Lewis: February 2, 1806
At Fort Clatsop, Lewis notes nothing remarkable occurred but the party is glad one month of their stay has passed. He devotes the entry to describing local Indian games of chance, including a hand-game where a banker hides a small bean-sized piece and opponents guess which hand holds it, and a similar team version played by the Shoshone and Minnetare. He also mentions a bowling game played between upright sticks. The natives gamble heavily on these games, accompany play with songs, and keep a small dog used only for hunting elk.
Sunday February 2cd 1806. Not any occurrence today worthy of notice; but
all are pleased, that one month of the time which binds us to Fort Clatsop
and which seperates us from our friends has now elapsed. one of the games
of amusement and wrisk of the Indians of this neighbourhood like that of
the Sosones consists in hiding in the hand some small article about the
size of a bean; this they throw from one hand to the other with great
dexterity accompanying their opperations with a particular song which
seems to have been addapted to the game; when the individul who holds the
peice has amused himself sufficiently by exchanging it from one hand to
the other, he hold out his hands for his compettitors to guess which hand
contains the peice; if they hit on the hand which contains the peice they
win the wager otherwise loose. the individual who holds the peice is a
kind of banker and plays for the time being against all the others in the
room; when he has lost all the property which he has to venture, or thinks
proper at any time, he transfers the peice to some other who then also
becoms banker. The Sosone and Minnetares &c have a game of a singular
kind but those divide themselves in two parties and play for a common
wager to which each individual contributes to form the stock of his party.
one of them holdes the peice and some one of the opposite party gesses
which hand contains if he hits on the hand which contains it the peice is
transferred to the opposite party and the victor counts one, if he misses
the party still retain the peice and score one but the individual tranfers
the peice to some other of his own party; the game is set to any number
they think proper, and like the natives of this quarter they always
accompany their opperations with a particular song. the natives here have
also another game which consists in bowling some small round peices about
the size of Bacgammon men, between two small upright sticks placed a few
inches asunder, but the principals of the game I have not learn not
understanding their language sufficiently to obtain an explanation. their
boys amuse themselves with their bows and arrows as those do of every
Indian nation with which I am acquainted. these people are excessively
fond of their games of risk and bet freely every species of property of
which they are possessed. They have a smal dog which they make usefull
only in hunting the Elk.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Sunday, February 2nd, 1806. Nothing happened today worth noting, but everyone is pleased that one month of the time which binds us to Fort Clatsop and separates us from our friends has now passed. One of the games of amusement and risk played by the Indians of this neighborhood, like that of the Sosones (Shoshones), consists of hiding in the hand a small article about the size of a bean. They throw this from one hand to the other with great dexterity, accompanying their actions with a particular song that seems to have been adapted to the game. When the individual who holds the piece has amused himself sufficiently by exchanging it from one hand to the other, he holds out his hands for his competitors to guess which hand contains the piece. If they hit on the hand which contains the piece, they win the wager; otherwise they lose. The individual who holds the piece is a kind of banker and plays for the time being against all the others in the room. When he has lost all the property which he has to venture, or whenever he thinks proper, he transfers the piece to someone else, who then also becomes the banker.
The Sosone (Shoshone) and Minnetares, etc., have a game of a singular kind, but they divide themselves into two parties and play for a common wager, to which each individual contributes to form the stock of his party. One of them holds the piece, and someone of the opposite party guesses which hand contains it. If he hits on the hand which contains it, the piece is transferred to the opposite party and the victor counts one. If he misses, the party still retains the piece and scores one, but the individual transfers the piece to someone else of his own party. The game is set to any number they think proper, and, like the natives of this quarter, they always accompany their actions with a particular song.
The natives here also have another game which consists of bowling some small round pieces, about the size of backgammon men, between two small upright sticks placed a few inches apart. But I have not learned the principles of the game, not understanding their language sufficiently to obtain an explanation. Their boys amuse themselves with their bows and arrows, as do those of every Indian nation with which I am acquainted. These people are excessively fond of their games of risk and freely bet every kind of property they possess. They have a small dog which they make useful only in hunting elk.
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