side of the river. * * * After mak
ing fifteen miles wo camped on the
south , on the bank of a high , handsome
prairie , with lofty cottonwoods in groves
near the river. " Floyd says that they
had "ajeutellbrees. "
This camp must have been in the
neighborhood of Florence , if they made
fifteen miles. Floyd- says that they
traveled ten miles , in which case their
camp must have been within the city
limits of Omaha. Saturday , the 28th ,
about a mile above their camp , they
came to a creek which they named
"Indian Knob , " because of a number of
round knobs bare of timber , on the high
lauds to the north. "A little below the
bluff , on the north , is the spot where
the Ayauway Indians formerly lived. "
At their camp , ten and three-quarter
miles from the previous night , their
hunter of Indians brought in a Missouri ,
and on the 29th they sent him to his
villnge , four miles back from the river ,
with instructions to the chief to attend
a council above on tlio river. At two
miles from this camp they passed the
mouth of Bayer's creek on the north.
They dined on the south side of the
river , near a highland which bore traces
of a great hurricane , and which had
torn up trees four feet in diameter and
snappsd them off near the ground. Ten
miles were made this day , which was
Sunday.
The next day they traveled three and
one-quarter miles and went into camp
on the toath ( west ) side , to await the
coming of the Indians , who arrived ,
fourteen or more in number , on the 2nd
day of August. On the 8r'd the grand
council was held and medals were dis
tributed , six medals to as many chiefs ,
beside presents of paint , garters , orna
ments , powder and whiskey.
Ten years ago Hon. J. Sterling Morton
presented to the State Historical society
documents which had been preserved by
curtain Missouri and Otoe Indian chiefs ,
the original certificates of good will pre
sented by Lewis and Clark at this coun
cil. The names given in the report do
not agree with those in the documents ,
but there can be no doubt about the
identity of these certificates , religiously
preserved amid the vicissitudes of Indian
life.
life.When
When the party loft what they named
Council Bluffs , they had proceeded but
a short distance up the river when they
came to a place where the channel was
confined to a space of 200 yards. Here ,
then , wo have this data : Starting from
camp White Catfish , fifteen miles
brought the party to a camp , and , ac
cording to COUPS , a mile further on the
north near a bluff mentioned by Lewis ,
was later built a trading place called
Fort Groghan.
Ten miles more the next day and two
miles more the next brought them to
Boyor's creek. A total of thirty-eight
miles lay between the camp of piscato
rial name and Council Bluffs. Can these
localities be identified at this late date ?
In a foot note Coues says that "three
miles above Boyer's creek , on the Ne
braska &ido , Major Long established
himself September 17 , 1819 , and named
the place Engineer .Cantonment. This
spot was half a mile below a trading
post called Fort Lisa and five miles
below the Council Bluffs of Lewis and
Clark. " In 1811 there was a trading
post in the vicinity of Fort Lisa. "With
what data is obtainable , it surely will
occur to some public-spirited citizens to
provide , by suitable monuments or pil
lars , for the marking of points that can
never lose their fascination over the
imagination of those who study the
trend of those significant events.
The expedition passed Council Bluffs
on its return , September 8 , 180G , and
camped at Catfish for the night. On
their way down they passed an increas
ing number of boats and traders on their
way to open up traffic with the interior
of Jefferson's purchase. They found
less water in the channels and moro
whiskey on land. But their persistent ,
judicious treatment of Indians , as
evinced in the council , if only it had
been universally followed , might have
saved the west many useful lives.
The valuable contribution to our
knowledge of Fort Oalhoun , recently
published in the World-Herald , ought to
incite others to rescue from fading
memories , changing topography and
perhaps wasting records such accurate
knowledge of places as will supply gen
erations to come with bure footing for
their historical researches.
We the discernment
can never over-magnify
cernment of those minds whiclt foresaw
the meaning of this acquisition. Amid
the mutations that were already threat
ening political parties and reputations
in the beginning of this century , one
man was courageous enough to bo in
consistent with his record. Washington
refusing a dictator's crown and Jefferson
planning for an empire are two charac
ters and events bound up in the meaning
of the Louisiana purchase. And the
loyal chiefs of the exploring party who
first set foot on Nebraska soil ninety-
six years ago , are deserving at least the
small honor of record of their progress
while within touch of the future
metropolis of the Louisiana purchase.
Frederick A. Hatch in Omaha World-
Hrrald.
TUB KKSULT IN AIAINJt.
Maine is twice as largo a state as
Vermont , and not half so one-sided in
politics. On general principles , there
fore , ono would say that the result of a
preliminary state election in Maine
should furnish the hotter data for a
judgment as to the drift of public senti
ment throughout the country. The
contrary has proved to be the case.
Twenty years ago this week , when the
news naino that the republican candi
date for governor of Maine had baen
defeated , the democrats jumped to the
conclusion that they wore to carry the
country for Hancock in November ,
although Vermont six days before had
indicated the success of Garfield ; and in
1884 , when the republicans elected the
governor by a great majority , the parti
sans of Blaine were sure that ho would
win the presidency , although the Green
Mountain state had just shown that
outside of his own bailiwick there was a
revolt of conscience republicans against
him.
Nevertheless , the course of the Maine
campaign is always watched with inter
est , and its outcome is studied with
attention. In 1896 both Vermont and
Maine felt the impact of Bryanism with
treinenduons force. New England had
always been the strongest gold-standard
section in the Union , and the democrats
of both Maine and Vermont had opposed
the free coinage of silver so earnestly
that , when the heresy was adopted in
the Chicago platform , the party organ
ization was almost disrupted , many mon
of local prominence openly supporting
the republican ticket. The result in
each case was such a slump in the dem
ocratic vote as had not been seen in the
case of Maine since 1840 , the figures of
1890 in that state contrasting thus with
those for the three previous elections :
It will be seen that the republican
vote four years ago mounted much
above the highest total previously
recorded , swelled as it was by consider
able accessions from the other party ;
while the democratic was little over GO
per cent , so large as it had been in 1892 ,
and still further below the high-water
mark which had been reached earlier.
Any repetition of this result was , of
course , expected by no student of polit
ical statistics. During the past four
years the Bryanites have built up a
party organization which is far more
effective than the dismantled one with
which they entered the canvass of 1890.
Some gold democrats of local promi
nence , who either supported the repub
licans or did not vote at all four years
ago , have announced their return to the
party this year. A decided increase in
the democratic vote was , therefore ,
inevitable.
Normal Republican Strength.
In like manner the republican total in
1900 was certain to fall , as compared
with 1890 , by whatever number of dem
ocrats joined them during the campaign
and have deserted since some thousands
that must be. The interesting question
was how the republican poll this year
would compare with the figures before
the abnormal campaign of 1890. Enough
