PLEADING FOR WHISKEY. 



49 



that required tribute of the Israelites passing through them to possess the 

 land of their forefiithers. 



Sept. 9lh. Early in the forenoon we came to the Kansas, and were em- 

 ployed till nearly ni^ht in ejecting a ford. 'Diis })roved rather difficult, as 

 the water was deep and tiie bottom sandy; — the course, bearing directly 

 across, till near midw;ty of the river, follows the current for six or eight 

 hundred yards, and then turns abruptly to the opposite shore. The Kansas, 

 at the crossing, was not far from six hundred yards wide, with steep banks 

 of clay and sand. The fording accomplished, we travelled some six miles, 

 and encamped for the night. Our visitors yet honored us with their pres- 

 ence ; some, under pretence of trading horses ; others, of bartering for 

 tobacco, wliiskey, coffee, and ammunition ; but most of them for the real 

 purpose of beguing and staaling. 



The Caw Indians are a branch of the Osage tribe — speaking the same 

 language, and identified by the same manners and customs. They num- 

 ber a population of sixteen hundred, and claim all the territory west of the 

 Delaware, Shawnee, and Poltowatomie line, to the head waters oi the 

 Kansas. Their main villao-e is on the left bank of the river, a few miles 

 above the crossing. Their houses are built Pawnee fashion, b^ing coni- 

 form and covered with a thick coat of dirt, presenting a hole at the apex to 

 emit the smoke, and another at the side to serve the double purpose of a 

 door and window. The whole building describes a complete circle, in 

 whose centre is placed the hearth-fire, and at the circumference the couches 

 of its inmates. Its floor is the bare ground, and its ceiling the grass, brush, 

 and poles which uphold the superincumbent earth forming the roof and 

 sides. 



The Caws are generally a lazy and slovenly people, raising but little 

 corn, and scarcely any vegetables. For a living they depend mostly upon 

 the chase. Their regular hunts are in the summer, fall, and winter, at 

 which time they all leave for the bufEilo range, and return laden with a 

 full supply of choice provisions. The robes and skins thus obtained, 

 furnish their clothing and articles for traffic. 



As yet, civilization has made but small advances among them. Some, 

 however, are tolerably well educated, and a Protestant mission established 

 with them, is beginning its slow but successful operations for their good, — 

 while two or three families of half-breeds, near by, occupy neat houses, and 

 have splendid farms and improvements, thus afTording a wholesome contrast 

 to the poverty and misery of their rude neighbors. 



The distance from Independence to this place, by the mountain trail, is 

 some eighty miles, over a beautiful and fertile country, which I shall here- 

 after take occasion to notice more fully. Before leaving, we were further 

 increased by the accession of two Canadian voyageurs — French of course. 

 Our force now numbered some twenty-four — one sufficiently formidable for 

 all the dantjers of the route. 



Sept. lOtk. Resuming our way, we proceeded till late at night, stiL 

 attended by our Indian friends ; (not the originals, but a " few more of the 

 same sort," who kindly supplied their places, — seeking to levy fresh drafts 

 upon patience and generosity.) These were more importunate for liquor than 

 any preceding them — though, in fact, the whole nation is nowise remiss in 

 their devotion to King Alcohol. One fellow, in particular, exhausted all iiia 

 6 



