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Show 1\l~PENDTX TO PART II. This .Yf'zuma, whom Chol;teau took on to \Vashington last fall with his wife, I am better acquainted with, than perhap!-i Mr. Chouteau him!;clf. In the first place, I marched with him from St. Louis to ltis town, and he started with us to visit the Pawnees, but the mean .md pitiful wt·etch, got alarmed and sneaked ofT without even ndvising- us of his depatture. He has no more commund in the ,,illa~; e tban a child, is no wanior, and has not even the power to controul the will of a single man of his nation. \Vhethcr this yonth is entitled to a grand medal, you may judge from the foregoing statement. Indeed, ~i1·, our grand medals have become so common, that they do not carry with them the respect which they should. I recollect one of the deputation who was at the scat of government, the yrar ueforc tl1c last, came out with a large medal, and an intcrmediatr sized one. On ou1· ani,·al at the; villages, I calcul:.l.led on his acting a conspicuow; part, but to my utter :.~stonishmcnt, he w:1s llot pcnllittcd to !lil among tht chiefs, or even the waniors at the co \Ill(' j 1. You well know, sit·, bow particula:· the Spaniards, and the 13ritish C!>pccially, ha\'C been in their <li~tribution or medals, and if I mistake not, an Iowa chid. who had been to the scat of govcmmcnt, nd th rc received a small medal, rctumed it in pl'cference to givin~ up a l:lt'ge llt'itish medal, as he valued it more hccau~c it was a crrtain distinguishing· mark of a chief. You gave to .l\1. Pike an intermediate sized medal, for· o11e of the Pawnee chief-;, which he presented hkatappc, who having-, remarked the medals pendant f1·om the necks of the t'Tuc Pa7unre young mcn, '\'ho were on at \Vashington, demanded of what utility it would be to him. The only Spanish medals in th~ Pawnee nation, \l'e those worn by Characterish, or the lVhite T!Voif and his son. The following sarcastic remark was made by the son of the <' llel Oiscau," a chief of the first standing among the Grand Osages whilst living, and who unfortunately was killed by the Sacs on his way to \Vashington with the first deputation. The hOn of \Vhite Ilait·s, with" Shenga Wassa," or JJcautifz.l l1ird, wm: to accompany us to the Pawnee village ; but the former p1·o\'ed recreant, and at the cross1ng of Grand H.ivcr, said he would return hon1e. " Shame on you," says the latter, " what a pity it is " so great aml honorable a medal, should be disgr<1c..cd uy so mean u " heart." You will parclon this digTcssion, but I would wish to convince you, from what I haye seen of Indians, how very requisite it is to APPENDIX TO PART II. use the utmost caution in the distribution of our presents and mad<.s of distinction. Before I set out to visit Tuttasu~gy, the ice had commenced drifting in large sheets, and on my return, I found it running from shore to shore, 1 however pushed off and drifted with it. The night of the 2d of December was intt'nsely cold, but hunger oblip,cd me to p1·occed, and we fortunately reached the mouth of the Neskulonska, river, without accident o1· injtll y, eAcepting that one of my lmen got frosted. This day we passed two salines which enter on the south western side. The severity of the weather inc1·eased ancl the river froze over ()n the morning or the :Jcl. This cit·cumstance placc·d me in a si tuation truly distressing-, as my men were almost naked; the tatte rs which covered them were comfortless, and my <tmmunition wa'> nenrly exhausted. The men solicited mo to hut, but I was resolved by perseve· rnnce and exertion, to overcome, if in my power, the obstacles opposed to my pr·o!;rc ss. The N eskulonska, is about 120 yards wide, shoal and narrow· at its mouth, but deepens and spreads after you turn the first point. On this stream, the Crund and Little Osages form their temporary }all hunting camps, aud take their peltrics. \Vhen the seYcrity of '\inter sets in, the Grand Osuges retire to" Gro.9s(' hie,'' on the Verdigrise, o1· 'V nsetihoge ; and the Little Osag·es to one of its small uranches called Possitonga, where they remain du rin~~ the hard weather, ;md from thence 1·ctmn to their tow11s on the Neska, o1· Q,yagc river. On the 6th the ice began to drift, ancl immecl.iatcly pushrd on· with it; but as my evil stars would have it, my boats ag-ain g round· ed, and being- in the middle of the river, my only altcrllati\'C was to get out and dra~ them aloug for several miles, when we halted to warm ou1· benumbed feet and hands. The next day sevet·al large cakes of ice had blocked up the rivet·, and we had to cut our way through them with axes; the boats a5 usual !FOUnded, aud the men hare legged and hare footed, were obliged to leap il'1to the water. Thi~; happened so ft·cqucntly, that two more of my men got badly frosted . On the 8th one of my canoes was driven on a bank of icc, during u snow storm, and diu not overtake me until the evening of the 9th, and in ~o shattered a condition, that she could hardly be kcp' above water, and the poot· fellows who wer·c in hrr, we 1·c almoc;1 ft·ozcn. |
