The Effect Of The Whole Was Wild And Fantastic, Yet
Singularly Striking.
In the front rank were the chiefs and
principal warriors, glaringly painted and decorated; behind them
were arranged the rest of the people, men, women, and children.
Captain Bonneville and his party advanced slowly, exchanging
salutes of firearms. When arrived within a respectful distance,
they dismounted. The chiefs then came forward successively,
according to their respective characters and consequence, to
offer the hand of good fellowship; each filing off when he had
shaken hands, to make way for his successor. Those in the next
rank followed in the same order, and so on, until all had given
the pledge of friendship. During all this time, the chief,
according to custom, took his stand beside the guests. If any of
his people advanced whom he judged unworthy of the friendship or
confidence of the white men, he motioned them off by a wave of
the hand, and they would submissively walk away. When Captain
Bonneville turned upon him an inquiring look, he would observe,
"he was a bad man," or something quite as concise, and there was
an end of the matter.
Mats, poles, and other materials were now brought, and a
comfortable lodge was soon erected for the strangers, where they
were kept constantly supplied with wood and water, and other
necessaries; and all their effects were placed in safe keeping.
Their horses, too, were unsaddled, and turned loose to graze, and
a guard set to keep watch upon them.
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