“Le Borgne began by declaring that he much desired to visit his Great Father, but that the Sioux would certainly kill any of the Mandans who should attempt to go down the river.  They were bad people, and would not listen to any advice.  When he saw us last, we had told him that we had made peace with all the nations below; yet the Sioux had since killed eight of his tribe, and stolen a number of their horses.  The Ricaras too had stolen their horses, and in the contest his people had killed two of the Ricaras.  Yet in spite of these dispositions he had always had his ears open to our counsels, and had actually made a peace with the Chayennes and the Indians of the Rocky Mountains.  He concluded by saying, that however disposed they were to visit the United States, the fear of the Sioux would prevent them from going with us.”

The truth was that One-eye had no notion of going to Washington; he was afraid of nobody, and his plea of possible danger among the Sioux was mere nonsense to deceive the white men.  Captain Clark visited the village of Black Cat, and that worthy savage made the same excuse that Le Borgne (One-eye) had already put forth; he was afraid of the Sioux.  The journal adds:—­

“Captain Clark then spoke to the chiefs and warriors of the village.  He told them of his anxiety that some of them should see their Great Father, hear his good words, and receive his gifts; and requested them to fix on some confidential chief who might accompany us.  To this they made the same objections as before; till at length a young man offered to go, and the warriors all assented to it.  But the character of this man was known to be bad; and one of the party with Captain Clark informed him that at the moment he (this Indian) had in his possession a knife which he had stolen.  Captain Clark therefore told the chief of this theft, and ordered the knife to be given up.  This was done with a poor apology for having it in his possession, and Captain Clark then reproached the chiefs for wishing to send such a fellow to see and hear so distinguished a person as their Great Father.  They all hung down their heads for some time, till Black Cat apologized by saying that the danger was such that they were afraid of sending any one of their chiefs, as they considered his loss almost inevitable.”

Although there was so much reluctance on the part of the Indians to leave their roving life, even for a few months, there were some white men among the explorers who were willing to give up their home in “the States.”  The journal says:—­

“In the evening Colter applied to us for permission to join the two trappers who had accompanied us, and who now proposed an expedition up the river, in which they were to find traps and to give him a share of the profits.  The offer was a very advantageous one; and as he had always performed his duty, and his services could be dispensed with, we consented to his going upon condition that none of the rest were