The old men and such of the squaws as could leave their employments
hastened forth to meet it. In a little while it emerged from behind a
hill, and had a wild and picturesque appearance as it came moving over
the summit in measured step, and to the cadence of songs and savage
instruments; the warlike standards and trophies flaunting aloft, and the
feathers, and paint, and silver ornaments of the warriors glaring and
glittering in the sunshine.
The pageant had really something chivalrous in its arrangement. The
Arickaras are divided into several bands, each bearing the name of some
animal or bird, as the buffalo, the bear, the dog, the pheasant. The
present party consisted of four of these bands, one of which was the
dog, the most esteemed in war, being composed of young men under thirty,
and noted for prowess. It is engaged in the most desperate occasions.
The bands marched in separate bodies under their several leaders. The
warriors on foot came first, in platoons of ten or twelve abreast; then
the horsemen. Each band bore as an ensign a spear or bow decorated with
beads, porcupine quills, and painted feathers. Each bore its trophies of
scalps, elevated on poles, their long black locks streaming in the wind.
Each was accompanied by its rude music and minstrelsy.
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