Answer:
On June 6, 1820, Long and 19 men traveled up the north bank of the Platte and met Pawnee and Oto Indians. On October 14, 400 Omaha assembled at a meeting with Long, and their chief Big Elk made the following speech,
"Here I am, my Father; all these young people you see around here are yours; although they are poor and little, yet they are your children. All my nation loves the whites and always have loved them. Some think, my Father, that you have brought all these soldiers here to take our land from us but I do not believe it. For although I am a poor simple Indian, I know that this land will not suit your farmers. If I even thought your hearts bad enough to take this land, I would not fear it, as I know there is not wood enough on it for the use of the white."
Long and his group of scientists learned much to tell the nation and had the opportunity to show the U.S. flag.
Detail of Stephen H. Long’s 1822 Map of Arkansas Territory
Detail of Stephen H. Long’s 1822 Map of Arkansas Territory
Courtesy David Rumsey Map Collection via Creative Commons License
In his report of the 1820 expedition, Long wrote that the Plains from Nebraska to Oklahoma were "unfit for cultivation and of course uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture." On the map he made of his explorations, he called the area a "Great Desert."
Long felt the area labeled the "Great Desert" would be better used as a barrier against the Spanish, British, and Russians, who shared the continent with the Americans. He also commented that the eastern wooded portion of the country should be filled up before attempting any more movement westward. He was against sending settlers to that area. There was little timber for houses or fuel, little surface water, sandy soil, hard winters, huge herds of bison (buffalo), hostile Indians, and no easy ways to communicate. However, it’s interesting that the native tribes had been living there for centuries! By the end of the 19th century, the "Great Desert" had become the nation’s breadbasket.
There were two key results of Long’s expedition — a very accurate description of Indian customs and Indian life as they existed among the Omaha, Oto, and Pawnee and his description of the land west of the Missouri River.
Zebolon Pike
Explanation:
