150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 77 
constantly, when they go out on their winter-hunts. Requiring, 
therefore, movable habitations, they take with them, on their jour- 
neys, the ordinary skin-lodges, or ‘ tepees, such as are used by the 
Dakotas, Assiniboines, and other nomadic tribes of the region.” (Op. 
cit., pp. 6-7.) 
Matthews’s description of the caches prepared by the tribes with 
whom he was so closely associated is most interesting, and it tends to 
explain the origin and use of the numerous pits often discovered in 
the vicinity of ancient village sites east of the Mississippi. He wrote: 
“The numerous caches, or pits, for storing grain, are noteworthy 
objects in the village. In summer, when they are not in use, they are 
often left open, or are carelessly covered, and may entrap the unwary: 
stroller. When these Indians have harvested their crops, and before 
they start on their winter-hunt, they dig their caches, or clear out 
those dug in previous years. A cache is a cellar, usually round, 
with a small opening above, barely large enough to allow a person to 
descend ; when finished, it looks much like an ordinary round cistern. 
Reserving a small portion of corn, dried squash, etc., for winter use, 
they deposit the remainder in these subterranean store-houses, along 
with household-utensils, and other articles of value which they wish 
to leave behind. They then fill up the orifices with earth, which 
they trample down and rake over ; thus obliterating every trace of the 
excavation. Some caches are made under the floors of the houses, 
others outside, in various parts of the village-grounds; in each case, 
the distance and direction from some door, post, bedstead, fire-place, 
or other object is noted, so that the stores may be found on the return 
of the owners in the spring. Should an enemy enter the village while 
it is temporarily deserted, the goods are safe from fire and theft. 
This method of secreting property has been in use among many tribes, 
has been adopted by whites living on the plains, and is referred to 
in the works of many travelers.” (Op. cit., pp. 8-9.) 
Such were the characteristic features of the Hidatsa villages. 
CROWS. 
Before the separation of the Crows from the Hidatsa they may have 
occupied permanent villages of earth-covered lodges, such as the latter 
continued to erect and use until very recent years. But after the 
separation the Crows moved into the mountains, the region drained 
by the upper tributaries of the Missouri, and there no longer built 
permanent structures but adopted the skin tipi, so easily erected and 
transported from place to place. Many of their tipis were very large, 
beautifully made and decorated, and were evidently not surpassed in 
any manner by the similar structures constructed by other tribes of 
the Upper Missouri Valley. 
