The Mandan tribe of Indians has always been more or less of a mystery to those historians who have tried to figure where the people inhabiting the country at the time of the discovery of America, and its later development, originally came from. They were of a much lighter hue than any of the other Indians, and, while some students have declared their positive belief that they must have sprung from the lost tribe of Israel, others claim to see certain similarities in customs and even language between the Mandans and the Welsh. These latter claim that at some time in the remote past a vessel with a Welsh crew must have been blown across the Atlantic ocean, and into the Gulf of Mexico, by a severe storm; and that the survivors made their way up the Mississippi, finally marrying into a tribe of Indians; and that their descendants still clung to some of the old-country ways. It is very curious how many very plausible reasons can be found for believing such a thing as this. It may be true; but the point has never been wholly proved; and so the origin of the "White Indians" still remains shrouded in mystery to this day. The Mandans suffered fearfully from the smallpox epidemic after they began to have intimate relations with the whites; and, in fact, the once great and powerful tribe has been almost exterminated.
Salt-licks, or saline springs, used to be very common in the early days of the pioneers, and many of the histories of those times make mention of them. Even in the African wilderness certain animals will come many miles just to get a chance to lick up the salt at a certain place. The same is true of numerous places in our Wild West of to-day. Deer, in particular, are fond of coming to a "lick." The craving for a taste of salt seems to induce them to cover vast distances. Hunters, knowing this love for salt on the part of game, often hide in ambush near such a magnet, and shoot down wild animals with the greatest of ease. Indeed, in some States the practice of lying in wait at such a place is looked upon as unsportsmanlike, and frowned down upon, even to the extent of making laws for the protection of salt-hungry game.
As the two boys, Dick and Roger, discovered for themselves, when fortune allowed them to spend some time in a Mandan village, these Indians had many ways in common with other tribes, even while in certain traits they differed greatly from the Blackfeet, the Sioux, the Shoshones, and the Pawnees. One of these consisted of the customary medicine-man, who was supposed to be in direct communication with Manitou, or the Great Spirit. When a storm came along, and the thunder roared, this old humbug would pretend to be talking with the Great Father above; and, of course, would interpret as he pleased what the Spirit was supposed to say in reply to his questions. He always dressed in a hideous costume, and looked as much like the Evil One as any person could imagine, with his paint, his buffalo tails, his fanciful adornments, and often the horns which he assumed for occasions. His principal office as the "doctor," or medicine-man, is to frighten away the devils that are supposed to be afflicting sick people. He would go through with a tremendous amount of nonsense, and, if the sick person got well, he had the credit of working a miracle; whereas, if he or she died, it was the will of the Great Spirit! Nor is the medicine-man confined to the Indian tribes of North America; for the same species of charlatan has been discovered in the heart of blackest Africa, among the negro nations inhabiting that region.