Edwin L. Sabin

“ It led also up into the country of the Mandans and the fierce Sioux, in the unknown north. And yonder, on a sand sprit above the mouth of the Omaha Creek, was the white chiefs’ camp!
With his sharp eyes Little White Osage eagerly surveyed. Three boats there were, just as said by Shos-gus-can: one painted white, and one painted red, and one very large, fastened in the shallows. On the sand were kettles, over fires, and many men moving about, or lying under a canopy; and a red, white and blue flag flying in the breeze. ”

“ The squaws from the village already had been at work with their knives, cutting up the dead buffalo. They must work fast, on account of the cold. They carefully pulled out the arrows and laid them aside, so that it might be told to whom that buffalo belonged. The arrows of each hunter bore his mark, in paint on the shaft or the feathers.
Captain Clark rode in, panting and laughing, with Sha-ha-ka. His quiver was empty, his buffalo-horse frost-covered from eye-brows to tail. Sha-ha-ka treated him with great respect; and so did the other Indians. ”

“ And snatching a roll of tobacco, Captain Lewis threw it at Black Buffalo’s feet. “Tell him there is his tobacco, on the prairie. He says he is a great chief. Among the white men great chiefs are obeyed. If he is a great chief let him order his young men to release that rope and they will obey him. But we do not believe he is a great chief. He is a squaw, and the young men laugh at him.” ”

“ Clark landed he was met by ten young warriors, with a gaily decorated buffalo robe. They carried him upon it, and then bore him, sitting in it, to the council house. This was great honor.
“You’re nixt, Cap’n,” ventured Patrick Gass. “There they are, back for ye, sorr.”
“Be alert, Sergeant,” bade the captain, as he vaulted from the barge into the pirogue. “They may appear friendly, but we mustn’t take any chances. Don’t let the men lay aside their arms for a minute, and keep them together.” ”

“ Chief Little Thief and his Indians were staying, and the ’Nited States appeared to be bent upon giving them a good time.
All that night the sick Charles Floyd moaned at intervals, in the bunk; and George Shannon and Patrick Gass and others kept watch over him; while Peter, on the other side of the partition, listened or slept. Toward morning, when Peter next woke up, he had been aroused by tramp of feet over his head, and splash of water against the boat, and orders shouted, and a movement of the boat itself. ”

“ The great nation of the Sioux, and all the other Indians, have a new white father, at Washington. That is his flag, the flag of the United States nation, which has bought this country. The new father has sent us, who are his children, to tell his red children that he wants them to be at peace with one another. I have given flags and peace gifts to the Otoes and the Missouris, and have sent word to the Osages and the Omahas and the Pawnees and the Kickapoos and other Indians, that there must be no more wars among the red children. ”

“ Naturally, everybody was anxious to see the whale.
“You’d better take Peter, hadn’t you, Captain?” suggested Captain Lewis. “He’s a boy—he ought to see what there is to be seen.”
“By all means,” agreed Captain Clark. “Do you know what a whale is, Peter?”
“A big fish,” answered Peter, eagerly.
“Yes; a big warm-blooded fish; a fish bigger than a buffalo.”
Now, Sa-ca-ja-we-a had heard; she had helped Chaboneau cook the blubber for the captains. But she had not been invited to go. In fact, all this time the Bird-woman had not been even so far as the big water. She had worked in the fort. ”

“ When the five men had started to row the pirogue ashore, with the chiefs and Captain Clark, he had slipped in, too.
“The chief say you cannot go away till you give them more presents,” translated Peter, boldly; for he had picked up some Sioux words and he could read the gestures, also.
“What!” And Captain Clark was angry indeed. He had only five men, two in the boat and three ashore, but he was not afraid. “You tell him we will go on, and he can’t stop us. We are not squaws, but warriors. Our great father has medicine on those boats that will wipe out twenty Sioux nations.” ”

“ Peter knew them all; fine men; but he liked Pat and George Shannon the best.
Then, there were the Frenchmen: gay old Cruzatte, with his one eye and his lively fiddle; Francois Labiche, the boatman who danced on his head; Baptiste Lepage, who joined at the Mandan villages to take the place of one Liberté who had run away; George Drouillard, the hunter; Chaboneau and Sa-ca-ja-we-a, the Bird-woman, who was to help the party into the mountains and make friends of the Snakes. And little Toussaint, the beady-eyed baby—a great pet. ”

“ FRIENDLY YELLEPT, THE WALLA WALLA
“Drouillard,” spoke Captain Lewis, “we must have another canoe. These Indians down here won’t sell us any. Try what you can do up the river.”
It was the middle of March. The captains had intended to wait until at least the first of April, before starting on the back trail, so as not to arrive at the mountains until June. Then the snows would have melted, and there would be game. But meat already was extremely scarce around Fort Clatsop; the expedition would better start at once, and hunt along the way. ”

“ Big White and Little Raven and other chiefs and warriors brought meat, on the backs of their squaws. Big White’s village was across the river, and he and his wife came over in their buffalo-hide boat. She followed him to the fort, with 100 pounds of meat at a time on her back. She was delighted with the gift of a hand-ax, with which to cut wood for the lodge fire. The captains presented the Mandan nation with an iron mill for grinding corn. This pleased the women.
The weather turned warm, and Captain Lewis took a squad of men, to pay a visit to the villages. Only one chief was unfriendly. ”

“ As time passes, the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, fathered by the great President Jefferson, should shine brighter and brighter amidst the other pages of American history.
The purchase of the Province of Louisiana was opposed by many citizens. They were ignorant and short-sighted; they asserted that here was a useless burden of waste land fitted only to the Indian and the fur-trader; that the people of the United States should occupy themselves with the land east of the Mississippi. ”

“ Beyond the mouth of the Yellowstone, in the morning of October 26, while the boats were slowly sailing on up the Missouri, Captain Lewis suddenly appeared, at a clear spot on the bank, and signaled with a rifle-shot.
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“Faith, the cap’n’s been in a hurry,” observed Patrick Gass, as the boats turned in.
And so he evidently had. He was still out of breath.
“We’ve killed a large white bear,” he panted. “Some of you men come and help Drouillard bring him down.”
“Good work, Merne,” called Captain Clark. And enough men tumbled ashore to carry half a dozen bears. ”

“ With difficulty could the men get away from hospitable La Charette, but on the next day forty-eight miles were covered, to another village, St. Charles. Here occurred more excitement, of greetings, and dinners, and good beds. The captains, and all the men, in their elk-hide clothes, and their beards, and their tan, were treated as heroes; and Peter was not overlooked—not by any means. Nor was Sha-ha-ka, the Big White. He, like Peter, for the first time was seeing how the white people lived.
“Sha-ha-ka say de white people evidently a ver’ good people,” announced Jessaume. ”

“ Broad-chested and sinewy were these Yankton Sioux, and evidently great warriors. What struck Peter and the soldiers, especially, were the necklaces of claws stitched in bands of buckskin or red flannel, and hanging low on those broad chests. Many warriors wore them.
“D’you mean to say those are b’ar claws!” exclaimed John Shields, one of the Kentuckians.
“Oui, my frien’,” assured Drouillard, the hunter. “Dey claw of great white bear—so we call heem. Beeg! More beeg dan one ox. An’ ’fraid? He not ’fraid of notting. To keel one white bear make Injun beeg warrior.” ”

“ When it came time, after the councils had been held, to leave the friendly Arikaras, all the men of the expedition hated to go. John Newman, who had enlisted at St. Louis, was the most out-spoken.
“Look here,” he uttered, boldly, among his comrades at the last camp fire. “Why should we go on, up to those Mandans? Why can’t we spend the winter where we are? The Mandan village is nigh on 200 miles yet, and I’m tired of working my hands raw in this cold weather, hauling the boats over sand-bars.” ”

“ Peter changed his course. They should not help him. He would show Pat, and the captains, and everybody, what he could do. He glanced over his shoulder. The bear was close. A bear could easily outrun a boy, or a man, and for a short distance, a horse. Aside leaped Peter, digging in his moccasined heels, for foothold in the soft spots; another arrow was on the bowstring; with scratching of claws and furious growl the bear slid past. But Peter had turned in a flash, and [146] while turning had drawn his bow. ”

“ The ship bearing the papers signed by Ministers Livingston and Monroe, and by the government of [26] France, did not reach the United States until July. Down to that time President Jefferson had no knowledge of the fact that his expedition, as planned, was to explore not French territory, but American. But when the news broke, he was all ready for it—he needed only to go ahead. That is one secret of success: to be prepared to step instantly from opportunity to opportunity as fast as they occur. The successful, energetic man is never surprised by the unexpected. ”

“ Work, work, work! Through this the month of September, 1804, the boats had been toiling on up the sluggish Missouri River, in the present State of South Dakota. With the rains, the winds, and the shallows, everybody, even the captains, was wet all the day, from hauling on the tow-ropes, in and out of the water.
The weather turned cold and raw. Shelters of deer hides were stretched over the two pirogues, and in the camps the men made themselves hide coats and leggins and moccasins. ”

“ Sergeant Pryor released the rope from the tree on the bank and returned. The sail on the barge was being hoisted—and at the instant laughter and shouts mingled, both ashore and from the boats.
A number of the Sioux had sat upon the rope, holding it!
Captain Lewis flared into hot rage.
“Take charge of the pirogues, Will,” he ordered. “Down behind the gunwale, men. Advance your [105] rifles. See that the priming’s fresh, Ordway and Gass. Stand to your swivel, Willard!” And, to Chief Black Buffalo: “My young men are ready for battle. If your young men do not release the rope we will fire.” ”

“ The Sioux warriors danced, and the Sioux women danced; but at midnight the captains told the chief that everybody was tired and it was time to go to bed.
“The chief he say: ‘Ver’ well. Now sleep. To-morrow more Sioux come, to talk with de great father.’ He want you to stay,” interpreted Drouillard.
“We will stay and see these other Sioux,” answered Captain Lewis. “What do you think, Will?”
“If you say so, Merne,” replied Captain Clark. “But there’s some trick in this. We mustn’t be caught off guard—and of course we mustn’t show that we’re afraid, either.” ”

“ On November 2 the canoes were partly carried around, partly slid through, the rapids which formed the foot of other rapids termed by the captains the Great Shute. Presently the river opened two miles wide, and smooth and placid. That night the water rose nine inches on a stake set at the river’s edge in front of the camp.
“We’re in tidewater, lads!” announced Captain Lewis. “The ocean tides ascend this far. That means there are no more rapids; the ocean itself can’t be very distant.” ”

“ Many Indians were met; they were gathering along the river, to wait for the salmon to run up from the sea.
“Next full moon,” said the Indians. “No salmon till next full moon.”
“The second of May, that is,” figured Captain Lewis. “Well, we can’t wait. We’ll have to depend on our guns; for if we wait, winter will overtake us on the Missouri. Where there’s nothing to shoot, we can live for a time on dogs and horses.”
The Indians seemed poor and starving. Captain Clark was told of a large river emptying from the south: the Multnomah, which is the Willamette. ”

“ At Mulberry Hill, near Louisville, Captain William Clark was impatiently awaiting. He had enlisted nine men, all of Kentucky, the “dark and bloody ground.” If any men could be relied on, they would be Kentuckians, he knew. His negro servant, York, who had been his faithful body-guard since boyhood, was going, too.
Captain Clark took charge of the barge, to proceed with it and the recruits and York down the Ohio into the Mississippi, and thence up the Mississippi to St. Louis. Captain Lewis turned across country, by horse, on a short cut, to pick up more men along the way. ”

“ The region west from the Sho-sho-ne village proved impassable. Old Toby had led northward, by hard trail up and down. The two captains rode in the advance; the hunters scouted for game but found little; York’s big feet had failed him and he needs must ride until well; Sa-ca-ja-we-a, of course, rode, carrying on her back baby Toussaint; everybody else trudged afoot, each man leading two pack-horses.
The horses soon were worn out by scrambling amidst rain and snow, and falling on the sharp rocks. ”