60 THE GEOEGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



vey of the Territories, which contains more than 200 Sioux i^hotographs, 

 the negatives of which are now in the possession of Maj. J. W. Powell, 

 United States geologist. These are in succession to Mr. Catlin's 

 portraits. 



From the Falls of Saint Anthony, Minnesota, in 1835, Mr. Catlin 

 writes : 



The Sioux, wlio live iu the vicinity of the Falls, and occupy all the country about 

 here, west of the Mississippi, are a part of the great tribe on the Upper Missouri, 

 and the same in most of their customs, yet very dissimilar in personal appearance, 

 from the changes which civilized examples have wrought upon them. I mentioned 

 in a former letter, that the country of the Sioux extended from the base of the 

 Rocky Mountains to the banks of the Mississippi : and for the whole of that way, it 

 is more or less settled by this immense tribe, bounding the east side of their country 

 by the Mississippi River. 



The Sioux in these parts, who are out of reach of the beavers and buffaloes, are 

 poor and very meanly clad, comj)ared to those on the Missouri, where they are in the 

 midst of those and other wild animaJs, whose skins supply them with picturesque and 

 comfortable dresses. The same deterioration also is seen in the morals and constitu- 

 tions of these, as amongst all other Indians, who live along the frontiers, in the vi- 

 cinity of our settlements, where whisky is sold to them, and the small-pox and other 

 diseases are introduced to shorten their lives. 



The principal bands of the Sioux that visit this place, and who live in the vicinity 

 of it, are those known as the Black Dog's band — Red Wing's band, and "VVa-be-sha's 

 band ; each band known in common parlance, by the name of its chief, as I have 

 mentioned. The Black Dog's band reside but a few miles above Fort Snelling, on the 

 banksof the Saint Peter's, and number some five or six hundred. TheRed Wing's band 

 are at the head of Lake Pepin, sixty miles below this place, on the west side of the 

 river. And Wa-be-sha's band and village are some sixty or more miles below Lake 

 Pepin, on the west side of the river, on a beautiful prairie, known (and ever will be) 

 by the name of "Wa-be-sha's prairie." Each of these bands, and several others that 

 live in this section of country, exhibit considerable industry in their agricultural 

 pursuits, raising very handsome corn-fields, laying up their food, thus procured, for 

 their subsistence during the long and tedious winters. — G. C, 1835. 



DAKOTAS. 



A large family of North American Indians, embracing the Assinaboins or Stone 

 Sioux, the Dakotas proper, or, as they are called by the Algonkins, Nadowesioux, from 

 which is derived the word Sioux; Omahas, Otoes, Osages, Poncas, lowas, Kansas, 

 Missourias, Minatarees, and Crows. Until quite recently they occupied the larger 

 portion of the country bounded on the east by the great lakes, on the north by the 

 British Possessions, on the west by the Rocky Mountains, and on the south by the 

 Platte River. According to their traditions they came eastward from the Pacific, and 

 encountered the Algonkins about the headwaters of the Mississippi, where the mass 

 of them were held in check. One of the tribes of this great family, called by the 

 Chippewas Wiunebagook (man from the fetid or salt water), pushed through their 

 enemies and secured a foothold on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Quapaws, called 

 by their Algonkin foes the Alkausas or Arkansas, settled on the Ohio, but were ulti- 

 mately driven down the river by the Illinois to the region now bearing their name. 

 A few of the tribe retain very nearly their original hunting-grounds ; the principal 

 migrations of those who have moved having been southwestwardly, from the head- 

 waters of the Mississippi to the Missouri. 



