North American Indians of the plains / by Clark Wissler.

  • Clark Wissler
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: North American Indians of the plains / by Clark Wissler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    country. Thus Nicolas Perrot writing in 1680-1718 (p. 119) says of the Indians in Illinois: — “The savages set out in the autumn, after they have gathered the harvest, to go hunting; and they do not return to their villages until the month of March, in order to plant the grain on their lands. As soon as this is done, they go hunting again, and do not return until the month of July.” Early explorers in the Plateaus to the west of the Plains tell us that the Nez Perce and Flathead of Idaho and even the inhabitants of the Rio Grande pueblo of Taos, New Mexico, made periodical hunting excursions to the plains. To most of the Plains tribes, the introduction of the European horse was a great boon. Unfortunately, we have no definite information as to when and how the horse was spread over the plains but it was so early that its presence is noted by some of the earliest ex¬ plorers. It is generally assumed that by trade and by the capture of horses escaping from the settlements, the various tribes quickly acquired their stock, first from Mexico and the southern United States, whence the Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee obtained them, and they in turn passed them on to the north. The Shoshone and other tribes of the Plateau area were also pioneers in their use. Even as early as 1754 they are reported in great numbers among the Blackfoot, one of the extreme northern plains groups. Hence, we have no detailed information as to the mode of life among these tribes before the horse was introduced, except what is gleaned from their tribal traditions.
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