^576 



WESTERN DISTRICT. 



Puncas, to the north, are indigenous tribes, and retain their primitive barbarous liabits of h"fe 

 with little or no change. They pursue the bufialo, and the squaws raise Indian corn, beans, 

 and pumpkins. In the desert regions further west, are roving tribes of Camanches, Kioways, 

 and Towash, often called Pawnee Peets or Piquas ; and nearer to the mountains, of xVrickaras 

 or Rees, Shiennes or Cheyennes, Arrepahas, Gros Ventres, and ICutaws, who wander from 

 place to place, on both sides of the frontier, in pursuit of game, and have had little intercourse 

 with the whites. They are skilful horsemen ; their arms are chiefly the bow and arrow, lance, 

 war-club, and buckler, and their dwellings moveable skin lodges or tents. The great caravan 

 road from Missouri to Santa Fe, crosses the country, and there is a trader's fort on the Upper 

 Arkansas. . 



CHAPTER XXXIX. WESTERN DISTRICT. 



1 . Boundaries and Extent. The vast expanse extending from the Punca and the Nebras- 

 ka or Platte to lat. 49^ N., and from the Missouri and the White Earth Rivers to the Rocky 

 Mountains, over an area of about 300,000 square miles, has been but partially explored, and 

 has received no official name. It is occupied by wild bands of independent Indian tribes, who 

 have had little connexion with the whites, except with ihe traders, who have several posts and 

 trading stations in the country. The greater portion of this region, as far as is known to us, 

 consists of prairie, bordered and intersected here and there by patches of woodland, chiefly 



versation ; and his curiosity is as unbounded and irresist- 

 ablo as that, of any man, woman, or monkey on earth. 

 Truth and honesty (mailing the usual exceptions to be 

 found in all countries) are unknown or despised by them. 

 A boy is taught and encouraged to steal and lie ; and the 

 only blame or disgrace ever incurred thereby, is wlien the 

 offence is accompanied by detection. I never met with 

 liars so determined, universal, or audacious. The chiefs 

 themselves have told me repeatedly the most deliberate 

 and gross untruths, to serve a trifling purpose, with all the 

 gravity of a chief-justice ; and I doubt whether Baron 

 Munchausen himself would be more than a match for the 

 great chief of the Pawnees Let them not dispute the 

 palm; each is greatest in his peculiar line; one in inven- 

 tive exaggeration, and the other in plain, unadorned false- 

 hood." 



The dandyism of the youthful Pawnees is superb : 

 '• About the age of twenty, they are allowed to hunt, 

 and seek other opportunities for distinction. This epoch 

 answers to the O.xonian's first appearance in London life, 

 after taking his B. A. degree. I have seen some dandies 

 in my life, — English, Scotch, French, German, ay, and 

 American dandies, too; but none of them can compare 

 with the vanity or coxcombry of the Pawnee dandy. Lest 

 any of the gentry claiming this distinction, and, belonging 

 to tlie above-mentioned nations, should doubt or feel 

 aggrieved at this assertion, I will faithfully narrate what 

 passed constantly before my eyes in our own tent; name- 

 ly, the manner in which Sa-ni-tsa-rish's son passed the 

 days on which there was no buffalo-hunt. lie began his 

 toilet, about eight in the morning, by greasing and smooth- 

 ing his whole person with fat, which he afterwards rubbed 

 perfectly dry, only leaving the skin sleek and glossy ; he 

 then painted liis face vermilion, with a stripe of red also 

 along the centre of the crown of the head ; he then pro- 

 ceeded to his 'coiffure,' which received great attention, 

 although the quantum of hair demanding such care was 

 limited, inasmuch as the head was shaved close, except 

 one tuft at the top, from which hung two plaited 'tresses.' 

 He then filled his ears, which were bored in two or three 

 places, with rings and wampum, and hung several strings 

 of beads round his neck; then, sometimes painting stripes 

 of vermilion and yellow upon his breast and shoulders, and 

 placing armlets above his elbov.-s, and rings upon his fin- 

 gers, he proceeded to adorn the nether man with a pair of 

 moccasins, some scarlet cloth leggins fastened to his waist- 

 belt, and bound round below the knee with garters of 

 beads four inches broad. Being so far prepared, he diew 

 out his mirror, fitted in a small wooden frame (which he 

 always, whether hunting or at horne, e;irried about his 



person), and commenced a course of self-examination, 

 such as the severest disciple of Watts, Mason, or any other 

 religious moralist, never equaled. Nay, more ; if 1 were 

 not afraid of ofieiidiiig the softer sex, by venturing to 

 bring man in comparison with them in an occupation 

 which is considered so peculiarly their own, I vv'ould as; 

 sert, that no female creation of the poets, from the time 

 that Eve first saw 'that smooth, watery image.' till the 

 polished toilet of the lovel}' Belinda, ever studied her own 

 reflected self witli more perseverance or satisfaction than 

 this Pawnee youth. I have repeatedly seen him sit, for 

 above an hour at a time, examining his face in every pos- 

 sible position and expression ; now frowning like Homer's 

 Jove before a thunder-storm ; now like the same god, de- 

 scribed by Milton, 'smiling with superior love'; now 

 slightly varying the streaks of paint upon his cheeks and 

 forehead, and then pushing or pulling 'each particular 

 hair ' of his eyebrows into its most becoming place ! Could 

 the youth have seen anything in that mirror half so dan- 

 gerous as the features which the glassy wave gave back 

 to the gaze of the fond Narcissus, I might have feared for 

 his life or reason ; but, fbrtunatelj' for these, Ihey had 

 only to contend with a low, receding forehead, a nose 

 somewhat simious, a pair of small, sharp eyes, with high 

 cheek-bones, and a broad mouth well furnished with a set 

 of teeth, which had at least the merit of demolishing spee- 

 dily everything, animal or vegetable, that came witliin 

 their range. Ills toilet thus arranged to his satisfaction, 

 one of the women or children led his buffalo-horse before 

 the tent; and he proceeded to deck his steed by painting 

 his forehead, neck, and shoulders with stripes of vermilion , 

 and sometimes twisted a few feathers into his tail. He 

 then put into his mouth an old-fashioned bridle, bought or 

 stolen from the Spaniards, from the bit of which hung 

 some six or eight steel chains, about nine inches long; 

 while some small bells, attached to the reins, contributed 

 to render the movements of the steed as musical as those 

 of the lovely ' Sonnante ' in the incomparable tales of 

 Conite Hamilton. All things being now ready for the 

 promenade, he threw a scarlet mantle over his shoulders, 

 thrust his mirror in below his belt, took in one hand a large 

 fan of wild-goose or turkey feathers, to shield his fair and 

 delicate complexion from the sun, while a whip hung from 

 his wrist, having the handle studded with brass nails. 

 Thus accoutred, he mounted his jingling palfrey and am- 

 bled through the encampment, envied by all the youths 

 less gay in atlire, attracting the gaze of the unfortunate 

 drudges who represent the gentler sex, and admired su- 

 premely by hirntelf." — Murray's Mdrentures in the Far 

 West. 



