[puRPEE] YORK FACTORY TO THE BLACKFEET COUNTRY 337 
depth, & 20 poles wide. On both sides there are stones of different sizes 
& weight: quite round, and of an iron color: and a little distance from 
the River, are veins of iron-ore running along the surface of the ground. 
No woods to be seen. Indians killed several Beaver and 2 Moose. 
12. Saturday. Travelled 8 Miles S.W.b.W. Level land: plenty 
of water; & ledges of woods. Indians killed a great many Buffalo. 
13. Sunday. Travelled 7 Miles S.W.b.W. Level land, and ledges 
of woods; and numbers of Buffalo. Indians killed a great many. In 
the evening we were joined by 7 Archithinue Natives on Horse-back, 
who informed us we should see the Great Leader, & numbers of Archi- 
thinue Natives to-morrow.* 
14. Monday. Travelled 4 Miles S.W.b.W. Then came to us four 
men on Horse-back; they told us they were sent from the main body to 
see whether we were Friends or Enemies. We told them we were 
Friends. Attickasish, Canawappaw, Cokamanakisish, and the other of 
our Leaders walked in front about 4 Miles farther then we; came to 200 
tents of Archithinue Natives, pitched in two rows, and an opening in 
the middle; where we were conducted to the Leader’s tent; which was 
at one end, large enough to contain fifty persons; where he received us 
seated on a clear (white) Buffalo skin,? attended by 20 elderly men. 
He made signs for me to sit down on his right hand: which I did. Our 
Leader set on several grand-pipes, and smoked all round, according to 
their usual custom: not a word was yet spoke on either side. Smoking 
being over, Buffalo flesh boiled was served round in baskets of a species 
of bent, and I was presented with 10 Buffalo tongues. Attickasish my 
Guide, informed him I was sent by the Great Leader who lives down at 
the great waters, to invite his young men down to see him and to bring 
with them Beaver skins, & Wolves skins: & they would get in return 

miles above the Forks; Dr. Robert Bell mentions them the same year around 
the Dirt Hills, east of the Elbow of the South Saskatchewan; and Dr. R. W. 
Ells collected specimens in 1875 on the North Saskatchewan, between Edmon- 
ton and Victoria. 
1See Introduction for remarks on the Blackfeet. Some interesting 
particulars will also be found in Catlin, I, 29 et seq. 
2“A white buffalo robe,’ says Catlin (‘‘ North American Indians,” I, 134), 
“is a great curiosity, even in the country of buffaloes, and will always com- 
mand an almost incredible price, from its extreme scarcity; and then, from 
its being the most costly article of traffic in these regions, it is usually con- 
verted into a sacrifice, being offered to the Great Spirit as the most acceptable 
gift that can be procured. Amongst the vast herds of buffaloes which graze 
on these boundless prairies, there is not one in a hundred thousand, perhaps, 
that is white; and when such an one is obtained, it is considered great 
medicine or mystery.” 
Sec. II., 1907. 22. 
