162 Expedition to the 



At another fire, surrounded by his particular band, sat the 

 Knife Chief, La-che-le-cha-ru, principal chief of the Paw- 

 neemahas. He is a large, portly man, with a very prepossess- 

 ing countenance ; the hair on the sides of his head is gray ; 

 he has a deep scar on the right side, from a wound which 

 was inflicted by a female prisoner, of the Padouca nation, 

 whom he had adopted and taken into his family. This 

 squaw, becoming infuriated at the prospect of the state of 

 slavery to which she supposed herself now reduced, stabbed 

 her child to the heart, mortally wounded the brother of this 

 chief, and, before she could be despatched, had inflicted this 

 wound, through which the bowels protruded. The individu- 

 als of this band live in great harmony amongst themselves, 

 owing probably to their having but two chiefs, who are un- 

 rivalled. The second chief is a Mestizo. Against this band 

 we have no accusation, they have always demeaned them- 

 selves well towards the American whites. 



In a third group were collected the representatives of the 

 Pawnee Republicans ; this nation or clan stands accused of 

 whipping, robbing, and otherwise abusing a white American 

 and iiis son, whom they found trapping beaver on the Ar- 

 kansa river, this season ; of killing two American citizens, 

 two years since, who were also trapping beaver on the same 

 river ; and of robbing our party of sundry articles and hor- 

 ses near the Konza village, whilst under the protection of 

 the flag of our country, of the nature of which they had been 

 instructed and perfectly well understood. These outrages, 

 and many others, they had committed on lands, to which 

 they do not pretend to have any claim, situated far from 

 their own territories, and in the immediate vicinity of nations 

 with whom they then were, and still are, at war.* 



On the following day the Pawnees were summoned to 

 council, and in a short time they appeared marching 



•It was a party of the Grand Pawnees that robbed and ill treated lieu- 

 tenant Pike and his party, when trarersing ihe country within then 

 range. 



