June 4, Sunday. We have run pretty well, though the wind has been tolerably high ; the country we have passed this day is somewhat better than what we saw yesterday, which, as I said, was the poorest we have seen.No occurrence of interest has taken place.We passed this morning the old Riccaree^Village, where General Ash-ley^was so completely beaten as to lose eighteen of his ' " We halted for dinner at a village which we suppose to have belonged to the Ricaras. It is situated in a low plain on the river, and consists of about eighty lodges of an octagon form, neatly covered with earth, placed as close to each other as possible, and picketed round." (" Lewis and Clark,'' ed. 1893.) " The village of the Rikaras, Arickaras, or Rikarees, for the name is variously written, is between the 46th and 47th parallels of north latitude, and 1,430 miles above the mouth of the Missouri. ... It was divided into two portions, about eighty yards apart, being inhabited by two distinct bands.The whole extended about three quarters of a mile along the river bank, and was composed of conical lodges, that looked like so many small hillocks, being wooden frames intertwined with osier, and covered with earth."(" Astoria," VST. Irving.)" From the hills we had a fine prospect over the bend of the river, on which the villages of the Arikkaras are situated. The two villages of this tribe are on the west bank, very near each other, but separated by a small stream. They consist of a great number of clay huts, round at top, with a square entrance in front, and the whole surrounded with a fence of stakes, which were much decayed and in many places thrown down." (" Travels in North America," p. i66, Maximilian, Prince of Wied.)2 " General Ashley of Missouri, a man whose courage and achievements in the prosecution of his enterprises had rendered him famous in the Far 4 AUDUBON men, with the very weapons and ammunition that he had trafficked with the Indians of that village, against all the remonstrances of his friends and interpreters; yet he said that it proved fortunate for him, as he turned his steps towards some other spot, where he procured one hundred packs of Beaver skins for a mere song. We stopped to cut wood at an old house put up for winter quarters, and the wood being ash, and quite dry, was excellent. We are now fast for the night at an abandoned post, or fort, of the Company, where, luckily for us, a good deal of wood was found cut. We saw only one Wolf, and a few small gangs of Buffaloes.Bell shot a Bunting which resembles Henslow's, but we have no means of comparing it at present.We have collected a few plants during our landing.The steam is blowing off, and therefore our day's run is ended.When I went tO' bed last night it was raining smartly, and Alexis did not go off, as he did wish.By the way, I forgot to say that along with the three Prairie Marmots, he brought also four Spoon-billed Ducks, which we ate at dinner to-day, and found delicious.Bell saw many Lazuli Finches this morning. Notwithstanding the tremendous shakin...
How much further the poor beasts travelled, no one can tell. It happens not infrequently, when the river is entirely closed in with ice, that some hundreds of Bufifaloes attempt to cross ; their aggregate enormous weight forces the ice to break, and the whole of the gang are drowned, as it is impossible for these animals to climb over the surrounding sharp edges of the ice. We have seen not less than three nests of White-headed Eagles this day. We are fast ashore about sixteen miles belowthe Mandan Villages, and will, in all probability, reach there to-morrow morning at an early hour. It is raining yet, and the day has been a most unpleasant one. June 7, Wednesday. We had a vile night of rain, and wind from the northeast, which is still going on, and likely to continue the whole of this blessed day. Yesterday, when we had a white frost, ice was found in the kettles of Mr. Kipp's barges. We reached Fort Clark^and the Mandan Villages at half-past seven this morning. Great guns were fired from the fort and from the " Omega," as our captain took the guns from the " Trapper " at Fort Pierre. The site of this fort appears a good one, though it is placed considerably below the Mandan Village. We saw some small spots cultivated, where corn, pumpkins, and beans are grown. The fort and village are situated on the high bank, rising somewhat to the elevation of a hill. The Mandan mud huts are very far from looking poetical, although Mr. Catlin has tried to render them so by placing them in regular rows, and all of the same size and form, which is by no means the case. But different travellers have different eyes ! We saw more Indians than at any 1 " Fort Clark came in sight, with a background of the blue prairie hills, and with the gay American banner waving from the flag-staff. . . . The fort is built on a smaller scale, on a plan similar to that of all the other trading posts or forts of the company. Immediately behind the fort there were, in the prairie, seventy leather tents of the Crows." (Prince of Wied, p. 171.) Fort Clark stood on the right bank of the Missouri, and thus across the river from the original Fort Mandan built by Lewis and Clark in the fall of 1804. Maximilian has much to say of it and of Mr. Kipp. 1 This Fox was probably the cross variety of the Long-tailed Prairie
is situated on tbo Red River, latitude 49° nearly ; longitude 9i° 13, 42" west; altitude 790 feet above sea-level. Tbe Pembina Mountains, well wooded, with a maximum elevation of about 1,700 feet, lie 35 miles west of tbe Red River, forming an escarpment which separates tbe low immediate valley of tbe Red River from tbe next higher prairie steppe, which reaches to the Coteau. Turtle Mountain is an isolated, lieavily-wooded butte, 125 miles west of Pembina, with an elevation of about 2,000 feet above sea-level, lying directly on tbe parallel of 49°. Our camp, at its west base, was in longitude 10J° 307 41.1", distant 149.25 miles from Pembina along the parallel.
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