386 PREFACE 



is to be finished before Mr. Culbertson's return from Fort Laramie" 

 (p. 254). 



The following citation is from the Kurz Journal at page 577: 

 *' February the 26th. Mr. Denig is a Swedenborgian and at the same 

 time he is a Freemason. He mentioned to me that it would be of 

 great advantage on my travels if I were a Freemason." 



It seems appropriate to insert here briefly what another intimate 

 friend of Mr. Denig, the Reverend Father De Smet, thought of the 

 knowledge and attainments of our author. Father De Smet in 

 speaking of the source of his information in a particular instance 

 wrote : " I have it from two most reliable sources — that is to say, 

 from a man of tried probity and veracity, Mr. Denig of the Saint 

 Louis Fur Company . . ." 1 



On page 1215 of this same work Father De Smet in a personal 

 letter to Mr. Denig, dated September 30, 1852, wrote : " I do not know 

 how to express my gratitude for your very interesting series of 

 narratives concerning the aborigines of the Far West. . . . Noth- 

 ing could be more gratifying to me than the beautiful and graphic 

 details which you have given me of the religion, manners, customs, 

 and transactions of an unfortunate race of human beings." 



It is hoped that these excerpts from the writings of Frederick Kurz 

 and Father De Smet, both intimately associated with Mr. Denig, will 

 supply some data concerning our author not otherwise accessible. 



The Swiss artist, Friedrich Kurz, who painted many pictures of 

 the region around Fort Union, lived with Denig for some time, and 

 in 1851 painted his portrait. 



The Indians called Mr. Denig " The Long Knife," which simply 

 meant that they knew him as "an American." 



In the manuscript Mr. Denig employs the word "band" to denote 

 " a gens of a tribe," the word " clans " to denote " societies " or 

 " corporations," and the " orders of doctors " he calls " shamans or 

 theurgists." To understand Mr. Denig these meanings must be kept 

 in mind. 



The Editor. 



1 Chittenden, H. M., and Richardson, A. T. Life, letters, and travels of Father Pierre- 

 Jean De Smet, S. J., 1801-1873. Vol. IV, p. 1111. New York, 1905. 



