8o The Winning of the West 



The rotunda or council-house stood near the 

 square on the highest spot in the village. It was 

 round, and fifty or sixty feet across, with a high 

 peaked roof; the rafters were fastened with splints 

 and covered with bark. A raised dais ran around 

 the wall, strewed with mats and skins. Sometimes in 

 the larger council-houses there were painted eagles, 

 carved out of poplar wood, placed close to the red 

 and white seats where the chiefs and warriors sat ; 

 or in front of the broad dais were great images of 

 the full and the half moon, colored white or black; 

 or rudely carved and painted figures of the panther, 

 and of men with buffalo horns. The tribes held in 

 reverence both the panther and the rattlesnake. 



The corn-cribs, fowl-houses, and hot-houses or 

 dug-outs for winter use were clustered near the 

 other cabins. 



Although in tillage they used only the hoe, they 

 had made much progress in some useful arts. They 

 spun the coarse wool of the buffalo into blankets, 

 which they trimmed with beads. They wove the 

 wild hemp in frames and shuttles. They made their 

 own saddles. They made beautiful baskets of fine 

 cane splints, and very handsome blankets of turkey 

 feathers ; while out of glazed clay they manufactured 

 bowls, pitchers, platters, and other pottery. 



In summer they wore buckskin shirts and breech- 

 clouts; in winter they were clad in the fur of the 

 bear and wolf or of the shaggy buffalo. They had 

 moccasins of elk or buffalo hide, and high thigh- 

 boots of thin deerskin, ornamented with fawns' 



