﻿44 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  scaffolds 
  rising 
  up 
  among 
  them, 
  the 
  village 
  was 
  strikingly 
  con- 
  

   spicious 
  for 
  some 
  distance, 
  both 
  above 
  and 
  below 
  on 
  the 
  river 
  f 
  and 
  

   presented 
  a 
  remarkable 
  appearance. 
  

  

  Afterwards, 
  at 
  the 
  Minnitasee 
  and 
  Man 
  dan 
  village, 
  higher 
  up 
  

   the 
  river, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  new 
  Arickaree 
  village, 
  I 
  had 
  an 
  opportunity 
  

   to 
  see 
  houses 
  precisely 
  similar 
  in 
  actual 
  occupation. 
  The 
  Man- 
  

   dans, 
  immediately 
  before 
  their 
  calamitous 
  visitation 
  by 
  the 
  pesti- 
  

   lence, 
  numbered 
  two 
  thousand, 
  and 
  the 
  Ariekarees, 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  

   their 
  removal, 
  nine 
  hundred. 
  

  

  War 
  Post 
  — 
  In 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  village, 
  as 
  elswhere 
  stated, 
  

   were 
  the 
  medicine 
  stone 
  and 
  the 
  war 
  post, 
  both 
  inherited 
  probably 
  

   from 
  the 
  Mandans, 
  as 
  we 
  found 
  a 
  similiar 
  stone 
  and 
  post 
  at 
  the 
  Min- 
  

   nitasee 
  and 
  Mandan 
  village, 
  in 
  a 
  similar 
  area 
  in 
  the 
  centre, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  

   picket 
  enclosure. 
  The 
  war 
  post 
  was 
  a 
  red 
  cedar 
  tree 
  about 
  seven 
  

   feet 
  long 
  and 
  three 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  inches 
  in 
  diameter. 
  The 
  rough 
  bark 
  

   had 
  been 
  removed 
  and 
  the 
  top 
  ornamented 
  with 
  strips 
  of 
  red 
  

   flannel. 
  It 
  was 
  set 
  about 
  two 
  feet 
  in 
  the 
  ground. 
  I 
  raised 
  it 
  and 
  

   brought 
  it 
  away 
  with 
  me, 
  as 
  a 
  memorial 
  of 
  the 
  Mandans. 
  It 
  has 
  

   been 
  the 
  silent 
  witness 
  of 
  many 
  barbarous 
  rites 
  of 
  cord-swinging 
  

   and 
  dragging 
  buffalo 
  skulls 
  : 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  case 
  the 
  devotee 
  suspend- 
  

   ing 
  himself 
  with 
  cords 
  passed 
  through 
  the 
  skin 
  on 
  the 
  shoulder 
  

   blades, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  other, 
  dragging 
  one, 
  and 
  sometimes, 
  two 
  buffalo 
  

   skulls 
  attached 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner. 
  If 
  it 
  could 
  speak, 
  it 
  might 
  

   unfold 
  many 
  singular 
  ceremonies 
  illustrative 
  of 
  the 
  religious 
  fervor 
  

   and 
  dark 
  superstitions 
  of 
  this 
  remarkable 
  people. 
  

  

  Grave 
  Mounds. 
  — 
  The 
  Arickarees 
  buried 
  their 
  dead 
  in 
  the 
  

   ground, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  sitting 
  posture, 
  judging 
  from 
  the 
  form 
  and 
  size 
  

   of 
  the 
  mounds. 
  Just 
  back 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  upon 
  the 
  open 
  prairie, 
  

   was 
  a 
  long 
  row 
  of 
  these 
  mounds 
  quite 
  near 
  together. 
  There 
  were 
  

   several 
  hundred 
  of 
  them 
  forming 
  a 
  segment 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  circle 
  ap- 
  

   parently 
  a 
  mile 
  in 
  length. 
  They 
  were 
  about 
  three 
  feet 
  high, 
  seven 
  

   feet 
  long 
  and 
  five 
  feet 
  wide 
  at 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  ground. 
  Other 
  

   mounds 
  were 
  grouped 
  together. 
  The 
  most 
  conspicuous 
  mound 
  

   was 
  that 
  of 
  an 
  Arickaree 
  chief 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  Sioux 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  

   before. 
  It 
  was 
  somewhat 
  larger 
  than 
  the 
  others, 
  with 
  a 
  smaller 
  

   mound, 
  probably 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  relative 
  intersecting 
  it. 
  Around 
  the 
  

   two, 
  the 
  sod 
  had 
  been 
  removed 
  for 
  the 
  space 
  of 
  five 
  feet, 
  thus 
  

   forming 
  an 
  area 
  fifteen 
  or 
  more 
  feet 
  in 
  diameter, 
  with 
  a 
  floor 
  of 
  

   bare 
  earth, 
  the 
  mounds 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  centre. 
  On 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  

   mound 
  over 
  the 
  chief's 
  grave 
  r 
  were 
  two 
  bull 
  buffalo 
  skulls, 
  side 
  and 
  

  

  