the angle, in which was a gate,
kept locked at night. The roofs of the huts slanted upward from the
inner side of the rows, making the outer side of each hut eighteen feet
high; and the lofts of these were made warm and comfortable with dry
grass mixed with clay, Here they were continually visited during the
winter by Indians from all the region around. Here, too, they secured
the services of an interpreter, one Chaboneau, who continued with them
to the end. This man's wife, Sacajawea, whose Indian name was translated
"Bird Woman," had been captured from the Snake Indians and sold to
Chaboneau, who married her. She was "a good creature, of a mild and
gentle disposition, greatly attached to the whites." In the expedition
she proved herself more valuable to the explorers than her husband, and
Lewis and Clark always speak of her in terms of respect and admiration.

It should not be understood that all the interpreters employed by white
men on such expeditions wholly knew the spoken language of the tribes
among whom they travelled. To some extent they relied upon the universal
language of signs to make themselves understood, and this method of
talking is known to all sorts and kinds of Indians. Thus, two fingers of
the right hand placed astraddle the wrist of the left hand signifies a
man on horseback; and the number of men on horseback is quickly added by
holding up the requisite number of fingers. Sleep is described by gently
inclining the head on the hand, and the number of "sleeps," or nights,
is indicated by the fingers. Killed, or dead, is described by closed
eyes and a sudden fall of the head on the talker's chest; and so on, an
easily understood gesture, with a few Indian words, being sufficient to
tell a long story very clearly.

Lewis and Clark discovered here a species of ermine before unknown
to science. They called it "a weasel, perfectly white except at the
extremity of the tail, which was black." This animal, highly prized on
account of its pretty fur, was not scientifically described until as
late as 1829. It is a species of stoat.

The wars of some of the Indian tribes gave Lewis and Clark much trouble
and uneasiness. The Sioux were at war with the Minnetarees (Gros
Ventres, or Big Bellies); and the Assiniboins, who lived further to the
north, continually harassed the Sioux and the Mandans, treating these as
the latter did the Rickarees. The white chiefs had their hands full
all winter while trying to pr