154 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bun. 185 
his ends, Crow Flies High and his followers migrated to Fort Buford, 120 miles 
west of here, and remained there. 
Approximately 140 persons accompanied the chief on this exodus from 
Fort Berthold Reservation. 
That a few Mandans accompanied the group into exile is not un- 
expected. Their numbers had fallen so low by this time that they had 
virtually lost their tribal identity. Lowie (1917, p. 7) noted in 1910 
that they had diminished to a mere 197, and no doubt they were almost 
as few in numbers the quarter century preceding. In 1952 a few aged 
individuals were pointed out as “the last of the Mandans.” 
After the band departed, some of the exiles returned to the reserva- 
tion. Black Chest was among the returnees, and others joined the 
group from time to time. Actually, the turnover of members seems 
to have been fairly high. Hawk and his son Bear-In-The Water 
(Adlai Stevenson, our informant) were among the people who later 
joined the band. 
After leaving Fort Berthold, the band moved upstream along the 
Missouri River, settling near Fort Buford. Two earthlodges were con- 
structed in the settlement, one by Bobtail Bull, a Mandan, and the 
other by Bull Head. The others constructed cabins. There was no 
“dance hall” erected in this village, but if an earthlodge was needed 
for a ceremony, one of the two existing structures was used. Crow- 
Flies-High remained as chief of the exile band, while Black Hawk 
acted as an assistant. Many Antelopes replaced Crow-Flies-High as 
military chief at Like-A-Fishhook Village. Bobtail Bull, incidentally, 
was also regarded as a chief of the exiles. The informants denied that 
any of these persons possessed important medicine bundles. 
Once they had left the reservation they were no longer able to obtain 
Government aid, rations, or equipment. For nearly 25 years the band 
had to be self-sustaining. At first they were able to provide them- 
selves with bison and other game animals, but later, when these sources 
of food and supplies were gone, they had to rely more on farming 
and on other means of getting a livelihood. Early during their exile 
they were attacked by hostile war parties. Once an enemy group stole 
some of their horses. A party of Hidatsa warriors went in pursuit 
and in the conflict which followed, Two Bulls was killed.2 Soon 
afterward they were able to kill three men in the enemy party in 
revenge. Relationships with the Army staff at Fort Buford were 
apparently satisfactory at first. Among the exiles, Crow-Flies-High 
was elevated to military chief, the position he had lost to Many Ante- 
lopes at Like-A-Fishhook Village. 
4 The informant, Adlai Stevenson, was a young man at this time and he lived near 
these two lodges. 
12 The informant was a cousin of Two Bulls. 
