| Summary: | Cree are branches, while another was the progenitor of the Si- ouan Tribes, of which the Hidatsa are a branch. The Hidatsa lived along the Missouri River and were early in Bottineau County. The Cree lived mostly to the north of the Turtle Mountains. The Chippewa, first represented by the Mid- inakwadshiwininwak, a small band never numbering over 200, established themselves in the Turtle Mountains about the time of Verendrye. When white traders came in contact with the Chippewa and Cree a mixed blood race called "Metis" was created. At first the mixture was largely French and Indian but soon Irish, Scotch, and Swiss blood was added. The Metis developed their own culture, midway between white and Indian, became great buffalo hunters, and were apt linquists. From the Pembina band of Metis came Pierre Bottineau. PIERRE BOTTINEAU Bottineau County was named in honor of Pierre Bottineau by the Dakota Territory Legislature in Yankton, Dakota Territory, in 1873. The honor was bestowed upon him in recognition of his service as a guide to numerous expeditions in Dakota Territory. It is believed he went through the county in his travels but there is no indication of a significant contribution to the history of the area. Pierre Bottineau was born in 1817 on Turtle River near Pembina, Dakota Territory. He was the son of Joseph Bottineau, a Hudson Bay trapper, and Clear Sky, a Chippewa (or Ojibwa) woman. He was trained early in marksmanship, horsemanship, and woodcraft. At 14 he had attained such skill that the death of his father promptly brought the offer of a home with another trapper, LeCompte, who was eager to have the lad assist him with his traps. Three years later he made his first long trip through the wilderness when with LeCompte, he delivered messages from Fort Garry (near Winnipeg) to Ft. Snelling (St. Paul), a distance of 750 miles. A year later he made a trip to Hudson Bay, passed the Company test as a voyaguer, and gained employment with the Hudson Bay Company. Shortly thereafter he married Genevieve Larance, a woman of French Indian descent. In 1852, shortly after the death of Genevieve, he married a French woman, Martha Garvais. While the Chippewa was Bottineau's mother tongue, he could speak other Indian dialects and could also converse well in French and English. He guided Governor Stevens on the first exploration for the Northern Pacific Railway; he was guide for many government trains to forts on the Missouri River; he was with General Sully in his campaigns against the Sioux, and his acquaintance with Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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