The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-02-09
LEWIS AND CLARKE
a, tho Gates Of the Rockies trait. oft,.
dams

cd. H.
in6 we coming OF civilized man.
before them was stretched ont th,t
-, "i l panorama Of the great North
/ west over whose grassy plains thr Nveiod
nosss OF oulials roomcd and under whose
S"',s one earth ifcmbltd when terror strict
en- thet Ned before their savn~c rnra.iars
Here they beheld AZ tirtes horizon of fire
sending ny Nv dat a sun-Obscuriug clond.
And nN nisnt lurid reminder OF The mat
| connagration of al things 1he iin.a and
| neet-iooied antelou' ect, neiore the hunters:
/ lnonsnnds OF deer hrOwsed among the
Wild howers Of the prairie, while upon the
same plains we're % De found innumerable
smaller animals and an abundance Of
Gathered game.
Among The hills lay In AMBUSH feioral
varieties " icrOcious Nrars Che ike Of
| nAleh our afNcNtuie.s nad never seen be-
l fore and whicA. as we shall see. too often
made ,heir presence far from agreeable.
Some Of the party became expert hunters.
and during the days when more important
work could not bee done. exercised their
xii by providing meat for present and fu-
turc use Captain CLARKE irciucntly br0n ght
down dozen of more buffalo ia hunt.
while his commander vas not far behind
him IN SAN,
When the weather permitted exploring
/ parties were sent 90 such parts Of the
country -, according 20 the report. made
| by the Indians. some object 81 supposed
/ interest might Zoe Investigated. Part OF the
! nights were spent 10 periocing the result.
/ or observations made from the time the
party len the mouth of the Missouri River.
I and for preserving them. During the hali
"a Fort Clarke. the historic and personal
peculiarities Of the numerous Indian tribes
who occupied that region were particularly
noted.
Some Of these consisted bf only few
families, otherr. Nom tine number Of war
riors they could bring into the field. were
digniled with the title OF nation, occupied
extensive stretches Of country, especially
where game abOunded. and were che d0m-
mating powers of The land. TIE Sioux and
Pawnees were of this character. lncessant
wars between The larger tribes often caused
either The entire destruction Of one Of them.
or 30 diminished 10 i'm numbers as 90 cause
10 % migrate TO some other part ofthe cOun-
| try. Although this took place. ihe tribe
rarely lost its identity and continued TO
cherish its traditions, religion and history.
A striking example of this was found in the
klcarcs who occupied a few small villages
on an island i'm the Missouri They had
once been a powerful na'iOn, but were
now reduced 90 small tribe OF
but three villages, nevertheless they
adhered 20 their traditions. aud exhibited
l "a
tiOn than any 4aYages yet seen. They were
tall and welt piOp0rtiOnel; the women
handsome and sprightly. although. - usual
with an s&Nagcs, they had all the drudgery
/ 70 perform EXCEPT hunting. They would not
| beg, az did most other tribes. and were COM
/ par9tiyely well dressed. The men wore
m0ccasies. leggings and q covering about
the middle, over which was q buffalo robe.
their hair. arms and ears being decorated
NHN4fI. a Tf IH..
the same dress. except that about their
loins hung white skirt ofgoat skin trimmed
with fringe and other ornaments.
The Indian wife ls generally true To- her
marriage vows. but will extend her am0r0us
faVOrs 90 a stranger with the consent Of her
husband. The latter often allows her this
liberty provided he receives sufficient re-
enumeration ~ the way Of presents. tc.
/ The Ricara women, however, were entirely
without restraint in this particular. and did
not hesitate to have clandestine interviews
with the men Of the party. They were par
ticularly attracted By Capt. Clarke's negro
servant York. whose color instead Of ln-
spring disgust seemed 10 assure him par
ticular favors.
The husbands Of the women desired 90
have a memorial of this wonderful stranger
In which we doubt not their wishes were
duly realized. When these Indians first
black and stout man. they seemed % regard
him as an extraordinary monster lie took
advantage OF this. and through am inter
prefer made them believe DE had once been
wild animal: had been caught and tanned
By his master. To prove this ne gave cyi-
dences Of his great strength which, with
his appearance. made him more terrible in
their eyes. York may have had reasons for
thus impressing the wondering saYages. IN
Of ia .U. HfI fnI n Il
special service 10 them as well as % him-
self
At grand council with the chiefs Of the
Ricaras. each one of them was presented
with q nag, a medal. red coat aud
cooked hat and feather After this an arr
gun caused much wOnderment among them.
But 20 the surprise of Lewis and his follow
crs. they not only declined 90 taste spiriiu-
Gus liquors, but seemed Disguised that
'their father should present 20 them q liquor
which would make them FOOLS and et-
pressed the doubt whether any one could De-
their friend who tried thus 10 scduce them
These Indians cultivated She soil. had
several VaritieB OF beans, equash. pump
kus. watermelOns and maize, some Of
which they prepared and put away for
winter Use. They were idOlaters ana maze
their deyotions TO their stone images. stu
ated on plateau Of land several miles from
l
these holy objects. by the following tradition;
young man was deeply in love with 2
damsel whose parents refused 10 give their
consent 90 their marriage. The youth wan
dered about the country DemOanng his Sid
| fate. Directed boy q mysterious sympathy,
the young girl found herself attracted 10 ne
same locality. 4 faithful dog had ai the
while been following his distressed master
After their wandering together with NOM
L ID. I'd
last converted into stone Ga inmate no
doubt. which process. beginning az Their
feet gradually invaded their entire bodies,
leaving nothing unchanged but bunch OF
grapes which the female figure always holds
10 her hands. How much truth there was
In the story Of this beautiful melamorpnosis'
our listeners could not determine. but Sill
gular 20 say. they not long after found near
the spot where the event was said 20 nave
occurred a greater abundance oil me grapes
than they had yet seen.
No other sayagos of the world have a.
sumcd names or titles as quaint ana poetic
as those Of the North American Indians.
We are familiar with many of the best
known and those chiefly associated with the
early history Of the eastern part OF the
United States. and therefore need NOT De re-
ferred 10 here. Some of the chiefs VINO fuleu
nearer the centre of the continent uoIe
names Qulle as tNAldNtNll't 90 tA'"' ttf'''~
ON the banks of the Potomac or the ousquc-
hanna.
Among the most striking of these were
..Wbite Buffalo Robe Jniolded. "Neighing
Horse "Tail Of the Calumet Bird
"Cberry on a Bush," cold Woman az p
Distance" and BLACK Cat lt is said
ther derive their names az the moment OF
their birth: when. for instance, Weighing
Horsev was born, at the moment me appear
ed a horse was heard 10 make that noise.
81. when the illu, rious BLACK Cat came
into the worlds q specimen OF that attractive
brute must have been close by. 80, also
when Lighting Crow first saw the iignt,
one OF those sagacious birds VAS no doubt
observed 10 settle himself upon the limb Of q
neighbOring tree or upon the ground close
by. ..-.. ,.,,. o,.
The exceptions 10 this rule were when an
Indian buck became a distinguished medl-
cine man. or had proved himself superior
10 bis fellows in war or the chase. Inc pro,
cenifors OF some Of our copper-coiofeu
Americans. whose descendants may, per
hans be- now found lingering along tne
shores Of the Pacific ocean, had at least ih
.s.orfIty authority Tor lLN