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6 miles up river Arikara are encountered,
they are a people of amenable disposition and are agrarians,
they chuckle with sympathy as we inform them of our grizzly confrontation
and they tell us that disease had forced them to abandon the village down river last year,
many of their folk were lost, including trusted Elders
and now they are at the mercy of the Sioux more than ever
although their trading relationship be symbiotic,
they till and exchange food stuffs for protection and amenities, 
living with this tribe is a trapper named Joseph Gravelines
whom is fluent in several native languages and personable as a pirate
so Clark and I have hired him as a translator, 
he is convinced of our credit
because it is issued directly from the President and is unlimited,
after eating a wholesome meal of squash, yams and pork
we commence with a military tribunal for Private Newman,
he is charged with inciting mutiny
and a jury of 10 peers will judge him, myself and Clark having final verdict as Captains,
he denies the allegation with a cocky indifference
the witnesses are credible as gold coin, confirming Newman's treachery,
unlike Moses Reed whom we had punished by the gauntlet
for sleeping on gaurd duty in August
Newman will receive 75 lashes and be discharged from the mission,
undermining leadership is too dangerous an act under these circumstances
he is lucky not to be summarily executed which Chief Crow At Rest thinks more just,
tonight we will allow some of the men to lay with the Arikara women
for it is their custom to fornicate with men of unique power
with the husband's consent, the warriors believing
that they will absorb special abilities laying with their wives afterwards,

October is saying farewell with the kiss of a crying Queen
and we are far into the northwest of Louisiana Territory
in what some call the Dakotas, Canada is about 200 miles north,
so far the Corps of Discovery has traveled 900 miles from St. Louis
discipline is good, confidence strong, provisions be plenty and achievement attainable,
the Mandan homeland is alive on the horizon in the flat plains
and we are expecting to live here, as the Mandan's humble neighbor
during this winter of 1804-05,
rowing into dock with the resolve and respect of diplomatic frontiersmen
we are quickly allayed of any fears by a jubilant multitude
which hoists me up on an elegant buffalo robe of royal blue
with symbols of celestial favor painted white and yellow,
claws of bears and large turquoise stones emblematical of invincible stars
hang alternately from the edges,
the crowd opens up as six prominent tribe members carry me along,
a shaman, medicine man, a virgin girl,
deputy chief, decorated warrior, and an artisan,
I feel important, honored, and responsible for the union of two cultures,

My God the village is immense,
more than a hundred circular hide lodges speckle the naked landscape
some as large as a pond, thousands of inhabitants are milling about,
stations for crafts, food prep, weapon manufacture, nurseries and stables,
Gravelines informs me that the population is 4, 000 strong with 1, 400 warriors,
Clark and I better make friends or we will die before the fire gets old,
one reason for the kind reception is that the Mandans and their cousin tribe the Hidatsas
are well accustomed to foreigners,  their world renown emporium
is a marketplace for the Northwest Trading Company, Hudson Bay Company,
the Spanish, French, English, Jesuits, Russians,
and every Indian tribe on the continent worth their weight in lead,
they are truly a powerhouse culture that can war with the best
and trade with any crown,
that being known, the Mandans still have their squabbles
with the Arikara, Sioux, and Black Feet,
traditions impell them to battle the other tribes,

J.A.B.
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