Colter says, flipping through the pages.
Drouillard looks at Mountain Dog and Watkuweis. "Colter's eyes are getting sore. We will continue reading tomorrow."
Watkuweis takes the red book, slips it back into the otter skin pouch, and hands it to Mountain Dog. "We will return tomorrow night," she says.
Colter and Drouillard watch them walk away and spread their blankets on the ground.
"So where the devil do you think they got that book?" Colter asks.
"Guess we'll find out after you finish reading it," Drouillard says.
Within a few minutes both men are asleep.
EARLY THE NEXT morning I follow Mountain Dog out onto the prairie to help search for buffalo. It takes us all day to find a herd, and we don't get back to camp until after dark.
After we eat, Mountain Dog gets the otter bag from his tepee and we join Drouillard and Colter at their fire.
"Are Colter's eyes rested?" Watkuweis asks Drouillard.
"I suspect so," he says with a smile. "He's had them closed most of the day."
"What did she say?" Colter asks.
"She wants you to read."
Colter opens the red book....
October 29, 1804
We are now with the Mandans, trying to find a good spot to build our winter fort.
There was a prairie fire this morning in which several Mandans were burned to death while they were out hunting buffalo....
WHEN THE INFERNO died down, I followed Drouillard and Tabeau out onto the scorched flatland to view the devastation. We found the charred remains of buffalo, wolves, foxes, rabbits, and humans.
"Gray Squirrel and his wife, Running Water," Tabeau said, looking down at two bodies. "Grass fires move as fast as the wind. They didn't have a chance."
"
Caw! Caw! Caw!
"
White Feather landed on a burnt buffalo skin not far from the bodies. It had been a long time since I had
seen him, and I figured he had stopped following us. I was happy he was back.
"
Caw! Caw! Caw!
"
Drouillard and Tabeau continued their conversation and did not give the crow a single glance. I walked over to the buffalo skin and White Feather flew away. Something moved beneath the skin and I started digging. There was a cry to go along with a movement, which quickly turned into a loud wailing. Drouillard pushed me aside and Tabeau flipped the skin over. It was a child making the noise.
"I'll be," Tabeau said. "Gray Squirrel's son. When the fire came they must have rolled him up in the wet skin. There isn't a blister on him."
"Why didn't they crawl under the skin themselves?"
"Not big enough."
Drouillard picked the boy up and carried him back to the Mandan village.
November 3, 1804
We have started building our fort. It is located across from the first Mandan village....
THERE WERE TWO Mandan villages, one on the east side of the Missouri and one on the west side. A little farther north were three Hidatsa villages situated on the smaller Knife River.
The Mandans lived in large earth lodges about forty feet around. In each village there were forty lodges, with at least ten people living in each lodge. At night they brought their horses and dogs right into the lodge to sleep alongside them.
The men built our fort across from the first Mandan village. The gated wall surrounding the fort was made out of stout trees and stood eighteen feet tall. The captains had the swivel gun put on top of the wall in case we were attacked. Inside were two rows of small huts for
the men to sleep in, a foundry, and a plaza to hold council with the Indians, of whom there was a steady flow.
The Mandan and Hidatsa villages functioned like the wharves I had grown up on, but instead of using money, transactions were based purely on trade. Each lodge was a store filled with goods. Cheyenne, Arikara, Sioux, Otos, French and English from Canada, Spaniards, and men and women from half a dozen other tribes traveled across the prairie sea to trade their wares here. A good horse might cost three tanned buffalo robes, one hundred blue beads, and twenty pounds of corn. The Indian who traded the
Drouillard looks at Mountain Dog and Watkuweis. "Colter's eyes are getting sore. We will continue reading tomorrow."
Watkuweis takes the red book, slips it back into the otter skin pouch, and hands it to Mountain Dog. "We will return tomorrow night," she says.
Colter and Drouillard watch them walk away and spread their blankets on the ground.
"So where the devil do you think they got that book?" Colter asks.
"Guess we'll find out after you finish reading it," Drouillard says.
Within a few minutes both men are asleep.
EARLY THE NEXT morning I follow Mountain Dog out onto the prairie to help search for buffalo. It takes us all day to find a herd, and we don't get back to camp until after dark.
After we eat, Mountain Dog gets the otter bag from his tepee and we join Drouillard and Colter at their fire.
"Are Colter's eyes rested?" Watkuweis asks Drouillard.
"I suspect so," he says with a smile. "He's had them closed most of the day."
"What did she say?" Colter asks.
"She wants you to read."
Colter opens the red book....
October 29, 1804
We are now with the Mandans, trying to find a good spot to build our winter fort.
There was a prairie fire this morning in which several Mandans were burned to death while they were out hunting buffalo....
WHEN THE INFERNO died down, I followed Drouillard and Tabeau out onto the scorched flatland to view the devastation. We found the charred remains of buffalo, wolves, foxes, rabbits, and humans.
"Gray Squirrel and his wife, Running Water," Tabeau said, looking down at two bodies. "Grass fires move as fast as the wind. They didn't have a chance."
"
Caw! Caw! Caw!
"
White Feather landed on a burnt buffalo skin not far from the bodies. It had been a long time since I had
seen him, and I figured he had stopped following us. I was happy he was back.
"
Caw! Caw! Caw!
"
Drouillard and Tabeau continued their conversation and did not give the crow a single glance. I walked over to the buffalo skin and White Feather flew away. Something moved beneath the skin and I started digging. There was a cry to go along with a movement, which quickly turned into a loud wailing. Drouillard pushed me aside and Tabeau flipped the skin over. It was a child making the noise.
"I'll be," Tabeau said. "Gray Squirrel's son. When the fire came they must have rolled him up in the wet skin. There isn't a blister on him."
"Why didn't they crawl under the skin themselves?"
"Not big enough."
Drouillard picked the boy up and carried him back to the Mandan village.
November 3, 1804
We have started building our fort. It is located across from the first Mandan village....
THERE WERE TWO Mandan villages, one on the east side of the Missouri and one on the west side. A little farther north were three Hidatsa villages situated on the smaller Knife River.
The Mandans lived in large earth lodges about forty feet around. In each village there were forty lodges, with at least ten people living in each lodge. At night they brought their horses and dogs right into the lodge to sleep alongside them.
The men built our fort across from the first Mandan village. The gated wall surrounding the fort was made out of stout trees and stood eighteen feet tall. The captains had the swivel gun put on top of the wall in case we were attacked. Inside were two rows of small huts for
the men to sleep in, a foundry, and a plaza to hold council with the Indians, of whom there was a steady flow.
The Mandan and Hidatsa villages functioned like the wharves I had grown up on, but instead of using money, transactions were based purely on trade. Each lodge was a store filled with goods. Cheyenne, Arikara, Sioux, Otos, French and English from Canada, Spaniards, and men and women from half a dozen other tribes traveled across the prairie sea to trade their wares here. A good horse might cost three tanned buffalo robes, one hundred blue beads, and twenty pounds of corn. The Indian who traded the
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