This would probably have been near the southern line of the present Mercer County, North Dakota. [Illustration: FIG. 4.--Plan of the large Mandan village, 1833.] Continuing the description of the large village, Maximilian wrote: "The huts, as I have before remarked, stand close to each other, leaving, in the centre, an open circular space, about sixty paces in diameter, in the centre of which (among the Mandans) the ark of the first man is set up, of which we shall speak in the sequel. It is a small cylinder, open above, made of planks, about four or five feet high, fixed in the ground, and bound with climbing plants, or pliable boughs, to hold them together (see the woodcut, p. 342 [fig. 5]). [Illustration: FIG. 5.--"The ark of the first man."] "At the north end of this circular space is the medicine lodge, in which festivals are celebrated, and certain customs practised, which are connected with the religious notions of this people.... At the top of a high pole, a figure is here placed, made of skins, with a wooden head, the face painted black, and wearing a fur cap and feathers, which is intended to represent the evil spirit Ochkih-Hadda.... Other grotesque figures, made of skins and bundles of twigs, we saw hanging on high poles, most of them being offerings to the deity. Among the huts are many stages of several stories, supported by poles, on which they dry the maize. The huts themselves are of a circular form, slightly vaulted, having a sort of portico entrance. When the inmates are absent the entrance is shut up with twigs and thorns; and if they wish merely to close the door they put up a skin stretched out on a frame, which is shoved aside on entering. In the centre of the roof is a square opening for the smoke to find vent, over which is a circular sort of screen made of twigs, as a protection against the wind and rain, and which, when necessary, is covered with skins (see woodcut [fig. 6]). BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 38 [Illustration: _a._ Interior of a Mandan lodge. George Catlin] [Illustration: _b._ Scene in a Mandan village. George Catlin] BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 39 [Illustration: "MIH-TUTTA-HANG-KUSCH," A MANDAN VILLAGE Karl Bodmer, 1833]