Chardon's journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839

Chardon, Francis A., (Author). Abel, Annie Heloise, 1873- (Added Author).

Summary: Thirty years after Meriwether Lewis and William Clark passed through the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota, the Upper Missouri River region was being plied by fur traders. In 1834 Francis A. Chardon, a Philadelphian of French extraction, took charge of Fort Clark, a main post of the American Fur Company on the Upper Missouri. The journal that Chardon began that year offers a rare glimpse of daily life among the Mandan Indians, including the Arikaras, Yanktons, and Gros Ventres. In particular, it is a valuable and graphic record of the smallpox scourge that nearly destroyed the Mandans in 1837. Chardon describes much of historical interest, including such figures as the interpreter Charbonneau, Sacajawea’s husband, and the fantastic James Dickson, “Liberator of all the Indians.” By the time his account ends in 1839, the fur trade is already in decline.

Record details

ISBN: 0803263759 (pa : alk. paper)
ISBN: 9780803263758 (pa : alk. paper)
Physical Description: print
lxviii, 458 pages, [1] leaf of plates : illustrations, map, portrait ; 21 cm.
Publisher: Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, c1997.

Content descriptions

General Note:	"Bison books"--1st printed p. "Descriptive of life on the upper Missouri; of a fur trader's experiences among the Mandans, Gros Ventres, and their neighbors; of the ravages of the small-pox epidemic of 1837." Originally published: Pierre : South Dakota Dept. of History, 1932.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Introduction to the Bison Books edition / William R. Swagerty -- Editor's preface / Annie Heloise Abel-Henderson -- Historical introduction -- The journal -- Notes and references -- Appendices: A: Kennedy journal / Alexander Kennedy; B: Extracts from St. Louis Enquirer, July 19, 22, 1824 re [Kenneth] Mackenzie; C: Citizenship data re Mackenzie, Lamont, and Laidlaw / Isaac Barton, Clerk of the Missouri District; D: Will of Daniel Lamont; E: Reports on fur trade conditions: St. Louis, October 3, 1831 to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War; St. Louis, October 27, 1831 to William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs / William Gordon -- F: Selected letters from Fort Union letter book: Dec. 17, 1833, to James Kipp / K. McK; K. [Kenneth] McKenzie; October 29, 1833 to Jas Kipp / J.A.H.; October 30, 1833, to K. McKenzie / J.A.H.; December 15, 1833 to H. Picott / K. McKenzie?; December 15, 1833 to Baron de Braunsberg / K. McKenzie; December 16, 1833 to Joshua Pilcher / K. McKenzie; December 16, 1833 to P. Chouteau, Jr. / K. McKenzie; December 16, 1833 to W.B. [William B.] Astor, American Fur Company / K. McKenzie -- December, 1833 to P.D. Papin, OnKpapa post / K. McKenzie; June 30, 1834 to Pierre Chouteau, Junior / K. McKenzie; July 8, 1834 to A. [Alexander] Culbertson / K. McKenzie; July 26, 1834 to John Carlisle / K. McKenzie; December 10, 1835 to Major [William Neil] Fulkerson, Indian agent / Kenneth McKenzie; December 10, 1835 to J.B. [J.P.] Cabanné / Kenneth McKenzie; December 10, 1835 to Pratte, Chouteau, & Company; December 10, 1835 to Ramsey Crooks / Kenneth McKenzie; December 10, 1835 to Prince Maximilian de Neuwied / Kenneth McKenzie; December 10, 1835 to Henry K. Ortley [order for sundry articles, including brandy, almonds, and cigars] / Kenneth McKenzie; G: Reports on Primeau and Dechamps Massacres: Fort Clark, Mandan Village, June 10, 1836 to Major Fulkerson, U.S.S. Indian Agent, for Mandans, etc / David D. Mitchell; William Clark, Superintendent Indian Affairs / William N. Fulkerson; H: Report on Small-pox [smallpox] Epidemic: Fort Pierre, [South Dakota], November 2, 1837 to Pratte, Chouteau, & Co. / Jacob Halsel; I: Mandan fatalities, 1837: [List of names]; J: Extract from Father Point's journal: voyage in a barge on the Missouri from the Fort of the Blackfeet to the Fort of the Assiniboines / Nicholas Point; K: Additional letters from the Drips papers / John F.A. Sanford, John B. Sarpy.