16 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 



between the symbols, that probably the figures on Lone Dog's robe show 

 a more marked difference between the spots indicating the two erup- 

 tions than is reproduced in the copy. 



Fig. 20, 1819. — Another trading-store was built, this time by Louis La 

 Conte, at Fort Pierre, Dakota Territory. His timber, as one of the 

 Indians specially mentioned, was rotten. 



Fig. 21, 1820. — The trader La Conte gave "Two Arrow " a wardress for 

 his bravery. So translated an interpreter, and the sign shows the two 

 arrows as the warrior's totem ; likewise the gable of a house, which 

 brings in the trader j also a long strip of black tipped with red, stream- 

 ing from the roof, which possibly may be the piece of particolored ma- 

 terial out of which the dress was fashioned. This strip is not intended 

 for sparks and smoke, as the red would then be nearest the roof, instead 

 of farthest from it. 



Fig. 22, 1821. — This may represent a comet, as one did appear in that 

 year, being No. 133 of Galle's Catalogue. It was discovered January 21, 

 at Paris, by Nicollet, observed in Europe until March 7, and, after its 

 perihelion passage, from April 1 to May 3 at Valparaiso. It was not, 

 however, a very conspicuous object to the naked eye, as its tail was but 

 from 2° to 3° long. The character more resembles the falling to earth 

 of a very brilliant meteor, and though no such appearance is on record, 

 there were in 1821 few educated observers near the Upper Mississippi 

 and Missouri who would take the trouble to notify scientific societies of 

 the phenomenon ; so it may well be that many Indians on the plains saw 

 it, without its being recorded save on Lone Dog's chart. The Dakota lan- 

 guage not being rich in astronomical terms, all cross-questioning failed 

 to settle the case of meteor versus comet. 



Figo23, 1822. — Another trading-house was built, which was by a white 

 man yclept "Big Leggings", and was at the mouth of the Little Mis- 

 souri or Bad Kiver. The drawing is distinguishable from Fig. 20. 



Fig. 24, 1823. — White soldiers made their first appearance in the 

 region. A man is represented clothed, wearing a hat, firing a carbine, 

 and standing by a structure like the gable of a barrack, though per- 

 haps a tent. 



Fig. 25, 1824.— " Swan ", chief of the Two Kettle tribe, had all of his 

 horses killed. Symbol — a horse pierced by a lance, blood flowing from 

 the wound, which, apart from the interpreter's rendering of the tradi- 

 tion, would not have suggested anything about the ruler of the Two 

 Kettles and his loss in stock. We must, however, imitate good Peter 

 Quince's acceptance of another equine appearance — " Bless thee, Bot- 

 tom ! bless thee ! thou art translated !" 



Fig. 26, 1825. — There was a remarkable flood in the Missouri River, 

 and a number of Indians were drowned. With some exercise of fancy, 

 the symbol may suggest heads appearing above a line of water, or it 

 may simply be the severed heads, several times used, to denote Indians 

 other than Dakotas, with the uniting black line of death. 



