Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied, 1782-1867, the second son of the ruler of the German province of Wied, rose to the rank of Major-General in the Prussian army during the Napoleonic wars and studied biological sciences under Alexander von Humboldt who became his mentor.Between 1815 and 1817 he led an expedition to south-east Brazil and wrote two books about his experiences and findings.In 1832, accompanied by the Swiss painter Karl Bodmer, he left the eastern United States with the intention of traveling to the upper Missouri territory.
Johann Karl Bodmer, born in Zurich, studied art from his uncle, Johann Jacob Meier, himself having
studied under two famous artists, Fussli and Lory. He accompanied his uncle on several jaunts around
Switzerland and in 1832 went to Germany where he met Price Max, as he liked to call himself, and was hired to be the draftsman for the upcoming expedition to North America.
Map to Illustrate the Route of Prince Maximilian of Wied in the Interior of North America from Boston to the Upper Missouri in 1832, 33 & 34.This beautiful projection is believed to have been inspired by an earlier American cartographic model and indicates areas of the west, the Plains and
Rockies, largely a mystery.
In April of 1833, they set sail on the "Yellow-Stone", a steamboat owned by the American Fur Company, up the Missouri River to Bellevue, Nebraska, and Fort Pierre, South Dakota, and from there to Fort Union near the North Dakota-Montana border. At various points along the route, they disembarked at trading posts, owned by the fur company, which allowed them to observe and interact with indigenous people. In July, they continued upriver to Fort McKenzie, Montana, at the mouth of the Marias River.
First a Mandan tribe village, later a trading post which evolved into Fort Clark, the expedition
over-wintered here. After an attack by the Dakota in 1861, the fort was permanently abandoned.
The steamboat "Yellow Stone" above was the first to arrive here on the upper-Missouri.
There were many impediments blocking easy progress up the newly explored waterways, unknown shoals, sand bars, swift currents requiring men on shore to pull the ship with ropes, the
constant cutting of wood to feed the steam engines.
Speakers of Mandan, a Siouan language, the people developed a settled culture in contrast to that of more nomadic tribes in the Great Plains region. They established permanent villages featuring large, round, earthen lodges some 40 feet in diameter, surrounding a central plaza. While the buffalo was key to the daily life of the Mandan, it was supplemented by agriculture and trade.Attacks by war-like
neighbors and diseases reduced their numbers drastically.
Mandan women wore ankle-length dresses made of deerskin or sheepskin . This would often be girded at the waist with a wide belt. Sometimes the hem of the dress would be ornamented with pieces of buffalo hoof. Underneath the dress, they wore leather leggings with ankle-high moccasins. Women's hair was worn straight down in braids.
One of the most recognizable features of the Mandan was their permanent villages made up of earthen lodges. Each lodge was circular with a dome-like roof and a square hole at the apex of the dome through which smoke could escape. The exterior was covered with a matting made from reeds and twigs and then covered with hay and earth, which protected the interior from rain, heat and cold. The lodge also featured an extended portico-type structure at the entrance.
The interior was constructed around four large pillars, upon which crossbeams supported the roof. These lodges were designed, built and owned by the women of the tribe, and ownership was passed through the female line. Generally 40 feet in diameter, they could hold several families, up to 30 or 40 people. Villages usually had around 120 lodges.
Villages were usually oriented around a central plaza that was used for games(chunkey) and ceremonial purposes. In the center of the plaza was a tree surrounded by a wood enclosure. It represented the "Lone Man", one of the main figures in Mandan mythology. He was said to have built a wooden corral that saved the people of a village from a flooding river in North Dakota.[10] Villages were often situated on high bluffs over the river. Often, villages would be constructed at the meeting of tributaries, to use the water as a natural barrier. Where there were few or no natural barriers, the villages utilized some type of fortification, including ditches and palisades.
Mandan Buffalo Dance:
The most exciting event of the year's festival was the Buffalo Dance. Eight men participated, wearing buffalo skins on their backs and painting themselves black, red, and white. Dancers endeavoured to imitate the buffalo on the prairie.
Each dancer held a rattle in his right hand, and in his left a six-foot rod. On his head, he wore a bunch of green willow boughs. The season for the return of the buffalo coincided with the willow trees in full leaf. Another dance required only four tribesmen, representing the four main directions of the compass from which the buffalo might come. With a canoe in the centre, two dancers, dressed as grizzly bears who might attack the hunters, took their places on each side. They growled and threatened to spring upon anyone who might interfere with the ceremony.
Onlookers tried to appease the grizzlies by tossing food to them. The two dancers would pounce upon the food, carrying it away to the prairie as possible lures for the coming of the buffaloes.
During the ceremony, the old men of the tribe beat upon drums and chanted prayers for successful buffalo hunting.
By the end of the fourth day of the Buffalo Dance, a man entered the camp disguised as the evil spirit of famine. Immediately he was driven away by shouts and stone-throwing from the younger Mandans, who waited excitedly to participate in the ceremony.
When the demon of famine was successfully driven away, the entire tribe joined in the bountiful thanksgiving feast, symbolic of the early return of buffalo to the Mandan hunting-grounds.
- Described by Lewis and Clark.
