474 TRIBES OF THE UPPER MISSOURI [eth. ANN. 46 



siniboin and Crows a third, and the Blackfeet a fourth. As it at 

 present stands, one man is appointed for all this, and the consequence 

 is some of them are neglected, if not the greater number. It can 

 not be otherwise. The nations are situated hundreds of miles apart 

 and each scattered over an immense district. Even one nation can 

 not be collected, consulted with, annuities distributed, and all busi- 

 ness settled in a less time than six months and often more. Should 

 the present officer do nothing but travel he could not make the round 

 of the whole in a year. 



Property 



The personal property of these tribes consists chiefly of horses. 

 A man's wealth is estimated by the number of these animals he owns. 

 Besides which they have their lodges, guns, clothing, and cooking 

 utensils. Possession of an article of small value is a right seldom 

 disputed, if the article has been honestly obtained, as their laws of 

 retaliation are too severe to admit of constant quarrels. But horses 

 being their principal aim, possessing them is nothing without force 

 to defend. To explain this fully it will be necessary to give a few 

 examples of the different kinds of rights and their tenure. Rights 

 to property are of the following description : Articles found, articles 

 made by themselves, stolen from enemies, given them, and bought. 

 Two Indians traveling together, one discovers a lost horse and points 

 it out to the other, who pursues and succeeds in catching it. Now 

 the one who made the discovery claims a portion of the horse on the 

 ground that had he not seen it or not shown it to the other most likely 

 it would not be in his possession. The other, therefore, to extinguish 

 this claim, would be obliged to pay some article equivalent to half the 

 value of the horse, which in case he refused to do would end in the 

 horse being killed on the spot, and the dispute terminated. The same 

 rule would apply to finding a gun, but smaller articles would not 

 attract attention enough to produce a quarrel. An article is con- 

 sidered lost when' the owner has abandoned the search. 



All clothing, skins, arms, etc., made by themselves are the sole 

 property of those who made them, and this is the only general right 

 among them that admits of no dispute. To take away such things 

 by force would be reckoned a mean action ; would be discountenanced 

 individually by all ; and the perpetrator would fall into general dis- 

 grace, among both men and women. When horses are stolen from 

 enemies the case is different. Suppose seven Indians conjointly steal 

 45 horses in the night from their enemies. They would drive them 

 off in a body until beyond reach of pursuit and then each would lay 

 claim, catch, and keep as many as he could manage and defend. 

 No equal division or anything like it would take place. Men of 

 desperate character would take the greater part and leave milder 



