When buffalo were
seen, the most active of the fighters rushed to the front to aid
in hemming in the game. Women and dogs carried the baggage, the
men condescending to bear only their weapons.
Not until cold December had come did the party reach the chief
Mandan village. It was in some sense imposing, for the Indian
lodges were arranged neatly in streets and squares and the
surrounding palisade was strong and well built. Around the fort
was a ditch fifteen feet deep and of equal width, which made the
village impregnable in Indian warfare. After saluting the village
with three volleys of musket fire, La Verendrye marched in with
great ceremony, under the French flag, only to discover that the
Mandans were not greatly unlike the Assiniboines and other
Indians of the West whom he already knew. The men went about
naked and the women nearly so. They were skilled in dressing
leather. They were also cunning traders, for they duped La
Verendrye's friends, the Assiniboines, and cheated them out of
their muskets, ammunition, kettles, and knives. Great eaters were
the Mandans.
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