Black Buffalo Archives - Lewis & Clark Research Database https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/key-figure/black-buffalo/ A digital archive of treaties, documents, artwork, and 360° trail panoramas from the Corps of Discovery Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:34:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Tense Confrontation with the Teton Sioux https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/journal/tense-confrontation-with-the-teton-sioux/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:34:28 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/journal/tense-confrontation-with-the-teton-sioux/ The 2nd Chief was verry insolent both in words and justures, pretended Drunkeness & Staggered up against me, declaring I Should not go on. I felt My Self warm & Spoke in very positive terms. Offered my hand to the 1st and 2d Chiefs who refused to receive it.

The post Tense Confrontation with the Teton Sioux appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> The encounter with the Teton Sioux (Lakota) at the mouth of the Bad River was the most dangerous confrontation of the entire expedition. The Lakota controlled trade on the upper Missouri and saw the American expedition as a threat to their economic and political power.

“The 2nd Chief was verry insolent both in words and justures, pretended Drunkeness & Staggered up against me, declaring I Should not go on. I felt My Self warm & Spoke in very positive terms.”

Warriors seized the pirogue’s mooring cable and strung their bows. Clark drew his sword and Lewis ordered the keelboat’s swivel gun aimed at the shore. For several tense moments, the expedition teetered on the edge of armed conflict.

The crisis was eventually defused through the intervention of Chief Black Buffalo, and the expedition continued upstream after several uncomfortable days of diplomacy. Clark later described the Teton Sioux as “the vilest miscreants of the savage race.”

The post Tense Confrontation with the Teton Sioux appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> Council with the Teton Sioux at Bad River https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/documents/council-with-the-teton-sioux-at-bad-river/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 13:58:28 +0000 https://research.lewisandclarktrust.org/documents/council-with-the-teton-sioux-at-bad-river/ The encounter began with a council on September 25, 1804, where communication was hampered by the lack of a competent Sioux interpreter. After distributing gifts, tensions escalated when warriors seized…

The post Council with the Teton Sioux at Bad River appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]> The encounter began with a council on September 25, 1804, where communication was hampered by the lack of a competent Sioux interpreter. After distributing gifts, tensions escalated when warriors seized the bow cable of a pirogue. Clark drew his sword and Lewis ordered the swivel gun loaded and aimed. Only the intervention of Chief Black Buffalo prevented bloodshed. The standoff continued for three days before the expedition was able to depart. Clark later wrote that the Teton Sioux were “the vilest miscreants of the savage race.”

The post Council with the Teton Sioux at Bad River appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

]]>