same direction, overa country having much the same sterile appearance, destitute of water, and camped in animmense depression, called by the traders 'Big Hole.' In it Is the bed of a little streamthat empties into the Teton river, but at this time [May] it was nearly dry ; the waterstanding in pools and very unpleasant to the taste" (Warren, 1856, p. 72)."^ This note was added later ; they were not on Sage Creek until the 11th,890780?52 5 58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Thursday. May 9th?We are encamped this evening on CottonWood Creek "^ and a j^leasant evening it is ; here am I in this wilder-ness, sitting by a fire having my ears delighted by the sweet eveningsong of the birds and my eyes gratified by the lovely shades of thesky as the evening draws on. I have just finished my supper afterhaving first cooked it ; it v/as one of my greatest achievements in theculinary art and consisted of corn bangs and fried bacon, M'Kenziehaving made the coffee and attended to the boiled buffalo meat. Bothhe and Joe as well as myself testified to the great success of my firsteffort in making bangs, the only error was in having too much fat tofry them in, but "never say die" is one of my principles and I'll trycorn bangs again before long.We have travelled about 26 miles to day which was doing wondersfor our old mules ; from the fine roads I should judge that with a goodteam and a light load a person could easily go to the Mauvaise Terrein three days ; it will take us 5I/2 days. This morning we left the firstfork of the Sheepoi Creek ; dined on the Ree Creek ^^^ about 15 milesfrom the former and came on here for the night, 11 miles. Thesestreams are all small; water and timber scarcer than heretofore:land rolling prairie, but more level land than yesterday. I have no-ticed that the streams along this road are different from those acrossthe Missouri in that their banks are not so steep nor so much mirein them. There are no stones scattered on the hills as there. Landapparently poor.Friday. May 10?Our camp this evening is at the head of the LittleMissouri or Bad River.''" There is another river higher up called theLittle Missouri and how this one got the same name 1 do not know.""We have come to day about 26 miles ; the route until noon v/as overa section of country very similar to what we passed before ; the smallstreams we passed had better timber on them than any we have seensince we left. About 9 Oclock we came to what is called GrindstoneHills ; ^^- they are three elevations ranging north and south covered witha sand stone : there are more stones on them than on any hill I haveseen this side of the Missouri and these evidently belong to stratabeneath the surface; the soil on these little hills is different fromwhat it is below and the eastern side is much steeper than the west-ern ; this is true of nearly all the large hills I passed this afternoon.I could not examine the toj) of the Grindstone Kills as I had nohorse. "' Big Cotton Wood Creek, on the Evans map. "? Aricaree or Arikara Creek. Not shown on Evans map but would lie between theChehle and Big Cotton Wood.^0 See note 111.i==i Culbertson found the real Little Missouri above Fort Berthold on June 13.^= Grindstone Creek on the Evans map is shown about 25 miles above Big Cotton Wood.Warren, returning from Fort Laramie to Fort Pierre, 1855, mentioned "Grindstone Buttescreek {Buttes aux Ores creek)" ; he allowed only 9 miles between this creek and Big CottonWood (Warren, 1856. p. 32). McDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 59About 4 or 6 miles from there we reached a basin-shaped valleywhich at once suggested the idea of a lake with an outlet and aninlet; there is a ridge about the middle that divides it into two di-visions. The face of the country has been more varied than what ithas been before and timber much more abundant; we crossed thebeds of several streams which were dry ; nearly all the streams withina few miles of this go to form Bad River and this point is called itshead. Tomorrow we mount a high Bluff early in the morning andhave a prairie for a long way. Grass as scarce as ever; Joe killedone prairie dog?one little grey wolf and missed two antelopes. M'Kis cleaning the wolf's head. We were all very much amused at theold mules about 4 miles from here : we had just reached a good camp-ing ground and were passing on ; Joe's little sorrel however thoughtit time to stop and did so; Joe kicked and whipped but the mulewould only move in a circle or back; in this rebellious behavior hewas seconded by our two old fellows ; we would all whip awhile andthen laugh awhile at the preposterous notion of camping at 4 O'clockon a fine afternoon, and after a time the whipping prevailed and onwe went.To morrow we will get a distant view of the Black Hills. Gotto day several specimens of insects?yesterday one botanical specimen.A lovely evening and a pleasant camp and a prospect of a goodday tomorrow. WHITE RIVER BAD LANDSSaturday^ May 11?Our camp this evening is on Sage Creek afew miles in the Mauvaise Terre, or Bad Lands of White River.We left our camp this morning just as the sun was peeping over thehills; about two miles from camp we arose a steep and high bluffand entered on a wide prairie. This extended unbroken by hill asfar as a stream called Pinau's Spring ^^^ about 9 miles from BadRiver. We passed down a few hills to reach this, and on the leftof the road there was a long elevated piece of ground that appearedto me as though it might be a mound but doubtless it was only anatural elevation. At this spring we found a hole of good waterand had an excellent place for camp. For breakfast we fared wellas Joe made some excellent corn bangs and fried some bacon: wehad also some buffalo meat and prairie dog. I tasted the latter andfound it pretty good although it had some of the dog taste aboutit. These little animals are very much like a grey squirrel and areeaten a great deal by the hunters. Their bark is more like a chirp 123 "Fifteen miles east of BuU's creek, is Pinon's spring, a noted camping place amongvoyageurs, as being one of the very few good springs of water on the road between FortPierre and Fort Laramie. It Is the head of Teton river, and is so called in the Sioux lan-guage. It runs [south] for about four miles, then passing through the eastern position ofthe Bad Lands, becomes the Teton [Bad], takes a due east course, and empties into theMissouri four miles below Fort Pierre" (Hayden, in Warren, 1856, p. 76). 60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147and reminds me of birds more than of dogs. They lie at their holesand make a constant barking, and their tails go fast as their jaws;for every bark a shake of the tail. We passed a large village ofthem covering several acres just after we started but I judge themto be lazy fellows as but two appeared to be stirring although thesun was then up. I found several good sculls [sic] and a numberof jaw bones which I preserved. Poor fellows ! they had been shotand suffered to rot at their own doors. After breakfast I got severalspecimens of a plant growing abundantly on the green bank at theedge of the water; I also prepared some wood for the pins of myspecimens of insects of which I have a few. We then started andagain arose to a level prairie Vv^hich we had with only a few hillsas far as Bull creek about 9 miles. Long before reaching this streamI had my first view of the Bad Lands; a bute arose perpendicularout of the plain, very irregular in its shape; I viewed it with a greatdeal of interest as being the first of that remarkable ground whichI had come so far to see.We reached Bull Creek '^^* about 2 O'clock and there gave the mulessome rest. Just before reaching it Joe killed an Antelope of whichwe had seen several. We packed the hams and shoulders to camp.While there M'Kenzie prepared the scull of a bird called the Curlowwhich Joe had killed in the morning; he also partially preparedthe scull of the Antelope. It was very warm while we were there butI examined somewhat the banks of the stream. It was dry havingwater only in a few holes ; it was approached by a long descent and thebanks were washed very much. There was a sand soil of about fivefeet, then a strata of gravel and stones of about three feet, then anotherdeposite of a light yellow clay.I took a small piece of wood about five feet under the surface.We left Bull Creek about 3 O'clock and moved along very slowly asit was very warm and we all felt lazy. The road now lay over hillswhich became more steep and frequent as we approached the BadLands. These occasionally appeared in the distance and never beforedid I see anything that so resembled a large city ; so complete was thisdeception that I could point out the public buildings ; one appeared tohave a large dome which might be the town Hall ; another would havea large angular, cone shape top, which would suggest the court, houseor some magnificent buildings for public purposes : then would appeara long row of palaces, great in number and superb in all their ar-rangements. Indeed the thought frequently occurred as we rode alongthat at a distance this portion of the grounds looked like a city ofpalaces?everything arranged upon the grandest scale and adaptedfor the habitation, not of pigmies such as now inhabit the earth, but ^^ The streams they now cross flow northwest into the Cheyenne ; Bull Creek is the firstof these. Lon^ivude .^6?We 8t from Washington Map 2.?Map showing the position of the Bad Lands or Mauvaisesfrom a draft bv John Evans of the United States Geological Corj or tfif IT of' frrini II i/m/th\-JOHN ETAKSI'fthfU.S. Geological Corps Map 2.?Map showing the position of tlio Bad Lands or Mauvaiscs Torres of Nebraska,from a draft by .John Evans of the United States Geological Corps. 890780 O?52 (Fact' P- ?? McDbbmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 61 of giants such as would be fit to rule over the immense animals whoseremains are still found there. Again and again as from differentpositions these hills came in sight would such thoughts arise in mymind and I could almost fancy that upon the wind would occasionallybe borne the din and bustle of the immense place as these gigantic menv/ith their stentorian voices would jostle each other along the streetsand would hurry in their giant beasts fatigued by the mountain loadswhich made their burdens. The mind could not remain with thepresent, it must range back to the earliest period and ask whence werethese things, but soon a nearer view would destroy all delusion andthe fancy must give place to fact and allow these self-created cities tobe mere sand hills. But sand hills as they are, they are wonderful andmust excite the greatest interest in scientific world. I wish that nowwe had a company of men of this kind prepared for a thorough ex-ploration, as it is my only hope is to be an humble pioneer in thiswork and to be the means of prompting more able men to engage in it.Our route lay to the west of the Lands, and away in the distance stillfurther west appeared a dim blue outline which marked the BlackHills ; these are about two days march from us.The road from Fort Pierre is in a direction nearly due west untilabout Pinots Spring where it takes a general direction of South byWest. As it approaches Sage Creek however it becomes very serpen-tine for so great is the descent from the plains to the water level herethat the road must follow all the windings of the ridge to get down to it.The tops of the highest butes in the bad lands appeared to be abouton a level with the plain but I took no exact observation. About5 O'clock we came near to Sage Creek ^^^ and entered on the Bad Lands : here it is merely a great number of small hills of all shapes throwntogether in great confusion and very barren. In thinking of howthese lands were formed it occurred to me very forcibly that it wasby some convulsion of nature by which the ground sunk?the hillswere not elevated but were left so by the depression of the surroundingland. This opinion appears to be confirmed by the fact that the high-est butes have on their tops prairie land covered with vegetation suchas the plain beyond the Bad lands ; then again the formation of one ofthe first hills over which the road passes confirms it.?the hill is verysteep on both sides and ranges nearly North and South I think; it isjust about long enough for a good road and is covered as thick asthe bottom of any stream with gravel and small stones such as are 1^ HciydPii wrote of this stream : ". . . so noted among voyageurs and travellers, forthe purgative qualities of its water. I stopped here several days In the summer of 1853,with my friend, F. B. Meek, esquire, and both ourselves and horses experienced its weak-ening effect. This creek rises in the Bad Lands, and taking a northeast course, emptiesInto the Shyenne. It is somewhat noted for the abundance of fine Cretaceous fossils thatare found along Its banks. For about four miles east of Sage creek the road is veryrugged, until we again ascend to the table land" (Warren, 1856, p. 76). 62 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bcll. 147found in tlie beds of streams here : at each end of this little hill, standtwo butes one very slightly elevated between which the road passes andjust opposite and east of the right hand one is another like them, thetops of all which are nearly level and as well as I could observe coveredwith the same kind of small stones as cover the road and just asthick : the sides of these small butes are perpendicular and the strataof clay in them are horizontal showing that they have not been dis-turbed by any upheaving operation.This same thing is true of a great many of the hills ; the strata areperfectly horizontal. I noticed one in which the hill appears tohave sunk leaving the middle of it rising up as a peak 20 or 30 feethigh and in this peak the strata are horizontal. It is true that thereare a great many peaked hills with inclined sides but throughoutthere are many with horizontal strata of clay giving evidence thatthey had been left there and not made by upheaving violence. Thisopinion is recorded as a first impression to pass for what it is worth,and it may be altered by a further exploration. On Monday morningI hope to reach the petrifactions.Tuesday May IJ^?Yesterday I visited the Bad Lands but did notget to camp until it was too late to record the events of the day. Wehad encamped during Sunday on Sage Creek 9 miles from Bear River ; in the morning we were off early and took breakfast at Bear River.The road from Sage Creek winds considerably at first over some verysteep hills. This creek is one of the most crooked streams I eversaw ; its banks are almost perpendicular and about 20 to 30 feet high.I observed in several places in the bank a thick strata of slate about20 feet below the surface of the ground ; the water is briny and leavesa deposite of salt on the stones ; it as all the other streams along theroute contains at present no running water; the clay in the bottomis nearly a pure white and so clear is the water that at first it seemedmuddy from the clay at the bottom ; when the water in these pools wasmoved by a gentle breeze the shadows on the bottom were the mostbeautiful I ever saw. A few miles from the creek we passed over somehills that gave evidence of having experienced the most violent con-vulsions : these unlike those seen on Saturday appeared to have beenupheaved and to have experienced the action of fire; one place sug-gested the idea of a volcanic crater ; it was a slight hollow and con-tained a number of small rocks different from any around it, darkyellow in appearance: a little above, the hills were of white sandand one was covered with small red stones like those found at thebottom of streams.From these hills we arose to a prairie, the most level that I haveseen ; for miles the eye could detect scarcely the least rise and it gavenot the smallest evidence of the convulsions that probably raged sonear it. McDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 63This level prairie continued with but a single interruption till thehills of Bear creek. The descent to this is by a very steep hill andbeyond it another as steep takes us to another level beyond. All alongthis route the Black Hills are distinctly seen in the distance and thisside of them the woods of the Shayen River. We encamped on BearRiver ^^'^ near a spring which is always anxiously looked for by travel-lers through this country. I shared in this anxiety and expected tosee a fine flowing fountain. I was disappointed to find but threesmall holes of water in the side of the hill, but was again agreeablydisappointed to find it cool delightful sand water. It is the onlywater I have really relished for a long while except perhaps theMissouri water. Immediately after breakfast we left our baggage andstarted for the point which I had long hoped to reach; my anxietywas great to see the wonders of which I had heard so much. A rapidride over a good road soon brought us to the edge of the descent:(his was steep but even and in a few minutes we were on the levelbelow : nothing remarkable appeared here : in about i^ an hour wereached the Bad Lands themselves and my interest was intense.The road now was over the deposite of yellowish white clay, sohardened now by the sun as scarcely to be impressed by the hoofs ofthe mules or by the buggy wheels, it was very smooth : we now passedby a number of small spots of ground from 1 to 5 feet above the levelof this clay having grass and soil on their tops like those on theprairies above; their sides were perpendicular but falling down bythe action of the weather: the strata of sand and clay in them werehorizontal. We soon reached the place where petrifactions mostabound. I got out and looked around me for them. I was showna number of ugly dark red unshapen masses, these my guide told meare petrified turtles, their shells being destroyed by the action of thesun and they are crumbling to pieces.^-^ The ground in many placesis thickly covered with small lumps, the broken remains of turtleswhich a few years ago were perfect. I felt disappointed for I hadexpected to see many fine specimens of petrifactions of different ani-mals. However, I started on a voyage of discovery around this pondshaped basin and was shown a large turtle almost perfect, his shell ^^ A tributary of the Cheyenne, in the heart of the Bad Lands. Hayden wrote of it : "The locality at Bear creek has yielded the large and valuable collections which havealready been brought to the States by Mr. A. Culbertson, Captain Van Vliet, Dr. Evans,and others. . . . We spent five days at this locality. ... I noticed one peculiarity inthe atmosphere at this place?the frequent shov^ers that annoyed us very much, for theykept the marly earth around us in a disagreeable condition" (Warren 1856, pp. 75-76).127 "These turtles were chiefly observed in a portion of the 'Bad Lands,' some five or sixmiles in extent, which has much the appearance of an ancient lake, where it is enteredfrom Bear Creek, a tributary of the Cheyenne. At one of these lake-like expansions,hundreds of fossil turtles were discovered. They do not rest immediately on the grassyplain that forms the present floor or bottom, but on the talus or debris, collected intomounds, which have been derived from the disintegration of the marly earths that haveslid from above" (Evans, in Owen, 1852, p. 200). 64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147partly remained and he was broken in two pieces only: we securedhim. There were three of us and we went in different directions. Ifound everywhere the remains of these turtles in different stages ofpreservation, none perfect however. I picked up a number of stones,and pieces of bone but found no teeth nor any heads. This was dis-couraging but on my return to the buggy, I found that one of the menhad brought an excellently preserved head of an animal; it is aboutthe size of a large bear's head; he had found also several other goodspecimens. When I ascertained the locality of these petrifactions tobe so small I hastened to get through my collections in one day, andalthough the sun was broiling hot and we had no water except a verylittle brought with us to work I again went with all haste. By even-ing we had made quite a good examination of this immediate locality ; we had about ^ a bushel of small things, a number of excellent teethand jaw bones, several good heads and a couple of pretty good smallturtles and the large one. These I thought as many as my meansof transportation would allow ; I have since found them to be more,for they are very heavy. I then filled a small bag with the clay, andthe crumbs of petrified turtle, and started with M'Kenzie for the topof one of the highest hills. To gain this was no small matter as thepath was very steep and mostly very narrow ; at length we reached itand a most magnificent landscape rewarded us for our labor. Thebute we ascended had on its top a level prairie of about 20 acres; itwas covered with grass and as near as I could judge of the same levelas those beyond the Lands. These prairies on the butes and theyare on nearly every one, are the ranges of the Big Horn: they loveto roam around the very brink and along the steep sides and seem tothink themselves secure in these heights.^^^ We judged this bute tobe about 200 feet high, and nearly all the others are the same. Inevery direction except towards the prairie we could see these greathills towering above the plain below having their sides washed intopictursque shapes: the lower elevations looked beautiful with theircarpet of grass and scattered about through the hard white claysurface and this itself appeared almost like water at the height wherewe stood. Away to the south appeared the hill on which is the AshSpring and near it several high hills which looked like the old towersthat are perched on the hills of the Rhine; in every direction thissame palace like appearance was exhibited by the hills in the distance.But how shall I convey to another a correct idea of these lands?this question has occurred to me often to day; my own conceptionsof them were very inadequate from the general descriptions I hadheard and I fear that I must likewise fail in describing them to others. ^^ Audubon's account of this region was incidental to his description of the bighornor Rocky Mountain sheep (Audubon and Bachman, 1852-54, vol. 2, pp. 163-172). MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 65If you imagine an extensive piece of perfectly level land, and supposethat all sinks about 200 feet except some large lots every few hundredfeet apart you will have some idea of what was probably the originalappearance of these lands: you must suppose also a number somevery small and some very large to sink not so much as 200 feet butnear it ; on all these the highest and the lowest the level prairie soilremains, but below these lowest a few feet a yellowish clay soil takesits place. In the course of time the rains wash the original perpen-dicular sides into various shapes still steep and partaking of thespirit of the Gothic style of architecture. From some the originalsoil is washed entirely away and they stand with whitened sides androunding top at intervals amongst their higher and more fortunateneighbors. Fancy yourself on the hottest day in summer in the hot-test spot of such a place without water?without an animal and scarcean insect astir?without a single flower to speak pleasant things toyou and you will have some idea of the utter loneliness of the BadLands.^29It appears to me quite certain that slight excavations in some ofthese hills would develope many very perfect specimens; many ofthose now discovered on and near the surface most probably have "' "After leaving the locality on Sage Creek , . . crossing that stream, and proceedingIn the direction of White River, about twelve or fifteen miles, the formation of the Mau-vaises Terres proper bursts into view, disclosing, as here depicted, one of the mostextraordinary and picturesque sights that can be found in the whole Missouri country."From the high prairies, that rise in the background, by a series of terraces or benches,towards the spurs of the Rocky Mountains, the traveller looks down into an extensivevalley, that may be said to constitute a world of its own, and which appears to havebeen formed, partly by an extensive vertical fault, partly by the long-continued influenceof the scooping action of denudation."The width of this valley may be about thirty miles, and its whole length about ninety,as it stretches away westwardly, towards the base of the gloomy and dark range ofmountains known as the Black Hills. Its most depressed portion, three hundred feetbelow the general level of the surrounding country, is clothed with scanty grasses, andcovered by a soil similar to that of the higher ground."To the surrounding country, however, the Mauvaises Terres present the most strikingcontrast. From the uniform, monotonous, open prairie, the traveller suddenly descends,one or two hundred feet, into a valley that looks as if it had sunk away from the sur-rounding world ; leaving standing, all over it, thousands of abrupt, Irregular, prismatic,and columnar masses, frequently capped with irregular pyramids, and stretching up toa height from one to two hundred feet, or more."So thickly are these natural towers studded over the surface of this extraordinaryregion that the traveller threads his way through deep, confined, labyrinthine passages,not unlike the narrow, irregular streets and lanes of some quaint old town of the Euro-pean Continent. Viewed in the distance, indeed, these rocky piles, in their endlesssuccession, assume the appearance of massive, artificial structures, decked out with allthe accessories of buttress and turret, arched doorway and clustered shaft, pinnacle, andfinial, and tapering spire. . . ."On descending from the heights, however, and proceeding to thread this vast labyrinth,and inspect, in detail, its deep, intricate recesses, the realities of the scene soon dissipatethe delusions of the distance. The castellated forms which fancy had conjured up havevanished ; and around one, on every side, is bleak and barren desolation."Then too, if the exploration be made in midsummer, the scorching rays of the sun,pouring down In the hundred defiles that conduct the wayfarer through this pathlesswaste, are reflected back from the white or ash-colored walls that rise around, unmitigatedby a breath of air, or the shelter of a solitary shrub." (Evans in Owen, 1852, pp. 196-197.) 66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147been washed out by the rains ; and when exposed for some time theycrumble to pieces, at least the petrified turtles do.I was much surprised to see running through different parts of theclay surface perpendicular strata of a singular looking substance some-thing like melted glass and almost transparent : the strata are about14 of an inch in thickness and do not lie in a series of strata but be-tween each there are several inches of the clay and they protrude sev-eral inches above the clay while in many places the surface is coveredwith small pieces as though these injected strata had been broken up.Specimens were secured.Another singular fact is the layers of a peculiarly formed sand stonefound in nearly every hill; they are generally of a roundish shapeweighing probably 10 or 15 lbs. and they are placed as stone in a wallaround the whole hill and between each layer there are from 8 to 10feet of clay. They are not confined to this small size but are also foundvery large and of the most singular shapes. At a hasty glance theyseem as if placed there by the hand of man ; in some places they ap-pear as if they had run into these irregular shapes in a melted state.There was no water to be found there nor grass except on the prairiespots; the water when found is scarcely drinkable.Wednesday May 15.?Darkness interrupted my narrative last eve-ning and I resume it at our noon encampment at the Head of theLittle Missouri or Bad Eiver.On our return to camp on Monday evening we found all our bag-gage safe. On thinking over the matter I determined to start forhome in the morning. I had seen enough of the Lands to give a gen-eral description of that portion of them and had secured a few goodspecimens. To do more than this would have required good horses toride and I had only a pair of very indifferent mules ; the weather wasintensely hot and no v/ater to be had in them so that it would havebeen a great labor to have examined them more thoroughly and besidesthis I felt that a mere general examination such as my limited meansand time would allow would be of but little service. I had alreadydone enough to excite inquiry and further exploration must be madeby scientific men with a corps of assistants. One day more mighthave secured a Big Horn but this would hardly justify my stay.Therefore while I greatly feared that Prof. Baird ^^? would be disap-pointed I determined to start in the morning. We arose early butwere detained by our mules having wandered off.About 7 O'clock we started very heavily loaded. I felt sure that wemust walk the whole distance and although such a prospect did notdaunt me yet a walk of 130 miles in very hot weather and after a three ""Spencer F. Baird (1823-87) was made assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institu-tion in 1850. For his part in Thaddeus Culbertson's expedition, see the Introduction.For his life, see Dall, 1915. MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 67months trip was no trifling matter ; we started but as we were rising theliill of the opposite bank of the river something about the tongue brokeby which we were detained nearly an hour. Then our mule couldscarcely pull the load up the hill and the buggy was evidently on thepoint of breaking down. However we got up the hill and on the levelprairie had a fine road. I got in to ride a short distance and rathersad thoughts occurred to me ; there I was laboring and fatiguing my-self so much in perfect contrast to my pleasant situation a year agoor to my situation in Princeton but I felt that I would prefer beingthere to lounging about the fort ; the only thing that troubled me washow to get the load home; we at last crossed Sage creek and thenstopped for dinner ; the buggy looked still worse and one of the springsshowed evident signs of breaking. After a great deal of uneasiness Idetermined to leave there all that we could and hasten home and thensend a cart for what we would leave. The principal reasons for sodoing were that the buggy could not carry the load nor could I takeany portion of my collection at all far on the road out, so heavy was theload and so weak the mules that we walked at least one half the dis-tance. I felt sure also that I would give out ; my limbs could not carryme much further. We therefore made what they call a baggage andstarted for Bull Creek; we had a very warm fatiguing ride and al-though we reached there early we were so tired that all hands werewilling to rest. We stopped for the night and had a fine encampment.This morning we were up, had breakfast and were on our way be-fore sunrise and about 11 O'clock this morning we reached this place.A few miles from this we met men with several carts going to tradewith the Shayen Indians beyond the Bad Lands; they promised tobring our baggage which lightened my heart considerably. I findthat the few warm days since I passed here have brought out the budson the trees.Thursday May 16th?Last night we camped on Grind Stone Creek;the clouds were heavy and threatened rain but happily it passed overwithout any. To day at noon we camped on Ree Creek and this even-ning are at our old encampment on the Sheepoi River. To day hasbeen windy and rather cool. Quite pleasant this evening. Tomorrow we hope to reach the fort and it is about time as our provisionsare nearly out.FORT PIERRE?INDIAN CUSTOMS?SIOUX?HUNTINGSaturday May 18?Last evening about sun-set I reached the fortagain very much fatigued and very glad to get back again to com-fortable quarters. We had travelled that day 43 miles and our teamwas about give-out. I had been absent eleven days, one of which wasa day of rest ; I had travelled nearly 300 miles?had made consider-able collections in the Mauvaise Terre and had seen a goodly portion 68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 of the country between the Missouri and the Platte. The journeywas a fatiguing one to the flesh but a profitable one to the spirit and 1do not in the least regret making it ; my only regret is that my limitedmeans allowed to [sic] me to go so unprepared for a more thoroughexploration.Tuesday^ May 21st?Fatigued as I was from my late trip the restof the fort has been very acceptable. Sunday was a quiet pleasant daybut I did not do much reading as I did not feel very well and in theevening had a severe attack of my vomiting. On Monday morning Ifelt dull and disinclined to move about ; so I busied myself for a partof the morning in marking what few specimens I have here. This sofatigued me that I took a good long sleep. In the evening the cloudsthreatened rain but although there was considerable of thunder andlightning there was to our regret scarcely any rain ; this is very muchneeded nov/ for the grass and for the farm which they are makingnow. But everything appears to indicate a very dry and hot season.The river has fallen about five feet while I was away and at thepresent stage of water the Steam Boat could scarcely get up : Howeverthe June rise from the mountains will probably make it high enough.The weather has been very warm for some days and should a raincome I shall be able to make a good botanical collection but as it nowis, all the flowers are very backward. I have found several differentflowers along the route and the same near the fort : one delicate pur-ple flower reminded me of the beautiful Virginian Cowslip which wasplenty about Clifton ; another I think is a species of Wild Pea : an-other is a modest Little Yellow violet, and another appears to be awhite A^ariety of the purple first mentioned; it resembles it in every-thing but the colour of the flowers and that is pure white ; the speci-men I secured is the only one I have seen. As soon as I feel morerested I will use more effort to secure specimens of the floral familyin this neighborhood. Yesterday a party started out on a Buffalohunt across the Missouri but I preferred staying in the fort.This morning Alex and I took a fine ride on horseback four milesup the river; it is a pleasant level road and a fine place for exerciseof that kind ; we passed through a prairie-dog village but found themvery timid.?A few days ago Alexander made me a present of a veryhandsomely worked buckskin coat ; indeed there is no end to his kind-ness and I will never be able to repay it as I should.Thursday^ May 23?This morning arose about 5 Oclock and foundthe earth much refreshed by the slight shower of last night. The airwas so sultry that we expected another shower but we have been dis-appointed. The river still continues very low and everything unfavor-able for a very high stage of water; probably before I again reachSt lK)uis I will know what it is to travel on low water. Felt better McDbemott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 69than for several days past ; the fatigues of my long trip are passingaway gradually and some little energy is again creeping into my sys-tem. I spoke to M'Kenzie about getting for me a bow with a quiverof arrows which he promised to do, and also to start some little In-dians out after the little rabbits peculiar to the prairie ; he inquiredabout a young gray wolf which some Indians had a few days agobut to my regret it had been killed : it w^ould have made a good skele-ton. Having spent an hour in writing I felt like take [ing] a short bo-tanical excursion and spent about two hours up the river gatheringseveral good specimens of a number of different plants and also col-lecting some insects. Flowers are still rare. On my return saw anumber of beautiful birds who were singing cheerfully : one of thesewas a little mocking bird such as we had first heard on Sage Creek;he perches himself on the topmost twig of a tree and sings away hisvaried song with great glee. I saw also a large and very beautifulspecies of the Thrush. After dinner rode with my brother to the Lit-tle Missouri; the hills in that direction are covered with gravel asacross the Missouri : Brought in two botanical specimens. Afterwardwent out to the lodges with Gilpin ^^^ to witness a great game athandy ^^^ by the Indians : about 60 were engaged in it?old and young ? men and boys, and they had a number of bets staked on the result.The whole Company appeared to be greatly interested as the womenstood at the lodge doors cheering on the players with songs and shouts.Thej^, the players, had laid aside all their garments but their cloutsand played with as much zest as a set of school boys but not with equalfairness for some of them carried blankets or robes with which to stopthe ball.This, I am told, is a favorite game with them, and sometimes hun-dreds are engaged in it. They have another popular game calledBilliards ^^^ on which they bet a great deal ; it is entirely different ^^ Although Culbertson spelled this name consistently so, this must be Charles B. Galpin,who came to the Dakota country in 1839 and died in 1870. For him, consult indexesto Chittenden and Richardson, 1905 ; Chittenden, 1903 ; Larpenteur, 1898 ; Anne McDon-nell, 1940. The Missouri Historical Society has a number of Galpin's letters -written inthe 1850's.^^ Denig described the game in some detail : ". . . two posts are set up about threequarters of a mile apart and the game consists in knocking the ball with sticks towardsthese posts. . . . Each is furnished with a stick about 3% feet long, turned up at thelower end, and they range themselves in two lines, commencing at the middle of theground and extending some distance on either side. The ball is cast in the air In thecenter of tlie course, struck by someone as soon as it falls, and the game begins, eachparty endeavoring to knock the ball to the post designated as their limit. The game isplayed three times and whichever party succeeds in winning two courses out of the threeis judged conqueror . . ." (Denig, 1930, pp. 565-566. Cf. also Culin, 1907, pp. 611-614).133 "Herantsa are fond of the so-called billiard game. . . . They play the game with abilliard wand that they throw with full strength toward a hoop rolling along the ground.This wand or cue has four markings indicated with leather and at the end a pad madeof leather strips, scraps of cloth, or, for want of something better, even bunches of grass. 70 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147from our game of that name. In the evening walked up to the prairievillage with Alex to kill a prairie dog but he did not succeed. Spentpart of the afternoon in reading Lieut. Lynch's Expedition to theDead Sea : ^^* From his description of the formations there I havebeen led to think that this section of the country affords somethingvery similar to them. That country abounds more in rocks and ruggedliills and is more fertile, but the rapidity of the streams, the whiteclay, the boulders and rocks found on the hills with the occasionalout-cropping of strata remind me of many places along the Missouriand in the Bad Lands. This land abounds with saline cleposites aswell as that and there are evidences of volcanic action also. Thebed of the Jordan differs from those here principally in having somany rocks in it ; his greatest velocity there was 12 miles an hour andI think I have seen streams here running at 7 miles per hour withoutthe aid of a rapid as that had: the average of the Missouri I havebeen told is about 4 miles. I think that the rocks here exhibit a forma-tion analogous to those on the Jordan although this is without anyknowledge of the subject.Friday^ May 21),.?Last night I was aroused by the roaring of thewind which blew violently through my open window, and I immedi-ately closed it; soon after my ears were delighted to hear the rainbeating heavily on the roof and I was prepared for the evidence shownthis morning of a heavy rain.In the afternoon took a walk up the river for exercise and flowers : found very few as the day had been cold and cloudy, however Ifound two new specimens and saw several of the old ones quite numer-ous, especially the delicate purple violet. Paid a hasty visit to theprairie dog village and got three sculls and then hastened homerefreshed by the invigorating breeze and pre^Dared to relish my supper.M'Kenzie was out at the same time and secured three birds for stuffing ?one thrush and two quite small ones.I noticed on my way home a black bird with his wings marked withwhite where one species has that beautiful brilliant red ; also noticeda little bird with its breast of the singular colour of a pale pea-green.After tea walked out to see another game of bandy ; all were again atit with hearty good will?it appeared singular to see the Old Chief ? Little Bear with nothing but his breech clout on and his bandy in handas hard at play as the youngest child in the party and there were somequite young ones there; they afforded a pretty sight as they wouldhurry in different directions after the ball in their -flesh-coloured uni-The winner starts the hoop, both players run along beside it and throw their wands, theflight of which is retarded by the pads ... so that they do not take too wide a rangeover tlie smooth course. . . . According to that mark on the cue or wand on which thehoop In falling rests, they reckon the game." (Kurz, 1937, pp. 147-148). Boiler (18G9,p. 196) also described the game.^ W. F. Lynch. 1849. McDermott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 71form?their scarlet cloth streaming out behind and occasionally a headhandsomely ornamented.One squaw only appeared to join in the play and as she had on anAmerican dress she appeared out of place. The whole encampmenthowever took great interest in the scene and every lodge had itscollection of squaws and babies looking on with various interest.It was altogether a wild and cheerful scene and a good illustrationof one of the national amusements of the Indian. I would suggestit as a grave question for those who can see farther than their neigh-bors into a mill stone?whether our school boys derived this gamefrom the Savage, or handed it over to them, or whether both beingranked under the head of Savages may be regarded as having inher-ited it from the same original source 1Two of the voyageurs were engaged in the game and at the endof the sport an Indian gave one of them a very good horse withprobably 20 robes ; the same person a few days ago received a presentof 40 robes; "fortunate fellow" would the uninitiated exclaim, butnot so fast my good friend?an Indian present is like an eastern gift,which is to be returned with compound interest; in this country aperson always makes money by buying anything he may want froman Indian. A gentleman just showed me an Indian who had givenhim a porcupine skin in the winter, and says he, "I haven't got donepaying for it yet and I have given him the value of $17.00 already."This system of presents prevails to a great extent here; you wouldthink them the most generous people in the world, and they are verygenerous but they get paid a great deal in the same way. This refersto the whites as well as to the Indians. Got from Mr. Gilpin, a youngman from New York who has been 10 years in the country, somevaluable statistics about the Sioux nation.^'*^Read considerably in Lynch's work and was again exceedinglystruck by the similarity that must exist between the conformationof some parts of that country and some parts of this; so strikingmust this resemblance be that a paragraph descriptive of them isalmost the same as my language in describing the distant view ofthe Mauvaise Terre; it is found on page 330, Ch 15, in his accountof An Excursion to Masada^^^ where he says, "they beheld in thedistance, most singular formations resembling a plain covered withtowns and villages, marble cities with towns and villages, marblecities with columns, temples, domes and palaces which as they (thebeholders) advanced, faded away and finally resolved themselvesinto curiously-configurated hills, so marked and channelled by the ^^ See Culbertson's "Tabular View" in Appendix 1."8 Culbertson evidently refers to Chapter 15, "Excursion to Masada," in Lynch, 1849,pp. 328-335. 72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 weather, that, although aware of the formation, it was difficult todestroy the first illusion." ^"I think the picture of Masada, facing p. 332 might easily pass fora view of one of the Sand Butes of the Bad Lands.It will certainly be an interesting question for my more learnedfollowers to investigate and I hope that it may serve to throw somelight on the formations in both districts.Lieut. Lynch deserves well of the simple hearted christian as wellas of the exact geographer for he had examined that sacred portionof the world with a christian's humility and a christian's enthusiasmas well as with the devotion of an explorer. I hope that he willnot go unrewarded. ?Alexander mentioned today some Mauvaise Terre high up onthe Missouri more wonderful than those on Wliite River?he didnot know whether petrifactions were found there, or not.^^^Saturday, May 25th?This morning early the clouds were very heavyand indicated a heavy rain but it did not come although it has beencloudy throughout the day ; just now however it appears as if aboutto rain and it probably will be a long one. Fire has been very pleasantall day. Before coming here I had been led to suppose that changesin temperature here were not sudden ; my experience however has beenvery different, as I have never felt more sudden changes than in thiscountry. But my constitution does not suffer from them as it did inthe East, either because of my more vigorous health or of the greatpurity of the air and perhaps it may be from a combination of both.The breakfast bell caught Alex and myself in bed this morning as itrung 14 an hour earlier than usual, but we were dressed and hadfinished breakfast in 15 mimites from the time we were in bed. Icannot become accustomed to this "eating first and chewing after-wards" and am always the last man at the table, Mr. Hodgekiss "^the obliging clerk is so kind and polite as to wait for me always andhas placed me under infinite obligations thereby ; small favours in thisway are always thankfully received. 13' Here Culbertson refers the reader to a previous passage in his Journal : under theentry for May 11, beginning, "We left Bull creek about 3 o'clock. . . This opinion appearsto be confirmed." (See pp. 60-61 of the present edition.)i3? Evidently Alexander referred to the Bad Lands of the river Judith, not far belowFort Benton. De Smet, greatly impressed by them, thought : "These Bad Lands of theMissouri will some day take their place among the great wonders of the Americanhemisphere" (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 4, pp. 1368-1370). The StevensMap No. 2 shows mauvaises terres on both banks of the Missouri : below the Muscleshell,and on the south bank between Dry Creek and Elk Horn Creek, opposite Poplar River. '=?This was William D. Hodgklss, who entertained Boiler at the Ree Post (Fort Clark)In 1858 "with interesting reminiscences of his life, he being one of the veteran mountaineers,having come up in 1832 as clerk for Captain Bonneville" ; when Boiler met him later hewas at Fort Union (Boiler, 1869, pp. 263, 369, 373). He died in 1864. In the 1950's atleast he had half a share (or 1/24) In the Upper Missouri Outfit (Anne McDonnell, 1940,pp. 234-235). MCDBEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 73After breakfast finished Lynch's Expedition and closed the bookhighly gratified with what I had read and much regretting that myattention had been so little turned to the geography of Palestine:Lynch shows one qualification which has always appeared to me ofgreat importance to a traveller and that is a historical and geographi-cal knowledge of the land he visits. A trip to Europe or to Palestinewould be little valued by me without a much more exact and enthu-siastic knowledge of their history than I now possess, and were I muchmore familiar with the history and habits of our Indians, my presenttrip would be exceedingly more profitable to me than it now will be.During the forenoon took a long walk down the river on the lookoutfor plants but found very few ; however got three new specimens forthe herbarium and several good yellow violets, v/hich I hope will keepbetter than those heretofore tried. I walked for nearly a mile on asand bar and found imbedded in the sand a well preserved Buffaloskull, wanting only the lower jaw. I sent Jim for it and it will havethe privilege of a visit to the East.M'Kenzie did not succeed in skinning the small birds this morningas the shot had made such large holes in them. In the afternoontook a delightful nap and afterwards some one brought to me oneof the small owls which live with the prairie dog. I murdered itand with M'K's assistance skinned it but as we have no arsenic hereI fear it will not keep ; I have therefore made a skeleton of the bonesand if the skin decays will have a perfect skeleton at least. Whileengaged in this operation, a band of Indians entered the yard for adance; they were about 20 in number and had two leaders, one onhorseback. All were dressed in war costume and had their bodiesstained with vermilion, or with yellow ochre; they exhibit the sametaste for display that the whites do in their Military Costume; thebuckskin leggins of those who had them were ornamented with verylong fringes of several different colours, and so were the coats ofseveral; some had long tails ornamented with metallic plates aboutas large as a dollar, reaching to the ground ; their lances which wereabout 10 feet long had a long fringe of brilliantly coloured feathersreaching almost the whole length; some had handsome bows andquivers and indeed time would fail me in describing all their orna-ments and implements. Having formed themselves into a circle themusicians began to beat on their drums, made like a tambourine, touse their other instruments and to howl most melodiously according totheir taste. All joined in the song, which sounded very much likesome of the negro songs, all notes and no words, which I was toldwas the case, but the negro is far more musical : while singing theyalso danced, that is jumped right up and down in the same place ; afterhaving thus danced and sung and drummed and beaten on the instru-890780?52 6 74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147ments of two sticks they all gave a great flourisli of instruments andloud halloos and a grand finale. These shouts reminded me verymuch of the screech and shudder a poor fellow lets out as he jumpsinto an ice cold bath.This first performance was followed by several others of the likegeneral character intermingled with occasional speeches declarative ofwhat wonders the orator has done in war, or perhaps intends doing andthese speeches were received with a true military salute of the beatingof drums and the loud halloo. Another interruption was the presen-tation of a ? calico shirt to one of the leaders and of a little tobacco andVermillion to the party; something of this kind they always expect.Why is it that all uncivilized nations are so fond of the cry, "give ? give" I This was the first Indian dance I have seen and I confess Ilooked upon [it] as upon some of those horrible curiosities fromheathen lands?merely as a curiosity not with delight. But all thesecustoms should suggest many philosophical reflections as they indi-cate more than at first sight appears. The philosophy of costume iswell worthy of study.?The river is rising rapidly this evening and afine rain falling.SuTiday May 26th?This has been the most Sabbath-like day that Ihave spent for a long while. I have been in the house most of the timeand enjoj^ed much the reading of different portions of the Bible. Thinkthat I will give the Hebrew Psalms a trial tomorrow but shall probablyfail. M'Cheyne's Life "? has afforded me a great deal of pleasant &profitable thought?it is a valuable companion for a student orpreacher.After tea took a short walk with Mr. Hodgekiss and as we passedthrough the lodge I remarked to him that we ought to go armed withclubs to keep off the dogs, which were then holding a threatening atti-tude. He replied that in a Crow village it would be impossible forus to pass with safety as we were then doing but would have to gowrapped in a robe as an Indian and under the guidance of one andeven then clubs would hardly protect us from the hordes of savagedogs that would assail us. The river still continues to rise and isalready in good boating order so that we look for the boat in abouttwo weeks.It cleared off last night and we have had a bright sun for most ofthe day but about sunset dark clouds overspread the sky and there wasevery appearance of a rainy night, however at present it appears asthough it would not rain.Monday May "27.?This has been a day of rain & mud, but in the eve-ning it cleared off beautifully. Spent the day in reading and writing; ^^ For M'Cheyne, see footnote 87. Culbertson probably refers to his Memoirs andRemains, publislied posthumously by his colleague, Andrew Bonar, in 1843. McDermott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 75read for the first time a translation of Schiller's Robbers and was muchinterested in parts but felt my admiration for Shakespeare increasedby reading this gi'eat work of a great German writer. Made out thisafternoon a tabular view of the Sioux nation on the Missouri, so as toexhibit their numbers, divisions and localities. This has been madeout under the inspection of Mr. Gilpin, who has been in this country for10 years and is of good authority on this subject; his account of thenumbers of the different tribes was confirmed by 6 or 8 Indians of au-thority who were in his room at the time.^"*^Hodgekiss mentioned a singular fact this evening ; he says that thespring which is the head of the Yellowstone gushes out in a strongstream of excellent and very cold water and that about 30 yards fromthe source it is divided by a large rock into two parts, one of whichforms the Yellowstone River and the other the Lewis' Fork of theColumbia.He says that the Elk are far more numerous on the Yellowstone thanwe suppose?that in one place the Indians have made quite a substan-tial fort from their horns piled together and that in another placequite a large hill has been formed by the number of these horns col-lected together by the Indians.^*^I have for some time intended giving a description of Fort PierreChouteau and its environs but have postponed it from day to day for noreason whatever,^^^ A person coming up the country on the otherside of the river has his first view of it about 14 a mile below the fortand it then presents a most beautiful view. I thought the whole land-scape there presented would have tempted any one skilled in drawingto take out his pencil and at once sketch it on paper.The main object in the view was the fort itself, having a whiteappearance?lying four-square, surrounded by a square palisade wall15 feet high and 500 feet on each side w^ith bastions at the N. W. andS. E. corners; then the Indian lodges were seen around the fort, bytheir irregularity of position, their conical shape and varied coloursgiving life and a picturesque air to the scene and for a couple of milesbelow the fort and between it and the bluffs the whole plain was dottedwith horses grazing and moving leisurely about, while the bold bluffs,a mile west of the fort afforded a fine background for the picture. Theshores immediately opposite the fort are high bluffs almost from thewaters edge, and with their steep barren, sandy sides look as if deter-mined to wrap themselves up forever in the dignity of their ownsterility. The main channel runs along this shore although at presentthere is a probability that the boat will be able to land at the fort.The fort is situated on a beautiful piece of bottom land which extends 141 For the Tabular View see Appendix 1, pp. 132-137."2 See footnotes 205, 221.1** For other descriptions of Fort Pierre see footnote 108. 76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 147for some miles along the bank of the river and is skirted by a range ofbluff hills on the west by which you rise to the rolling prairie beyond.This bottom land affords fine pasture and has a beautiful appearancewhen the grass and flowers are out on it, but the company pasturetheir horses on the Bad River about 8 miles from the fort, as theIndians always have so many horses here. But let me now introduceyou to the inside of the fort; you perceive there are two large gatesover each of which there is a large picture intended to represent scenesof interest to tiie Indian; we will enter by the one to your left, as theother leads to the stable yard and we will choose a dry day for ourvisit as on any other our shoes will suffer very much from the mud. Anumber of Indians, men & women, with their robes or blanketswrapped around them, their bare legs, painted faces and curiouslyornamented heads will probably be lounging in perfect listlessnessabout the gate, but don't be afraid, they wont hurt you. The mainbuilding that you see opposite the gate and occupying nearly the wholelength of that side, with a porch along its whole front, windows inthe roof and a bell on top and above it the old weather cock, lookingfor all the world like a Dutch tavern?that is the main building con-taining the mess hall, kitchen and rooms for the traders; to the rightof it you see a neat log house with a pleasant little portico in frontand five [fine?] oil painted window blinds,?that is the boujier^" orboss' house, and the long one storied building painted red and occu-pying almost the whole of the north side of the fort is the store andwarehouse where the goods and robes are kept. To your immediateright as you enter the gate are the blacksmith shop and several roomsfor the men and to your left is a small building containing the carpen-ter shop and a room for the men ; nearly the whole south side is occu-pied by a low building divided into seven rooms occupied by thelaborers and traders. These low houses are covered with dirt roofs:none of the houses are built against the fort walls, but behind them isa space of about 25 feet, and this is occupied in various ways. Thenorth side has a house for the deposite [sic] of harness and implementsof labor?the powder house?milk house for they have quite a gooddairy?the stable and stable yard; the south side has two large build-ings for their corn, meat, skins &c while the S : West corner is occupiedby the office, a one story building ranging with the main building andhaving behind it a house occupied by one of the clerks and a yard inwhich the feathered tribe live and lay eggs. This arrangement ofthe buildings leaves quite a large fine square in the center from themiddle of which rises generally a tall flag staff, but at present there isnone as the last was blown down by the wind last summer. "* Bourgeois ! McDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 77The fort Pierre grave yard lies about 14 of a mile south of the fort ; it is a square piece of ground which has been well fenced in but notornamented in any way; it contains the bodies of a number of deadboth Indians and whites ; the latter are in the ground and their gravesare marked with wooden crosses or with tombstones, recording theirnames, & dates of their death. The Indians however have followedtheir own customs in disposing of their dead, which is to place themon a scaffold about 8 or 10 feet from the ground. As you approachthe yard coming from the fort, you see elevated on a scaffold sup-ported by rough willow poles and now half broken down, a confusedpile of old boxes of various lengths?old trunks and pieces of blanketssticking about. These may seem strange things for a grave yard,but these old boxes contain the bodies of dead Indians; they wereoriginally placed on a good scaffold and had piles of blankets wrappedaround them but the scaffold has broken down from stress of w^eatherand weight of bodies which appear to have been heaped on withoutorder of any kind. If you look over the fence to the left of tliisscaffold, you will see on the ground, one of these boxes which hasprobaby fallen down and broken open, and then the bones lay exposed,escept the scull which perhaps has been hurried by some friend of thedeceased : if you look a little more closely you will see lying with thebones a dark looking object about 3 inches broad and perhaps 15long tied around with a string ; that is some tobacco given to the deadto smoke in the other world : they always place with their dead almostevery article of common use for their benefit in the other world,blankets sometimes as many as 20 the best parties can afford?tobacco,sugar, coffee, molasses, kettles of mush and all kinds of things andthese remain undisturbed until they decay or become destroyed by theweather or wolves. On the east side is a scaffold put up a few monthssince; the box is a rough one daubed with black paint and is sur-rounded by several old trunks that were the property of the old squawwho rests within. On the opposite side is another scaffold on whichrests the body of a man who died not many months since: you cansee the scarlet blanket through the large cracks in this rude coffin. Itappears to me that this method of burial originated in a desire toprotect the bodies from the wolves more than in any of their religiousopinions : they frequently bury the bones after the flesh has decayedentirely. On a large tree a little above the fort is a body which musthave a great pile of blankets on it from the size."^Tuesday^ May ?S.?This morning arose early and found the day to beclear, with a delightful, bracing air : after breakfast went up the river *? Culbertson's original journal at the Missouri Historical Society ends here ; evidentlythe second notebook was lost. The remainder of the present text is from the printedcopy, -which appeared in the Smithsonian Report for 1850, with the exception of theentries for June 13-18 (see footnote 181). 78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 1^7about a mile, intending to cross in the flat, with some Indians goingafter buffalo, but they went in such numbers, and with so many horses,that I declined, and came back. Spent an hour in writing, and thenpartook of some real Baltimore oysters; they were a year old, how-ever, but tasted better than I expected.After dinner started with M'Kenzie up the river; he shot at aprairie squirrel and missed; we then went on to a cooley, in whichthere was a large rock of red sand stone, seen frequently in theprairies below this, about five feet each way, and it appears to beon the surface only. I had no hammer and could not bring awaya specimen; the side of the hill had many stones in it as large asa half bushel measure, but they were nearer a limestone in appear-ance. I got in this little valley, specimens of five or six plants seenfor the first time. After returning, I spent an hour in putting driedspecimens in the herbarium.I received some information about the Indians, of which the fol-lowing is the substance. The Sioux nation has no general council,but each tribe and band determines its own affairs."*' These bandshave some bond of common interest analogous to the ties of our se-cret societies ; "^ the Ci'ow-Feather-in-Cap band are pledged to pro-tect each others wives?to refrain from violating them, and if thewife of one of their number is stolen by another of their number, sheis returned, the band either paying the thief for returning the stolenproperty, or forcing him to do it whether he will or not. Should awife be violated, they are bound to aid the injured brother, in re-venging his wrong. These bands have societies analogous to theOrders, Divisions, &c., of our secret societies, in all parts of the Siouxnation, and a stranger always finds friends amongst those of his ownband. One reason why this band are thus pledged, is that so manyquarrels arise because of the women; they say that in any camp, ifa difficulty occurs, in almost eveiy case a woman is the cause.The Strong Heart band is pledged to protect each other in theirhorses; should a Strong Heart from a distance, steal some horses,and they be claimed by a brother Strong Heart, his fellows wouldtell him that he must give them up, or they would give the robbedman some of their own horses, regarding it as the greatest disgraceto themselves, to allow him to go away on foot. And thus, I suppose,that all these bands have some common object that unites them to-gether; and here we have the origin of this system of banding; inthe absence of law it takes the place of our system of justice. The 148 por the Sioux in general consult Robinson, 1904 ; Hayden, 1863, pp. 364-375. Anexcellent account of government and related matters for the Assiniboin and other tribesIs that of Denig, 1930, pp. 430-456."' On the subject of secret societies consult Hodge, 1910, pp. 495-497. Cf. also Denig,1930, pp. 434-435. McDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 79only law among the savage tribes is that of force; if a man is in-jured, he must himself punish the offender, but in most cases, to dothis, he must be supported by others, and who so proper for thisas his brother or brother-in-law? And thus, for mutual protection,kindred are forced to unite in bands.To give me [sic] some idea of their religion, I may state that theypray to the Great Spirit on any occasion when they feel the need ofhis aid, and then promise a sacrifice of cloth, or a feast of dogs tohim. Thus, a man is struck by a ball that only sticks in his flesh,producing a slight wound; from this circumstance he fancies thathe is not to be killed by a ball ; he holds it up and offers a prayer tothe Great Spirit, thus : "Oh, thou Great Spirit, I believe that I amnot to be killed by a ball, and, as a proof of that belief, I will wearthis ball constantly, and will give to you, exposed to the sun and airtill they rot, some blankets and tobacco ; should I lose this ball fromaround my neck, then I believe that the next one will kill me." Thisball is thenceforth worn as his "medicine," and it is prayed to andguarded with the most scrupulous care; it is therefore more thana charm, having the addition of the element of reverence and wor-ship. The sacrifices of blankets, &c., are exposed on a tree or in theprairie, till destroyed. In battle, when they feel themselves in greatdanger, like the warriors of old, they stop, and with outstretchedarm, they pray to the Great Spirit, and promise a sacrifice if theyhave success, and are careful to fulfil their promise. But theyhave no idea of future reward and punishment; all are to be happyin the other world. They know of no moral relation to God; hiswill, as a standard of right and wrong, is never heeded, but like theGreeks and Romans, they pray for his favor in their worst deeds."^One of the most singular things amongst their customs is the relationheld by a man to the parents of his wife ; he never names them, speaksto them, nor looks his mother-in-law in the face, no matter how longthey may live together ; he is "ashamed" and thinks he shows them thehighest respect by acting so ; he gets the best lodge, and is bound tosupply the old people with meat until he has a family."^ The youngcouple occupy the large lodge, while the old folks live in the small onebehind them, and should they accidentally meet, they hide their facesin some way. All his dealings with the old people are through hiswife. This treatment of his new parents is the highest test of goodbreeding among them, and the man is exceedingly ill-bred who violatesthis custom. The husband never mentions his wife's name, but inspeaking to her uses the word "tche," which good interpreters say theycannot translate ; it is not confined to this use, but is addressed also toi? cf. Hodge, 1910, pp. 303-304, 365-371 ; Denlg., 1930, pp. 503-504.>*? Among the Assinlboin at least this taboo applies as much to the father-in-law as tothe mother-in-law (Denlg, 1930, pp. 503-504). 80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147a man when speaking to him, in speaking of his wife. If she havechildren, he speaks of her as this boy's, or this girl's mother, naming thechild. The philosophy of this custom does not occur to me, but it is avery important fact, in the attempt to ascertain the ruling principlesthat make the savage to differ from the white man. What a contrastto the happy circle of friends to which a marriage often introduces aman amongst us. Indians despise the female sex ; say that woman wasmade only for doing man's drudgery, and for the gratification of hisgrossest passion ; they say that whites ought not to have women becausethey don't know how to use them?thank God we do not, in their sense.How grateful we should feel to the Bible for the great social happinessit has diffused over the world.^^" I think that Bancroft says the Indianlanguage contains no word for the abstract father?that he alwayssays my father or your father, &c. My brother says that it is not soin any Indian language that he is acquainted with.Wednesday^ May 29.?I forgot to mention yesterday, how the cere-mony of sending and smoking the pipe was conducted.^^^ The differentbands of Sioux are not bound to take up arms in defence of one another ; when therefore, any band finds itself under the necessity of calling inthe aid of others, it pays them., and the negotiation is carried on some-what in this way : The band wishing aid, collects in solemn council,and the pipe and tobacco are placed in the centre ; having no writtenlanguage, of course the message must be conveyed verbally, and themessenger who has been chosen is in the council. They all make theirspeeches in his presence, so that he may know what to repeat ; they then,with solemn ceremony, bind up the tobacco in a piece of skin, tie it ina particular manner, and paint it with blue earth and vermilion. Thepipe and tobacco are then put into the hands of the messenger to beborne to the tribe to which he is sent. Having arrived at their village,a council of the braves is held to hear his message, and to determinewhether they will open and smoke his tobacco. He makes his speech,states the wrongs suffered by his tribe, tells the number of blankets,horses, and robes that will be paid them for their services, and awaitstheir answer. If they determine to accept his offer, the tobacco isopened and smoked ; they are then bound by the strongest ties to meetat the rendezvous, and to fulfil their engagements ; if they fail so to do,they are scorned and derided by the other tribes. On their arrival atthe appointed place, the articles promised, are handed over to the par-tisans ^^^ or leaders of the different bands in solemn council, and as therewill not be enough for every one, the leader, if he is generous, will givethese things to those of his band who are poor and have none. On the1? Cf. Denig, 1930, pp. 504-508, 510-512. Denig shows always a maturity and under-standing wtiich young Culbertson clearly lacked."1 On the subject of war, cf. Denig, 1930, pp. 544-556.M2 iphe partisan was the voluntary and responsible leader of a war party ; consultMcDermott, 1941, pp. 112-113. McDbemott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 81 contrary, should they decline the offer of this ambassador, his tobaccoand pipe are returned to him unopened, and he is dismissed with somepresent.The Sioux language is said to be as flexible as our own, havingmany different forms for expressing the same idea. They have in-flexions of nouns and verbs, but no genders; it is said to be a moredifficult language to acquire, than either the Blackfoot or Crowtongue. Every day seems to develop something interesting relativeto the Indians, and a careful observer could, in a year or two, collecta volume of valuable facts relative to their habits and languages.Thursday^ May SO.?This morning at breakfast, I was glad to learnthat the carts from the Cheyenne Indians were in sight, and soonafterward was relieved of a good deal of anxiety by seeing them unloadmy specimens from the Bad Lands. They all came safely, exceptsome of the bags, which had been torn by wolves which had opened thecache, eaten up all the parfleche, and opened the bags in search ofsomething more palatable, but the unkind bags gave them stones whenthey asked for meat. I think a number of the small pieces of petri-fied wood were lost. A part of the morning was passed in packingthe specimens in boxes, and soon I had the pleasure of seeing onelarge box well filled, marked T. A. Culbertson; another box is alsonearly full.^^^ Afterwards I prepared a long report to ProfessorBaird.^^* While engaged in writing it, I heard a gun fired in theyard, and a noise as if a large number of persons had arrived.On going to the window, I saw a large band of Indians on horse-back, preceded by several on foot, bearing two flags?the stars andstripes; it was a band of the Blackfeet tribe of Sioux."^ They hadjust arrived with about fifty lodges, and, while squaws were puttingup these, the "Braves" come to announce themselves. They dis-mounted and entered the reception room with a friendly shake of thehand to most of the whites present. A feast was ordered for them. Inthe middle of the room were placed four (five gallon) kettles, filledwith most tempting mush, and beside, these, to keep them in counte-nance, were two others, equally large, filled with equally temptingcoffee, already sweetened, while on the floor were fifty large hardcrackers (pilot bread), and about one-hundred plugs of very commontobacco. The Indians were all around the room on chairs, if theycould get them, while those in the middle sat on the floor, enjoyingthe most happy anticipations. They had no meat in their camps and ^^ See Introduction.1" This letter is printed liere as Appendix 2.^^ A subtribe of the Tetons, not to be confused with the Blackfoot Nation which tradedat Fort Benton and of whom Culbertson speaks in his entry for June 19. The Blackfeetof the Sioux ranged the Cheyenne, Moreau, Grand, and Cannonball Rivers. See the TabularView, pp. 132, 134, 135, 137, below. 82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 14Thad been almost starving for some time. I entered and placed myselffull length on a bed beside Gilpin, who was master of the feast. Whilethe company were detained, waiting for the arrival of one of the youngmen, I took observations; and first, I noticed that they had all thegravity of countenance usually exhibited by hungry men of all coun-tries, while waiting for their dinners ; there was no laughing or jestingunbecoming the serious business before them, but the various pipeswere passed round in profound silence. They were all in full dress,presenting an amusing mixture of savage and civilized costumes;many of them had fur caps, decorated with handsome plumes of theostrich feathers, dyed red; others had on the much coveted soldiercoat, and all wore highly ornamented Indian dress. There was a mostagreeable variety of faces, exhibiting all degrees, from that of thestern old brave to the light-hearted daring young scalp taker. Therewere several who had an amiable and intellectual expression of counte-nance ; they were tall, lightly framed, and with the features of the facedelicate and long. Among these were four brothers, noble-heartedfellows, the sons of an old man, whose bones I hope to carry awaywith me.These were the Indians that Gilpin traded with, and he said theywere all strongly attached to him?that they are most excellent men,although they certainly bear a bad name with the other traders. Hesaid that the young braves of noble families despise a mean action,such as not paying for anything a trader might advance them oncredit?that they would cast it up as a reproach to any one who shouldfail in so doing. One of them who sat near recognized me as a brotherof Alexander ; he asked Gilpin if I was not, and then gave me a friendlyshake of the hand. After all were in, and each had his pan (theyprovide their own utensils for eating here) , this one arose, shook handswith Gilpin, myself and the Little Bear, a chief of another tribe, andmade a short speech, returning thanks for the feast, &c. "WHiien heclosed, an old palefaced warrior came forward, shook hands with us,and remaining on his feet began a speech. "Ah," said Gilpin, "that oldfellow can speak, he is a second John Q. Adams." I regarded him at-tentively; he was of the common height, broad shouldered, with anexpansive forehead, and that style of prominent and large featureswhich indicates intellect and sternness. He stood erect, with his lefthand holding his blanket, and with his right making gestures contin-ually. Never did I listen to a more ready flow of language, or to amore self composed, dignified speaker, whether he addressed us orturned to the Indians on either side of him. His speech was also acomplimentary one, and was short, as the dinner was getting cold.He concluded, and two young men took the office of waiters ; they hadno light task, and before they got through had burnt their fingers, and McDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 83made the sweat roll from their faces. It was pleasing to observe thequiet and decorum throughout the whole scene; each one waitedpatiently until his turn came, and then modestly received his cracker,meat or coffee. The Little Bear, the old man and an invited guest,had no dish, and when the coffee was being served out, a large tin mugwas got for him ; the young man who was serving, instead of passingon, waited until the mug was brought, and then gave the old man atreble portion, being a very pleasing instance of politness and respect.As they drank their coffee nearly every one, especially the old man,made their compliments to us, as we do in drinking wine. The feastwent on cheerfully, and towards the conclusion, our old man started asong, or rather a howl of thanks, which was caught up and echoed byseveral. Gilpin tells me that these songs have only an occasional wordand that it is the same with nearly all their songs. The tobacco wasthen distributed, tw^o plugs being given to each ; but the young men,being able to kill buffalo and buy tobacco, gave their portion to some oftheir friends too old for the hunt. I noticed quite a number passingtheir pans, well filled with mush, to their squaws who were standingabout the door, which indicated generous and kind feeling. This wasnot an act of impoliteness, but just the reverse according to Indian eti-quette, for with them it is very impolite not to eat all that is given at afeast?you nuist eat or carry away. Soon after, the parties dispersedand went to their lodges, to feast again most probably.On asking at what age young men were allowed to attend thesefeasts, I was told that they went to those given by whites at all ages,but that they must gain admittance to the feasts among themselvesin one of three ways?by stealing a great many horses, by giving agreat deal to the poor, or by bringing in the scalps of a great manywarriors. The men who appeared so peaceable this afternoon wereall ready to kill their fellows, on any provocation, and, doubtless,everj^ man of them had killed more than one. They are regarded atthe fort as the worst of all the tribes, and are blamed for killingcattle every time they come. They have traded a large number ofrobes this afternoon, and nearly all for eatables, as they were starv-ing; they want to trade for meat, but Alexander will not do this,on any consideration, for fear of starving himself.Oh ! for the jaw bone of an ass to murder these miserable Indiandogs; just now, as at every few minutes during the day and nightthey are howling like a set of fiends; they have not a decent barklike our well-bred American dogs, but it is howl ! howl ! ! howl ! ! ! everlastingly?but after all it is their nature, for they are more wolfthan dog.Recipe for making dried Plums.?It is late, but I must note a newway, or rather the Indian way of drying plums, for the benefit of our 84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147economical housewives. When a lady wished to preserve her plums,which grow here abundantly, she gathers them, invites her neigh-bors, and they spend the afternoon sociably in sucking out the plumstones, saving the skins, which are carefully put away and dried,and when cooked with the scrapings of a buffalo skin, are esteemeda most rare dish. This is worthy a place amongst "Miss Leslie's Thou-sand and one Receipts." ^^^Friday, May 31.?This morning was spent in hunting antelope withJNl'Kenzie; we rode about ten miles over the hills bordering the Mis-souri, but did not get any game. The few aiitelopes that we saw werevery wild, and although M'Kenzie shot twice, the animals were toofar off. A wolf was seen scampering along, but at such a distancethat we could get no chance for a shot. It appears as if I were to getno game at all here ; the best marksmen about the fort have tried toget wolves, antelope and prairie dogs, but thus far without success.I have tried to get rabbits, and have engaged several young Indiansto bring me some, but none have yet come. About two o'clock thisafternoon, Gilpin, Alexander and myself went to a feast in the village,given by one of the tribe which arrived yesterday. On entering thelodge, we found but few assembled. Opposite the door or place ofentrance, through which we passed by stooping and dragging our-selves in, was placed a good robe for our seat, and in honor of theoccasion, a small square box containing a Hag. In a short time thewhole company had assembled, consisting of perhaps twenty persons.An old man, who came in last, returned thanks to the host for hishospitality, and then each of the company followed in turn, all usingthe same form except the title by which they addressed him : thus ? "brother-in-law, I thank you for the feast,"?"cousin, I thank you,&c."?"uncle, I thank you, &c." Then the host gave the hand of friend-ship to the whites present, and made a short speech, thanking us forour company, and making some inquiries concerning them; to theseIM'Kenzie replied, and then the master of ceremonies began to helpthe food, each one having provided his own dish. The mess, consist-ing of two dogs, of reverend age and valuable services, judging fromappearances, had been boiled in a large copper kettle and was servedout in very generous shares, beginning with us, and going aroundto complete the circle. I noticed that the man who sat at Gilpin's rightwas not served, nor had he a pan?this seemed very strange, as hewas the one who had made the speech to us, and appeared to be a ^?soElizn Leslie was born in PliihulelpLia in 1787, the daughter of Robert Leslie andLydia Baker, and died in 1858. She was the author of verses, stories, cookbooks, children'sbooks ; a contributor to Godey's Lady's Book, Graham's Magazine ; the editor of severalannuals. Her first publication was Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweet-meats (1827). Culbertson probably had in mind one of her later compilations, eitherThe Domestic Cookery Book (1837) or The Lady's Receipt Book (1S4G), both of whichwere very popular. (Consult Duycklnck, 185G, vol. 2, pp. 87-89 ; Dab, voL 11, pp. 185-186.) McDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 85prominent personage. On inquiring the reason, I was told that hewas the host. "The host," said I, "and don't he eat?" "No, etiquetterequires that he shall not partake at all of the feast." Nor did heserve it out, but simply sat as a mere looker on. A rib was given eachof us, and having tasted it, the custom of carrying away what we couldnot eat, was a relief to us, and we left, carrying with us our ribs.There was a good deal of conversation, during which one of the oldmen spoke of their custom of eating dogs, and said that they regardeddogs as we do cattle. And it is partly true; they are of great serviceto us, being much used as pack animals, so that a dog feast is reallyan expensive one and a great compliment. But I was surprised tolearn that this custom does not extend to the mountain Indians, whoeat them only when starving. Hodgekiss tells me that a fat pup, wellboiled, and the water changed several times, and then allowed to cool,is a delicious dish, and has no dog taste about it.Before one of the lodges near where the feast was held, was thebody of a little girl who had died yesterday; it was wrapped in ablue blanket, and was to be placed on the scaffold as soon as the coffinshould be finished. I did not see the ceremony of conveying it tothe tomb, or rather, to its resting place, but it was probably donein a very simple manner, as I was told that the burying of the dead,except braves, is left principally to the squaws. Blankets and foodare placed on the scaffold for their use in the other world ; the familyof the deceased mourn very much, and if others aid them in this sadwork, they expect pay and are sure to get it.^"THE EL Pvl-SfO?JOURNEY UP THE MISSOURIWednesday, June 5.?This afternoon I am on the Missouri, aboveFort Pierre, and again at leisure to write as usual. On Monday eve-ning it rained very heavily, and in the midst of this pouring down,an Indian arrived and stated that the steamboat was but a few milesdown the river ; this announcement electrified the whole establishment,and there were various opinions as to the hour she might be expected.At length we all settled down in the belief that she certainly couldnot come that night, but that morning would bring her. About thistime Gilpin brought me a prairie dog an Indian had killed with astick ; the skin was not injured in the least, and the hair was in ex-cellent order, the old coat having been shed so recently. I determinedto take both skeleton and skin, as the specimens are so rare. AnIndian who happened to be in the room soon took off the skin, and "'Denig described the burial customs at greater length (Denig, 1930, pp. 571-576).He said, however, that "there is as much mourning or distress observed on the deathof their children, perhaps more, than when grown. On these occasions often some oneof the parents destroy themselves, and all other Indians are very attentive to them forseveral days untU the most violent grief is over." He may, of course, have had In mindonly the Assiniboin. 86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147I began to cut the meat from the bones, but it turned out to be a longjob. At length the bones were cleaned in tolerably good order, andafter various efforts the skin has at length been stuffed so as to makea fine specimen. I may think myself fortunate in having thus secureda prairie dog ; I am told that Audubon failed in getting one and Dr.Evans ^^? told me that he had not secured a specimen last summer,as the skins of three he had taken spoiled.Tuesday morning opened rather gloomy, but in spite of mud onthe earth and clouds in the sky, all preparation was made for the ar-rival of the boat, and every one was on the look-out to get the firstpeep. At length, about half-past one o'clock, the smoke was discov-ered as the boat began to round the point below the fort; in abouthalf an hour after, she hove in sight, and before very long, we hadthe pleasure of boarding the El Paso,^^^ as she lay just below the fort.Salutes were fired on the boat and at the fort alternately, from thetime she appeared in sight until her landing, and there was a greatgathering of Indians and Whites to welcome her. A. recognized onthe hurricane deck, his friend Dr. Evans, of last summer, and soonI had the pleasure of making his acquaintance. He had visited theMauvaise Terre last summer, and had made quite a collection there;this, of course, was a bond of sympathy between us; it was a realgratification for me to converse with an intelligent man on the sub-ject of the Bad Lands. He was very free, and we soon understoodeach other.The substance of our several conversations was that we were bothdisappointed in the appearance of the Bad Lands, in the number ofpetrifications found, and in the number of localities when [where?]found. He says he believes they are scarcely to be obtained in anyother place than the locality of the turtles near Bear river, visitedby me. Our estimate of their extent was the same, namely?thirtyby sixty miles ; he says that White Earth now runs through the wholelength of them. Before seeing him I had felt very much disappointedabout my collection, fearing that it would be of little value ; but wasgreatly relieved to hear him say that such had been his feelings beforereaching the States, but that he was agreeably disappointed to find that "8 John Evans, United States geologist, who arrives at Fort Pierre in the next para-graph, was then on his second trip to the Bad Lands region. The report of his firstjourney (1849) forms a chapter in Owen, 1852, pp. 194-206. In 1851 he returned oncemore to Fort Pierre on the St. Ange and was useful during the outbrealt of cholera onthe boat. Kurz wrote : "June 17. No doctor on board ; two more deaths since yesterday ! Evans, a professor of geology, prepared the remedy (meal mixed with whislcy) that Iadminister" (Kurz, 1937, p. 69). De Smet, however, spoke of him differently : "Dr. Evans,a physician of great experience and of remarkable charity, endeavored to relieve him[Father Hoeken], and watched by him, but his cares and remedies proved fruitless"(Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 2, p. 641).^^The El Paso had been chartered by the Fur Company for the annual expedition to thefarthest posts. (See Introduction.) McDkemott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 87his small collections had excited a great deal of interest in all who sawthem, and he predicted a like favorable reception for mine. The letterI had written to Professor Baird was submitted to his inspection,as I wished to have his opinion of what I said ; he had attentively readthrough the six pages, and complimented me on the accuracy of whatI had there stated."? "There was no alteration that he would suggest,"though he gave me a caution I readily acted on, which was not to stateany tiling except on m^y own personal observation, not depending evenon the best authority, "for," said he "this may appear under the sanc-tion of a well known name, and may afterwards be discovered to bea most ridiculous error." I mentioned to him that I thought, fromLieutenant Lynch's description, that similar formations aboundedalong the Jordan ; he examined the account in his book, to which Ihave before particularly referred, and coincided in my opinion, stat-ing that he supposed that such was probably the case. That pointwill be more particularly examined by those to whom we make ourreports. The formation in the Bad Lands is what is called the tertiary.Thursday^ June 6.?^Last night the boat laid up about dark, as itwould be impossible to travel on this river at night. We must havebeen off very early, as when I got up about four o'clock, we were underway, and some distance from our starting place. We stopped beforebreakfast for fuel, the procuring of which here is not like that in theStates; there are here no wood-yards, with the wood all cut and inproper order, but whenever a lot of dry timber appears, if the boatneeds it, she puts ashore, and all hands fall to work cutting and carry-ing on board ; with the number of hands on board, it takes very littletime. I landed and tramped about in the wet weeds, to look forbotanical specimens, and got quite a number, although not in flower.Soon afterwards we entered the Great Bend, into which the Shayen(Chenenne) river empties; it is about five miles across, and twentyaround by the river. Just below this bend, while we were wooding,six Mackinaw boats belonging to the opposition company,^?^ and fromthe upper country came in sight, and passed down ; they appeared tobe lightly laden, and were estimated to have about thirteen hundredpacks of robes aboard. The slate formation appeared on the banksjust above this. About twelve o'clock we passed the mouth of theShayen, and stopped to wood just above it; it appeared to be a smallstream. No specimens gathered there. Afterwards we were detainedon a sand bar for an hour or two, but found it to be no annoyance,since I was engaged for a part of the morning in putting some speci-mens in the herbarium. > Fort Clark, about 8 miles below the Knife River on the south (right) bank of theMissouri, Tras built in 1831 to replace a fort built in 1822. For important descriptionsof it and of the surrounding country, see Maximilian, 1904-7, vol. 1, pp. 344 fif. ; vol. 2,pp. 222-251 ; vol. 3, pp. 11-83 ; Audubon and Coues, 1897, vol. 2, pp. 10-50. The mostImportant single publication concerning it is Abel, 1932."? For the Ree or Arikara Indians consult Hodge, 1907, pp. 83-86 ; Haydeu, 1863, pp.351-363 ; Maximilian, 1904-7, vol. 2, pp. 386-395 ; Kurz, 1937 (consult index) ; Chittendenand Richardson, 1905 (consult index) ; DeLand, 1906; Will, 1929-30; Abel, 1932; passim.^" According to Hayden, the Aiikara traded some 500 to 800 bushels of corn annuallyat the Fort ; their corn crop ran from 2,000 to 4,000 bushels a year ; they also raisedconsiderable crops of squash and pumpkins on these farms (Hayden, 1863, pp. 352-354). 96 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147the inner bank having the fort and village on it. Our arrival wasmarked by salutes from ship and shore, and as soon as we landed,numbers of Indians came aboard. I thought their features were moredecidedly like those of the English than the features of the Sioux,and my ear immediately caught the difference in the language. If Icould speak either tongue I might explain this difference, but as itis, I feel as if an opinion should scarcely be regarded. On first listen-ing to the Sioux language, it appeared to me that to characterize itas an affectionate language would best describe the impression madeupon me by its tones; in the Ree language this is not the case; Ithought that it was pitched on a higher key and had a harsher sound,and yet this may not express the true difference. Their features ex-press the same variety of expression as I before noticed in the Sioux.The Ariccarees, or Rees as they are commonly called, are said to begreat thieves, pilfering anything they can lay their hands on?theyare also great beggars like all other tribes. If a feast and some pres-ents are not given to them, they injure the boat, and perhaps wouldtake the lives of some of the traders in the winter season. Thereforea feast of coffee and biscuits was given to all who came on board,and sugar, coffee, flour, biscuit, tobacco and ammunition were dis-tributed amongst them, with all of which they appeared to be wellsatisfied. We were invited into the village, and Mr. Picotte andAlexander determined to go; although last year they had served thelatter in a very treacherous manner.One of their chiefs had gone down to Council Bluffs on the com-pany's boat a year before, although much against the will of Mr.Picotte, who had paid him not to do so for two years before. Buton this occasion he would go in spite of all opposition, and was killedby the Pawnees. The Rees blamed the company for his death, anddetermined to make them pay for it. On the arrival of the boatlast year, Alexander was invited to a feast in the village, and went,accompanied only by the young man in charge of the fort. He foundthem all in a large hut armed to the teeth, and then first learned thatdissatisfaction existed among them. They charged him with the mur-der of their chief, and in the most threatening manner, demandedpay for his blood. My brother was unarmed, and the people in theboat knew nothing of what was doing in the village. They had astormy session at the feast, but at length all was settled by his prom-ising to pay them two good horses ; they then allowed him to departin safety, and at the proper time he sent the horses. Amongst allthe Indians blood may be paid for, which is a fact, I believe, commonto all heathen nations.To-day four of us went to the village and made a "complimentarycall," as we had not time for a feast. We were received in a large MCDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 97mud lodge or hut, built in a circular form, having a diameter of aboutthirty feet. The entrance is through a small projection, correspond-ing in design, and somewhat in shape to our small covered porches.The lodge was airy, clean and had no unpleasant smell in the inside.The gentleman of the house received us politely, placed a mat on theground, then four or five robes, and taking us each by the hand seatedus on them. Then he ran out, and standing on the top of his houseinvited the people to call and see us. While they were assembling Imade observations.The Kees do not use the skin lodge.^^^ The one we had enteredwas of their usual fashion, and was built somewhat in this way; acircular foundation often thirty feet in diameter, is dug about twelveinches deep; in the middle of this a platform about ten feet squareand twenty feet high, is made by erecting four upright posts, andon these are placed four others horizontally ; then around the circularfoundation are placed a proper number of uj^right posts, on whichare again laid horizontal timbers, and against these rest small polesset very close together and one end stuck in the ground. These areprobably five feet in length; then from the horizontal poles to thoseof the square platform in the middle, and beyond them, extend otherpoles laid as close together as possible, and of such a length as toform an entire roof, except a hole in the centre for the passage ofsmoke. On the sides and top dirt is thrown, and the house is finished.At the entrance a small projection is built of poles, extending prob-ably six feet beyond the main wall, and covered ; this protects themthe better from the snow and rain. The external appearance is thatof a rude cone, set on a base about five feet high, and thirty feet indiameter. On entering, you must stoop, but as soon as you pass theskin door, your head may again become erect.We were conducted to the place of honor, opposite to and facing thedoor. To our right, along the wall, were arranged several bedsteads,rudely made, while to the left, a part was cut off by a couple of poles,for the accommodation of the horses ; the chickens had a coop in onecorner, but roam at large on most occasions, and the centre is used for afireplace. The lodge was clean, airy, light and comfortable, and therewas plenty of room for more than those, who I suppose, inhabited it.Behind us were hung bows with spears on the ends, and two rude instru-ments of music, made of a number of pumpkins.^^^ I believe some-thing is put in the inside of them and shaken, but I have not learned themodus operandi. There were two squaws present, the elder of whomwas very polite, the younger one stood back, either because she was theyounger wife, or perhaps the wife of another man. I was quite pleased i'8 Cf. Hodge, 1907, pp. 410-411 ; Reid, 1929-30 ; the latter quotes Thaddeua Culbertsonamong others."0 For a summary of Indian musical instruments, see Hodge, 1907, pp. 958-960. 98 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147with both of them. Near the fireplace a small wooden mortar was sunkin the ground, for pounding corn. The large and high room appearedI'ather scarce of furniture. I have thus attempted to describe theappearance and structure of the lodge in which we were, and this is thegeneral appearance of all others. Many persons in the States live inmuch more filth and much less comfort. About twenty of the menhaving assembled, the owner of the lodge gave us the right hand againin token of friendship, and made a short speech, which we repliedto, through an interpreter, and then we left.The village is composed of two-hundred lodges, as near as I couldlearn from the interpreter, and is built upon the top of a bluff bankrising about seventy-five feet perpendicular from the water. The hutsare placed very irregularly, sometimes with very narrow, and some-times with quite broad spaces between them. A number of platformsof poles, as high as the lodges themselves, are interspersed among themfor the convenience of drying meat and dressing robes. I noticed anumber of squaws busily emploj'ed in dressing robes. I left the villagemuch pleased with my visit, and with the politeness with which we hadbeen treated.On passing to the fort, I observed a great number of hillocks scat-tered over the prairie, and these, I was told, are graves, this peoplehaving abandoned the old method of scaffolding their dead. Othermore agreeable sights on the prairie also attracted my attention, andthese were little patches of corn and pumpkins, generally enclosed by aslight bush fence. I forgot to mention that over the fire in the lodgewere two bundles of what appeared to be hay tied up in skins ; these, Iwas told, contained grains of corn put up in hay, and hung so as to beheated ; if the grains germinate they are planted, and those that do notare left out. This corn is small and on small ears, but Mr. Picotte saysit contains a larger amount of flour than our corn. We spent a shorttime in the fort, and found it to be small and the buildings old, buteverything very neat and clean. I saw there a young antelope, which asquaw allowed to suck from her breasts ; it is said to be quite commonfor squaws to suckle young animals, often raising in this manner cubsof the grizzly bear. I have noticed that they often allow their childrento suckle till much older than with us. I have seen children four orfive years old taking a good tug at the maternal fount.About nine o'clock the boat was off again, having landed all herfreight, and taken in some Kee corn. The hills opposite the fort and alittle above it, are steep, irregular and of the whitish clay (tertiary, Ithink,) formation. The tops of several have a light red appearance asthough they might be of pumice stone, such as I picked up last night atthe landing. The hill at the village was covered with men, women andchildren, but as the top of it is level, no general vieAv of the village McDermott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 99 could be obtained. This village is one of sad celebrity; in the year18 [37], it was inhabited by the Mandans, then quite a large tribe, but inthat year the smallj^ox passed over the country, and swept off nearlythe whole nation. Many of them, in despair, seeing all their kindreddead or dying from the loathsome disease, cast themselves into the riverfrom this high bluff. The small remnant of the Mandans now occupya few lodges about five miles above the village or have been incorpo-rated with the Rees and Gros Ventres.^^?Above the Ree village stretches a fine bottom, on which I waspleased to see quite a number of squaws at work putting in their sum-mer crop; it reminded me of some of the James river bottoms inVirginia. We are just now passing quite a long stretch of high steepbluffs on the west shore; formations like that of hills in the BadLands?strata of a red slate, like half burnt brick, and occasionalspots of a slate-like substance that looks as if it had just been exposedto the fire. Probably these are the appearances that indicate formervolcanic action. I wished that I could land and search for fossils.The Rees offer many advantages for missionary labor. They haveone fixed place of residence, except for a few months in winter, whenthey go to some other place for wood and meat, but they return againto the village at Fort Clark. They cultivate corn not only for theirown use, but also enough to make it a very prominent part of trade,and they are said to be peaceable and generally well disposed. Thesame things are said to be true of the Mandans and Gros Ventres,and the old traders say they are more like the whites in their waysthan any other Indians.FORT BERTHOLD?GROS VENTRESThursday^ June 13}^'^?Last evening for miles we had on both banksprincipally on the east, the veiy irregular steep and white coloredhills mentioned before as being somewhat similar in their material tothose in the Bad Lands. I notice however that sand was the principalcomponent while the white clay occurred in occasional strata only. 189 Chardon told Audubon that the smallpox was brought to the Mandans and theArikara by the steamer Assiniboin which arrived at Fort Clark in July 1837 ; the epidemicis more commonly credited to the St. Peter. Only 27 Mandans survived, but by 1843these had increased to 10 or 12 lodges. Consult Audubon and Coues, 1897, vol. 2, pp.42-47 ; Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 1, pp. 131-135 ; Jacob Halsey to Pratte, Chouteau andCompany, Fort Pierre, Nov. 2, 1837, ms. Mo. Hist. Soc. ; Chappell, 1905-6a, pp. 290-291 ; Chittenden, 1935, vol. 2, pp. 612-620."1 The text beginning with June 13 and running through almost all the entry forJune 18 has been taken from a typescript supplied me by the Montana Historical Societyof a Thaddeus Culbertson notebook in its possession. This small notebook, written Inink, bears the page numbering "260-307" and apparently is the only fragment extantof the original notebooks other than the portion owned by the Missouri HistoricalSociety. This typescript I have reproduced exactly with two exceptions : first, I havemoved date and hour lines to the left margin in accordance with form already setup for this edition ; second, I have occasionally Inserted in square brackets a correctionor an additional word necessary for clarity. 100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147I thought that fossils might be found in them but had no opportunityfor examination. About five o'clock one of the pilots brought mea very young sand crane which I put in alcohol and I intend preserv-ing the skeleton of a large one he gave me as it was not in order toskin. About six o'clock A M we reached Fort Berthold/^^ one of thecompany's forts situated on the east bank of the Missouri about 60miles above fort Clark. It is built on a high bluff just on the northside of the Gros Vent village.^^^ It is a small fort and has no par-ticular interest about it. Mr. Kipp ^?* who has it in charge now haskept it in good order if we may judge from its neat and cleanly looks.The prairie extends beautifully eastward from the village and affordsfine pasture for their horses. The part near the fort is also theirbuiying ground and is studded with a great many scaffolds on whichthe dead are placed and also a great many graves in which they havebeen buried. Many of these scaffolds were partly broken down and haddeposited their burdens on the ground where they lay unsightly andforbidding. A great number of skulls were kicking; that is beingkicked about on the gi-ound and had it not been for fear of arousingthe indians, I could easily have secured six or seven good ones ; as itwas I picked up but one and wrapping it in my coat marched boldly tothe boat and got it safely in my trunk without any suspicion beingexcited. The village suffers [differs?] nothing in looks from the Reevillage described yesterday as they use mud lodges also. In one thingthey differed and that is they are now engaged in picketing their wholevillage. The logs are well prepared and are all up except on thewest side; a bastion with loop holes is placed in the middle of eachside. This picket is of course to protect them against their enemieswho frequently attack them. I think it was said at Fort Pierre thatthe Sioux nation families and all were coming up to war this summerand if they are I doubt not that they will go back with a flea in their '" Fort Berthold was built in 1845 about 125 miles above Bismarck, N. Dak., and about40 miles above the lower Knife River, on the left or north bank of the Missouri (Wilson.1902, pp. 359-361). When Palliser reached Fort Berthold, Chardon was In charge(Palliser, 1853, pp. 197-203). This fort Is mentioned several times In Kurz (1937;consult index) ; for something of it in the years after Culbertson's visit, see Larpenteur,1898 (consult index).1S3 rpijg Groa Ventres of the Missouri were Hidatsa or Minitari ; they had been removedto this neighborhood in 1845 (and the Mandans, too) and Fort Berthold had beenerected on their account. (Consult Hodge, 1907, pp. 508-549 ; Maximilian, 1904-7, vol.2, pp. 367-385; Kurz, 1937, pp. 73-78 (and consult index under Heransta) ; Hayden,1862, pp. 420-424.)"^ James Kipp, born in Canada in 1788, came to the Upper Missouri in 1822 as agentof the Columbia Fur Company and later joined the American Fur Company. He builtFort Piegan in the Blackfoot country in 1831 ; 2 years later Maximilian saw much of himat Fort Clark (Maximilian, 1904-7, vol. 2, pp. 221-251, vol. 3, pp. 11-83). Audubonknew him at Fort Union In 1843 (Audubon and Coues, 1897, passim). Palliser traveledto the northwest overland with Kipp in 1848 (Palliser, 1853, pp. 82 ff.) and In 1851Kurz served as clerk to Kipp at Fort Berthold (1937, pp. 73 ff.). He died at Parkville,Mo., in 1880. For interesting and informative glimpses of him, consult indexes to Chitten-den, 1903 ; Larpenteur, 1898 ; Kurz, 1937 ; McDonnell, 1940 ; Abel, 1932. MCDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 101 ears for they can do nothing with this fort. Between the fort andthe village stands a log house which belonged to a man that theykilled there last winter; he had killed an Assiniboine and the GrosVents killed him in revenge. Many of them came on board and hadtheir usual feast and presents with which they marched off in greatglee. One of their chiefs a tall sharp looking man is on board goingup with us, and also several others, one of whom is a Crow Indianwith his family. He has been visiting at the village and is the onlyone that escaped from a small hunting party that was cut off by a smallSioux war party a few days ago. I noticed nothing peculiar aboutthe Gros Vents except that their skin was generally much lighter incolour than that previously seen. Some of the squaws were very lightcoloured approaching closely the whites. Their hands and feet ap-pear to be unusually small and neat and their teeth were generallygood and shown very much. They have bright eyes and very cheer-ful countenances and bodies generally built slenderly and for ac-tivity. Their extensive corn fields show signs of industry coveringas they do the bottom grounds. I have no doubt that a prudentpatient missionary instructing them with arts of civilized life wouldbe well received.3 ^2 Oclock P M?^We have just passed the mouth of the Little Mis-souri River ^^^ coming from the South, about 120 miles above FortClark. Mr. Picotte has just been talking with me and confirms whatI had previously heard about the abandonment of the aged and infirmby the Indians. He says that the Indians further east on Lakes Su-perior and Winipeg are worse than these Missouri Indians for it. Hesaid in speaking on another subject that since he first knew them in1820 the Mandans, Rees and Gros Vents had lost probably % of theirnumber. Each of them was then a large and flourishing people andnow the Rees have but one village the Gros Vents one, and the Man-dans a very small one. He assigned several reasons for this, and hesays they are true of every tribe with a fixed place of residence ; be-cause they remain in one place the wood is all destroyed and they areforced to winter out where wood is convenient; because of dangerfrom their enemies and the high water in the spring they have to re-turn to their villages before winter breaks up and there enter housesthat have been exposed to the snows of winter and are frozen anddamp ; consequently many?especially of the very young and the old,die of colds and of diseases originating in the dampness and cold;because they live in villages and in these mud houses they are moreexposed to the epidemic and again their enemies always know whereto find them and lurking about kill them when working in their fields. 'ssThe Little Missouri, after the Yellowstone, is the principal affluent of the Missouriin North Daliota. It flows north from the Black Hills halfway through North Dakotaand then east and north to enter the Missouri nearly 30 miles above Fort Berthold. 102 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147These are the four reasons why he thinks that for years past thosetribes having fixed habitations have decreased in numbers and besidesthe above nations he cites as instances the Otoes, Omahaws, Pawneesand several others. "Wliile these have decreased the Sioux, a wander-ing people [,] have greatly increased. Their mode of life giving themadvantages on all the particulars mentioned as being disadvantageousfor the others.?The river has been on the rise for several days andI have frequently thought of Prof Henry's theory that when a streamrises it is higher in the middle than at the shores and consequentlythe driftwood floats near the shores, while in falling water the streamis lowest in the middle and will therefore carry the driftwood there.My observations on two rises in the Missouri do not confirm thattheory. I noticed that the drift has always been found in the currentwhether that be near the shore or in the middle and Capt. Durack ^^^confirms that opinion saying that such is the case in rising and fallingwaters?that the drift always floats in the current. This howeverdoes not conflict with Prof. Henry's theory as it is true of an idealstream perfectly straight, of a level bottom, even shores and no forcebut gravitation acting, but where the various forces found in everystream combine to effect the force of gravitation on the phenomenacannot be in accordance with the requirements of its laws consideredwithout reference to these foreign forces.?Shores to-day, generallyascending, occasionally abrupt and of sand and white clay.Friday, June IJfth.?^We are still in the Big Bend which we enteredlast night and we wdll not be out of it until we reach the Knife Rivercoming in from the north.^^^ This I take to be the one marked OnionCreek on the map. There is also a KJiife River below on the southside, a very few miles above Fort Clark. The Little Missouri is placedwrong on the map, it comes in a few miles below the Big Bend, notAbove it as there marked. This bend is about ten miles across andthirty around. This morning is windy and cloudy. Buffalo are veryplenty, some hunters out ahead of the boat killed three bulls early thismorning and we stopped to take in the meat, soon after a small bandwas discovered trying to get up the bank on the west side, having justcrossed the river. A great many guns were fired and three bulls werekilled ; we took one on board. Shortly afterwards we overtook a largeband of cows in the middle of the river and had the engmes not beenstopped we would have run them down, but all even the calves escapedwith a very great fright. The banks thus far on this bend have beenMauvaise Terre.?This morning we had for snack one of the daintiesof this country?the milk gut of buffalo roasted on coals; it tastessomewhat like our white pudding having in it a substance that when ^80 Of the El Paso. (See Introduction, pp. 10-14.)"' Little Knife River enters tlie Missouri from the north (left) about 7 miles belowthe White Earth River. MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 103 cooked lias also the appearance of their stuffing.^^ Mr. Picotte inspeaking of the dislike persons in the states have to such things saysthat in the north the dung of the reindeer is eaten and very muchrelished and that he himself has eaten it. It is good because of thepeculiar weed eaten very much by them and is taken out of them beforebeing completely digested.Evening. Have travelled finely today ; river continues rising ; banksprairies and bad lands; passed Knife Kiver about noon and thisevening White [Earth] River, about fifty miles from British Do-minion and said by some to be the most northern point of the river.^^We will reach Fort Union probably on Sunday?sorry for it.Saturday^ June 16.?Last night we landed early because of heavy-clouds in the west threatening a severe storm of wind and rain: Itrained all night but the storm was by no means as severe as it threatenedto be. I went out on the prairie as soon as we landed and got severalnew and pretty flowers for the herbarium.?During the morning thebanks have exhibited frequent signs of former volcanic action, andsome of the hills have been very high irregular and steep. About11 o'clock we stopped to wood and I had the first opportunity toexamine those hills that have appeared so often exhibiting signs ofcontaining fossil remains. As I pushed my way along a buffalopath through the bushes I caught a glimpse of the first snake Ihave seen since leaving Fort Pierre ; it was hurrying off and got offbefore I could kill it. I next got specimens of several beautifulflowers growing on the edge of the woods and on the small hillsat the foot of the large barren ones. One of these was a most beautifuland delicate flower, delighting my eye by its delicately colored andgracefully curled little petals, and I was exceedingly mortified to findthis very one withered up when I came to put it away; but I putthe best one in determined to keep them if I'd not find more. I thenpressed on to the large hills ; they are about sixty feet high, composedprincipally of large strata of sandstone with a perpendicular sidetoward the river. I examined along the side of one of the largerhills for fossils but found nothing at all except very small pieces ofbone. I picked up the specimens of stone marked 36 & 37. At thebase of the hill I found the large petrified roots of which 37 is a part ; it was taken from a stump about three feet in diameter?hollow inthe middle and about six inches thick. Near the whole of the stump,rising one foot above the ground still remains, within a few inchesof it are the remains of another one still larger I should judge. The 188 Culbertsou's description of this dish is misleading. Boudin was a kind of sausagemade on the spot ; the intestine was stuffed with strips of buffalo meat and boiled orroasted. (See McDermott, 1941, pp. 32-33.)189 Tiie White or White Earth River flows almost directly south to enter the Missourijust where it heads south for the first time;. 104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147formation is different from that of the Bad Lands of White Eiver.A little below the bases of these large hills and between them and theriver I saw what has excited my curiosity frequently as we camealong?one of those burnt places that gives a red appearance to theearth. Some of the stones in 36 ^^^ came from this spot ; there wasquite a heap of red colored stone there having every appearanceof having been under the action of fire. One piece in particularabout the size of a half bushel measure seemed to have been meltedto nearly a liquid state and then stuck to-gether. If these red placeswere once volcanoes the country must have been full of them. Coalcropped out just at the base of these burnt hills toward the river.Large veins of it appeared at least once this morning in one of thesteep banks right above the water. I asked Mr. Picotte about thesmoking hills mentioned by Nicollet and he says that he himself hasseen smoke coming from them for years at a time and that some yearsago they fell in and since that have not smoked. (Poor fellows theymust want a pipe.) They are about fifteen miles below Fort Lookouton the east side of the river.^^^6 O''clock.?A few hours ago we met a skiff from Fort Union, in[which] were Mr. Clark ^^^ of the Blackfoot Post, the Crow interpreterand two men : They were coming to meet the boat and had left theFort this morning expecting to meet us in several days. Alexanderand Joe Howard ^^^ have just left us to ride to the Fort where theywill arrive in four or five houi-s. We have for some time been passingalong a beautiful prairie and although the day has been very windy,the evening is calm and lovely,?the sun set beautifully a few minutesago and it appeared as though I had got beyond the sunset, for itappeared to go down behind us almost, probably because our courseis now southwest. I feel rather sad at the prospect of parting sosoon with my brother who has been so kind to me. May God blesshim and his goodness to me one of the humblest followers of Christ. j?o No list of petrifactions collected by Culbertson was printed with his journal ; thesewere no doubt among the specimens discussed by Leldy, 1854. '81 Culbertson referred apparently to the discussion by Nicollet of the smoking hills or "pseudo-volcanoes," as he chose to call them, in his Report, Nicollet, 1845, pp. 39-41,See also American Journal of Science, vol. 45, (1843), pp. 154-155. Fort Looliout wasnearly opposite the mouth of Crow Creek (see footnote 103).lo^ Malcolm Clark or Clarke was born at Fort Wayne, Ind., the son of Lt. NathanClark of the U. S. Fifth Infantry. His biographer says that he entered West Point at17 (Cullum, 1868, however, does not list him) but was dismissed. He went to Texas toserve in the War of Independence there and presently through Capt. John Culbertson hereceived an appointment in the American Fur Company. He went up the Missouri forthe first time at the age of 24. Until his death in 1869 (he was killed by the Indians)he was active in the fur trade. For him, consult Van Cleve, 1876; Clarke, 3 896; Lar-penteur (Coues, Editor), 1898 (consult index) ; McDonnell, 1940 (consult index). Seefootnote 110, above.19S This was probably Joseph Howard, "one of the oldest hands," who guided Larpenteurfrom Fort Lewis to Fort Union in 1846 (Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 2, p. 244). MCDBKMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 105FORT UNION?ASSINIBOINESMonday^ June 17th.?Yesterday afternoon at four o'clock the boatlanded at Fort Union having made the trip of 2,500 miles in thirty-sixdays, 4 hours, the quickest one ever made. We [were] received verykindly by the gentlemen of the Post, Mr. E. L. [T.] Denig ^^* and Fer-dinand Culbertson.^^^ They showed me quite a good collection ofstuffed skins made by them for Prof. Baird at the request of my brother.This must have cost them a great deal of labor and considerableexpense and they deserve many thanks from the students of naturalhistory for whose benefit they were made.^^^ Fort Union ^^^ is verymuch like Fort Pierre in its structure and about the same size the prin-cipal difference being that here they have stone bastions and a cannonmounted above the gate. A room also is built against the wall by thegate, in which they used to trade through a small hole about one footsquare in the wall. Now however they trade at the retail store insideof the fort. The Assineboines and the Crees are the people principallytrading here. The Crees ^^^ are from the British possessions, and arethen called Re-nis-te-nas ; they visit the Missouri but once a year.About six lodges [of Assiniboines ^^^] are encamped at the oppositionFort ^?? a few miles below and they were all here when we arrived.This occasioned some trouble and has been near making a serious diffi-culty as w^e had two Crow Indians on board, and the Crows and theAssiniboines began to war a few days ago. Some of the Assiniboineswanted to kill the Crows on Board and the gentlemen here had to pro-tect them, by putting one in the Fort and concealing the other in one of '?< The most elaborate sketch of the life of Denig is that by J. N. B. Hewitt prefacingthe "Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri" (Denig, 1930, pp. 377-386). Edwin ThompsonDenig, son of Dr. George Denig, was born In McConnellstown, Pa., March 10, 1812 and diedin 1862 or 1863 in Manitoba, Canada. He entered the Upper Missouri fur trade in 1833. Formuch of interest about him, in addition to his very valuable report on "The Indian Tribesof the Upper Missouri," see Audubon and Coues, 1897 ; Kurz, 1937 ; Chittenden andRichardson, 1905 ; McDonnell, 1940.""Ferdinand Culbertson (1823-63) was the son of Dr. Samuel Duncan and Nancy Pur-viance Culbertson of Chambersburg ; he was a first cousin of Alexander and ThaddeusCulbertson (Culbertson, 1893, pp. 163-165, 170).i?? See Fifth Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 1850, pp. 42, 44.197 Fort Union, begun under Kenneth McKenzie in 1829 and completed 4 years later,was on the north side of the Missouri about 6I/2 miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone.An excellent description of it written by Denig is included in Audubon and Coues, 1897,vol. 2, pp. 180-188. See also Maximilian, 1904-7, vol. 1, pp. 376-393 ; vol. 2, pp. 11-25,188-207 ; Palliser, 1853, pp. 110-151 ; consult indexes to Chittenden and Richardson,1905 ; Larpenteur, 1898 ; Kurz, 1937."s For the Cree Indians (derived from Kristinaux) see Hodge, 1907, pp. 359-362;Hayden, 1863, pp. 234-248. Kurz and De Smet both have much to say about theseIndians.199 For the Assiniboin the most important source, of course, is Denig, 1930. Consult alsoHodge, 1907, pp. 102-105 ; Hayden, 1863, pp. 379-389 ; Kurz, 1937, (consult index) ;Chittenden and Richardson, 1905 (consult index). When Palliser was at Fort Union(In the fall of 1848), he noted one band of Assiniboin on the river 13 miles below theFort and a second about 6 miles above the Fort "to the westward" (Palliser, 1853, p. 110). ^o* Kurz located Fort William 5 miles below Fort Union and therefore below the mouthof the Yellowstone (1937, p. 119). (See footnote 202.)890780?52 9 106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdli>. 147the staterooms. One of the Crows is a great warrior although still ayoung man his name is the Horse Guard ^"^ and although not thirtyyears old he has returned from about thirty expeditions, always bring-ing back hair (scalps) , or horses and getting his party back in safety.He is not a full breed but a half breed and has the features of a whiteman. I should not judge him to be a blood thirsty man from his looks,but he is very brave and says that if they would let him on the prairiehe would whip all the Assiniboines here. He has his son a fine lookinglittle boy with him. The Assiniboines are the worst dressed andmeanest looking Indians I have seen but this is partly owing to theirbeing in mourning for the young man whom the Crows killed the otherday. The peace was broken in this way ; a war party of the Assini-boines attacked some Crows mistaking them for Blackfeet and killed acouple ; they tried to settle the difficulty but the Crows killed a young ..Issiniboine who had strayed from camp while the negociations [sic]were going on and now war is declared fully. Fort Union is situated onthe east bank of the Missouri about four miles above the mouth of theYellowstone and has a very beautiful prairie running back of it to thehills. On the same side just below the mouth of the Yellowstone issituated the fort of the opposition company, of which Harvey and JoePicotte are the principal men.^^^ The Missouri and the Yellowstonecome to-gether, one from the north and the other from the south andneither makes a bend before their junction, so that it would look likethe same river did not the currents run in opposite directions after thejunction of course the stream is very large ; just now the Yellowstone isthe larger, although both of them are very full. The Bell is just ring-ing preparatory to a start still higher up the river. We will probablygo much higher than any other boat has gone. Mr. Denig was so kindas to present me with a very fine bow with a valuable quiver and arrows,which I will keep as a memento of this trip.12 o'clock.?Eight or ten miles above Fort Union on the Missouri ; country more level than below, and banks well timbered all along;hills lower and this makes the impression of a more open country ; badlands appear occasionally off the river and in perpendicular banksfrom the water. =01 For more about this Crow chief, see McDonnell, 1940, pp. 113, 176, 186, 287. ^"2 The "opposition" in this period was Harvey, Primeau, and Company (the St. LouisFur Company or Union Fur Company) organized in 1846 (witli the financial backingof Robert Campbell of Saint Louis) by Alexander Harvey, Charles Primeau, JosephPicotte, and A. R. Bouis, who had all once been employees of the American Fur Company.For it, see Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 1, pp. 227, and passim; McDonnell, 1940, p. 265.For Alexander Harvey (1807-54) consult Chittenden, 1935, vol. 2, pp. 683-688;McDonnell, op. cit., pp. 302-305, and passim; Kurz said that he was bourgeois at FortWilliam in 1850 (1937, p. 240). (See also Appendix 3, below.)Joe Picotte was a nephew of Honors Picotte (see footnote 162) ; Kurz gives us a gooddeal of information about him as well as many glimpses of friendly contacts and businessrivalry between the posts in 1851-52 (Kurz, 1937, pp. 119, 126-127, 197-198, 213, 234,^46, 248, 254, 314-315). He died in 1868. Consult also McDonnell, op. cit, (Index). McDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 107one o'clock.?We are now passing a most lovely and level little prai-rie on the west bank, it is covered with fine grass and has the appear-ance of the most lovely meadow.Hills to the north a mile off?light clay intermixed with whiteearth?rolling prairie probably beyond.At the point in the first great bend above the Fort?about ten miles ? point well timbered. Channel 7 to 9 feet deep. Grass backwardhere?the yellow dried grass still gives its color to the plains althoughthe new grass is coming on, this has been observed for several dayspast. The Little Muddy Creek (Bu-Bus)203 comes in from the southopposite the extremity of this point?a very small stream about tenyards wide.We are now passing out of the Big Bend about I/2 a mile across and6 or 8 around. Ten or twelve antelope were grazing quietly on thebeautiful prairie but they soon scampered up the hill after they got alook and a smell of the boat. Some one shot at wild goose, this is thethird time that they have been seen on this bend, and they have eachtime been in pairs, and have young ones ; these appear to be youngerthan those seen lower down. Saw a beaver this afternoon.One half mile above the bend?south side?seam of coal in bank,fifty feet perpendicular?sandstone formation?appearance of theaction of fire on the tops of several hills, stones being of a red brick-like color. Just passing a place where there are high hills on bothsides, those on the south are off from the river and those on the northare close to the water ; high, steep and have much of the red burnt clayin them ; wood plenty.Four o^clock.?We are now opposite a spot on the north shore wherethe burnt like earth assumes forms nearest like that of a crater, thanany other place that I have seen. That is they exhibit quite distinctlythe remaining half or smaller part of a crater ; the wall like appear-ance and the circular form may be easily traced. These appearanceshave been continually seen to-day when the hills have been near theshore, coal also appears very often. I do not pronounce them to be thecraters of old volcanoes, but simply wish to convey an idea of theappearance of the places?red like the remains of an old brick kilnand the remains of a circular form in this case mostly they have beenon the even sides of the hills, the other part may have slid away. Coalhere appears in one strata about two feet thick. The hills are formedof a soft sandstone and give no sign of lava, except in the part burned.Opposite this is a fine bottom but the hills beyond exhibit a similar ap-pearance to these.Five d'cloch.?We are now wooding on a point on the south sidewhere we have the greatest abundance of dry wood. I found here -^ Another Chilbertson rendering of French : Bourbeuse was what he had heard this streamcalled. ( See footnote 204. ) 108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 147the first roses that I have seen?indeed the very first buds?for belowthis was no sign of a rose coming out. The evidence of the action offire still continues in the greatest abundance on both sides.I was told that the white colored earth composing these hills will be-come of a red color when heat is applied. A fact that seems incon-sistent, with the supposition that fire has been at work here is thatthese red places do not extend deep into the earth but are rarely morethan 5 or 6 feet deep and below them appear the light colored earthwhich shows no signs of having been exposed to fire.6y2 o'cloclc.?A little below the Big Muddy River a change takesplace in the appearance of these hills, on the north they leave the riverand a broad bottom intervenes; the hills ascend gradually and arecovered with grass. On the south the change is similar but not sogreat.We are encamped just above the mouth of Big Muddy Eiver ^?* about50 or 60 miles from Fort Union. There is a long and wide prairie here.This river is probably the one marked [Ibex?] on the map as I canlearn nothing of such a river from those knowing the country.Tuesday^ June 18th.?This morning the appearance of the countryabout as last evening. Prairie to the north and hills to the south, hillswith short grass showing occasionally and white earth. The mack-inaw in tow was sunk this morning by the boat taking a sheer andrunning against the shore. Some hunters sent out last night havejust come in and I have been so fortunate as to get an Elk calf takenfrom the mother and an elk bone some weeks in the velvet, both ofwhich are in alcohol. I again experienced the kind liberality of Mr.Picotte who gave me alcohol without which it would have been impos-sible to keep them as my supply was almost entirely gone before Ireached Fort Pierre. It is not the pecuniary value of the alcohol thatmakes this so great a favor but the impossibility of getting any morefor a year.10 o'clock.?Country continues more even than yesterday, somefine prairie, good timber, just now passing some hills on the south sidewhere big horn are plenty. These hills are not so high as those seenyesterday. These hills become very irregular?covered with irregularand round sandstone?perpendicular from the water?swallows havebuilt their nests in the side. They are smaller than those in thestates.?Hill with large thick layers of sandstone?then a little up-stream slate appears, no sign of coal or of the red lands so frequentyesterday. elk horn prairie ^ o^cloch.?I have just returned from a short excursion to Elk Hornprairie about 80 miles from the Fort, the object of attraction was the -"* The Big Muddy enters the Missouri from the north a few mileB above the presenttown of Culbertson, Mont. Judging from Wm. Clark's map, the Ibex would be the LittleMuddy (footnote 203) rather than the Big Muddy. McDbrmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 109pile of elk horns on this prairie. The boat stopped and [let] us outabout 14 a mile from the pile, when Mr. Clark, Picotte, Culbertson andmyself with 25 or 30 men started for the horns ; some ran ahead and bythe time I got there one fellow had already mounted and was handingdown the horns. The report was that all the horns were attached tothe head and that the pile was of a wonderful size. The distant viewof it, for it was seen like a white monument several miles off, tended toconfirm these reports and I thought that here at least there had been noexaggeration. However on close examination I thought it to be nomore than fifteen feet high and 20 or 25 in circumference, but even thiswas wonderful pile to be made exclusively of elk horns. There wasnot a single head there but the horns were piled close together to thatheight and as there were no heads they were probably all horns thathad been shed.^?^What a gi-eat number of Elk must have been there to have furnishedsuch a number of horns. As to its origin no certain information canbe gained. Old traders say it has been there to their knowledgetwenty years and how much longer they can't tell as old Indians saythey are ignorant of the time or the occasion of its being made. Therewere originally two piles but for several years past these two havebeen put into one. The prairie is from two to six or ten miles wideand on the south side many miles long. It is further remarkable forbeing the place where the steamer Assiniboine belonging to the com-pany wintered several years ago. She had got this far up and couldnot get down again because of low water. In the spring she passeddown again and was burnt intentionally it was said, below the Man-dans.^"" Therefore, we are now higher up the Missouri than any other ^o' Maximilian saw this tower of elk horns on July 11, 1833 : "The prairie ... is calledPrairie a la Come de Cerf, because the wandering Indians have here erected a pyramidof elks' horns. . . . About 800 paces from the river, the hvinting or war parties of theBlackfoot Indians have gradually piled up a quantity of elks' horns till they have formeda pyramid 16 or 18 feet high, and 12 or 15 feet in diameter. Every Indian who passesby makes a point of contributing his part . . . and often the strength of the huntingparty is marked, with red strokes, on the horns they have added to the heap. Allthese horns, of which there are certainly more than 1,000, are piled up, confusedlymixed together, and so wedged in, that we found some trouble in extricating, from thepyramid, a large one, with fourteen antlers, which we brought away with us." (Maxi-milian, 1904-7, vol. 2, pp. 34-35). Bodmer made a sketch of the mound. De Smetmade note of the mound October 6, 1846 (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 2, pp.603-604). Denig (1930, p. 398), evidently writing before its removal, said this moundabout 50 miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone covered an acre of ground and roseto about 30 feet ; he said that it had been raised "previous to the knowledge or eventradition of any tribe now living in these parts." Elk Horn Creek enters the Missourifrom the south about 25 miles above the Big Muddy. (See also footnote 221, below.)2"* In one place Chittenden declares that the Assiniboine went above Fort Union in 1833and was caught by low water and forced to remain there all winter, but later he gives1834 as the date and says that the steamer reached the Poplar River, 100 miles abovethe Yellowstone (1903, vol. 1, pp. 139, 218). Chappell gives 1832 as the date for thelaunching of the Assiniboine, Pratt[e] for its captain, and June 1, 1835, for the burningof the boat near Bismarck (1905-6 b, p. 298). Maximilian traveled on the Assiniboinefrom Fort Pierre to Fort Union in June 1833. 110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147boat has ever been. The country continues to be less hilly thanyesterday. I got several flowers as mementoes of Elk Horn Prairie. Jf. o'clock.?^We are now aground opposite the Riviere aux Tremblescoming in from the north 175 miles from the Fort.^'^^ This river islarger than any we have seen before. About an hour ago we struckthe first sand-bar since leaving the Fort but we were off again in amoment and we will be off here very soon; no snags have been seenexcept very close to shore. None of the high irregular hills haveappeared this afternoon but some of the widest rolling prairies Ihave ever seen, on the north side. The English name is Quaking Ashcreek. Nearly opposite a little above is the mouth of a stream thatappears to be quite large and which runs very near the Elk HornPrairie and is known by the name of the Dry Fork.^?^ It is quite largeat the mouth owing probably to the backwater of the Missouri.Saline deposits in the south bank. The Quaking Ash River is prob-ably the Martha's River of the map : the traders knowd no stream bythat name.^^^7 o''clock.?^We have just had some rare sport ; a half hour ago a largeband of elk 15 in number appeared on a bar above us. Soon as theysaw the boat they took the river and swam across but poor fellows ; they became alarmed and instead of landing gathered in a circleand remained in the water swimming. As the boat approached themnearly every man prepared to give them a warm salute and they re-mained quietly to receive it.First, pop went one gun and then another, and another, and crackcrack, was heard for fifteen or twenty minutes, amidst shouts of thegreatest excitement, while the elk started for the other shore, theblood spouting from most of them?one would lag behind, and thenanother and down stream they would float wrong side up. Cap-tain Bryuly,^^^ the second pilot, took long aim at one, and I thoughthe had missed, but in a moment up went the poor fellow's heels in theair, and he made a grand flourish in the water, but at last was obligedto give up the ghost. Meanwhile, old Mr. Picotte was off in theyawl, sword in hand, after the wounded and to bring in the dead.The sight was most exciting and amusing ; the old man sat straddlingthe bow of the boat, coat off, flourishing his sword, ready to plungeit into the first elk he could reach. One poor animal wounded in the =<" Poplar River, which enters the Missouri from the north at the town of Poplar, Mont.He means, of course, larger than any other seen since the Yellowstone. This was I^ewisand Clark's and Maximilian's Porcupine River. In the printed journal this distance Isgiven as 90 rather than 175 miles.208 Little Dry Creelt enters the Missouri from tlie south some 10 or 15 miles west ofElls Horn Creek. Judging from Wm. Clark's map, Little Dry Creek and Lewis and Clark'sTwo Thousand Mile Creek must be the same.200 Maximilian noted the Rivifere aux Trembles which he said was also called Martha'sRiver by Lewis and Clark, but he was evidently at the Big Muddy when he used thesenames because he was still some distance below the Elk Horn Prairie. Clark's mapshows Martha's River to be the same as Big Muddy.?? T. H. Brierly. (See Introduction, p. 11.) MCDEKMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 111back was struggling to get away, and after him they put; stick wentthe sword, but in it would not go ; the old gentleman had not exam-ined the point, and on trial, it was found dull as a beetle. But he wastoo old a hunter to be foiled in this way, and the bow of the boatwas again turned to the elk; now they are on it and Mr. Picotteseizes it by the tail, pushing his small knife up to the handle in its side.The elk kicked and scuffled, but it was of no avail, and soon -^^ wason the deck and its hide unshipped, as one of the men called the opera-tion of skinning. Meanwhile, a fine doe had been skinned and cut upon the forward deck, and the same operation was being performedon the stern, so that now three fine elk were on the boat. Tlie yawlagain went after another one, and returned with the only buck Inoticed in the band, so that we got four; three others were killed,but were carried off by the current, and my own impression is that allthe others were wounded. The horns of the buck were in the velvetstate, but were very much injured. I shall get two or three skulls.Encamped at the side of a very extensive and level prairie to thenorth side eleven points from Milk River?cloudy and signs of rain.Wednesday, June 19?Six o'clock.?The sun arose clear this morn-ing but now it is a little hazy. We are all still pushing up stream ; face of the country is rather more even ; low hills on both sides gener-ally off from the river.Ten d'cloch.?Had a long talk this morning with Mr. Clark on thesubject of Indian customs. I was surprised to hear what he told meof the language of signs used by nearly all the tribes except the Siouxand Assiniboines. It must be as perfect and expressive as the lan-guage of mutes with us; by these signs one Indian can tell anotherthe principal events of his whole life and will be perfectly understood.And tliis does not come from the barrenness of their own language forit is sufficiently expressive, but Mr. Clark thinks it to have originatedprincipally from the fact of the Indians not knowing when they meeta man, whether he be a friend or an enemy ; they do not know whetherto let him approach or not and by these signs he can learn all about him,though he be too far off to converse with the tongue. It is thereforethe language of caution and defence. These signs are beautiful andpoetic ; the rude figures which we see sometimes on buffaloe robes arenot mere awkward attempts at ornament, but they are hieroglyphics,as easily read by an intelligent Indian as words by us, and perhapscontaining a whole history of some great event.^^^The Blackfeet do not place their dead on scaffolds but either in ahole well covered to keep off the wolves, or they leave them in thelodge with everything just as it is when they die. In that case the **^ Here ends the passage contained in the Montana Historical Society notebook.?" For a summary of signals and sign language, see Hodge, 1910, pp. 565-568 ; and ofpictographs, ibid., pp. 242-245. For a glossary of sign language on the Upper Missouri,see Maximilian, 1904-7, vol. 3, pp. 300-312. 112 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 wolves of course eat their bodies very soon ; and I am told that in thisway the body of nearly every Blackfoot is disposed of. Wlien one ofthem is in mourning he puts white earth on his head and goes outbefore his lodge wailing most piteously ; as soon as the neighbors seethat they all rush to his lodge and take it and everything it contains,leaving him nothing but his horse. The death of a relation is there-fore a very serious affair, since a man loses all his property as well ashis friend. How different with us?where a man frequently gainsproperty with the death of a relative.A Blackfoot has complete power over his wife ; if he finds her un-faithful, he generally cuts her nose off, but he can shoot her down ifhe chooses to do so, and it is said that it is very common to see goodlooking young women going about noseless. If a man loves his wifeand wishes to overlook any indiscretion of this kind, her own brothermay walk into the lodge and say "it is only to-day that you have mademe ashamed," and shoot her dead before her husband's face, while hecan say not a word. The Blackfeet are taught to beg from their in-fancy and are adepts in the art.Six o'clock.?^We have just started, after the longest detention wehave had except for business; we reached this point about twelveo'clock, and have been here ever since fixing one of the wheels. How-ever, the time was not lost, for the hands have cut enough of wood totake us down to the Fort, and will not have to detain for that purposeafter we have unloaded.Milk river is said to be about twenty-five miles distant, but we wouldhave reached it to-day, had we not been detained long. The face ofthe country to-day has been generally rolling prairies, frequentlystretching many miles from the river. About eleven o'clock we passedthe outlet of a lake or pond a short distance to the north of the river.In twenty-four hours we shall probably have our face turned home-wards, when I shall hurrah for the States.We have just passed the outlet of a lake which, according to oneaccount is the same as that mentioned this morning; but accordingto another, it belongs to a different lake?if there be but one, it mustbe ten or twelve miles long. A part of it could be seen when wereached the end of the wood, and it is narrow like a creek and windsconsiderably. The woods are known as the places where the freemen, (those not in the employ of the company,) built themselves afort, and the lake is sometimes called Freemens' lake from that cir-cumstance.^"This lake is in one of the most magnificent prairies I have seen;we are still opposite it, and it sweeps away for miles, at first very "* Freemen's Lake probably was an oxbow lake ; available mars do not show it. Cul-bertson's location placed it about midway between Poplar River and Milk River. Ttiename undoubtedly was a translation of "hommes-libres" (cf. McDermott, 1941, p. 88). MCDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 113level and then terminating in hills, gradually rising and covered withgrass. To the south a fine prospect is also seen, but then the hillsrise from the river and in the distance black spots show that buflFaloare there. The bute at Milk river is now easily seen.^^* Just passeda small stream called the Little river, coming in from the south,marked but not named on the map.Thursday^ June 20?Eight o'clock.?This morning we were off asusual, about half-past three o'clock; soon afterwards passed a smallstream on the south, generally called Dry Fork, though at presentit contains water. At half-past seven o'clock we passed Porcupineriver coming in from the north; it is about twenty yards wide, nowood at the mouth, and as far as we could see, very little along itsbanks. It comes in at the upper end of Porcupine cut off, sometimescalled Harvey's cut off.^^? During all this morning we have a con-tinuation of the prairie country seen yesterday, especially on thenorth side there has been beautiful rolling prairie all along exceptingoccasional timbered points; to the south low and scantily herbagedhills have run close to the river.This Porcupine river is the place from which the military expe-dition under the command of General Atkinson in 1825, turnedback.^^? He wintered at Old Council Bluffs, and in the spring as-cended with nine keel boats. A part of his company went by landas far as Milk river. The object of the expedition was to treat withthe Indians. The river to-day is still in a good stage, but we havehad to cross frequently to keep the channel.There is always plenty of water here, say those familiar with theplace, but the only trouble is to find the channel. The boat is now lightand has passed over some places where only two and a half feet ofwater was sounded ; rather hard scratching however.A large band of buffalo cows with their calves were crossing justabove the mouth of the Porcupine, but Mr. Picotte would not allowthe men to shoot ; we passed very close to them all and it was amusingand touching too, to see the very great fear they exhibited as they invain struggled to get up the steep bank. I noticed here for the firsttime, what I had been told before, that the buffalo grunt almost exactlylike a large hog ; had a person heard and not seen he could easily have "* The butte to which Culbertson refers was probably Panther Hill.^" Harvey's Cut-off no doubt was named for Alexander Harvey, but it is not indicatedon available maps. (For Porcupine River, see footnote 216.)?8For this expedition, see Reid and Gannon, 1929-30. On August 24, 1825, when Itturned back, the Atkinson party had reached a point 7 miles above Lewis and Clark'sTwo Thousand Mile Creek (Culbertson's Little Dry Creek?now Red Water Creek enteringthe Missouri opposite Poplar, Mont.). Culbertson has confused two streams: he wasoff Porcupine (Poplar) River on Tuesday, June 18, at 4 p. m. ; on Thursday, June 20,at 7 : 30 a. m., he said they passed Porcupine River. Obviously the last named must beone of those unnamed rivers shown on the Stevens map between the Poplar and the MilkRivers. The El Paso at this moment was between 25 and 50 miles beyond the farthestpoint reached by the Atkinson expedition. 114 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147thought that a drove of swine was passing. The men tried to catchsome calves with a lasso but did not succeed. Buffalo have been seenin great bands for several days past ; last evening probably five-hun-dred were in sight at one time on the river banks. I have seen pathsbeaten by them which look like travelled roads in a thickly settledcountry, and paths of this kind are seen at almost every landing.MILK RIVER?RETURN TO ST. LOUISTwelve o'clock.?We are now on the point immediately above Milkriver and will go a short distance higher up to find good timber forbuilding a boat. Milk Kiver ^^^ comes in from the north, and is at leasttwo hundred miles above Fort Union. Mr. Clark says that it passeswithin a hard day's ride?about forty miles? of Fort Benton,^^^ andif so it must be incorrectly laid down on the map. Some miles belowI saw the first grizzly bear of the season ; this is unusual as they aregenerally seen below Fort Union ; and Kelly, an old hunter, told methat the reason they are not seen on the river now, is that they are outon the prairies after the pomolanche -^^ or prairie turnip, of whichthey are very fond. "We passed a few hours ago some black slate hills on the south siderising directly from the water ; the sides in several places were markedby the buffalo tracks so as almost to resemble slate roads, and to causeone to feel as though he was in a much traveled country.The boat has been about twenty-seven hundred miles above St. Louis,and a board was nailed on a large cotton wood tree near the shore,with the following inscription : "N. B. El Paso, landed here June 20,1850, thirty-five days from St. Louis?John Durack, Captain." ^^?The thirty-five days is the running time. This day at twelve o'clock,we were forty days out from St. Louis. I really feel very thankfulthat my life and health have been spared me during this journey. Ihave reached a point to which few, except traders have attained, andI hope that I have gained some valuable information as well as re-stored my health. But it is a long distance, nearly'' four thousandmiles to my home, and no one can tell what may befall me, but myduty is clear and I hesitate not to go even at the risk of the cholera.Should it please Divine Providence to restore me to my home and my "' Milk River was so called, said Maximilian, "because its waters are generally muddyand mixed with sand" (1904-7, vol. 2, p. 46). "We salute the Milk river, which owes itsname to the whiteness of the water it pours into the Missouri. Proud of a tribute asrich as it is beautiful, for it is the bij^gest received above the Yellowstone, the riverwidens, and as the neighboring mountains lower in the same proportion, the wholepicture gains something in the way of majesty" (Point, 1931, p. 251)."*Fort Benton was built by Alexander Culbertson in 1846 on the north bank of theMissouri above Marias River and about 7 miles below the old Fort Lewis ; for it, see Lar-penteur, 1S98, pas.sim ; McDonnell, 1940.^^^Pomme hlanche ; cf. McDermott, 1941, p. 124. ^-'> Introduction, p. 13. El Paso Point as marked on the Stevens Map No. 2 woujdhe some 15 to 18 miles above the mouth of Milk River. McDHBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 115 studies, it is my sincere prayer that it may be to employ my powersand my knowledge as a minister of the Gospel.Huzza for home ! Here we are driving at half past three o'clockdown stream as fast as steam will let us. Our shouts of farewell havehardly ceased to ring in these old hills that so seldom resound with thevoice of whites, and now for the first time have heard the puflf of asteamboat. We stopped at twelve o'clock several miles above MilkRiver on the southern bank, landed all the freights for Fort Bentonand have turned our face homeward. It was a picturesque scene aswe rounded to, all hands on the hurricane deck?the crew singing oneof their peculiar songs?the cannon firing and oureelves giving threegood hearty cheers, while the shore with its green carpet was coveredwith merchandize?the different families bivouacking under the scat-tered and venerable trees, and the men who were bound for the Black-feet, returning our cheers and salute with hearty good will.Friday^ June 21?Six o'clock A. M.?We are now perhaps, half wayback to Fort Union, and if we meet with no misfortune, shall probablybe there early this evening. The day is clear and pleasant and we arehaving a delightful ride.Eight o'^clock.?We are now stopping at the prairie on which is thelarge pile of elk horns mentioned a day or two ago. Old Mr. Picottehas the notion into his head, of taking the whole pile to St. Louis, andsoon this noted, and almost revered land mark will be on the hurricanedeck of the El Paso. All on board, excepting the old gentleman him-self, would prefer to leave it untouched, especially as the horns arenot in good state of preservation.^^^ The river is falling and we shallhave no time to lose.Adopted relations among the Blackfeet are very frequent and ofthe most sacred character ; two young men become comrades, and thenthey are friends by the closest ties, and it is a greater disgrace for acomrade to lose his friend in battle or [for] want of bravery or skill,than to lose a younger brother. Whenever they are together for anytime, they exchange presents.The mere glimpse I have gained of Indian customs, convinces methat to acquire any philosophical and valuable knowledge of them, aperson must live with them for a time. From such men as Mr. Picotte, "1 De Smet placed the Elkhorn Prairie 17 miles below the Judith, a location whichhardly agrees with Culbertson's, for the latter did not go that far up the Missouri ; however,De Smet had in mind the incident related by Culbertson : "A tower had been constructedhere, composed exclusively of elks' antlers ; it was of remarkable height. Its base formeda great square. . . . The most ancient of the Assiniboins (it is on their land) couldnot give me any account, either of the epoch or of the circumstances which gave riseto the erection of this unique monument. The cupidity of a modern vandal has causedthe demolition of this strange, savage structure, which had resisted all the tempests,windstorms, stern winters and other vagaries of the atmosphere of this strange region.He took his capture to St. Louis and sold it, and there the antlers were transformed intohandles for knives, forks and daggers." (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 4, pp.1371-1372). (See footnote 205.) 116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Mr. Meldrum,^^ Mr. Clark and my brother, lie may gain a great dealof information, but no questioning can place him in possession of allthe facts, because he does not know what to ask, and if he did, thesemen not being accustomed to definitely communicate their knowledge,often so speak as to convey an exaggerated impression without anydesign to deceive. Constantly customs of which I had no idea, arementioned in conversation, so that it is my opinion that in order to aproper appreciation of the Indian, a long residence among them isnecessary.FHday, Six o^clock^ P. M.?Arrived at Fort Union again about fouro'clock having had a most delightful trip to Milk River. The riverhas been falling, but as the weather is again oppressively hot, we lookfor more water, although there is still plenty to run down on. Weshall be off early in the morning, and I feel glad to move on homewardas fast as possible ; nothing could induce me to live here. I feel sadat heart to part with my brother, and I know that I shall be lonely to-morrow without him. May all his kindness be returned to him ten-fold.Saturday^ June 22.?The boat moved from Fort Union across theriver for wood about half past three o'clock, and about that time wehad a very fine shower of rain. At half past seven o'clock we movedoff, firing a salute to the men belonging to the fort who had come overto help us take in fuel, Alexander was with them and the last sight1 had of him he was standing up in the boat which was just pushingoff.223We have not made a very good run to-day because of the wind beingagainst us this afternoon and the wood has been bad. A good dealof bad land appears on both sides of the river, and much of the burntearth with it; this often appeared on the sides of grass-covered hills,and in hills rising directly from the prairie, as well as in its usualposition in the white land hills.While it is difficult for one not skilled in such matters to refute thecommon belief that the red burnt-like earth is the result of the actionof fire, it is well to mention some circumstances that at least throwsome improbability on that theory ; the first is that if these red lookingplaces were craters, the whole bank of the river must have been vol-canoes for himdreds of miles, with few exceptions?they occur in al-most unbroken connection for miles, and above Fort Union there isone place where they thus appear almost continually for twenty orthirty miles, being there much more frequent than lower down. An- J"'^ Robert Meldrum (1806-65) was in the service of the American Fur Company at leastas early as 1835. Kurz knew him as bourgeois at Fort Alexander in 1851 (1937, p. 205).(Consult McDonnell, 1940, pp. 284-285, and passim.)2** It was indeed farewell to Alex, for Thaddeus was dead before Alexander returneddown river. MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 117other is, that so far as I can see, these hills exhibit no other evidenceof the action of fire ; there is not a single sign of volcanic action thatI have seen around these places, either in the formations of the hillsor in the stones on their surface.And again what appeared to me very singular on the suppositionof volcanic action, has been that these crater remains, or volcanic re-mains do not extend deep into the earth ; in some places they look nodeeper than a modern lime-kiln; in others they appear almost as astratum placed in between the other formations, and in all they haveother formations below them, and in many above them. I regret verymuch that I cannot describe the geological formation of these hills.Monday^ June ^4-?Yesterday we passed Fort Berthold, the GrosVentre Fort, and came within fifteen miles of Fort Clark, the Ree Fortat the old Mandan village. On the map there is a Fort Mandanmarked nearly opposite Fort Clark; this is probably the Fort builtby Lewis and Clark for their quarters, when they wintered with theMandans.^^* I noticed yesterday a thick vein of coal in the bluff onwhich the Gros Ventre village is built.Tuesday^ June 25.?This is one of the few rainy days we have had,but is not uncomfortable, as we are well protected in the cabin and atthe same time are moving along slowly towards home. There hasbeen a good deal of detention from running on sand bars, and in look-ing for the channel. A few hours ago we passed Heart river, and atthe place where we were aground so long when going up we stuckagain, injuring one of the wheels.Thursday., June 27.?Yesterday was nothing more than a brightpleasant day, passed in grounding, backing, wooding and going afew miles a-head. The night previous, we had landed at a place thatought to be called Musquito hollow, if we may judge from the com-plaints made by every one. I never suffered so much from them, andcould not get to sleep until past midnight; others were forced frombelow to the hurricane deck, and there passed the night as best theycould. The day was marked by another event also worthy of record ? the death of my porcupine. I had the skeleton preserved.In the evening when we landed, Mr. Picotte was seen running up avery steep, high bluff, and while we were admiring his activity hecalled to us ; we all at once started off, supposing he had seen game.Mr. Clark taking his rifle, and Ferd his knife ; but on coming up tohim we were much amused to hear the old man instead of pointing outthe game, ask us to slide down the hill to the water's edge. Fortunefavored me at this place, for as we descended the hill, I saw for the firsttime in my life, the cactus in bloom. It was a most agreeable surprise =?* Fort Mandan, of Lewis and Clark, was on the left bank about 8 miles below themouth of the Knife River ; Fort Clark of Culbertson's day was on the right (west) banka few miles lower. 118 BUREAU OF AlVIERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147to find this unsightly plant which is the great annoyance of moccasinedvoyageurs adorned with flowers of a fine straw color. I secured sev-eral of them although none appeared to be in full bloom; how topreserve them is a great difficulty with me, for so much of the fleshysubstance must go with the flower, that it is almost impossible to dryit. The structure of the flower, also was full of interest to me, so thaton the whole, I thought I had secured a real prize.At night I listened with great pleasure to a long conversation be-tween Mr. Clark and Mr. Picotte, on Indian customs and language,and I regret that I cannot record it fully. They mentioned the greatgenerosity of all Indians manifested in their disposition to give pres-ents, and so great is the desire to do so, that they will even steal togratify it; the same generous disposition is remarked in nearly allhalf breeds. Politeness amongst them assumes some very singularforms ; for instance, it is a mark of great respect for an Indian to passhis plate with the remnant of his meal to any one who may be withhim ; this I have observed at the feasts, and have seen it in the half-breeds constantly. And it is the very quintessence of politeness for anIndian who is drinking liquor, to fill his mouth and then pass thecontents to his friends's mouth from his own. The Indians notice themanner in which they are treated by the traders, and think it ratherstrange?say they, "we give you the best food and the best robe, whileyou give us poor food and put us in another room to sleep." "Well,"reply the traders, "the reason is, that there are so many of you, andso few of us, we cannot afford to feed you all, as we feed ourselves,and if we feed one of you better than another, jealousy is produced."The Indians in their intercourse like to see a man well dressed be-cause it shows respect to them, and they despise a man who adoptstheir own costume; they are conscious of, and admit the white man'ssuperiority, and have mind enough to despise the man who lowershimself to them. They all make it a point to dress in their best whenthey reach a fort, except the Assiniboines ; and Ferdinand says thatif they are not dirty before they get near the fort they make themselvesso purposely.The Indian name of the Gros Ventres is Minetaree?the people ofthe willows ? the Aricarees call themselves Corn Eaters, and theMandans have no translation for their name. Mr. Clark mentioneda difficulty in acquiring an Indian language worthy of notice, namely,that the women and men use a language so different that after acquir-ing one you would almost be ignorant of the other?that the men wouldpretend to be entirely ignorant of many words which the women use,and these are not words peculiar to feminine dress or habits, but thenames of very common articles and acts. This is doubtless owingto the social position of the female?their interest is separate from MCDEEMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 119that of the men, and they are made to feel that they are regarded asinferior beings. There is a difference in the language of the male andfemale even in civilized life, but this arises from a very different rea-son?from the superior refinement of the latter.It was remarked as an instance of politeness of an Indian gentleman,that he never laughs at the awkward attempts of a white to speakhis language, but on the contrary will compliment him on his success,and if a squaw breaks out into a laugh, as they sometimes do at theslightest mistake, he rebukes her and tells her she does not know howto speak her own language. This reminded me of the conduct of theChinese to our missionaries in listening to their first attempts atpreaching.We spoke a little of the importance of a good half-breed school onthis river, and every one present gave it as his opinion, that an effortto establish one would meet with encouragement. It is said that thereare probably one hundred and fifty children whose parents were ableto pay sixty or eighty dollars a year for their schooling.Evening.?Stopped about thirty miles above Fort Pierre?^havetherefore made a poor run to-day, and had a great deal of grumbling.The western bank has been almost a continuous bed of slate, thirty toforty feet high. I went ashore, and found the bottom covered witha vine bearing a pretty specimen of bindweed, and have preservedsome good specimens; it differs from the beautiful pure white bind-weed of Virginia, in having ruiming vines and a purple tinge on thepetal.Friday., June 28.?About ten miles below Fort Pierre?^home seemsto be approaching quite rapidly, and we are now only about threethousand miles from it,^-^ and no cholera in the states, as we under-stand. We reached the Fort at about nine o'clock this morning, andleft at two P. M. I was glad to see again my acquaintances.Mr. Picotte here left us, and we are to make the rest of the tripwithout him. He has been very kind to me and asked me to remainwith him this summer, but this was out of the question. In leavingthe Indian country, I must record my acknowledgment of the verymany acts of kindness and hospitality extended towards me. Thegentlemen, particularly of the Fur Company, have uniformily [sic]treated me with kindness and attention.Saturday, June 29.?Last night closed in with clouds indicatinga shower, and a fine rain fell during the early part of the night.Called by Mr, Pattick about five o'clock to see the opposition boat,which was in sight. All hands got up, and in about half an hourthe two boats were opposite one another in the stream, but not a wordwas exchanged?thus we passed, twelve hundred miles from home, *"? That is, Chambersburg. 120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147and did not extend the slightest salutation; so much for oppositionin trade. It was the St. Ange, a fine boat, owned and commandedby Captain Joseph Lebarge.^^? There were several ladies on board,and my eyes were delighted with the sight of a beautiful face and finefigure for the first time in some months. A great many high slatehills on the west side this morning.Monday^ July 1.?On Saturday night we camped a short distancebelow White River,^^^ and had something of a blow again. Yesterdaywe passed the L'Eau Qui Court ^^^ and encamped below it, and now atabout ten o'clock, Monday morning we are pushing down stream quiterapidly below the river A'Jacques. It had been my intention to havenoticed with some particularity the face of the country below FortPierre, but as it has been carefully examined by scientific men with in-struments, and reports made on it, it appears to me scarcely worth mywhile to do so, and besides this it is impossible for me to give anaccurate account of the geological formation from observing it asthe boat passes swiftly by. I have noticed the limestone mentionedby Nicollet and seen it in fine strata lying above slate; if this stoneis hard enough, it would be admirable for building. I think it toosoft however, although I have not yet been able to secure a specimen.These slate and limestone rock occur in very high steep bluffsrising almost perpendicularly from the water, except when bars ornarrow bottoms intervene; they also often exhibit evidence of thepresence of sulphur and iron; they do not occur in one unbrokensuccession, but they cross the river very frequently, being seen now onone side and again on the other, but never, so far as I remember,appearing on opposite sides at the same place. They do not occurin unbroken succession ever on the same side of the river, but mostgenerally appear as the sections of a series of short hills with ravinesbetween, and these ravines having in them grass and scrubby trees,frequently cedar. I notice many swallow nests in these high banks.I have looked with some care for the pseudo volcanoes of Nicollet ; we passed the one in the bend below White River very early in themorning, and I did not see it to my disappointment, but I noticedseveral places in the banks which I supposed he called volcanoes, asthey presented the red burnt-like appearance noticed so often aboutFort Union.^^^ One of these places passed yesterday on the west bank,had so much the appearance of having been caused by fire as to make *2?For this voyage of the St. Ange, see Appendix 4. For Joseph La Barge (1815-99)the principal source is Chittenden, 1903. Various Items of Interest concerning him areto be found in Larpenteur, 1898; Kurz, 1937; Chittenden and Richardson, 1905; Audubonand Coucs, 1897 (consult indexes for each).22T This is White River of South Dakota, the upper waters of which formed the southernboundary of the Bad Lands inspected by Culbertson. ='28 The Niobara River.?? See footnote 191. McDbbmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 121the Captain exclaim?that it must have been a very recent fire. We areagain getting into the region of snags, but "we have made fine runningyesterday and to-day. Hurrah for home ! Tuesday^ July 2.?We reached the Vermilion post yesterday at twelveo'clock, and was welcomed by Mr. Larpente[u]r.2^? We were detainedthere all the afternoon to take in packs, and at night we lay at theisland opposite and took in wood. I got two pairs of black tailed deerhorns, and was offered a young skunk, which I declined ; there are twoon board, really beautiful little creatures and full of play. Thismorning we had made forty miles before breakfast and have somehopes of being in St. Louis by Sunday. 'Wednesday^ July S.?^We spent the night a little below old CouncilBluffs, and this morning soon after breakfast were at Bellena [Belle-vue], and saw for the first time in some months a settlement of whites.Yesterday the hills for the first time were seen covered with timberand presented quite a pleasing contrast with the bare bluffs of theupper river. To-day we are hastening along and may reach St. Joeto-night.Friday^ July 5.?Yesterday was passed by me delightfully, because1 was hurrying home as fast as steam could carry me. We passed St,Joe about ten o'clock, making only a short stop. I there got the skullof an Assiniboine chief from Mr. M'Donald. We passed several townsbut stopped only once, at Parkville ; ^^^ we met several steamboats boundupward. This morning it is oppressively hot.Saturday, July 6.?^My trip has at last ended, so far as the Indiancountry is concerned. The El Paso landed about two o'clock, all ingood health and spirits and glad to get home.^^- I desire to feel verygrateful to Divine Providence for my safe return and restored health ? may the knowledge gained be all employed in promoting God's glory. ^?ov Charles Larpenteur (1807-72), consult Larpenteur (Coues, Editor), 1898; Chit-tenden, 1903 ; McDonnell, 1940 ; Chittenden and Richardson, 1905. Larpenteur had leftSaint Charles with his family for Vermilion Post on May 10, 1850 (Coues, op. cit., vol.2, p. 289). (See footnote 81, above.)'^ Parkville, Platte County, Mc, had been laid oflf as a town by George S. Park in 1837 ; in 1850 its population was 309. (Consult History of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri,pp. 839-871.)^^ For the report of the return of the El Paso, see Introduction. 890780?52- APPENDIX 1 ^''As already stated, Mr. Culbertson collected numerous specimens of NaturalHistory during his recent expedition. Among these was a series of plants, alist of which as drawn up by Professor Thomas C. Porter, of Marshall College,Mercersburg, is subjoined. A list of the birds and mammalia of the Missouririver, from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone,has been kindly furnished by Mr. Edward Harris, of Moorestown, N. Jersey,and includes many specimens not seen by Mr. Culbertson. Mr. Harris visitedthe Upper Missouri in 1842 [1843], in company with the distinguished naturalist,Mr, J. J. Audubon, recently deceased, for the purpose of assisting the lattergentleman in procuring materials for his valuable work on the mammalia ofNorth America, No systematic catalogue of the kind has ever been beforepresented, although detached notices may be found in the narrative of Maxi-milian, F'rinee de Wied of a journey along the Missouri to the Rocky mountainsin 1832.The concluding part of the appendix contains some valuable information onthe numbers and distribution of the Indians of the Upper Missouri. This isarranged in a tabular form, accompanied by explanations, and is published asleft by Mr. Culbertson. S. F, BAtED. *3a The raaterials of Appendix 1 are reprinted from the report in Fifth Annual Reportof the Sinithsouian Institution for the year 1850 (32d Congr., Sp. Sess., Senate Misc. Doc.No. 1), pp. 133-145. 123 LIST OF PLANTS COLLECTED BY MR. CULBERTSON :?BY PROFESSORTHOMAS C. PORTER.RANUNCULACEAE.Anemone pennsylvanica, Linn. Common in moist grounds along the Missouri.June 17. 56, 82.*Tlialictrum dioicum, Lnnn. Staminate plant. Missouri river, June. 76.Thalictrum cornuti, Linn. Low grounds along the Missouri. Five feet high.June 27. 112.Delphinium azureum, Michx. Grassy bank opposite Fort Lookout. June 29. 108.BERBERIDACEAE.Leontice thalictroides, Linn. Sine ft. et fr. Pinon's spring, west of the hesid ofBad river. May 11. 2. CRUCIFERAE.Sisymbrium canescens, 'Nutt. Frequent near Fort Pierre. May. 26, 29.Erysimum asperum D. G. Abundant around Fort Pierre. May, June. 40.Vesicaria ludoviciana D. C. Elk Horn Prairie. 72, 91.Vesicaria (undetermined.) Prairie. May. 9.VIOLACEAE.Viola cucullata. Ait. May. 18, 21.Viola Nuttallii, Pursh. Valley of the Missouri. May 15. 10, 11.LINACEAE.Linum rigidum, Pursh. Low grounds near Fort Pierre. June. 67.Linum perenne, Linn. Near the mouth of Milk River. June 20. 98.OXALIDACEAE.Oxalis striata, Linn. Bank of the Missouri below Fort Clarke. June 23. 104.ANACARDIACEAE.Rhus toxicodendron, Linn. Bank of the Missouri. June. 58.MALVACEAE.Malvastrum coccineum, Oray. PI. Fendl. p. 34, and Oen III. t. 219. {Sidacoccinea, Nvtt.) Dry soil, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. June 15. 80.VITACEAE.Vltis riparia, Michx. Banks of the Missouri. June. 65. ^The numbers are those attached to the specimens. ? Baibd.124 McDhrmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 125POLYGALACEAE.Poiygala alba, Nntt. (P. Beyrichii, Ton- d Gr.) Opposite Fort Lookout, 110.IxEGUMINOSAE.Vieia americana, Muhl. Common along the Missouri, above Fort Pierre. 105.Lathyrus linearis, ^utt. Banks of the Missouri ; frequent. 17, 95.Lathyru^ polymorphus, Ifutt. Very abundant on hills and low grounds. Fra-grant. May. 12.Amorpha nana, Nutt. Common around Fort Pierre; 18 inches to two feet high.May. 38.Dalea (undetermined.) ^ine fl, et fr. Bank of the Missouri. June. 62.Psoralea esculenta, Parsli. "Prairie turnip." Near Fort Pierre. May. 42, 43,68.Astragalus caryocarpus, Ker. Sine fr. Common. May. 24.Astragalus racemosus? Pursli. Elk Horn Prairie. June 18. 93.Astragalus (undetermined.) June 20. 100.Oxytropis Lambertii, Fursh. Dry hills on the prairie. May 16. 8, 84.Phaca neglecta ? Torr d Or. (Specimen imperfect) Near Fort Lookout. June29. 111.Thermopsis rhombifolia, Nutt. On the Missouri above Fort Union. 92.Lupinus pusillus, Piirsh. Upper Missouri. 88.R08ACEAE.Prunus americana, Marshall. Middle of May. 14.Potentilla pennsylvanica, Linn. Low grounds ; one hundred and twenty milesabove Fort Union. June 19. 96.Potentilla anserina, Linn. Above Fort Union. 97.Rosa blanda, Ait. Low grounds and woods ; forty miles above Fort Union ; veryabundant. June 17. 101, 102, ONAGRACEAE.Aenothera caespitosa, Nutt. Very common on the sides of barren hills, near FortPierre. End of May. 31.Gaura coccinea, Nutt. Hills near the river, above the mouth of the Yellowstone.June 15. 79, 89.Gaura (undetermined.) Perhaps a variety of G. coccinea, Nutt. Near FortPierre. June. 49. GROSSULARIACEAE.Ribes aureum, Pursh. Bank of the Missouri, near Fort Pierre. May. 15. 69.UMBELLIFERAE.Nos. 1, 7, and 46 (in fruit) (undetermined.)CORNACEAE.Cornus stolonifera, Michx. Abundant on the banks of the Missouri. 51. 85.CAPRIFOLIACEAE.Symphoricarpus {F'ol.) Wet grounds along the Missouri. 62,70,99.Viburnum lentago, Linn. Abundant along the Missouri. 74. 126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147RUBIACEAE.Galium boreale, Ldnn. Dry bank on the Missouri fifty miles below the mouth ofthe Yellowstone. June. 81. COMPOSITAE.Achillea millefolium, Linn. Elk Horn Prairie, and above Milk river. June 18and 20. 87, 103.Artemisia frigida, Wilkl. (fol.) Prairie just below Fort Pierre. 23.Senecio (undetermined.) Common on the Prairies about Fort Pierre. May. 30.Cirsium undulatum, /S'prrnfir. (/oL) River bank just above Fort Pierre. May. 37.Lygodesmia juncea, Nutt. Opposite Fort Lookout. June 29. 109.Troximon cuspidatum, Pursh. Wet ground and prairie round Fort Pierre. May.44. PRIMULACEAB.Lysimaehia ciliata, Linn. Moist grounds, Upper Missouri. June 27. 114.SCROPHULARIACEAE.Pentstemon (undetermined.) Elk Horn prairie. 90.Pentstemon (sp. novf) Rocky Hill near Fort Pierre. 28, 73.Castilleja sessiliflora, Pursh. Elk Horn prairie on the Missouri, about eightymiles above Fort Union. June 18. 83.VERBENACEAE.Verbena bracteosa? Michw. About the holes of the prairie Marmot. May. 39,22. BORAGINACEAE.Lithospermum? Bank of the Missouri river. June. 77.Myosotis glomerata, Nutt. Near Fort Pierre. May. 27, 45.Mertensia (undetermined) Dry prairies. May, 3, 4.CONVOLVULACEAE.Calystegia sepium, R. Br. Wet grounds on the Missouri. June 27. 61, 107.APOCTNACEAE.Apocynum cannabinum, Linn. Moist low grounds, eighty miles above FortPierre. June 17. 113. ASCLEPIADACEAE.Asclepias SuUivantli, Engelm. Wet meadows on the Missouri ; common. May.32. SANTALACEAE.Comandra umbellata, Nutt. Just below Fort Pierre, and bluffs near the mouthof Heart river. May, June. 23, 71.SALICACEiVE.Salix longifolia, Muhl. (pist fl.) Very common. June. 52.Salix (undetermined). Stam. fl. Abundant on streams and sand bars; UpperMissouri. May. 13.Populus laevigata, Willd. Valley of the Missouri. S. fl. and fr. ,51. McDbbmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 127IRIDACEAE.Sisyrinchium bermudlaua, Linn. Prairie above Fort Pierre. June 12. 106.SMILACEAE.Smilax herbacea, Lnnn. (Stam. pi.) Near Fort Pierre. May. 41.LILIACEAE.Smilacina stellata, Desf. Very common in wet places along the Missouri. June.5.5.Allium (undetermined.) (fl. only.) Perhaps A. stellatum of Geyer's collection.20. COMMELYNACEAE.Tradescaotia virginica, Linn. High dry bank just below the mouth of Heartriver. June 10. 86. CYPERACEAE.Carex stricta, Lam. Wet sand ; Upper Missouri. June. 7.5.GRAMINIEAE.Elymus (undetermined). Elk Horn prairie. June 18. 94.EQUISETACEAE.Equisetum arvense, Li?n. ( Sterile plant ) Common along the Missouri. June.50. LIST OF BIRDS AND MAMMALIA FOUND ON THE MISSOURI RIVER FROMFORT LEAVENWORTH TO FORT UNION, AT THE MOUTH OF THE YEL-LOWSTONE RIVER, BY EDWARD HARRIS, ESQ.(The Species marked with an asterisk were seen on the lower part of the river;the rest were higher up towards Fort Union.)Cathartes aura, III. Turkey Buzzard.Buteo swainsoni, Bpf Common Buzzard.Archibuteo 8t. Johannis, (Om.)^ Black Hawk.Aquila chrysactos, Golden or Ringtailed Eagle.Haliaetus Icucocephalus, Sav. Bald Eagle.Paudion carolinus, Bp. Fish Hawk.*Nauclerus fuicatus, Vig. Swallow tail Hawk, (above Council Bluffs).Falco peregrinus, L. Duck Hawk.sparverius, L. Sparrow Hawk.Circus uliginosus, Wils. Marsh Hawk.*Athene cunicularia, Bp. Burrowing Owl.Bulo virginianus, Cnr, Great Horned Owl, the whitish variety.Antrostomus nuttalU, And. Poor Will.Chordeiles virginianus, Siv. Night Hawk.Acanthglis pelasgia, iBoil.l Chimney Swallow.Hirundo purpurea, L. Purple Martin.kmifrons, Say. Cliff Swallow.Ucolor, Vieill. AVhite bellied Swallow.rufa, Oin.^ Barn swallow.*serripennis, And. Rough winged Swallow.Tyrannus verticalis. Say. Arkansas Flycatcher.crinitus, Sw. Great crested Flycatcher.intrepidus, Vieill. King Bird.Tyrannula sayi, Sio. Say's Flycatcher.Setophaga ruticilla, Sw. Redstart.Sylvicola aestiva, Sic. Yellow Warbler.Trichas marilandica, Bp. Maryland Yellow Throat.EeUnaia peregrina, Aud. Tennessee Warbler.Alinotilta varia, Vieill. Black and White Creeper.Troglodytes ohsoletus, Say. Rock Wren.aedon, Vieill. House Wren.Parus septentrionalis, Harris. Long tailed Wren.Sialia arctica, Sw. Northern Blue Bird.Minius carolinensis, L. Cat Bird.rufus, Bp. Brown Thrush.Turdus migratorius, L. Robin.wilsonii, Bp. Tawney Thrush.Seiurus aurocapillus, Sw. Golden Crowned Thrush.novehoracensis, Bp. Water Thrush.Agrodoma spraguei, Aud. Sprague's Lark.Otocoris rufus. Western Sky Lark. 1 "Om." Is apparently a typographical error and "Gm." (abbrevatlon for GmeUn) la meant.128 MCDBEMOIT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 129Fiectrophanes pictus, Sw. Smith's Lark.ornatus, Tomns, Chesnut [sic] collared Lark.Chondestes grammaca, Bp. Lark Finch.Zonotrichia graminea, Sw. Grass Finch.leucophrys, Forst. S-w. White crowned Sparrow.*Zonotrichia querula, Nutt. Harris' Finch.Spizella pallida, Bp. Clay colored Bunting.S0GiaIi'<, Bp. Chipping Sparrow.*rassercultis savanna, Bp. Savannah Sparrow. "Coturniculus henslowi, Bp. Henslow's Bunting.lecontei, Aud. Leconte's Bunting.tairdii, Aud. Baird's Bunting.Spiza amoena, Bp. Lazuli Finch.Varduelis tristis, L. Goldiiuch.Pipilo ai-cticns, 8iv. Arctic Towhee.*erythropthalmus, (L.) Towhee.CorydaUna ticolor, (Towns.) AVhite shouldered Sparrow.^Erythrospiza purpurea. Purple Finch.Guiraca coerulea, Sw. Blue Grosbeak, above Council Bluffs.ludoviciana, Sw. Rose breasted Grosbeak, above Council Bluffs.melanocephala. Sic. Black headed Grosbeak.*Pyranga rubra, (L.) Vieill. Scarlet Tanager.DoUchonyx oryzivora, Sw. Bob Link.Molofhrus pecoris, Siv. Cow Bird.Agelains phoeniceus, Vieill. Red wing Blackbird.*xanthocephalns, Bp. Siv. Yellow headed Blackbird.Icterus Baltimore Daud. Hanging Bird.Scolecophagus mexicanus, Sw. Brewer's Blackbird. "Sturnella ludoviciana, Bp. Meadow Lark.neglecta, Aud. Western Lnrk.Vorvus cacalotl, Wagl. Raven.americafius, Aud. Crow.Pica hudsonica, Sah. Magpie.Lanius ludovicianus, L. Loggerhead Shrike.Vireo olivaceus, L. Red eyed Wren [Vireo].Icteria viridis, Bp. Chat.BomhycUla caroUnensis, Br. Cedar Bird.*TrocMlu8 coluiris, L. Humming Bird.Picus harrisi, Aud. Harris' Woodpecker.erythrocephalus, L. Red head Woodpecker.Colaptes auratus, L. Flicker.rubricatus, Licht. Red shafted Flicker.ayresii, Aud. Ayres red shafted Flicker.ErytJii-opJirys erythrophthahnus, Wils. Black billed Cuckoo.^Conurus carolinensis, Kulil. Parraquet ; above Fort Leavenworth.Ectopistes migratorius, Sw. Wild Pigeon.carolinensis, Sw. Dove. ""Meleagris gallopavo, L. Wild Turkey, above Floyd's bluff.Tetrao urophasianus, Bp. Cock of the Plains.*cupido, L. Prairie Hen.phasianellus, L. Sharp tailed Prairie Hen.Ortyx virginiana, StcpJi. Bob White.Fulica americana, Om.^ Coot. 1 "Om." is apparently a typographical error and "Gui." (abbreviation for Gmelin) is meant. 130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147Charadrius vociferus, (L.) Kildeer.virffiniacus, Borck. Bull head Plover.Actitis bartramius, Field Plover.macularius, (L.) Bp. Spotted Sandpiper.Totanus flavipes, Vieill. Yellow Shanks.*Rusticola minor, Woodcock.*Recurvirostra americann, {Om.Y Avoset.Numenius longirostris, Wils. Curlew.Ardea herodias, (L.) Blue Heron.Aiiser canadensis (L.) Canada Goose. ^htitcMnsii, Rich. Hutchin's Canada Goose.*erythropus, Bp. White fronted Canada Goose.*hyperJ)oreus, (Pall.) Snow Goose.Cygnus buccinator, Rich. Trumpeter Swan.Anas boschas, (L.) Mallard Duck.strepera. (L.) Gadwall Duck.*acuta, (L.) Sprig-tail Duck.Anas sponsa, (L.) Summer Duck.*Anas o'bscura, (Om.y Black Duck.*clypeata, (L.) Shoveler. ^Oriis americanus, (L.) Whooping Crane.Lasur atricilla, (L.) Black head Gull.Sterna fissipcs, (L.) Black Tern.MAMMALIA.Bos americanus. Buffalo.Cervus canadensis, Say. Elk.macrotis, Say. Black tail Deer.virginianus, (L.) Common DeerAntilope americana, Ord. Antelope.Ovis montana, Desm. Bighorn.Ursus ferox. Grizzly Bear. "americanus. Brown Bear.Meles Labradoria, Sab. Badger.Gnlo luscus, Sab. Wolverene.Lupus occidentalis. Rich. White Wolf.latrans. Say. Prairie Wolf.Vulpus velo'X, Say. Swift Fox.Mephitis Chinga? Skunk.Mustela canadensis, Fisher.Lynx canadensis, Canada Lynx.Castor americanus. Rich. Beaver.Lepus toicnsendii, Bach. Townsend's Hare.artemisia, Bach. Wormwood Hare. ^sylvaticus? Bach. Common Rabbit.*Spermophilus ludovicianus. Say. Prairie Dog.*tridecemlineattis, Mitch. Prairie Squirrel.*Sciurus cinereus, (L.) Cat Squirrel.*niger. Black Squirrel.*macrourus, Say. Great tailed Squirrel.*Tamias guadrivittatus, Say. Four lined Ground Squirrel. 'Om." is apparently a typographical error and "Giu." (abbreviation for Gmelin; is meant. McDEBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 131Ncotoma floridana. Wood llat. '^Mus musculus, (L.) House Mouse.llcsperomys leucopus? Kaf. Deer Mouse.Psuedostoma toreaUs, Ricli. Gopher.Hystrix dorsata. Porcupine.The following new Species are indicated as occurring in this region, by Max-imilian Prince cle Wied, (Voyage dans I'Amerique du Nord. Paris, 1843. 3 vols.8 vo.)Vespertilio ursimis. Fort Union.Hypudoeus lencogaster. Mandan Village.Pcrognatus fuscus. Fort Union. AN EXPLANATION OP THE TABULAR VIEW OF THE INDIAN TRIBESOF THE UPPER MISSOURLBY THADDBUS A. CULBERTSON, JULY 1850.Explanation of the Tahular vieiv of the Sioux Nation of the V. Missouri.These tables are designed to show the numbers, principal tribes, smaller divi-sions and country of that part of the Sioux Nation living on the Upper Missouri.The information has been gathered from Mr. Charles Gilpin, of Fort Pierre,from several Indian chiefs, and has been submitted to the inspection of Mr.Henry Picotte and Mr. Alexander Culbertson, partners of the American Furcompany, and for many years familiar with the nation referred to, as well aswith those higher up the river. The Sioux nation occupies the immense tract ofcountry extending in a south west direction from the Upper Mississippi to thePlatte river, and bounded on the West by the Black Hills.This table does not refer to that part of the nation living on the Mississippi.Three thousand lodges may be relied on as very nearly the correct number ofthose living on the Missouri, according to the testimony of the best authority,and thirty thousand as nearly the correct number of souls; the average soulsper lodge has been put at ten, on the authority of Mr. Picotte, who has hadevery opportunity of making a correct estimate. He thinks that eight souls perlodge might not be too low, but he prefers to put the estimate at ten.The first division of the nation is into three large tribes :?The Yanktons,the Yanktonnaus and the Titons or Titonwans. These speak the same lan-guage and always maintain friendly relations, but they have few interests incommon; so far as I could learn, they hold towards each other no relation atall analogous to a federal union.Each of these tribes is again divided into a great number of small bands,bound together by ties of kindred and affinity ; each of these consists of asingle family connection, lives by itself, and regulates its own private concerns.They have no chief possessing the authority which is generally associated withthat title, but the men of authority amongst them are those who have gainedit by an extensive family connection, by their great wealth, or by their successin war and general character for wisdom. There are a nimiber of such men ineach band.These bands all take names that their own taste may select, or that somecircumstance may give them. Those given in the table are l)y no means thewhole number, but they are the principal ones, and are sufficient to illustratethe nature of these divisions. The Titons have an intermediate division be-tween these small bands and the larger ones, consisting of seven bands, asmarked in the table, the Brules, Blackfeet, &c. There are other associationsamongst all the tribes, which I have not noticed in the table ; these are somewhatanalogous to the association of Odd Fellows and other secret societies amongstus, having for their object mutual protection and defence. The country ofeach tribe has necessarily been assigned by the most general limits. The Siouxnation has no fixed place of residence; the people use skin lodges for theirhabitations and are constantly on the move, and their only wealth consists of132 MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 133horses and the buffalo robes that they may procure. The rivers referred toin the table are the ones on some part of whose basins the tribe generallypasses the winter. The limits between hostile nations may be tolerably welldefined, as they are exceedingly careful not to meet their enemies unlesstraveling in large bands or in war parties.The list of names that closes the table is intended principally to illustratetheir method of naming ; these are the names of a few of the principal men ineach band, and the same method of naming is employed in everything. It willbe seen that all the names are significant and most probably given to the personsfrom some circumstance happening to them, or great feat performed by them.The last column is the Indian name spelled as pronounced, as nearly as the earcould catch the sound. Explanation of the Tabular vieio of several Indian nations of the UpperMissouri.THE CHEYENNE NATION.Most of the previous remarks apply also to the nations referred to in thesetables. I shall here merely note peculiarities. This nation once lived on theMissouri, but has been driven back gradually by the Sioux people, until theirprincipal range is west of the Black Hills. They speak a distinct language,which is so difficult to acquire, that but two or three whites are able to speak it.In 1849 they suffered severely from the cholera ; '^^ about two hundred lodgesbeing carried off by that disease. The following are the names of two of theirprincipal men. Yellow Wolf?Sha-ga-man-tog'hi. Mad Bull?To-tun-cha-ga-nun-tchiah. THE ARICCAREE NATION.This people differs from most other tribes in using dirt lodges and living in apermanent village. Their village is located at Fort Clarke, on the west bank ofthe Missouri, little above forty-seven degrees of North latitude. They inhabitthis during the whole of the year, except a part of the winter months. Theyraise large quantities of corn, which differs very much from that raised in ourfields, but none of our vegetables have reached them yet. The Rees were oncea large nation, but within the last thirty years, pestilence, disease and war havereduced their numbers very gradually. This has almost broken up these largefamily connections that constitute the bands amongst the Sioux and the bandsof Eees in the table, are those smaller associations mentioned in page 4."?THE MANDAN NATION.This is the remnant of quite a large band that was almost exterminated by thesmall pox in 1838 or 1839. Their depopulated village was taken possession ofby the Rees who now hold it and they themselves became partly incorporated withthe Rees and other tribes, excepting a few who have a small village, five milesabove that of the Rees. They are again increasing very slowly, and are saidto [be] a brave people. They speak a distinct language. 23* Cf. Grinnell, 1923, vol. 2, pp. 164-165.2s? That is, paragraph 4 of this "Explanation."890780?52 10 JONl 134 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 147Mr. Joseph Desautel,'^ of Fort Clarke, is my authority for the numbers ofthe Ree nation. THE GROS ^^ENTRE NATION.The Indian name for this nation is Minnetaree?people of the Willows. Likethe Rees they live in a permanent village and cultivate the land; their villageis at Fort Berthold, on the east side of the Missouri, seventy-five miles abovethe Ree village. They have lately enclosed it with good pickets, to protect them-selves from their enemies, and are said to be anxious to adopt the arts ofcivilized life. The bauds here, as with the Rees, are not formed by familyconnections, but are voluntary associations and consist of persons of the sameage. The Black Tail Deer band consists of very old men, and the other bandsof ages in a descending series to the Foxes, which is a baud of very youngmen.Mr. Kipp, of Fort Be [r] (hold, is my authority here.THE ASSINIBOINE NATION.This is a large wandering tribe, ranging in a very extensive country northof the Missouri, extending far into British America, and lying east of theBlackfoot country. The larger part trades with the British company, and onlyabout six hundred lodges trade with the Americans. Their name signifies theStone People. Their language is kindred to the Sioux.THE CROW NATION.This is a large nation inhabiting the country drained by the Yellowstone.It is divided into two large villages or bands, and these are again divided intobands formed of family connections ; the connections are here counted on themothers' side Instead of the fathers'. The Crow people are very brave andare great warriors. They and the Gros Ventre nation speak the same language.Mr. Meklrum, who has lived for twenty-five years amongst the Crows, ismy audiority here. He makes twelve souls the average number to a lodgeamongst this people, as it is well known that they have more to a lodge thanany otlier nation. It will be noticed that the average varies in each nation.THE BLACKFOOT NATION.This is also a large and very warlike nation, living north of the Missouri,and partly in the British dominions. Its minor divisions are not well ascer-tained, because only a part trade with the Americans, and they generally cometo the Fort in very large numbers. Tlie division into North and South Black-feet is probably a division made by the traders for their own convenience. Thefirst three divisions speak the same language, but the Gros Ventre du Prairie,although fully incorporated with the Blackfoot nation, speak a different tongue,said to be the same as that of the Arapahoes on the Arkansas.Mr. Malcom Clark, of Fort Benton, is my authority. ??De Smet met the "amiable Mr. Des Autels" at Fort Manrlnn in 1846 (Chittendenand Richardson, 1005, vol. 2, p. 606). Larpenteiir (1898, vol. 2. p. 246) put him downas "Mr. Des Hfitcl." Abel identifies him as Joseph Desaiitel, nephew of James Kipp andtrader at Fort Clark. He died at Fort Pierre November 15, 1850 (Abel, 1932, pp. 227,249-250). < I ^ni MCDBBMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 135 .i c? Mja d 2 S ' rt CO rt 3 03 *^fi< ^ S pi W S ti t O) a; "S g Si0!-S CO ?9 -a ja43 do o g et-^ < o <, K W .tsr; ffl o a> ? a) ? 4) aj ^ d *^?" o Si?? s1^ 03 a)O 60d >, d CO?* "g3 S a> tsg"go d;o " S 10 ? fc; ra ''J o Si 9 03 oa? ? 2s ,2 03 O CO ogS eoJs.ro .2 3 136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 McDbrmott] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 137B.TABULAR VIEW OF SEVERAL INDIAN NATIONS, ON THE UPPERMISSOURI, A. D. 1850.Nations. APPENDIX 2CULBERTSON'S EEPORT TO BAIRD 237Fort Pierre, Thursday May SO, 1850My Deak Sib,Presuming that you will be anxious to hear of my progress I write to dayso as to be ready for any opportunity that may occur to send to the States. Myformer letter has informed you of my arrival at this point and my brother's ofmy departure for the Mauvaise Terre.^'' I now will attempt to give you someaccount of my very brief visit to that point of so great interest."* In the morn-ing of Tuesday May 7th I left the fort in company with two men, we had aclear and pleasant day for our start and expected to reach the point of destina-tion in five days. After the second day the weather became intensely hot andthe travelling became very fatiguing, as our animals were weak the grass beingso poor and we had to walk a great deal ; however at the end of the fifth day,Saturday evening we found ourselves encamped on Sage Creek at the entranceof the Bad Lands. Then we rested over the Sabbath and perhaps it will be bestto give you here an extract from my notes which will inform you of the impres-sions made upon me by a distant view of these hills. "We left Ball Creek about3 Oclock and moved along very slowly as it was very warm and we were verylazy. The road now lay over hills which became more steep and frequent aswe approached the Bad Lands. These occasionally appeared in the distanceand never before did I see anything that so resembled a large city ; so com-plete was this deception that I could point out the public buildings ; here appeareda large dome which might overtop the city hall ; then would appear a largepyramidal shaped top suggesting some magnificent building for public purposesand in another place might be seen what would appear to be a long row ofpalaces, great in number and superb in all their arrangements. Indeed thethought frequently occuri-ed as we rode along that at a distance this portionof the grounds looked like a city of palaces?everything arranged on the grandestscale and adapted for the habitation, not of pigmies such as now inhabit theearth, but of giants such as would be fit to rule over the immense animals whoseremains are said still to be found there; Again and again as from differentpositions these hills came in sight would such thoughts arise in my mind and Icould almost fancy that upon the wind would occasionally be borne the dinand bustle of the immense place as these giants with their stentorian voiceswould jostle along the streets, and hurry on their giant beasts fatigued by themountain loads that made their burdens. The mind could not remain with thepresent; it must range back to the earliest period and ask whence were thesethings? but soon a nearer view would destroy all illusion and the fancy wouldbe forced to give way to fact and allow these imaginary cities to be mere sandhills. But sand hills as they are they are wonderful and must excite the great- ="' There is no name on this letter, but it is certainly a report to Baird ; see theJournal of the same date.*^ These letters have not been found."3 Cf . the Journal, pp. 55-67. 139 140 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147 est interest in the scientific world. I wish that now we had a company of menof this liiud prepared for a thorough exploration ; as it is, my only hope is tobe an humble pioneer in this work and to be the means of prompting more ablemen to undertake it." "The tops of the highest butes in the bad lands appearedto be on a level with the prairie beyond them but I took no exact observation.About 5 Oclock we came near to Sage Creek and entered on the Bad Lands ; hereit is merely a great number of small hills of all shapes thrown together in greatconfusion and perfectly bare of vegetation. In thinking of how these lands wereformed it occurred to me very forcibly that it was by some convulsion of natureby which large portions of the grounds sunk leaving the other portions in theiroriginal positions, which are the hills we now see; these hills appear as thoughformed not by elevation, but by the depression of the surrounding land. Thisopinion appears to be confirmed by the fact that the highest butes have on theirtops prairie land covered with vegetation such as the plains outside of the BadLands ; the formation of some of the hills also appears to confirm it ; one of thefirst over which the road passes is very steep on both sides ranging north andsouth and is covered very thickly with gravel and small stones such as are foundat the bottom of streams here; this would indicate an elevating force were it notthat the bute at the north end, many feet higher than the road has its level topcovered as thickly with the same kind of small stones ; its sides are nearly perpen-dicular and the strata of earth are perfectly horizontal, all indicating freedomfrom disturbance of any kind ; this same thing is true of a bute equal in heightwith this one standing east of it ; and of the one at the south end of the steepone first mentioned, which however is very slightly elevated and shows someevidence of a disturbing force. These facts appear to show that the hills havenot been disturbed by any upheaving operation, and in a great many of the lullsI observed the strata to be perfectly horizontal. I noticed one in which thelarger portion of the hill appears to have sunk leaving a dome shape top 20 or 30feet above a wide shelf of prairie land like that on top of the dome encirclingthe whole hill and this shelf is terminated by the steep side of the hill ; in boththe dome shaped peak and the remainder of the hill the strata of clay are hori-zontal. There are however many hills that appear as though they might havebeen made by an upheaving force ; this opinion is recorded merely as a firstimpression and may be altered by further explorations." So much for first im-pressions; the following extract is from notes made after my visit to the localityof the petrifactions.Tuesday May IJ/.?Yesterday I visited the Bad Lands but did not get back tocamp until it was too late to record the events of the day. We have encampedduring Sunday on Sage Creek, 9 miles from Bear River ; in the morning we wereoff early and took breakfast at the latter. The road from Sage Creek windsconsiderably at first over some very steep hills: This creek is one of the mostcrooked streams I ever saw ; Its banks are almost perpendicular and about 20,or 30 feet high ; I observed in several places in the bank a thick strata of slateabout 20 feet below the surface of the ground above; the water is briny andleaves a deposite of salt on the stones at the bottom ; it as all other streams alongthe route contains at present no running water. The clay in the bottom is nearlya pure white and so clear that at first it seemed muddy from the reflection of thesmooth deposite of clay at the bottom. When the water in these pools was movedby a gentle breeze the shadows on the bottom were the most beautiful I had everseen. A few miles from the creek we passed over some hills that gave evidenceof the most violent convulsions ; these unlike those seen on Saturday appearedto have been upheaved and to have experienced the action of fire ; one placesuggested the idea of a volcanic crater; it was a slight hollow and contained a McDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 141number of rocks different from any around it, dark yellow in appearance. Ashort distance above this, the hills were of white sand and one was coveredwith the small red stones common in the dried beds of streams here.From the hills we arose to a prairie the most level that I have seen ; for milesthe eye could detect scarcely the least elevation and it gave not the smallest evi-dence of the convulsions that must have raged so near. The level prairie con-tinued with a single interruption to the banks of Bear River ; the descent to thisis by a very steep hill and another one on the opposite bank rises to the level prai-rie beyond. All along this mornings route the Black Hills were distinctly seen inthe distance and on this side of them, the hills and timber marking the ShagerRiver. We encamped on Bear river near a spring wliich is always anxiouslylooked for by travellers. I also shared in this anxiety and expected to see a fineflowing fountain. I was disappointed to find but three small holes in the sideof the hill holding perhaps a gallon of water, and was again agreeably disap-pointed to find this to be cool, delightful sand water. It is the only water I havereally relished for a long while except perhaps the Missouri. Immediately afterbreakfast we left our baggage and started for the point I had long hoped to reach ; my anxiety was great to see the wonders of which I had heard so much. Arapid ride over a good road soon brought us to the edge of the descent ; this wassteep but even and in a few minutes we were on the level below. Nothing re-markable appeared here, but in about % an hour we reached the Bad Landsthemselves and my interest became intense. The road now was over the depositeof yellowish white clay so hardened by the sun as scarcely to be impressed bythe hoofs of the mules, or by the wheels of the buggy : we passed by a number ofsmall squares of ground from two to five and six feet above the level of this claysurface having grass on their tops like that on the prairie above and the earthwas also the same ; their sides were perpendicular and the strata in them hori-zontal. We soon reached the place where petrifaction most abounds, I got outof the buggy and looking around was shown a number of ugly, dark red, unshapenmasses ; "these," says my guide, "are petrified turtles." They had lost theirshells and were crumbling to pieces by the action of the weather : so numeroushave they been that in many places the ground is literally covered with the crumbsof these turtles, but they are of no service for the cabinet. I felt somewhat dis-appointed for I had expected to find many fine specimens of petrification of dif-ferent animals. However I started on a voyage of discovery around this pondshapen basin ; one of the first things found was a large turtle weighing 100 or150 lbs; the shell was partially sound and the body broken in but two pieces;this was the most perfect one seen and it has been secured. There being threeof us we separated and went in different directions ; I found everywhere the re-mains of these turtle in different degrees of preservation but none perfect; Ipicked up a number of small pieces of bone and stones but found no teeth norheads. This was discouraging but on my return to camp I found that one ofthe men had been more successful and had brought in several tolerably goodheads, and a nujnber of teeth and pieces of jaw bones. When I ascertained thelocality of these petrifactions to be so small I hastened to get through ray col-lection in one day and although the sun was broiling hot and scarcely a mouthfulof water to work I again went. By evening we had made quite a thorough exam-ination of this immediate locality ; we had about % a bushel of small articles, anumber of excellent teeth, jaw bones, several good heads and one large and twosmall turtles besides nearly a peck of small stones and pieces of petrified woodpicked on the way out near Sheepoi Creek. These I thought to be as many asmy means of transportation would allow and I have since found them to bemore, for they are very heavy. I then filled a small white bag with the clay 142 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147from a hill side and with some of the crumbs of a broken turtle, and started withMcKenzie for the top of one of the highest butes. To gain this was no small jobas the path was very steep and narrow; at length however we reached it insafety although I had to crawl occasionally, and a most magnificent landscaperewarded us for our labor. The bute had on its top a level prairie of about 20acres ; it was covered with grass and of about the same level as those beyond theBad Lands. These prairies on the Hill tops are the ranges of the Big Horn andalong the very brink and the steepest sides of the hills their paths are distinctlyseen. We judged this bute to be about 200 feet high and nearly all those withgrass on their tops appear to be the same, except some small ones that rise butlittle above the white clay surface below ; there are many hills not near so highbut these appear to have been originally of the same height and to have beenwashed to their present size.In every direction except toward the prairie along Bear River we could see thesegreat hills towering above the plain below having their sides washed into manypicturesque shapes : the lower elevations gave a beautiful variety to the bold andgrand appearance of the higher ones as their level tops just receiving their carpetof green looked like so many lovely islands scattered over the surface of a limpidlake, for so did the polished white clay appear. Away to the south towered thehill on which is Asp Spring and around it as if for guard were placed severalothers that looked like those remains of baronial pride and prowess that areperched on the hill tops that border the Rhine; far as the eye could reach itrested on these palace-like appearances and the imagination was continuallycarried back to the day when castles and towers were the only places of safe abode.But how shall I convey to another a correct idea of these lands : this question hasoccurred to me often today ; my own conception of them were very inadequatefrom the general descriptions I have heard and I fear that I must likewise fail indescribing them to others. Perhaps the most just idea of them will be gained bysupposing an extensive and perfectly level prairie all to sink 200 feet leavingscattered about every few hundred feet small patches containing 8, 10, 20, &c acresand maintaining their original level undisturbed : above the lowest surface supposea number of small squares 20 or 30 feet across to rise 5 or 10 feet having their topscovered with grass as the higher buttes and let the lowest surface be a creamcoloured polished surface of clay: the sides of all these hills were originallyperpendicular but they have been washed into a great variety of picturesqueshapes partaking of the spirit of the gothic style of architecture, while some ofthem had all vestige of vegetation removed and exhibit nothing but bare sides andbald heads towering away into the air. This may aid you to form some conceptionof the appearance of these lands, and if you will fancy yourself on the hottest dayin summer in the hottest part of such a place, without animal and scarce an insectastir and with no water to quench your thirst nor shade to protect you from thesun you will have some idea of the utter loneliness of the Bad Lands. It appearsto me quite certain that careful excavations in some of these hills would developmany very perfect specimens ; many of those now discovered on and near thesurface most probably have been washed out by the rains, and the remains of theturtles at least crumble to pieces when exposed for some time. Feeling exceed-ingly fatigued and having no animals fit to ride through these lands and having asmany or more specimens than I could carry I determined to return withoutmaking a second visit, and besides these reasons I had some fear of missing theboat for Yellowstone, but it has not come yet. We started with our specimens butwere compelled to leave them and all unnecessary baggage as the buggy was nearbreaking down. By forced marches I reached the fort in four days havingbeen eleven days on the trip. The things did not reach here until this morning MCDBRMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 143when I packed them up at once ; the wolves had broken into the cache in whichthey had been placed and torn everything apart, however neai'ly all had comesafely to hand except the petrified wood most of which was lost. You neednot look for many bones, or skeletons as they are diflScult to get about here;at all seasons they are scarce and are especially so at this one; we did noteven see an Antelope until the third day out and did not kill one until afterthat and the wolves stole the head of that one from the cache. One of themen snapped his gun several times at a Big Horn in the Mauvaise Terre but ofcourse did not get it. The only way to get specimens of this kind is to spenda hunting season here and hire men to hunt and then you can get what you want.But when we meet I can give you a great deal more information about thesethings. My brother joins in kind regards.Respectfully yours, Thad. a. Culbeetson.Saturday June 1st. I finished my letter the other day before I was done andtherefore add a few things by way of a postscript.?The extent of the Bad Lands,so far as I can judge from the testimony of those who ought to be familiar withthem, is about 30 miles from North to South, and about 65 from East to West ; this is their utmost limit, measuring from the extreme angles; their figure isprobably nearly this shape : ^ the sides of this general outline must necessarily be very irregular but it sufllcieutly shows the fact they they begin at a pointabout 10 miles southwest of the head of Bad River and gradually expand andthen again contract to another point at their southern termination. I feel uncer-tain as to the position of White River with reference to them but my impressionis that it flows through a large part of them ; some however say that it flowsoutside of the Bad Lands proper. The road from Fort Pierre passes in a coursenearly due west at the distance of a few miles north of Bad River, called here theLittle Missouri ; after heading this stream at the distance of about 10 miles fromit, it changes to a direction about S by W and keeps that general direction untilthe locality for petrifactions is reached, winding of course a great deal because ofthe hills. The distances areTo Willow Creek 7Big Hole 19%Sheepoi 17%Big Cotton Wood 23Grindstone 9^4Head of Bad River 17%Bull Creek 17Sage " 12Bear River 9Petrifactions, 6138 miles ?*o This drawing Is traced from that in Cnlbertaon'B letter. 144 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147The road is very scarce of timber and water especially the first half of theway, and what water there is, is in holes and generally saline but drinkable.But one or two of these streams have running water and they very little.Fish were not seen but in two places and I did not use the seine in them asI postponed it for my return and then had left it in the cache. Indeed I havemade no use whatever of the seine as it was so inconvenient on the way up andsince that no fish have been seen except those from the Missouri. Petrifactionsare said to abound in various localities throughout the whole extent of these lands,and along White River, and also mammoth bones are said to be numerous alongthe L'eau qui court : petrified shells and bones are found on some branches ofthe Shayen and on a very high hill called Fox Hills the dividing ridge betweenthe Moreau and the Shayen ; in fact in all parts of this country petrifactionsabound but petrified wood was not seen by me in the Bad Land. I gatheredconsiderable of it along the road and have heard marvellous stories of wholetrees being turned to rock not many miles from this but have not seen any. Wewei'e speaking of visiting some of these localities a few days ago but as the boatwill probably come very soon we have concluded not to do so.You see from the great extent of country in which these things abound thata single person with such scanty means as I have had and so limited in timecan do scarcely anything. This country ought to be explored by a scientificcorps prepared to collect specimens of all kinds and to take sketches of the ap-pearance of the country ; this would be very important to a correct explorationof the Mauvaise Terre. Animals are scarce here but they abound in the BlackHills ; these are two days journey from the Bad Lands ; they are covered withthick forests of pine almost impenetrable by the rays of the sun in many places.They are the resort of deer, elk. Bear, beaver and animals of almost every kind ; streams of clear, cold water abound in them but they contain no fish. You couldeasily get good hunters here familiar with the intricate windings of these hillswho would guide you through them and hunt for you. Dr Evans wanted tovisit them but his half-breed guide was afraid of the Gros Vents [sic] and wouldnot go. This gentleman is spoken very highly of by the clerks here ; he appearsto be employed by Dr. Owen of New Harmony to make geological collections forhim and this Dr Owen is said to be over one of the departments of the Smith-sonian Institute. Evans gave them some reason to expect him again this sum-mer. I feel as though it would be proper to call your attention to the descriptiongiven of some parts of the region about the Jordan by Lynch in his Expedition ; since my return from the Bad Lands I have read this book and have been verymuch struck with the fact that these formations probably abound very similarto those in the Mauvaise Terre : the steep, mound top hills on the river, thehorizontal strata of clay or sand ; the perfectly white clay, the boulders withoccasional out-croppings appear to me to be very like what I have seen, and ifyou read his description of the visit to Masara you will notice at once how verysimilar his impressions were to mine at the first sight of the Bad Lands ; youwill notice even a very great coincidence of expression, which is purely accidentalas I had not read his book at all until after my return. I mention this merelythat you may examine it and that Ave can in conversation more accurately testmy impression. Another very interesting field of inquiry here is that affordedby the Indians ; certainly they are a people well worthy of study and their habitsand customs are not to be understood or ei'cr known by a hasty visit and throughan interpreter. Several very interesting facts have come to my knowledge ac-cidentally in conversation and how much more would this be the case were Iable to go amongst them and talk with them and move about with them on their MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 145hunting excursions. Any one wlio took a real interest in such inquiries and hadmeans to afford him a living for several years would reap a harvest of honorand profit by coming to this Indian country, learning the language and living withthe people making accurate notes of what he saw and heard ; he must speak thefrench also ; If he had a philosphical turn of mind he could not help being en-grossed by the subject and would find himself led gradually to the study of athousand kindred subjects. I frankly confess that I am ignorant of what hasbeen done in this particular branch of inquiry but sure am I that much yet re-mains to be known. I have prepared for you a tabular view of the Sioux nationon the Upper Missouri, exhibiting their numbers, bands and principal chiefs ; Ihope to prepare a similar one of the tribes higher up so that at a glance you willhave before you the different Indian nations and their countries, and you shallhave the full use of what few notes I have taken ; these I regard not as valuablebut they may serve to confirm the reports of others. My botanical specimensnumber over 100 and they have been collected principally within the last twoweeks and near the fort : vegetation has been very backward ; the grass is stillshort though at present growing rapidly but toward the south the Indians reportthat it is short and scarce. The season has thus far been an unusually dry one ; the Californians will doubtless suffer much as their route is much worse thanthis section of the country. Poor fellows ! I can sympathize with them. Kindregard to Wm B *" from myself and brother. I hope to meet you in August.Yours &c, T. A. CULBERTSON.June 5th. Dr Evans came in the boat last night & has read this letter ; hesays that he will suggest no changes?his impressions were very much as mine &is sorry that his notes of last year are not here to compare with mine. He isboimd for another exploration & I am sorry that it dont suit my plans to go withhim.?Please dont make any publication of these notes nor quote them as au-thority until after you see me. Today we leave for the Yellowstone. All well. "1 William McFunn Bairrl (1817-72), the oldest brother of Spencer F. Baird, was edu-cated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. (See Dall, 1915, pp. 5, 41, and passim.) APPENDIX 3ALEXANDER HARVEY AND THE "OPPOSITION"COMPANYReferences for Harvey and the company of which he was a partner have beengiven in footnote 202, page 106. Since no history has been written of the affairsof these people, the articles reprinted below will give some idea of their activitiesduring 1850 and will add to the general knowledge of conditions and events inthe Upper Missouri Country at that time. The first of these news stories is fromthe Missouri Republican, April 5, 1850 : the second from the Missouri Republican,May 14, 1950 (this article was substantially reprinted in the Weekly Reveille,May 20, 1850, p. 4218) ; the third from the Missouri Republican, May 17, 1850.(1)FROM THE UPPER MISSOURI.Mr. A. Pike Vasquez and Mr. 0. Dauphin arrived in this city last evening, onthe steamer Haydee. They came by express from Medicine Creek, a trading postof the Union Fur Company, forty miles below Fort Pierre.These gentlemen left their post on the 11th March, and report no snow on thePlains. The weather was unusually pleasant on the route, and the winterremarkably mild.On the 11th November last, as Mr. Dauphin, with a company of ten traders,was returning from a trading expedition, his camp at the forks of White river wasattacked about 8 o'clock at night, by a war party of Pawnees. The engagementwas a sudden and severe one. Mr. Dauphin was badly wounded, and in thiscondition his men deserted him. The Indians overpowered him, and took fromhim all his goods : he made his escape from them.From Black Feet Fort down to Fort Lookout, the Buffalo were plenty, andwere particularly numerous on the north side of the Missouri. The Sioux Indianshad collected, in bands of from fifty to one hundred lodges, extending from theChayenne river to Fort Lookout, for the purpose of hunting these animals.In January last, while the Sioux Indians were engaged in hunting buffalo, onthe Forks of the Chayenne river, they were attacked by a party of Crow Indians,and eight warriors were killed on each side. The Crows then stole from theirenemy one hundred and fifty head of horses. The Sioux were making prepara-tions to retaliate upon them.The Yanctons were also making preparations for war with their old enemies,the Pawnees, in consequence of depredations committed by them. Two partieshad already started on this expedition, and the war will, probably, be continuedthroughout the season. There is reason to fear that the California emigrantsgoing up the north side of the Platte River, may fall in with some of the warparties of Indians, and be annoyed by them.Maj. Hatten, the agent for the Sioux Indians, may be expected in this city thelast of this month. 147 148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147The Union Fur Company have been very successful in their business the pastyear, and they will bring down four thousand packs of robes.(2)FROM THE PLAINS.THREE THOUSAND MILES UP THE MISSOURI RIVER.Yesterday we had the pleasure of shaking by the hand Mr. Alexander M. na[r]-vey, who stands in the West as the great and principal trader in the Black Feetcountry. His souhriquet, we believe, is the Chief of the Black Feet. His laststation was at Fort Campbell, about twenty miles below the Falls of the Missouri,where he has spent several years. He is among the most familiar men in themountains with the character and languages of the Indians, and to his longpractical acquaintance has added a just appreciation of the honor and respon-sibility of any situation which his engagements may impose upon him. In thepresent expedition into the States, his patience and perseverance have been put tothe full test, but he has proved himself equal to the difficulties and dangers whichhe had to encounter.Mr. Harvey left Fort Campbell on the 2d of April, in a large skiff or yawl, incompany with Jas. Russell, Toussaint Roland and John Oregon, (a Spaniard.)The skiff contained their entire outfit, and this, be it remembered, was for avoyage from the vicinity of the Falls of the Missouri to the settlements on theboundary of this State, a distance of nearly two thousand five hundred miles.From the place of their departure to the mouth of the Yellow Stone, their tripwas greatly impeded by the ice and high water. It was not floating ice, but theice shoi'e hound, and frequently, with the higli water, interposing serious obstaclesto their progress. They arrived at Fort William (mouth of tlie Yellow Stone,)on the 13th. Shortly after leaving Fort Campbell they were assailed by a warparty of Assineboins and Crows, who evidently had hostile intentions. Mr. H.'sboat was in the river, and he was summoned to come ashore ; but he understoodtoo well their character and purposes to do so. He refused. The Assineboinsopened a fire upon him ; but he called to the Crows, some of whom he recognized,and the only damage done was the passing of a ball or two through the boat.At Fort William, he took on board his boat two other men, Baptiste Lord,a half breed from St. Peters, or that vicinity, and Trombley, formerlyof Cahokia. They left the Fort on the 16th. That night it commenced snowing,and continued, without intermission, until the morning of the 19th. At theHorse Head Prairie, a place where a large number of horses were drowned,they were assailed by a war party of Sioux. Mr. Harvey and his party hadencamped for the night on the west side of the Missouri, when they heard theapproach of the Sioux Indians. Mr. H. and the half breed. Lord, taking theposition of guard, ordered all their traps into the boat, and as the war partypressed upon them they retreated to the river ; when at the bank they jumpedinto the boat, and hastily pushed for the opposite shore, where they spent thenight. The next morning, as they passed down the river, they discovered thatthe same war party had taken possession of a trading house on the bank,recently vacated by the traders?had built fires, and used all the signals likelyto entrap strangers to a trading post. As Mr. H. passed it, suspecting thedeception, he and Lord sent a couple of balls into the building, and instantlythe ruse was developed, by the whole war party turning out. Their demonstra-tions of friendship were very strong and loud, but Mr. H. did not deem itprudent to trust himself in their power. MCDERMOTT] CULBERTSON JOURNAL 149The party arrived at the mouth of Medicine Creek and there took on boardPierre Blais, a well known trader among the Indian tribes. At this time, thewhole party consisted of seven persons. They left the mouth of the Creek onthe last day of April, and on the first day of May?a fatal day in this city ? they attempted to cross the river at the "Three Islands," about one hundredmiles below Medicine Creek, about eight o'clock in the morning. The ice wasthick on the banks of the river and on the oars of the boat, and this being oneof the widest parts of the river, they were struck with a gale of wind, so sud-denly and violently, that they could make no provision against it. In an instant,the boat was swamped and filled with water, they being at the time nearly inthe middle of the river. The whole party were immersed in the river. Mr.Harvie instantly attempted to save them, by turning the skiff over, sacrificingall its contents, and urging them to hold on to it. In this, for a time he wassuccessful. Toussaint Roland seized his bag and made for the main shore,but before he reached it the wind and waves carried him back into the streamand he was drowned. John Oregon and Trombley were swept tothe skiff by Mr. Harvey, but before it drifted to the sand bank on which itwas landed, they perished from the effects of the cold. Pierre Blais was be-numbed by the cold, but by the exertions of Mr. Harvey and the others, wasgot across the keel, now uppermost. He had not energy enough to keep thevital spark alive, and when they grounded the skiff on the bar he was lyingwith his feet on the one side, and his head on the other in the water. Exertionswere made to get him ashore, but they were unavailing. In fact, the surviverswere not in a condition to do more than save themselves. A short time after-wards, the current carried off the body of Blais. The skiff, by the exertionsof Harvey, was run hard ashore on the sand bar. The Half Breed Lord man-aged to get ashore, but he was scarcely able to crawl, from the effects of thecold. The wind was blowing strong on the sand bar, where there was not theslightest protection, and before he had walked twenty steps from the waterhe laid down and died. James Russell scrambled ashore from the skiff, andimmediately crawled, not being able to walk, to a hollow which the wind hadscooped out of the sand. In this, he was somewhat protected from the piercingblast. Mr. Harvey, having secured the skiff, got ashore, but was so benumbedthat he could not walk or stand erect. By great exertion, he got where Lordwas, and found him dead, and then he went in search of Russell, found himand got into the hole with him. There he kept Russell from going to sleep, andafter a time they both began to recover. Soon after, they began to look aboutfor their safety. On turning over their boat and bailing it out with Russell'shat, they found a steel for striking fire, which by accident was hooked intoone of the boat's timbers. This and an oar was all they had. They broke theoar in two and pulled for the main shore, where there was timber ; there theysucceeded in raising a fire, and remained during the night. The next morningthe two survivors, without any provisions whatever, resumed their journey downstream. About eight miles below, they found Mr. H's trunk and a bottle ofcoffee?further on they picked up a sack of coffee, and went ashore and madewhat to them was a rich breakfast, on coffee alone. They pursued their waydown the river, and in two days and a half, about 20 miles above the Ver-million, they overtook three Mackinaw boats, which had preceded them. Fromthese they got supplies and two men, and proceeded to Liberty Landing, wherethey arrived on the 9tli inst., and in this city yesterday evening.We have thus fully noticed this trip of Mr. Harvey, because it is one of themost eventful ever made upon our "inland Seas," and yet no more than mightoccur to any persons similarly situated.890780?52 11 150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147(3)LATE FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS.The fine steamer Saranak arrived yesterday morning, with thirty mountainmen, and 600 paclis of buffalo robes. The men reached Council Bluffs inMackinaw boats, where the cargoes of two were discharged on board theSaranak. This is the same party with which Mr. Harvey traveled ; and in fact,the boats and their cargo belong to the Union Fur Company, of which Mr. H.is a partner. About four hundred miles above Council Bluffs, one of the mostvaluable boats was snagged and sunk, and a greater portion of the cargo badlydamaged, if not entirely lost. The men succeeded in saving two tier of therobes, but the remainder, with a good many trinkets in the shape of dried buffalotongues, fancy robes, mocasins, &c., belonging to the crew, went down, and afterrescuing all in their power, the boat was abandoned. Some of these hardy menhave spent the greater part of their lives among the Indians and the mountainsof the Northwest Territory, and one old fellow, who has followed trapping andtrading with the Indians for nearly thirty years, is now on his third voyage toSt. Louis during the time. We learn that the boat lost was fully insured. Sixhundred packs is between forty and fifty thousand robes [sic] : truly a valuablecargo.The Saranak left Council Bluffs on the 10th instant. There were then en-camped at Kanesville, and in the circumference of ten miles round, between eightand ten thousand emigrants, with about three thousand wagons.The weather was moderating, but there was no grass, and very little signof vegetation. Grain and food of every kind was very scarce and commandingenormous prices. Corn and oats selling at $2.50 per bushel. Flour at $7 per100 lbs. or $14 per bbl. A lot of one hundred sacks of flour, bought on specula-tion by the officers of the Saranak at St. Joseph, sold upon arrival at $7 per 100lbs. These prices would not continue long, however, as supplies were expectedevery day from below. The Saranak met five boats between St. Joseph andthe Bluffs, all having corn, flour, &c., on board. The Saluda and Roiert Campbell,both bound up, were met at Fort Kearny. The Lightfoot, at Iowa Point ; J. L.McLean, at Dallas, and the Mary Blane at Savannah landing. It is thoughtthat these boats will carry up enough to supply the immediate wants of theemigrants, who have made every preparation to start so soon as the grass is upsufficient to afford sustenance to their animals.Major Barrow, an Indian Agent, came passenger in the steamer Saranak toSt. Joseph. This gentleman reports that the small pox had made its appearanceamong one or two companies of Californians, encamped ten or fifteen miles fromKanesville, and in the course of a few days six of their number died with it.A few cases had also broken out in Kanesville, but the matter was kept verystill. This gentleman gives it as his opinion that unless speedily checked, it willcarry off a great many emigrants and Indians?among the latter no cases arereported as yet.The Mormons congregated in and around Kanesville are legion, and it isgenerally understood that the first grand cavalcade for Salt Lake and the Stateof Deseret will take up the line of march about the 15th of June. Thousandshave joined their standard this season, and much harmony is said to exist, thingsmoving on smoothly in regard to matters of church and state. The officersof the S. report the Missouri in good navigable stage to the highest point, andrising slowly when they left the Bluffs, with seven to eight feet in the channelall the way down. APPENDIX 4THE ST. ANGEThe steamer 8t. Ange, which Culbertson had occasion to mention twice, hada life of some interest. On the occasion of its launching the Missoviri Republican(March 19, 1849) gave it several editorial paragraphs : "Captain LaBarge has just built a beautiful boat for the Missouri trade.The hull was constructed by Messrs. Brooks, Holliday & Co., on their MarineRailways, and, considering the state of the past weather, she has been built withextraordinary rapidity. She is a fine and staunch boat, measuring 170 feetstraight, and 180 on deck; 28 feet beam, and 6 feet hold; 23 feet wheels with10 feet buckets. She has two engines with 19 inch cylinders and 6 feet stroke ; 2 boilers 28 feet long and 42 inches diameter."Her cabin is fitted up in a neat and commodious manner, having 32 staterooms with [berjths, and in all her other appointments and arrangements, tasteand comfort have been studied. The engines were built by Messrs. Gaty, McCune& Glassey, and the joiners' work by Mr. Thomas Jordon, and excellent workman-ship has been displayed in the construction of the cabin. The painting wasdone by Messrs. Wilgus & Watson. She is nearly complete, has all her machin-ery on board, and most of it up, and was let into the water from the ways soeasily that it was scarcely perceptible. "She is estimated to measure 250 tons, but will carry about 500 tons. Whenlight, she will draw about 30 inches. She is owned on board by Captain LaBarge,Mr. Stiles, the clerk, and Mr. Brant. There is no captain on the Western watermore highly esteemed than Capt. LaBarge. He is a St. Louisan born and hasbeen familiar with the river from early life."In the spring of 1850 the St. Ange was running regularly in the Saint Louis-Weston trade. Nearly 2 months after Culbertson saw her the St. Ange madea trip to Saint Joseph carrying among other passengers the Hon. Henry J. Coke,brother of the Earl of Leicester; his voyage (May 28-June 3) is described in hisRide Over the Rocky Mountains (1852, pp. 81-88). On its return to Saint Louisthe boat enters our narrative again, for on June 8, 1850, the Missouri Republicancarried the news that : "The steamer St. Ange has been chartered by the UnionFur Company and will start for the mouth of the Yellow Stone on Wednesdaynext. She will carry up a number of men, and a considerable amount of goods,provisions, ammunition, &c. Capt. LaBarge goes in command, and will, no doubt,make a safe and speedy trip. This is the second boat which has been charteredthis season to go so long a voyage. The steamer El Paso is now on her wayup, and when last heard from, she had reached Council Bluffs in safety."There is no other mention of the St. Ange until Culbertson saw her belowFort Pierre on the 29th of June. On her return 3 weeks later, although she couldnot claim to beat the distance record of the El Paso, she was credited with the "quickest trip on record." The Missouri Republican (July 20, 1850) gave areport of her trip : "The fine steamer St. Ange landed at the wharf yesterday, only 10 days fromFort Union, at the mouth of the Yellow Stone. By this arrival we have no151 152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147news of importance. Four California emigrants were taken on board at FortKearny, direct from Larimie, at whicli point they turned bacls, on account ofsicliness. These men belong to Illinois, and represent the cholera, and otherdiseases, quite prevalent among the trains on the road between the two places.They had, however, no reliable information respecting the progress of the sick-ness, or the number of deaths. As a body, the emigration they say is progressingas well as might be expected. The St. Ange left the mouth of the Yellow Stone,or Fort Union, on the 9th inst. The river was then swelling slightly from recentheavy rains, with a fair stage of water all the way down. Weather warm andpleasant, and the crops quite promising in the vicinity of Council Bluffs, but thewheat not generally as good as anticipated, in consequence of the wet. Harvest-ing had commenced in the vicinity of all the upper towns, and even as far upas the Bluffs. "There were very few persons at Fort Union or at any of the other posts alongthe river. The health of the traders was generally good, and there had beenno serious disturbances among the Indians."The boat left this city on the 13th of June. She reached the place of herdestination on the 8th of July. Started to return the 9th, and reached this cityabout 1 P. M. yesterday, making the run in 36 days, being the quickest voyageever made going or returning, and the entire trip in nearly twenty days lesstime than it was ever performed before. The return cargo consists of abouteight hundred packs of buffalo robes, besides skins and furs. In the way ofcuriosities we noticed several mountain birds, a black-tail deer, a buffalo calf,and other wild varmints on board. The boat, we understand was charteredby R. & W. Campbell and P. Chouteau, Jr., & Co. [sic], at $6,000 for the voyage,and from the time occupied and the great preservation of every thing on boardwe should think it a very profitable trip." (The boat obviously would not havebeen chartered jointly by business rivals. The confusion here may arise fromthe fact that the steamer Robert Camp'bell a few weeks earlier had broughtChouteau employees and furs down from Council Bluffs. See footnote 167.)It is curious that with all this information available to him Chittenden in hislife of La Barge should have dismissed the year 1850 with half a dozen lines.Perhaps the most completely reported trip of the St. Ange up the Missouriwas that leaving Saint Louis on June 7, 1851, for De Smet was on board (Chit-tenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 2, pp. 638-652) ; Kurz went on board at SaintJoseph (1937, pp. 69-73) ; and, of course, the trip figures in Chittenden's lifeof La Barge (1903, vol. 1, pp. 189-198). Since this trip has nothing to do withThaddeus Culbertson's narrative, it will not be detailed here. It is interesting,perhaps, to know that among other passengers were Alexander Culbertson,Honors Picotte, and John Evans, the geologist. BIBLIOGRAPHYAbel, Annie Heloise, Editor.1932. 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Report intended to illustrate a map of the hydrographical basin of theupper Mississippi River. H. R. Doc. 52, 28th Congr., 2d Sess.O'Hanlon, John.1890. Life and scenery in Missouri. Dublin.O'Harra, Cleophas C.1920. The White River Badlands. S. Dak. School of Mines, Bull. 13. RapidCity, S. Dak.Owen, David Dale.1852. Report of a geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa & IMinnesota andincidentally of a portion of Nebraska Territory. Philadelphia.(Illustrations and maps form a second volume.)Paixiser, John.1853. Solitary rambles and adventures of a hunter in the prairies. London.Parker, Nathan H.1856. Iowa as it is in 1856 . . . Chicago.Parkman, Francis.1902. The Oregon Trail. Boston. McDermott] bibliography 157Petersen, William J.1941. Iowa: The rivers of her vallej's. State Hist. Soc. Iowa. Iowa City.Point, Nicolas, S. J.1931. Journey in a barge on the Missouri from the Fort of the Blackfeetto that of the Assiniboines. Edited by Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J.Mid-America, vol. 13, pp. 236-254.Porter, Thomas C,1S51. List of plants collected by Mr. Culbertson. 5th Ann. Rep. Smithson-ian Institution 1850, pp. 133-186. (Reprinted literally herein.)Peout, Hiram A.1847. Description of a fossil maxillary bone of a Palaeotherium, from nearWhite River. Amer. Journ. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 3, pp. 248-250.Reid, Russell.1929-30. The earth lodge. N. Dak. Hist. Quart., vol. 4, pp. 174-185.Reid, Russell, and Gannon, Clell G.1929-30. Journal of the Atkinson-O'Fallon Expedition. N. Dak. Hist. Quart.,vol. 4, pp. 5-56.RoBiDOux, Orral Messmore.1924. Memorial to the Robidoux Brothers. A history of the Robidoux inAmerica. Kansas City.Robinson, Doane.1904. A history of the Dakota or Sioux Indians. S. Dak. Hist. Coll., pt. 2,pp. 1-523.Sayre, Edward L.1911. Early days in and about Bellevue. Nebr. Hist. Soc. Proc. and Coll., vol.16, pp. 60-114.Stevens, Isaac I.1853-54. Exploration and survey of the Rividre des Lac to the Rocky Moun-tains. In Pacific Railroad Survey, vol. 11. H. R. Ex. Doc. 91,38d Congr., 2d Sess.Tasse, Joseph.1878. Joseph Robidou. In Les Canadiens de I'Ouest. 2d ed., vol. 2, pp. 119-129. 2 vols. Montreal.Thwaites, Reuben Gold, Editor.1904. Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-6. 7 vols.,and atlas. New York.United States Census for 1950.Van Cleve, Charlotte Ouisconsin.1876. A sketch of the early life of Malcolm Clark. Mont. Hist. Soc. Contr.vol. 1, pp. 80-87. (2d ed., 1902.)Warren, G. K.1856. Explorations in the Dacota Country, in the year 1855. Senate Ex.Doc. 76, 34th Congr., 1st Sess.Weekly Reveille. Saint Louis. 1850.Whitney, Mrs. Carrie (Westlake).1908. Kansas City, its history and people. 3 vols. Chicago.Will, George F.1929-30. Arikara ceremonials. N. Dak. Hist. Quart., vol. 4, pp. 247-265.Williams, Walter.1915. A history of North West Missouri. 3 vols. Chicago.Wilson, Frederick T.1902. Old Fort Pierre and its neighbors. With editorial notes by Charles E.DeLand. S. Dak. Hist. Coll., vol. 1, pp. 257-379. 158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll, 147MAPSClabk. a map of Lewis and Clark's track across the western portions of NorthAmerica . . . compiled from the original drawing by William Clark. In Coues,1893, vol. 4.Evans. Map showing the position of the Bad Lands or Mauvaises Terres ofNebraska. In Owen, 1852, vol. of illus. (Reprinted herein as map 2.)Nicollet. Hydrographical basin of the upper Mississippi River, from astronomi-cal and barometrical observations, surveys, and information, by J. N. Nicol-let [183e-40]. In Nicollet, 1845.Parker. A township map of the State of Iowa . . . 1856. In Parker, 1856.Stevens Map No. 2. Riviere des Lacs to the Rocky Mountains from Explorationand Survey made by Isaac I. Stevens, 1853-54. In Pacific Railroad Survey,vol. 11. H. R. Doc. 91, 33d Congr., 2d Sess.Warren. Section of map compiled in Pacific Railroad Office with additions de-signed to illustrate Lt. Warren's Report of military reconnaissances in theDacota Country, 1835. In Warren, 1856. (Reprinted herein as map 1.) INDEXAcademy of Natural Sciences of Phila-delphia, 1, 1 n., 2 n., 3Adams, Richard, 13 n.Allen, J. F., 15 n.American Fork (Creek), 50, 50 n.American Fur Company, 4 n., 10, 11, 54n., 119; amount of buffalo robesbrought down the Missouri by,90 n., 91 n.Andes Lake, 49, 49 n.Angelo (voyageur), 15 n., 47Antelopes, 31, 59, 60, 84, 143Antoine (voyageur), 15 n.Apple Creek, 92, 92 n.Aricaree (Ree) Creek, 58, 58 n., 67Audubon, John James, mentioned, 36n., 64 n., 86, 88 n., 123; cited,55 n. ; regarding name of JamesRiver, 44 n.Bad Lands. See Mauvaises Terres.Bad River (Wahpa Shicha, Teton, falseLittle Missouri), 56 n., 58, 58 n.,59, 66, 69Baird, Spencer F., 2, 3 n., 66, 66 n. ; quoted regarding fossils given toAcademy of Natural Sciences, 2n. ; regarding Culbertson's trip,3 ; regax'ding Culbertson's collec-tion, 3; letter to Leidy quoted,4?5 ; gains permission to publishCulbertson Journal, 5 ; his edi-tion of Journal discussed, 6-7introductory note to Appendix 1quoted, 123Bangs, see Beigne.Bangs, S. D., cited regarding Sarpy,28 n.Bardotte, Charles, 13 n.Barrow, Maj. , 150Bears, grizzly, 57, 114Bear River, 63, 63 n., 141, 142Beaver, 107Beigne (Bangs), 35, 35 n.Bellevue House, 28 n.Bellevue Post, 8, 28, 28 n., 121Big Bend, see Great Bend.Big Hole Creek, 57, 57 n.Bighorn, 64, 142, 143Big Muddy River, 108, 108 n., 110 n.Big Sioux River 34, 34 n., 35, 36Big Tarkio River, 8, 24Bijou. See Bissonet, Louis.Bijou Hills, 50 n.890780?52 Birds observed by Culbertson, 70 ; wildgeese, 20, 107 ; snow bird, 57 ; cur-lew, 60 ; mocking bird, 69 ; thrush,69, 70; owl, 73; sandcrane, 100;swallows, 120Birds and Mammalia collected byHarris, list of, 128-131Bissonet, Louis, dit Bijou, 50 n.Black Earth River, 43, 43 n.Black Hills, 57, 63, 65 n., 141Black Weed (racine uoir), 35, 35 n.Blanchette, Louis, 16 n.Boats, Mackinaw, 11, 13, 87, 90, 150Boiler, Henry A., cited regarding Hodg-kiss, 72 n.Boonville, Mo., 8, 17Botanical observations, 4, 4 n., 68, 69, 70,73, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 103, 108,117-118, 119; list of plants col-lected, 124-127Boudin, 102-103, 103 n.Bonis, A. R., 106 n.Boyer River, 30, 30 n.Brierly, T. H., 11 n., 110, 110 n.Bruguier, Theophile, 34, 34 n., 35, 38Buffalo 13, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 90-91,92, 94, 95, 102, 113-114, 147;taste of, 44, 47, 102-103; robesbrought down the Missouri in1850, 91, 91 n.Bull Creek, 60, 60 n.Bute Bijoux (Bijou Hills), 50, 50 n.Campbell, Robert, 106 n.Cannon Ball River, 92, 92 n.Cattell, William Cassaday, 18, 18 n.Cerr6, Pascal, 36 n.Chain of Rocks, 54, 54 n.Chambersburg Academy, 2Chappell, Phil. E., cited regarding ElPaso, 11 n. ; regarding Assini-toine, 109 n.Chase, Amos, 30, 30 n., 31Chittenden, Hiram Martin, cited regard-ing Assiniboine, 109 n.Chouteau Creek, 49, 49 n.Chouteau, Frangois, 20 n.Chouteau, Pierre, 54 n.Clark, Malcolm, 14, 55 n., 104, 104 n.,109, 111, 114, 116, 117, 118; citedon Indian customs, 111-112, 134Coke, Henry J., 18 n., 23 n., 151 ' Cotton Wood Creek, 58, 58 n. 159 160 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147]Coues, Elliott, cited regarding VermilionPost, 34 n., 36 n., 40 n.Council Bluffs, Iowa (Louse Point, Pointdu Cou), 14, 26, 26 u., 27, 28,28 n.Council Bluffs, Iowa (present city), seeKanesvilleCow Creek, 50, 50 n.Cromwell, , 25Crow Creek, 51, 51 n.Culbertson, Alexander, 1, 1 n., 2, 8, 13,15, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33,35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45,46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 68,69, 72, 84, 86, 89, 89 n., 90, 95,104, 114 n., 116, 116 n., 132, 152 ; biographical sketch of, 2 n. ; shareof expenses of trip, 3 ; generosityof, 21, 55, 68, 104; trouble withBees, 96Culbertson, Annie Duncan, 2, 15 n.Culbertson, Ferdinand, 4 n., 12, 13, 14,105 n., 109, 117 ; letter regardingJournal quoted, 5-6 ; collection ofskins made by, 105Culbertson, Frances Stuart, 2Culbertson, James, 15, 15 n.Culbertson, Joseph, 1, 2, 2 n.Culbertson, IMary Duncan, 39 n.Culbertson, Mary Finley, 2Culbertson, Michael Simpson, 2, 39, 39 n.Culbertson, Robert, 2, 15 n.Culbertson, Thaddeus A., interest inbones and fossils, 1, 2-3; bio-graphical sketch, 2; importanceof collection made on trip, 2-5resume of trip in Smithsonian re-port, 3 ; death of, 3 ; collects spec-imens, 3, 4, 4 n., 9, 42-i3, 49, 57,GO, 64, 66, 68, 69, 73, 78, 81, 85,87, 90, 91, 94, 95, 100, 103, 105,108, 110, 118, 119, 121, 141, 144;leaves St. Louis, 15 ; on boardMary Blane, 15-20 ; at St. Joseph,21-22 ; overland to Ft. Pierre, 22-55 ; at Ft. Pierre, 55, 67-85 ; tripto Bad Lands, 55-67, 139-145 ; upthe Missouri to Ft. Clark, 85-95at Ft. Clark and Ree village, 95-99 ; to Ft. Union, 99-104 ; at Ft.Union, 105-106; to Milk River,106-114; return trip, 114-121 , Books read by on expedition, 18,19, 24, 27, 28, 28 n., 38, 69-70,71-72, 73, 74, 75, 84, 84 n., 144 , Journal, history of, vil-viii 5-7importance of, 7-8 ; summarized,8-14 , List of plants collected by, 124-127 , Tabular View of Indian Tribesof Upper Missouri, 132-137 , Report to Baird of trip to BadLands, 139-145 Dakota River, see Rividre A Jacques.Dall, William Healy, cited regardingspecimens collected by Culbert-son for Smithsonian, 3 n., 4 n.Dauphin, C, attacked by Pawnees, 147Deer, 13, 92Denig, Edwin Thompson, 4 n., 6 n., 12,80 n., 105 n., 106; cited regard-ing Indian game, 69 n. ; regardingburial customs, 85 n. ; regardingIndian treatment of old, 93 n. ; regarding Elk Horn Prairie, 109n. ; collection of skins made by,105Desautel, , 14, 134, 134 n.Deshau, , 13 n.De Smet, Pierre Jean, 8, 152 ; cited re-garding Culbertson Journal, 6 n.regarding Bad Lands of the Mis-souri, 72 n. ; regarding Evans, 86n. ; regarding Elk Horn Prairie,115 n. ; regarding Desautel, 134n.Duck, 42, 46, 47Durack, John, 10, 11 n., 12, 13, 89, 89 n.,114 ; opinion on rise of river 102 ;his log of El Paso quoted 11, 12-13, 13 n.Elk, 13, 75, 90, 108, 110-111Elk Horn Prairie, 13, 108-109, 109 n.,115, 115 n.El Paso Point, 114, 114 n.EmigTants to California, 11, 147, 150,152English (Irish?) Grove, 24Evans, John, 2, 5, 11, 144, 145, 152 ; citedregarding fossil turtles, (J3 n., re-garding Bad Lands, 65 n. ; dis-cusses expedition with Culbert-son, 86-87Finley, James, 2Five Barrel (Keg) Creek, 28, 28 n.Flovd, Charles, grave of, 33Floyd's Bluff, 9, 33, 33 n.Floyd's River, 33, 33 n.FortsBenton, 114, 114 n.Berthold, 12, 100, 100 n., 117Campbell, 148Clark, 12, 95, 95 n., 117Lookout, 104, 104 n., 147Mandan, 117, 117 n.Pierre, 3, 9, 10, 54, 55 ; described byPalliser, 54 n. ; by Culbert-son, 75-77 ; Culbertson at, 67-85, 119; long, and lat. of, 88Union, 12, 104, 105, 105 n., 106, 116,152William 105, 105 n., 106 106 n., 148Fossils, see petrifactions.Freeman's Lake, 112, 112 n. INDEX 161Frontier accommodations, 25, 26, 29,30-31, 32-33, 34, 35, 37, 41, 42,45, 46, 48-49, 53Galpin, Charles, 4 n., 10, 69, 69 n., 71,75, 82, 83, 84, 85, 132Geological observations, 43, 57, 58, 60-66, 78, 89, 90, 92, 94, 99-100, 102,103-104, 107, 108, 116-117, 120-121, 140-141Glasgow, Mo., 18, 18 n.Glasgow, James, 18 n.Grand River, 90, 90 n.Glime, E. H., 18 n.Great Bend, 87, 102, 107Grindstone Creek, 58 n., 67Grindstone Hills, 58, 58 n. -, 90, 90 n.Hamilton, Maj. -Harris, Edward, 123 ; list of birds andMammalia found by, 128-131Harvey, Alexander, 106, 106 n., 150 ; at-tacked by Indians, 148; in boatwreck, 149Hatten, Maj. , 147Hayden, F. V., cited regarding Big HoleCreek, 57 n. ; regarding Pineau'sSpring, 59 n. ; regarding SageCreek, 61 n. ; regarding BearCreek, 63 n. ; regarding Rees,95 n.Heart River, 92 n., 117Heart River Island, 92Hermann, Mo., 8, 16, 16 n.Hodge, Frederick W., cited regardingSantee, 36 n.Hodgkiss, William D., 10, 72, 72 n. ; quoted regarding Indian dogs,74 ; regarding source of Yellow-stone, 75 ; regarding taste of dogmeat, 85 ; regarding Indian treat-ment of old, 92Hog Weed Creek, 33-34Holladay, Ben, 20 n.Horse Guard, Chief (Crow), 100, 106 n.Horse Head Prairie, 148Howard, Joseph, 57, 58, 59, 60, 104, 104n.Hunting, 46-47, 84, 94, 110-111Independence, Mo., 19 n.Independence Landing, Mo., 8, 19Indians (Upper Missouri Tribes), Cul-bertson's interest in, 10 ; at Kan-sas Village, 20; dogs among, 41,42, 43, 46, 74, 83 ; rulers among,56 ; religion of, 56 ; war tacticsof, 56-57; returns expected forgifts, 71 ; treatment of infirm, 92-93, 93 n., 101 ; reason for popu-lation change among, 102 ; signlanguage among. 111 ; politenessof, 118-119; difference in lan-guage used by men and women,119 ; tabular view of, 132-137 Indians (Upper Missouri Tribes)?Con. , Aricaree (Ree), at Fort Clark,12, 95-99 ; crops raised by, 95 n.133 ; appearance of, 96 ; languageof, 96; character of, 96, 99;lodges of, 97 ; musical instru-ments of, 97; feast with, 97-98;place of residence, 133 ; diseaseamong, 133 ; tabular view of, 134,137 , Assiniboine, form of worship,56 ; taboo against wife's parents,79, 79 n. ; expression of grief overdeath, 85 n. ; at Fort Union, 105,105 n., 106; appearance of, 106;trouble with Crows, 106 ; placeof residence, 134 ; tabular viewof, 134, 137; attack Harvey, 148 , Blackfoot, customs in regard todead, 111-112; treatment ofwives, 112; adopted relationsamong, 115 ; place of residence,134; divisions among, 134; tabu-lar view of, 134, 137 , Cheyenne, place of residence,133; language of, 133; choleraamong, 133 ; tabular view of, 133,137 , Cree, 105, 105 n. , Crow, at Fort Union, 101, 105-106 ; trouble with Assiniboines,106 ; place of residence, 134 ; char-acter of, 134 ; tabular view of,134, 137; attack Harvey, 148 , Gros Ventre (Hidatsa, Her-antsa, Minitari), form of wor-ship, 56; billiard game popularwith, 70 n. ; village of at FortBerthold, 100-101 ; appearanceof, 101 ; residence at Fort Clark,134; bands among, 134; tabularview of, 134, 137 , Mandan, smallpox among, 99,99 n., 133 ; language of, 133 ; in-corporated with Aricarees. 133;tabular view of, 133-134, 137 , Ottoe, at Bellevue, 29 , Pawnee, attack Dauphin, 147;conflict with Yanctons, 147 , Sioux, 11, 55 ; squaws at WillowRiver, 33 ; wives of Bruguier, 34,35 ; war tactics of, 56-57 ; gamesamong, 69, 69 n., 70-71 ; dress of,73, 76; dance of, 73-74; singingof, 73-74 ; burial customs of, 77 ; political organization of, 78; se-cret societies among, 78-79, 132;religion among, 79 ; taboo of wife'sparents, 79-80; attitude towardswomen, 80 ; mutual defense pactamong, 80-81 ; language of, 81,96 ; reason for increase in popu-lation, 102 ; tabular view of madeunder inspection of Galpin, 75;shown to Picotte, 90; tabular 162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 147]Indians (Upper Missouri Tribes)?Con.view of, 132-133, 135-136 ; wealtliof, 132-133; place of residence,132; subdivisions of, 132; namesamong, 133, 135, 136; war witliCrows, 147; attacli Harvey, 148 ? , Sioux (Blackfoot), feast for atFort Pierre, 81-83; character ofbraves, 82, 83 ; dress of, 82 ; polite-ness of, 82, 83, 84, 85 ; dog feastof, 84-85 ; burial customs of, 85 ; tabular view of, 132, 135 , Sioux (Santee), 36, 36 n. , Sioux (Teton), 57; tabular viewof, 132, 135, 136 , Sioux (Yancton), at VermilionPost, 36, 36 n. ; on way to Yanc-ton Trading Plouse, 41, 42, 43, 44,45, 46, 47, 48, 50-51 ; mixture ofsavage and civilized, 52; feastfor at Trading House, 53; tabu-lar view of, 132, 135; plan warwith Pawnees, 174 , Sioux (Yanctonnans or Yanc-tonai), tabular view of, 132, 135Iowa Point (Louse Point, CouncilBluffs), 28 n.Irish Grove, 24 n.James River, see Riviere 5, Jacques.Jefferson City, Mo., 8, 17, 17 n. ; statecapitol at described, 17Jewett, Capt. William C, 16 n.Jim (cook), 15 n., 16, 27, 46, 47, 73Kane, Thomas Leiper, 29 n.Kanesville, Iowa (formerly Miller'sHollow, now Council Bluffs), 8,28, 29, 29 n., 150Kansas, Village of (Kansas City), Mo.,8, 20, 20 n.Keg Creek, see Five Barrel Creek.Kipp, James, 14 n., 100, 100 n., 134Kurz, Rudolph Friederich, 8, 152; citedregarding St. Joseph, 21 n. ; re-garding McDonald, 21 n. ; regard-ing Robidoux, 22 n. ; regardingSavannah, 23 n. ; regarding IowaPoint, 28 n. ; regarding Bruguier,34 n. ; regarding Schlegel, 36 n. ; regarding Indian game, 70 n.regarding Evans, 86 n. ; regardingPicotte, 88 n. ; regarding FortWilliam, 105 n. ; regarding Har-vey, 106 n. ; regarding Meldruui,116 n.La Barge, Joseph, 8, 18 n., 120, 120 n.,151La Chapelle Creek, 54, 54 n.Larpenteur, Charles, 7, 14, 30 n., 36 n.,55 n., 104 n., 121, 121 n.L'Eau Qui Court (Niobara River), 120,120 n., 144 Leidy, Joseph, 3 ; cited regarding speci-mens from Bad Lands, 1 n. ; askedto undertake memoir, 4-5 ; sources of study given, 5Leslie, Eliza, 84, 84 n.Lexington, Mo., 8, 19, 19 n.Liberty Landing, Mo., 8, 19, 19 n.Little Bear, Chief (Sioux), 70, 82, 83Little Cheyenne River, 88 n.Little Dry Creek (Two Thousand MileCreek, now Red Water Creek),110, 110 n., 113Little Knife River, 102, 102 n., 103Little Missouri River (true), 101, 101 n.,102Little Missouri River (false), see BadRiver.Little Muddy (Bourbeuse) Creek, 107,107 n.Little Sioux River, 30, 30 n., 31Little Tarkio River, 8, 24Lord, Baptiste, 148, 149Louse Point, see Council Bluffs.Lynch, W. F., Expedition to Dead Seadescriptions compared to BadLands, 69-70, 71, 72, 144Mad Bull (Cheyenne), 133Mansion House (St. Joseph), 21Marks, O. R., cited regarding Bruguier,34 n.Martha's River, see Big Muddy River.Mauvaises Terres (Bad Lands) ofWhite River, 3, 9, 59, 60-66, 65n., 139-144; compared withLynch's description of Jordan,70, 71-72, 144Mauvaises Terres of Missouri River, 72,72 n.Maximilian, Prince of Weid, cited re-garding Moreau River, 89 n. ; re-garding Elk Horn Prairie, 109 n.regarding Milk River, 114 n.McClellan, John H. B., 1 n.McCoy, John Calvin, 20 n.McDonald (Duncan?), 21, 21 n.. 22, 121McDonnell, Anne, cited in regard toKenneth McKenzie, 2 n.McKenzie, Kenneth, 9, 105 n.McKenzie, Owen, 9, 55, 55 n., 58, 59, 60,64, 69, 70, 73, 78, 84, 142 ; quotedregarding Indian habits, 56-57McKinney, Edward, 29, 29 n.Medicine Creek, 54, 54 n., 147Meldrum, Robert, 12, 12 n., 116, 116 n.,134Milk River, 3, 13, 114, 114 n.Miller, Henry W., 29 n.Miller's Hollow, see Kanesville.Missouri Republican, quoted regardingvoyage of El Paso, 10-11, 12-13,13 n. ; regarding Mary Blane, 15n. ; regarding sinking of Rotvena,16 n. ; regarding 8t, Ange and her INDEX 163Missouri Republican?Continuedvoyage, 151-152 ; regarding ac-tivities of members of Union FurCo., 147-150Missouri River, difficulty of navigationof, 16, 18, 20, 113, 121 ; ctiange ofcourse at junction witli Kansas,20 ; rapicages of, 37 ; sceneryalong, 17, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93,94, 99, 104, 106, 107, 108, 112, 114,116-117, 119, 120Moreau, , 89, 89 n.Moreau River, see Sawarcana River.Mormons, 8, 29, 29 n., 150Mosquito Creek, 28Mules, 40, 59, 60, 67Nerselle (voyageur), 15 n., 33, 35, 40,41, 44Nicollet, J. N., 120; cited regardingsmoking hills, 104, 104 n.Niobara River, see L'Eau Qui Court.Nishnabotana River, 8, 25, 25 n.Nodaway River, 8, 24, 24 n. -, 5O'Loghland, -Oregon, John, 148, 149Owen, David Dale, 2, 144Owl River, see Sawarcana River.Oxbow lakes, 36, 36 n.Palliser, John, cited regarding FortPierre, 54 n. ; regarding OwenMcKenzie, 55 n. ; regarding As-sineboines, 105 n.Parkville, 14, 121, 121 n.Peeled Hills, 92, 92 n.Petrifactions, 1, 1 n., 2, 2 n., 3, 4, 57,63-64, 63 n., 103, 141-142, 143-144Phillips, J. S., 1 n.Picotte, Honors, 11, 12, 12 n., 13, 88,88 n., 89, 89 n., 91, 94, 96, 98, 103,104, 106 n., 109, 110, 113, 115, 117,118, 119, 132, 152 ; criticizes Tab-ular View of Sioux Nation, 90 ; quoted regarding Indian treat-ment of infirm, 101 ; regardingpopulation changes among In-dians, 101-102Picotte, Joseph, 106, 106 n.Pinau's (Pinon's) Spring, 59, 59 n., 61Plums, recipe for drying, 83-84Point du Cou, see Council Bluffs.Point, Nicolas, quoted regarding MilkRiver, 114 n.Pomme blanche (prairie turnip), 114,114 n.Poplar River (Rivi&re aux Trembles,Quaking Ash Creek, PorcupineRiver), 110, 110 n., 113, 113 n.Porcupine River, see Poplar River.Porter, Thomas C, draws up list ofplants collected by Culbertson,123, 124-127 Prairie dogs, 49, 59-60, 68, 70, 85-86Prairie fire, 41Primeau, Charles, 106 n.Princeton University (College of NewJersey), 2Princeton Theological Seminary, 2Prout, Hiram A., 5; quoted regardingfossils, 1 -, 53Randell, -Red Water Creek, see Little Dry Creek.Riviere a Jacques (James, Yancton, orDakota River), 43 n., 44, 44 n.,45, 46, 120Robidoux, Charles, 21 n.Robidoux, Joseph, 8, 21, 21 n., 22, 22 n.Roland, Toussaint, 148, 149Russell, James, 148, 149Sage Creek, 61, 61 n., 62, 65, 67, 139, 140St. Charles, Mo., 8, 16, 16 n.St. Joseph, Mo., 8, 21, 21 n., 22 n., 121St. Louis Fur Co., see Union Fur Co.Sarpy, Pierre (Peter) Abadie, 8, 11, 28,28 n., 29, 31Savannah, Mo., 23, 23 n.Sawarcana River (Moreau, Owl River),89, 89 n.Schlegel, , 4 n., 36, 36 n., 40Sheepoi Creek, 57, 141Skunks, 121Smith, , 16Smithsonian Institution, 2, 4, 4 n. ; makes appropriation for Culbert-son's trip, 3 ; report on Culbert-son by Baird quoted, 3Soldier River, 30, 30 n.Squirrel, prairie, 49, 78Stage coach, 25-26SteamboatsAssiniboine, 13, 109, 109 n.El Paso, 3, 11, 11 n., 13, 14, 85, 86,86 n., 113 n., 114, 114 n., 121,151 ; account of voyage toYellowstone, 10-11 ; choleraon, 13 n. ; log quoted, 11, 12-13, 13 n.Fayaway, 16 n.Haydee, 147J. L. McLean, 150Lightfoot, 150Mary Blane, 3, 8, 15, 15 n., 150;life on board, 15-20.Minnesota, 18, 18 n.Robert Campbell, 90 n., 150, 152Rowena, wrecked, 16, 16 n.St. Ange, 13, 18, 18 n., 129, 120 n. ; described, 151 ; chartered byUnion Fur Co., 151-152Saluda, 150Saranak, 150Terhune, 23Thompson, William, 32, 32 n. 164 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 147] Tilton, Col.Trombley, -, 15, 17148, 149Turtles, petrified, 63-64, 63 n., 66, 86,141Tutt, , 15, 16Two Thousand Mile Creek, see LittleDi'y Creek.Union Fur Co. ( St. Louis Fur Co., Har-vey, Primeau and Co., OppositionCo.) , 87, 87 n., 105 n., 106, 106 n. ; buffalo robes brought down theMissouri by, 91 n. ; activities ofmembers of in spring 1850, 147-150; St. Ange chartered by, 151-152Van Vliet, Capt. Stewart, 5, 5 n.Vasquez, E. Pike, 147Vermilion Post, 9, 14, 34 n., 36, 36 n,37, 121Vermilion River, 40, 41, 42 n., 43 n.Vincent (voyageur), 15 n. Voyageurs, hardiness of, 48 ; play gameswith Indians, 71. See also An-gelo, Antoine, Nerselle, Vincent.War Eagle, Chief (Yancton), 34 n.Warren, G. K., cited regarding routefrom Ft. Pierre to Sioux City,43 n. ; regarding Bad River, 56 n. ; regarding Grindstone Creek, 58n. ; regarding Chain of Rocks,54 n.Weston, Mo., 8, 20, 20 n.White Earth Fork of Vermilion, 42,42 n., 43White River, 55, 56 n., 59, 65 n., 86, 120,120 n., 143Willow Creek, 30, 30 n., 56, 56 n.Wolves, 143 ; white, 49 ; gray, 59Yancton River, see Riviere a Jacques.Yancton Trading House, 51, 51 n., 53Yellowstone River, source of, 75 ; junc-tion with Missouri, 106Yellow Wolf (Cheyenne), 133 '^?A8^