Soul Stance River - 14

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.