From these brief statements recorded in 1804 and 1805 it will be understood that when a large party of the Assiniboin moved, or when on a visit to another tribe, they carried with them their skin lodges, but when on a hunting trip they raised temporary shelters of brush and boughs, and the same custom was undoubtedly followed by war parties. Evidently the establishment in after years of posts of the American Fur Company at certain points along the course of the upper Missouri served to attract bands of the Assiniboin as well as representatives of other tribes. Several interesting accounts of the arrival of such parties at Fort Union, near the mouth of the Yellowstone, are preserved. Thus Maximilian wrote when at the fort, June 29, 1833: "The expected arrival of more Assiniboins was delayed; they do not willingly travel with their leather tents in wet weather, because their baggage then becomes very heavy.... On the 30th of June, at noon, a band of Indians had arrived, and twenty-five tents were set up near the fort. The women, who were short, and mostly stout, with faces painted red, soon finished this work, and dug up with their instruments the clods of turf, which they lay round the lower part of the hut. One of these tents, the dwelling of a chief, was distinguished from the rest. It was painted of the colour of yellow ochre, had a broad reddish-brown border below, and on each of its sides a large black bear was painted (something of a caricature it must be confessed), to the head of which, just above the nose, a piece of red cloth, that fluttered in the wind, was fastened, doubtless a medicine." Continuing, the narrative recorded the arrival of others. "Another band of Assiniboins appeared at a distance. To the west, along the wood by the river-side, the prairie was suddenly covered with red men, most of whom went singly, with their dogs drawing the loaded sledges. The warriors, about sixty in number, formed a close column.... The whole column entered the fort, where they smoked, ate, and drank: and, meantime, forty-two tents were set up. The new camp had a very pretty appearance; the tents stood in a semicircle, and all the fires were smoking, while all around was life and activity." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 202-204.) A painting of the dwelling of the chief, with a broad border at the bottom, "and on each of its sides a large black bear," was made by Bodmer and reproduced by Maximilian. It is here shown in plate 24, _c._ Several interesting details are represented in this graphic sketch. The dog travois is well shown, both the manner in which a dog appeared when the frame was attached, and the several pairs of poles with the small net-covered frames, standing together to the left of the principal tipi.