There is nothing in their painting or sculpture worthy of notice. All are rude drawings and carvings scarcely intelligible without explanation. PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS The nations we write of are as yet in their savage state. But few steps have been taken by them in the path of knowledge. Their original manners and customs, if not entire, are but slightly changed, their superstitions the same as their ancestors, and their minds deplorably void of moral truth or useful science. Their idol worship remains undisturbed by religious teachers, and the humane efforts in this respect, extended to China and the South Seas, are withheld from the coppered brethren residing next door. There are some points not to be overlooked, inasmuch as they have a general bearing upon the whole race, involving a subject of great interest to which the foregoing details form but the prelude. The principal of those to which we allude is this: “How far has knowledge, art, and commerce, and the progress of civilization, affected the improvement of the Indians, and changed or modified their original manners, customs, and opinions?” As art and knowledge are yet in their infancy among them and as has been stated but little improvement in their moral condition is visible, yet great and important changes have been brought about by the commerce of trade, without which any plan for their future advancement would be retarded a century, and by correct appreciation of which views can be formed regarding contemplated measures for their prosperity. In the foregoing pages, which present their savage life in detail, nothing speculative has been ventured upon, no conjectures hazarded, by us or by anyone well acquainted with the wild tribes, nor will any new opinions be perceived. The whole is merely a collection of facts, thrown together in the form of answers to certain questions without further comment than necessary for their illustration and clothed in the simplest garb of verbiage to facilitate their comprehension. When we entered the fur trade in the spring of 1833, now 21 years since, all the Indians herein treated of, from the Sioux to the Blackfeet, inclusive, were much more ignorant in everything, degrading in their habits, slovenly in appearance, and barbarous in their actions than they now are. Life was then held by a slight tenure, crime was frequent, atrocious disorder and family feuds were general, and their occupations confined to slaughtering their enemies, murdering each other, and providing for their families only in extremes of necessity.