BUSHNELL ] VILLAGES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI 99 
The ruined or deserted village of the Little Osage seen by the 
party stood on the right or south bank of the Missouri, in the west- 
ern part of the present Saline County, Missouri, not far from the 
village of Malta. The structures which had stood at this old site 
were probably similar to those later erected by the people in their 
new village near the town of the Great Osage, both of which were 
visited two years later. They were situated far south of the Mis- 
souri, in the northern part of the present Vernon County, in the 
valley of the Little Osage River. 
During the latter part of August, 1806, Pike arrived at the two 
villages of the Osage, having departed from Fort Bellefontain a 
short time before on his journey to the far west. But, unfortu- 
nately, his accounts of the native tribes and their villages which 
he encountered during his travels are neither full nor clear, and so 
it is with the description of the habitations of the Osage. To quote 
from the narrative: “The Osage lodges are generally constructed 
with upright posts, put firmly in the ground, of about 20 feet in 
height, with a crotch at the top; they are generally about 12 feet dis- 
tant from each other; in the crotch of those posts, are put the ridge 
poles, over which are bent small poles, the ends of which are brought 
down and fastened to a row of stakes of about 5 feet in height; 
these stakes are fastened together with three horizontal bars, and 
form the flank walls of the lodge. The gable ends are generally 
broad slabs and rounded off to the ridge pole. .The whole of the 
building and sides are covered with matting made of rushes, of two 
or three feet in length, and four feet in width, which are joined 
together, and entirely exclude the rain. The doors are in the side 
of the building, and generally are one on each side. The fires are 
made in holes in the centre of the lodge; the smoke ascending through 
apertures left in the roof for the purpose; at one end of the dwelling 
is a raised platform, about three feet from the ground, which is 
covered with bear skins, and generally holds all the little choice 
furniture of the master, and on which repose his honorable guests. 
They vary in length from 36 to 100 feet.” (Pike, (1), App., 
pp. 11-12.) . 
Fort Osage, soon to be named Fort Clark, stood on the right 
bank of the Missouri, a short distance northeast of Independence, in 
Jackson County, Missouri. During theearly years of the last century 
it was a gathering place for the Osage and neighboring tribes, and 
several interesting accounts are preserved of the appearance of the 
Indian lodges clustered about the post. Both Bradbury and Brack- 
enridge made mention of the fort in their journals. The former 
wrote on April 8, 1811, and told of his arrival: “ About ten o’clock 
we came in sight of the fort, about six miles distant. We had not 
been long in sight before we saw the flag was hoisted, and at noon 
