OCR Text |
Show VISIT TO FORT LOOKOUT----THE DACOTAS, OR SIOUX. standing posture. On a point of land, at the left hand, round which the Missouri turns to the west, we saw the buildings of Sioux Agency; the Yellow Stone saluted the post with several guns, and was welcomed to the fort by the hoisting of a flag, while the whole population, about fifty in number, chiefly consisting of Sioux Indians, were assembled on the beach. We greeted our friends Major Bean and Mr. Bodmer, and proceeded a mile further, to an extensive forest, where we took in wood, and stopped for the night. In order to get acquainted with the Sioux, in whom I took so much interest, I returned, in a heavy rain, through the bushes and high grass, to the agency, where Major Bean received me very kindly, though his dwelling, according to the fashion of the place, was rudely constructed, and he was incommoded by too many visitors. Sioux Agency, or, as it is now usually called, Fort Lookout, is a square, of about sixty paces, surrounded by pickets, twenty or thirty feet high, made of squared trunks of trees placed close to each other, within which the dwellings are built close to the palisades. These dwellings consisted of only three block-houses, with several apartments. Close to the fort, in a northern direction, the Fur Company of Mr. Soublette had a dwelling-house, with a store ; and, in the opposite direction, was a similar post of the American Fur Company. The fort is agreeably situated on a green spot, near the river, partly covered with bushes, and partly open, bounded by hills, beyond which the prairie extends, first, with a few old trees, and some wooded spots, but soon assuming its peculiar bare character. About ten leather tents or huts of the Sioux, of the branch of the Yanktons or Yanktoans, were set up near the fort. The Dacotas, as they call themselves, or the Sioux of the French, called by the Ojibuas or Chippeways, Nandoesi (which has been corrupted into Nadowassis), are still one of the most numerous Indian tribes in North America. Pike stated their number at 21,575 souls, and they are still reckoned at 20,000 ; nay, some even affirm, that they are still able to furnish 15,000 warriors, which seems rather too high an estimate. Major Long, who gives much information respecting this people, calculates their number at 28,100, of which 7,055 are warriors, the nation possessing 2,330 tents, which agrees pretty nearly with the statements we received on the Missouri. If we add the Assiniboins, who are of the same origin, and who are estimated at 28,000, we shall have for all the Dacotas, 56,100 souls, of whom 14,055 are warriors, and the number of their tents 5,330. Major Long is of opinion that they cannot be calculated at less than 25,000 souls, and 6,000 warriors; 20,000 is, therefore, not too high an estimate. The territory which they inhabit extends from Big Sioux River, between the Missouri and the Mississippi, down the latter to Rock River, and northwards to Elk River; then westwards, in a line which includes the sources of St. Peter's River, and reaches the Missouri below the Man-dan villages, stretches down it, crosses it near Hart River, and includes the whole country on the western bank, to the Black Hills about Teton River, as far as Shannon River. The Sioux are divided into several branches, which all speak the same language, with some deviations. |