Page:A Brief History of South Dakota.djvu/39

Rh these wicked little spirits, nor any place for them, except some small holes scattered over the top. We were happy enough to escape

their vengeance, though we remained some time on the mound to enjoy the delightful prospect of the plain, which spreads itself out until the eye rests upon the north-west hills at a great distance, and those of the north-east still farther off, enlivened by large herds of buffalo feeding at a distance. The soil of these plains is exceedingly fine."

It is noteworthy that Spirit Mound and other points along the Missouri in South Dakota then bore the names by which we still know them. This is one proof that the region was familiar to the French traders before Lewis and Clark came.