Riv. Bas. Sur. 
Pav. No 29] CROW-FLIES-HIGH VILLAGE—MALOUF 155 
The Indian settlement at Fort Buford was not occupied continu- 
ously because it was primarily a winter camp and base for their 
hunting expeditions. During many of the summers they occupied 
Crow-Flies-High Village, where they grew crops. From their Fort 
Buford camp, however, they traveled north, west, and south in search 
of game. Often they traveled up the Yellowstone River, past Glen- 
dive, Mont., and as far upstream as Miles City. Sometimes when 
up the Yellowstone, they crossed overland to the Little Missouri, then 
moved downstream to the Missouri River proper. This was just one 
of several hunting routes they followed when in search of game. 
Both Fort Buford settlement and Crow-Flies-High Village were 
used irregularly; thus it is not possible to determine accurately the 
length of time they were occupied. Crow-Flies-High Village, at 
best, seems to have had a net occupation of nearly 10 years. 
When game disappeared, it became necessary for this band to seek 
new sources of sustenance. To add to their supplies, several smaller 
winter camps were set up along the Missouri River, on both banks 
between the Fort Berthold Reservation and Fort Buford. Here they 
chopped wood, which was sold to the steamboats plying up and down 
theriver. Reports of prostitution among a few women in these camps 
reflects a moral breakdown during this period of hardship. The river 
camps, like others used earlier, were not occupied continuously but 
were seasonal. 
As the years passed, the band dispersed more and more along the 
banks of the Missouri River between Fort Buford and Fort Berthold. 
Loss of game caused economic hardships, but it also permitted them 
freedom from harassing raiding parties. Relief was provided when 
their enemies sought sustenance elsewhere. When a strong military 
organization was no longer required, definite changes were made in 
Hidatsa social and political structures. 
Sometime during the 1880’s a number of men in Crow-Flies-High’s 
band were recruited at Fort Buford as Indian scouts. Trouble with 
the Dakotas, under Chief Sitting Bull, was anticipated, and prepara- 
tions were made by the U.S. Army to quell an outbreak. The families 
of the Hidatsa men who had enlisted were not happy over the pros- 
pects of their youths being killed by the Dakotas, but aside from 
voicing unhappiness, no objections were made to their engagement. 
Indeed, as servicemen, the youths were able to augment the income 
of their families, and this fact added to the attractiveness of the 
venture. 
The scouts (which included our informant, Adlai Stevenson), to- 
gether with soldiers, their horses, and equipment, rode to Bismarck, 
where they were placed on a train to South Dakota. The fight with 
the Dakotas did not materialize, and the military forces returned to 
Fort Buford. The Indian scouts thereafter served as military mail 
