Upon his arrival, September 5, 1851, at Fort Union, 3 miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone River on the Missouri, Mr. Frederick Kurz, the Swiss artist, of Berne, Switzerland, who had heard some ugly rumors about Mr. Denig, wrote in his Journal (yet in manuscript): “Bellange delivered the letter he brought to a small, hard-featured man, wearing a straw hat, the brim of which was turned up in the back. He was my new _bourgeois_, Mr. Denig. He impressed me as a rather prosy fellow.... He ordered supper delayed on our account that we might have a better and more plentiful meal. A bell summoned me to the first table with Mr. Denig and the clerks. My eyes almost ran over with tears. There was chocolate, milk, butter, omelet, fresh meat, hot bread—what a magnificent spread. I changed my opinion at once concerning this new chief; a hard, niggardly person could not have reconciled himself to such a hospitable reception in behalf of a subordinate who was a total stranger to him” (pp. 205-206). Kurz remained with Denig three years. Again, Kurz wrote: “In his relations with me he is most kind and agreeable. Every evening he sits with me either in my room or in front of the gate and relates experiences of his earlier life. As he has held his position in this locality for 19 years already, his life has been full of adventure with Indians—particularly since the advent of the whisky flask. He wishes me to paint, also, a portrait of himself and his dog, Natah (Bear), a commission I am very glad to execute” (p. 211). Again, in speaking of the duties of Mr. Denig, Kurz wrote: “It goes without saying that a _bourgeois_ who occupies the position of responsible warden, chief tradesman, and person in highest authority at a trading-post far removed, where he has fifty men under his direction, may regard himself of more importance than a man who directs five men” (p. 213). Again Kurz wrote: “As a matter of course, Denig keeps the subordinate workmen strictly under his thumb—what is more, he has to, if he is to prevent their overreaching him. He feels, however, that one man alone is not sufficient to enforce good order among these underlings, for every one of them is armed and, though not courageous in general, are, nevertheless, touchy and revengeful. So, for purposes of order and protection he has attached to himself the clerks who stand more nearly on the same level with him in birth and education and afford, besides, the only support, moral as well as physical, upon which he can reckon” (p. 216). Again Kurz wrote: “He talks to me continually about Indian legends and usages. As he writes the best of these stories for Pere De Smet, by whom they are published, there is no need of my preserving more than some bits of memoranda” (p. 238). This explains why the writings on these matters of Father De Smet have a close family resemblance with those of Mr. Denig.