THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 633 



his vapid interrogations to Bobasheela, asked him if he had preserved his she-she-quoin, 

 he gave instant relief to the mind of his friend, from which the lapse of time and changes of 

 society had erased the recollection of the chief's familiar name, She-she-quoi-me-gon, by 

 which his friend had christened him, from the circumstance of his having presented him 

 a she-she-quoin (or mystery rattle), the customary badge bestowed when any one is 

 initiated into the degree of "doctor" or "brother." 



From the forms and ceremonies which my good friend Bobasheela had gone through, 

 it seems (as his name indicates) that he stood in the relationship of brother to the chief; 

 and although the chief's interrogations had produced him pleasure in one respect, one 

 can easily imagine him much pained in another, inasmuch as he was obliged to acknowl- 

 edge that his sacred badge, his she-she-quoin, had been lost many years since, by the 

 sinking of one of his boats on the Cumberland River. For his standing in the tribe, 

 such an event might have been of an irretrievable character; but for the renewed and 

 continued good fellowship of his friend in this country the accident proved to be one ot 

 little moment, as will be learned from various incidents recited in the following pages : 



BOBASHEELA' S STOKY. HIS VISIT TO DANIEL BOONE IN 1806. 



In this first evening's interview over the pipe, my friend, Mr. H., to the great amuse- 

 ment of the party of Indians, and of Daniel and the squaws, who had gathered around 

 us, as well as several of my London friends, related the story of "floating down the Mis- 

 sissippi River on two logs of wood," &c, as follows: 



' 'This good old fellow and I formed our first acquaintance in a very curious way, and when 

 you hear me relate the manner of it, I am quite sure you will know how to account for 

 his recognizing me this evening, and for the pleasure we have both felt at thus unex- 

 pectedly meeting. In the year 1806 I happened to be on a visit to Saint Louis, and 

 thence proceeded up the Missouri to the mouth of the Femme Osage to pay a visit to my old 

 friend Daniel Boone, who had a short time before left his farm in Kentucky and settled 

 on the banks of the Missouri, in the heart of an entire wilderness, to avoid the constant 

 annoyance of the neighbors who had flocked into the country around him in Kentucky. 

 The place for his future abode, which he had selected, was in a rich and fertile country, 

 and 40 or 50 miles from any white inhabitants, where he was determined to spend the 

 remainder of his days, believing that for the rest of his life he would be no more annoyed 

 by the familiarity of neighbors. I spent several weeks very pleasantly with the old 

 pioneer, who had intentionally built his log cabin so small, with only one room and one 

 bed for himself and his wife, that even his best friends should not break upon the sacred 

 retirement of his house at night, but having shared his hospitable board during the day 

 were referred to the cabin of his son, Nathan Boone, about 400 yards distant, where an 

 extra room and an extra bed afforded them the means of passing the night. 



"The old hunter and his son were thus living very happily, and made me comfortable 

 and happy whilst I was with them. The anecdotes of his extraordinary life, which were 

 talked over for amusement during that time, were enough to fill a volume. The vener- 

 able old man, whose long and flowing locks were silvery white, was then in his seventy- 

 eighth year, and still he almost daily took down his trusty rifle from its hooks in the 

 morning, and in a little time would bring in a saddle of venison for our breakfast, and 

 thus he chiefly supported his affectionate old lady and himself, and the few friends who 

 found their way to his solitary abode, without concern or care for the future. The stump 

 of a large cotton wood tree, which had been cut down, was left standing in the ground, and 

 being cut square off on the top, and his cabin being built around it, answered the pur- 

 pose of a table in the center of his cabin, from which our meals were eaten. When I 

 made my visit to him, he had been living several years in this retired state and been per- 

 fectly happy in the undisturbed solitude of the wilderness, but told me several times 

 that he was becoming very uneasy and distressed, as he found that his days of peace 

 were nearly over, as two Yankee families had already found the way into the country, 

 and one of them had actually settled within 9 miles of him. 



