The two villages of this tribe are on the west bank, very near each other, but separated by a small stream. They consist of a great number of clay huts, round at the top, with a square entrance in front, and the whole surrounded with a fence of stakes, which were much decayed, and in many places thrown down. It is not quite a year since these villages had been wholly abandoned, because their inhabitants, who were extremely hostile to the Whites, killed so many Americans, that they themselves foresaw that they would be severely chastised by the United States, and therefore preferred to emigrate. To this cause was added, a dry, unproductive season, when the crops entirely failed; as well as the absence of the herds of buffaloes, which hastened their removal. It is said that these Indians now roam about on the road from St. Louis to Santa Fé, and the late attacks on the caravans are ascribed to them.[302] Mr. Bodmer made an accurate drawing of these deserted villages. The principal chief of the Arikkaras, when they retired from [pg. 167] the Missouri, was called Starapat[303] (the little hawk, with bloody claws), and generally La Main pleine de Sang, who will be mentioned in the sequel.
The Arikkaras, or, as they are called by the Mandans, Rikkaras or Rees, Les Ris of the Canadians, are a branch of the Pawnees, from whom they long since separated. Their language, which is very easy for a German to pronounce, is said to be a proof of this affinity. Their number is supposed to be still 4000 souls, among whom 500 or 600 are able to bear arms. The wife of La Chapelle, the interpreter for that nation, was an Arikkara; she had a round full countenance, and rather delicate small features, with a very light yellowish complexion. It is affirmed that the women of this nation are the handsomest on the Missouri. Manoel Lisa, a well-known fur trader, had formerly built a trading house in this country, of which nothing now remains; though the place is still called Manoel Lisa's Fort.[304] The prairie was to-day more verdant and pleasant than yesterday. A mountain, with some remarkable summits, called La Butte au Grès, gave it some diversity. Here we suddenly saw, on the bank, a man, who fired his musket three times, and at first took him for an Indian; but another soon appeared, in a small leathern boat, and we learnt that both were _engagés_ or travellers of the Company, who were dispatched from the Upper Missouri, with letters for Mr. Mc Kenzie. We took them in, and the little leathern boat was left lying on the beach. In the distance, on the left, there was a chain of mountains, with numerous summits, near which Cannon-ball River flows; and, nearer to the Missouri, a chain of flat hills, level at the top, with many clefts, called La Butte de Chayenne.[305] In this neighbourhood we saw a high tree in a poplar wood, entirely covered with turkey buzzards, as in Brazil; towards evening we passed Beaver Creek (Rivière au Castor), the Warananno[306] of Lewis and Clarke.[307]