244 Expedition to the 



ceptible of the most tender and permanent attachment to an 

 individual of the opposite sex, and that on the cessation of 

 all hope of a union with the beloved object, the consequen- 

 ces have sometimes been fatal. Several instances came to 

 our knowledge of a young female committing the act of sui- 

 cide, after marriage with a person, in obedience to the will of 

 her parents, whilst her affections were devoted to another. 



The maternal fondness appears also to be not less exqui- 

 site than we perceive it to be wkh-civilized mothers. The 

 following anecdote may be cited in support of this observa- 

 tion. 



In the year 1814, a trader married a beautiful squaw of 

 one of the most distinguished families in the Omawhaw na- 

 tion. This match, on the part of the husband, was induced 

 by the following circumstances. Being an active, intelligent, 

 and enterprising man, he had introduced the American 

 trade to the Missouri Indians, and had gained great influ- 

 ence amongst them by his bravery and ingenuous deport- 

 ment. But he at length perceived that his influence was 

 gradually declining, in consequence of the presence and 

 wiles of many rival traders, to whom his enterprise had 

 opened the way, and that his customers were gradually for- 

 saking him. 



Thus circumstanced, in order to regain the ground he had 

 lost, he determined to seek a matrimonial alliance with one 

 of the most powerful families of the Omawhaws. In pursu- 

 ance of this resolution, he selected a squaw, whose family 

 and friends were such as he desired. He addressed himself 

 to her parents, agreeably to the Indian custom, and inform- 

 ed them that he loved their daughter, that he was sorry 

 to see her in the state of poverty cemmon to her nation, 

 and although he possessed a wife among the white peo- 

 ple, yet he wished to have one also of the Omawhaw na- 

 tion. If they would transfer their daughter to him in mar- 



