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Show 106 Lewis and Clarke's Ea..'Pedition band would permit no interruption before a reasonable time bad elapsed. The Jlie.ara lodges are in a circular ot· octagonal form, and gcnel'ally about thirty or forty feet ~n diame.tct•; thry are made by plating forked posts about s1x ~c~t h1gh l'ound the eircumfcrcncc of the circle; these arc JOmcd by poles r1·om one fm·k to another, which are supported also by other forked poles slanting ft·om the ground; in the centre of' tl~e lodge arc placed fout• higher forks, about fifwen feet 111 lengtb, connectt!d togethet~ by beams; from these to the lower poles the rafters of the roof are extended so as to leave a vacancy in the middle for the smoke; the fra~e of ~he building iM then covered with willow bt·anches, With wh1ch is interwoven grass, and over this mud or clay: the .ai~Cr· ture forth~ door is about f'our feet wide, and before 1t JS a sort of entry about ten feet from the lodge. They arc very warm and compact. They cultivate maize or Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, watermelons, squashes, and a species of tobacco peculiar to themselves. Their commerce is chiefly with tl1e traders who supply them with goods in return for pcltries, which they procure not only by their own hunting, but in exchange for corn from their less civilized neighbours. The object chirfly in demand seemed to be red paint, but they would give any thing they had to spare for the most trifling article. One of the men to-day gave an Indian a book made out of a pin, and he gave him in return a pair of moccasins. They express a disposition to keep at peace with all nations, but they are well armed with fusils, and being much under the influence of the Sioux, who exchanged the goods whicb they get from the British for Ricara corn, their minds are sometimes poisoned and they cannot be always depended on. At the present moment they are at war with the Mandans. We are informed by Mr. Gravelines, ,vhobad passed through that country, that the Yankton or Jacques Up the JJlissow·i. 10?' r.iver rises about forty miles to the east or northeast of this place, the Chaycnnc branch of the ,Red river about twenty miles further, passing the Sioux, and the St. Peter's about eighty. Saturday, 13th. In the morning our visitors left us, ex. cept the brother of the chief who accompanies us and one ot' the squaws. 'Ve passed at anear1y hour a camp of Sioux on the JIOI'th bank, who merely looked at us without saying a word, and from the character of the tribe we did not solicit a con· versation. At ten and a half miles we reached the mouth or a creek on the north, which takes its rise from some ponds a short distance to the northeast: to this stream we gave the name of Stoneidol creek, for after passing a wil~ low and sand island just above its mouth, we discovered that a few miles back fr·om the Missour·i there are two stones resembling human figures, and a third like a dog; all which are objects of great veneration among the Ricaras. Their history would adorn the metamorphoses of Ovid. A young man was deeply enamoured with a girl whose parents refused their consent to the marriage. The youth went out into the fieltJs to mour•n his misfor·hmes; a sym]>athy of feeling led the lady to the same spot, and the faithful dog would not cease to follow his master. Aftet• wandering together and having nothing but grapes to subsist on, they were at last converted into stone, which beginning at the feet gradually invaded the nobler parts, leaving nothing unchanged but a bunch of gt•apes which the female holds in her hands to this day. "\Vbenever the Ricaras pass these sacred stones, they stop to make some offering of dress to propitiate these deities. Such h the account given by the Ricara chief which we bad no mode of examining, except that we found one part of the story very agreeably confirmed; for on the river nea1· where the event is said to have occuL·red, we found a greater abun~ dance of fine grapes than we had yet seen. Above this is a small creek four and a half miles fr·om Stoneidol creek, "bich is ilftt•eu yards wide', comes in from 1be south, and |
