﻿FEIEDRICH 
  KUEZ 
  BUSHFELL 
  

  

  515 
  

  

  Late 
  in 
  the 
  day 
  the 
  St. 
  Ange 
  stopped 
  at 
  Fort 
  Berthold, 
  then 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  up 
  the 
  Missouri. 
  

  

  FORT 
  BERTHOLD 
  

  

  The 
  day 
  after 
  his 
  arrival 
  at 
  Fort 
  Berthold, 
  Kurz 
  made 
  this 
  inter- 
  

   esting 
  entry 
  in 
  his 
  journal 
  : 
  

  

  Wliat 
  I 
  saw 
  and 
  heard 
  to-day 
  offers 
  me 
  a 
  rich 
  harvest 
  of 
  sketches. 
  The 
  

   neighborhood 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  now 
  spend 
  my 
  days 
  is 
  a 
  near-by 
  Indian 
  village 
  of 
  80 
  

   clay 
  huts 
  surrounded 
  by 
  palisades 
  and 
  frequented 
  by 
  billiard 
  players, 
  idle 
  

   lookers-on, 
  horse 
  traders, 
  and 
  Indian 
  squaws 
  engaged 
  in 
  daily 
  tasks. 
  This 
  

   fort, 
  they 
  say, 
  is 
  alwaj's 
  alive 
  with 
  Indians 
  except 
  in 
  winter, 
  when 
  they 
  

   hunt 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  the 
  surrounding 
  regions. 
  That 
  is 
  another 
  sight 
  I 
  shall 
  

   enjoy. 
  There 
  is 
  rather 
  little 
  traveling 
  

   to 
  and 
  from 
  this 
  post. 
  The 
  Monnitarri, 
  

   or 
  Gros 
  Ventres, 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  called, 
  never 
  

   go 
  far 
  from 
  their 
  stockades 
  for 
  fear 
  of 
  the 
  

   Sioux. 
  They 
  are 
  too 
  few 
  to 
  have 
  the 
  

   protection 
  of 
  different 
  bands 
  of 
  their 
  own 
  

   tribe. 
  The 
  squaws 
  here 
  plant 
  fields 
  of 
  

   Indian 
  cona, 
  and 
  after 
  the 
  harvest 
  Crow 
  

   Indians, 
  a 
  related 
  tribe, 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  

   village. 
  Now 
  that 
  a 
  treaty 
  of 
  peace 
  is 
  

   concluded, 
  Assiniboins 
  also 
  come 
  to 
  trade 
  

   for 
  corn, 
  or 
  rather 
  to 
  beg. 
  The 
  Monni- 
  

   tarri 
  are 
  so 
  reduced 
  by 
  wars 
  and 
  pesti- 
  

   lence 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Kipp, 
  in 
  return 
  for 
  100 
  

   buffalo 
  hides, 
  inclosed 
  their 
  habitations 
  

   with 
  palisades 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  might 
  be 
  se- 
  

   cure 
  at 
  least 
  against 
  surprise 
  attacks 
  and 
  

   consequent 
  extermination. 
  No 
  huts 
  are 
  

   visible 
  until 
  one 
  has 
  passed 
  through 
  the 
  

   entrance 
  to 
  their 
  barricade. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  morning 
  of 
  July 
  12, 
  buffalo 
  

   were 
  sighted 
  on 
  the 
  prairie 
  across 
  

   the 
  river 
  from 
  the 
  fort. 
  Hunters 
  

   were 
  soon 
  ferried 
  over 
  in 
  boats 
  

   made 
  " 
  of 
  raw 
  buffalo 
  hides." 
  They 
  

   soon 
  returned 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  quantity 
  of 
  meat. 
  Kurz 
  was 
  ever 
  adding 
  

   to 
  his 
  collection 
  of 
  Indian 
  material, 
  and 
  that 
  day 
  : 
  

  

  In 
  exchange 
  for 
  a 
  blue 
  blanket 
  and 
  a 
  knife 
  I 
  got 
  from 
  a 
  Mandan 
  a 
  buffalo 
  

   robe 
  elaborately 
  trimmed 
  with 
  vertical 
  stripes 
  of 
  porcupine-quill 
  work. 
  

  

  Sunday, 
  July 
  13, 
  1851 
  — 
  an 
  exciting 
  day 
  at 
  Fort 
  Berthold. 
  The 
  vil- 
  

   lage 
  was 
  — 
  

  

  like 
  a 
  swarming 
  beehive. 
  Warriors 
  and 
  j'oung 
  men 
  in 
  arms 
  were 
  hurrying 
  

   across 
  the 
  plain, 
  others 
  wei'e 
  mounting 
  their 
  horses, 
  a 
  crowd 
  of 
  women 
  were 
  

   returning 
  in 
  haste 
  from 
  the 
  fields. 
  An 
  Indian 
  called 
  Le 
  Boeuf 
  court 
  queue 
  

   had 
  been 
  shot, 
  they 
  said, 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Sioux. 
  He 
  had 
  been 
  at 
  the 
  fort 
  about 
  

   breakfast 
  time 
  and 
  I 
  had 
  wished 
  to 
  trade 
  with 
  him 
  for 
  an 
  old-style 
  tomahawk 
  — 
  

   oval 
  stone 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  very 
  tough 
  dried 
  tail 
  of 
  a 
  buffalo 
  bull. 
  

  

  Fig. 
  

  

  Mandau. 
  At 
  Fort 
  Berthold, 
  

   July 
  12, 
  1851 
  

  

  