n oak tree, at the mouth of the Jacque, or
James, River, on August 29th. Old man Dorion had found his son Pierre,
who was trading among the Sioux, it says. Well, they got five chiefs and
about seventy others, and they all went into council."

"Oak tree, did you say, John? Oak tree this far north?" Jesse was
particular.

"Yes, sir, oak tree--lots of them all through here then. Clark tells how
the deer and elk ate the acorns, and how fond they were of them. Didn't
you notice that?"

"Well, let's push off and run up to the old council ground," said Rob,
who was always for getting forward. "It can't be more than a few hours'
run, for we don't stop at any towns, you know."

They did this, and spent some time studying the spot, so that they could
believe they were on the very council ground where Lewis and Clark first
met the Sioux, below the Calumet Bluff, on the "Butifull Plain near the
foot of the high land which rises with a gradual assent near this
Bluff." At least a trace of the old abundance of the timber could be
seen. They consulted their _Journal_ and argued for a long time.

"This is where they sent out the two men to hunt for the lost man
Shannon," said Rob. "And here is where our captains made their big
treaty speeches with the Sioux and gave them medals and the D.S.O., and
the Congressional Medal and things. They had a lot of government 'Good
Indian' certificates all ready to fill in, and it peeved them when one
of the chiefs handed back his certificate and said he didn't care for
it, but would rather have some whiskey.

"Those Sioux must have been a surly bunch," said Rob. "But Captain Lewis
impressed them very much, and Captain Clark let down his long red hair
and astonished them, and everybody fed them and gave them presents; and
they appointed young Mr. Dorion a commissioner, and gave him a flag, and
told him to bring about a peace between all these tribes--the Sioux,
Omahas, Pawnees, Poncas, Otoes, and Missouris--and to try to get chiefs
of each tribe to go down the river and to Washington, to see the Great
Father. And the _Journal_ kept them good and busy, setting down the
names of the different bands of the Sioux and telling how they looked."

John grinned, and pointed to the page. "'The Warriers are Verry much
deckerated with Paint Porcupine quils and feathers, large leagins and
mockersons, all with buffalow robes of Different Colors, the Squars wore
Peticoats and a White Buffalow roabe with the b