Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, part 2

We had sent people into the forest to cut hatchet-handles of ash wood, because further up there was no wood of this kind of a sufficient size. At noon the thermometer was at 81°; the hunters had killed an elk, and seen several bears. A thunder-storm, with a high wind, obliged us {216} to fasten the vessel to the shore, and to take other precautions; but the storm soon abated, and our people caught about five-and-twenty white cat-fish.

During our voyage, on the 18th of July, I could not help making comparisons with my journeys on the Brazilian rivers. There, where nature is so infinitely rich and grand, I heard, from the lofty, thick, primeval forests on the banks of the rivers, the varied voices of the parrots, the macaws, and many other birds, as well as of the monkeys, and other creatures; while here, the silence of the bare, dead, lonely wilderness is but seldom interrupted by the howling of the wolves, the bellowing of the buffaloes, or the screaming of the crows. The vast prairie scarcely offers a living creature, except now and then, herds of buffaloes and antelopes, or a few deer and wolves. These plains, which are dry in summer, and frozen in winter, have certainly much resemblance, in many of their features, with the African deserts. Many writers have given them the name of savannahs, or grassy plains; but this expression can be applied, at most, to those of the Lower Missouri, and is totally inapplicable to the dry, sterile tracts of the north-west, where a more luxuriant growth of grass may be expected, at best, only in a few moist places, though various plants, interesting to the botanist, are everywhere to be found.

On this day, at noon, we reached, on the south bank, an Indian fort, an expression which I shall often have occasion to use in the sequel; it is a kind of breastwork, which Indian war-parties construct in haste of dry trunks of trees. When such parties intend to stop for the night, they erect a breastwork, sufficiently large, according to their number, composed of trunks of trees, or thick branches, laid one on the other, generally either square or triangular. In this bulwark they lie down to sleep, after having placed sentinels, and are there able to repel an attack. This fort consisted of a fence, and several angles, enclosing a rather small space, with the open side towards the river. In the centre of the space there was a conical hut, composed of wood. Near this fort, on the same bank of the river, there was a beaver's den made of a heap of brushwood.

After our hunters had returned, with the flesh of a buffalo, we had a favourable wind, which allowed us to use our sail. At a turn of the river we suddenly saw a couple of bears running backwards and forwards on a sand bank before the willow thickets. One of them at length went away, and the other ran along the strand, and fell on the dead body of a buffalo cow, which was half buried in the mud. While the keel-boat sailed against the stream in the middle of the river, a boat was put out, into which Messrs. Mitchell and Bodmer, and the hunters, Dechamp and Dreidoppel, threw themselves, and rowed along the bank towards the ravenous animal. The sight of this first bear chase was interesting, and we that remained as spectators on deck awaited the result with impatience. Dechamp, a bold and experienced hunter, and an excellent marksman, was put on shore, and crept unperceived along the strand, till he got to the branch of a tree, about eighty paces from the bear, in order, in case of need, to intercept his retreat to the thickets. The {217} ravenous bear sometimes raised his colossal head, looked around him, and then greedily returned to his repast; doubtless, because the wind was in our favour, and these animals are not remarkably quick-sighted. The boat had got to within fifty paces, when the pieces were levelled. Mr. Mitchell fired the first mortal shot, behind the shoulder blade. The other shots followed in quick succession, on which the bear rolled over, uttered fearful cries, tumbled about ten steps forwards, scratched the wounded places furiously with his paws, and turned several times completely over. At this moment Dechamp came up, and put an end to his misery by shooting him through the head. The huge beast lay stretched out: it was fastened by ropes to the boat, and conveyed in triumph to the ship, where it was measured, and a drawing made of it. I much regretted that I had not taken part in the sport; but I had not believed that it was possible, in such an open, unprotected spot, to get so near the bear.

This grizzly bear was a male, about three years old, and, therefore, not of the largest size: he was six feet two inches and two lines in length, from the nose to the tip of the tail; the latter being eight inches. His colour was dark brown, with the point of the hair of a rusty colour, but new hair already appeared of a lighter grey, with yellow tips. This bear is known to be a very dangerous beast of prey, and is willingly avoided by the hunters: if fired at, he very frequently attacks, even if not wounded, when they suddenly come too near him. If he perceives a man in time, he generally gets out of the way, especially when he has the wind. Almost all the hunters of the prairie relate their adventures with the bears, and whole volumes might be filled with such stories. It is certain that many white men and Indians have been torn to pieces by these dangerous animals, especially in former times, when they were very numerous, and lived to a great age, as may be seen in Lewis and Clarke's Travels. Even last year, five of Mr. Mitchell's hunters, who had wounded one of these animals, were so quickly pursued by him, that they were obliged to take refuge in the Missouri. This species of bear cannot climb, and therefore a tree is a good means to escape their attacks. The true country of these animals on the Missouri, where they are at present the most numerous, is the tract about Milk River. Here there is no wood of any extent in which they are not found, but they are likewise seen everywhere in a north-westerly direction. In these solitudes, the long claws of this bear serve to dig up many kinds of roots in the prairie, on which he chiefly subsists, but he is especially fond of animal food, particularly the flesh of dead animals. There is no other species of bear on the Upper Missouri, for the black bear is not found so high up. At the place where we had killed the bear, it would have been easy to shoot many of these animals, by posting ourselves near the dead buffalo cow: the whole sand bank was covered with the prints of bears' footsteps, and trodden down like a threshing-floor; but our time was too short and too precious: we, therefore, proceeded on our voyage till a violent thunder-storm threatened us, and we lay to, by the high bank of the prairie, {218} where our bear was skinned. During the night, torrents of rain fell, which wetted our books and plants in the cabin.

On the following day, the 19th, we had another chase after a colossal bear, which swam through the Missouri to a dead buffalo; but our young hunters were this time too eager, and fired too soon, so that the animal escaped, though probably wounded, as fifteen rifles were discharged at him. Afterwards we saw several beaver lodges. The people towed the steamer in the afternoon, making their way along the bank, through a dense willow thicket. All of a sudden they cried that there were bears close to them; on which the hunters immediately leaped on shore. Mr. Mitchell had scarcely arrived at the head of the towers, when he perceived a she bear with two cubs. Dechamp came to his aid, and in a few minutes the three animals were in our power. Mr. Mitchell had killed the mother, which was of a pale yellowish-red colour; one of the cubs, which was brought alive on board, was whitish about the head and neck, and brownish grey on the body; the other was dark brown. The females of these animals are generally of a lighter colour than the males, which is the case with many beasts of prey, particularly the European fox. The live cub was in a great rage, and growled terribly; it was impossible for me to save his life.

After this successful chase we were detained by a high contrary wind, and it was, therefore, late when we reached the mouth of Milk River, on the north bank.[26] This river comes down in many windings, and constitutes the western frontier of the territory of the Assiniboins. Its waters are generally muddy and mixed with sand, whence it has its name. It contributes to thicken the waters of the Missouri, though Lewis and Clarke affirm that it is Maria River which chiefly contributes to dull their clearness; this, however, is not well founded, for most travellers, and we ourselves, found the waters of the Upper Missouri perfectly clear and transparent as far as Muscleshell River. Even the Maria is at times quite clear and pure. The Moose Deer or Orignal (Cervus alces Amer.) is said to be common towards the upper part of Milk River, and Dechamp himself had killed several of these animals on the Missouri, in the vicinity of this river. A little further up we lay to, for the night, on the south bank, where our hunters killed a bear and a very large buffalo. Mr. Bodmer made a drawing of the head of the latter magnificent animal, whose thick, coal-black, wavy frontal hair was eighteen inches long. Some of our engagés came up, cut up the whole animal, and ate the liver without cooking it. During the night we had again much wind, and were glad that we were able to remain in a safe channel of the river.

Early on the morning of the 20th we reached the place where the Missouri makes a great bend of fifteen miles, the distance across by land being only 400 or 500 paces. At this place the ice drives in spring over the flat land, or sandy point, and the tall poplars at the end of it were rubbed smooth, on the lower part, to half the thickness of their trunks. This bend is called {219} Le Grand Détour, and there are several such in this river. The wind, in many of these bends, being too strong for the efforts of the towers, and the masses falling from the bank, often endangering our vessel, we lay to under the protection of the hills on the north bank of a narrow prairie covered with bushes, where I found the blue-grey butcher-bird, the magpie, and several common birds, many of which we shot; we also caught a great many butterflies, which were hovering about the flowers in the burning rays of the sun. Henry Morrin, our pilot, a very good marksman, brought in a large male antelope. The other hunters had killed, on the opposite bank, twelve buffaloes, viz., four bulls, five cows, and three calves, but brought away only the flesh of the cows, leaving all the rest to the wolves, the bears, and the vultures: they had missed a large bear. Towards evening we left our anchorage, but made so little progress, that, when night came, we were not above a couple of miles from Milk River.

On the 21st we came to the place where the buffaloes were killed the day before: part of the flesh of the animals, which had not been touched, was taken away, and a full grown young bald eagle was shot down from the nest. It was now the dry season, which, in these parts, continues from the middle of July to the end of autumn. The whole prairie was dry and yellow; the least motion, even of a wolf crossing it, raised the dust. We could recognise the vicinity of the herds of buffaloes at a distance, from the clouds of dust which they occasioned. All the small rivers were completely dried up. Even the Missouri was very shallow, which it always is in summer and autumn. The prairie hills were now of a pale grey-green colour, with some bushes in the ravines, but all had a withered, sterile appearance. Soon after mid-day we saw a large buffalo bull standing on the bank, which seemed to challenge us, lowering his head and pawing the ground with his fore feet, so that the dust flew to a great distance around him. We landed the hunters, who got sight of a bear, but soon lay to, at the end of a prairie, near the mouth of Big Dry River, which joins the Missouri on the south side. Its channel, in winter, is several hundred paces in breadth, and in it was another narrow channel, in which, at this time, the water was only two feet deep.[27] The right bank of the stream is steep, and consists of grey clay; the left is covered with low willows; the whole surrounding country has a bare, desolate appearance.

Continuing our way but very slowly, we perceived, on one of the hills of the bank, some elks, and, by the aid of our telescopes, saw that they were large males with immense horns; and at this same moment, a black bear came from the thicket on the north bank, and began to swim across the river. The hunters immediately divided into two parties; the one, including Messrs. Mitchell and Bodmer, going by land along the bank of the river; the other in the boat, rowing after the bear. Unluckily our boat got aground, by which the bear got the start, and came too near to the hunters, who were posted behind the bank. As soon as he set foot on land, he was killed by several shot. He was not so large as the one lately killed, of a dark brown colour, and we contented ourselves with carrying off as trophies only his head and fore paws. On account of the {220} high wind we did not leave this spot to-day, and the chase gave us much employment. Scarcely was the bear killed, when buffalo bulls came into the river in several places, which we should certainly have killed, if our young men had known how to restrain their ardour. In the artemisia bushes of the prairie, a porcupine was caught alive, which was not killed till it was on board the keel-boat, our engagés declaring that it was a great delicacy. This animal is of great importance to the Indians, on account of its quills, which they dye, and use to embroider their clothing, and for other ornamental purposes.

On the 22nd of July we again saw clay hills, of strange forms, of friable, blackish-grey clay, with angular or small roundish cones set upon them. It was only in the clefts and ravines between them, that there was any vegetation; otherwise, not a blade of grass was to be seen on them. On the south there was a couple of clay hills resembling the ruins of an ancient castle, of which Mr. Bodmer made a drawing. They appeared to us to have some resemblance to what are called "The Two Brothers," near Bornhofen, on the Rhine. The river makes here a very considerable bend. Buffaloes were grazing in the prairies, and the cries of the wild geese were heard on all sides. The hills, with their singular forms, which were almost always the same, now came near to the river; most of the conical tops were of a greyish-brown colour; others, blackish-grey; and many had a top of a burnt-red colour. Even from our vessel we could distinguish, on all these hills, bright points, which sparkled in the sunshine, which proved, on examination, to be caused by the brilliant selenite, which has been mentioned before, and which occurs everywhere in these clay hills, either in layers or in nests. On our excursion to-day, we brought back large pieces of this fossil. We lay to for the night by a sand bank, the clay of which, where it had been wetted by the water, was cracked and cleft in all directions. This clay might certainly be used for pottery; on the surface there were prints of the footsteps of all kinds of wild animals, but we saw no living creatures but myriads of tormenting mosquitoes. We had made considerable progress to-day, because a favourable wind had allowed us to use our sails.

On the 23rd, we passed a dried-up stream, of which we had seen many on the preceding days, and all of which are among the numerous streams mentioned by Lewis and Clarke under the name of Dry River. Our hunters had killed a couple of deer, and several buffalo bulls; and Papin had roused a covey of the beautiful large prairie, or mountain cock, but could not get a shot at them. These fine birds live in the prairie, on the Upper Yellow Stone and the Missouri, and we frequently met with them in the sequel. In the middle of the day our towers had great trouble in keeping their footing on the steep, clay hills, in the barren and crumbling mass of which they sank above their ankles, and were obliged to assist each other.

The singular clay hills continued on the 24th July. The left bank of the river consisted of a high clay wall, divided into cubical figures, rent with many small clefts, and partly of overhanging {221} masses, looking like chimneys, or pillars, which threatened, every moment, to fall. There was here a stream with little water, and a marshy bed, which is, perhaps, the Sticklodge Creek of Lewis and Clarke.[28] While the wind allayed the heat of the day, we rambled through the prairies on the bank; as far as the eye could reach there were the bleached bones of the buffaloes and elks, and their immense horns. A couple of sparrow-hawks, a kind of lark, and a flock of wild geese, which had made an excursion from the river into the prairie, were the only large living creatures that we met with here. Thousands of grasshoppers, many of them of beautiful colours, were hopping and flying about: numerous butterflies, but only three or four species, were hovering about the shrubs in these dry clay steeps, which were bare of grass. There were a great many ant hills, and mosquitoes, and several other kinds of troublesome stinging insects. On the offsets of the clay hills which bounded the prairie on our right, there were banks of sand-stone and clay-slate standing out; and the detached fragments of stone, which lay about near them, were covered with beautiful orange-coloured, yellow, bluish-white and blackish lichens. Several deep ravines, or clefts, were all dry, and opened towards the high, steep bank of the Missouri. At some accessible places these ravines were crossed by the deeply trodden paths of the herds of buffaloes, which wind through the whole prairie along the chains of hills and the bank of the river. As we looked round on an eminence, whence we perceived our boat sailing with a fair wind, we saw an immense buffalo bull, which approached us slowly, not suspecting any danger: we quickly hid ourselves behind some bushes on the edge of a deep cleft, and, as the majestic animal passed through it, we killed it with three well-directed shots. The magnificent creature lay stretched out about forty paces above the ravine, and only the advance which our boat had gained obliged us to leave our prize. At length, however, by firing some shot on the steep bank of the river, we succeeded in drawing the attention of our people, and they despatched a boat for us. We took advantage of the interval to make a second attempt at buffalo hunting, and Dreidoppel, who was endeavouring to drive some of these animals towards me, killed a young bull, on which the boat arrived, the crew of which took away the tongues and part of the flesh of the buffaloes which we had killed. Much fatigued and heated, we reached our vessel at four o'clock in the afternoon, after having been exposed, since eight o'clock in the morning, without a drop of water, to the heat of the sun in the barren, withered prairies. During our absence, Mr. Bodmer had sketched some interesting tops of the neighbouring eminences, one of which[29] is called Half-way Pyramid, because it is half way between the Milk and Muscleshell Rivers. The whole chain of hills, with its manifold tops, ravines and hollows, was of a greenish-grey colour, with here and there some dark spots of pine forest; and this country, with its bright green meadows, with wood and willows on the bank of the river, has a most original, singular appearance.

On the 25th July we rambled through the prairies on the north bank, where we found {222} blackbirds, flycatchers, and the Fringilla grammaca, and roused a large covey of the prairie cock, which flew up before us with loud clapping of their wings, but which, for want of a good pointer, we were unable to find again. We took nothing but a hare and an owl, with some birds which had assembled in great numbers to teaze the poor light-shunning tyrant of evening. Mr. Bodmer sketched some more of the remarkable mountain tops.[30] Near that marked Fig. 16, some of our hunters returned with two black-tailed deer and a young fawn; and, soon afterwards, two buffalo bulls were killed, a great part of the flesh of which we brought away, because we were approaching the part of the country called Mauvaises Terres,[31] where we could not expect to find much large game. In the afternoon we saw some Indian huts under high poplars on the bank; and, on the northern bank, sketches were taken of singular mountain tops. In general, the bare grey masses of the eminences on the bank were so singularly formed that it was impossible not to wish that an able geologist might make a minute investigation of the chain. Their tops, like towers, pillars, &c., were contrasted with the clear blue sky, and the sun caused them to cast deep shadows. As we were sailing with a fair wind, I was obliged to submit to the necessity of rapidly passing these highly interesting scenes. The mountains continued to increase in height; they were more and more naked and sterile; their colour was whitish-grey, grey-brown, often spotted with white, the upper part disposed in horizontal strata, or in narrow stripes; and some isolated summits rose in the most grotesque forms, and the general appearance reminded me of the calcareous mountains of Appenzell, in Switzerland. In the steep wall of the south bank we saw, at a great height, the antlers of a stag projecting, which must have been imbedded in the alluvium, which was now washed away by the river. On these rude, naked mountains, the wild mountain sheep, called the bighorn, or grosse-corne, becomes more and more numerous the further you proceed up the river. Our towers killed, in this part, a large rattlesnake, which had just caught some kind of rat, probably a goffer, and half devoured it. A thunder-storm, with high wind, suddenly caused our vessel to be in great danger; but the same wind which had at first thrown us back, became all at once very favourable when we reached a turn in the river, and sailed, for some time, rapidly upwards. This brought us to a remarkable place, where we thought that we saw before us, two white mountain castles. On the mountain of the south bank, there was a thick, snow-white layer, a far-extended stratum of a white sand-stone, which had been partly acted upon by the waters. At the end where it is exposed, being intersected by the valley, two high pieces, in the shape of buildings, had remained standing, and upon them lay remains of a more compact, yellowish-red, thinner stratum of sand-stone, which formed the roofs of the united building. On the façade of the whole building, there were small perpendicular slits, which appeared to be so many windows. These singular natural formations, when seen from a distance, so perfectly resembled buildings raised by art, that we were deceived by them, till we were assured of our error. We agreed with {223} Mr. Mitchell to give to these original works of nature the name of "The White Castles." Mr. Bodmer has given a very faithful representation of them.[32]

There were similar formations on the north bank likewise; but the increasing storm did not allow us time to contemplate these wonders: our sail rent, and we were obliged to seek for shelter at the prairie of the south bank. We took advantage of the halt to explore the adjacent country, while the trees bent under the fury of the storm, and the thunder pealed in the very sultry air. We were now in a lateral chain of the Mauvaises Terres, a prolongation of the Black Hills, which here cross the Missouri. We proceeded on a sloping, rough flat, or prairie, which, with the usual vegetation, stretched along the river, and gradually becoming uneven and hilly, rose towards the mountains, and was covered, near the foremost hills, with diversely stratified fragments and blocks of yellowish-brown sand-stone. All around rose the wonderful chains of the lofty, bare, whitish-grey or grey-brown mountains, with their conical or singularly-shaped summits, sloped or stratified in divers ways, and dotted with scattered groups of dark green pines. It was during this day's voyage that these mountains increased so much in elevation, and in originality of character, that we seemed to be suddenly transported to the mountains of Switzerland. The Missouri, which is here rather narrow, winds its course, confined between the high ridges of clay-slate, sand-stone, and clay; and the torpid, naked scenery around is only animated on the bank by verdant strips of poplars and young shrubs. On the rough plain, at the foot of the hills, the vegetation was, for the most part, withered: the Allium reticulatum, with its white flowers, quite dried up; Cactus ferox, poor and shrivelled, and the bones of the buffaloes, bleached by exposure to the air, bore testimony, even in this solitude, to the uncertainty of life. The tracks of these colossal animals soon led our hunters to recent footsteps, and several of them appeared in the ravines; but thunder-storms, in the north-east and west, soon poured down torrents of rain, and scared the animals. When the weather cleared up, we approached nearer to the White Castles, and the illusion vanished.

On the 26th of July, in the morning, we again viewed the White Castles in another point of view. The pretty squirrel, called, by Say, Sciurus quadrivittatus, lives in the clay ground of these parts; our towers caught one, which we kept alive, for a long time, in a cage. Round the trunk of an old tree the Indians had built a conical hut with pieces of wood; but in the whole voyage from Fort Union to Fort Mc Kenzie, such huts were the only signs of human beings, and we did not see a single Indian. Game was now scarce in the Mauvaises Terres, and Morrin was the only person who killed anything to-day. In these parts the singular, perfectly spherical sand-stone balls are also found in the clay hills, which have been already described at Cannon-ball River; they are sometimes double, and, here, generally of the size of canister shot. The prairies were so covered with grasshoppers that the whole surface of the ground seemed to be alive; and where the dry leaves were still lying they caused a constant rattling noise. That species was most {224} numerous which makes a humming noise when flying. Their wings are greenish-white, with a large black spot; the thighs of a beautiful orange-red, and the sheaths of the wings a dirty white, with three blackish transverse stripes.

In the afternoon, there were everywhere, on the banks of the Missouri, fragments of rock and stone, which proved that we were approaching the more solid kinds of rock which would succeed the clay mountains. The river, which was narrow, not more than 100 paces in breadth, made, at a certain place, a sudden, very short bend in a northern direction. The south bank, which was exposed to the shock of the waves, was rent in such a remarkable manner, the clay walls so cleft, split, and washed out in a thousand varieties of fragments, cones, pyramids, and isolated points, that it was not without great difficulty, exertion, and loss of time, that the towers were able to proceed. The whole of this bank is perfectly bare, and of a greyish-brown colour; no plant can grow, because the masses of clay are always ready to fall in, and are subject to perpetual change. The great heat obliged the towers to drink frequently, which they effected in a singular, often dangerous position, lying flat on the ground, with their heads downwards, and their legs above on the slope of the bank. Beyond the bend, the river was again 180 paces broad.

The night was pleasant, and on the 27th of July, at daybreak, we left the keel-boat, and followed the track of a large bear, which had dug up roots everywhere; unluckily two of our hunters had proceeded up and caused an alarm in the forest. A wilderness full of thorns and briers joined the wood to the hill, where the mosquitoes were excessively troublesome. Under its tall slender poplars grew high grass, or a thick undergrowth of roses, mostly very nourishing food for the wild animals, which we saw in several places. In the high trees there were flocks of blackbirds, some flycatchers, which built in old hollow poplars on the bank, and a beautiful swallow (Hirundo bicolor, Bon), which we had not before seen, and in pursuit of which we spent so much time that our boat got considerably ahead of us, and we had to make our way through the prairie, where the thorny bushes sadly rent our clothes. Where the bank of the river was a steep wall, we saw a great number of bones of animals imbedded in it, and very often the skulls of buffaloes, from which the earth had been half washed away, projecting over the river. Wearied by our long excursion, we refreshed ourselves with the cool waters of the Missouri, and reached the boat soon after noon. Messrs. Mitchell and Cuthbertson returned about the same time, when the thermometer was 85°, from an excursion, in which they had a delightful prospect from the heights. To the south-west, they had seen at a distance the Little Rocky Mountain range, like blue clouds; to the south-east, Muscleshell River. In the green extensive hollow towards the mountains, they saw the whole prairie covered with herds of buffaloes. They brought from the heights beautiful impressions of shells, of which we had found some, on this day, on the bank of the Missouri. With much labour they had ascended three different eminences, on the last and highest, at which they arrived, excessively heated, they were met by a high bleak wind. Here they observed a very {225} strange formation of stone, namely, a pillar supporting a slab like a table, consisting of a friable stone—doubtless sand-stone. They had likewise seen from that eminence the mountain known by the name of the Bear's-paw.

The following morning, the 28th of July, gave me another occasion to reflect on the rude manners of our crew. For some time past we had made a numerous and interesting collection of natural history, many articles of which we were obliged, for want of room, to leave on deck. The skins, skulls of animals, and the like, some of which it had cost us much trouble to procure, were generally thrown into the river during the night, though Mr. Mitchell had set a penalty of five dollars on such irregularities. In this manner I lost many highly interesting specimens; and on board our keel-boat, with the most favourable opportunities, it was hardly possible to make a collection of natural history, if I except the herbarium, which we kept in the cabin, under our eyes, so that we brought but a small part of what we had collected to Fort Mc Kenzie.

In order to find Muscleshell River, which could not be far off, I landed early, with Messrs. Mitchell and Cuthbertson, on the south bank, where there was a fine shady poplar-grove, with a high undergrowth of roses, dogwood, and gooseberries. Through this thorny disagreeable thicket we followed the tracks of the wild animals, which led us to some open places covered with high grass; and beyond the wood a verdant prairie, where we gathered many interesting plants. We, however, did not find Muscleshell River, which was further up, and a storm with heavy rain drove us back to the boat, where we arrived wet through and through. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, however, we reached the mouth of the river which we had sought for.

Muscleshell River, the Coquille of the Canadians,[33] joins the Missouri on the south-west side, and at its mouth, which is seventy paces broad, both its banks are covered with poplars, partly high trees, partly bushes. About eight hundred paces upward there are, on its banks, high hills, covered with greyish-green short grass, and spots of pines. Its course is for a long time nearly parallel with that of the Missouri. We were told that the distance from Fort Mc Kenzie to its banks is only between thirty and forty miles, and that it is only five or six miles from its mouth that it turns towards the Missouri. Lewis and Clarke reckon 2270 miles from the junction of these two rivers to the mouth of the latter. Wandering Indians are found only occasionally on the banks of the Muscleshell, but they are said to be at all times about its sources. It is reckoned that its mouth is halfway between Fort Union and Fort Mc Kenzie: we could not hope to reach the latter in less than seventeen or eighteen days, though the navigation of the Missouri, from the mouth of the Muscleshell upwards, is more easy than before, because its course is straighter, its banks more rocky, and there are neither branches of trees nor drift-wood in its bed.

CHAPTER XVIII
VOYAGE FROM MUSCLESHELL RIVER TO FORT MC KENZIE, FROM JULY 28TH TO AUGUST 9TH

We did not make any long stay at Muscleshell River, for after our hunters, who had made an excursion into the neighbouring wood and prairies, returned, at noon, with a buffalo and an elk, we proceeded on our voyage. Dechamp brought some impressions of shells, which abound on these banks of the Missouri. Beyond a prairie where the hills, which were seventy or eighty feet high, came close to the river, we found Mr. Bodmer and Dreidoppel employed in collecting most interesting impressions of shells, and very beautiful baculites,[34] of the latter of which there were large, very fine, opalescent specimens. The edge of the bank, which was scarcely two feet broad, was covered with these fragments, which fall from the higher part of the rocky wall. The prairie now alternated with woods of tall poplars, and these trees, probably, do not form, in any part of the globe, such fine and lofty forests as they do here. Impressions of shells and baculites were collected on the bank, the last of which, a painter, who lately travelled on the Missouri, has stated to be petrified serpents.

{227} On the following morning, the 29th of July, the river was rather turbid, and there must have been heavy rain higher up. Nothing particular occurred on this day. At six in the morning of the 30th, we came to a stream which is, doubtless, the Grouse Creek of Lewis and Clarke.[35] There were a couple of islands, which we took to be Lewis and Clarke's Pot Islands, and a stream near them, for their Teapot Creek, a name which, like many others given by these travellers, amused us much.[36] We could not help observing that such names are not well chosen, especially as it would not be difficult to find better ones, even by merely retaining the generally harmonious Indian names.

Toward seven o'clock in the evening, as we were sailing by the eminences which resembled the lower mountains of Switzerland, we were much surprised to see a boat, with three men, which soon afterwards came alongside our vessel. It had on board, Doucette, the Blackfoot interpreter, and two engagés, from Fort Mc Kenzie, who had been sent to meet us; they had left the fort three days before, where they told us there were 150 tents of the Piekanns, or Blackfoot Indians; the remainder of this tribe were scattered about Maria River. They likewise said that the Fall Indians, or Gros Ventres des Prairies,[37] had encamped on Bighorn River, to wait for us: that those Indians, however, had not at this moment any articles for trade, but hoped to receive some presents. This was no pleasant information for Mr. Mitchell, as he was not just then in a condition to make many presents, and, besides, did not much trust those Indians. Not far from the place where we now were, Doucette had shot a large bear, which was left on the bank of the Missouri, a piece of news which was very agreeable to me, and of which I resolved to take advantage.

This morning, the 31st of July, being very fine, I set out early, with Messrs. Mitchell and Bodmer, Doucette, Dreidoppel, and the two brothers Beauchamp, all armed with rifles, or guns, to look for the bear, which had been killed the day before. The engagés carried ropes and hatchets. In the thick underwood and high grass of the forest, we first killed a rattlesnake, and, after proceeding a good half league, reached the bank of the river, where we found the bear still untouched. He was feeding on a buffalo cow, drowned in the river, when Doucette shot him through the heart, on which he ran up the bank, which was about ten feet high, and fell dead at the top. After taking his measure, the skin was stripped off, and the flesh cut from the bones, to prepare the skeleton. The bones having been partly cleaned, were tied together, and drawn up, by a rope, into a tree, intending to take them on our return, after they had been a little more cleaned by the birds of prey and insects. As soon as this work was finished, we followed the vessel, which, meantime, had got considerably the start of us; yet, in the prairie beyond the wood, we stopped at a large, so called, village of the prairie dogs, to kill some of these animals. They sat in parties of two or three on the flat little eminences of their burrows, uttered their cry, which is not a bark, but a shrill squeak, and vanished. Making as little noise as possible, we sat {228} down near the burrows, and succeeded in killing six of these pretty animals, which are not so shy here as at other places, and we often got within thirty paces of them. Laden with our booty, and with the plants we had collected, we proceeded by the paths trodden by the buffaloes and elks through the thick willow copses, along the river, and were just in sight of the keel-boat, when, taking advantage of a favourable wind, it hoisted its sail, and left us no alternative but to follow it as quickly as we could, for three or four hours. Our fatiguing way led through a rough prairie, covered with hard grasses, with the epinette de prairie, helianthus, and prickly cactus, through thick skirts of the forest, with a thorny undergrowth of roses, gooseberries, and burrs, where the fatigued and heated hunters refreshed themselves with the wild berries. We then had to climb over rough sand-stone hills, sometimes obliged to slide down, and at length reached the Missouri. On a wooded point of land, on the river side, we met with several of our hunters, but the whole booty of our fatiguing day's work consisted of a wild goose, an owl, and six prairie dogs. We had waded through many muddy, half-dry streams, and seen, in the blue distance, the range of the Little Rocky Mountains, about thirty miles off.[38] After our return to the vessel, a herd of buffalo cows afforded another opportunity for a chase, and our hunters killed two of them and a bull, which furnished us with some meat. On the 1st of August, early, Mr. Mitchell sent two engagés to Fort Mc Kenzie, to give notice of our coming.[39] We landed them on the south bank, laden with their arms and beds. We lay to at the wooded island, called, by Lewis and Clarke, Tea Island, in the channel on the north bank. As some elks had been seen, the hunters were landed on the island, and in a short time we heard firing in all directions, and in half an hour they had killed four elks, an elk fawn, and a young deer. On account of the number of animals found on this island, we agreed to change the foolish name of Tea Island to Elk Island.[40] Mr. Mitchell, who had often travelled this way, always found the island full of elks, and once, of buffaloes. On this day he brought from it a large eagle and a rattlesnake; and Mr. Bodmer had taken, in the neighbouring prairie, a large Coluber eximus, above four feet in length.

Near Lewis and Clarke's Bighorn Island, we again saw most singular summits on the hills. Entire rows of extraordinary forms joined each other,[41] and in the lateral valleys we had interesting glimpses of this remarkable scenery, as we were now approaching the most interesting part of the Mauvaises Terres. I have already described these mountains when speaking of the White Castles, but here they begin to be more continuous, with rough tops, isolated pillars, bearing flat slabs, or balls, resembling mountain-castles, fortresses, and the like, and they are more steep and naked at every step. Often one may plainly perceive hills or mountains that have evidently sunk into the marshy valley. Many strata inclined at an angle of 30° to 60°, and others perfectly horizontal. The course of the Missouri among these mountains is pretty straight, only narrow plains or prairies, covered with artemisia and the prickly bushes of the {229} pulpy thorn, lie on its banks before the mountains, which frequently come very near to the river, with large blocks of sand-stone at their foot, between which fragments of selenite are always seen. It were to be wished that the geologist and the painter might devote a considerable time to examine this part of the country, step by step; they would furnish a work of highest interest. In many places the loose pieces had slipped down so as to form buttresses; in other parts the mountains were spotted with groups of pines. We here collected several plants, and Mr. Bodmer made a sketch of the mountain tops.[42] The pretty striped squirrel, which lives in small round holes in the clay walls, was here frequently seen, and I conjecture that, if these mountains were closely examined, several species of this animal would be found. The country was so interesting that we waited with impatience for the morning of the 2nd of August, when a bright warm sunshine illumined the singular eminences which surrounded us. Several sketches were taken of them, but very few in proportion to their number, for large folio volumes might be filled with such representations. We saw several islands, among which was doubtless Lewis and Clarke's Good Punch Island, a name which is unworthy of being transmitted to posterity.[43] It is, in fact, difficult to find all the islands mentioned by those travellers, as many of them have certainly been since destroyed, and others arisen in their room. At seven o'clock in the morning the thermometer was at 80°, and we came to a rapid, which we passed by the aid of the towing-rope and the poles. At a bend of the river we thought we saw the ruins of an old castle, and then reached the mouth of Lewis and Clarke's Windsor or Winchers Creek,[44] where those travellers say they had the first sight of the Rocky Mountains, which, however, was certainly only the Little Rocky Mountain range. At this creek, the real pass of the Mauvaises Terres begins. The Missouri, while passing between these mountains, does not receive any lateral stream whatever, and few animals inhabit these heights, except great numbers of mountain sheep.

Dreidoppel, who landed on the bank of Windsor Creek, heard a loud noise resembling what appeared to him to be that of a waterfall, which we could not examine. After one o'clock in the afternoon, we came to Lewis and Clarke's Softshell Turtle Creek, which may be considered as the western boundary of the Mauvaises Terres. Here we saw some buffaloes, and heard the cries of the prairie dogs. Mountain tops,[45] with singular pinnacles, look like the Glacier des Bossons in the valley of Chamouny; in other places, the mountains were regularly rounded, and divided into small cones. After a thunder-storm the evening was fine and serene. We saw some wild sheep on the hills, in pursuit of which some of our young men ascended without success. On the bank of the river they found pieces of petrified wood, of a grey or blackish colour, which is here very common, in large pieces, and entire trunks.

On the following morning, the 3rd of August, we were at a second rapid, called Elk Fawn Rapid, which we passed as before.[46] The mountains here presented a rude wilderness, looking in part like a picture of destruction; large blocks of sand-stone lay scattered around, among which {230} a small squirrel is found, probably of an unknown species. Some spots were covered with a low plant, with white flowers, and there are several species of grasses, on which the mountain sheep, or bighorn, is said chiefly to feed. Some of these mountains reminded us of the Mettenburg and the Eiger, in the canton of Berne. A few pines and junipers appear here and there, and on the declivities small patches of grass, like Alpine meadows, so that we could fancy ourselves now in Switzerland, now in the valley of the Rhine; but the naked rude character of the Mauvaises Terres seems to be unique in its kind, and this impression is strengthened when you look up and down the river. Only the croaking of the raven was heard in this desolate waste, which even the Indian avoids, and very unwillingly visits these steep mountains. As those people generally travel on horseback, they prefer the open prairies beyond the mountains, where they usually find the herds of buffaloes. We passed several rapids, one of which was called Dauphin's Rapid, after one of our engagés, who had fallen into the river at this place.[47] This last rapid gave us much trouble, till a favourable wind enabled us to use our sail. When the vessel lay to on the south bank, we sat down upon the hills, and contemplated the singular conformation of the vast, rude landscape, while part of our people were surrounding a large fire on the bank, till night spread her sable veil over the scene.

On the 4th of August the tracks of the wild sheep were seen in all directions, and our hunters immediately went in search of them. When we were returning with the plants we had collected, Papin came back with two large female bighorns, which he sent on board the boat; they were strong muscular animals, somewhat resembling in shape and colour the European wild goat (Capra ibex). The chase of these animals, in these hot and dry mountains, is very fatiguing. In Switzerland the chamois hunter everywhere finds springs and water to quench his thirst; this is not the case with the hunter in the Missouri mountains, who must descend to the river when he desires to cool his parched tongue. The bighorn generally lives in small or large companies, on the declivities and tops of the mountains, but in the evening, and at night, comes down to the lower ground, where there is more food; and, even in the daytime, is often seen towards the foot of the mountains. They are shot with a rifle, and good marksmen do not find it difficult to kill them, because, standing in elevated positions, they afford him a good aim. Small projections and stones suffice them, like our European wild goats and chamois, for a footing, or with a sudden leap, with their four feet together, to fix themselves firmly upon them, at which time their white-grey colour offers a certain mark to the long American rifles. The females, and the young animals generally, keep in companies, but the old bucks remain separate from them, two, four, or six together, and are easily recognised by their size, and their colossal heavy horns. Even small, young animals are very swift, and it is extremely difficult to get one alive. Mr. Mc Kenzie had promised a hunter to give him a horse if he would bring a young bighorn alive; but, up to this time, he had not been able to procure one. The names of bighorn and grosse corne, given to this animal by the English and {231} French, are properly taken from the large thick horns of the ram, which often weigh forty pounds the two, and make the animal's head appear quite small. Many travellers have spoken of this animal; for instance, Brackenridge, who calls it argolia, or argalia; and Richardson, who has given a pretty good drawing of it.[48] After I had taken the dimensions of our specimen, Mr. Bodmer made an accurate drawing of the head; and, as it was not possible to save the skins from the hungry engagés, they were given up to the cook. Our dinner consisted of bighorn flesh, which is something like mutton, but has an unpleasant peculiar taste, so that I cannot agree with Ross Cox, who calls it delicious meat; probably because he could find nothing better in many parts of the interior of North America.

After passing several rapids, during a violent tempest, we reached Lewis and Clarke's Thompson's Creek,[49] which is considered as the western boundary of the Mauvaises Terres.[50] The appearance of the country was considerably altered; the eminences were flatter, the valley more open, and the bank of the river was more covered with green bushes. We were suddenly aroused from these contemplations of the surrounding country, by discovering that our vessel had sprung a leak; we therefore hastened on shore; the water had already risen into the cabin; the people unloaded the boat with all speed, and soon found the leak, which they stopped, so that in an hour and a half it was reloaded, for which we were indebted to the number of our crew.

On the 5th of August we passed Lewis and Clarke's Bull Creek, the mouth of which is in a pleasant country; and at six o'clock we were near Judith River, which had, at that time, several very shallow mouths on the north bank of the Missouri.[51] At half-past seven, when we lay to, to give our people time to get their breakfast, we saw five Indians coming round a hill on the south bank, whose fire-arms glistened in the bright light of the morning sun. They fired their pieces, and sat down on the bank, on which Mr. Mitchell and Dechamp immediately rode over to them. Several women, with their dogs drawing sledges, soon joined them, and the boat brought four men and a woman, who had a thick club in her hand, on board. They were tall and well made, and very different from the Assiniboins; they belonged to the tribe of the Gros Ventres, called by the English, Fall Indians. They had no covering on the upper part of the body, except buffalo skins. They sat down in the cabin, where they smoked their pipes, and had some refreshment. A troop of Indians now appeared on the bank, whom we saluted with a cannon shot, on which our visitors desired to be taken on shore. The boat brought back a chief and medicine-man, called Niatohsa (the little French man, or the French child), of whom Mr. Bodmer immediately took a very good likeness. This man wore his hair tied together in a thick bunch over the forehead, which only people of his description are allowed to do. As he spoke the Blackfoot language, Doucette was able to converse with him, while we proceeded rapidly, with a fair wind, and twenty-seven men towing us.

{232} Meantime, a number of Indians, on foot and horseback, had assembled on the bank, who hastened before to inform their countrymen of the approach of the traders, which is an event highly interesting to them. The sight of the Indians, all in motion, sometimes stopping to look at the vessel, and firing their pieces, gave great animation to the prairie. Being detained by a violent thunder-storm, it was one o'clock before we reached the place where the Missouri flows through a rather narrow gorge, from the remarkable sand-stone valley, called the Stone Walls;[52] a white sand-stone hill appeared before us on the north bank, as the first specimen of that formation; and on the left was the mouth of Bighorn River,[53] between considerable hills, on which numbers of Indians had collected. In the front of the eminences the prairie declined gently towards the river where above 260 leather tents of the Indians were set up; the tent of the principal chief was in the foreground, and, near it, a high pole, with the American flag. The whole prairie was covered with Indians, in various groups, and with numerous dogs; horses of every colour were grazing round, and horsemen galloping backwards and forwards, among whom was a celebrated chief, who made a good figure on his light bay horse. While this was passing, several Indians had been on board, many of whom swam across to us; among them, a tall man came on board in this manner, shook off the water, and went without ceremony into the cabin, but Mr. Mitchell drove him out, and gave him to understand that none but the chiefs could be admitted there; he then had the Indians told to go back to their camp, where he would visit them.

While the camp was saluted at intervals with cannon shot, and the Indians answered with their guns, the keel-boat, which had hoisted its flag, was anchored on the north bank, opposite to the tents, a very necessary precaution to prevent our coming directly into contact with all the Indians at the same time. About forty Indian warriors, drawn up on the bank, having made a running fire, and our cannon again saluted, Mr. Mitchell, with the interpreter, Doucette, took the boat and rowed across. He alone had pistols, the others were unarmed. On the summit of the bank, all the Indians formed a long red line, and immediately below, on the water's edge, sat the chiefs, in a detached small body. After Mr. Mitchell had seated himself by them, and had some conversation with them, he invited them to accompany him on board, and brought us eight of these chiefs, who sat down in the cabin to smoke their pipes. Among them were several men of a good open character; but one was a very bad man, Mexkemauastan (the iron which moves),[54] whom Mr. Mitchell had turned out of doors the year before, at Fort Mc Kenzie, on account of his bad conduct. We were now entirely in the power of these people, and had every reason to fear the vengeance of this man.[55] Prompted, doubtless, by his own interests, he behaved, to our astonishment, in a most friendly manner; shook hands with us, and, like his comrades, gratefully accepted the presents which were made him. He wore his hair in a thick knot on the forehead, and had a deceitful, fawning countenance. While we were engaged with these chiefs, we saw a number of men and women, from all parts of the bank, swim through the river, or cross {233} over to us in their round boats, made of buffalo skin, and our keel-boat was suddenly entered on every side and crowded with them. Tall, slender men covered the deck, thrust themselves into the apartments, and we were really overwhelmed with them. They all demanded brandy, powder and ball, and brought to exchange with us, skins, leather, and dried and fresh meat. The leather boats, laden with their articles for barter, were brought alongside the keel-boat, drawn by one swimmer, and pushed by another, and in this manner we were soon hemmed in, so that it was necessary to ask the chiefs to clear the vessel; they, indeed, induced the greater part of the young men to leap into the water, though only to enter the boat soon after on the other side.

Our situation was everything but agreeable, for these same Indians had entirely demolished a fort, on the frontiers of Canada, two years before, killed a clerk, and eighteen other persons, besides murdering several other white people in those parts; they had, in addition to this, had a quarrel with Lewis and Clarke,[56] and no confidence could we therefore place in them, though Mr. Mitchell affirmed that he always transacted business with them with pleasure, and had never had any proofs of the treachery imputed to them. If it was their intention to treat us in a hostile manner, there was no way for us to escape; and how easily might the most trifling dispute with these rude men lead to a breach, by which fifty whites, in the power of eight or nine hundred Indians, would have had no chance. They were therefore treated with much apparent confidence and familiarity, and everything went off very well. A favourable wind for using our sail was very welcome, in assisting us to escape from this perilous situation. Doucette had been sent on shore with some goods, and instructions to barter with the Indians, and thus, in some measure, to satisfy their desires. We on board saw our people on shore closely surrounded by a great mass of Indians; the noisy traffic was long continued, though Mr. Mitchell had repeatedly given orders for the return of the boat. We were obliged to wait a long time, and already began to be apprehensive for the safety of our dealers, when we at length saw the boat, overloaded with Indians, put off from the bank, on which orders were given to proceed immediately on our voyage. About fifty robust Indians joined our men in towing, and we were drawn along very rapidly; our keel-boat was so crammed with people, that it drew much water. In this singular company we began to pass through the most interesting part of the whole course of the Missouri, namely, the Stone Walls; but we could not breathe freely enough duly to appreciate the surrounding scenery, before we were quit of our troublesome visitors. The chiefs were repeatedly informed that the boat was ready to carry them on shore, and they had all received presents, with which, however, some of them were not satisfied; at length they were all sent off, with an intimation that they might go to Fort Mc Kenzie, to their allies, the Blackfeet, where the goods would be landed, and the barter conducted as they desired. We lay to for the night, on the right bank, at the fore part of the Stone Walls, and a number of Indians, especially women, who were found concealed in the vessel, and turned out, kindled fires near us. Many articles were missing, and we had given much more than we received, {234} yet we were truly glad at having come off as well as we did. A strong watch, with an officer, was set for the night.

The Gros Ventres des Prairies are originally, it is affirmed, a branch of the Arrapahos; they lived chiefly in the country about the Saskatschawan (Rivière aux Rapides), but roamed about in all the prairies which border on the territory of the Blackfeet and Arrapahos Indians; Alexander Mc Kenzie, and other travellers, call them Fall Indians, because they lived near the falls of the above-mentioned river.[57] They are well made, little differing in appearance from the Piekanns, and other Blackfeet. They ornament their large buffalo robes in a peculiar manner, with narrow parallel transverse stripes of porcupine quills, and many little pieces of scarlet cloth fastened to them in rows. This way of adorning their robes is said to be likewise usual among the Arrapahos; their shoes, like those of the Blackfeet, are generally of different colours; their tents, and household utensils, are quite similar. I saw many war clubs among them, made of the long end of an elk's horn; daggers, with handles made of the jaws and teeth of a bear, are not uncommon among them.[58]

These Indians were formerly very poor, had bad tents, and could not buy any fire-arms; they have, however, recovered of late, and supplied their wants. They are addicted to begging, like all the Indians; steal sometimes, especially the women and children; but, in this respect, the Crows are said to surpass all the other tribes. These people had lately been compelled to make vigorous efforts to ransom about thirty of their men, who had fallen into the hands of their enemies—the Crows. In their engagements with this tribe, they lost so many men as to occasion among them an undue proportion between the sexes. Well informed persons affirm, that they have at present not many more than 200 tents, and from 400 to 500 warriors; though others have assured me that their number far exceeds this. Alexander Mc Kenzie estimated them, at the time of his journey, at 600 warriors. They possess many dogs, and at present more horses than they formerly had. In case of distress, they sometimes eat the dogs; of late they have conducted themselves very well in trading, and behaved peaceably towards the Whites; whereas they were formerly enemies to the Americans. The buffalo skins, dressed by them, are said to be now better than those of most of the other Indians. In the main, their customs agree with those of the Blackfeet, and they dispose of their dead in the same manner. They are reputed to be brave in war. Their language is the most difficult of all those of the Missouri and the Rocky {235} Mountains. The Fur Company had not a single interpreter for this language, though great pains had been taken to procure one.[59]