We now ascertained that they were an Ietan or Camanch[109] (a band of the Snake Indians) war-party, thirty-five in number, of whom five were squaws. They had marched to attack the Osages, but were surprised in their camp of night before last, by a party of unknown Indians. In the skirmish that ensued, they lost three men, and had six wounded. They however escaped under cover of the darkness, with the further loss of fifty-six horses, and all their clothing, which were captured by the enemy.[110] They were indeed in a naked condition, being destitute of robes, leggings, and mockasins; with nothing to cover their bodies at night, or to protect them from the influence of the sun during the day. The squaws, however, had { 73} managed to retain their clothing, and one of the warriors had preserved an article of dress, resembling a coat, half red and half blue, ornamented with beads on the sleeves and shoulders. The usual decoration of beads about the neck and in the hair and ears were preserved, and one warrior only was painted with vermilion. The hair of several was matted into flat braids with red clay, and one individual had seven or eight pieces of the pearl shell suspended from his ears, so highly valued by these Indians. In every particular of form and feature, they were undistinguishable from the Kiawas, Kaskaias, and Arrapahoes. Much attention was devoted to the wounded, who were each accommodated with a horse, of which animals eight had been fortunately retained. These objects of sympathy were assisted in alighting from their horses with great tenderness, particularly one of them, who was shot through the body. Another of them, who was one of the two mounted spies that first approached us, had lost his brother in the late battle; and to prove the sincerity of his grief for his loss, he had cut more than one hundred parallel transverse lines on his arms and thighs, of the length of from three to four inches, deep enough to draw blood, and so close to each other that the width of the finger could not be interposed between any two of them.
They were armed with bows and arrows, lances and shields, and thirteen guns, but by far the greater number carried lances. They begged stoutly for various articles, particularly clothing; and it was found necessary to separate from them a few feet into a distinct body, in order to be prepared to act together in case of necessity. One of us, however, occupied with the appearance of these Indians, still remained amongst them, until one of them attempted to seize his gun, when a slight scuffle ensued, which he terminated by violently wresting the piece from the grasp of the Indian, and warily retreating from the midst of them.