It should not be understood that all the interpreters employed by white men on such expeditions wholly knew the spoken language of the tribes among whom they travelled.  To some extent they relied upon the universal language of signs to make themselves understood, and this method of talking is known to all sorts and kinds of Indians.  Thus, two fingers of the right hand placed astraddle the wrist of the left hand signifies a man on horseback; and the number of men on horseback is quickly added by holding up the requisite number of fingers.  Sleep is described by gently inclining the head on the hand, and the number of “sleeps,” or nights, is indicated by the fingers.  Killed, or dead, is described by closed eyes and a sudden fall of the head on the talker’s chest; and so on, an easily understood gesture, with a few Indian words, being sufficient to tell a long story very clearly.

Lewis and Clark discovered here a species of ermine before unknown to science.  They called it “a weasel, perfectly white except at the extremity of the tail, which was black.”  This animal, highly prized on account of its pretty fur, was not scientifically described until as late as 1829.  It is a species of stoat.

The wars of some of the Indian tribes gave Lewis and Clark much trouble and uneasiness.  The Sioux were at war with the Minnetarees (Gros Ventres, or Big Bellies); and the Assiniboins, who lived further to the north, continually harassed the Sioux and the Mandans, treating these as the latter did the Rickarees.  The white chiefs had their hands full all winter while trying to preserve peace among these quarrelsome and thieving tribes, their favorite game being to steal each other’s horses.  The Indian method of caring for their horses in the cold winter was to let them shift for themselves during the day, and to take them into their own lodges at night where they were fed with the juicy, brittle twigs of the cottonwood tree.  With this spare fodder the animals thrive and keep their coats fine and glossy.

Late in November, a collision between the Sioux and the Mandans became almost certain, in consequence of the Sioux having attacked a small hunting party of the Mandans, killing one, wounding two, and capturing nine horses.  Captain Clark mustered and armed twenty-four of his men, crossed over into the Mandan village and offered to lead the Indians against their enemies.  The offer was declined on account of the deep snows which prevented a march; but the incident made friends for white men, and the tidings of it had a wholesome effect on the other tribes.

“The whole religion of the Mandans,” like that of many other savage tribes, says the journal, “consists in the belief of one Great Spirit presiding over their destinies.  This Being must be in the nature of a good genius, since it is associated with the healing art, and ’great spirit’ is synonymous with ‘great medicine,’ a name applied to everything which they do not comprehend.