Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-03-11
(By DAN r. CONWAY


n 70 MAN, 1t matters not his gift
M of pen or tongue, OF magma
~ ton, with all the aids of de-
scription that can be given, will ever
be able to picture the massive beauty
and the awesome wildness of the
scenes that were daily witnessed by
the first navigators of the Missouri
river. No one will ever give to pos
terity the true picture of the graceful
native, without a care or a worry to
mar the true expression Of pleasure
and enjoyment that ever beamed
upon their faces as these primitive
people wandered the plains and the
hills of the great valley when first
the white a trekked its defles.
Since the earliest days when the Spanish.
French and English explorers and traders
arduOusly forced a pathway along the
banks of the old Missouri into and through
the untamed wilderness, striving against
and overcoming the myriad foes OF beast
and element and savage, this valley has
been the center Of that continuous warfare
of civilization against the primitive. ana,
as the battle has progressed the battleneld
has become transformed. The scene which
met the eye of Sierre de La Verendrye,
David Thompson, and Jean Baptiste Tru-
deau has lost its romance. Natures I'M
marred masterpieces have vanished before
the inevitable westward advance OF a force
which would not be subdued. What an in
tensely interesting sight, then, 1t must have
been that unfolded In Understandable pam
Drama before the first white voyageurs and
explorers when the Mandan villages hove
into their view, even 130 years ago. when
Trudeau and his small band OF followers
pulled their large pirogue to shore below
these picturesque groups OF earth lodges.
Situated on a high bench Of the Mis-
souri,, with to its rear a level plain leading
back to the hills two or three miles away,
and in front, the brown river water wash
ing the bank, this cluster Of domiciles re-
sembling mostly q group Of large mole hills
was undoubtedly the outstanding phenom-
enon Of all exploration trips. Out on the
plain, close to the village, according to
win and Hyde, "stand a number of fan
tastic scaffolds on which the dead wrapped
in clothes and fine robes, are deposited.
Near the cemetery, also are to be seen sew
eral shrines, consisting of tall poles, car
rying eff ges of some sort, and surrounded
by a circle of human skulls. 49, on to-
ward the hills are several horses under
the watchful eyes OF some or the youths
who act as herders. Near the village In
one large corn field, though In reality
broken up into several small patches"
Fine Leather Dressers
Sieur De la Verendrye, the first white
man whom history credits with having
visited the Mandans, and describing the
lIlUCt EldtNu lAut lAGJ "a foy Niaity
In trade and all other relations; that they
/. were also finer leather dressers than any
OF the other tribes, 'and do very fine work
in furs and feathers"
The Mandans we're not a war1ike tribe,
aghting only defensive battles. That they
fortified their villages strongly is attested
by Catlin as follows:
aThe ground on which the Mandan vii
lage is at present built was admirably Sc
lected for defense, being on a bank forty
or fifty feet above the river bed. The
greater part of this bank is nearly perpen-
dicular and of solid rock. The river, sud
denly changing its course to a right-angle,
protects two sides of the village, which Is
built upon this promontory or angle; they
have therefore but one side to protect.
which is effectually done by a strong piquet
(stockade), and a ditch Inside 1t of three
or four feet in depth. The piquet Is COM
posed of timbers of a foot or more in
diameter, and IS feet high, set firmly in
the ground at a sufficient distance from
each other to admit Of weapons to be fired
between. Their earlier Notifications were
much stronger and more complete"
The Mandan Village
Henry, in his account of his travels up
the Missouri describes the approach to the
Mandan villages as follows:
I'VE proceeded on a delightful hard, dry
road. The soil being a mixture Of sand
and clay, and rain being infrequent, the
heat Of the sun makes the road as hard as
pavement. Upon each side were pleasant,
tulIlfHteu SDoLst SoDt VI With ittNbc
up the rising ground to our left, while on
our right they ran almost to the Missouri
river. In these fields were many women
and children at work, who all appeared
Industrious. Upon the road were passing
and repnssing every moment natiy %, afoot
and on horseback, curious to examine and
stare at us. Many horses were feeding In
every direction beyond the plantation. The
whole view was agreeable and had more
the appearance Of a country inhabited by
q civilized nation than by a set of savages.'
AS for the village itself. travellers at a
distance have likened 1t to- a cluster Of
mole hills, but as one approached closer,
these mole hills became larger, and as he
passed through the gate in the palisade,
he found himself among these great earth
covered dwellings,. Catlin said:
1.-THE village has a most novel appear
ance to the strangers; their lodges are
closely grouped together, leaving just room
enough for walking and riding between
them, and appear from without to be built