Miller proved to be quite an observant chronicler when he came to recall the grand feeling he had upon entering one of the earthen lodges of the Omaha or Oto Indians during the first part of his trip West. He was particularly impressed by the jocularity of the assembled group of gamblers seated around the fire playing a common betting game called “hand.” They seemed to “laugh consumedly” while engaged in this favorite pastime.
Yet, he was even more taken with the scale and functionality of the architectural achievement he beheld. “There is considerable ingenuity and taste displayed in the structure of these permanent Lodges,” he opined.
