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it is level, no general view of the village could be obtained. This 

 village is one of sad celebrity ; in the year 18 , it was inhabited by the 

 Mandans, then quite a large tribe, but in that year the small pox passed 

 over the country, and swept off nearly the whole nation. Many of them, 

 in despair, seeing all their kindred dead or dying from the loathsome disease, 

 cast themselves into the river from this high bluff. The small remnant of 

 the Mandans now occupy a few lodges about five miles above the village, 

 or have been incorporated with the Rees and Gros Ventres. 



Above the Ree village stretches a fine bottom, on which I was pleased to 

 see quite a number of squaws at work putting in their summer crop ; it 

 reminded me of some of the James river bottoms in Virginia. We are just 

 now passing quite a long stretch of high steep bluffs on the west shore ; 

 formations like that of hills in the Bad Lands — strata of a red slate, like 

 half burnt brick, and occasional spots of a slate-like substance that looks 

 as if it had just been exposed to the fire. Probably these are the appear- 

 ances that inthcate former volcanic action. I wished that I could land and 

 search for fossils. 



The Rees offer many advantages for missionary labor. They have one 

 fixed place of residence, except for a few months in winter, when they go to 

 some other place for wood and meat, but they return again to the village at 

 Fort Clark. They cultivate corn not only for their own use, but also 

 enough to make it a very prominent part of trade, and they are said to be 

 peaceable and generally well disposed. The same things are said to be true 

 of the Mandans and Gros Ventres, and the old traders say they are more 

 like the whites in their ways than any other Indians. 



Thursday, June Vi. — Last evening for miles we had on both l)anks, 

 principally on the east, the very irregular steep and white colored hills men- 

 tioned before as being somewhat similar in their material to those in the 

 Bad Lands. I noticed, however, that sand was the principal component 

 while the white clay occurred in occasional strata only. About five o'clock 

 one of the pilots brought me a very young Sand Hill crane which I put in 

 alcohol, and I intend preserving the skeleton of a larger one, which was 

 not in a condition to skin. 



About six o'clock, A. M., we reached Fort Buthold, one of the company's 

 forts, situated on the east bank of the Missouri, about sixty miles above 

 Fort Clark. It is built on a high bluff just on the north side of the Gros 

 Ventre village. It is a small fort and without particular interest. Mr. 

 Kipp, who has it now in charge, has kept it in good order if we may judge 

 from its neat and cleanly appearance. The prairie extends beautifully east- 

 ward from the village, and affords fine pasture for the horses of the inhabi- 

 tants. 



On the plane near the fort is the burying place, studded with many- 

 scaffolds on which the dead are placed, and also many graves in which they 

 have been buried. Many of the scaffolds were partly broken down and 

 had deposited their burdens on the ground where they lay exposed unsightly 

 and forbidding. A number of skulls were kicking about the ground, and 

 had it not been for fear of arousing the Indians, I could easily have secured 

 six or seven good ones ; as it was, I picked up but one, and wrapping it in 

 my coat marched boldly to the boat, and got it safely in my trunk without 

 any suspicions being excited. The village, with its mud lodges, differs 

 nothing in looks from the Ree village described yesterday, except in one 

 particular, that is, the inhabitants are now engaged in surrounding it with 



