September, 1804
Sailing with a cool and gentle breeze, the Corps of Discovery enjoyed the sweep of the open, timberless prairie, which was ablaze with miles of colorful wildflowers. As they set up camp on a large island, the hunters returned with news that excited Captain Lewis.
“We saw some kind of a strange goat, but we couldn’t get close enough to shoot one,” Drouillard said. “They can run like the wind!”
“Damn,” Lewis muttered, but then brightened. “If there was one, there have to be more. Let’s keep a sharp lookout tomorrow.”
Colter returned from searching for Shannon with no news except that while searching for Shannon he had killed a buffalo, an elk, and three deer. Captain Clark sent men with sleds to retrieve Colter’s bounty.
Captain Lewis, walking on shore, came upon a colony of small mammals that lived in tunnels in the ground. Lewis was amused by the animals, so he called the boats to shore so the men could see them. The little creatures popped up out of their tunnels, sat on their hind legs, and scolded the men, bringing laughter from everyone who saw them.
“Go back to the keelboat and get some shovels,” Lewis ordered one of the men. “Let’s dig one of them out of its tunnel.”
He was intrigued by the strange, little, furry animals that hid in underground tunnels, but they escaped all attempts to dig one out. Lewis had another idea.
“Bring some barrels of water, and we’ll flood one out.”
Finally capturing one animal, the men built a cage for it, and Lewis decided to send it to St. Louis for safe-keeping when the keelboat returned in the spring.
Autumn was already touching the landscape, and the expedition passed groves of cottonwood trees with fading leaves and small plum trees loaded with ripe fruit. The hunters were excited to return with an antelope—the “goat” they had seen earlier—as well as a jackrabbit, both species new to science. Elated, Captain Lewis described and catalogued both species and stuffed them to be sent to St. Louis with other new finds.
A strong wind rose and the men hoisted sails, running comfortably and fast until the mast on the keelboat suddenly broke. Retrieving a cedar tree that was floating in the river, they stopped at an island to make and erect a new mast. On both sides of the river herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope were grazing peacefully.
The next morning, as the keelboat rounded a bend in the river, the men spied George Shannon waving wildly to them from the riverbank. The men applauded and shouted to him. Seaman, who had formed an especially close bond with Shannon, went wild with excitement at the sight of him, jumping and barking frantically.
“Praise be!” Captain Clark called to him as the boat swung close to shore. “We had almost given up hope for you!”
“So had I!” the tow-headed Shannon exclaimed in a choking voice, his blue eyes brimming with tears he could not hold back. “I thought you were ahead of me, and I’ve been chasing you for sixteen goldarn days!”
Shannon was very weak and nearly starved. He told about running out of ammunition and shooting a rabbit with a stick instead of a musket ball. But for the last twelve days, he had been without meat, surviving on wild grapes, berries, and plums. Finally, knowing he was too weak to go any farther, he had decided to sit on the riverbank in hopes that a trapper or trader would come down the river and rescue him.
The men gathered around him, shaking his hand, expressing their joy, and congratulating him for surviving the ordeal.
“For want of ammunition, you nearly starved in a land of plenty,” someone observed.
In his honor, the captains named a nearby creek Shannon Creek, and everyone cheered again.
The Corps of Discovery gradually entered high plains where buffalo, elk, and deer were plentiful. Unlike domesticated beef back home, wild game was lean, and the men, with all their strenuous activity, needed the energy provided by fat. One buffalo, four deer, or the equivalent, was required to feed the Corps each day. With the exhausting work of rowing, poling, and towing the boats against the powerful current of the Missouri River, each man consumed an average of nine pounds of meat daily. They ate their fill of the lean game the hunters killed and whatever wild fruit each area afforded, but the nourishing fat was nearly absent from their diet.
When Colter came in to report that he had killed a buffalo and needed help to bring the meat in, Gass took some men and returned to the location with him.
“I hope the wolves haven’t gotten it,” Gass said on their way to where Colter had left the buffalo.
“Nah, I left my hat on the carcass so my smell would scare them away.”
But when they reached the location of the kill, the wolves had indeed devoured the buffalo—and destroyed Colter’s hat as well! He took some kidding when the men learned about it.
“The Indians would call you ‘Scares Wolves Away,’” Shannon teased him.
One day while Captain Lewis was walking on shore looking for new flora and fauna, he came upon the fossilized skeleton of a fish that was forty-five feet long. He drew a sketch of it and then hailed the keelboat to come to the riverbank to collect the bones to send back to Washington in the spring. The men were fascinated and talked about it for hours. No one could come up with a plausible explanation for a huge fish skeleton being on land.
The September air was getting chilly, despite bright sunshine that lit up orange and red leaves with golden light. The captains issued flannel shirts to the men to wear under their buckskin shirts, which eased the nip in the early morning chill when the breath from every man rose in the air like little white clouds. They were entering the territory of the Teton Sioux now, and the next day three Teton Sioux teenagers swam the river to meet the expedition. Drouillard spoke to them in sign language.
“They say there is a band of eighty lodges camped at the mouth of the next river and another band of sixty lodges a short distance above the first,” he reported.
“Ask them to invite their chiefs to a council with us tomorrow,” Lewis instructed.
Private John Colter, hunting on shore with the expedition’s only remaining horse, shouted to one of the pirogues to come and get two elk and a deer he had killed. While Colter and the pirogue crew were getting the carcasses on board the pirogue, Colter’s horse disappeared from the tree where he had tied it. Although Colter was short and quiet, he was a tough fighter who was not to be taken lightly. Seeing three young Sioux nearby, he started toward them to accuse them, but Captain Clark intervened, wanting to prevent a fight if possible. Instead, he challenged the Indians himself through Drouillard’s sign language.
“You have stolen our horse and you must return it,” he demanded. “We came here as friends, but we will fight if we have to.”
The Indians looked at one another and then gestured their innocence. “We know nothing of your horse,” one of them signed. “But if one of our people took it, we will get it back for you. We will talk to Black Buffalo, our chief.”
Clark answered through Drouillard, “Invite Black Buffalo and your other chiefs to come to meet with us tomorrow.”
So these were the dreaded Teton Sioux, the sign for whom was a finger drawn across the throat.
“I think we would be wise to anchor the keelboat a hundred yards out in the middle of the river and keep all hands on board except our sentries,” Clark suggested. Lewis readily agreed.
The three Tetons stayed with the expedition’s sentries all night, and things seemed pleasant and peaceful. Privates Richard Winser and Robert Frazier gave the Indians tobacco and smoked with them. The young braves signed that their village had eighty lodges that housed roughly ten persons each and that their village moved from one campsite to the next with dogs that pulled poles on which the Tetons loaded as much as eighty pounds of baggage.
The next morning Lewis and Clark received word from Black Buffalo that he and many of his tribe would come to council on the following day.
“Sergeant Gass, have the men raise the flag and put up the keelboat sail as a shelter for the council tomorrow,” Lewis ordered.
The captains also decided to keep most of the men on board the boats again and keep the cannon ready to fire in case they had to fight the Tetons tomorrow. The next morning, every man in the Corps awaited the arrival of the Teton Sioux with foreboding. When they assembled at the river, Lewis greeted them with a handshake and gifts.
“We are happy to meet you,” he told Black Buffalo and the lesser chiefs through Drouillard. Black Buffalo was an impressive, well-built man of about forty years of age wearing beads, feathers, and paint to indicate his importance in the tribe.
Lewis gave him a red coat and a cocked hat with a feather in the band. He gave the lesser chiefs some gifts as well. The Teton chiefs seemed to have difficulty understanding Drouillard’s sign language, and the captains realized what an asset Dorion would be if he were still with them. The chiefs said little at first, but then they made it clear that they wanted more presents. Black Buffalo pointed to the red pirogue and then to himself.
“No,” Captain Lewis said firmly, shaking his head. He turned to Private John Dame, “Demonstrate the air gun for these river bandits, Dame. Maybe that will impress them.”
The chiefs were duly impressed, but they remained sullen. When Lewis began his speech about the Corps of Discovery, he quickly realized that the Teton Sioux chiefs understood nothing he said. He ended his speech and had the men perform military drills instead as entertainment. Then he handed out medals and other small gifts that did not satisfy the chiefs. They scowled and talked to one another in angry voices.
“Let’s invite them aboard the keelboat,” Clark suggested. “They might like that.”
Lewis motioned for the chiefs to get into one of the pirogues, and its crew rowed them to the keelboat. Lewis ducked into the keelboat cabin and returned with a bottle of whiskey and some glasses. He filled each chief’s glass half full. This finally pleased the chiefs, but they wanted more. Lewis, not wanting to get them liquored up, refused. One of the chiefs again scowled and raised his voice in anger. At that, Lewis showed them his astrological instruments and his spyglass, but nothing made them happy. Lewis demonstrated the keelboat cannon, but even the roar and power of the cannon failed to faze them.
Losing patience, Lewis snapped an order: “Sergeant Ordway, bring one of the pirogues and take them back to shore.”
When the chiefs realized what was happening, they became even angrier, and when Clark and a detail of seven soldiers boarded the pirogue and motioned to the chiefs to follow them, they refused.
“All right, men, get back in the keelboat and force them into the pirogue!” Clark ordered.
The men returned to the keelboat and forcefully pushed the chiefs into the pirogue. As Clark took the chiefs to shore, Lewis stayed on the keelboat where he could command the cannon, blunderbusses, and riflemen. When the pirogue reached shore, the chiefs refused to get out, and some of the Teton warriors on shore surrounded it and grabbed the bowline.
“Let go of the line!” Clark shouted, gesturing.
The chiefs glared at him and spoke to each other in angry voices. They gestured fiercely at Drouillard, who interpreted to Captain Clark as best he could.
“We have more warriors on shore than you have on the boat,” the Tetons signed. “You must give us one of your pirogues if we allow you to move up the river.”
At this demand Clark drew his sword, and the warriors readied their bows and arrows, edging closer. The whole assemblage—the Corps and the Teton Sioux—were on edge, and ready for battle.
Clark still tried to reason with the Indians. “We have weapons and medicine on our boats that can kill twenty times the number of warriors you have on shore.”
Aboard the keelboat, Captain Lewis ordered the men to prepare for action. They loaded the cannon with musket balls, and the riflemen knelt, resting their muskets on the raised locker lids to steady their aim—all in full view of the Indians.
Black Buffalo finally decided that the price of collecting additional tribute might be too high. He got out of the pirogue, followed by the other chiefs, and took the bowline from the warrior who held it. Clark approached the chiefs, smiling, and extended his hand.
“Let’s forget about all of this and be friends,” he said.
Black Buffalo turned his back to Clark.
“All right then, you bastards!” Clark said angrily, knowing they would understand only his tone of voice. “If you stupidly insist on fighting us, you will die.”
Completely disgusted, Clark returned to the pirogue and the men cast off. Black Buffalo, apparently having second thoughts, splashed into the river, calling loudly to Clark. He wanted to return to the keelboat with Clark, so Clark allowed the chief and two warriors to climb into the pirogue. When they arrived at the keelboat, Black Buffalo indicated that he wanted to spend the night aboard.
“Why do you suppose he would want to do that?” Lewis asked.
“I don’t know,” Clark responded. “Maybe just for the novelty of it.”
The captains agreed to allow Black Buffalo to spend the night aboard the keelboat, but they doubled the guard while he was there.
The next day, the captains were surprised when Black Buffalo invited them to visit his village. They agreed in hopes of lessening tensions. The Indians came to get Captain Clark with a buffalo robe, spreading it on the ground and motioning him to sit on it. Then six Indians hoisted him aloft and carried him to their council house on their shoulders. Then they returned and carried Captain Lewis to the lodge in the same manner.
The village consisted of about a hundred tepees made of buffalo hides. The warriors painted their faces and chests for the council and decorated their hair with hawk feathers. Their squaws were cheerful, fine-looking women, but it was clear that they were slaves to their men. Lewis noted many female captives in the village who proved to be from the Omaha tribe, and Cruzatte spoke their language fluently. They told him that in a recent battle between the Teton Sioux and the Omaha tribes, the Sioux had destroyed forty lodges, killed seventy-five Omaha men, and captured forty-eight women and children.
Hundreds of Teton Sioux now gathered to stare at the soldiers. One especially large tepee sat in the center of the village, and the chiefs led Lewis and Clark inside. Sitting in a circle were elders and painted warriors who were passing around a pipe, the smoke rising in fragrant tendrils. The women had prepared a feast of dog meat for the gathering. Then Black Buffalo made a speech with many gestures, trying to overcome the language barrier.
“We are poor,” Drouillard translated. “The white men should give us something.”
Lewis responded without sympathy, showing his displeasure at the demand. “We have given you all we can afford to give, and until you change your ways, you deserve nothing more. You must stop harassing travelers who pass by on the river.” Black Buffalo and his elders understood Lewis’s refusal and anger through his tone of voice.
The soldiers watched as the Indians performed a scalp dance around the campfire to celebrate their recent victory over the Omahas. They played tambourines made of stretched animal skin on hoops, and some of them beat sticks on drums made of dried and stretched hides. The women, highly decorated with feathers and colorful beads, leaped up and down, waving the scalps their mates had won in the recent battle. The men of the Corps had heard about the Indian practice of scalping their enemies, but few of them had ever seen a scalp, and they were repulsed by the savagery of the display. Every now and then one of the Indians advanced and recounted his own war exploits in a chant. This was then taken up by the other young men as the women danced. As the soldiers tossed beads and tobacco to the performers, they noted that the recently captured Omaha women sat downcast and sad-faced.
Suddenly, a young warrior broke out of the dance and gestured angrily at the soldiers, apparently because he had not received as many gifts as the dancing women. He grabbed a drum from one of the players and hurled it to the ground, breaking it. As he stalked off, he grabbed two other drums and flung them into the fire. Two squaws retrieved the drums, and the dancing continued until midnight. The solders were surprised that the Sioux chiefs tolerated such behavior from one of their young men.
Black Buffalo offered young women to Lewis and Clark for the night, but the captains refused, having pledged to set a perfect example for their men. Again that night, Black Buffalo asked to sleep aboard the keelboat. The captains agreed, but again doubled the guard. Cruzatte had learned from the Omaha prisoners that the Sioux planned to overpower and rob them during the night.
Clark whispered to Lewis, “As long as we have their big chief on board, they won’t attack us.”
“That’s probably true. But let’s be prepared for anything.”
The tribe had special warriors who seemed to function as a police force. Whenever they approached, all the villagers scattered to avoid them. Lewis had seen one of them beat two squaws who were arguing. That night the Indian sentries along the perimeter of the village sang out the occurrences of the night at regular intervals.
Next morning, the Corps of Discovery was eager to be on its way, but Black Buffalo went ashore and returned to the river with his warriors.
“This looks threatening!” Lewis said quietly to Clark.
A warrior grasped the bowline of the pirogue and refused to let go. Black Buffalo indicated that he wanted more tobacco, apparently to save face. The captains controlled their anger, and Lewis tossed a carrot of tobacco onto the riverbank.
“Now show that you are chief by controlling your young men!” Lewis said, trying to sign his demand. He walked to the cannon to emphasize his determination, but Black Buffalo continued to ask for more tobacco.
The captains became angry, and the Indians were ready to fight.
In one last attempt to end the standoff peacefully, Lewis tossed another carrot of tobacco to the warrior holding the bowline, and he released the bowline.
“Cast off! Man your oars!” Clark called out then added, “Let’s get out of here as fast as we can!”
In his haste, the pilot of the pirogue struck one of the keelboat’s lines, and the pirogue swung around broadside, breaking the line and crashing into the keelboat. The Indians on the bank laughed, pointing and gesturing with great hilarity at the spectacle of men who couldn’t handle their own craft. The pirogue was badly damaged and had to be repaired before departure, a job that lasted until nightfall. The men had every reason to believe the Teton Sioux would attack during the night, but they didn’t, although the Corps spent a restless and sleepless night.
In the morning, the men were exasperated to see Black Buffalo and two hundred warriors on the riverbank, gesturing for them to stay.
“No, we must keep moving,” Clark indicated by pointing upriver.
“We will not allow you to go on!” Black Buffalo made clear by pointing back downriver and making a chopping motion with his hand. A few of the warriors carried ancient British shotguns, a few brandished spears, and the rest were armed with bows and arrows as well as tomahawks.
Lewis conferred with Drouillard, who signaled Black Buffalo. “Come and talk with us in the keelboat cabin.”
Three chiefs went with the captains into the cabin, but talking proved futile.
Black Buffalo crossed his arms over his chest, stared at them belligerently, and demanded, “You cannot pass unless you pay.”
Lewis replied, “You now belong to the United States of America. We were sent here by the great chief of the United States to make friends with you, not to fight you or pay you to allow us to pass on the river. The river does not belong to you. It belongs to the United States of America. We have powerful medicine on our boat that can kill all of you and your entire village.”
“You must pay,” Black Buffalo insisted in sign language.
“We will not pay you, and if we fight, many of your young men will die. Our weapons have great power. You cannot fight our weapons. We are continuing up the river.”
“No!”
“You are not going back to your village peacefully?” Lewis asked.
“No!”
Lewis stepped out of the keelboat cabin.
“Sergeant Pryor, call the men to their battle stations and raise the sail,” Lewis ordered, then returned to the cabin.
“If you don’t leave now, we will throw you into the river.” Lewis told Black Buffalo.
“One more tobacco,” the chief demanded, again trying to save face.
“I will not be trifled with!” Lewis said angrily, rising to his feet as did the chiefs. “Leave our boat!”
“One more tobacco.”
Lewis threw a carrot of tobacco to the warriors holding the line. “Now show you are chief by controlling your warriors,” he challenged the chief.
Black Buffalo, the other chiefs trailing, left the boat, took the line from the warrior who held it and released it.
The Corps of Discovery set out immediately with a favorable breeze. They would not camp on shore again until the Teton Sioux were far behind them. The Corps of Discovery knew now that the Teton Sioux were indeed the pirates of the Missouri River.