266 CALENDAR HISTORY OF THE KIOWA Ieth.ann. 17 



foes that never had met ; and to the everlasting credit of the Comanclies, whom the 

 world had always looked upon as murderous and hostile, they had all come out in 

 this manner, with their heads uncovered, and without a weapon of any kind, to 

 meet a war party bristling with arras and trespassing to the middle of their country. 

 They had every reason to look upon us as their natural enemy, as they have lieen in 

 the haliit of estimating all pale faces; and yet instead of arms or defences, or even 

 of frowns, they galloped out and looked us in our faces, without an exjiression of 

 fear or dismay, and evidently with expressions of joy and impatient pleasure, to 

 shake us by the hand, on the bare assertion of Colonel Dodge, which had been made 

 to the chiefs, that we came to see them on a friendly visit. 



After wo had sat and gazed at each other in this way for some half an hour or so, 

 the head chief of the baud came gallo]>ing up to Colonel Dodge, and having shaken 

 him by the hand, he passed <m to the other officers in turn and then rode alongside 

 of the ditierent columns, shaking hands with every dragoon in the regiment; he 

 was followed in this liy his principal chiefs and braves, which altogether took up 

 nearly an hour longer, when the Indians retreated slowly toward their village, 

 escorting us to the banks of a fine, clear stream and a good spring of fresh water, 

 half a mile from their village, which they designated as a suitable place for our 

 encampment (Catlin, n). 



While there the artist painted the piisture.s of the chief men of the 

 tribe, together with camp scenes. The pictures form a part of the 

 Catliu gallery in the National Museum at Washington, District of 

 Columbia. In his usual incorrect style, he estimated the population 

 of the tribe at thirty thousand to forty thousand. It may possibly 

 have been one-tenth of that number. 



After a few days the command, guided by some of the Comanche, 

 started for the Wichita village lying farther to the west. After four 

 days' march, keeping close along the base of the mountains, they reached 

 the village, which was situated on the northeast bank of the North 

 fork of Red river, about 4 miles below the junction of Elm fork, and 

 within the present limits of the reservation. It was close to the mouth 

 of Devil canyon, with the river in front and the mountains behind. 

 It was an old settlement site of the Wichita, having been occupied by 

 them as far back at least as about the year 1765 [Lewis and Chirk, S). 

 Catlin thus describes it: 



We found the mountains inclosing the Pawnee [i. e., Pawnee Pique, or Wichita] 

 village, on the bank of Red river, about rfO miles from the Comanchee town. The 

 dragoon regiment was drawn up within half a mile or so of this village and encamped 

 in a square, where we remained three days. We found here a very numerous village 

 containing some five or sis hundred wigwams, all made of long prairie grass thatched 

 over poles which are fastened in the ground and bent in at the top, giving to them 

 in distance the appearance of straw beehives, as in plate 173 [figure 6S herein], which 

 is an accurate view of it, showing the Red river in front and the •'uiouutaius of 

 rocks " behind it. To our very great surprise we have found these people cultivating 

 quite extensive fields of corn (maize), puuipkins, melons, beans, and squashes; so, 

 with these aids and an abundant supply of buffalo meat, they may be said to be 

 living very well (Calliii, 6). 



The picture by Catlin gives a good idea of the location and a tolerable 

 idea of the peculiar conical grass houses of the Wichita, who have 

 always been noted as an agricultural tribe. As usual, however, he has 

 grossly overestimated their number, attributing to the village Ave or 



