In their most prosperous days, the Omahas looked upon themselves as the most powerful and perfect of human beings, and considered all created things as made for their peculiar use and benefit.  It is this tribe of whose chief, the famous Wash-ing-guhsah-ba, or Blackbird, such savage and romantic stories are told.  He had died about ten years previous to the arrival of Mr. Hunt’s party, but his name was still mentioned with awe by his people.  He was one of the first among the Indian chiefs on the Missouri to deal with the white traders, and showed great sagacity in levying his royal dues.  When a trader arrived in his village, he caused all his goods to be brought into his lodge and opened.  From these he selected whatever suited his sovereign pleasure; blankets, tobacco, whiskey, powder, ball, beads, and red paint; and laid the articles on one side, without deigning to give any compensation.  Then calling to him his herald or crier, he would order him to mount on top of the lodge and summon all the tribe to bring in their peltries, and trade with the white man.  The lodge would soon be crowded with Indians bringing bear, beaver, otter, and other skins.  No one was allowed to dispute the prices fixed by the white trader upon his articles; who took care to indemnify himself five times over for the goods set apart by the chief.  In this way the Blackbird enriched himself, and enriched the white men, and became exceedingly popular among the traders of the Missouri.  His people, however, were not equally satisfied by a regulation of trade which worked so manifestly against them, and began to show signs of discontent.  Upon this a crafty and unprincipled trader revealed a secret to the Blackbird, by which he might acquire unbounded sway over his ignorant and superstitious subjects.  He instructed him in the poisonous qualities of arsenic, and furnished him with an ample supply of that baneful drug.  From this time the Blackbird seemed endowed with supernatural powers, to possess the gift of prophecy, and to hold the disposal of life and death within his hands.  Woe to any one who questioned his authority or dared to dispute his commands!  The Blackbird prophesied his death within a certain time, and he had the secret means of verifying his prophecy.  Within the fated period the offender was smitten with strange and sudden disease, and perished from the face of the earth.  Every one stood aghast at these multiplied examples of his superhuman might, and dreaded to displease so omnipotent and vindictive a being; and the Blackbird enjoyed a wide and undisputed sway.

It was not, however, by terror alone that he ruled his people; he was a warrior of the first order, and his exploits in arms were the theme of young and old.  His career had begun by hardships, having been taken prisoner by the Sioux, in early youth.  Under his command, the Omahas obtained great character for military prowess, nor did he permit an insult or an injury to one of his tribe to pass unrevenged.  The Pawnee