"
Next day, says the journal,--
"We were visited by two persons from the lower village: one, the Big
White, the chief of the village; the other, the Chayenne, called the Big
Man: they had been hunting, and did not return yesterday early enough to
attend the council. At their request we repeated part of our speech of
yesterday, and put the medal round the neck of the chief. Captain
Clark took a pirogue and went up the river in search of a good
wintering-place, and returned after going seven miles to the lower point
of an island on the north side, about one mile in length. He found the
banks on the north side high, with coal occasionally, and the country
fine on all sides; but the want of wood, and the scarcity of game up the
river, induced us to decide on fixing ourselves lower down during the
winter. In the evening our men danced among themselves, to the great
amusement of the Indians."
It may be said here that the incident of a life saved from fire by a
raw-hide, originally related by Lewis and Clark, is the foundation of
a great many similar stories of adventures among the Indians. Usually,
however, it is a wise and well-seasoned white trapper who saves his life
by this device.
Having found a good site for their winter camp, the explorers now built
a number of huts, which they called Fort Mandan. The place was on the
north bank of the Missouri River, in what is now McLean County, North
Dakota, about sixteen hundred miles up the river from St. Louis, and
seven or eight miles below the mouth of Big Knife River.
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