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.
Lewis and Clark discovered here a species of ermine before
unknown to science. They called it "a weasel, perfectly white
except at the extremity of the tail, which was black."
This animal, highly prized on account of its pretty fur,
was not scientifically described until as late as 1829.
It is a species of stoat.
The wars of some of the Indian tribes gave Lewis and Clark much trouble
and uneasiness. The Sioux were at war with the Minnetarees (Gros Ventres,
or Big Bellies); and the Assiniboins, who lived further to the north,
continually harassed the Sioux and the Mandans, treating these as
the latter did the Rickarees. The white chiefs had their hands full
all winter while trying to preserve peace among these quarrelsome and
thieving tribes, their favorite game being to steal each other's horses.
The Indian method of caring for their horses in the cold winter was
to let them shift for themselves during the day, and to take them
into their own lodges at night where they were fed with the juicy,
brittle twigs of the cottonwood tree.
