Mandanes[.] Your chiefs, continued they are white like the Chiefs of the Spaniards – but they are not great Chiefs – Nor do they look like Chiefs[.] The indians beleive that You impose upon them[.] If they are chiefs, who made them Chiefs? Are they Warriors? Have they taken many Scalps? Why are they superior to other men? What brought them here?" It required some consideration on my part to answer all these questions[.] [A]fter some minutes of reflection, I observed that these white men were great Chiefs through the Great property they possessed – through the great good that property caused among the Indian Nations of the north – and that they came here merely from curiosity, and to visit their friends the great men of the Mississourie Villages[.] On the other hand our Gentlemen felt equally dissappointed[.] Leaving home they promised themselves a speedy and a pleasant journey but they experienced the very reverse – they experienced a tedious and disagreeable one[.] [A]ccustomed to deference and respect from the Indians in the Vicinity of their Establishments they expected an attention little short of adoration from the distant

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