McKenzie, Charles. The Mississouri Indians, 1809. An electronic transcription. MFTP #0009

No 4

and this dress will be considered more Suitable at the time than any other to my situation and circumstances[.] With it I could pass and repass as often as I pleased through the Villages unmolested – whereas a Christian dress would submit me not only to the notice but often to the gaze and even redicule of the Natives and the curs of the Villages attack[.]

I immediately announced the quality and importance of the white Strangers to the By standers[.] It was great news[.] It spread like lightening through the Villages, and in a moment all the men women and children that could move thronged to see in their Villages the Great White Chiefs – whom they were so often taught to admire at a distance[.] The Indians not free of disappointment regarded the great white chiefs with seeming unconcern – but they invited them to their Tents, and we dispersed[.] When retired and alone in my Tent the principal men of the Village assembled around me – remarking that the great Chiefs in the Spanish Settlements were cloathed in dressed which dazzle the eyes of the Indians – that they were surrounded with armed men who had many slaves in attendance and that they made many Presents to the

Mandanes

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L E G E N D :
 in red , modifications made by the editor(s).
 in lavender , modifications made by the assumed author(s).

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