﻿THE 
  STONE 
  AND 
  BONE 
  IMPLEMENTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  ABICKAREES. 
  27 
  

  

  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Mandans 
  is 
  recent 
  ; 
  but, 
  since 
  it 
  commenced, 
  

   it 
  has 
  been 
  unusually 
  ample. 
  The 
  French 
  Colonial 
  records 
  of 
  

   Canada, 
  which 
  closed 
  in 
  1764, 
  and 
  the 
  English 
  Colonial 
  records 
  

   of 
  New 
  York, 
  which 
  terminated 
  in 
  1781, 
  both 
  of 
  which 
  embrace 
  

   information 
  concerning 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  Indian 
  nations 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  

   Missouri, 
  make 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  the 
  Mandans 
  or 
  Arickarees. 
  Their 
  

   position 
  high 
  up 
  on 
  this 
  river, 
  placed 
  them 
  beyond 
  the 
  reach 
  of 
  

   intercourse, 
  even 
  with 
  the 
  early 
  traders 
  and 
  explorers, 
  and 
  their 
  

   existence 
  was 
  unknown 
  until 
  about 
  the 
  year 
  1750. 
  Lewis 
  and 
  

   Clarke, 
  who 
  wintered 
  in 
  this 
  Mandan 
  village 
  in 
  1804-5, 
  gave 
  the 
  

   first 
  definite 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  nations. 
  " 
  Within 
  the 
  recollec- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  living 
  witnesses," 
  they 
  remark, 
  writing 
  at 
  the 
  Mandan 
  

   village, 
  " 
  the 
  Mandans 
  w^ere 
  settled, 
  forty 
  years 
  ago, 
  in 
  nine 
  

   villages, 
  the 
  ruins 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  passed 
  about 
  eighty 
  miles 
  below, 
  

   and 
  situated 
  seven 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  and 
  two 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  

   Missouri. 
  The 
  two, 
  finding 
  themselves 
  wasting 
  away 
  before 
  the 
  

   small-pox 
  and 
  the 
  Sioux, 
  united 
  into 
  one 
  village, 
  and 
  moved 
  up 
  

   the 
  river 
  opposite 
  the 
  Rickaras. 
  The 
  same 
  causes 
  reduced 
  the 
  

   remaining 
  seven 
  to 
  five 
  villages, 
  till 
  at 
  length 
  they 
  emigrated 
  in 
  a 
  

   body 
  to 
  the 
  Rickara 
  nation, 
  where 
  they 
  formed 
  themselves 
  into 
  

   two 
  villages, 
  and 
  joined 
  those 
  of 
  their 
  countrymen 
  who 
  had 
  gone 
  

   before 
  them. 
  In 
  their 
  new 
  residence 
  they 
  w 
  r 
  ere 
  still 
  insecure, 
  and 
  

   at 
  length 
  the 
  three 
  villages 
  ascended 
  the 
  Missouri 
  to 
  their 
  present 
  

   position, 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  while 
  the 
  single 
  village 
  took 
  a 
  posi- 
  

   tion 
  on 
  the 
  southeast 
  [east] 
  side. 
  In 
  this 
  situation 
  they 
  were 
  

   found 
  by 
  those 
  w 
  r 
  ho 
  visited 
  them 
  in 
  1796; 
  since 
  which 
  time 
  the 
  

   two 
  villages 
  have 
  united 
  into 
  one. 
  They 
  are 
  now 
  in 
  two 
  villages, 
  

   one 
  on 
  the 
  southeast 
  [east] 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri, 
  the 
  other 
  on 
  the 
  

   opposite 
  side, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  distance 
  of 
  three 
  miles 
  across. 
  The 
  first, 
  

   in 
  an 
  open 
  plain, 
  containing 
  about 
  forty 
  or 
  fifty 
  lodges, 
  built 
  in 
  

   the 
  same 
  way 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Rickaras 
  : 
  the 
  second, 
  the 
  same 
  num- 
  

   ber, 
  and 
  both 
  may 
  raise 
  about 
  three 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  men."* 
  

   This 
  would 
  give 
  them, 
  in 
  1804, 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  seventeen 
  hundred 
  and 
  

   Mtj 
  souls. 
  

  

  In 
  1832. 
  Prince 
  Maximilian, 
  of 
  Neuwied, 
  spent 
  several 
  months 
  

   with 
  the 
  Mandans, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  village 
  where 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke 
  

   found 
  them 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  workf 
  gives 
  a 
  full 
  and 
  interesting 
  account 
  

   of 
  their 
  manners 
  and 
  customs. 
  Again, 
  about 
  1834, 
  George 
  Catlin 
  

   spent 
  several 
  weeks 
  at 
  this 
  village, 
  and 
  devotes 
  several 
  chapters 
  

  

  ♦Travels 
  to 
  the 
  Sources 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri, 
  &c, 
  Longman's 
  Lond. 
  Ed., 
  1814, 
  p. 
  96. 
  

   t 
  Travels 
  in 
  North 
  America. 
  

  

  