Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/114

 of a young chief, where every one was ready to receive us. They made a great feast for us and for all our people, who did not want for a good appetite. On the 19th I assembled the chiefs and head men of the village in the hut where I was, I gave them a present in your name of powder, balls, knives and tobacco, telling them that I received them into the number of your children; that if they had sense you promised hot to abandon them; that the French were now established on their lands and would provide for all their wants; that they must hunt the beaver and keep to their lands; that you did not wish for war at present, desiring to make all the lands smooth, so that all our children might live in peace, of whom I would increase the number every day. I made the same recital to them that I had made to all the others. There was a great thankfulness, with many tears and ceremonies, by passing their hands over my head, taking me in your room and place as their father, and our Frenchmen as brothers by again passing their hands over our heads, all weeping. This ceremony ended, the orator said: We thank thee, my father, for so willingly taking the trouble to come to us; we are all going in thy company to the Mandans to bring thee to thy fort; we have sent four men to warn them who are about to arrive, who report that the Mandans are greatly rejoicing at thy coming amongst them and are to come to meet thee. We have sent other four young men to bring them to the place we have selected for them; we will go quietly to the hunting to have fat on arriving there, to eat with the grain of which they always eat much, having seldom either meat or fat. I thanked them for their good will, and encouraged them to send us on quickly; that they could see as well as I, the very advanced season. Knowing that the Mandans had no supplies of fat, I purchased it in the village to give to all of our people whatever they would carry, and made the Indians carry for us, for which I paid them; I warned our Frenchmen