History of the expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean : performed during the years 1804-5-6 by order of the government of the United States; Volume 1

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i58 Lewis and Cla1·ke's Expcdiliun 1 'II o-e brought down four of the Sharha~. " 't the OWCl' VJ ah • exp Ia m· e d to them our intentions, ami adnscd them to l'C· main at peace witb each other: we also ~ave them a flag, some t ob a cco, anu.1 a speech for their nation. These w•e re accompam· e dby a~ letter to messrs. Tabcau and Gravehne.s at the Ricara village, t•equcsting them to pl·cservc peace 1f possible, and to declare the part which we should be forced to take if the Rica1·as and Sioux made war on those whom " 'e had ado]>ted. After distributing a few Jlresents. to. ~he Sbarhas and Mandans, and showing them our eurws1tles \VC dismissed them, apparently well pleased at their recep· tion. Monday, Decembers. The morning was flne, but in the afternoon the weather became cold with the wind from the northwest. The father of the Mandan who was killed brought us a present of dried pumpkins and some pemiti­gon, for which we gave him some small articles. Our offm• of assistance to avenge the death of his son seemed to have produced a grateful res1lect from him, as well as from the brother of the deceased, which pleased us much. Tuesday 4th. The wind continues from the northwest, the weather cloudy and raw, and the river rose one inch. Oscapsahe and two young chiefs pass the day with us. The \Vhole religion of the Mandans consists in the belief of one great spirit presiding ove1• their destinies. 'I' his being must be in the nature of a good genius since it is associated 'vith the healing art, and the great spirit is synonymous with great medicine, a name also applied to ever·y thing whicll they do not comprehend. Each individual selects for him­self the particular object of his devotion, which is termed his medicine, and is either some invisible being or more commonly some animal, which thenceforward becomes his protector or his intercessor with the great spirit; to pro­pitiate wham every attention is lavis.hed, and every per­sonal consideration is sacrificed. " I was lately owner of seventeen horses," said a Mandan to us one day, H but I , UJJ the Jl'Iissom·i. 1S9 !1ave offered them all up to my medicine and am now }loor." He had in reality taken all his wealth, his horses, into the plain, ami tu1·ning them loose committed them to the care of his medicine and abandoned them fot·evcr. 'l'he horses Jess religious took c~we of themselves, and the pions votary traveJled home on foot. Their beli<'f in a future state is connected '\vith this tradition of their origin: the whole nation resided in one large village under ground near a sub­terraneous lake: a grape-vine extcmled its roots down to their habitation and gave them a ' 'iew of the light: some of the most adventurous climcd up the vjne and were delightetl with the sight of the ca1·th, which they found cove1·ed witlt buffaloo and rich with evet·y kind of fruits: returning wHit the gr·apes they J1ad gathered, their countrymen were so I>lcased with the taste of them that the whole nation re­solved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the upper region; me.n, women, and children ascended by means of the vine; but when about half the nation bad reached the surface of the earth, a corpulent woman who was clamber­ing up the ' 'ine lwoke it with hrr weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation the light of the sun. Those l\'ho were left on earth made a villag·e below where we saw the nine villages; and when the ~fandans die they expect to return to the original seats of their forefathers; the good reaching the ancient village by means of the lake, which the burden of tiJe sins of the wicked will not enable them to cross. W cdnesday 5. The morning was cold and disagreeable, the wind from the southeast accom1mnied with snow: in the evening there was snow again and the wind shifted to the northeast: we were visited by several Indians with a present ·of pumpkins, and by two of tbe traders of the northwest company. 'l'hursday 6. The wind was violent from the north north­west with some snow, the air l{ecn and cold. At eight o'clock A. M. 1he thermomet eJ· stood at ten degrees above