AN INDIAN FUNERAL. 69 



vessels of liquor, inviting their friends and relatives to drink ; while 

 whooping, singing, drunkenness, and trading for fresh supplies to admin- 

 ister to the demands of intoxication, had evidently become the order of 

 the day. Soon, individuals were noticed passing from one to another, with 

 mouths full of the coveted fire-water, drawing the lips of favored friends 

 in close contact, as if to kiss, and ejecting the contents of their own into 

 the eager mouths of others, — thus affording the delighted recipients tests 

 of their fervent esteem in the heat and strength of the strange draught. 



At this stage of the game the American Fur Company, as is charged, 

 commenced dealing out to them, gratuitously, strong drugged liquor, for 

 the double purpose of preventing a sale of the article by its competitor in 

 in trade, and of creating sickness, or inciting contention among the Indians, 

 while under the influence of sudden intoxication, — hoping thereby to 

 induce the latter to charge its ill efTects upon an opposite source, and thus, 

 by destroying the credit of its rival, monopolize for itself the whole trade. 



It is hard to predict, with certainty, what would have been the result of 

 this reckless policy, had it been continued through the day. Already its 

 effects became apparent, and small knots of drunken Indians were seen in 

 various directions, quarrelling, preparing to fight, or fighting, — w^hile others 

 lay stretched upon the ground in helpless impotency, or staggered from 

 place to place with all the revolting attendencies of intoxication. 



The dram-a., however, was here brought to a temporary close by an inci- 

 dent which made a strange contrast in its immediate results. 



One of the head chiefs of the Brule village, in riding at full speed from 

 Fort John to Fort Platte, being a little too drunk to navigate, plunged 

 headlong from his horse and broke his neck when within a few rods of his 

 destination. Then was a touching display of confusion and excitement. 

 Men and squaws commenced bawling like children ; — the whites were bad, 

 very bad, said they, in their grief, to give Susu-ceicha the fire-water that 

 caused his death. But the height of their censure was directed against 

 the American Fur Company, as its liquor had done the deed. 



The body of the deceased chief was brought to the Fort, by his rela- 

 tives, with a request that the whites should assist at its burial ; but they 

 were in a sorry plight for such a service. There, however, were found 

 sufficiently sober for the task, and accordingly commenced operations. 



A scaffold was soon erected for the reception of the body, which, in 

 the mean time, had been fitted for its last airy tenement. This duty 

 was performed by the relatives of the deceased in the following manner : 

 it was first washed, then arrayed in the habiliments last worn by Susu- 

 ceicha during life, and sewed in several envelopes of lodge-skin, with the 

 bow, arrows, and pipe once claiming him as their owner. This done, all 

 things were ready for the proposed burial. 



The corpse was then borne to its final resting place, followed by a 

 throng of relatives and friends. While moving onward with the dead, 

 the train of mourners filled the air with their lamentations and rehearsals 

 of the virtues and meritorious deeds of their late chief. 



Arrived at the scaffold, the corpse was carefully reposed open it facing 

 the east, while beneath its head was placed a small sack of meat, tobacco 

 and vermilion, with a comb, looking-glass, and knife, and at its ieei, a 

 small banner that had been carried in the procession. A covering of 



