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Show 32 ar t.I Cl es which they obtai. n f.r om the traders on the river St. Peters, and receive In return 11 orses, some robes and leather lodges. . . s. SIS SA TON E. They clatm the ~ountry m h·ch they rove embracin0o- the upper portiOns of the RWeld river, oflake' Winnipie, and St . p eters: .. 1 l It 1s a eve co UntrvJ ' intersected with manyh stna.ll. bk. es; ft h.e land is fertile and free of stone; t e maJ~nty o It open plains. This country abounds more In the valuable fur animals, the beaver, otter and m~rte~, than any portion of Lou~siana yet k?o'vn. Th1s ctrcums:al!ce furnishes the Sissatones With the means of purchasmg more merchandise, in proportion to their numb~r, than any nation in this quarter. A great proportw.n of this merchandise is reserved by them for thcu· trade with the Tetons, whom they annually meet at. some point previously agreed on, up?~ t:1e wa.ters ~f James river, in the month of May. 1 his Indian fmr is frequently attended by the Yanktons of the North and Ahnah. The Sissatones and Y anktons of the North here supply the others with considerable quantities of arms, ammunition, axes, knives, kettles, cloth, and a variety of other articles; and receive in return principally horses, which_ the others ha~e sto: len or purchased from the nations on the M1ssoun and west of it. rfhey are devoted to the interests of their traders. S. Y ANKTONS of the NORTH. This band, although they purchase a much smaller quantity of merchandise than the Sissatones, still appropriate a considerable proportion of what they do obtain in a similar manner with that mentioned of the Sissatunes. This trade, as small as it may appear, has been sufficient to render the Tetones independent of the trade of the Missouri, in a great measure. and has furnished them with the means, not only of distressing and plundering the traders of the Missouri, but also, of plundering and massacreing the defenceless savages of the Missouri, from the mouth of the river Platte to the Minetares, and west to the Rocky 1nountains , ' 'fhe country these people inhabit is almost one entire plain, uncovered with timber; it is extre1nely level; the soil fertile, and generally well watered. S. YANKTONS AHNAH. These are the best disposed Sioux 'v ho rove on the bcmks of the 1\tlissouri, and these even will not suffer any trader to ascend the river, if they can possibly avoid it : they have, heretofore, invariably arrested the progress of all those they have met with, and generally compelled then1 to trade at the prices, nearly, '"hich they thenlselves thin1. proper to fix on their merchandise: they seldom commit any further acts of violence on the whites. 'I'hey somctin1es visit the river Detnoin, where a partial trade has been carried on with them, for a few yenrs past, by a Mr. Crawford. Their trade, if well regulated, might be rendered extremely valuable. Their country is a very fertile one; it con~ists of a mixture of wood-lands and prairies. The land bordering on the Missouri is principally plains with but little timber. S. TETONS BOIS BRULE'. These are TETONS OKANDANDAS. ~ lhe vilest rrETONS MINNAKINEAZZO. miscreants TETONS SAHONE. of the sa:. vage race, and n1ust ever ren1ain the pirates of the Missouri, until such measures are pursued, by our government, as will 1nake thetn feel a dependence on its will for their 5upply of merchandise. Unless these people are reduced to order, by coercive measures, I am ready to pronounce that the citizens of the United States can never enjoy but partially the advantages which the Missouri presents. Relying on a regular supply ofn1erchanclise, through the channel of the river St. Peters, they view with contempt the merchants of the Missouri, whom they never fail to plunder, when in their power. Persuasion or advice, w·ith them, is viewed as supplication, and only tends to inspire them with contempt for those who offer either. 1~he tatneness with "hich the traders of the l\1issouri have heretofore submitted to their rapacity, has tended not a little to in~pirc them with contem.pt for the white persons who visit them, through that channel. A 5 |