﻿26 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  primitive 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  Europe, 
  are 
  as 
  highly 
  valued 
  as 
  the 
  col- 
  

   lections 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  department 
  of 
  knowledge.* 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  year 
  1862, 
  I 
  obtained 
  at 
  the 
  old 
  village 
  of 
  the 
  Man 
  dans 
  

   on 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri, 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  stone 
  mauls, 
  stone 
  hammers 
  

   and 
  bone 
  implements, 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  propose 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  brief 
  descrip- 
  

   tion. 
  They 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Stone 
  Age 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  aborigines. 
  

  

  The 
  village, 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  was 
  deserted 
  of 
  its 
  inhabitants, 
  and 
  

   had 
  been 
  for 
  several 
  months 
  ; 
  but 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  houses 
  

   were 
  still 
  standing, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  as 
  good 
  condition 
  as 
  when 
  

   abandoned. 
  Fort 
  Clarke 
  was 
  constructed 
  in 
  1829, 
  by 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  Fur 
  Company, 
  by 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  this 
  village, 
  and 
  this 
  will 
  deter- 
  

   mine 
  its 
  site 
  upon 
  the 
  map. 
  

  

  The 
  Arickarees 
  were 
  the 
  last 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  the 
  village. 
  These 
  

   implements 
  were 
  left 
  there 
  by 
  them; 
  but 
  since 
  they 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  

   left 
  by 
  the 
  Man 
  dans 
  to 
  the 
  Arickarees, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  subsequently 
  

   abandoned 
  by 
  the 
  Arickarees 
  to 
  the 
  first 
  finder, 
  a 
  brief 
  notice 
  of 
  

   both 
  nations 
  becomes 
  necessary. 
  It 
  is 
  immaterial 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  

   originally 
  belonged, 
  so 
  long 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  made 
  certain 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  

   used 
  by 
  one 
  or 
  the 
  other. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  Stationary 
  Village 
  Indians, 
  north 
  of 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  

   the 
  Mandans 
  have 
  ever 
  held 
  a 
  conspicuous 
  position. 
  They 
  have 
  

   been 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  introducers 
  of 
  agriculture 
  upon 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   Missouri, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  originators 
  of 
  the 
  peculiar 
  and 
  distinctive 
  

   timber-frame 
  house, 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Mandan 
  lodge, 
  which, 
  I 
  believe, 
  

   has 
  not 
  been 
  found, 
  except 
  amongst 
  the 
  nations 
  which 
  inhabited 
  

   the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  and 
  its 
  western 
  tributaries. 
  There 
  are 
  

   some 
  reasons, 
  however, 
  for 
  supposing 
  that 
  the 
  Minnitarees, 
  and 
  

   not 
  the 
  Mandans, 
  were 
  the 
  inventors 
  of 
  this 
  form 
  of 
  house, 
  and 
  

   also 
  the 
  introducers 
  of 
  cultivation 
  into 
  this 
  region 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  un- 
  

   necessary, 
  in 
  this 
  connection, 
  to 
  consider 
  these 
  questions. 
  The 
  

   Mandans 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Dakota 
  stock, 
  but 
  find 
  their 
  nearest 
  affilia- 
  

   tion 
  with 
  the 
  Lower 
  Missouri 
  nations, 
  namely 
  : 
  the 
  Punkas, 
  

   Omahas, 
  Iowas, 
  Otoes, 
  Missouris, 
  Osages 
  and 
  Quappas. 
  These 
  

   last 
  nations, 
  in 
  dialect, 
  are 
  nearer 
  to 
  each 
  other, 
  interchangeably, 
  

   than 
  either 
  is 
  to 
  the 
  Mandans; 
  whence 
  it 
  follows 
  that 
  the 
  separation 
  

   was 
  remote 
  in 
  point 
  of 
  time, 
  but 
  the 
  Mandan 
  dialect 
  is 
  nearer 
  to 
  

   this 
  group 
  of 
  dialects 
  than 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  the 
  Sioux 
  or 
  Dakota 
  proper. 
  

  

  In 
  comparison 
  w 
  r 
  ith 
  the 
  nations 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  our 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  Smithsonian 
  collection 
  at 
  Washington 
  contains 
  about 
  10,000 
  stone 
  implements. 
  It 
  

   is 
  the 
  most 
  complete 
  collection, 
  in 
  the 
  extent, 
  variety 
  and 
  perfection 
  of 
  the 
  specimens, 
  in 
  

   this 
  country, 
  and 
  probably 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  