Thus the once powerful and populous tribe was reduced to two villages
which, in 1804, were found by Lewis and Clark on opposite banks of the
Missouri, about 4 miles below Knife river. Here for a time the tribe waxed
and promised to regain the early prestige, reaching a population of 1,600
in 1837; but in that year they were again attacked by smallpox and almost
annihilated, the survivors numbering only 31 according to one account, or
125 to 145 according to others. After this visitation they united in one
village. When the Hidatsa removed from Knife river in 1845, some of the
Mandan accompanied them, and others followed at intervals as late as 1858,
when only a few still remained at their old home. In 1872 a reservation
was set apart for the Hidatsa and Arikara and the survivors of the Mandan
on Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in Dakota and Montana, but in 1886 the
reservation was reduced. According to the census returns, the Mandan
numbered 252 in 1890.
HIDATSA
There has been much confusion concerning the definition and designation of
the Hidatsa Indians. They were formerly known as Minitari or Gros Ventres
of the Missouri, in distinction from the Gros Ventres of the plains, who
belong to another stock. The origin of the term Gros Ventres is somewhat
obscure, and various observers have pointed out its inapplicability,
especially to the well-formed Hidatsa tribesmen. According to Dorsey, the
French pioneers probably translated a native term referring to a
traditional buffalo paunch, which occupies a prominent place in the
Hidatsa mythology and which, in early times, led to a dispute and the
separation of the Crow from the main group some time in the eighteenth
century.
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