| Summary: | How Prophet's Mountain Got Its Name "Preparation Point," Nov. 3 '77, Johnny Smith, Black Horn, White Face and two other Gros Ventres camped here last night. At my request, Black Horn told the story of the great flood that came down from the North, about 400 years ago. Black Horn's story was realistic, though Johnny's interpretation may have given it much of its coloring." The Gros Ventres are better at describing incidents than computing the chronology of time which separate occurrences, but fully 400 years have passed since the winter of the big snow came, that melted in the late spring and the water lay upon these plains so deep that the Mouse River ox-bow became a great sea the found outlet on the breaks of the Missouri, thence on down to the Gulf. Some supposed that convulsions in the Arctic seas may have forced a tidal wave down toward Hudson Bay, thence across dividing lands submerging everything in its way, "At the time of the big deep snow that fed the Arctic sea surge, the Gros Ventres lived in five villages, the principle one of which was at the junction of the Wintering and Mouse Rivers, In this camp was an old medicine man, who had prophetic gifts. He dreamed that a great flood of waters would come down from the north, and that the only land left dry would be the Dog Den Range. For the most part, the old fellow's dream of warning was laughed at; but a few of the faithful followed him over to the Dog Dens and the butte further south, now known as Prophet's Mountain. Those who remained in the Mouse River valley were caught up by the flood and drowned. A village on the Heart River was in part saved by the act ivity of the terrified villagers, by reaching the high bluffs south of Little Heart River. Since that date the Gros Ventres are more chary of prophetic warning." So, ever after this butte was known as Prophet's Mt. because the old medicine man's prophecy proved true, that it and the Dog Den Buttes would not be flooded but all other land would be. R, P. Moore's column in the McClusky Gazette revealed some interesting data on the history of Sheridan County and the Prophets. "The ranee of hills about 10 miles north of McClusky constitutes tne divide between the Missouri River slope and Red River county in Sheridan County; - that's where Prophet's Mountain comes in- on the divide. The divide cuts the county into two almost equal north and south halves. There are still a few traces of early-day trails in Sheridan County, at least one of which skirted Prophet's Mountain. This was known as the Brush Lake-Martin road, used by ranchers. Portions of its deep ruts can still be seen. Travelers had their popular stopovers on the way, such as Baardson's ranch, Howell's ranch, Beck's horse ranch, George Curtis ranch, and others. Any traveler found a welcome reception at almost any home along the trail. Good fellowship prevailed among the settlers for everybody knew that mutual helpfulness paid good dividends." Indians, Settlers Kill Last Buffalo For many years before the coming of the white man, Dakota Territory was the "happy hunting ground" for nomadic Indian tribes. Here they found vast herds of buffalo (properly called (bison), and bands of antelope and deer on the open prairie, elk and moose in the wooded areas, particularly the northern part of the state, and countless wildfowl, including ducks, geese and native grouse. When the first white settlers came to Dakota Territory there were millions of buffalo here. In all the unsettled parts of the vast region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains these "thundering herds" roamed. So numerous were they that it is virtually impossible to conceive of their countless numbers. But the coming of the white man marked the beginning of the end for the "thundering herds. ' Long before Sheridan County was settled, and long before the turn of the century the bison had disappeared from the state. Wholesale slaughter of the animals throughout the west had caused them to become practically extinct in their wild state. Today, the only buffaloes remaining are the domestic herds, mostly in public and private parks with the exception of a few farmers raising the buffalo with their own stock. For centuries the buffalo was the mainstay of the Indian on the plains. He depended upon the animal for food, clothing, shelter, implements and even toys for his children. Covering for the body was made of the tanned skins; buffalo hides, or robes, provided additional covering and the hides also were used for tipis. Implements and toys of buffalo bones have been found in Indian mounds and were used long after the whites came to the country. The annual buffalo hunts in June and Ncvember were not only the great events in the lives of the Indians, but later engrossed the attention of the mixed bloods and even the whites. These events were more than hunting trips; they were important expeditions in which adventure, romance, excitement and thrills were plentiful. Numerous descriptions of buffalo hunts have been written - a colorful saga of the plains. The buffalo hunts by the Indians followed a more or less regular route on their summer and fall expeditions. The Dogden buttes, near the town of Butte (northwest of McClusky), marked the boundary of the hunting grounds at one point and lt appears that McHenry County usually was the most westerly area covered by the Metis and Chippewa in their hunts. The limits of the region hunted were fixed by fear of the hostile Sioux. The Chippewa did not fear the Sioux in battle , but being peaceable did not wish to clash with them. The hunters and their families traveled in vehicles resembling the Red River cart, drawn by oxen or ponies. Travois were used also. Most of the hunters rode ponies and many extra horses, the fleetest available, were brought along for the chase. To give an idea of the extent of the bag, historians record that Indians killed 10,000 head of buffalo in North Dakota in the June hunt of 1837. Father G.A. B^lcourt, a chaplain of Pembina and walhalla, accompanied a band of about 30 mixed bloods and Indians who killed 1800 bison on a hunt in 1845. 32 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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