Clark: August 15, 1806

Thursday August 15th 1806. Continued at the Mandan Village. After assembling the Chiefs and smoking one pipe, I informed them that I still spoke the same words which we had spoken to them when we first arrived in their country in the fall of 1804. We then invited them to visit their great father the President of the United States and to hear his own counsels and receive his gifts from his own hands, as also to see the population of a government which can at their pleasure protect and secure them from all their enemies, and chastise all those who will shut their ears to his counsels. We now offer to take you at the expense of our government and send you back to your country again with a considerable present in merchandise which you will receive from your great father. I urged the necessity of their going on with us, as it would be the means of hastening those supplies of merchandise which would be sent to their country and exchanged, as before mentioned, for a moderate price in peltries and furs, etc.

The great Chief of the Menetaras spoke. He said he wished to go down and see his great father very much, but that the Sioux were in the road and would most certainly kill him or any others who should go down. They were bad people and would not listen to anything which was told them. When he saw us last, we told him that we had made peace with all the nations below; since that time the Sioux had killed 8 of their people and stolen a number of their horses. He said that he had opened his ears and followed our counsels; he had made peace with the Cheyennes and Rocky Mountains Indians, and he repeated the same objections as mentioned. He went to war against none and was willing to receive all nations as friends. He said that the Ricaras had stolen from his people a number of horses at different times, and his people had killed 2 Ricaras. If the Sioux were at peace with them and could be depended on, he, as also other chiefs of the villages, would be glad to go and see their great father, but as they were all afraid of the Sioux, they should not go down, etc.

The Black Cat, chief of the Mandan village on the north side of the Missouri, sent over and requested me to go over to his village, which invitation I accepted, and crossed over to his village. He had a parcel of corn, about 12 bushels, in a pile in his lodge. He told me that his people had but little corn, part of which they had given me. After taking a smoke, he informed me that, as the Sioux were very troublesome and the road to his great father dangerous, none of this village would go down with us. I told the chiefs and warriors of the village who were there present that we were anxious that some of the village should go and see their great father and hear his good words and receive his bountiful gifts, etc., and told them to pick out some man on which they could rely and send him to see their great father. They made the same objections which the chief had done before. A young man offered to go down, and they all agreed for him to go down. The character of this young man I knew as a bad one, and I made an objection as to his age and character. At this time Gibson, who was with me, informed me that this young man had stolen his knife and had it then in his possession. This I informed the chief, and directed him to give up the knife. He delivered the knife with a very faint apology for his having it in his possession. I then reproached those people for wishing to send such a man to see and hear the words of so great a man as their great father. They hung their heads and said nothing for some time, when the chief spoke and said that they were afraid to send anyone for fear of their being killed by the Sioux. After smoking a pipe and relating some passages, I recrossed to our camp.

Being informed by one of our interpreters that the 2nd chief of the Mandans, commonly called the Little Crow, intended to accompany us down, I took Charbono (Charbonneau) and walked to the village to see this chief and talk with him on the subject. He told me he had determined to go down, but wished to have a council first with his people, which would be in the latter part of the day. I smoked a pipe with the Little Crow and returned to the boat.

Colter, one of our men, expressed a desire to join some trappers who offered to become sharers with him and furnish traps, etc. The offer being a very advantageous one to him, and his services could be dispensed with from this point down, and as we were disposed to be of service to any one of our party who had performed their duty as well as Colter had done, we agreed to allow him the privilege, provided no one of the party would ask or expect a similar permission. To this they all agreed, that they wished Colter every success, and that as we did not wish any of them to separate until we should arrive at St. Louis, they would not apply or expect it, etc.

The Maharha chief brought us some corn, as did also the chief of the little village of the Menetarras, on mules, of which they have several. The evening is cool and windy. Great numbers of the natives of the different villages came to view us and exchange robes with our men for their skins. We gave Jo Colter some small articles which we did not want, and some powder and lead. The party also gave him several articles which will be useful to him on his expedition.

This evening Charbono (Charbonneau) informed me that our back was scarcely turned before a war party from the two Menetarry villages followed on and attacked and killed the Snake Indians whom we had seen, and in the engagement between them and the Snake Indians they had lost two men, one of which was the son of the principal chief of the little village of the Menitarras. They had also gone to war from the Menetarras and killed two Ricaras. He further informed me that a misunderstanding had taken place between the Mandans and Minetarras and had very nearly come to blows about a woman; the Menitarres at length presented a pipe and a reconciliation took place between them.