Early western travels, 1748-1846, v. 24

Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, part 3 and appendix

Title: Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, Part III (the Text Being Chapters XXVIII-XXXIII of the London Edition, 1843, and the Appendix a Combination of the Appendices of the London and German [Coblentz, 1839] Editions) Present State of Fort ClarkeMr. Mc Kenzie's JourneyPeace between the Mandans and the YanktonansRavages of the Cholera on the Lower MissouriMato-TopSih-ChidaReturn of my People to Fort UnionSih-SaNarrative of DipauchCompletion of our New DwellingVisit to a Winter Village of the ManitariesThe Great Buffalo Medicine FteJuggleries of the Manitari WomenVisit to the Winter Village of the MandansFestivity on the Sale of the Dance of the Half-shorn HeadHunting ExcursionCold Snow-stormsAccounts from St. LouisDance of the Ascho-OchataViolation of the Peace by the SiouxChristmas FestivalsDance of the Women of the White Buffalo CowNews from Fort UnionScarcity of ProvisionsEmployment of the Dogs for drawing SledgesDance of the Half-shorn Head in the FortDeparture of Mr. Kipp to Fort UnionIncrease of the Cold. No important change had taken place at Fort Clarke during our absence. We found there, besides Mr. Kipp the director,[2] and his family, two interpreters, Belhumeur for the Mandan language, and Ortubize for the Sioux; the [Pg 12]former was a half-breed Chippeway, and did not speak the Mandan language as well as Mr. Kipp.[3] Besides these men and their families there were in the fort only six white engags, one of whom was a smith: some of them were married to Indian women. We unfortunately missed Mr. Mc Kenzie, who had left only four days before to return to Fort Union.[4] We had received, through him, a very welcome packet of letters from Germany, which I found here. As I had written to Mr. Mc Kenzie, requesting him to provide us with a winter residence at Fort Clarke, in order more closely to study the Indian tribes in the neighbourhood, instead of accepting his invitation to pass that season with him at Fort Union, where we should have been accommodated in a far more comfortable and agreeable manner, he had had the kindness to give orders for completing a new building at Fort Clarke, in which we were to reside. This order unfortunately came too late, and it was necessary to finish the work in a hurry in the month of November, when the frost was very severe, particularly during {413} the nights, so that our dwelling, being very slightly built, afforded us, in the sequel, but little protection from the cold. The large crevices in the wood which formed the walls, were plastered up with clay, but the frost soon cracked it, so that the bleak wind penetrated on all sides. Our new house, which was one story high, consisted of two light, spacious apartments, with large glass windows; we inhabited one of these rooms, while the other served for a workshop for the carpenter and the joiner. Each room had a brick chimney, in which we burnt large blocks of green [Pg 13]poplar, because, for want of hands, no stock of dry wood had been laid in for the winter. The consequence was, that we were obliged to send men every morning, with small carts or sledges, for some miles into the forest, to fetch wood for the daily consumption, which in the intense cold was a truly laborious task. An engag who was employed in our service brought the wood covered with ice and snow into our room, which considerably increased the cold which we already experienced. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 48235
Author: Wied, Maximilian
Release Date: Feb 11, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913
Illustrator: Bodmer, Karl, 1809-1893
Translator: Lloyd, Hannibal Evans, 1771-1847