Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the MississippiBushnell, David I. (David Ives)
History
Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi
Bushnell, David I. (David Ives)
Algonquian Indians; Caddoan Indians; Indians of North America -- Dwellings; Siouan Indians
Col. R. I. Dodge, from whose work the preceding quotation has been made,
was in command of the military escort which formed part of the
expedition into the Black Hills during the summer of 1875. The traces of
the lodges which had stood near the head of Castle Creek, as mentioned
in 1875, undoubtedly marked the position of the small encampment
encountered by the Ludlow party the previous year. In the journal of
that expedition, dated July 26, 1874, is to be found this brief mention:
"In the afternoon occurred the first rencontre with Indians. A village
of seven lodges, containing twenty-seven souls, was found in the valley.
The men were away peacefully engaged in hunting; the squaws in camp
drying meat, cooking, and other camp avocations. Red Cloud's daughter
was the wife of the head-man, whose name was One Stab. General Custer
was desirous they should remain and introduce us to the hills, but the
presence among our scouts of a party of Rees, with whom the Sioux wage
constant war, rendered them very uneasy, and toward night-fall,
abandoning their camp, they made the escape. Old One Stab was at
headquarters when the flight was discovered, and retained both as guide
and hostage.... The high limestone ridges surrounding the camp had
weathered into castellated forms of considerable grandeur and beauty and
suggested the name of Castle Valley." (Ludlow, (1), p. 13.) Red Cloud,
whose daughter is mentioned above, was one of the greatest chiefs and
warriors of the Oglala; born in 1822 near the forks of the Platte, and
lived until December, 1909.
Although there may never have been any large permanent camps within the
Black Hills district, nevertheless it is quite evident the region was
frequented and traversed by bands of Indians, who left well-defined
trails. Such were discovered by an expedition in 1875, and after
referring to small trees which had been bent down by the weight of snow
the narrative continued: "The snow must be sometimes deep enough to hide
trails and landmarks, as the main Indian trails leading through the
Hills were marked by stones placed in the forks of the trees or by one
or more sets of blazes, the oldest almost overgrown by the bark."
(Newton and Jenney, (1), p. 302.) And in the same work (p. 323), when
treating of the timber of the Hills, it was said: "The small slender
spruce-trees are much sought after by the Indians, who visit the Hills
in the spring for the purpose of procuring them for lodge-poles."
In another work Dodge described the customs of the tribes with whom he
had been in close contact for many years. The book is illustrated with
engravings made from original drawings by the French artist Griset, and
one sketch shows a few Indians, several tipis, and frames from which are
hanging quantities of buffalo meat in the process of being dried.
(Dodge, (2), p. 353.) This suggests the scene at Red Cloud's camp. The
original drawing is now reproduced as plate 1, the frontispiece.
ASSINIBOIN.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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