Again Kurz wrote: “Mr. Denig has been reading to me again from his manuscript, which is extremely interesting. He is very well educated and he has made a thorough study of Indian life—a distinct advantage to him in trade. He is so fond of the life in this part of the country that he is averse to any thought of going back to his Pennsylvania home in the United States. For the reason, as he says, that he may avoid political carryings-on that disgust him” (p. 242). Another entry in the Kurz Journal reads: “September the 24th. Began a portrait of Mr. Denig—life-size, knee-length. This work is to be finished before Mr. Culbertson’s return from Fort Laramie” (p. 254). The following citation is from the Kurz Journal at page 577: “February the 26th, Mr. Denig is a Swedenborgian and at the same time he is a Freemason. He mentioned to me that it would be of great advantage on my travels if I were a Freemason.” It seems appropriate to insert here briefly what another intimate friend of Mr. Denig, the Reverend Father De Smet, thought of the knowledge and attainments of our author. Father De Smet in speaking of the source of his information in a particular instance wrote: “I have it from two most reliable sources—that is to say, from a man of tried probity and veracity, Mr. Denig of the Saint Louis Fur Company....”[1] [1] Chittenden, H. M., and Richardson, A. T. Life, letters, and travels of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, S. J., 1801-1873. Vol. IV, p. 1111. New York, 1905. On page 1215 of this same work Father De Smet in a personal letter to Mr. Denig, dated September 30, 1852, wrote: “I do not know how to express my gratitude for your very interesting series of narratives concerning the aborigines of the Far West.... Nothing could be more gratifying to me than the beautiful and graphic details which you have given me of the religion, manners, customs, and transactions of an unfortunate race of human beings.” It is hoped that these excerpts from the writings of Frederick Kurz and Father De Smet, both intimately associated with Mr. Denig, will supply some data concerning our author not otherwise accessible. The Swiss artist, Friedrich Kurz, who painted many pictures of the region around Fort Union, lived with Denig for some time, and in 1851 painted his portrait. The Indians called Mr. Denig “The Long Knife,” which simply meant that they knew him as “an American.” In the manuscript Mr. Denig employs the word “band” to denote “a gens of a tribe,” the word “clans” to denote “societies” or “corporations,” and the “orders of doctors” he calls “shamans or theurgists.” To understand Mr. Denig these meanings must be kept in mind. THE EDITOR. CONTENTS Page Letter of transmittal 393 THE ASSINIBOIN