Note 177 — Chapter XXIV · DESCRIPTION OF FORT CLARKE AND THE ENVIRONS

General Ashley started with a party of traders March 10, 1823, arriving at the Arikkara villages May 30. He was received with apparent friendliness, but early in the morning of the second of June was attacked by the Indians who killed a number of his land party, the boats escaping with great difficulty. Ashley immediately notified the military authorities, and Colonel Leavenworth, then in command at Fort Atkinson, near Council Bluffs, at once determined to organize a punitive expedition. Pilcher, of the Missouri Fur Company, joined forces with him, and secured a band of Sioux auxiliaries. For many reasons the expedition was, as Maximilian implies, but slightly successful. For a full account of this campaign, gathered from many sources, consult Chittenden, Fur-Trade, i, pp. 264-269; ii, pp. 588-607. The expedition was notable as the first of a long series of trans-Mississippi Indian wars.—Ed.