Arapooish then broke his fast, and gave his guest much wholesome advice, charging him always, when he visited a Crow village, to put himself and his goods under the protection of the chief. Of Campbell's conclusion upon the character of the race, Mr. Irving says: "He has ever since maintained that the Crows are not as black as they have been painted." "Trust to their honor," he says, "and you are safe; trust to their honesty, and they will steal the hair off your head."

The Crows are divided by local usage into the Mountain and River Crows. The River Crows were for a long time divided, a portion of them being at or near Fort Belknap Agency and many roamed. They are now, however, all on the Crow reservation.

In June, 1885, the Crows, at Crow Agency, Montana, numbered 3,226. By occupation they are farmers and herders.

This nation has received a variety of names from traders, the neighboring tribes and the missionaries; as Shyennes, Shiennes, Cheyennes, Chayennes, Sharas, Shawhays, Sharshas, and by the different tribes of the Sioux they were called: Shaiena, Shay-e'-la, or Sha-ey-la. This name was given them because the first Cheyenne the Sioux or Dakota met with wore a robe painted red, and had his body painted the same color,— sha being the Sioux word for red. They call themselves Sa-Sis-e-tas, and some of the tribe say that this means the cut or slashed arm."

Their traditions and myths, which, by the way, are many, seem to point in a very faint way, to their original location as far east as Niagara Falls, but there is no evidence of their migration westward from any place farther east than the Cayenne river, a branch of the Red River of the

some of

North, in Minnesota. "I was first inclined," says Captain Clark, "to think that the great prominence given to their myths and stories in regard to the first buffalo them commencing with: Before we had buffalo'-indicated that it must have been at a comparatively recent date that they reached the buffalo country. But as the same stories are told with more exactness, even in regard to the bows and arrows, I was compelled to give up any theory or views I held on the subject and accept as a fact the answer made by a very old man and former chief (he was seventynine years old) to my question as to where they were before they lived in Minnesota. The Great Spirit made us right there.' Occupying then the country at the head-waters of the Mississippi and on the banks of the Red river, several hundred years ago, they were slowly being forced westward by the Sioux; perhaps southward by the Mandans; the latter being driven from the north by the same power which pressed upon the Sioux, viz.: the great Algonquin family, assisted in after years by the French arms. It is more than probable

that their migration was due in a measure to and determined by their search for game, as traditional evidence in regard to their relation with the Sioux and Mandans is not clear and conclusive. (Lieutenant Baily, 5th Infantry, obtained, from what he considered reliable source, information which went to show that the Sioux and Cheyennes were never regularly at war, but had frequent misunderstandings and difficulties with each other, and that the Cheyennes met the Mandans two hundred and fifty years ago as they, the Cheyennes, crossed the Missouri river. For several years they were at war with the Mandans, after this made peace, and have maintained peaceable relations ever since. Before the whites made war against these tribes they frequently camped together, and many Cheyennes and Mandans intermarried)."

After crossing the Missouri they settled, or pitched their tepees, on the banks of the Good river, which was afterwards called by the fur traders the Cheyenne river. Here

Lewis and Clark met them in 1803. The first treaty they made with the United States was made in 1825, at the mouth of the Teton, or Bad River, Mr. Drake estimated their number then to be about 3,250.

They never had any ponies till they reached the foot-hills around Bear Butte. The Crows roamed then over the country along the foot-hills, from the present site of Rapid to the Little Missouri, the Powder and Tongue river country. The Kiowas and Apaches were southwest of and near the Black Hills, while the Pawnees occupied the Lower-Platte valley. Some claim that the Arapahoes first secured a pony and others say that a Mexican gave one to one of their chiefs. Be that as it may, the Cheyennes soon after their arrival near the Black Hills heard of the people who had ponies and wild horses and lived on the plains to the south. Instead of making a living by tilling the soil as they had done in their former home, they commenced to drive the Crows, Kiowas, and Arapahoes out of the country, catching wild ponies and stealing them from the tribes south and west of the hills. Keeping in a northwesterly direction they drove the Crows before them, took possession of the country and roamed about near the head-waters of the Little Missouri, Powder, Tongue and Rosebud rivers. During the time of Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in 1819 and 1820, a small portion of the Cheyennes seem to have separated themselves from the rest, due to a desire to join the expedition, and also to increase their supply of ponies by trade and theft from the tribes to the south. A complete separation between the Northern and Southern Cheyennes took place in 1840.

Speaking of their migration from the Black Hills to the Big Horn Mountains, and from there to the Platte and Arkansas river, Whirlwind, of the Southern Cheyennes said: "We roamed about the country, moving down to the White Earth and Platte rivers. The time of the great gathering on Horse Creek, near Fort Laramie, Wy., when all the tribes got together, Crows, Snakes, Arapahoes, Sioux,- all up there, and goods were distributed to us, may

be taken as the time when we separated from the Northern Cheyennes. We drifted apart. We used to come together at times but not just like one people. We would go north and live with the Northern Cheyennes, and they would come south and live with us, but this was only for a short time. We were like two different tribes, only we spoke the same language and had the same habits and customs."

Four chiefs formerly ruled the Cheyenne camp. They were selected for their bravery, wisdom, good judgment and generosity to the poor. A grand council was called, and a large tent pitched to hold it in; sometimes making the council-lodge out of several common tepees. Four sticks were driven in the ground inside of the lodge, representing the four head men of the tribe. Four very old men, usually those who at different times had held the position of chiefs, were selected to go and bring in the four men who were to be made chiefs, if they were not already present. Four pipes were filled and placed on the ground near the sticks; these were taken up and lighted by the old men and held to the newly-made head-men, who took a few puffs while the pipes were still in the hands of the old men. Should one of the four be killed, die of disease, or, through public sentiment, be, as they say, thrown away, the other three acted; and so on until only one was left, when a council was called, and four others made. An election, if this can be so named, was never called to elect one or two, but always four. These four decided all the matters of minor importance, and they usually selected one of their number to act as chief. Any question of vital importance, such as declaring war or making peace, was decided on in general council. At the election only a few prominent men from each of the soldier-bands were present. They had five such bands, viz.: Strong Heart, Dog, Fox, Smooth Elkhorn and Swift Tail

Running through all the stories, legends and myths of the Cheyennes, the number four seems to possess a magical influence for good luck. Four halts are made before they charge in the preliminary march of the Sun-Dance,

four times is the covering of the medicine sweat-house raised, and four winters they starved according to the following story, which is often repeated as a warning against quarreling: "Long, long ago an old man and a young man got into a dispute over a buffalo skin, and the old man knocked the younger one senseless with the leg of a buffalo. Near by was a fire, upon which an old woman had placed a large clay kettle filled with water and buffalo meat, around which a large number had gathered. When the young man fell, the kettle was upset, the water run out over the fire, creating a great deal of smoke, steam and dust. During the disturbance the young man disappeared; was not seen again for four winters. At the end of that time he appeared on an eminence near camp, having a buffalo's lower jaw fastened to each of his heels, and holding a peculiar lance in his hands. As soon as he was discovered he again disappeared behind the hill. In a very short time he appeared on the hill again with a different kind of lance, and a bunch of hair tied to each leg (the long hair that grow on the buffalo's neck). He disappeared a second time and again reappeared with a different lance in his hand, a buffalo head for a head-dress and some of the skin hanging down on each side; he disappeared again, and again reappeared with a small round war bonnet, one with no trail, and with a painted stripe across his body, which was naked. He then disappeared and was not seen for four winters. In the meantime fiercecyed, wretched and cruel starvation seized the Cheyenne camp; all game disappeared, roots and berries did not grow. Some were so hungry that they ate dirt. One day in the early spring some little boys were out hunting with hungry eyes, digging with wasted hands for something to eat, and, finding some mushroom, devoured them. Whilst they were eating these the young man appeared to the boys, having in his hand four arrows, and told them that as they were hungry he would give them something to eat. It was dried buffalo meat pounded fine. He then told the boys to go to the camp and tell their