266 
VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSOURI. 
A few miles above Fort Clark is the Mandan village. The Mandans are the finest Indians in 
America. They number about two hundred now, the tribe having been reduced a few years 
ago to eighteen souls by the smallpox. Scarcely one who was attacked recovered; and such 
was their desperation, that often when one was satisfied that the disease was upon him, he would 
throw himself into the river from the high bluff on which the village stands, in order to escape 
the agonies of that dreadful and loathsome disease. 
We passed the mouth of Knife river: on the plain above was fought, in the autumn of 1837, 
between the Assiniboins and Gros Ventres, one of the most bloody battles in the annals of In¬ 
dian warfare. The Assiniboins, numbering four or five hundred, led by “ The Left-Handed,” 
the greatest chief they ever had, attacked the Gros Ventres, and, after a long and desperate bat¬ 
tle, were defeated, leaving seventy-five of their best warriors dead upon the field. Some of those 
who escaped came to Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Mr. Culbertson describes 
them as terribly cut up and mangled. The Gros Ventres suffered but slightly in comparison 
with their enemies. 
October 12.—Left the Ree village at an early hour, and continued the voyage till noon, when we 
were compelled by the wind to lie by till evening. The country is on fire in every direction, 
and the dense smoke with which the atmosphere is filled produces a very injurious effect upon 
the eyes. 
October 13.—Fortunately there was no wind to-day, and we made a fine run down the river, 
passing three encampments ol Dacotahs. At the first, a very large one, several hundred warriors 
were collected on both sides of the river, completely commanding the passage. As we ap¬ 
proached, the chief hailed us and ordered us to land. Around him stood a hundred grim war¬ 
riors with guns, and bows and arrows, ready to enforce his orders. Disobedience would have 
brought down a shower of destructive missiles. There was no questioning the mandate of the 
royal savage. Discretion here was manifestly the better part of valor; so, pride yielded to pru¬ 
dence, and the Blackfoot was brought to shore. 
The Indians were somewhat saucy and peremptory, as if presuming upon our weakness, but 
offered no insult; only demanding a supply of tobacco. I told the chief that we had not come 
from a tobacco country, but had crossed the Rocky mountains, and seen thousands of Indians, all 
of whom expected something, but that I would divide my little remaining stock with them. As 
they seemed bent on mischief, I thought it best to end the interview. As the boat left the shore, 
an arrow was discharged at the pilot from behind a clump of bushes. It fell short of its aim, and 
penetrated deeply the timber of the boat. The fellow who fired it being concealed, prevented 
the rifles of my men from reaching him. This was probably fortunate, as, had we killed the 
assassin, it would have undoubtedly brought a useless conflict, perhaps fatal to us, and, at any 
rate, exposed us to perpetual annoyance from this powerful tribe in our further course down the 
river. A fine old Indian, seeing the serious turn things seemed to be taking, came running 
down to the river, swam out to the boat, and wanted to accompany us through the Dacotah 
country, in order to tell his people that they must offer no impediment to our voyage. He ex¬ 
pressed a great deal of indignation against the Indian who had shot his arrow at us; said he 
had a “bad heart,” and would not be upheld by the brave of the tribe. Our volunteer friend 
was faithful to his professions, as, at the next encampment we encountered, we were treated 
with perfect civility by the tribe. Soon after sunset we reached the main encampment, situated 
on the left bank of the river upon a commanding bluff', one hundred feet high. The sides and 
top of the hill were covered with Indians, to the number of three hundred warriors. As we 
reached the landing our friendly chief told them what had happened above; that we were in 
much hurry to get on our way; I had only stopped there to give them a little tobacco. They 
listened in silence to the old chief, and suffered us to proceed without molestation or insult. 
These Sioux hold the white man’s power in a good deal of contempt, and are sadly in need of 
a lesson. We kept on all night, in order to get out of the way of these dangerous fellows. For- 
