Villages of the Algonquian Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi Collections – Page 2 of 3

Houses of the Missouri Tribe

In the narrative of the Lewis and Clark expedition appears this record: “June 13, 1804. We passed a bend of the river. Missouri and two creeks on the north, called the Round Bend creeks. Between these two creeks is the prairie, in which once stood the ancient village of the Missouri. Of this village there remains no vestige, nor is there any thing to recall this great and numerous nation, except a feeble remnant of about thirty families. They were driven from their original seats by the invasions of the Sauks and other Indians from the Mississippi, who destroyed at … Read more

Houses of the Mdewakanton Tribe

When preparing a sketch of the villages and village sites of the Mdewakanton, it is quite natural to begin with a brief description of the site of the village to which Father Hennepin was led captive, during the early spring of the year 1680. On the afternoon of April 11 of that year, while ascending the Mississippi with two companions, he was taken by a war party of the Sioux, and after much anxiety and suffering reached the Falls of St. Anthony, which he so named. Thence, going overland through the endless forests, they arrived at the village of their … Read more

Houses of the Mandan Tribe

"The interior of the hut of a Mandan chief" - Karl Bodmer, 1833

As mentioned in the sketch of the houses of the Assiniboin, a small party of French accompanied by members of that tribe during the autumn of 1738 went southward from the Assiniboin country to the Mandan towns, where the French remained several weeks. The leader of the expedition, La Verendrye, prepared an account of the journey, this being the earliest record of a visit by Europeans to the Mandans known to exist, although it is easily conceived that French trappers may have been among the tribe earlier in the century. The expedition arrived among the Mandan November 28, 1738, after … Read more

Houses of the Kansa Tribe

To quote from the Handbook: “Their linguistic relations are closest with the Osage, and are close with the Quapaw. In the traditional migration of the group, after the Quapaw had first separated there from, the main body divided at the mouth of Osage River, the Osage moving up that stream and the Omaha and Ponca crossing Missouri River and proceeding northward, while the Kansa ascended the Missouri on the south side to the mouth of Kansa River. Here a brief halt was made, after which they ascended the Missouri on the, south side until they reached the present north boundary … Read more

Houses of the Iowa Tribe

On September 15, 1819, the expedition under command of Maj. Stephen H. Long arrived at the mouth of Papillion Creek, on the right bank of the Missouri a few miles above the Platte, a site now covered by the city of Omaha, Nebraska. In the narrative of the expedition it is said that at the mouth of the Papillion ” we found two boats belonging to the Indian traders at St Louis. They had passed us some days before, and were to remain for the winter at the mouth of the Papillion, to trade with the Otoe, Missouri, and other … Read more

Houses of the Illinois Confederacy

Although the tribes of the loosely constituted Illinois confederacy claimed and occupied a wide region east of the Mississippi, in later years centering in the valley of the Illinois River, nevertheless certain villages are known to have crossed and re-crossed the great river. Thus, in the early summer of 1673, Père Marquette arrived at a village of the Peoria then standing on the right Mississippi, at or near the or west bank of the later it had removed to the upper Illinois. Two months passing the Peoria, Marquette discovered another of the Illinois tribes, the Michigamea, living near the northeastern … Read more

Houses of the Hidatsa Tribe

Bull-boat and paddle, obtained from the Hidatsa. Marked "Fort Buford, Dak. Ter. Grosventres Tribe. Drs. Gray and Matthews." (U.S.N.M. 9785)

The Hidatsa villages as seen by Catlin and Maximilian during the years 1832, 1833, and 1834 had probably changed little since the winter of 1804-05, when Lewis and Clark occupied Fort Mandan, their winter quarters, some 8 miles below the mouth of Knife River.

Houses of the Crow Tribe

Parfleche box "Crows, Montana Ter. J. I. Allen." Length 28 inches, width 13 1/2 inches. (U.S.N.M. 130574)

Before the separation of the Crow from the Hidatsa they may have occupied permanent villages of earth-covered lodges, such as the latter continued to erect and use until very recent years. But after the separation the Crows moved into the mountains, the region drained by the upper tributaries of the Missouri, and there no longer built permanent structures but adopted the skin tipi, so easily erected and transported from place to place. Many of their tipis were very large, beautifully made and decorated, and were evidently not surpassed in any manner by the similar structures constructed by other tribes of … Read more

Houses of the Cree Tribe

The Cree were referenced to the use of the bark-covered lodge, the skin-covered lodge of probably a different shape, the structure covered with earth or sod, and, lastly, the log cabin, by widely dispersed bands.

Houses of the Cheyenne Tribe

A description and photograph of the habitations used by the Cheyenne tribe during history.

Houses of the Caddo Tribe

The “Caddo proper,” or Cenis as they were called by Joutel, early occupied the southwestern part of the present State of Arkansas, the Red River Valley, and adjacent region to the south and west. La Salle was murdered near the banks of the Trinity, in eastern Texas, March 20, 1687. Joutel and several others of the party pushed on, and nine days later, when traversing the valley of the Red River, arrived at a village of the Cenis. Fortunately a very good account of the people and their homes is preserved in Joutel’s narrative, and from it the following quotations … Read more

Houses of the Blackfoot Confederacy

"Encampment of the Piekann Indians" Karl Bodmer 1833

The tribes forming this group are the Siksika, or Blackfeet proper, the Piegan, and the Kainah, or Bloods. Closely allied and associated with these were the Atsina, a branch of the Arapaho, but who later became incorporated with the Assiniboin. These tribes roamed over a wide territory of mountains, plains, and valleys. Early accounts of the manners and ways of life of the Blackfeet are to be found in the journals kept by traders belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company, who penetrated the vast, unknown wilderness southwestward from York Factory daring the eighteenth century. Although the records are all too … Read more

Houses of the Assiniboin Tribe

A skin lodge of an Assiniboin chief - Karl Bodmer

The Assiniboin were, until comparatively recent times, a part of the Yanktonai, from whom they may have separated while living in the forest region of the northern section of the present State of Minnesota. Leaving the parent stock, they joined the Cree, then living to the northward, with whom they remained in close alliance. Gradually they moved to the valleys of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboin Rivers and here were encountered by Alexander Henry in 1775. Interesting though brief notes on the structures of the Assiniboin as they appeared in 1775 and 1776 are contained in the narrative of Henry’s travels … Read more

Houses of the Arikara Tribe

When or where the Arikara separated from their kindred tribe, the Pawnee, may never be determined, but during the years which followed the separation they continued moving northward, leaving ruined villages to mark the line of their migration. Sixty years ago it was said: “That they migrated upward, along the Missouri, from their friends below is established by the remains of their dirt villages, which are yet seen along that river, though at this time mostly overgrown with grass. At what time they separated from the parent stock is not now correctly known, though some of their locations appear to … Read more

Houses of the Arapaho Tribe

"Camp of the Gros Ventres of the Prairies" on the Upper Missouri. Karl Bodmer 1833

The ancient habitat of the Arapaho, according to tradition, was once far northeast of the country which they later occupied. It may have been among the forests of the region about the headwaters of the Mississippi the present State of Minnesota, where their villages would have stood on the shores of lakes and streams. But later, like the related Cheyenne, with whom they have been closely allied during recent generations and probably for a long period, they reached the prairies, through what causes may never be known, and there, with different environments, their manners and ways of life changed. While … Read more

Biography of Friedrich Kurz

Friedrich Kurz, born in Bern, Switzerland, 1818; died 1871. At the suggestion of his friend Karl Bodmer, he came to America in 1846, for the purpose of studying the native tribes, intending to prepare a well-illustrated account of his travels. He landed at New Orleans and reached St. Louis by way of the Mississippi. The trouble with Mexico had developed, and for that reason instead of going to the Southwest, to endeavor to accomplish among the tribes of that region what Bodmer had already done among the people of the Upper Missouri Valley, he decided to follow the route of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Seth Eastman

Seth Eastman, born in Brunswick, Maine, January 24, 1808; died in Washington, D. C., August 31, 1875. Was appointed to the Military Academy, West Point, at the age of 16, and was graduated June, 1829. Served at Fort Crawford and Fort Snelling, where he had ample opportunities for studying the Indians who frequented the posts. In November, 1831, he was detailed for duty at the Academy and retired from active service December, 1863. From 1850 to 1855 he was engaged in the preparation of the illustrations used in the work mentioned above, evidently under the supervision of the Commissioner of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Paul Kane

Paul Kane, born at York, the present city of Toronto, 1810; died 1871. After spending several years in the United States he went to Europe, where he studied in various art centers. Returned to Canada, and from early in 1845 until the autumn of 1848 traveled among the native tribes of the far west, making a large number of paintings of Indians and scenes in the Indian country. One hundred or more of his paintings are in the Museum at Toronto; others are in the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. Some of the sketches and paintings were reproduced in his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Karl Bodmer

Karl Bodmer, born in Zurich, Switzerland, 1805; died 1894. Studied under Cornu. He accompanied Maximilian, Prince of Wied, on several journeys, including that up the Valley of the Missouri. Many of his original sketches made during that memorable trip are now in the Edward E. Ayer collection, Newberry Library, Chicago. His later works are chiefly of wooded landscapes, some being scenes in the valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi. Bodmer was a very close friend of the great artist Jean Francois Millet. De Cost Smith, in Century Magazine, May, 1910, discussing the close association of the two artists, and referring … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James M. Stanley

James M. Stanley was born in Canandaigua, New York, January 17, 1814; died April 10, 1872. He moved to Michigan in 1835 and became a portrait painter in Detroit; two years later removed to Chicago. About this time he visited the “Indian Country” in the vicinity of Fort Snelling, and there made many sketches. Returned to the eastern cities, where he spent several years, but in 1842 again went west and began his wanderings over the prairies far beyond the Mississippi, reaching Texas and New Mexico. His Buffalo Hunt on the Southwestern Prairies was made in 1845. From 1851 to … Read more