170 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ BULL. 77 
of the Ricaras emigrated to the neighborhood of the Mandans, with 
whom they were then in alliance. The rest of the nation continued 
near the Chayenne till the year 1797, in the course of which, dis- 
tressed by their wars with the Sioux, they joined their countrymen 
near the Mandans. Soon after a new war arose between the Ricaras 
and the Mandans, in consequence of which the former came down 
the river to their present position. In this migration those who had 
first gone to the Mandans kept together, and now lve in the two 
lower villages, which may be considered as the Ricaras proper. The 
third village was composed of such remnants of the villages as had 
survived the wars, and as these were nine in number a difference of 
pronunciation and some difference of language may be observed be- 
tween them and the Ricaras proper, who do not understand all the 
words of these wanderers. The villages are within the distance of 
four miles of each other, the two lower ones consist of between one 
hundred and fifty and two hundred men each, the third of three 
hundred.” (Lewis and Clark, (1), 1, pp. 92-104.) Following this, on 
page 106, is a brief description of the earth-covered lodges of the 
Arikara, which were of “a circular or octagonal form, and generally 
about thirty or forty feet in diameter,” but a rather better descrip- 
tion was prepared by one of the members of the expedition, Patrick 
Gass, who wrote on October 10: “This day I went with some of 
the men to the lodges, about 60 in number. ‘The following is a 
description of the form of these lodges and the manner of building 
them. : 
“Tn a circle of a size suited to the dimensions of the intended lodge 
they set up 16 forked posts five or six feet high, and lay poles from 
one fork to another. Against these poles they lean other poles, 
slanting from the ground, and extending about four inches above 
the cross poles; these are to receive the ends of the upper poles that 
support the roof. They next set up four large forks, fifteen feet 
high, and about ten feet apart, in the middle of the area; and poles 
or beams between these. The roof poles are then laid on extending 
from the lower poles across the beams which rest on the middle forks, 
of such a length as to leave a hole at the top for a chimney. The 
whole is then covered with willow branches, except the chimney and 
a hole below to pass through. On the willow branches they lay 
grass and lastly clay. At the hole below they build a pen about 
four feet wide and projecting ten feet from the hut; and hang a 
buffalo skin at the entrance of the hut for a door. This labour 
like every other kind is chiefly performed by the squaws. They 
raise corn, beans and tobacco.” (Gass, (1), p. 52.) And five days 
later Gass entered in his journal: “At 7 we saw a hunting party 
of the Rickarees, on their way down to the villages. They had 12 
