JOURNAL OF E. WILLARD SMITH 275
shaved closely, with the exception of the scalping tuft in the middle, which gives them a very savage appearance. The river below the Loup Fork is much narrower than above. We are now in the country of the Otoe Indians.
On the evening of the 21st we arrived at a missionary sta^ tion, about fifteen miles from the mouth of the River Platte. There are about twenty Otoe lodges near the missionary station. These lodges are built of mud, in the same manner as the Paw- nees. We went up to the missionary houses, expecting to find some whites, and were much disappointed at finding them deserted, the missionaries having removed to another place.
June 22nd. This morning we arrived at the mouth of the river Platte. The Missouri, where we entered it, is rather narrow. This is about eleven hundred miles from St. Louis. In the afternoon we stopped at a log house on the bank of the river. Here we saw the first whites who had gladdened our eyes since leaving the mountains. They were at first afraid of us. At this place was a small encampment of Pottawattamie Indians. They had been drunk a few days before, and several were killed in a fight. This is the part of the country to which they had been removed. The banks of the Missouri here are quite hilly. Some of the shores are composed of limestone.
23rd. In the evening we arrived at a settlement, where we procured some fresh meat, bread and coffee. This place was in the Iowa country and we saw several Indians of that tribe.
24th. We stopped at another settlement in the State of Missouri, in Buchanan county. On the south side of the river is Missouri Territory, and on the north the state of Missouri. We saw some Sacks and Fox Indians today. We now traveled rapidly, sometimes eighty miles a day.
July 3rd. We arrived at St. Louis, having come two thou- sand miles from the mountains in sixty-nine days.
When traveling down the River Platte in our mackinaw boat, as before stated, we often ran aground on sand bars, and were obliged to unload the boat to lighten, push it off the bar, and then reload. This occurred several times in the course of each day, and of course kept us wading in the water most
