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Show [ 23] 6 .!Jugust .29.-Doctor Hempstead, one of the residents here, made made me a present of a number of minerals which he had collected. He also brought me some specimens of the Myrtin~a Proboscidia, and cleome integrifolia. The pods of the first mentiOned plant are often used for pickles, and the latter plant is one of the most beautiful that meets the eye of the prairie traveller, covered as it is with rich clusters of pink flowers . To day a number of Cheyennes visited the fort, amongst them were Old Bark, his son "Ah-mah-nah-co," and Yellow Wolf, "0· cum-who-wast." The latter is a man of considerable influence, of enlarged views, and gifted with more foresight than any other man in his tribe. He frequently talks of the diminishing numbers of ' his people, and the decrease of the once abundant buffalo. He says that in a few years they will become extinct; and unless the Indians wish to pass away also, they will have to adopt the habits of the white people, using such measures to produce subsistence as will render them independent of the precarious reliance afforded by the game. He has proposed to the interpreter at, Bent's fort, to give him a number of mules, in the proportion of one from every man in the tribe, if lre would build them a structure similar to Bent's fort, and instruct them to cultivate the ground, and to raise cattle. He says that for some time his people would not be content to relin· quish the delights of the chase, and then the old men and squaws ~ight .remain at home cultivating the grounds, apd be safely secured m theu fort from the depredations of hostile tribes. The Cheyennes are among the few trib t s for whom the United ~tates has. not done anything, and they are among the most deservln~ of assrstance. Of late they appear to be getting discontented With such treatment; they say, ''we have not robbed or s'tolen from you, and .you take no n?tice of us, nor do you make us any pre· sents, ~vhile you are contmually doing benefits to the Pawnees, who both kill and rob your people, and who are our enemies." . The~ have the reputation of. c?nducting themselves well, of tradm~ hberal1y, and of committmg fewer depredations upon the whttes than any other nation. Seventeen years ago they numbered 400 lodges, but they are now reduced to one half that number. ~ast year they suffered great ravages from the measles and the hoopIng c?ugh, and what was to them a still greater calamity, they were ~~ffermg. from hunger, not having seen ?ny buffalo, except now and J en a SI.ogle butl. This year they did not see any droves from anuary, when th~y were hunting in company with Mr. w'illiam Bent, at the cros~rng of the Arkansas, until the early part of this month. As the people o.f the United Sta tes have been and are the ~lleat cause.of the diminution in the quantity of game: by con~inud Y tra:vellmg thr?ugh the country, by multiplying roads, and thus estroymg the qmet ranges where the animals breed· by killing j~~y of them, and by th~ immense numbers that they induce the S~a~ans ~ d:~troy for theu robes, it seems but fair that the United ben:frci:l oi~flue~s:ist _tlhteb Chej ennes. A.t this moment a ·ver.Y e mig e exerted upon them, as they have their 7 [ 23] minds now ~ull. of this plan o.f .0-cu~-who-wast's, of forming permanent habttatJons, and of hvmg hke the whites by tilling the ground and raising cattle. ' The next m.o:ning, Sunday, August 30, was a day of rest. The constant repainng of the wagons that were daily coming in from Fort Leavenworth, kept the people here very busy. The rino- of the blacksmith's hammer, anrl the noise from the wagoner's s~hop were incessant, so we all hailed the day with gladness; those who la~ored, as a day of repose, those who did not labor, as a day of qmet. During th~ day Ah-ma~-nah-co paid me a visit, bringing a present of .a pair of moccasms? ornamented with porcupine quills, wo~ked mto a figure resemblmg a squaw; this ornament seems pe• cuhar to the Cheyennes. "Nah-moust," or "Big left hand " also came to see me ; he is one of the largest Indians of the tribe ~easuring 6 feet 2! ·inches in height, and is very stout and bro~d shouldered. He has grown so large that he has been obliged to give up hun.ting, of which he was. fon.d in ~is more youthful days, for few !nd1an hors~s cou_ld sustam his wetght through a buffalo chase. He ~s extr~mly mgemous, and handles his knife with great skilJ, and IS consid.ered the best arrow-maker in the village. The young men, when gamg to hunt or to . war, call on the skillful " N ah-moust" to obtain their. arrow~,. and his lodge. receives, when they return successful, a fau partitiOn of the frmts of the chase, or the spoils of the Indian foray. .!lugust 31.-While walking around and endeavoring to recruit my strength by exercise, I was struck with the countenance of a strange I'ndian. Upon inquiry I learnerl that he was called ': Miah ·tose," and the whites had given him the sobriquet of "slim-face." Not long a~o he made a visit to St. Louis, Missouri. It is curious to hear With _wh~t close sc.rutiny he regarded every thing that chanced to meet h1s eye. Bemg a man of great influence, and the o~ten chosen partizan of war parties, his companions do not fail to g1ve cre?it to his .narrations, which to them are truly marvellous. The we1ght .of hts character, or more probably the fear of his al)ger, as he IS a great warrio.r, forbids their daring to utter a doubt. He seems to have been best pleased. with the riding anti the ho rses that he saw one evening at a cir cus. He recollects perfectly every horse. that appeared, and gives an account of the colors, marks, and tr~ppmgs of each one of them, with extraordinary exactness and minuten.ess of detail. To see the whites ride so well, was to him· almost mc?mprehensible, and wa·s the only superiority that he ~ould adm1 t that the civilized man had J eri ved from his civilization, when compared with his own rude manners of life. He wondered muc:h, too, to see so many people living in one town, so far from any hunting grounds: Wishing one day to ascertain exactly t~e number of inhabitants, he procured a long square stick, antl f=et himself do.wn ?n the pavement ~o no.te the :passe_rs by, cutting a notch m his shck for each one; m a lrttle while h1s stick had no place left for another notch, and he commenced counti ;1 g, and counted, and counted, but as the busy stream of the multitude |