Captain Clark
Took A Pirogue And Went Up The River In Search Of A Good
Wintering-Place, And Returned After
Going seven miles to the lower
point of an island on the north side, about one mile in length.
He
Found the banks on the north side high, with coal occasionally,
and the country fine on all sides; but the want of wood,
and the scarcity of game up the river, induced us to decide
on fixing ourselves lower down during the winter.
In the evening our men danced among themselves, to the great
amusement of the Indians."
It may be said here that the incident of a life saved from
fire by a raw-hide, originally related by Lewis and Clark,
is the foundation of a great many similar stories of adventures
among the Indians. Usually, however, it is a wise and well-seasoned
white trapper who saves his life by this device.
Having found a good site for their winter camp, the explorers now
built a number of huts, which they called Fort Mandan. The place
was on the north bank of the Missouri River, in what is now
McLean County, North Dakota, about sixteen hundred miles up
the river from St. Louis, and seven or eight miles below
the mouth of Big Knife River. On the opposite bank, years later,
the United States built a military post known as Fort Clark,
which may be found on some of the present-day maps.
The huts were built of logs, and were arranged in two rows,
four rooms in each hut, the whole number being placed in the form
of an angle, with a stockade, or picket, across the two outer
ends of the angle, in which was a gate, kept locked at night.
The roofs of the huts slanted upward from the inner side of
the rows, making the outer side of each hut eighteen feet high;
and the lofts of these were made warm and comfortable with dry
grass mixed with clay, Here they were continually visited
during the winter by Indians from all the region around.
Here, too, they secured the services of an interpreter,
one Chaboneau, who continued with them to the end.
This man's wife, Sacajawea, whose Indian name was translated
"Bird Woman," had been captured from the Snake Indians and sold
to Chaboneau, who married her. She was "a good creature,
of a mild and gentle disposition, greatly attached to the whites."
In the expedition she proved herself more valuable to the explorers
than her husband, and Lewis and Clark always speak of her in terms
of respect and admiration.
It should not be understood that all the interpreters
employed by white men on such expeditions wholly knew
the spoken language of the tribes among whom they travelled.
To some extent they relied upon the universal language of signs
to make themselves understood, and this method of talking
is known to all sorts and kinds of Indians. Thus, two fingers
of the right hand placed astraddle the wrist of the left hand
signifies a man on horseback; and the number of men on horseback
is quickly added by holding up the requisite number of fingers.
Sleep is described by gently inclining the head on the hand,
and the number of "sleeps," or nights, is indicated by the fingers.
Killed, or dead, is described by closed eyes and a sudden
fall of the head on the talker's chest; and so on, an easily
understood gesture, with a few Indian words, being sufficient
to tell a long story very clearly.
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