Howard] 



THE PONCA TRIBE 25 



The information contained in this letter was undoubtedly taken 

 from the reports of Indians of other tribes, probably enemies of the 

 Ponca, who lived closer to the settlements. The village mentioned was 

 probably on Bazile Creek, as this is the first stream of any size below 

 the mouth of the Niobrara. 



The first European to actually visit the Ponca, or at any rate the 

 first to leave a written record of his visit, was the trader Jean Baptiste 

 Monier, known as "Juan Munie" in the Spanish accounts. Though 

 of French descent, Monier, like most of the other traders on the Mis- 

 souri, was a Spanish national. Monier visited and traded with the 

 Ponca in 1789, and in 1793 we find him petitioning for the right to 

 exclusive trade rights with the Ponca by reason of "having discovered 

 and pacified the tribe" (ibid., pp. 194-195) . However, in 1794 another 

 trader, Jacques Glamorgan, complained of Monier's monopoly : "This 

 new enterprise was ... a violation of the usual trade which had 

 formerly been made with the two nations [Omaha and Ponca] which 

 are really one nation, since the Poncas are nothing but Mahas who have 

 left the tribe." Glamorgan, who later purchased Monier's "monopoly" 

 to the Ponca trade, locates the Ponca "on the bank of the Missouri, 

 about thirty leagues above the village of the Maha nation" (ibid., 

 p. 20,6). 



Thus, as early as the last decade of the 18th century the Ponca were 

 receiving European trade goods in very large amounts. The attrac- 

 tion of the rich Missouri Valley Indian trade soon drew others into the 

 area, and in the years 179^95 another French trader, Jean Baptiste 

 Trudeau, established a post called "Ponca House." This post served 

 not only the Ponca, as the name would indicate, but also the Omaha and 

 Dakota. The site of Trudeau's "Ponca House" has never been located, 

 but it is said to have been several miles up the Missouri from the 

 mouth of Ponca Greek. Trudeau wrote (as recorded by Nasatir, 1952, 

 vol. 2, 490) : "The Ponca nation has its habitation placed at two 

 leagues higher than the Niobrara's mouth. Their huts are built on a 

 hill at the edge of a great plain about a league from the Missouri." 



Trudeau was optimistic about prospects for the trade in the area, 

 noting that, "The Buffalo, the deer, and beaver are common in this 

 place." While Trudeau was trading out of Ponca House, another 

 Frenclunan, Solomon Petit, was also wintering in the vicinity, as well 

 as employees of Jean Monier (ibid., vol. 1, pp. 88-89) . In spite of the 

 competition, Trudeau managed to obtain some furs from the Dakota, 

 Omaha, and Ponca. 



The Ponca were quick to apprehend the value of a middleman's 

 position in the trade, and in 1795 they began the practice of stopping 

 and raiding trading craft as they passed up the Missouri. Some of 

 these stolen goods the Ponca then traded to the tribes farther upriver. 

 This piracy was perhaps motivated not only by greed but also by a 



