Arikara Villages

Description

On the voyage upstream in June of 1833, the steamboat pas45.603253, -100.424474illages just above the Grand River: Hohka-Wiratt and Nahokahta. These villages had been abandoned the year before, partially because of a drought-induced crop failure and a related absence of buffalo in the area, and also because of heavy pressure from Sioux enemies. The former inhabitants had reportedly moved inland into the prairie. Although Maximilian said that Bodmer's sketch was done hastily, it nonetheless clearly shows the distinctive shape of the earth lodges and the protective palisade around the village, already partially fallen. These villages figured significantly in the history of the upper Missouri River. They were visited and remarked upon by explorers Lewis and Clark, and in 1823 they became the target of the first U.S. military expedition against the Plains Indians, a retaliatory measure for Arikara attacks on American traders. Another view of this scene was produced by artist George Catlin in 1832.