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 this village two hundred of them in one contest.” 1 About 5 miles beyond they reached the mouth of Grand River which flows from the northwest, serves as the boundary between Carroll and Chariton Counties, Missouri, and enters the left bank of the Missouri River. Therefore the old village of the Missouri evidently stood at some point in the latter county. It was probably composed of a number of mat and bark covered lodges resembling the village of the Osage which stood a few miles farther up the river. Two days later, June 15, the party identified the site or remains of the former village of the Little Osage, and, so the narrative continues: “About three miles above them, in view of our camp is the situation of the old village of the Missouri after they fled from the Sauks.” From this village the few Missouri Indians appear to have sought refuge among the Oto, then living on the banks of the Platte.
For Further Study
- For further study on the houses of the Missouri tribe you should read the much larger article on the houses of the Osage tribe.
Citations:
- Lewis and Clark, History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark. . . Prepared for the press by Paul Allen. Philadelphia, 1814. 2 vols., I, p. 13.[↩]