University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for

1995

BISON ECOLOGY, BRULE AND YANKTON WINTER HUNTING, AND THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832--33

Richmond Clow University of Montana - Missoula

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly

Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons

Clow, Richmond, "BISON ECOLOGY, BRULE AND YANKTON WINTER HUNTING, AND THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832--33" (1995). Great Plains Quarterly. 991. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/991

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. BISON ECOLOGY, BRULE AND YANKTON WINTER HUNTING, AND THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832--33

RICHMOND CLOW

On 6 February 1833, William Laidlow, the hunters, as well as post employees, were hun­ American Fur Company's leading official at gry that winter, in this apparent land of abun­ Fort Pierre wrote that Brule (Sicangu) and dance, presents an important environmental Yankton (Ihanktonwa n ) camps "have been in a historical question. state of starvation all winter, and have suf­ This hard winter represents a fluctuation of fered most dreadfully."l The entire winter of the region's bison winter residence rather than 1832-33 was a "starving time" on the middle the disappearance of the bison. Our knowledge Missouri River in present day south-central that overhunting brought an end to the bison South Dakota because these skilled tribal hunt­ half a century later has invited us to read this ers found no bison in a land where the herds conclusion back into earlier contemporary were frequently described as "immense."2 Why accounts, leading us to believe that tribal knowledgeable and efficient professional tribal overhunting was a reason for tribal starvation.3 George Catlin formulated an overhunting in­ terpretation in 1832 after Fort Pierre traders described to him a communal Lakota bison hunt that spring. Based on this information, Catlin wrote that "an immense herd of buffa­ loes had showed themselves on the opposite [east] side of the river, almost blackening the plains for a great distance" and tribal hunters, after "spending a few hours amongst them" Richmond Clow is a full professor in the Native returned to the post "with fourteen hundred American Studies Program at the University of fresh buffalo tongues." Catlin claimed that this Montana, Missoula. unusual hunt "fully supports me in the seem­ ingly extravagant predictions that I have made as to their extinction, which I am certain is [GPQ 15 (Fall 1995): 259-70J near at hand."4 Though Catlin was aghast at

259 260 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1995

this event, the sale of 1400 bison tongues did was the beginning of the bison's decline on not even warrant an entry in the Fort Pierre the middle Missouri River. Then, no bison daily journal because tongues were an impor­ were seen for months and the post journal tant bison trade item. \ Also, traders whose recorded on 17 October 1832, that "Indians livelihood came from bison kills did not ex­ [were] arriving from all quarters, all starving."9 hibit the same emotional outpouring as Catlin What had happened? Why by October could who never worked in the bison trade and be­ the tribesmen find no bison? Nor were they lieved that slaughtering buffalo for their alone-employees of the American Fur Com­ tongues was irrational. 6 pany stationed at Fort Pierre also suffered that Edwin Thompson Denig, a long-term winter because they too were unable to find American Fur Company employee, arrived at bison. Fort Pierre in 1833 and subscribed to Catlin's Weather patterns, not overhunting in the tribal overhunting thesis, though, like Catlin, spring of 1832, may provide an answer. In plan­ he neither witnessed the 1832 spring hunt nor ning for their 1832 fall hunt, Brule and made any follow-up observations. Writing Yankton hunters may simply have failed to years later, Denig wrote that the 1832 hunt adjust their hunting plans to changing weather "was the greatest number killed at one time" conditions. Extreme climatic fluctuation is the and intimated that after that day the bison most prominent characteristic of this semi­ "have gradually retired from the eastern terri­ arid land. The northern Plains are "subject to tory, moving west and northwest and compel­ a great seasonal temperature range and highly ling the Indians ... to follow."7 Denig and variable rainfall" and these tremendous fluc­ Catlin both suggest that tribal overhunting tuations in temperature and moisture create reduced bison numbers, bringing starving times human and animal stress. This variability gen­ to the tribal populations living near Fort Pierre erally forced tribal hunters and bison to en­ the following February, 1833. dure cold winters, hot summers, and prolonged Historical assertions change by examining drought, but because of the region's variabil­ evidence from different perspectives and of­ ity, it was not uncommon for human and ani­ ten revise previously comfortable judgments. mal populations to experience periodically One way to test Catlin's assumption is to cre­ warm, dry winters and cool, moist summers.IO ate an environmental history that integrates The bison coped with the region's variabil­ the hunters' actions, the bison's behavior and ity and availability of water, shelter, and for­ demography, and environmental conditions age by being "widely dispersed and ... into a dynamic, interconnected story. Seeing mobile."ll By traveling, bison took advantage these tribal hunts of the early nineteenth cen­ of grazing, shelter, and watering opportuni­ tury in this holistic light raises the possibility ties where they could be found. In years when that something considerably more complex summers were hot and winters were cold, bi­ was occurring than Catlin's simple tale of de­ son moved from the interior grasslands, lying structive overhunting leading to the subse­ east and west of the Missouri River, to winter quent starvation of hunters and the ultimate on the river valley and returned to the inte­ extinction of the bison.s rior short grass prairies in spring. Pierre­ According to the post journal, from Janu­ Antoine Tabeau, an early nineteenth-century ary 1832 until the middle of August 1832, trader, explained the reason for the fall mi­ bison, ranging from the isolated bulls to "plenty gration to the Missouri River: "The winter of bison," were found in the vicinity of Fort obliges them to abate their march and to ap­ Pierre. These animals provided subsistence for proach the great rivers, as much to be in the post employees, revealing that bison remained shelter in the ravines as to find pasture there available for local consumption even after the on the low points and in the brush of the 1832 spring hunt that Catlin and Denig argued little streams. "12 THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832-33 261

Until severe winter weather forced the bi­ The animals were not seeking specific breed­ son to seek shelter, the Missouri River coun­ ing or calving grounds. Thus, any changes in try claimed by the Brules and Yanktons was local weather patterns either reduced or in­ frequently barren of bison. Jean Baptiste creased the bison's need for winter forage and Truteau's party moved up the middle Missouri shelter and altered their normal locations at River in the summer of 1794 and never saw a any given time. 16 Contemporary bison studies bison. On their way down the river from the confirm these seasonal cold weather travels. Arikara village they "killed a very thin cow" The distances bison have traveled varied. In on 17 October, the first bison they had seen in the twentieth century, some Wood Buffalo bison country. Then, six days later, Truteau National Park bison moved between five to observed "Deer, roe, and wild cattle hurried ten miles at the onset of cold weather while along the banks of the [Missouri] river in other animals traveled more than 150 miles to herds."ll reach winter pasture. 17 John C. Luttig, clerk for the Missouri Fur Brule and Yankton hunters had observed Company, believed that he would constantly these bison winter and spring travels based on see bison along the Missouri River as he trav­ local, seasonal variations common to the eled north to Fort Manuel Lisa in 1812. His region's climate. Since bison were mobile, party entered the Missouri River bison coun­ Brule and Yankton hunters had to find them. try that summer and Luttig saw no bison. He Knowing that bison traveled in "aggregate wrote "we had flattered ourselves to meet some numbers" to the Missouri River when the Indians or Buffalo but were disappointed." Like weather turned cold and returned to the inte­ Truteau, Luttig chronicled the bison moving rior when the weather warmed was valuable toward the Missouri River in early December information to tribal hunters when making near Fort Manuel Lisa. He observed "1000 of their hunting plans. In late fall or early win­ Buffalo opposite" the fort on the east side of ter, Brule and Yankton communities moved the river. Bison numbers increased for the next to the Missouri River, and the tribal hunters six days and then he wrote that "opposite the prepared to intercept the bison as they moved fort the Prairie is covered with Buffalo." On toward, and then along, the Missouri River in 14 December, Luttig recorded "plenty Buffalo search of forage and shelter. about." On the following day, the "Buffalo These late fall-early winter hunts were cru­ [were] constant in the Prairie" then began drift­ cial to the hunters because the bison were in ing away from the post.1 4 prime condition. By focusing on the fall bison Maximilian, Prince of Wied, also reported hunt, the Brule and Yankton hunters increased on seasonal bison movements. In early May their caloric dependency on the bison. IS These 1833, as his Missouri River party passed be­ bison patterns, which were tied to seasonal tween the mouth of the Big Sioux River and climatic conditions, encouraged the Lakota the mouth of the James River, he wrote "At to conduct their fall communal surround hunts, the spot where we now were, it is said that known as a wani-sapa, which required a large large herds of buffaloes are seen in the winter, number of persons. Even the Lakota described but we had not yet met with one of the ani­ fall as "the time we hunt the most."19 mals" because they were in the interior at that Some Lakota groups constructed wood time of the year. 15 lodges at their Missouri River encampments Bison mobility was a response to the cli­ to take advantage of the regular cold weather matic variability of the northern Plains and travel patterns of the bison. In 1815, the Sans the region's limited winter shelter and forage. Arcs made a large lodge and lived there, in­ Wanderings for pasture and shelter were com­ stead of in hide lodges, at Peoria Bottom, above mon during the region's cold winters, but these present day Pierre, South Dakota, on the east were irregular forage travels, not migrations. side of the Missouri River. Roan Bear's winter 262 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1995 count reveals that the Sans Arcs lived in a the tribesmen focused their subsistence ac­ permanent lodge in 1830. 20 The fall-winter tivities on other resourcesY bison movements had to be partially consis­ For hunters, cold, snowy, windy winters tent and the herds of a sufficient size to war­ provided the best bison hunting opportuni­ rant both the congregation of such a large body ties. The cold and snow forced the bison to of people and the construction of such perma­ congregate and drove them toward the shelter nent winter dwellingsY of the river bottoms. Under the conditions Lakota hunting rituals reveal the eastward that prevailed during most winters, the hunt­ and westward autumn travels of bison toward ers were able to plan their hunts with some the Missouri River. To insure the bison's con­ degree of certainty. They knew where the ani­ tinual return to the Missouri River, the Lakota mals would most likely be found and applied conducted bison-calling ceremonies at their hunting techniques that provided the greatest autumn river encampments. Maximilian, rewards. When deep snow prevented them Prince of Wi ed, described a Lakota bison-call­ from using a surround, the Lakota wore snow­ ing ceremony location near Fort Pierre in 1833, shoes to hunt bison.24 "Round an isolated tree in the prairie I ob­ The bison cows left the Missouri River af­ served a circle of holes in the ground, in which ter the end of February, returning to the inte­ thick poles had stood." He added "A number rior grasslands to give birth to their calves.25 of buffalo skulls were piled up there; and we These cow herds may have moved from five were told that this was a medicine, or charm, miles to one hundred fifty miles or even far­ contrived by the Indians in order to entice the ther away from the Missouri River. Most likely, herds of buffaloes."22 At that site the Lakotas animals that went west followed the Moreau, practiced divination, gathering information Cannonball, Grand, Niobrara, White, and Bad through ceremony about a future event, their Rivers, eastward flowing tributary creeks and fall bison hunt. rivers of the Missouri, to reach spring calving Lakota ceremonialism continued after the and summer ranges. In the western interior bison reached the Missouri River in the fall. coulees, there existed "large tracts of table land The old cows were the first to approach the from ten to fifty miles in breadth on which no Missouri River, and the tribal hunters were timber is seen, but where the spontaneous careful to not kill them because they acted as grasses are very thick and of fine quality." Al­ guides for the bison following them. After the though the same herds did not return to the initial cows were "sufficiently invited" through same pasture each year, it was on these short the calling ceremony, the hunters addressed grasses that "the buffalo delight to roam un­ the bison and then ordered the surround. Be­ disturbed, quietly cropping the choice blades" fore the actual hunt occurred, another cer­ of grass. 26 emony was conducted. Tabeau summarized A year of successful fall and winter hunts their hunting as being conducted "with a sort passed into early spring, a difficult time for of religious respect and are subject to laws that Brule and Yankton hunters. The bison were no one would dare to break." The number of undernourished and thin, providing no ani­ bison killed in a surround was between 200 mal fat for the hunters because grazing was and 450 animals, and the surround was prob­ poor, the bison were moving, and cows were ably applied only several times a season, when lactating.27 After the bison departed for the all conditions were favorable. The large spring interior grasslands, the Lakotas also withdrew kill of 1832 that Catlin and Denig described from the Missouri River at the beginning of was an anomaly among the Brule and the April. 28 Maximilian, for example, observed an Yankton hunters because the bison were gen­ abandoned Lakota winter camp near the Mis­ erally dispersed on the interior grasslands and souri River in May 1833, in the same vicinity THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832-33 263 where bison frequently wintered. 29 On the sur­ the animals were gathering for the rut, when face it appeared to be a simple cause-effect the robes and animals were reaching their relationship; when the bison left the river val­ prime, the prairie turnip harvest had ended, ley, the tribespeople followed them. and various berries were ready to pick. That was not the case. Because of the bison's Prevailing weather patterns, hot summers undernourished condition, the Brules and and cold winters, aided the hunters in locat­ Yanktons were seeking plant carbohydrates ing bison throughout the year. But as noted, from the early growth of the prairie turnip.3o bison winter travels to the Missouri River were Tabeau described the Brules' and Yanktons' tied to weather conditions-any dramatic scattering in the spring to harvest prairie tur­ change in the region's accustomed seasonal nips as crucial to "preserving them from death weather patterns would disrupt bison move­ during the frequent famines to which they are ments, making them unreliable prey. Tabeau exposed." He added that "All the wandering observed in 1803 that "When the Ricaras lack nations leave regretfully the districts where maize, which happens very often, they find the prairie turnip grows abundantly and leave that the buffalo cow is also a very uncertain it, too, only after having dried great quantities resource."34 of it."3! The winter of 1830-31 provides an insight The turnip's abundance and nutrition ne­ into the relationship between unseasonable, gated the need for a large spring bison hunt, but not unprecedented, warm winter weather a time when bison provided hunters the few­ and bison movements toward the Missouri est calories. This would partially explain why River. Daniel Lamont, the American Fur Com­ tribal hunters took only the tongues from the pany trader at Fort Tecumseh, near the mouth bison killed in the spring of 1832-the rest of of the Bad River, regretfully informed Pierre the carcass had little nutritional value. Also, Chouteau in late December 1830, that "The spring hides could not be manufactured into Robe trade in this quarter I fear will fall much robes for the robe trade, making the tongues short of the return of last year." The reason, the only part of these animals Fort Pierre trad­ Lamont explained, was the weather which ers would take. Between 1815 and 1830, the "until lately ... has been unusually mild, the region's bison robe trade was a low-level, low­ Missouri having kept open until the 11 th of volume affair where traders sought only prime this month." As a result, the bison stayed away winter robes, supplying 26,000 a year to down­ from the river and Lamont concluded that "up stream customers.32 By 1839, the Upper Mis­ to this time there has not been a Buffalo killed souri River robe trade reached 45,000 robes on the Missouri River."35 then escalated another two fold in the 1840s. 33 Then in January 1831 there was a heavy By focusing on the spring prairie turnips, snow. Great quantities of snow continued to the people scattered themselves into small fall in the Black Hills throughout the re­ dispersed plant-harvesting communities across mainder of the winter. The commencement of the prairies. At the same time, the bison were a lengthy cold, stormy spell drove the bison dispersed on the interior grasslands, making it east toward Brule and Yankton Missouri River difficult for the scattered tribesmen to plan hunting camps. The result, Lamont happily for communal hunts. The early spring harvest observed in a revision of his earlier estimate, of prairie turnips also reduced hunting pres­ was "the season has been altogether without sure on the bison when the animals were calv­ a parallel." He added that "Cattle [meaning ing (March) and undernourished, their hides bison] have been in the greatest abundance almost worthless to Missouri River traders. at nearly all the trading posts, and the returns The Brules and Yanktons resumed their in­ I think will fully equal if not surpass all made" tensive hunting practices by mid-summer, as in the past season. Kenneth McKenzie, a 264 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1995 veteran Missouri River trader, reported that at Fort Ogallalla, Thomas Sarpy's trading post "The Sioux, Rees, and Cheyenne have made at the junction of Wounded Knee Creek and full as many Robes, this year as they did the the White River, were hungry. The reports last."16 Late changing weather patterns warded from the post revealed that the bison were off hunger that winter in the tribal camps and absent from the upper White RiverY salvaged the Fort Tecumseh bison robe trade. This warm fall was to be followed by a warm The fall of 1831 was cold, forcing the bison winter. Fort Pierre employees also suffered to travel early to the Missouri River. Even because no bison moved toward the Missouri though William Laidlow had not seen a bison River. Laidlow reported on 6 November 1832 by late November, he was not worried, report­ that his hunters returned from a hunt but "did ing, "I have not seen a Buffalo since you left us not see a Buffalo and consequently returned they are said to be plenty." One month later, light." Three days later, the post hunters killed he informed Pierre Chouteau that "Our pros­ some bison. In late December, Fort Pierre men pects in this part of the country are flattering, killed thirty bison on an excursion onto the as we have plenty of cattle in every direction; plains. Laidlow reported that they were fortu­ they have seldom, or perhaps never been in nate the weather remained mild because the greater abundance; and we have got the Indi­ hunters were "destitute." On 25 December ans to make much better Robes than they ever 1832, two bison were killed in back of Fort did, since I have known them.")) Pierre. These animals were probably isolated The starving winter of 1832-33 began ten old bulls that frequently remained near the months after Laidlow wrote that glowing re­ Missouri River year roundY port on the previous season's robe trade. The As long as the unseasonably warm weather autumn weather was mild and warm, but Brule continued, no bison came toward the Missouri and Yankton groups began arriving at Mis­ River. Laidlow reported at the end of Decem­ souri River encampments in anticipation of ber that the Yankton camp near Medicine Hill, future bison hunts. This first Missouri River twenty miles northeast of Fort Pierre, had no fall hunt was crucial as prime bison would in­ bison. On 10 January 1833, the Brule trader crease the hunter's caloric intake. ls They made Pascal Gabreil Cerre reported that no bison their usual plans to kill fat bison cows that had been seen so far that winter on the White congregated in winter shelters. Maximilian River, a favorite Brule hunting territoryY observed that during winter cold the bison Laidlow was not only an experienced trader "take refuge in the forests on the banks, when but a knowledgeable hunter and he under­ great numbers of them are killed, and it is stood why the bison had not moved to the often almost impossible to drive them out of Missouri River. In late December he informed the wood."J9 Chouteau that "the weather [is] so very mild The caloric deficiencies of the hunting that the Buffalo keep out in the plains." Be­ peoples eased during the summer, as the con­ cause the weather was mild and warm, Laidlow dition of the animals they hunted improved, predicted that the "prospects for making Robes but the bison did not provide their maximum in this part of the country is far from being nutrition until late fall. Because the big fall flattering [sic]." Without the bison on the river, hunt would provide protein to increase Brule he added, "we have had a sad struggle to make and Yankton nutritional levels, it was not a living this far and if the Cattle [bison] do not uncommon to find early fall food shortages in soon make their appearance, we shall be placed the tribal camps before the winter hunts. As a in a most deplorable situation; my men are result, Laidlow reported on 17 October 1832, mostly all scattered about the different camps, that the "Indians [were] arriving from all quar­ and barely make out to subsist."43 This state­ ters, [and] all starving." Twelve days later, ment reveals that the post employees and their Laidlow added that the Lakota who remained dependents were also struggling to eat that THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832-33 265 winter, and Laidlow could compare the condi­ herds that might have moved from the inte­ tion of post residents to that of the tribes­ nor. people. Once they decided to move, Brule and That same day, Laidlow sent a letter to Yankton families passed Fort Pierre for several Enillian Primeau telling him that the robe days. On 14 January 1833, tribal hunters ar­ trade appeared to be bad because "the weather rived at Fort Pierre from the south, probably has been, and still is so fine, that the Cattle from White River. Two days later, twenty new keep far out in the plains an [sic] all our Out­ Brule and Yankton lodges were camped at Fort posts in this part of the country are in a starv­ Pierre, and the people were hungry. Twenty ing situation."44 But, where were the bison? additional Brule and Yankton lodges were One hundred miles west of Fort Pierre, camped at Fort Pierre on 19 January 1833. Oglala, Hunkpapa, and Blackfeet Lakota The next day, more hungry tribespeople ar­ camps near the forks of the Cheyenne River rived, but this group left to hunt bison on 21 had plenty of bison. These western Lakotas January 1833. The next day other tribal hunt­ made fall camps near the bison herds, and as ers and their families replaced those who had long as the bison did not move to the Missouri just departed. All were starving. Three days River, these Lakotas did not move. Likewise, later, another hungry Brule and Yankton group Yanktonais wintering at the forks of the Little arrived at Fort Pierre, and then nearly every­ Cheyenne, fifty miles north of Fort Pierre on one left the next day to hunt bison.46 the east side of the Missouri River, also found The hunters' methodical movement past bison abundant along the river.45 On the other Fort Pierre represented the second phase of hand, Brule and Yankton hunters failed to find their fall-winter plans to find bison. After bison along the White River that fall and reaching the Missouri River earlier in the fall, moved to the Missouri River hoping to inter­ the hunters waited to intercept the bison mov­ cept the herds when they sought winter shel­ ing toward them. When the bison did not ap­ ter and forage. Instead of eating bison, they pear, the hunters then decided to travel north ate any stored provisions and local small game. and south along the river, hoping to locate Neither provided the hunters and their fami­ wintering herds that might have moved from lies with the same bulk of calories as prime the interior and were now either above or be­ bison. This was especially true for small game, low the hunters' winter camps. which required a high energy output for very This second phase of their winter hunt was small gain. Many raccoons, or similar animals, a sound tactic, but the ongoing warm winter would have to be killed to equal one bison. weather simply meant that large bison herds Also, the bison provided the hunters with large stayed away from the river. Even the few bison quantities of winter robes, a highly valued trade found close to the Missouri River near the item, which other animals could not provide. mouth of the Little Cheyenne River began The Brule and Yankton hunters had made moving inland by early February. Soon tribal a sound decision based on their knowledge of hunters reported that "Buffalo are getting bison behavior and the region's climate. Since scarce" on the Little Cheyenne River because they did not find any bison on the White River, the bison were moving east of the Missouri they moved to the Missouri River in October River toward the interior plainsY and began to wait for cold weather to drive When they did not find bison on the river, the bison toward them. They waited until the the Brules split their camps. Some went far­ middle of] anuary, demonstrating tremendous ther north toward the Ree villages on the patience, self control, and endurance, traits Missouri River while others traveled south essential for hunting success. Then they be­ and west toward the Platte River. In late J an­ gan to travel north and south along the Mis­ uary 1833, some Brules moved "a long dis­ souri River, hoping to locate wintering bison tance out on the plains and nearly in state of 266 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1995 starvation."48 Because of the absence of bison bison remained in the interior. The unseason­ on the White River drainage, these Brules ably warm winter weather at least brought an moved beyond the headwaters of the White early spring, enabling the undernourished River and established camps on the Platte. Brules and Yanktons to scatter and to begin After the Brules left the White River in 1833 harvesting prairie turnips. Some tribal hunt­ to look for bison, the American Fur Company ers returned to Fort Pierre in May 1833 to also left. Laidlow reported that "Pascal [Cerre] trade robes from bison they had killed among has been obliged to abandon his post on White a herd that had returned to the upper White River in consequences of all the Indians hav­ River in late winter, but the animals provided ing been obliged to leave that part of the coun­ few calories. 51 try, they have been in a state of starvation all For the tribal hunters and their families, winter, and have suffered most dreadfully, the starving winter of 1832-33 ended with the many of them have gone towards the Platte, spring turnip harvest. Though the Fort Pierre and others somewhere about the Ree Vil­ correspondence for the following winter is not lages. "49 as rich, leaving gaps in the historical story, the Whatever tendencies there had been to continuation of a mild fall and winter in 1833- divide the Brule community became more pro­ 34 provides a strong explanation for the bisons' nounced following the winter of 1832-33 and continuing absence. Laidlow requested sup­ the absence of bison along the Missouri River. plies in August 1833 because the bison had After that time, those who stayed on the Mis­ remained in the interior prairie five or six days souri became known as the Lower Brules while away from the Fort Pierre. 52 The bison supply those who moved to the Platte River were remained sparse throughout the winter, for called the Upper Brules or the Brules of the when Maximilian reached Fort Pierre on 26 Platte. April 1834, he wrote that "We found Fort As the warm, mild winter weather contin­ Pierre in great want of fresh provisions, no ued, competition increased between tribal and buffaloes having been seen during the whole non-tribal hunters. After the nearest bison winter."53 Maximilian did not specify why the herd to Fort Pierre left the vicinity of the Little bison were absent, but he did observe that "in Cheyenne, tensions escalated between tribal winter, the land-scape is extremely dead and and non-tribal hunters, making it more diffi­ monotonous. The extensive white plain is cult for the relatively few American Fur Com­ enlivened by neither man nor beast, unless, pany employees to get bison. On 11 February indeed, some herds of buffaloes are in the 1833, Laidlow wrote that the Little Cheyenne neighbourhood or a few hungry wolves are bison herd had moved east onto the grasslands prowling about in search of food."54 and "we cannot procure any meat of conse­ After a two year absence, the bison returned quence from the Indians and they will not to Fort Pierre in the fall of 1834 in astonishing allow us to hunt. ... they [tribal hunters] keep numbers, for the weather had turned season­ continually threatening to kill our horses, so ably cold. Francis A. Chardon's journal from we were obliged to abandon the chase alto­ Fort Clarke, upstream from Fort Pierre, ex­ gether from the Mandan down to the Little plains the appearance of the bison on the Mis­ Cheyenne."5o Since whites were not hunLing souri River. The fall of 1834 was cold, windy, bison for commercial purposes, their trading and rainy. On 25 September 1834, Chardon licenses restricted them to subsistence hunt­ reported "Snow for the first time this year made ing only, this tribal ban against white subsis­ its appearance today."55 Two weeks later, the tence hunting reveals the extent of tribal bison were moving south from Fort Clarke and suffering. toward Fort Pierre. February 28 was the coldest day of that win­ Within two weeks, the bison had reached ter, but the weather warmed quickly and the Fort Pierre, downstream from Fort Clarke. THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832-33 267

Jacob Halsey, post clerk and trader, reported would never have starved because they would that "the bison are coming in from north-in have had access to a "walking commissary" at immense herds-hope this year will have more all times. But neither Brule nor Yankton camps robes than last." Before Halsey even sent the could move all their belongings to keep daily letter, the bison had arrived, and he added a pace with the animals. They planned their fall revealing postscript, "Since writing the fore­ and winter hunts by anticipating the bisons' going ... Indians have arrived ... [and the customary move to winter shelter and attempt­ Lakota] all say they have now plenty of Buf­ ing to intercept the herds that migrated from falo .... they tell me they are so plenty, that the interior to the Missouri River. The mild they think the dead ones have all come to life winter of 1832-33 disrupted the hunters' plans, again."56 forcing them to follow an alternative strategy. This was the Brule and Yankton hunters Hunger was common in the Brule and metaphorical means to describe the great num­ Yankton hunting camps during the early years ber of bison numbers found at Fort Pierre in of the nineteenth century. The horse did not the fall of 1834, a number larger than ever provide them with as much mobility as might before. Unlike the Brules and Yanktons, who be thought, and they chose to place their wa­ had suffered through the mild winter of 1832- ger on the frequent arrival of the bison within 33, the bison had benefitted from mild winter hunting and transport range of their usual win­ weather that reduced animal mortality and ter camps at the Missouri. When they lost the allowed more young and old animals to sur­ wager, they starved, sometimes with regular­ vive. At the same time, because the hunters ity. Tabeau observed in 1803-04 that "The could not find the herds, tribal hunting pres­ Sioux ... reckon everything from the periods sure was light, contributing to an overall bi­ in which famine has made terrible ravages son population increase. Only a small number among them." Three decades later, Missouri of robes reached Fort Pierre during the mild River fur trader David D. Mitchell also ob­ winterY Based on rough estimates, Frank Gil­ served famine: "throughout this whole range bert Roe claimed that historically "an average of country no buffalo had been seen for sev­ increase of 18 per cent would not be too high eral months so that the Indians were soon re­ for buffalo in a primitive state."58 Warm duced to a state of starvation."59 weather and low hunting pressure would be The hunters inability to find bison brought factors contributing to an even higher increase, on hunger, but why they were unable to find accounting for the tribesmen's claim that the bison must be examined with greater care. dead bison had returned. Brule and Yankton hunters had no access to The winter of 1832-33 also reveals Lakota bison during the starving winter of 1832-33 and Yankton fall and winter hunting practices. because the onset of mild, warm, weather never Instead of breaking into small winter camps, forced bison to move toward shelter and wait­ they gathered and waited in larger encamp­ ing hunters. Unlike contemporary residents ments near the Missouri River, planning their of the northern Plains who want mild winters, communal fall and winter bison hunts as the early nineteenth-century Lakota and Yankton animals sought shelter near the Missouri River. hunters depended on severe weather to insure This illustrates that Brule and Yankton people successful winter hunts. For them, the alter­ did not follow the bison herds but tried to native was warm weather and lean times. intercept the animals at the Missouri River. If The Missouri River traders provided cru­ they animals were late, the hunters waited, cial evidence to illustrate the effect uncom­ even if they were hungry, because this was an monly warm winter weather had on seasonal efficient bison hunting strategy. This refutes bison movements. Not only were many trad­ the comforting story that Brule and Yankton ers astute hunters who understood bison be­ camps followed the bison; if they had, they havior, but their livelihood depended on 268 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1995 successful tribal winter hunts for robes. Over which all combined to create the last, worst the years they reported the reoccurrence of bust of all. warm weather and poor hunts, revealing that the winter of 1832-33 was not an isolated in­ NOTES cident. The winter of 1850-51 was mild and The author thanks Kenneth Lockridge, Dan Blackfeet and Crows starved. The following Flores, and the anonymous readers for helpful sug­ winter was also mild and some tribesmen gestions. lacked adequate provisions. The winter of 1854-55 was again mild, and "the buffalo herds 1. William Laidlow to Henry Picotte, 6 Febru­ avoided the river valleys and the robe trade ary 1833, Fort Pierre Letter Book, December 20, 1832 - August 25, 1835, Part 1: The Chouteau decreased." On the other hand, heavy snows Collection, 1752-1925, Papers of the St. Louis Fur fell and temperatures dropped during the win­ Trade, University Publications of America; here­ ter of 1855-56 proving "to the St. Louis fur after cited as Chouteau Collection. companies that the recent severe, snowy Up­ 2. During his upstream journey on the Yellow­ per Missouri winter had not damaged the trade stone, Catlin walk:ed overland with Pierre Chouteau and others from the Ponca villages to Fort Pierre, and the prospects were good for the coming in May 1832. He wrote "On this journey we saw year."60 The role of weather in determining immense herds of buffaloes." George Catlin, The either the success or the failure of fall and Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North Ameri­ winter bison hunts cannot be underestimated. can Indians (London: 1841) 1: 219. When the hunts failed, climatic conditions 3. Dan Flores argues that drought that began in 1846, the relocation of large numbers of provide one crucial explanation for hunger tribespeople, along with their horses, the intro­ among the northern plains bison hunters. duction of bovine diseases, and increased tribal The starving winter of 1832-33 revealed market hunting explain tribal starving on the south­ the complex interconnections among charac­ ern Plains during the first half of the nineteenth teristics of the semiarid land, including its century. Flores, "Bison Ecology and Bison Diplo­ macy: The Southern Plains from 1800 to 1850," variable weather patterns, a mobile bison re­ The Journal of American History 78 (1991, No.2): source, fluctuating bison numbers, and tribal 465-83. bison-hunting strategies. Brule and Yankton 4. Catlin, The North American Indians 1 (note people were hungry that winter because the 2 above), pp. 256-57. onset of mild winter weather disrupted their 5. Merrill G. Burlingame, "The Buffalo in Trade and Commerce," North Dakota History 3 (1929, well-prepared hunting plans. What is suggested No.4): 264, 268-69, 276-77, 282. by the Brule and Yankton hunters' starving 6. January 27, 1832 - August 30, 1832, passim, winter of 1832-33 is that weather created the Journal of Fort Tecumseh, January 27, 1832 to June local "absence" of the bison that the witnesses 1, 1833, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. Farley observed. Such episodes seem to have occurred Mowat experienced similar emotions following World War II after he witnessed a tribal caribou commonly among other tribal communities hunt in Canada. He was fascinated yet repulsed to 61 on the northern Plains. see a caribou herd become bloody heaps of meat This story also provides one environmen­ within thirty minutes. See Mowat, People of the tal reason for starving times among this hu­ Deer (London: Souvenir Press Limited, 1989), pp. man population in this time and place. 67-68. 7. Edwin Thompson Denig, Five Indian Tribes Frequently it was nature that contributed to of the Upper Missouri: Sioux, Arickaras, Assiniboines, the Brule and Yankton hunters' occasional Crees, Crows, John Ewers, ed. (Norman: Univer­ boom and bust hunts prior to 1835. In most sity of Oklahoma Press, 1961), p. 30. Denig claims cases, both nature and culture were steady, that this bison hunt occurred in 1830, two years reliable, and predictable. Until, that is, the earlier than Catlin claimed. Since Denig wrote this manuscript later in life, Catlin's date will be ac­ advent of a runaway robe trade, the arrival of cepted, as he was at Fort Pierre when the traders Metis and white hunters, and the Sharps rifle, described the hunt. THE STARVING WINTER OF 1832-33 269

8. Carole L. Crumley, "Historical Ecology: A sophical Society of Liverpool 33 (1879): 248; James Multidimensional Ecological Orientation," Histori­ Howard, "T wo Teton Dakota W inter Count Texts," cal Ecology: Cultural Knowledge and Changing Land­ North Dakota History 27 (Spring 1960, No.2): 72; scapes, Carole L. Crumley, ed. (Santa Fe: School of James H. Howard, "Two Dakota Winter Count American Research and Advanced Seminar Se­ Texts," Plains Anthropologist 2 (December 1955, ries, 1994), pp. 3-4; Irwin Altman and Martin No.5): 20. Chemers, Culture and Environment (Cambridge: 21. George W. Arthur reached this same con­ Cambridge University Press, 1980), pp. 8-11. clusion for the Blackfeet, Plains Crees, Gros 9. 27 January 1832 - 30 August 1832, Journal Ventres, and Assiniboines. These northern plains of Fort Tecumseh, January 27, 1832 to June 1, communities established large tribal encampments 1833, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. Though in the fall, after the bison rut, when "the bison local post employees discussed the large kill, no moved onto their winter range where they tended one recorded the event in the post journal. to form larger, more sedentary herds and aggregate 10. John Bennett, "Human Adaptations to the herds" in the winter. See George W. Arthur, "An North American Great Plains and Similar Envi­ Introduction to the Ecology of Early Historic Com­ ronments," The Struggle for the Land: Indigenous munal Bison Hunting Among the Northern Plains Insight and Industrial Empire in the Semiarid World, Indians,"National Museum of Man, Mercury Series, Paul Olson, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Archaeological Survey of Canada, Paper No.3 7, 1975, Press, 1990), pp. 49-50. p. 121. 11. Ibid., p. 51. 22. Maximilian, Travels in the Interior of North 12. Tabeau's Narrative of Loisel's Expedition to America 22 (note 15 above), p. 318. the Upper Missouri, Annie Heloise Abel, ed. 23. Tabeau's Narrative (note 12 above), pp. 195, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1939), 198-99, Luttig, Journal of a Fur Trading Expedition p. 71. (note 14 above), pp. 74-75. 13. Abraham Nasatir, translator, compiler, edi­ 24. Joseph S. Karol, ed.,RedHorse Owner's Win­ tor, Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating ter: The Oglala Sioux, 1786-1968 (Martin, South the History of the Missouri, 1785-1804 (St. Louis: Dakota: Boster Publishing Co., 1969), p. 60. St. Louis Historical Documents Foundation, 1952) 25. Tabeau's Narrative (note 12 above), p. 71. 1: 278-79. 26. Denig, Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Mis­ 14. John C. Luttig, Journal of a Fur- Trading Ex­ souri (note 7 above), p. 5. pedition on the Upper Missouri, 1812-1813, Stella 27. Speth, "Some Unexplored Aspects" (note M. Drumm, ed. (New York: Argosy-Antiquarian 18 above), p. 31. LTD, 1964), pp. 50,99,100,103,104,105. 28. Nasatir, Before Lewis and Clark 2 (note 13 15. Maximilian, Prince of Wied, Travels in the above), p. 382. Interior of North America, 1833-1834, in Early 29. Maximilian, Travels in the Interior of North Western Travels, 1746-1846, Reuben Gold America 2 (note 15 above), pp. 294-95. Thwaites, ed. (New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1966) 30. Speth, "Some Unexplored Aspects" (note 22: 281. 18 above), p. 32. 16. Frank Gilbert Roe, The North American Buf­ 31. Tabeau's Narrative (note 12 above), p. 98. falo: A Critical Study of the Species in its Wild State 32. Burlingame, "The Buffalo in Trade and Com­ (T oronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, merce" (note 5 above), p. 266. 1970, 2nd ed.), pp. 84-85. 33. John E. Sunder, The Fur Trade on the Upper 17. Dewey J. Soper, "History, Range and Home Missouri, 1840-1860 (Norman: University of Ok la­ Life of the Northern Bison," Ecological Monographs homa Press, 1965), p. 17. 11 (1941, No.4): 384. 34. Tabeau's Narrative (note 12 above), p. 74. 18. John D. Speth, "Some Unexplored Aspects 35. Daniel Lamont to Pierre Chouteau, 30 De­ of Mutualistic Plains-Pueblo Food Exchange," in cember 1830, Fort Tecumseh. Lamont provided Katherine A. Spielman, ed. Farmers, Hunters, and the same information in another letter: "in conse­ Colonists: Interaction Between the Southwest and the quence of the fine weather Buffalo have remained Southern Plains (Tucson: University of Arizona far in ... not one having yet been seen on the Press, 1991), p. 24. Missouri." Daniel Lamont to Jean P. Cabanne, 30 19. Royal B. Hassrick, The Sioux: Life and Cus­ December 1830, Fort Tecumseh; both U. M. O. toms of a Warrior Society (Norman: University of [Upper Missouri Outfit] Letter Book, Part 1: The Oklahoma Press, 1964), pp. 176, 198. Chouteau Collection. 20. Alfred Morgan, "A Description of a Dakota 36. Daniel Lamont to Enillian Primeau, 13 Janu­ Calendar, With a Few Ethnographical and Other ary 1831, Fort Tecumseh; Lamont to Pierre D. Notes on the Dakotas, or Sioux Indians, and Their Papin, 9 March 1831, Fort Tecumseh; Lamont to Territory," Proceedings of the Literary and Philo- Pierre Chouteau, 4 April 1831, Fort Tecumseh; 270 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1995

Kenneth McKenzie to Jean P. Cabanne, 7 June 48. 29 January 1833, Journal of Fort Tecumseh, 1831, Fort Tecumseh; all in U. M. O. Letter Book, January 27, 1832 to June 1, 1833, Part 1: The Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. Fort Tecumseh Chouteau Collection. employees sent 20,000 bison robes to St. Louis in 49. William Laidlow to Henry Picotte, 6 Febru­ the spring of 1830 and equalled that number the ary 1833, Fort Pierre Letter Book, December 20, following spring. 1832 - August 25, 1835, Part 1: The Chouteau 37. William Laidlow to David Mitchell, 27 No­ Collection. vember 1831, Fort Tecumseh; Laidlow to Pierre 50. William Laidlow to Pierre D. Papin, 11 Feb­ Chouteau, 26 December 1831, Fort Tecumseh; both ruary 1833, Fort Pierre Letter Book, December 20, in U. M. O. Letter Book, Part 1: The Chouteau 1832 - August 25, 1835, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. Collection. 38. William Laidlow to Pierre Chouteau, 20 51. 28 February 1833, 3 March 1833, 14 April December 1832, Fort Pierre Letter Book, Decem­ 1833, and 23 May 1833, Journal ofFort Tecumseh, ber 20, 1832 - August 25, 1835; 17 October 1832, January 27, 1832 to June 1, 1833, Part 1: The Journal of Fort Tecumseh, January 27,1832 to June Chouteau Collection. 1,1833; both in Part 1: The Chouteau Collection; 52. William Laidlow to Pierre Chouteau, 29 Speth, "Some Unexplored Aspects" (note 18 August 1833, Fort Pierre Letter Book, December above), pp. 24, 44. 20, 1832 - August 25,1835, Part 1: The Chouteau 39. Maximilian, Travels in the Interior of North Collection. America 23 (note 15 above), p. 246. 53. Maximilian, Travels in the Interior of North 40. 17 October 1832 and 29 October 1832, Jour­ America 24 (note 15 above), pp. 88-89. Maximilian nal of Fort Tecumseh, January 27, 1832 to June 1, added that the post employees survived that win­ 1833, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection; Chardon's ter without bison by eating "salt pork and the flesh Journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839, ed. Annie Helosie ofthe cabri [antelope]" (p. 94). Neither were good Abel, (Pierre: Department of History, State of substitutes for bison. South Dakota, 1932), pp. 234, 228. Spelling of 54. Maximilian, Travels in the Interior of North Fort Ogallalla is taken from Chardon's Journal, America 23 (note 15 above), p. 236. p.228. 55. Chardon's Journal (note 40 above) p. 10. 41. William Laidlow to Enillian Primeau, 20 Daily entries in August, September, and October December 1832, Fort Pierre Letter Book, Decem­ describe the weather at Fort Clarke. ber 20,1832 - August 25, 1835; 6 November 1832, 56. Jacob Halsey to Pratte and H. Chardon, 6 9 November 1832, Journal of Fort Tecumseh, J anu­ October 1834, Fort Pierre Letter Book, December ary 27, 1832 to June 1, 1833: William Laidlow to 20, 1832 - August 25, 1835, Part 1: The Chouteau Pierre Chouteau, 20 December 1832, Fort Pierre Collection. Letter Book, December 20,1832 - August 25,1835; 57. On 27 March 1833, 2800 bison robes from 25 December 1832, Journal of Fort Tecumseh, J anu­ Fort Ogllalla reached Fort Pierre. These were the ary 27, 1832 to June 1, 1833; all in Part 1: The only robes reported at Fort Pierre during the win­ Chouteau Collection. ter of 1832-33. 27 March 1833, Journal of Fort 42. 29 December 1832 and 10 January 1833, Tecumseh, January 27, 1832 to June 1, 1833, Part Journal of Fort Tecumseh, January 27, 1832 to June 1: The Chouteau Collection. 1, 1833, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. 58. Roe, North American Buffalo (note 16 above), 43. William Laidlow to Pierre Chouteau, 20 p.505. December 1832, Fort Pierre Letter Book, Decem­ 59. Tabeau's Narrative (note 12 above), p. 75; ber 20, 1832 - August 25, 1835, Part 1: The David D. Mitchell to Major William Fulkerson, 10 Chouteau Collection. June 1836, Upper Missouri Agency, Roll 884, Let­ 44. William Laidlow to Enillian Primeau, 20 ters Received by the Office oflndian Affairs, 1824- December 1832, Fort Pierre Letter Book, Decem­ 1880, Microcopy 234, RG 74, National Archives, ber 20, 1832 - August 25, 1835, Part 1: The Washington, D.C. Chouteau Collection. 60. Sunder, Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri (note 45. 15 November 1832 and 4 December 1832, 33 above), pp. 135-36, 145, 165, 173. Journal of Fort Tecumseh, January 27, 1832 to June 61. John R. Bozell reached a similar conclusion 1, 1833, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. for the late prehistoric and early historic period of 46. 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, and 26 January the central Plains, noting that bison populations 1833, Journal of Fort Tecumseh, January 27,1832 fluctuated because of "climate shifts." See John R. to June 1, 1833, Part 1: The Chouteau Collection. Bozell, "Cultural, Environment, and Bison Popu­ 47. 4,5, and 6 February 1833, Journal of Fort lations on the Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Tecumseh, January 27,1832 to June 1, 1833, Part Central Plains," Plains Anthropologist 40 (1995, No. 1: The Chouteau Collection. 152): 159.