Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri 6

Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri 6

NAMES AND EVENTS IN HISTORY.—There is no great event in the history

of the Assiniboin that gives them cause to rejoice. True, they have

occasionally gained a battle, but at other times have lost greatly by

wars. Upon the whole they have had the worst of it; at least they,

being a smaller nation than the Blackfeet and Sioux (their enemies)

have felt the loss more severely. The principal calamity that first

overtook them, and by which they suffered greatly, was the smallpox in

1780. (See Mackenzie’s travels and other authors.) On this occasion

they lost about 300 lodges of their people, and it is to this day

mentioned by them as their greatest first misfortune. In the spring

of 1838 this disease was again communicated to them, being brought up

the Missouri by a steamboat, and although every precaution had been

used, the boat cleansed, and no appearance of disease for a long time

aboard, yet it in some way broke out among the Indians, beginning with

the Sioux tribes and ending with the Blackfeet. Being an eyewitness

to this, we can with certainty give an account of its ravages. When

the disease first appeared in Fort Union we did everything in our

power to prevent the Indians from coming to it, trading with them a

considerable distance out in the prairie and representing to them the

danger of going near the infection. All efforts of the kind, however,

proved unavailing, for they would not listen, and 250 lodges contracted

the disease at one time, who in the course of the summer and fall were

reduced to 65 men, young and old, or about 30 lodges in all. Other

bands coming from time to time caught the infection and remained at the

fort, where the dead were daily thrown into the river by cartloads. The

disease was very virulent, most of the Indians dying through delirium

and hemorrhage from the mouth and ears before any spots appeared. Some

killed themselves.

 

On one occasion an Indian near the fort after losing his favorite

child deliberately killed his wife, his two remaining children, his

horses and dogs, and then blew his own brains out. In all this the

Indians behaved extremely well toward the whites, although aware they

brought the disease among them, yet nothing in the way of revenge took

place, either at the time or afterwards. Being obliged to be all the

time with them, helping as much as possible to save a few, they had

plenty of opportunities should they have wished to do damage. Every

kind of treatment appeared to be of no avail, and they continued

dying until near the ensuing spring, when the disease, having spent

itself, ceased. The result was that out of 1,000 lodges and upward of

the Assiniboin then in existence but 400 lodges or less remained, and

even these but thinly peopled. Relationship by blood or adoption was

nearly annihilated, all property lost or sacrificed, and a few very

young and very old left to mourn the loss. Most of the principal

men having died, it took years to recover from the shock. Young men

had to grow up, new leaders to be developed, remnants of bands to be

gathered together, property to be had—in fact, under all these adverse

circumstances, so slow has been the increase that during the interim of

17 years but 100 lodges have accumulated. In times like this no leader

can be effective. All counsel was rejected; their chiefs and divining

men shared the fate of the others. With the Mandan the disease was even

more destructive. Before it they numbered 600 warriors and inhabited

two large villages where the Arikara are now stationed, and when the

disease ceased about 30 men remained, from which remnant have since

sprung about 25 lodges. All this time an Assiniboin chief named The

Gauche, or by the Indians “He who holds the knife,” was the principal

man in the band which bore his name, consisting of 250 lodges.

 

These died in greater proportion than the others and after the disease

had disappeared the old chief found himself at the head of about 60

fighting men. The Gauche was a very old man and had had the smallpox

in the north; he was also famed in their annals as a leader and

divining man. He had been very successful in his expeditions against

the Blackfeet, and by the use of poisons administered occasionally to

his people, while predicting their death, he had inspired in all the

fear of a sorcerer. His life contains a history which our limits do not

admit of describing, although well known, singular, interesting, and

authentic. On this occasion he understood that the Mandan were rendered

totally helpless by the effects of the smallpox, and conceived the

idea of taking their village and in a measure retrieving his losses by

the horses and other property of these Indians. Gathering together the

remnant of his band, about 50 men, he proceeded thither. The writer saw

him pass with the pipe of peace to lull suspicion, in order to enter

their village in a friendly way, and then at a given signal each one

with knife in hand to rush upon and destroy the unsuspecting friends.

The whole was well planned, managed, and kept secret, and it would

have succeeded but for an occurrence of which the Assiniboin was not

then aware. The Arikara, a tolerably numerous people, having left the

Missouri, had been for years residing on the Platte River, and having

previously had the smallpox did not contract the disease to any extent.

About the same time The Gauche was on his way to the Mandan, they

returned suddenly from the Platte and took possession of their village

a short distance from the Mandan. Now the Arikara numbered about 500

men, all deadly enemies to the Assiniboin, so that when the latter

presented their pipe of peace the ceremonies were interrupted by an

attack of the Arikara. The Assiniboin were routed, and about 20 of them

killed.

 

The old chief, as usual, escaped, though his day of power was over.

Shortly afterwards he predicted the day and hour of his own death

at the fort—days beforehand, without any appearance of disease or

approaching dissolution, and the writer with other gentlemen at the

fort saw the same fulfilled to the letter. The conclusion was that

he took poison, which he was long supposed to have received from the

whites in the north and kept a dose for the fullness of time.

 

This man had more renown than any other leader spoken of, although

several have done gallant actions. His success may be attributed to

great cunning and the large force he always headed, together with the

power his fetishes gave him over his fellows, who blindly followed his

instructions and fought desperately under his prophecies, though his

life shows the anomaly of a great leader being entirely destitute of

every particle of personal intrepidity. Many other events have happened

which form data in their history; indeed it is composed of reference to

certain remarkable occurrences, such as the year of the smallpox, year

of the deep snow, year of massacre of 30 lodges of Blackfeet, year of

great rise of waters, and other natural phenomena.

 

PRESENT RULERS AND CONDITION.—Their present ruling chief is

Man-to-was-ko, or the Crazy Bear, made chief by Colonel Mitchell,

Commissioner of the United States, at the Laramie treaty in 1851. The

choice could not have been better. The Crazy Bear has always been a

respectable and brave man, greatly elevated above all the rest in

intelligence but not ranking with some in military exploits, having

never been a great warrior, though on some small occasions he has

shown an utter contempt of death before his enemies. He is a mild,

politic man, looking after his people’s interest, and viewing with a

jealous eye anything inconsistent with them. Even when a very young

man his opinions were always honored with a hearing in council, and he

now bears his honors with great credit to himself and service to his

people, endeavoring to carry out to the letter the stipulations of the

treaty to which he is a party.

 

Among the principal soldiers and war captains may be mentioned

To-ka´-ke-a-na, or the “First Who Flies.” This man is a son of the old

chief, Wah-he´ Muzza, or “Iron Arrowpoint,” mentioned before. The whole

of that old man’s numerous family have been, and those living still

are, desperate men, proud and overbearing with their people, though

good to the whites. From the eldest, named “The Sight,” who visited

Washington City by General Jackson’s orders, to the one now mentioned,

five in number have been killed by their own people in personal

quarrels.

 

The one now spoken of has frequently led parties to battle and showed

such a recklessness of danger that his name stands high as a warrior;

has also killed two of his own people who were concerned in the murder

of his brothers; was at the Laramie treaty and since behaves himself

with great moderation; is one of the Crazy Bear’s principal soldiers

and supports; and should the Bear die would undoubtedly take his place

as chief of the tribe.

 

Wa-ke´-un-to, or the Blue Thunder, is another warrior and partisan in a

band of 200 lodges, is not over 25 years of age, but has raised himself

to distinction by going to war alone on the Sioux and bringing home

scalps and horses; he has also headed several war excursions with great

success and is generally liked by his own people.

 

Wo´-a-see´-chah, or Bad Animal, known to traders by the name of Le

Serpent, is a war leader and chief of Les Gens des Canots Band, the

same 200 lodges of which Blue Thunder is one of the warriors and camp

soldiers. I believe he has never killed many enemies but has murdered

in quarrels two of his own people, is considered a sensible man, very

friendly to the whites, judicious in his government of his band, and

also is a person whom it is not desirable to aggravate too much. Me-nah

(The Knife), A-wah-min-ne-o-min-ne (The Whirlwind), Ish-ta-o-ghe-nah

(Gray Eyes), He-boom-an-doo (La Poudrière), and others are soldiers and

warriors whose histories are known to us and would present the usual

features of savage life and warfare.

 

The Assiniboin speak but one dialect, being radically the same as the

Sioux; no other is incorporated in it, though some few can in addition

speak Cree and others of the northern bands of Blackfeet, but no more

than one interpreter is required in transacting any business with each

or all of them. A person who can speak the Sioux language well could

interpret for the Assiniboin, or vice versa.

 

There are many elderly persons capable of stating their traditions and

willing to impart any information they are in possession of regarding

their history; but what is heard from them in this respect is so

mingled with fable and superstition as seldom to admit of its serving

as a basis for truth or knowledge or for a correct representation

of their past condition. They do not exhibit any chain of connected

facts; and though these oral tales have been preserved entire,

transmitted in their original form through successive generations,

and may possibly have been the belief of their ancestors, yet at the

present day are regarded more as a source of amusement than a medium

of instruction or means of perpetuating their history. Too much error

has been the result of depending for knowledge on these traditions by

people who only understand them in their literal sense or have been

badly interpreted. All facts among the nations with whom we profess an

intimate acquaintance and minute knowledge farther than a century back

are involved in obscurity, mingled with fable, or embodied in their superstitions.