Devils Tower, an important landmark for Plains Indian tribes long before the white man reached Wyoming, was called Mateo Tepee, or Grizzly Bear Lodge, by the Sioux. A number of Indian legends describe the origin of Devils Tower. One legend tells about seven little girls chased onto a low rock to escape attacking bears. Their prayers for help were heeded. The rock carried them upward to safety as the claws of the leaping bears left furrowed columns in the sides of the ascending tower. Ultimately, the rock grew so high that the girls reached the sky where they were transformed into the constellation known as Pleiades.

Fur trappers may have visited Devils Tower, but they left no written evidence of having done so. The first documented visitors were several members of Captain W.F. Raynold's Yellowstone Expedition who arrived in 1859. Sixteen years later, Colonel Richard Dodge led a U.S. Geological Survey party to the massive rock formation and coined the name Devils Tower. Recognizing its unique characteristics, Congress designated the area a U.S. forest reserve in 1892 and in 1906 Devils Tower became the nation's first national monument.

Rising dramatically to a height of 1,280 feet above the Belle Fourche River, Devils Tower has become a rock climbing mecca. On July 4, 1893, local rancher William Rogers became the first person to complete the climb after constructing a ladder of wooden pegs driven into cracks in the rock face. Technical rock climbing techniques were first used to ascend the Tower in 1937 when Fritz Wiessner conquered the summit with a small part from the American Alpine Club. Today hundreds of climbers scale the sheer rock walls each summer. All climbers must register with a park ranger before and after attempting a climb.

This 4,422 foot high volcanic bubble rises 1,200 feet above the plains, a guide for centuries to Indians, fur traders, soldiers, cowboys and travelers. It was visited or passed by Verendrye, 1743; Lt. G. X. Warren, 1855; Hayden, the scientist and Reynolds, 1859; Custer, 1874; and since by a galaxy of geological scientists.

This was a sacred mountain to the Cheyenne, the first Indians known to white man to live adjacent to it and here Sweet Medicine, their spiritual leader received the four sacred Cheyenne arrows and the code of ethics many centuries ago. Many a prayer has been said on its rugged slopes and many a smoke signal from its lofty summit has told watchers eyes of travelers on the Bismarck-Deadwood Trail to its north and other sojourners within its vista.

Near here, in 1857, a great council of the Indians determined to hold the Black Hills inviolate from the white man and for two decades this policy dictated their defensive actions.

Custer's annihilation at the Little Big Horn in 1876, the establishment of camp Sturgis, July 1, 1876, on its Northwest slope spelled the passing of the red man and his brother the buffalo. Today Bear Butte stands an outpost of the Hills, still a shrine to the Cheyenne, who come here to worship and a monument to man made history and to natures weird handiwork.

On June 17 and 18, 1804 Lewis and Clark camped a few miles down-stream to make oars from timber in the area. Near the camp was a river crossing for Sacs, Ayauways (Iowas) and Sioux in their excursions against the Osage. On June 19, the explorers continued upstream past this spot.

The name of Portage des Sioux had been given to this place by the Indians, and was adopted by the French settlers. Here the distance between the Missouri River and the Mississippi River is scarcely two miles. Bands of Indians were accustomed to disembark, carry their canoes across the narrow neck from one river to the other and thus save the long journey of twenty-five miles around the point of land, which runs up from the confluence of the two rivers. Frequently the Mississippi, in front of town, would be covered with fleets of canoes, while the village would swarm with swarthy voyagers. For many years after the settlement of the country the old trail could be distinctly traced. Perhaps an incident, which tradition still preserves was of service in establishing the name, particularly in reference to the tribe of Sioux.

The Osage Indians occupied a village on the Missouri, at or near the mouth of the Kansas. The Sioux lived on the Mississippi, above the mouth of the Des Moines. A hunting party of the Osage wandered over towards the country of the Sioux, and fell in with some hunters of that tribe, and killed one or more of their number. This greatly incensed the Sioux, and they resolved on Indian revenge. They formed a war party, fitted out a fleet of bark canoes, descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, and ascended the latter river to the neighborhood of the Osages. Here they secreted their canoes and made a night attack upon their unsuspecting enemies, of whom they massacred a large number. Their revenge was single, terrific and complete.

The Sioux then returned to their canoes and fled, but in less time than Roderick Dhu could marshal his ready clansmen, a strong war party of Osages was formed, who, panting and thirsting for vengeance, launched their canoes upon the dark waters of the Missouri, and gave chase to their retreating foes. Both tribes were distinguished for their skill in water craft. The race was a contest for life and death. On they sped, the pursued and the pursuers. Each party employed all its skill and strength and cunning-the fugitives prompted by the love of life and hope of escape-the pursuers urged on by the desire for revenge and thirst for blood. The Sioux made great speed down the muddy river; but the Osages gained on them. The signs of the chase freshened; neither party stopped to rest, nor flagged; on, on they sped for days, the Osages still gaining, until in one of the long stretches of the river, they came in sight of the Sioux. A loud, wild cry of exultation from the pursuers rang out upon the welkin, and was echoed back by a shout of defiance from the Sioux. The last trail of strength and skill was now made, and every nerve strained to its utmost capacity. On they sped until a certain bend of the river concealed the fugitives from their pursuers. Under this cover they soon reached a point on the Missouri, about twelve miles above its mouth and only a mile from the Mississippi, nearly opposite a point on the Mississippi where Portage des Sioux stands, and, taking advantage of this sudden turn of fortune, disembarked, withdrew their canoes from the water, and concealed themselves from their pursuers. Soon, however, the party of Osages came, noiselessly, yet swiftly as an arrow in flight, gathering new life and fresh courage from the glimpse of a broken paddle, as it glided by them on the turbid waters, or some useless article of which the Sioux had disencumbered themselves in their flight.

A moment of breathless suspense, into which was crowded an age of hope and fear and anxiety, is now experienced by the fugitives as their pursuers are passed and lost to view in the next curve of the river. Manitto has smiled on the Sioux - the Osages foiled.

Hastily gathering up their canoes they bear them on their shoulders across the narrow portage, relaunching them in the Mississippi and resume their flight up that river, while the Osages continue down the Missouri to its mouth and then up the Mississippi. This successful stratagem enabled the Sioux to gain on their pursuers some twenty or thirty miles, and secured their escape. The point were they re-embarked is the sight of Portage des Sioux, the portage of the Sioux, by which name it has ever since been known.

Portage des Sioux was of considerable importance during the War of 1812. An American military force was stationed here to intercept the enemy on their way to attack St. Louis. A blockhouse was built on the island directly downstream of the town. A fort was also located on the Mississippi River below town. This fort and site were washed away by high water in 1844.

On July 4, 1815, the war having closed, the Indians of nineteen different tribes which had been in hostility to the Americans, were invited to assemble in council at Portage des Sioux to treaty for peace. Among the tribes who signed the treaty were the Potawatomies, Piankeshaws, Sioux, Omahas, Kickapoos, Osages, Iowas, Kansas, and the party of the Sacs [Sauks] and Foxes. The treaty carries the signature of three white commissioners, William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark expedition; Ninian Edwards, the governor of the territory of Illinois; and Auguste Chouteaux, a prominent figure in fur trade west of the Mississippi River. These treaties at last ended the War of 1812 in Missouri.

The seal of this town is a circle with two bands encircling a field, with an extended view representing a portion of that plane of country immediately above the junction of the rivers. [The Missouri River and Mississippi River] The "armorial achievement" is simple, yet highly suggestive, and commemorates the incident above related [The Naming of Portage des Sioux MO362]. It consists of a party of Sioux with canoes on their shoulders, and is surrounded with the words "Seal of the town of Portage des Sioux."

During the thirty year period following the Louisiana Purchase, the tribes living in Missouri relinquished their claims to Missouri lands by a series of treaties, and moved south and west into the Kansas and Oklahoma region. The first of these treaties, entered into November 3, 1804, between the United States and the Sauk and Fox at Portage des Sioux, was, according to Black Hawk, made without authority having been given to the chiefs who negotiated it. Ill feeling among the Indians over this treaty, which ceded an extensive territory, caused a schism between Sauk and Fox, and was the alleged cause for the depredations on white settlers during the War of 1812.

Bureau of American Ethnology
Neg. No. 42026
Stock: Southern Sioux, western division
Tribe: Osage
Title:

A Treaty of Peace and Friendship made and concluded between William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America,...and the King, Chiefs and Warriors of the Big and Little Osage Tribes or Nations...this twelfth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifteen and of the Independence of the United States, the Fortieth, done at Portage des Souix.

On loan from Henry Lookout of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, son of the late Fred Lookout, who was the last principal chief of the tribe.
March 31, 1952.

The Missouri River before you is not the same river that Lewis and Clark experienced on their journey. For Lewis and Clark, the river was filled with islands, side channels flowing around the islands, quiet backwaters and marshes, as well as, the main channel. This wide shallow river allowed the Corps of Discovery to wade the river and pull their boats upstream during parts of their journey. Today the river has a very swift nine feet deep & 1000 wide navigation channel, which is roughly half the width it used to be before it was channelized.

For Lewis and Clark the floodplain of the Missouri River was a mixture of grasslands, forests and wetlands. The river experienced two general periods of high water both in the spring. These natural spring rises often flooded nearby land. The flood waters deposited sediments rich in organic matter. This made very productive plant communities along the river, particularly marshes that produced huge quantities of important food supplies for fish and other wildlife. Today dams and levees control most of the flooding and the rich soil is very productive agricultural lands for Missouri farmers.

Below is a historic time line of the changes to the Missouri River.
1804-1806 First formal exploration of the Missouri River made by Lewis and Clark.
1838 Removal of snags in the river to promote steamboat traffic.
1867 The first government survey of the Missouri River was made by Charles Howell.
1882-1902 Congress appropriated $8 million for channel improvements. This resulted in the construction of a 5.5 foot deep navigation channel for the first 44 miles of the river upstream from the mouth to Augusta, just upstream from Klondike Park. (Where you are standing now.)
1933 Construction of the first major dam, Fort Peck, on the Missouri River begins in Montana.
1944 Flood Control Act required a basin-wide plan, known as the Pick-Stone Plan. The major result of this plan was the construction of an additional six dams on the Missouri River.
1945 The River and Harbors Act established the dimension of the present navigation channel, which is 9 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The Act also required the navigation channel to be extended to Sioux City, Iowa.

In addition to the flood plain, Lewis and Clark also saw upland areas bordering the Missouri River. Many of these were recognized by rock bluffs on the river's banks. Some historians believe that within a couple of miles downstream, across the river (on the St. Louis County bank), is the location of the famous incident where Captain Lewis almost fell off a river bluff the very first few days of the Corps of Discovery journey. Today, the top of river bluffs are often valued as building sites as they offer protection from floods and provide scenic views of the river valley. Klondike Park has a scenic overlook located atop the river bluffs which provide great views of the Missouri River Valley.

NATIVE AMERICAN INFLUENCE
Many Native American tribes inhabited the St. Charles area when explorers arrived from Europe. French explorers named the Missouri River after the Missouri tribe of Indians who were buffalo hunters and farmers. They lived along the Missouri River from its junction with the Mississippi to southwestern Iowa. The historic town of Portage des Sioux was a busy stopping place for the Indian tribes on their voyages up and down the Mississippi River, and for their portages across the land peninsula to the Missouri River. Indian nations trapped, hunted, fished and traded with the settlers.