178 IN THE DAYS OF AUDUBON 



IN THE DAYS OF THE PLAGUE 



In the month of July, 1837, the steamer Assiniboin 

 arrived at Fort Clarke, having cases of smallpox. An 

 Indian, probably from the wilderness, stole on board the 

 boat. He discovered a watchman lying very still, as if 

 asleep, wrapped in a blanket. He tore away the blanket, 

 wrapped himself in it, and went away to his tribe. 



The watchman whose blanket was thus stolen was a 

 victim of the smallpox, and lay, while the Indian thief 

 found him, in a dead or dying condition. The Indian took 

 the disease and died, and the plague spread among the 

 tribes; the Indians " died by the hundreds daily"; they 

 died within " the rising and setting of the day's sun." Their 

 dead bodies were rolled down the bluffs and filled the air 

 with deadly poison. Men shot their families and then them- 

 selves. It was in this way that the old Indian tribes were 

 decimated and disappeared. 



" About this time," says Audubon's narrative, " Mr. 

 Chardon was informed that one of the young Mandan chiefs 

 was bent on shooting him, believing that he had brought the 

 pestilence upon the Indians. One of Mr. Chardon's clerks 

 heard of this plot, and begged him to remain in the store. 

 At first Mr. Chardon did not place any faith in the tale, 

 but later was compelled to do so, and followed his clerk's 

 advice. The young chief, a short time afterward, fell a 

 victim to this fearful malady; but probably others would 



