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treat and apprehensive of pursuit. At
such time it is not safe oven for friends
to fall in with them , as they are apt to
be in a savage humor , and disposed to
vent their spleen in capricious outrage.
These signs , therefore , , of a baud of
marauders on the prowl , called for some
degree of vigilance on the part of the
travelers.
"After passing the Nebraska , the
party halted for part of two days on
the bank of the river , a little above
Papillion Creek , to supply themselves
with a stock of oars aad poles from the
tough wood of the ash , which is not
met with higher u $ the Missouri.
While the voyageurs were thus occupied ,
the naturalists rambled over the ad
jacent country to collect plants. From
the summit of a range of bluffs on the
opposite side of the river , about two
hundred and fifty feet high , they had
one of those vast and magnificent pros
I pects which sometimes unfold them
selves in those boundless regions. Be
low them was the Valley of the Mis
souri , about seven miles in breadth ,
clad in the fresh verdure of spring ;
enameled with flowers and interspersed
with clumps and groves of noble trees
between which the mighty river poured
its turbulent and turbid stream. The
interior of the country presented a
singular scene ; the immense waste be-
I ing broken up by innumerable green
\ hills , not above eight feet in height ,
but extremely steep , and actually pointed
. at their summits. [ These pyramids , in
the bottoms between Pacific Junction
and Council Bluffs , are mentioned by
several early travelers. ] A long line ol
bluffs extended for upwards of thirty
miles parallel to the Missouri , with a
shallow lake stretching along their base
which had evidently once formed a bed
of the river. The surface of this laue
was covered with aquatic plants , on the
broad leaves of which numbers of water
( i snakes.drawn forth by the genial warmth
of spring , were basking in the sunshine
* # *
"On the 10th of May the party arrivec
at the Omaha ( pronounced Omawhaw
village , about eight hundred and thirtj
miles above the mouth of the Missouri
and encamped in its neighborhood. The
village was situated under a hill on the
bank of the river , and consisted of about
eighty lodges. Those were of a circular
and conical form , and about sixteen
feet in diameter ; being mere tents of
dressed buffalo skins , sewed together
and stretched on long poles , inclined
towards each other so as to cross at
about half their height.
"Tho forms of Indian lodges are
worthy of attention , each tribe having
a different mode of shaping and arrang
ing them , BO that it is easy to tell , on
seeing a lodge or an encampment at a
distance , to what tribe the inhabitants
betong. The exterior of the Omaha
lodges have often a gay and fanciful ap-
pearauce , being painted with undulat-
ug bauds of red and yellow , or decorated -
rated with rude figures of horses , deer ,
, nd buffaloes , and with human faces ,
lainted like full moons , four or five
'eet ' broad.
"The Omahas were once one of the
numerous and powerful tribes of the
> rairies , vying in warlike might and
jrowess with the Sioux , the Pawnees ,
; he Sauks , the Konzas , and the latans
Comanches ] . Their wars with the
Sioux , however , had thinned their
ranks , and the smallpox in 1802 had
iwept off two-thirds of their number.
A.t the time of Mr. Hunt's visit they
till boasted about two hundred war
riors and hunters , but they are now fast
melting away , and before long will be
numbered among those extinguished na
tions of the west that exist but in tra
dition.
' ' On the , loth of May they departed
from the village of the Omahas , and
set forwards towards the country of
the formidable Sioux Tetous. For
the first five days they had a fair
and fresh breeze , and the boats made
good progress. The wind then came
ahead , and the river beginning "to
rise , and to increase in rapidi ty , betokened -
tokened the commencement of the
annual flood , caused by the melting
of the..snow on the Rooky Mountains ,
and the vernal rains of the upper
'
prairies.
"As they were now entering a
region where foes might be lying in
wait on either bank , it was deter
mined , in hunting for game , to con
fine themselves principally to the
islands , whi ° h sometimes extend to
considerable length , and arc beauti
fully wooded , affprding abundant pas
turage and shade. On one of these
they .killed three buffaloes aud two
elks , and halting on the edge of a
beautiful prairie , made a sumptuous
hunter's repast. They had not long
resumed their boats and pulled along
the river bants when they de
scried a canoe approaching , navigated
by two men , whom , to their surprise ,
they ascertained to be white men.
They proved to be two .of those
strange and fearless wanderers of the
wilderness , the trappers. . . .Thoir
names wore Benjamin Jones and
Alexander Carson. They had been
for two years past hunting and trap
ping near the head of the Missouri ,
and wore thus floating for thousands
of miles in a cncklo-sholl , down a
turbulent , stream , through regions
infested' by savage' tribes , yet ap
parently as easy and unconcerned as
if navigating securely in the midst
of civilization.
"Tho acquisition of two such
hardy , experienced , and dauntle&s
hunters was peculiarly desirable at
the present moment. They needed
but little persuasion. The wilder
ness' is the homo of the trapper ; like
the sailor , ho cares but little to
which point of the compass he steers ;
and Jones and Carson readily
abandoned their voyage to St. Louis ,
and turned their faces towards the
Rocky ] Mountains and the Pacific.
"On the following morning ( May
$ Gth , ) as they wore all on shore ,
roakfasting on one of the beautiful
auks of the river , they observed two
( janoes descending along the opposite
f ide. By the .aid of spy-glasses , they
iscertaiucd that there were two
white men in one of the canoes , and
one in the other. A gun was dis
charged , which called the attention
of the voyageurs , who crossed over.
They proved to bo three Kentucky
milters' of the true "dreadnought"
stamp. Their names were Edward
Robinson , John Hoback , and Jacob
Rizuer. Robinson was a veteran
jackwoodsman , sixty-six years of
age. Ho had been one of the first
settlers of Kentucky , and engaged in
many of the conflicts of the Indians
on "tho Bloody Ground. " In one of.
these battles he had been scalped , aud
lie still wore a handkerchief bound
round his head to protect the part.
These men had passed several years
in the upper wilderness. They had
been in the service of the Missouri
Company under Mr. Henry , [ An
drew Henry , later General Ashley's
partner ] and had crossed the Rocky
Mountains with him in the preced
ing year , when driven from his .post
on the Missouri by the hostilities of.
the Blackfeot. After crossing the
mountains , Mr. Henry had estab.- .
lished himself on one of the head
branches of the Columbia River.
There they had remained with him
for some months , hunting and trap
ping , until , having satisfied their
wandering propensities , they felt dis
posed to return to the families and
comfortable homes which they had
loft in Kentucky. They had accord
ingly made their way back across the
mountains , and down the rivers ,
and were in full career for St. -
Louis , when thus suddenly inter
rupted. The sight of a powerful
party of traders , trappers , hunters ,
and voyageurs , well armed and
equipped , furnished at all points , in
high health and spirits , and banqueting -
quoting lustily on the green margin
of'the river , was a spectacle equally
stimulating to these veteran back
woodsmen with the glorious array of
a campaigning army to an old sol
dier ; but whou they learned the
grand scope and extent of the enter
prise in hand , it was irresistible ;
homos and families and all the ,
charms of green Kentucky vanished
from their thoughts ; they east loose
