The enlisted men and engagés move the boats nine miles up the Missouri passing sandbars, shoals, and an abandoned Missouria village. They camp at the mouth of the Grand River where Clark and Lewis climb a hill for the view and make lunar observations late into the night.
Háw-che-ke-súg-ga, He Who Kills the Osages
Chief of the [Missouria] Tribe, 1832
George Catlin (1796-1872)
Oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.122.
Háw-che-ke-súg-ga’s English name recalls the Missouria’s dominance in the area’s fur trade a century earlier. The Otoes eventually wrested that control from them. By the time Catlin painted this portrait, Háw-che-ke-súg-ga had joined with the Otoe.[1]Brian W. Dippie, et al., George Catlin and His Indian Gallery (Smithsonian American Art Museum, W.W. Norton & Company, 2002), 121. Here, he sports a bear claw necklace, peace pipe, and peace medal. These “props” were often owned by the portraitist—worn by the subject or painted in later.
Abandoned Missouria Village
We Set out early passed a round bend to the S. S. and two Creeks Called the round bend Creeks between those two Creeks and behind a Small willow Island in the bend is a Prarie in which the Missouries Indians once lived and the Spot where 300 of them fell a Sacrifise to the fury of the Saukees [Sauks] This nation (Missouries) once the most noumerous nation in this part of the Continent now reduced to about 80 fes. and that fiew under the protection of the Otteaus [Otoes]
—William Clark
In 1810, journal editor Nicholas Biddle and William Clark discussed the Missouria Nation. The number of fallen warriors above was changed from 300 to 200. The fate of the abandoned village site was recorded in Biddle’s 1810 notes:
There are no remains of the Missouri village. On the island opposite to where it formerly stood, was once a French fort (see DuPratz His. of Natchez) of which there are now no appearance—the island having been since inundated & was washed away most probably.
In the captains’ traveling library was Du Pratz’s History of Louisiana consulted by the captains and referred to by Biddle. Of the Missourias, Du Pratz had written:
The nation of the Missouris is very considerable, and has given its name to the large river that empties itself into the Missisippi. It is the first nation we meet with from the confluence of the two rivers, and yet it is situated above forty leagues up the Missouri. The French had a settlement pretty near this nation, at the time when M. de Bourgmont was commandant in those parts; but soon after he left them, the inhabitants massacred the French garrison.[2]Le Page du Pratz, The history of Louisiana, or of the western parts of Virginia and Carolina: containing a description of the countries that lie on both sides of the river Mississippi: with an … Continue reading
At the Grand River
We proceeded early on our voyage; passed a small creek on the north side in a long bend of the river; and encamped at the mouth of Grand river on the North side. This is as handsome a place as I ever saw in an uncultivated state.
—Patrick Gass
Lunar Observations
Took Some Looner Observations which Kept Cap L. & my Self up untill half past 11 oClock.
—William ClarkObserved time and distance of
from [Spica Virgo symbol]
East.
—Meriwether Lewis
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Notes
| ↑1 | Brian W. Dippie, et al., George Catlin and His Indian Gallery (Smithsonian American Art Museum, W.W. Norton & Company, 2002), 121. |
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| ↑2 | Le Page du Pratz, The history of Louisiana, or of the western parts of Virginia and Carolina: containing a description of the countries that lie on both sides of the river Mississippi: with an account of the settlements, inhabitants, soil, climate, and products (New Orleans: Pelican Press, 1900 reprint), 304–05. |
