Travels in the great western prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky mountains, and in the Oregon territory

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TRAVELS

IN THE

GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES.

VOL. I.

TRAVELS

IN THB

GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES,

THE ANAHUAC AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS,

AND IN

THE OREGON TERRITORY.

BY THOMAS J. FARNHAM.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON SIHEET.
^blis^er in ^ttfinarc ts "^ iMaiMtt

1843.

LONDON'
ritZNTIt> BT 8CBULZS AXO CO., 13, rOLAVO 8TRBET.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

This authentic account of the Great
Western Prairies and Oregon Territory
supplies a deficiency which has been felt
for a long time. The author, by his own
personal observations, has been enabled
to furnish a very interesting narrative of
travel ; and whether he treats of the Prai-
ries, or of the Oregon region, the various
incidents related by him cannot fail to give
entertainment and instruction.

With respect to the Introduction, in
which the Author asserts the claims of the
United States to the Oregon Territory little
need be said here : the subject will no
doubt receive the full consideration of the
Governments interested in the decision of
the question.

London, 1843.

PREFACE.

It was customary in old times for all
Authors to enter the world of letters on
their knees, and with uncovered head, and
a bow of charming meekness write them-
selves some brainless dolt's ** most humble
and obedient servant." In later days, the
same feigned subserviency has shown itself
in other forms. One desires that some
will kindly pardon the weakness and imbe-
cility of his production ; for, although these
faults may exist in his book, he wrote
under ** most adverse circumstances," as
the crying of a hopeful child, the quarrels
of his poultry, and other disasters of the
season.

Another, clothed with the mantle of the
sweetest self-complacency, looks out from
his Preface, like a sun-dog on the morning
sky, and merely shines out the query, " Am
I not a Sun ?" while he secures a retreat
for his self-love, in case anybody should
suppose he ever indulged such a singular
sentiment.

Vlll PREFACE.

A few others of our literary shades make
no pretensions to modesty. They hold out
to the world no need of aid in laying the
foundations of their fame ; and, however
adverse the opinions of the times may be to
their claims to renown, they are sure of
living hereafter, and only regret they should
have lived a hundred years before the world
was prepared to receive them.

There is another class, who, confident
that they understand the subjects they treat
of, if nothing else, and that, speaking plain
truth for the information of plain men, they
cannot fail to narrate matter of interest
concerning scenes or incidents they have
witnessed, and sensations they have expe-
rienced — trouble not themselves with the
qualms of inability, or lack of polish, but
speak from the heart. These write their
names on their title-pages, and leave their
readers at leisure to judge of their merits
as they develope themselves in the work
itself, without any special pleading or any
deprecatory prayers to the reviews, by

' THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTION.

The Oregon Territory forms the terminus
of these Travels ; and^ as that country is an
object of much interest on both sides of the
Atlantic, I have thought proper to preface
my wanderings there by a brief discussion
of the question as to whom it belongs.

By treaties between the United States
and Spain and Mexico and Russia, the
southern boundary of Oregon is fixed on
the 42ud parallel of north latitude ; and the
northern on an east and west line, at 54°
40' north. Its natural boundary on the
east is the main ridge of the Rocky Moun-
tains, situated about four hundred miles
east of the Pacific Ocean, which washes it
on the west. From these data the reader
will observe that it is about six hundred
miles in length, and four hundred in
breadth.

According to the well-established laws
of nations applicable to the premises, the
title to the sovereignty over it depends
upon the prior discovery and occupancy

A 3

X INTRODUCTION.

of it, and upon cessions by treaty from the
first discoverer and occupant. These seve-
ral important matters I proceed to examine,
with Greenough's History of the North-
west Coast of America, and the works
therein named, before me as sources of
reference.

From the year 1 532 to 1 540, the Spanish
government sent four expeditions to ex-
plore the north-west coast of America, in
search of what did not exist — a water com-
munication from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
These fleets were severally commanded by
Mazuela, Grijalva, Becera, and UUoa. They
visited the coast of California, and the
south-western shore of Oregon.

The next naval expedition, under the
same Power, commanded by Bartoleme
Ferrello, penetrated to the north as far as
latitude 43°, and discovered Cape Blanco.

Juan de Fuca discovered and entered the
Straits that bear his name in the year 1592.
He spent twenty days within the Straits in
making himself acquainted with the sur-
rounding country, trading with the natives,
and in taking possession of the adjacent
territories in the name of the Spanish
Crown. The Straits de Fuca enter the
land in latitude 49'' north, and, running

INTRODUCTION, XI

one hundred miles in a south-easterly direc-
tion, change their course north-westwardly,
and enter the ocean again under latitude
51** north. Thus it appears that Spain
discovered the Oregon Coast from latitude
42** to 49° north two hundred and fifty-one
years ago ; and, as will appear by reference
to dates, one hundred and eighty-four years
prior to the celebrated English Expedition
under Captain Cook.

In 1602, and subsequent years, Corran
and Viscaino, in the employment of Spain,
surveyed many parts of the Oregon Coast,
and in the following year Aguiler, in the
same service, discovered the mouth of the
Umpqua River in latitude 44** north.

In August, 1774, Parez and Martinez,
under the Spanish flag, discovered and an-
chored in Nootka Sound. It lies between
49** and 50** of north latitude.

In 1774 and 1775 the north-west coast
was explored by Parez and Martinez of the
Spanish service, as far north as the 58th
parallel of latitude.

On the 6th day of May, 1789, the
Spanish Captain Martinez, commanding
two national armed vessels, took possession
of Nootka Sound and the adjoining country.

XU INTRODUCTION.

Previous to this event, say the authorities
referred to, no jurisdiction had heen exer-
cised by the subjects of any civilized power
on any part of the north-west coast of
America between 37** and 60*" of north lati-
tude.

Thus is it shown on how firm and incon-
trovertible data the Spanish claims rest to
the prior discovery and occupancy of the
Oregon Territory.

But as against England this claim was
rendered if possible more certain by the treaty
of February 10th, 1763, between Spain,
England and France — by which England
was confirmed in her Canadian possessions,
and Spain in her discoveries and purchased
possessions west of the Mississippi. If,
then, England has any claim to Oregon as
derived from Spain, it must rest on treaty
stipulations entered into subsequently to the
10th of February, 1763.

We accordingly find her to have formed
a treaty with Spain in the year 1800, set-
tling the difficulties between the two powers
in relation to Nootka Sound. By the first
article of the convention, Spain agreed to
restore to England those portions of the
country around Nootka Sound which En-

INTRODUCTION. XU

gland had so occupied in regard to time and
manner as to have acquired a right to them.
The 5th article stipulates as follows :

** 5th. As well in the places which are to
be restored to the British subjects by virtue
of the first article as in all other ports of
the North -West Coast of North America,
or of the Island, adjacent, situate to the
north of the coast already occupied by Spain
wherein the subjects of either of the two
Powers shall have made settlements since
the month of April 1789, or shall hereafter
make any. The subjects of the other
shall have free access and shall carry on
their trade without any disturbance or mo-
lestation."

The inquiries that naturally arise here are,
on what places or parts of the North- West
Coast did this article operate ; what rights
were granted by it, and to what extent the
United States, as the successors of Spain,
in the ownership of Oregon, are bound by
this treaty ?

These will be considered in their order.

Clearly the old Spanish settlements of the
Californias were not included among the
places or parts of the North- West Coast on
which this article was intended to operate,
for the reason that England, the party in

XIV INTRODUCTION.

interest, has never claimed that they were.
But on the contrary, in all her diplomatic
and commercial intercourse with Spain since
1800, she has treated the soil of the Cali-
fornias with the same consideration that she
has any portion of the Spanish territories in
Europe. — And since that country has formed
a department of the Mexican Republic, En-
gland has set up no claims within its limits
under this treaty.

Was Nootka Sound embraced among the
places referred to in this article ? That was
the only settlement on the North West
Coast, of the subjects of Spain or England,
made between the month of April, 1787,
and the date of the treaty, and was un-
doubtedly embraced in the Fifth Article.
And so was the remainder of the coast,
lying northward of Nootka, on which Spain
had claims. It did not extend south of
Nootka Sound. Not an inch of soil in the
vallev of the Columbia and its tributaries
was included in the provisions of the treaty
of 1763.

Our next inquiry relates to the nature
and extent of the rights at Nootka, and
northward, which England acquired by this
treaty. They are defined in the concluding
phrase of the article before cited. The sub-*

INTRODUCTION. XV

jects of both the contracting Powers "shall
have free access, and shall carry on their
trade without disturbance or molestation."
In other words the subjects of England
shall have the same right to establish trad-
ing posts and carry on a trade with the
Indians, as were, or should be enjoyed by
Spanish subjects in those regions. Does
this stipulation abrogate the sovereignty of
Spain over those territories ? England her-
self can scarcely urge with seriousness a
proposition so ridiculously absurd. A
grant of an equal right to settle in a
country for purposes of trade, and a gua-
rantee against " disturbance" and ** moles-
tation," does not, in any vocabulary, imply
a cession of the sovereignty of the territory
in which these acts are to be done.

The number and nature of the rights
granted to England by this treaty, are
simply a right to the joint occupancy
of Nootka and the Spanish territories
to the northward, for purposes of trade
with the Indians ; a joint tenancy, sub-
ject to be terminated at the will of the
owner of the title to the fee and the sove-
reignty ; and, if not thus terminated, to be
terminated by the operations of the neces-
sity of things— the annihilation of the trade

XVI INTRODUCTION.

— the destruction of the Indians themselves
as they should fall before the march of
civilisation. It could not have been a per-
petual right, in the contemplation of either
of the contracting parties.

But there are reasons why the provisions
of the treaty of 1 763 never had been, and
never can be binding on the United States
as the successors of Spain in the Oregon
territory.

There is the evidence of private gentle-
men of the most undoubted character to
show, that Spain neither surrendered to
England any portion of Nootka, or other
parts of the north-west coast ; for that if
she offered to do so, the offer was not
acted upon by England ; and testimony
to the same effect in the debates of the times
in the Parliament of Britain, in which this
important fact is distinctly asserted, autho-
rise us to declare that the treatv of 1 763 was
annulled by Spain, and so considered by
England herself. And if England did not
mean to show the world that she acquiesced
in the non-fulfilment of Spain, she should
have re-asserted her right, if she thought
she had any, and not left third parties to
infer that she had quietly abandoned them.
The United States had every reason to infer

INTRODUCTION. XVU

such abandonment ; and in view of it, thus
manifested, purchased Oregon of Spain.
Under these circumstances, with what jus-
tice can England, after the lapse of nearly
half a century, come forward and demand of
the successor of Spain rights in Oregon
which she thus virtually abandoned — which
were refused by Spain, and to which she
never had the shadow of a right on the
score of prior discovery, occupancy or pur-
chase? The perpetually controlling and
selfishness of her policy is the only plea
that history will assign to her in accounting
for her pretensions in this matter.

England also places her claim to Oregon
upon the right of discovery. Let us ex-
amine this: —

The first English vessel which visited
that coast was commanded by Francis
Drake. He entered the Pacific in 1770*
and sailed up the coast to the 45th parallel
of north latitude, and then returned to the
38th degree; accepted the crown of the
native Prince in the name of his Queen —
called the country New Albion, returned to
England and was knighted.

* This date is incorrect. It was in 1577 ; and he
sailed to the 48th parallel of north latitude. — Ed.

XVm INTRODUCTION.

The portions of Oregon seen by Drake
had been seen and explored by the Spa-
niards several times within the previous
thirty years.

Sir Thomas Cavendish next came upon
the coast ; but did not see so much of it as
Drake had seen.

The celebrated Captain Cook followed
Cavendish. He saw the coast in latitude
43 and 48 degrees. He passed the Straits
de Fuca without seeing them, and anchored
in Nootka Sound on the 16th February,
1779.* In trading with the Indians there,
he found that they had weapons of iron,
ornaments of brass, and spoons of Spanish
manufacture. Nootka had been discovered
and occupied by the Spaniards four years
before Cook arrived.

The subsequent English navigators —
Mesrs. Vancouver, and others, so far as
the Oregon coast was the field of their la-
bours, were followers in the tracks pointed
out by the previous discoveries of the
Spaniards.

So ends the claim of England to Oregon,

on the right of prior discovery. As opposed
to England, Spain's rights on this principle
were incontestible.

* He was killed on the 14th February, 1779.— Ed.

INTRODUCTION. XjX

By the treaty of Florida, ratified February
22d, 1819^ Spain ceded to the United States
her right in the Oregon territory, in the
following words : ** His Catholic Majesty
cedes to the said United States all his rights,
claims, and pretensions to any territories
east and north of said line ;" meaning the
42d parallel of north latitude, commencing
at the head waters of the Arkansas, and
running west to the Pacific ; " and for him-
self, his heirs and successors, renounces all
claim to the said territories for ever."

But the United States have rights to
Oregon which of themselves annihilate the
pretensions not only of England but the
world. Her citizens first discovered that
the country on which Nootka Sound is situ-
ated was an island ; they first navigated that
part of the Straits of Fuca lying between
Puget's Sound and Queen Charlotte's Island,
and discovered the main coast of north-west
America, from latitude 48*" to 50** north.
American citizens also discovered Queen
Charlotte's Island, sailed around it, and dis-
covered the main land to the east of it, as
far north as latitude 55*".

England can show no discoveries between
these latitudes so important as these ; and
consequently has not equal rights with the

XX INTRODUCTION.

Americans as a discoverer, to that part of
Oregon north of the 49th degree of latitude.
We also discovered the Columbia River ; and
its whole valley, in virtue of that discovery,
accrues to us under the laws of nations.
One of these laws is that the nation which
discovers the mouth of a river, by implica-
tion discovers the whole country watered
by it. We discovered the mouth of the
Columbia and most of its branches ; and
that valley is ours against the world — ours,
also, by purchase from Spain, the first dis*
coverer and occupant of the coast — ours
by prior occupancy of its great river and
valley, and by that law which gives us, in
virtue of such discovery and occupancy, the
territories naturally dependent upon such
valley. We are the rightful and sole
owner of all those parts of Oregon, which
are not watered by the Columbia, lying on
its northern and southern border, and
which, in the language of the law, are
naturally dependent upon it. Oregon terri-
tory, for all these reasons is the rightful
property of the United States.

CONTENTS

TO

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

The Rendezvous — ^The Destination — ^The Education of
Mules — ^The Santa F^ Traders — The Mormons — ^The
Holy War — Entrance upon the Indian Territory — ^A
Scene — An Encampment — ^A Loss — A Hunt — The
Osage River — A Meeting and Parting — Kauzaus In-
dians — An Indian Encampment — Council Grove —
Ruins — An Indian and his Wants — Elk — A Tempest
— Captain Kelly — A comfortless Night . . 1 — 38

CHAPTER II.

Searcity of Food — An Incident — Looing and Bleating —
Messrs. Bents — ^Trade — Little Arkansas — A Nauseous
Meal— A Flood— An Onset— A Hard Ride— The Dc-
liverance — The Arkansas — ^An Attack — The Simili-
tude of Death — ITie Feast and a bit of Philosophy —
The Traders Walworth and Alvarez's Teams — A
Fright — A Nation of Indians — ^Their Camp and Himts
— A Treaty — A Tempest — Indian Butchering — ^A
Hunt among the Buffalo — A Wounded Man — A
Drive — A Storm and its Enemy — Night among the
Buffalo— The Country and the Heavens — The Ford
— A Mutiny and its Consequences — Blistered Fingers
—Liberty— Bent's Fort— Disbanding. . 39—100

XXll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

The Great Prairie Wilderness — Its Rivers and Soil —
Its People and their Territories — Choctaws — Chick-
asaws — Cherokees — Creeks — Senecas and Shawnees
— Seminoles — Pottawatamies — Weas — Pionkashas —
Peorias and Kaskaskias — Ottowas — Shawnees or Sha-
wanoes — ^Delawares — Kausaus — Kickapoos — Sauks
and Foxes — lowas — Otoes — Omehas — Pimeahs —
Pawnees, remnants — Carankauas — Cumanche, rem-
nants — Knistineaux — Naudowisses or Sioux — Chippe-
ways, and their traditions . . . 101 — 172

CHAPTER IV.

Fort William — its Structure, Owners, People, Animals,
Business, Adventures, and Hazards — ^A Division — A
March — Fort el Puebla — Trappers and Whisky — A
Genius — An Adventurous Iroquois — A Kentuckian—
Horses and Servant — A Trade — A Start — ^Arkansas
and Coimtry — ^Wolfano Mountains — Creeks — Rio
Wolfeno — ^A Plague of Egypt — Cordilleras — James'
Peak— Pike's Peak— A Bath— The Prison of the Ar-
kansas — ^Entrance of the Rocky Mountains — A
Vale 173-252

CHAPTER V.

An Ascent — A Misfortune — A Death — The Mountain
of the Holy Cross — Leaping Pines — Killing a Buffalo

CONTENTS. XXm

— ^Asses and Tyrants — ^Panther, &c. — Greography —
Something about descending the Colorado of the
West — Dividing Ridges — A Scene — Tumbleton's
Park — A War Whoop — Meeting of Old Fellow
Trappers — ^A Notable Tramp — ^My Mare — The eti-
quette of the Moimtains — Kelly's Old Camp, &c. —
A Great Heart — Little Bear River— Vegetables and
Bitterness — ^Two White Men, a Squaw and Child—
A Dead Shot— What is Tasteful— Trappmg— Black-
foot and Sioux — ^A Bloody Incident — A Cave — Hot
Spring — ^The Country — ^A Surprise — ^American and
Canadian Trappers — The Grand River — Old Park —
Death before us — ^The Mule— Despair 253 — ^297

TRAVELS

IN THE

GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES,

&C. &C.

CHAPTER I.

The Rendezvous — The Destination — ^The Education of
Mules— The Santa F^ Traders— The Mormons— The
Holy War — ^Entrance upon the Indian Territory — ^A
Scene — ^An Encampment — ^A Loss — A Hunt — The
Osage River — A Meeting and Parting — Kauzaus In-
dians — An Indian Encampment — Council Grove —
Ruins — ^An Indian and his Wants — ^Elk — ^A Tempest
— Captain Kelly — ^A comfortless Night.

On the 21st of May, 1839, the author
and sixteen others arrived in the town of In-
dependence, Missouri. Our destination was
the Oregon Territory. Some of our num-
ber sought health in the wilderness — others
sought the wilderness for its own sake—
and others sought a residence among the
ancient forests and lofty heights of the
valley of the Columbia ; and each actuated
by his own peculiar reasons, or interest,
began his preparations for leaving the fron-

VOL. I. B

2 EDUCATION OF MULES.

tier. Pack mules and horses and pack-
saddles were purchased aod prepared for
service. Bacon and flour, salt and pepper,
sufficient for four hundred miles, were se-
cured in sacks ; our powder-casks were
wrapt in painted canvas, and large oil-cloths
were purchased to protecX these and our
sacks of clothing from the rains ; our arms
were thoroughly repaired ; bullets were
moulded ; powder-horns and cap-boxes filled ;
and all else done that was deemed needful,
before we struck our tent for the Indian
territory.

But before leaving this little woodland
town, it will be interesting to remember that
it is the usual place of rendezvous and
" outfit '* for the overland traders to Santa
F^ and other Mexican states. In the month
of May of each year, these traders congre-
gate here, and buy large Pennsylvania wag-
gons, and teams of mules to convey their
calicoes, cottons, cloths, boots, shoes, etc.
over the plains to that distant and hazard-
ous market. It is quite amusing to green-
horns, as those are called who have never
been engaged in the trade, to see the mules
make their first attempt at practical pulling.
They are harnessed in a team, two upon the
shaft, and the remainder two abreast in

JEDUCATION OP MULES. 3

long swinging iron traces; and then, by
way of initiatory intimation that they have
passed from a life of monotonous contem-
plation, in the seclusion of their nursery
pastures, to the bustling duties of the '* Santa
F^ trade," a hot iron is applied to the thigh
or shoulder of each, with an embrace so
cordially warm, as to leave there, in blis-
tered perfection, the initials of their last
owner's name. This done, a Mexican Spa-
niard, as chief muleteer, mounts the right-
hand wheel mule, and another, the left hand
one of the span next the leaders, while four
or five others, as foot-guard, stand on either
side, armed with whips and thongs. The
team is straightened — and now comes the
trial of passive obedience. The chief mule-
teer gives the shout of march, and drives
his long spurs into the sides of the animal
that bears him ; his companion before fol-
lows his example ; but there is no move-
ment. A leer — an unearthly bray, is the
only response of these martyrs to human
supremacy. Again the team is straightened,
again the rowel is applied, the body-guard on
foot raise the shout, and all apply the lash at
the same moment. The untutored animals
kick and leap, rear and plunge, and fall in
their harness. In fine, they act the mule,

B 2

4 THE MORMONS.

and generally succeed in breaking neck or
limb of some one of their number, and in
raising a tumult that would do credit to any
order of animals accustomed to long ears.

After a few trainings, however, of this
description, they move off in fine style.
And, although some luckless animal may at
intervals brace himself up to an uncompro-
mising resistance of such encroachment
upon his freedom, still, the majority pre-
ferring passive obedience to active pelting,
drag him onward, till, like themselves, he
submits to the discipline of the traces.

' Independence' was the first location of
the Mormons west of the Mississippi. Here
they laid out grounds for their temple,
built the ' Lord's store,' and in other ways
prepared the place for the permanent estab-
lishment of their community. But, be-
coming obnoxious to their neighbours, they
crossed the Missouri, and founded the town
of * Far West.' In 1838 they recommenced
certain practices of their faith in their new
abode, and were ejected from the state by
its military forces.

The misfortunes of these people seem to
have arisen from proceeding upon certain
rules of action peculiar to themselves. The
basis of these rules is the assumption that

THE MORMONS; 5

they are the " Saints of the Most High,'* to
whom the Lord promised of old the inheri-
tance of the earth ; and that as such they
have the right to take possession of what-
ever they may be inspired to desire. Any
means are justifiable, in their belief, to bring
about the restoration to the " Children of
God" of that which He has bequeathed to
them. In obedience to these rules of action,
any Mormon or* 'Latter-Day Saint*' labour-
ing for hire on a " worldly" man's planta*
tion, claimed the right to direct what im-
provements should be made on the pre-
mises; what trees should be felled, and
what grounds should, from time to time, be
cultivated. If this prerogative of saintship
were questioned by the warm-blooded Mis-
sourians, they were with great coolness and
gravity informed that their . godly servants
expected in a short time to be in comforta-
ble possession of their employers' premises ;
for that the Latter-Days had come, and with
them the Saints ; that wars and carnage
were to be expected ; and that the Latter-
Day Prophet had learned, in his communi-
cations with the Court of Heaven, that the
Missourians were to be exterminated on the
first enlargement of the borders of ** Zion ;"
and that over the graves of those '* enemies

6 THE MORMONS.

of all righteousness" would spring that vast
spiritual temple which was ** to fill the
earth/'

The prospect of being thus immolated
upon the altar of Mormonism, did not pro-
duce so much humility and trembling among
these hardy frontiersmen as the prophet Joe
had benevolently desired. On the con-
trary, the pious intimation that their throats
would be cut to glorify God, was resisted by
some ruthless and sinful act of self-defence ;
and all the denunciations of the holy bro-
therhood were impiously scorned as idle
words. However, in spite of the irreUgious
wrath of these deluded, benighted Missou-
rians, the Saints cut timber wherever they
listed on the domains which were claimed
by the people of the world. And if the
''Lord's hogs or horses" wanted corn, the
farms in the hands of the wicked were re-
sorted to at a convenient hour of the night
for a supply. In all these cases, the
*' Saints" manifested a kind regard to the
happiness even of the enemies of their
faith. For whenever they took com from
fields in possession of the world's people,
they not only avoided exciting unholy
wrath by allowing themselves to be seen in
the act, but, in order that peace might

TRIBE OF DAN. 7

reign in the bosonis of the wicked, even,
the longest possible time, they stripped that
portion of the harvest field which would be
last seen by the ungodly owner.

The ** Church militant," however, being
inefficient and weak, the Prophet Joe de-
clared that it was their duty to use
whatever means the Lord might furnish to
strengthen themselves. And as one power-
ful means would be the keeping its doings
as much as possible from the world, it was
he said, the will of Heaven, revealed to him
in proper form, that in no case, when called
before the ungodly tribunals of this perverse
and blind generation, should they reveal,
for any cause, any matter or thing which
might, in its consequences, bring upon the
brotherhood the infliction of those pre-
tended rules of Justice, by the world called
Laws. Under the protection of this pro-
phecy, a band of the brethren was or-
ganized, called the *' Tribe of Dan," whose
duty it was to take and bring to the " Lord's
store," in the far West, any of the Lord's
personal estate which they might find in
the possession of the world, and which
might be useful to the '* Saints," in ad-
vancing their kingdom. Great good is said
to have been done by this Tribe of Dan ;

8 MORMON WAR.

for the Lord's store was soon filled, and
the Saints praised the name of Joe. The
Prophet's face shone with the light of an
all- subduing delight at the increase of
" Zion," and the eflSiciency of his adminis-
tration.

The Missourians, however, were desti-
tute of the Latter-Day Faith, and of just
views of the rights devised to. those, who,
in the Lord's name, should destroy his
adversaries, and restore the earth to the
dominion of millennial righteousness. Poor
mortals and deluded sinners ! They be-
lieved that the vain and worldly enactments
of legislative bodies were to prevail against
the inspirations of the Latter-Day Prophet
Joe ; and in their unsanctified zeal, de-
clared the Saints to be thieves, and unjust,
and murderous ; and the Tribe of Dan to
be a pest to the constitutional and acknow-
ledged inherent and natural right to acquire,
possess, and enjoy property. From this
honest difference of opinion arose the "Mor-
mon War," whose great events are recorded
in the narrative of the ** Latter-Day
Saints ?" Some events, there were, how-
ever, not worthy to find record there, which
may be related here.

The Governor of the Missouri ordered

JiORMON WAR. 9

out the State troops to fight an^ subdue
the Mormons, and take from them the
property which the ** Tribe of Dan'* had
deposited in the " Lord's brick store" in
the '' citadel of Zion/' called " Far West.''
It was in 1838 they appeared before the
camp of the " Saints'* and commanded them
to surrender. It was done in the manner
hereafter described. But before this event
transpired, I am informed that the Prophet
Joe opened his mouth in the name of the
Lord, and said it had been revealed to him
that the scenes of Jericho were to be re-
enacted in Far West ; that the angelic host
would appear on the day of battle, and
by their power give victory to the " Saints."
To this end he ordered a breast-work
of inch pine boards to be raised around the
camp, to show by this feeble protection
against the artillery of their foes, that their
strength was in the '* breast-plate of
righteousness," and that they were the sol-
diers of the militant portion of the King-
c^om of Heaven. There were moments of
awful suspense in the camp of the " Saints."
The Missouri bayonets bristled brightly
near their ranks, and an occasional bullet
carelessly penetrated the pine-board ram-
part, regardless of the inhibition of the

B 3

]0 MORMON WAR.

Prophet. The Heavens were gazed upon
for the shining host, and listening ears
turned to catch the rushing of wings
through the upper air. The demand of
surrender was again and again repeated;
but Faith had seized on Hope, and Delay
was the offspring.

At this juncture of affairs, a sturdy old
Missourian approached the brick store,
pickaxe in hand, apparently determined to
do violence to the sacred depository. One
of the sisters in robes of white accosted
him, and with proper solemnity made
known that the '' Lord of the Faithful" had
• revealed to Joe, the Prophet, that every
hand raised against that *'holy structure"
would instantly be withered. The fron-
tiersman hesitated, but the hardihood cha-
racteristic of these men of the rifle return-
ing, he replied, *' Well, old gal, I'll go it
on one hand any how." The awful blow
was struck ; the hand did not wither ! *' I
doubles up now," said the daring man, and
with both hands inflicted a heavy blow
upon a corner brick. It tumbled to the
ground, and the building quickly fell under
the weight of a thousand vigorous arms.
The confidence of the Saints in their
Prophet waned, and a surrender followed.

BOOK OP MORMON. 11

Some of the principal men were put in
custody, but the main body were permitted
to leave the State without farther molesta-
tion. We afterwards met many of them
with their herds, &c., on the road from Far
West to Quincy, Illinois. It was strongly
intimated by the planters in that section of
country, that these emigrating ''saints'*
found large quantities of the "Lord's corn'*
on their way, which they appropriated as
need suggested to their own and their
animals' wants.

The origin of the '' Book of Mormon"
was for some time a mystery. But recent
developements prove it to have been written
in 1812 by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding,
of New Salem, in the state, Ohio. It was
composed by that gentleman as a historical
romance of the long extinct race who built
the mounds and forts which are scattered
over the valley States. Mr. Spaulding read
the work while composing it to some of his
friends, who, on the appearance of the book
in print, were so thoroughly convinced of
its identity with the romance of their de-
ceased pastor, that search was made, and
the original manuscript found among his
papers. But there was yet a marvel how the
work could have got into the hands of Joe

12 INDIAN TERRITORY.

Smith. On further investigation, however, it
appeared that the reverend author had enter-
tained thoughts of puhUshing it; and, in
pursuance of his intention, had permitted
it to lie a long time in the printing office in
which Sidney Rigdon, who has figured so
prominently in the history of the Mormons,
was at the time employed. Rigdon, doubt-
less, copied poor Spaulding's novel, and
with it, and the aid of Joe Smith, has suc-
ceeded in building up a system of super-
stition, which, in vileness and falsehood, is
scarcely equalled by that of Mahomet.

Solomon Spaulding was a graduate of
Dartmouth College.

On the 30th of May, we found ourselves
prepared to move for the Indian Terri-
tory. Our pack-saddles being girded
upon the animals, our sacks of provi-
sions, &c. snugly lashed upon them, and
protected from the rain that had begun to
fall, and ourselves well mounted and armed,
we took the road that leads off southwest
from Independence in the direction of Santa
F^. But the rains which had accompanied us
daily since we left Peoria, seemed deter-
mined to escort us still, our ill-natured
scowls to the contrary notwithstanding :
for we had travelled only three miles when

INDIAN TERRITORY. 13

&uch torrents fell, that we found it necessary
to take shelter in a neighbouring school-
house for the night. It was dismal enough ;
but a blazing fire within, and a merry
song from a jovial member of our company
imparted as much consolation as our cir-
cumstances seemed to demand, till we re-
sponded to the howling storm the sonorous
evidence of sweet and quiet slumber.

The following morning was clear and
pleasant, and we were •early on our route.
We crossed the stream called Big Blue, a
tributary of the Missouri, about twelve
o'clock, and approached the border of the
Indian domains. All were anxious now to
see and linger over every object which re-
minded us we were still on the confines of
that civilization which we had inherited
from a thousand generations; a vast and
imperishable legacy of civil and social hap-
piness. It was, therefore, painful to ap-
proach the last frontier enclosure — the last
habitation of the white man — the last sem-
blance of home. At length the last cabin was
approached. We drank at the well and tra-
velled on. It was now behind us. All, indeed
was behind us with which the sympathies of
our young days had mingled their holy
memories. Before us were the treeless

14 ENCAMPMENT.

plains of green, as they had been since the
flood -^beautiful, unbroken by bush or rock ;
unsoiled by plough or spade ; sweetly
scented with the first blossomings of the
spring. They had been, since time com-
menced, the theatre of the Indian's prowess
— of his hopes, joys, and sorrows. Here,
nations, as the eve of deadly battle
closed around them, had knelt and rais-
ed the votive ofiering to Heaven, and im-
plored the favour and protection of the
Great Spirit who had fostered their fathers
upon the wintry mountains of the North,
and when bravely dying, had borne them to
the islands of light beneath the setting sun.
A. lovely landscape this, for an Indian's
meditation ! He could almost behold in the
distance where the plain and sky met, the
holy portals of his after- state — so mazy and
beautiful was the scene !

Having travelled about twenty-five miles
over this beautiful prairie, we halted on the
banks of a small stream at a place called
Elm Grove. Here we pitched our tent,
tied our horses to stakes, carried for that
purpose, and after considerable diflBculty
having obtained fuel for a fire, cooked and
ate for the first time in the Indian Territory.

At this encampment final arrange-

ELM GROVE. 15

ments were made for our journey over the
Prairies. To this end provisions, arms, am-
munition, packs and pack-saddles, wereover-
hauled, and an account taken of our com-
mon stock of goods for trade with the Indians.
The result of this examination was, that
we determined to remain here a while, and
send back to the Kauzaus Indian mill for
two hundred pounds of flour. We were in-
duced to take this step by assurances re-
ceived from certain traders whom we met
coming from the mountains, that the buffalo
had not advanced so far north as to furnish
us with their fine hump-ribs so early by a
week or fortnight as we had expected.
Officers were also chosen and their powers
defined ; and whatever leisure we found
from these duties during a stay of two days,
was spent in regahng ourselves with straw-
berries and gooseberries, which grew in
great abundance near our camp.

Our friends having returned from the mill
with the flour for which they had been
despatched, we left Elm Grove on the 3d
of June, travelled along the Santa F^ trail
about fifteen miles, and encamped upon a
high knoll, from which we had an extensive
view of the surrounding plains. The grass
was now about four inches in height, and

16 A HUNT, &C.

bent and rose in most sprightly beauty
under the gusts of wind which at intervals
swept over it. We remained here a day
and a half, waiting for two of our number
who had gone in search of a horse that had
left our encampment at Elm Grove. The
time, however, passed agreeably. We
were, indeed, beyond the sanctuaries of
society, and severed from the kind pulsa-
tions of friendship ; but the spirit of the
Red Man, wild and careless as the storms
he buffets, began to come over us ; and we
shouldered our rifles and galloped away
for a deer in the lines of timber that thread-
ed the western horizon. Our first hunt in
the depths of the beautiful and dreadful
wilderness I It was attended with no suc-
cess, however, but was worth the eflbrt.
We had begun to hunt our food.

In the afternoon of the 4th, our friends
returned with the strayed animals. The
keepers immediately fired the signal-gun^,
and all were soon in camp. Our road on
the 5th was through a rich, level prairie,
clothed with the wild grass common to the
plains of the West. A skirt of black oak
timber occasionally lined the horizon or
strayed up a deep ravine near the trail.
The extreme care of the pioneers in the

THUNDER STORM. 17

overland Santa F^ trade was every where
noticeable, in the fact that the track of their
richly-loaded waggons never approached
within musket-shot of these points of tim*
ber. Fifteen miles' march brought us to
our place of encampment. A certain por-
tion of the company allotted to that labour,
unpacked the company's mules of the
common*stock property, provisions, ammu-
nitions, &c. ; another portion pitched the
tent ; another gathered wood and kindled a
fire ; whilst others brought water, and still
others again put seething-pots and frying-,
pans to their appropriate duties. So that at
this, as at many a time before and after, a few
minutes transposed our little cavalcade from
a moving troop into an eating, drinking,
and joyous camp. A thunder-storm visited
us during the night. The Ughtning was in-
tensely vivid, and the explosions were sin-
gularly frequent and loud. The sides of the
heavens appeared to war like contending bat-
teries in deadly conflict. The rain came in
floods ; and our tent, not being ditched
around, was flooded soon after the com-
mencement of the storm, and ourselves and
baggage thoroughly drenched.

The next day we made about fifteen miles
through the mud and rain, and stopped for

18 OSAGE RIVER.

the night near a solitary tree upon the
bank of a small tributary of the Konzas
river. Here fortune favoured our fast de-
creasing larder. One of the company killed
a turtle, which furnished us all with an ex-
cellent supper. This was the only descrip-
tion of game that we had seen since leaving
the frontier.

On the 7th, as the sun was setting, we
reached Osage River — a stream which
flows into the Missouri below Jefferson
City. The point where we struck it, was
one hundred miles south-west of Indepen-
dence. We pitched our tent snugly by a
copse of wood within a few yards of it ;
staked down our animals near at hand, and
prepared, and ate in the usual form, our
evening repast. Our company was divided
into two messes, seven in one, and eight in
the other. On the ground, each with a tin
pint cup and a small round plate of the
same material, the first filled with coffee,
tea, or water, the last with fried bacon
and dough fried in fat ; each with a butcher-
knife in hand, and each mess sitting, tailor-
like, around its own frying-pan, eating with
the appetite of tigers formed the coup-d'ceil
of our company at supper on the banks of
the Osage.

KAUZAUS INDIANS. 19

Near us were encamped some wag-
goners on their return to Missouri, who
had been out to Council Grove with the
provisions and that part of the goods of the
Santa F^ traders which the teams of un-
trained mules had been unable to draw when
they left Independence. With these men
we passed a very agreeable evening ; they
amused us with yarns of- mountain-life,
which from time to time had floated in , and
formed the fireside legends of that wild
border. In the morning, while we were sad-
dling our animals, two of the Kauzaus In-
dians came within a few rods of our camp,
and waited for an invitation to approach.
They were armed with muskets and knives.
The manner of carrying their fire-arms was
peculiar, and strongly characteristic of In-
dian caution. The breech was held in the
right hand, and the barrel rested on the left
arm ; thus they are always prepared to fire.
They watched us narrowly, as if to ascertain
whether we were friends or foes, and upon
our making signs to them to approach, they
took seats near the fire, and with most im-
perturbable calmness, commenced smoking
the compound of willow-bark and tobacco
with which they are wont to regale them-
selves. When we left the ground, one of

20 THE PARTY THINNfiD.

the men threw away a pair of old boots, the
soles of which were fastened with iron nails.
Our savage visitors seized upon them with
the greatest eagerness, and in their panto-
mimic language, aided by harsh, guttural
grunts, congratulated themselves upon be-
coming the possessors of so much wealth.
At eight o'clock we were on march.

The morning breezes were bland, and a
thousand young flowers gemmed the grassy
plains. It seemed as if the tints of a brighter
sky and the increasing beauty of the earth
were lifting the clouds from the future, and
shedding vigour upon our hopes. But this
illusion lasted but a moment. Three of my
valuable men had determined to accompany
the waggoners to the States ; and as they
filed ofi* and bade adieu to the enterprise in
which they had embarked, and blighted
many cheering expectations of social inter-
course along our weary way-faring to Ore-
gon, an expression of deep discouragement
shaded every face. This was of short du-
ration. The determination to penetrate the
valleys of Oregon soon swept away every
feeling of depression, and two hunters being
sent forward to replenish our larder, we
travelled happily opward.

The Osage River at this place is one

COUNCIL GROVE. 21

hundred yards wide, with about two-and-a-
half feet of water. Its banks are clothed
with timber of cotton-wood, ash and hickory.
We crossed it at eight o'clock in the morn-
ing, passed through the groves which bor-
der it, and continued to follow the Santa Fd
traU. The portion of country over which it
ran was undulating and truly beautiful ;
the soil rich, very deep, and intersected by
three small streams, which appeared from
their courses to be tributaries of the Osage.
At night-fall, we found ourselves upon a
height overlooking a beautiful grove. This
we supposed to be Council Grove. On the
swell of the hill were the remains of an old
Kauzaus' encampment ; a beautiful clear
spring gushed out from the rock below.
The whole was so inviting to us, weary and
hungry as we were, that we determined
to make our bed there for the night.
Accordingly, we fired signal-guns for the
hunters, pitched our tents, broke up the
boughs which had been used by the Indians
in building their wigwams, for fuel, and pro-
ceeded to cook our supper. This encamp-
ment had been made by the Kauzaus six
years ago, when on their way south to their
annual bufialo-hunt. A semi-circular piece
of ground was enclosed by the outer lodges.

22 COUNCIL GROVE.

The area was filled with wigwams, built in
straight lines, running from the diameter to
the circumference. They were constructed
in the following manner. Boughs of about
two inches in diameter were inserted by
their butts into the ground, and withed to-
gether at the top in an arched form ; over
these were spread blankets, skins of the
buffalo, etc. Fires were built in front of
each: the grass beneath, covered with skins,
made a delightful couch, and the Indian's
home was complete. Several yards from
the outer semi-circular row of lodges and
parallel to it, we found large stakes driven
firmly into the earth, for the purpose of se-
curing their horses during the night. We
appropriated to ourselves, without hesita-
tion, whatever we found here of earth, wood
or water, which could be useful to us, and
were soon very comfortable. About nine
o'clock, our signal-guns were answered by
the return of our hunters. They had scoured
the country all day in quest of game, but
found none. Our hopes were somewhat
depressed by this result. We had but one
hundred pounds of flour and one side of
bacon left ; and the buffalo, by the best
Estimates we could make, were still three
hundred miles distant ; the country between

COUNCIL GROVJS. 23

US and these animals, too, being constantly
scoured by Indian hunters, afforded us but
little prospect of obtaining other game.
However, we did not dwell very minutely
upon the evils that might await us, but
having put ourselves upon short allowance,
and looked at our horses as the means of
venting starvation, we sought rest for the
fatigues of the next day's march.

In the morning we moved down the hill.
Our way lay directly through the little grove
already referred to ; and, however we might
have admired its freshness and beauty, we
were deterred from entering into the full
enjoyment of the scene by the necessity,
which we supposed existed of keeping, a
sharp look-out among its green recesses for
the lurking savage. The grove is the north-
ern limit of the wanderings of the Cuman-
ches — a tribe of Indians who make their
home on the rich plains along the western
borders of the republic of Texas. Their ten
thousand warriors, their incomparable horse-
manship, their terrible charge, the une-
qualled rapidity with which they load and
discharge their fire-arms, and their insatiable
hatred, make the enmity of these Indians
more dreadful than that of any other tribe
of aborigines. Fortunately for us, however.

24 COUNCIL GROVE.

these Spartans of the plains did not appear,
and right merrily did we cross the little sa-
vannah between it and Council Grove, a
beautiful lawn of the wilderness, some of
the men hoping for the sweets of the bee-
tree, others for a shot at a turkey or a deer,
and others again that among the drooping
boughs and silent glades might be found the
panting loins of a stately elk.

Council Grove derives its name from the
practice among the traders, from the com-
mencement of the overland commerce with
the Mexican dominions, of assembling there
for the appointment of officers and the es-
tablishment of rules and regulations to
govern their march through the dangerous

«

country south of it. They first elect their
commander-in-chief. His duty is to ap-
point subordinate leaders, and to divide the
owners and men into watches, and to assign
them their several hours of duty in guard-
ing the camp during the remainder of their
perilous journey. He also divides the cara-
van into two parts, each of which forms
a column when on march. In these lines
he assigns each team the place in which it
must always be found. Having arranged
these several matters, the council breaks
up ; and the commander, with the guard on

THE CARAVAN A FORT. 25

duty, moves oflf in advance to select the track
and anticipate approaching danger. After
this guard the head teams of each column
lead off about thirty feet apart, and the others
follow in regular lines, rising and dipping glo-
riously; two hundred men, one hundred wag-
gons, eight hundred mules ; shoutings and
whippings, and whistlings andcheerings, are
all there ; and, amidst them all, the hardy
Yankee move happily onward to the siege of
the mines of Montezuma. Several objects are
gained by this arrangement of the waggons.
If they are attacked on march by the Cu-
manche cavalry or other foes, the leading
teams file to the right and left, and close
the front ; and the* hindermost, by a similar
movement, close the rear ; and thus they
form an oblong rampart of waggons laden
with cotton goods that effectually shields
teams and men from the small arms of the
Indians. The same arrangement is made
when they halt for the night.

Within the area thus formed are put,
after they are fed, many of the more valua-
ble horses and oxen. The remainder of the
animals are * staked' — that is, tied to
stakes, at a distance of twenty or thirty
yards, around the line. The ropes by which

VOL. I. c

26 PRAIRIE GUARD.

they are fastened are from thirty to forty
feet in length, and the stakes to which they
are attached are carefully driven, at such
distances apart, as shall prevent their being
entangled one with another.

Among these animals the guard on duty
is stationed, standing motionless near them,
or crouching so as to discover every moving
spot upon the horizon of night. The rea-
sons assigned for this, are, that a guard in
motion would be discovered and fired upon
by the cautious savage before his presence
could be known ; and farther, that it is im-
possible to discern the approach of an In-
dian creeping among the grass in the dark,
unless the eye of the observer be so close to
the ground as to bring the whole surface
lying within the range of vision between it
and the line of light around the lower
edge of the horizon. If the camp be at-
tacked, the guard fire and retreat to the
waggons. The whole body then take posi-
tions for defence ; at one time sallying out,
rescue their animals from the grasp of the
Indians ; and at another, concealed behind
their waggons, load and fire upon the in-
truders with ail possible skill and rapidity.
Many were the bloody battles fought on
the * trail,' and such were some of the anxie-

ORDER OF MARCH. 27

ties and dangers that attended and still at-
tend the * Santa F^ Trade.' Many are the
graves, along the track, of those who have
fallen before the terrible cavalry of the Cu-
manches. They slumber alone in this
ocean of plains : no tears bedew their
graves; no lament of affection breaks the
stillness of their tomb . The tramp of savage
horsemen — the deep bellowing of the
buffalo — the nightly howl of the hungry
wolf — ^the storms that sweep down at mid-
night from the groaning caverns of the
* shining heights ;' or, when Nature is in a
tender mood, the sweet breeze that seems to
whisper among the wild flowers that nod
over his dust in the spring — say to the
dead, ** You are alone ; no kindred bones
moulder at your side."

We traversed Council Grove with the
same caution and in the same manner as
we had the other ; a platoon of four persons
in advance to mark the first appearance of an
ambuscade ; behind these the pack animals
and their drivers ; on each side an unin-
cumbered horseman ; in the reai* a platoon
of four men, all on the look-out, silent, with
rifles lying on the saddles in front, steadily
winding along the path that the heavy wag-
gons of the traders had made among the

c2

28 THE WILDERNESS.

matted under-brush. In this manner we
marched half a mile, and emerged from
the Grove at a place where the traders
had, a few days before, held their coun-
cil. The grass in the vicinity had been
gnawed to the earth by their numerous
animals ; their fires were still smouldering
and smoking ; and the ruts in the road were
fresh. These indications of our vicinity to
the great body of the traders produced an
exhilarating effect on our spirits ; and we
drove merrily away along the trail, cheered
with renewed hopes that we should overtake
our countrymen, and be saved from starva-
tion.

The grove that we were now leaving was
the largest and most beautiful we had
passed since leaving the frontier of the
States, The trees, maple, ash, hickory,
black walnut, oaks of several kinds, butter-
nut, and a great variety of shrubs clothed
with the sweet foliage of June — a pure
stream of water murmuring along a gra-
velly bottom, and the songs of the robin
and thrush, made Council Grove a source of
delight to us, akin to those that warm the
hearts of pilgrims in the great deserts of the
East, when they behold, from the hills of
scorching sands, the green thorn-tree, and

INDIAN RUINS. 29

the waters of the bubbling spring. For we
also were pilgrims in a land destitute of the
means of subsistence, with a morsel only
of meat and bread per day, lonely and
hungry ; and although we were among the
grassy plains instead of a sandy waste, we
had freezing storms, tempests, lightning
and bail, which, if not similar in the means,
were certainly equal in the amount of dis-
comfort they produced, to the sand-storms
of the Great Sahara.

But we were leaving the Grove and the
protection it might yield to us in such dis-
agreeable circumstances. On the shrubless
plain again ! To our right the prairie rose
gradually, and stretched away for ten miles,
forming a beautiful horizon. The whole
was covered with a fine coat of grass a foot
in height, which was at this season of the
deepest and richest green. Behind us lay
a dark Une of timber, reaching from the
Grove far into the eastern limits of sight,
till the leafy tops seemed to wave and
mingle among the grass of the wild swell-
ing meadows. The eyes ached as we
endeavoured to embrace the view. A sense
of vastness was the single and sole concep-
tion of the mind 1

Near this grove are some interesting In-

30 INDIAN HUNTING PARTY.

dian ruins. They consist of a collection of
dilapidated mounds, seeming to indicate the
truth of the legend of the tribes, which
says, that formerly this was the Holy
ground of the nations, where they were ac-
customed to meet to adjust their difficul-
ties, exchange the salutations of peace,
and cement the bonds of union with
smoking, and dancing, and prayers, to the
Great Spirit.

We had advanced a few miles in the
open country when we discovered, on the
gummit to the right, a small band of Indians.
They proved to be a party of Caws or
Kauzaus. As soon as they discovered our
approach, two of them started in diflferent
directions at the top of their speed, to
spread the news of our arrival among the
remote members of the party. ITie re-
mainder urged on with the utmost velocity
their pack-horses laden with meat, skins,
blankets, and other paraphernalia of a
hunting excursion. We pursued our way,
making no demonstrations of any kind,
until one old brave left his party, and came
towards us, stationing himself beside our
path, and awaiting our near approach. He
stood quite upright and motionless. As we
advanced, we noted closely his appearance

A PORTRAIT. 31

and position. He had no clothing, except a
blanket tied over the left shoulder and
drawn under the right arm. His head was
shaven entirely bare, with the exception of
a tuft of hair about two inches in width,
extending from the centre of the occiput
over the middle of the head to the forehead.
It was short and coarse, and stood erect,
like the comb of a cock. His figure was
the perfection of physical beauty. It was
five feet nine or ten inches in height, and
looked the Indian in every respect. He
stood by the road-side, apparently per-
fectly at ease ; and seemed to regard all sur-
rounding objects, with as much interest
as he did us. This is a distinguishing
characteristic of the Indian. If a thunder-
bolt could be embodied and put in living
form before their eyes, it would not startle
them from their gravity. So stood our
savage friend, to all appearance unaware of
our approach. Not a muscle of his body
or face moved, until I rode up and proffered
him a friendly hand. This he seized eagerly
and continued to shake it very warmly,
uttering meanwhile with great emphasis
and rapidity, the words '* How de," '* how,"
" how." As soon as one individual had
withdrawn his hand from his grasp, he

32 ELK DISCOVERED.

passed to another, repeating the same pro-
cess and the same words. From the care-
ful watch we had kept upon his movements
since he took his station, we had noticed
that a very delicate operation had been
performed upon the lock of his gun. Some-
thing had been warily removed therefrom,
and slipped into the leathern pouch worn
at his side. We expected, therefore, that
the never-failing appeal to our charity
would be made for something ; and in this
we were not disappointed. As soon as the
greetings were over, he showed us, with the
most solicitous gestures, that his piece had
no flint. We furnished him with one ; and
he then signified to us that he would
like something to put in the pan and bar-
rel; and having given him something of
all, he departed at the rapid swinging gait
so peculiar to his race.

As we advanced, the prairie became more
gently undulating. The heaving ridges
which had made our trail thus far appear
to pass over an immense sea, the billows of
which had been changed to waving mea-
dows the instant they had escaped from
the embraces of the tempest, gave place to
wide and gentle swells, scarcely perceptible
over the increased expanse ^in sight. Ten

ELK ATTACKED. 33

miles on the day's march ; the animals were
tugging lustily through the mud, when the
advance guard shouted " Elkl Elk!" and
** steaks broiled," and " ribs boiled," and

«

** marrow bones," and " no more hunger !"
** Oregon for ever, starve or live," as an
appointed number of my companions filed
off to the chase.

The hunters circled around the point of
the sharp ridge oh which the Elk were feed-
ing, in order to bring them between them-
selves and the wind ; and laying closely
to their horses' necks, they rode slowly and
silently up the ravine towards them. While
these movements were making, the caval-
cade moved quietly along the trail for the
purpose of diverting the attention of the
Elk from the hunters. And thus the latter
were enabled to approach within three
hundred yards of the game before they were
discovered. But the instant — that anxious
instant to our gnawing appetites — the in-
stant that they perceived the crouching
forms of their pursuers approaching them,
tossing their heads in the air, and snuflSng
disdainfully at such attempt to deceive their
wakeful senses, they put hoof to turf in
fine style. The hunters attempted pursuit ;
but having to ascend one side of the ridge,

c3

34 THE RESULT.

while the Elk in their flight descended the
other, they were at least four hundred yards
distant, before the first bullet whistled after
them. None were killed. And we were
obliged to console our hunger with the hope
that three hunters, who had been despatched
ahead this morning, would meet with more
success. We encamped soon after this
tourney of ill luck — ate one of the last
morsels of food that remained — ^pitched our
tent, stationed the night-guard, &c., ^nd,
fatigued and famished, stretched ourselves
within it.

On the following day we made twenty-
five miles over a prairie nearly level, and
occasionally marshy. In the afternoon we
were favoured with what we had scarcely
failed, for a single day, to receive since the
commencement of our journey, viz : all
several and singular, the numerous benefits
of a thunder-storm. As we went into camp
at night, the fresh ruts along the trail in-
dicated the near vicinity of some of the
Santa F^ teams. No sleep ; spent the
night in drying our drenched bodies and
clothes.

On the 1 2th under weigh very early : and
travelled briskly along, intending to over-
take the traders before nightfall. But

A TEMPEST. 35

another thunder-storm for a while ar-
rested the prosecution of our desires. —
It was ahout three o'clock when a black
cloud arose in the south-east , another
in the south-west, and another in the
north-east; and involving and evolving
themselves like those that accompany tor-
nadoes of other countries, they rose with
awful rapidity towards the zenith. Having
mingled their dreadful masses over our
heads, for a moment they struggled so
terrifically that the winds appeared hushed
at the voice of their dread artillery — a
moment of direful battle ; and yet not a
breath of wind. We looked up for the
coming catastrophe indicated by the awful
stillness ; and beheld the cloud rent in
fragments, by the most terrific explosion
of electricity we had ever witnessed.
Then, as if every energy of the destroying
elements had been roused by this mighty
effort, peal upon peal of thunder rolled
around, and up and down the heavens ; and
the burning bolts appeared to leap from
cloud to cloud across the sky, and from
heaven to earth, in such fearful rapidity,
that the lurid glare of one had scarcely fallen
on the sight, when another followed of still
greater intensity. The senses were abso-^

36 Kelly's camp.

lutely stunned by the conflict. Our ani-
mals, partaking of the stupifying horror
of the scene, madly huddled themselves
together and became immovable. They
heeded neither whip nor spur ^ but with
backs to the tempest drooped their heads,
as if awaiting their doom. The hail and rain
came down in torrents. The plains were
converted into a sea ; the sky, overflowing
with floods, lighted by a continual blaze
of electric fire ! It was such a scene as
no pen can adequately describe.

After the violence of the storm had in
some degree abated, we pursued our way,
weary, cold and hungry. About six o'clock
we overtook a company of Santa F6 traders,
commanded by Captain Kelly. The gloom
of the atmosphere was such, that when
we approached his camp, Captain Kelly sup-
posed us to be Indians, and took measures
accordingly to defend himself. Having
stationed his twenty-nine men within the
barricade formed by his waggons, he him-
self, accompanied by a single man, came
out to reconnoitre. He was not less
agreeably affected, to find us whites and
friends, than were we at the prospect of
society and food. Traders always carry
a supply of wood over these naked plains,

COMFORTLESS NI6HT. 37

and it may be supposed that, drenched and
pelted as we had been by the storm, we
did not hesitate to accept the offer of their
fire to cook our supper, and warm ourselves.
But the rain continued to fall in cold
shivering floods ; and, fire excepted, we
might as well have been elsewhere as in
company with our countrymen, who were
as badly sheltered and fed, as ourselves.
We, therefore, cast about for our own
means of comfort. While some were cook-
ing our morsel of supper, others staked out
the animals, others pitched our tent; and all,
when their tasks were done, huddled under
its shelter. We now numbered thirteen.

We ate our scanty suppers, drank the
water from the puddles, and sought rest.
But all our packs being wet, we had no
change of wardrobe, that would have en-
abled us to have done so with a hope of
success. We, however, spread our wet
blankets upon the mud, put our saddles
under our heads, had a song from our
jolly Joe> and mused and shivered until
morning.

As the sun of the 13th rose, we drove
our animals through Cottonwood creek.
It had been very much swollen by the
rains of the previous day ; and our packs

38 COTTONWOOD CREEK.

and ourselves, were again thoroughly wet.
But, once out of the mire and the dangers
of the flood, our hearts beat merrily as we
lessened, step by step, the distance from
Ofegon.

SCARCITY OF FOOD. 39

CHAPTER 11.

Scarcity of Food— • An Incident— Looing and Bleating^-
Messrs. Bents — ^Trade — ^Little Arkansas — ^A Nauseous
Meal— A Flood— An Onset— A Hard Ride— The De-
liverance—The Arkansas— An Attack — ^The Simili-
tude of Death-^The Feast and a bit of Philosophy-^
The Traders Walworth and Alvarez's Teams — ^A
Fright — ^A Nation of Indians — ^Their Camp and Hunts
—A Treaty— A Tempest— Indian Butchering — ^A
bunt amcfug the Buffalo — A Wounded Man — ^A
Ikive — ^A Storm and its Enemy— Night among the
Buffalo— The Country and the Heavens — ^The Ford
—A Mutiny and its Consequences-^Blistered Fingers
— ^Liberty — ^Beat's Fort— Disbanding.

Our hunters, who had been despatched
from Council Grove in search of game, had
rejoined us in Kelly's camp. And as our
larder had not been improved by the hunt,
another party was sent out, under orders
to advance to the buffalo with all possible
dispatch, and send back to the main body
a portion of the first meat that should be
taken. This was a day of mud and dis-
comfort. Our pack and riding animals,
constantly annoyed by the slippery clay

40 AN INCIDENT.

beneath them, became restive, and not
unfrequently relieved themselves of riders
or packs, with little apparent respect for
the wishes of their masters. And yet, as
if a thousand thorns should hatchel out at
least one rose, we had one incident of
lively interest. For, while halting to secure
the load of a pack -mule, whose obstinacy
would have entitled him to that name,
whatever had been his form, we espied
upon the side of a neighbouring ravine
several elk and antelope. The men uttered
pleas for their stomachs at the sight of so
much fine meat, and with teeth shut in
the agony of expectation, primed anew
their rifles, and rushed away for the prize.
Hope is very delusive, when it hunts elk
upon the open plain. This fact was never
more painfully true, than in the present
instance. They were approached against
the wind — the ravines that were deepest,
and ran nearest the elk, were traversed in
such a manner that the huntsmen were
within three hundred yards of them before
they were discovered ; and then never did
horses run nearest their topmost speed for
a stake in dollars than did ours for a steak
of meat. But, alas ! the little advantage
gained at the start, from the bewildered

ARKANSAS RIVER. 41

inaction of the game, began to diminish
as soon as those fleet coursers of the
prairie laid their nimble hoofs to the sward,
and pledged life upon speed. In this exi-
gency a few balls were sent whistling after
them, but they soon slept in the earth,
instead of the panting hearts they were
designed to render pulseless ; and we re-
turned to our lonely and hungry march.

At sunset we encamped on the banks of
a branch of the Arkansas. Our rations
were now reduced to one-eighth of a pint
of flour to each man. This, as our custom
was, was kneaded with water, and baked
or rather dried in our frying-pan, over a
fire sufficiently destitute of combustibles to
have satisfied the most fastidious miser in
that line. — Thus refreshed, and our cloth-
ing dried in the wind during the day, we
hugged our rifles to our hearts, and slept
soundly.

The sun of the following morning was
unusually bright, the sky cloudless and
delightfully blue. These were new plea-
sures ; for the heavens and the earth had,
till that morning, since our departure from
home, scourged us with every discourage-
ment which the laws of matter could pro-
duce. Now all around us smiled. Dame

42 TRADERS MET.

Nature, a prude though she be, seemed
pleased that she had belaboured our
courage with so little success. To add
to our joy, a herd of oxen and mules
were feeding and lowing upon the op-
posite bank of the stream. They be-
longed to the Messrs. Bents, who have a
trading post upon the Arkansas. One of
the partners and thirty odd men were on
their way to St. Louis, with ten waggons
laden with peltries. They were also driv-
ing down two hundred Santa Fe sheep, for
the Missouri market. These animals are
usually purchased from the Spaniards ; and
if the Indians prove far enough from the
track so as to permit the purchaser to drive
them into the States, his investment is un-
usually profitable. The Indians, too, resid-
ing along the Mexican frontier, not infre-
quently find it convenient to steal large num-
bers of mules, &c., from their no less swarthy
neighbours ; and from the ease with which
they acquire them, find themselves able and
willing to sell them to traders for a very
easily arranged compensation*

Of these several sources of gain, it would
seem the Messrs. Bents avail themselves ;
since, on meeting the gentleman in charge
of the waggons before spoken of, he in-

THE LITTLE ARKANSAS. 43

formed us that he had lost thirty Mexican
mules and seven horses ; and desired us,
as we intended to pass his post, to recover
and take them back. A request of any
kind from a white face in the wilderness is
never denied. Accordingly, we agreed to
do as he desired, if within our power.

We made little progress to-day. Our
packs, that had been soaked by storm and
stream, required drying, and for that pur-
pose we went early into camp. The coun-
try in which we now were, was by no means
sacred to safety of life, limb or property.
The Pawnee and Cumanche war-parties
roam through it during the . spring and
summer months, for plunder and scalps.
The guards, which we had had on the alert
since leaving Council Grove, were there-
fore carefully stationed at night-fall among
the animals around the tent, and urged to
the most careful watchfulness. But no foe
molested us. In the expressive language
of the giant of our band, prefaced always
with an appropriate sigh and arms akimbo,
" We were not murdered yet."

About twelve o'clock of the 14th, we
passed the Little Arkansas. Our hunters
had been there the previous night, and had
succeeded in taking a dozen cat-fish. Their

44 NAUSEOUS MEAL.

own keen hunger had devoured a part of
them without pepper, or salt, or bread, or
vegetable. The remainder we found at-
tached to a bush in the stream, in an un-
wholesome state of decomposition. They
were, however, taken up and examined by
the senses of sight and smell alternately ;
and viewed and smelt again in reference to
our ravenous palates ; and although some
doubt may have existed in regard to the
Hebrew principle of devouring so unclean
a thing, our appetites allowed of no demur.
We roasted and ate, as our companions
had done.

I had an opportunity at this place to
observe the great extent of the rise and
fall of these streams of the plains in a
single day or night. It would readily be
presumed, by those who have a correct idea
of the floods of water that the thunder-
storms of this region pour upon the rolling
prairies, that a few miles of the channels of
a number of the creeks over which the
storms pass may be filled to the brim in an
hour; and that there are phenomena of
floods and falls of water occurring in this
vast den of tempests, such as are found
nowhere else. Still, bearing this evidently
true explanation in mind, it was with some

FORDING. 45

difficulty that I yielded to the evidences on
the banks of the Little Arkansas, that that
stream had fallen fifteen feet during the
last twelve hours. It was still too deep for
the safety of the pack animals to attempt
to ford it in the usual way. The banks,
also, at the fording-place were left by
the retiring flood, a quagmire ; so soft,
that a horse without burthen could, with
the greatest difficulty, drag himself through
it to the water below. In our extre-
mity, however, we tied our lashing-lines
together, and, attaching one end to a strong
stake on the side we occupied, sent the
other across the stream, and tied it firmly
to a tree. Our baggage, saddles and cloth-
ing suspended to hooks running to and fro
on this line, were securely passed over.
The horses being then driven across at the
ill-omened ford, and ourselves over by
swimming and other means, we saddled
and loaded our animals with their se-
veral burthens, and recommenced our
march.

The 14th, 15th and 16th, were days of
more than ordinary hardships. With barely
food enough to support life, drenched daily
by thunder-storms and by swimming and
fording the numerous drains of this alluvial

46 AN ATTACK.

region, and wearied by the continual pack-
ing and unpacking of our animals, and en-
feebled by the dampness of my couch at
night, I was so much reduced when I dis-
mounted from my horse on the evening of
the 16th, that I was unable to loosen the
girth of my saddle or spread my blanket for
repose.

The soil thus far from the frontier ap-
peared to be from three to six feet in depth ;
generally undulating, and occasionally,
far on the western horizon, broken into
ragged and picturesque bluffs. Between
the swells, we occasionally met small tracts
of marshy ground saturated with brackish
water.

On the night of the 16th, near the hour
of eight o*clock, we were suddenly roused
by the rapid trampling of animals near our
camp. " Indians !" was the cry of the
guard, " Indians !" We had expected an
encounter with them as we approached the
buffalo, and were consequently not unpre-
pared for it. Each man seized his rifle,
and was instantly in position to give the in-
truders a proper reception. On they came,
rushing furiously in a dense column till
within thirty yards of our tent ; and then
wheeling short to the left, abruptly halted.

INCITEMENTS. 47

Not a rifle-ball or an arrow had yet cleft
the air. Nor was it so necessary that they
should ; for we discovered that, instead of
bipeds of bloody memory, they were the
quadrupeds that had eloped from the fa-
therly care of Mr. Bent, making a call of
ceremony upon their compatriot mules, &c.,
tied to stakes within our camp.

17th. We were on the trail at seven
o'clock. The sun of a fine morning shone
upon our ranks of beasts and men. Were
I able to sketch the woe-shrivelled visages
of my starving men, with occasional bursts
of wrath upon Mr. Bent's mules as they
displayed their ungrateful heels to us,
who had restored them from the indecen-
cies of savage Ufe to the dominion of civi-
lized beings, my readers would say that
the sun never looked upon a more deter-
mined disregard of the usages of social
life. A long piarch before us — the Ar-
kansas and its fish before us, the buffalo with
all the dehcate bits of tender loin and mar-
row bones, (even the remembrance of them
inspires me) — with all these before us,
who that has the sympathies of the palate
sensibilities within him, can suppose that
we did not use the spur, whip and goad with
a right good will on that memorable day ?

48 AN ANTELOPE.

Thirty or forty miles, none but the vexed
plains can tell which, were travelled over
by one o'clock. The afternoon hours, too,
were counted slowly. High bluffs, and
butes, and rolls, and salt marshes alternately
appearing and falling behind us, with here
and there a plat of the thick short grass of the
upper plains and the stray bunches of the
branching columnar and foliated prickly
pear, indicated that we were approaching
some more important course of the moun-
tain waters than we had yet seen since leav-
ing the majestic Missouri. " On, merrily
on," rang from our parched and hungry
mouths ; and if the cheerful shout did not
allay our appetites or thirst, it quickened
the pace of our mules, and satisfied each
other of our determined purpose to behold
the Arkansas by the light of that day.

During the hurried drive of the afternoon
we became separated from one another
among the swells over which our track ran.
Two of the advanced platoon took the liber-
ty, in the absence of their commander, to
give chace to an antelope which seemed
to tantalize their forbearance by exhibiting
his fine sirloins to their view. Never
did men better earn forgiveness for disobe-
dience of orders. One of them crept as I

THE ARKANSAS. 49

learned half a mile upon his hands and
knees to get within rifle shot of his game ; —
shot at three hundred yards' distance and
brought him down ! And now, who, in the
tamenessof an enough- and -to-spare state of
existence, in which every emotion of the
mind is surfeited and gouty, can estimate our
pleasure at seeing these men gallop into our
ranks with this antelope? You may ''guess,"
reader, you may " reckon," you may '' cal-
culate," or if learned in the demi-semi-qua-
vers of modern exquisiteness, you may thrust
rudely aside all these wholesome and fat old
words of the heart, and " shrewdly imagine,"
and still you cannot comprehend the feelings
of that moment ! Did we shout ? were
we silent ? no, neither. Did we gather
quickly around the horse which bore the
slaughtered animal? No, nor this. An in-
voluntary murmur of relief from the most
fearful forebodings, and the sudden halt of
the riding animals in their tracks were the
only movements, the only acts that indicated
our grateful joy at this deliverance.

Our intention of seeing the Arkansas that
night, however, soon banished every other
thought from the mind. Whips and spurs
therefore were freely used upon our animals

VOL. 1. D

50 AN ATTACK

as they ascended tediously a long roll of
prairies covered with the wild grasses and
stinted stalks of the sun-flower. We rightly
conceived this to be the bordering ridge
of the valley of the Arkansas. For on at-
taining its summit we saw ten miles of that
stream lying in the sunset like a beautiful
lake among the windings of the hills. It
was six miles distant — the sun was setting.
The road lay over sharp rolls of land that
rendered it nearly impossible for us to keep
our jaded animals on a trot. But the sweet
water of that American Nile, and a copse
of timber upon its banks that ofiered us
the means of cooking the antelope to satisfy
our intolerable hunger, gave us new energy ;
and on we went at a rapid pace while suffi-
cient light remained to show us the trail.

When within about a mile and a half of
the river a most annoying circumstance
crossed our path. A swarm of the most
gigantic and persevering musquitoes that
ever gathered tribute from human kind,
lighted on us and demanded blood. Not in
the least scrupulous as to the manner in
which they urged their claims, they fixed
themselves boldly and without ceremony
upon our organs of sight, smell, and whip-

death's similitude. 51

ping, in such numbers, that in consequence
of the employment they gave us in keeping
them at the distance, and the pain which
they inflicted upon our restive animals, we
lost the trail. And now came quagmires,
flounderings, and mud, such as would have
taught the most hardened rebel in morals
that deviations from the path of duty lead
sometimes to pain, sometimes to swamps.
Long perseverance at length enabled us to
reach the great " River of the Plains."

We tarried for a moment upon the banks
of the stream, and cast about to extricate
ourselves from the Egyptian plagues around
us. To regain our track in the darkness of
ilight, now mingled with a dense fog, was no
easy task. We, however, took the lead of a
swell of land that ran across it, and in thirty
minutes entered a path so well marked that
we could thread our way onward till we
should find wood sufficient to cook our sup-
per. This was a dreary ride. The stars
gave a little light among the mist, which
enabled us to discern, on the even line of the
horizon, a small speck that after three hours'
travel we found to be a small grove of cotton
wood upon an island. We encamped near
it ; and after our baggage was piled up so

d2

52 THE FEAST.

as to form a circle of breastworks for de-
fence, our weariness was such that we sank
among it supperless, and slept with nothing
but the heavens over us. And although we
were in the range of the Cumanche hunting
as well as war-parties, the guard slept in
spite of the savage eyes that might be gloat-
ing vengeance on our little band. No fear
or war-whoop could have broken the slum-
bers of that night. It was a temporary
death. Nature had made its extreme effort,
and sunk in helplessness till its ebbing
energies should reflow.

On the morning of the ] 8th of June we
were up early — early around among our
animals to pull up the stakes to which
they were tied, and drive them fast again,
where they might graze while we should
eat. Then to the care of ourselves. We
wrestled manfiilly with the frying-pan and
roasting-stick ; and anon in the very man-
ner that one sublime act always follows its
predecessor, tore bone from bone the ante-
lope ribs, with so strong a grip and with
such unrestrained delight that a truly phi-
losophic observer might have discovered in
the flash of our eyes and the quick ener-
getic motion of the nether portions of our

CHILIAN BRIDGE. 53

physiognomies, that eating, though an un-
common, was nevertheless our favourite
occupation. — Then '* catch up," *' sad-
dles on," ''packs on," "mount," *'march,"
were heard on all sides, and we were on the
route, hurry-scurry, with forty loose mules
and horses leering, kicking and braying,
and some six or eight pack animals making
every honourable effort to free themselves
from servitude, while we were applying to
their heads and ears certain gentle intima-
tions that such ambitious views accorded
not with their master's wishes.

In the course of the day we crossed
several tributaries of the Arkansas. At one
of these, called by the traders Big Turkey
Creek, we were forced to resort again to
our Chilian bridge. In consequence of the
spongy nature of the soil and the scarcity
of timber, we here found more difficulty in
procuring fastenings for our ropes, than
in any previous instance. At length,
however, we obtained pieces of flood-
wood, and drove them into the soft banks
" at an inclination," said he of the axe,
'* of precisely 45** to the plane of the
horizon." Thus supported, the stakes
stood sufficiently firm for our purposes;

54 SUBSTITUTE FOR MILK.

and our bags, packs, selves, and beasts were
over in a trice, and in the half of that ma-
thematical fraction of time, we were re-
packed, remounted, and trotting oflf at a
generous pace, up the Arkansas. The river
appeared quite unlike the streams of the
East, and South, and Southwest portion of
the States in all its qualities. Its banks
were low — one and a half feet above the me-
dium stage of water, composed of an allu-
vium of sand and loam as hard as a public
highway, and generally covered with a
species of wiry grass that seldom grows to
more than one and a half or two inches in
height. The sun-flower of stinted growth,
and a lonely bush of willow, or an ill-shaped
sapless, cotton-wood tree, whose decayed
trunk trembled under the weight of years,
together with occasional bluffs of clay and
sand-stone, formed the only alleviating fea-
tures of the landscape. The stream itself
was generally three-quarters of a mile in
width, with a current of five miles per
hour, water three and a half to four feet,
and of a chalky whiteness. It was ex-
tremely sweet, so delicious that some of
my men declared it an excellent substitute
for milk.

BJT OF PHILOSOPHY. 55

Camped on the bank of the river where
the common tall grass of the prairie grew
plentifully; posted our night-guard, and
made a part of our meat into soup for
supper. I will here give a description of
the manner of making this soup. It was
indeed a rare dish ; and my friends of the
trencher — ye who have been spiced, and
peppered, and salted, from your youth up,
do not sneer when I declare that of all the
innovations upon kitchen science which
civilization has engrafted upon the good
old style of the patriarchs, nothing has
produced so depraving an eflfect upon taste,
as these self-same condiments of salt, pep-
per, &c. But to our soup. It was made
of simple meat and water — of pure water,
such as kings drank from the streams of the
good old land of pyramids and flies, and of
the wild meat of the wilderness, untainted
with any of the aforesaid condiments —
simply boiled, and then eaten with strong,
durable iron spoons and butcher-knives.
Here I cannot restrain from penning one
strong and irrepressible emotion that I
well remember to have experienced while
stretched upon my couch after our repast.
The exceeding comfort of body and mind

56 PIONEERS REJOINED.

at that moment undoubtedly gave it being.
It was an emotion of condolence for those
of my fellow mortals who are engaged in
the manufacture of rheumatisms and gout.
Could they only for an hour enter the
portals of prairie life — for one hour breathe
the inspiration of a hunter's transcendental-
ism — for one hour feed upon the milk and
honey and marrow of life's pure unpepp'ered
and unsalted viands, how soon would they
forsake that ignoble employment — how soon
would their hissing and vulgar laboratories
of disease and graves be forsaken, and the
crutch and Brandreth's pills be gathered to
the tombs of our fathers !

Our next day's march terminated in
an encampment with the hunters whom
I had sent forward for game. They had
fared even worse than ourselves. Four of
the seven days they had been absent from
the company, and had been without food.
Many of the streams, too, that were forded
easily by us, were, when they passed, wide
and angry floods. These they were obliged
to swim, to the great danger of their
lives.

On the 18th, however, they overtook
Messrs. Walworth and Alvarez's teams,

PIONEERS REJOINED. 57

and were treated with great hospitality by
those gentlemen. On the same day they
killed a buflFalo bull, pulled oflf the flesh
from the back, and commenced drying it
over a slow fire preparatory to packing. On
the morning of the J 9th, two of them
started ofi* for us with some strips of meat
dangling over the shoulders of their horses.
They met us about four o'clock, and with
us returned to the place of drying the meat.
Our horses were turned loose to eat the dry
grass, while we feasted ourselves upon
roasted tongue and liver. After this we
•* caught up" and went on with the inten-
tion of encamping with the Santa Feans ;
after travelling briskly onward for two
hours, we came upon the brow of a hill
that overlooks the valley of Pawnee Fork,
the largest branch of the Arkansas on its
northern side. The Santa F^ traders had
encamped on the east bank of the stream.
The waggons surrounded an oval piece of
ground, their shafts or tongues outside, and
the forward wheel of each abreast of the
hind wheel of the one before it. This ar-
rangement gave them a fine aspect, when
viewed from the hi]l, over which we were
passing.

But we had scarcely time to see the

d3

58 A FRIGHT.

little I described, when a terrific scream of
"Pawnee! Pawnee!" arose from a thou-
sand tongues on the farther bank of the
river ; and Indian women and children ran
and shrieked horribly, **Pawneel Pawnee!"
as they sought the glens and bushes of the
neighbourhood. We were puzzled to know
the object of such an outburst of savage de-
light, as we deemed it to be, and for a time
thought that we might well expect our blood
to slumber with the buffalo, whose bones
lay bleaching around us. The camp of the
traders also was in motion; arms were
seized and horses saddled with " hot haste."
A moment more, and two whites were gal-
loping warily near us; a moment more
brought twenty savage warriors in full paint
and plume around us. A quick reconnoitre,
and the principal chief rode briskly up to
me, shook me warmly by the hand, and with
a clearly apparent friendship said " Sacre
foedus " (holy league,) **Kauzaus," " Caw."
His warriors followed his example. As
soon as our friendly greetings were disco-
vered by some of the minor chiefe, they gal-
loped their fleet horses at full speed over
the river, and the women and children issued
from their concealments, and lined the bank
with their dusky forms. The chiefs rode

INDIAN PRESENTS. 59

with US to our camping ground, and re-
mained till dark, examining with great inte-
rest the various articles of our travelling
equipage; and particularly our tent as it
unfolded its broadsides like magic, and as-
sumed the form of a solid white cone.
Every arrangement being made to prevent
these accomplished thieves from stealing
our horses, &c., we supped, and went to
make calls upon our neighbours.

The owners of the Santa F^ waggons
were men who had seen much of life. Ur-
bane and hospitable, they received us in the
kindest manner, and gave us much informa-
tion in regard to the mountains, the best
mode of defence, &c., that proved in our
experience remarkably correct. During the
afternoon, the chiefs of the Kauzaus sent
me a number of buffalo tongues, and other
choice bits of meat. But the filth disco-
verable on their persons generally deterred
us from using them. For this they cared
little. K their presents were accepted, an
obligation was by their laws incurred on
our part, from which we could only be re-
lieved by presents in return. To this rule
of Indian etiquette we submitted ; and a
council was accordingly held between myself
and the principal chief through an inter*

60 ANOTHER STORM.

preter, to determine upon the amount and
quality of my indebtedness in this regard.
The final arrangement was, that in conside-
ration of the small amount of property I
had then in possession, I would give him
two pounds of tobacco, a side-knife, and a
few papers of vermillion ; but that, on my
return, which would be in fourteen months,!
should be very rich, and give him more. To
all these obligations and pleasant prophecies,
I of course gave my most hearty concurrence.
The Caws, or Kauzaus, are notorious
thieves. We therefore put out a double
guard at night, to watch their predatory
operations, with instructions to fire upon
them, if they attempted to take our ani-
mals. Neither guard nor instructions,
however, proved of use ; for the tempest,
which the experienced old Santa F^ans had
seen in the heavens, thunder-cloud in the
northwest at sunset, proved a more efli-
cient protection than the arm of man. The
cloud rose slowly during the early part of
the night, and appeared to hang in suspense
of executing its awful purpose. The light-
ning and heavy rumbling of the thunder
were frightful. It came to the zenith about
twelve o'clock. When in that position, the
cloud covered one-half the heavens, and for

ANOTHER STORM. 61

some minutes was nearly stationary. After
this, the wind broke forth upon it at the
horizon, and rolled up the dark masses over
pur heads — now swelling, now rending to
shreds its immense folds. But as yet not
a breath of air moved over the plains. The
animals stood motionless and silent at the
spectacle. The nucleus of electricity was at
the zenith, and thence large bolts at last
leaped in every direction, and lighted for an
instant the earth and skies so intenselv, that
the eye could not endure the brightness.
The report which followed was appalling.
The ground trembled — the horses and mules
shook with fear, and attempted to escape.
But where could they or ourselves have
found shelter ? The clouds at the next mo-
ment appeared in the wildest commotion,
struggling with the wind. " Where shall
we fly ? " could scarcely have been spoken,
before the wind struck our tent, tore the
stakes from the ground, snapped the centre
pole, and buried us in its enraged folds.
Every man, we were thirteen in number, im-
mediately seized some portion and held it
with all his might. Our opinion at the time
was, that the absence of the weight of a
single man would have given the storm the
.victory — our tent would have eloped in the

62 " CATCH UP."

iron embraces of the tempest. We at-
tempted to fit it up again after the violence
of the storm had in some degree passed over,
but were unable so to do. The remainder
of the night was consequently spent in gather-
ing up our loose animals, and in shivering
under the cold peltings of the rain.

The Santa F^ans, when on march through
these plains, are in constant expectation of
these tornadoes. Accordingly, when the sky
at night indicates their approach, they chain
the wheels of adjacent waggons strongly
together to prevent them from being upset
— an accident that has often happened, when
this precaution was not taken. It may well
be conceived, too, that to prevent their
goods from being wet in such cases, requires
a covering of no ordinary powers of protec-
tion. Bows in the usual form, except that
they are higher, are raised over long sunken
Pennsylvania waggons, over which are
spread two or three thicknesses of woollen
blankets ; and over these, and extended to
the lower edge of the body, is drawn a
strong canvas covering, well guarded with
cords and leather straps. Through this
covering these tempests seldom penetrate.

At seven o'clock on the morning of the
27th, " Catch up, catch up," rang round

CAW CAMP, &C. 63

the waggons of the Santa F^ans. Imme-
diately each man had his hand upon a horse
or mule ; and ere we, in attempting to fol-
low their example, had our horses by the
halter, the teams were harnessed and ready
for the *' march." A noble sight those
teams were, about forty in number, their im-
mense waggons still unmoved, forming an
oval breastwork of wealth, girded by an
impatient mass of near four hundred mules,
harnessed and ready to move again along
their solitary way. But the interest of the
scene was much increased when, at the call
of the commander, the two lines, team after
team, straightened themselves into the
trail, and rode majestically away over the
undulating plain. We crossed the Pawnee
Fork, and visited the Caw Camp. Their
wigwams were constructed of bushes in-
serted into the ground, twisted together at
the top, and covered with the buffalo hides
which they had been gathering for their
winter lodges. Meat was drying in every
direction. It had been cut in long narrow
strips, wound around sticks standing up-
right in the ground, or laid over a rick of
wicker-work, under which slow fires are
kept burning. The stench, and the squalid
appearance of the women and children,

64 CAW CAMP, &C,

were not sufficiently interesting to detain
us long ; and we travelled on for the buffalo
which were bellowing over the hills in ad-
vance of us. There appeared to be about
one thousand five hundred souls, almost in a
state of nudity, and filthy as swine. They
make a yearly hunt to this region in the
spring, lay in a large quantity of dried
meat, return to their own territory in har-
vest time, gather their beans and corn,
make the buffalo hides, (taken before the
hair is long enough for robes) , into conical
tents, and thus prepare for a long and
merry winter.

They take with them, on these hunting
excursions, all the horses and mules be-
longing to the tribe, which can be spared
from the labour of their fields upon the
Konzas River, go south till they meet the
buffalo, build their distant wigwams, and
commence their labour. This is divided in
the following manner between the males,
females, and children : — The men kill the
game. The women dress and dry the meat,
and tan the hides. The instruments used
in killing vary with the rank and wealth of
each individual. The high chief has a
lance, with a handle six feet and blade three
feet in length. This in hand^ mounted

CAW CAMP, &C. 65

upon a fleet horse, he rides boldly to the
side of the flying buffklo, and thrusts it
again and again through the liver or heart
of one, and then another of the affrighted
herd till his horse is no longer able to keep
near them. He is thus able to kill five or
six, more or less, at a single heat. Some of
the inferior chiefs also have these lances >
but they must all be shorter than that of
his Royal Darkness. The common Indians
use muskets and pistols. Rifles are an
abomination to them. The twisting motion
of the ball as it enters, the sharp crack
when discharged, and the direful singing
of the lead as it cuts the air, are considered
symptoms of witchcraft that are unsafe for
the Red Man to meddle with. They call
them medicines — inscrutable and irresistible
sources of evil. The poorer classes still
use the bow and arrow. Nor is this, in the
well-trained hand of the Indian, a less
effective weapon than those already men-
tioned. Astride a good horse, beside a bel-
lowing band of wild beef, leaning forward
upon the neck, and drawing his limbs close
to the sides of his horse, the naked hunter
uses his national weapon with astonishing
dexterity and success. Not unfrequently,
when hitting no bones, does he throw his
arrows quite through the buffalo. Twenty

66 FEMALE OCCUPATIONS*

or thirty thus variously armed, advance
upon a herd. The chief leads the chase,
and by the time they come alongside the
band, the different speed of the horses has
brought them into a single file or line.
Thus they run until every individual has a
buffalo at his side. Then the whole line
fire guns, throw arrows or drive lances, as
often and as long as the speed of the horses
will allow ; and seldom do they fail in
encounters of this kind, to lay upon the
dusty plain numbers of these noble ani-
mals.

A cloud of squaws who had been hover-
ing in the neighbourhood, now hurry up,
astride of pack-animals, strip off hides,
cut off the best flesh, load their pack sad-
dles, mount themselves on the top, and •
move slowly away to the camp. The lords
of creation have finished their day's labour.
The ladies cure the meat in the manner de-
scribed above, stretch the hides upon the
ground, and with a blunt wooden adze hew
them into leather. The younger shoots of
the tribe during the day are engaged in
watering and guarding the horses and mules
that have been used in the hunt — changing
their stakes from one spot to another of
fresh grass, and crouching along the heights
around the camp to notice the approach of

CAW HUNTERS. 67

foes, and sound the alarm. Thus the Kon-
zas, Kausaus, or Caws, lay in their annual
stores. Unless driven from their game by
the Pawnees, or some other tribe at enmity
with them, they load every animal with
meat and hides about the first of August,
and commence the march back to their
fields, fathers, and wigwams, on the Konzas
River.

This return-march must present a most
interesting scene in savage life — seven
hundred or eight hundred horses or mules
loaded with the spoils of the chase, and
th(B children of the tribe holding on to
the pack with might and main, naked as
eels, and shining with buffalo grease, their
fathers and mothers loaping on foot behind,
with their guns poised on the left arm, or
their bows and arrows swung at their back
ready for action, and turning their heads
rapidly and anxiously for lurking enemies —
the attack, the screams of women and
children, each man seizing an animal for a
breastwork, and surrounding thus their
wives and children, the firing, the dying,
the conquest, the whoop of victory and
rejoicings of one party, and the dogged, sul-
len submission of the other — all this and
more has occurred a thousand times upon

68 BUFFALO HUNT.

these plains, and is still occurring. But if
victory declare for the Caws, or they inarch
to their home without molestation, how
many warm affections spring up in their
untamed bosoms, as they see again their
parents and childreUj and the ripened har-
vest ^ the woods, the streams, and bubbling
springs, among which the gleeful days of
childhood were spent ! And when greet-
ings are over^ and welcomes are said, em-
braces exchanged, and their homes seen
and smiled upon ; in fine, when all the holy
feelings of remembrance, and their present
good fortune^ find vent in the wild night-
dance, who, that wears a white skin and
ponders upon the better lot of civilized
men, will not believe that the Indian too,
returned from the hunt and from war,
has not as much happiness, if not in kind
the same, and as many sentiments that do
honour to our nature, as are wrapped in the
stays and tights of a fantastic, mawkish
civilization — that flattering, pluming, gor-
mandizing, unthinking, gilded life, which
is beginning to measure mental and moral
worth by the amount of wealth possessed,
and the adornment of a slip or pew in
church.

We travelled eight miles and encamped.

BUFFALO HUNT. 69

A band of buffalo cows were near us. In
other words, we were determined upon a
hunt — a determination the consequences of
which, as will hereafter appear were highly
disastrous. Our tent having been pitched,
and baggage piled up, the fleetest horses
selected, and the best marksmen best
mounted, we trotted slowly along a circling
depression of the plain, that wound around
near the herd on the leeward side. When we
emerged in sight of them, we put the horses
into a slow gallop till within three hundred
yards of our game ; and then for the nim-
blest heel ! Each was at his utmost speed.
We all gained upon the herd. But two of
the horses were by the side of the lubbers
before the rest were within rifle-reach ; and
the rifles and pistols of their riders dis-
charged into the sleek, well-larded body of
a noble bull. The wounded animal did not
drop ; the balls had entered neither liver
nor heart ; and away he ran for his life.
But his unwieldy form moved slower and
slower, as the dripping blood oozed from
the bullet-holes in his loins. He ran to-
wards our tent ; and we followed him in
that direction, till within a fourth of a mile
of it, when our heroes of the rifle laid him
wallowing in his blood, a mountain of flesh

70 LOSS OF MULES.

weighing at least three thousand pounds.
We butchered him in the following manner :
Having turned him upon his brisket, split
the skin above the spine, and pared it off as
far down the sides as his position would
allow, we cut off the flesh that lay outside
the ribs as far back as the loins. This the
hunters call ** the fleece.'* We next took
the ribs that rise perpendicularly from the
spine between the shoulders, and support
what is termed the " hump." Then we
laid our heavy wood-axes upon the enor-
mous side-ribs, opened the cavity, and took
out the tender-loins, tallow, &c., — all this
a load for two mules to carry into camp.

It was prepared for packing as follows :
the fleece was cut across the grain into
slices an eighth of an inch in thickness, and
spread upon a scaffolding of poles, and
dried and smoked over a slow fire. While
we were engaged in this process, informa-
tion came that three of Mr. Bent's mules
had escaped. The probability was that
they had gone to the guardianship of our
neighbours, the Caws. This was a misfor-
tune to our honourable intention of restor-
ing them to their lawful owners. Search
was immediately ordered in the Indian
camp and elsewhere for them. It was

FRUITLESS SEARCH. 71

fruitless. The men returned with no very
favourable account of their reception by the
Caws, and were of opinion that farther
search would be in vain. Being dispos-
ed to try my influence with the principal
chief, I gave orders to raise the camp and
follow the Santa Feans, without reference to
my return, and mounting my horse, in
company with three men, sought his lodge.
The wigwams were deserted, save by a few
old women and squalid children, who were
wallowing in dirt and grease, and regaling
themselves upon the roasted intestines of
the buffalo. I inquired for the chiefs, for
the mules, whether they themselves were
human or bestial ; for, on this point, there
was room for doubt : to all which inquiries,
they gave an appropriate grunt. But no
chief or other person could be found, on
whom any responsibility could be thrown in
regard to the lost mules. And after climbing
the heights to view the plains, and riding
from band to band of His Darkness's quad-
rupeds for three hours in vain, we returned
to our camp sufficiently vexed for all pur-?
poses of comfort.

Yet this was only the beginning of the
misfortunes of the day. During my absence,
one of those petty bickerings, so common

72 A MAN SHOT.

among men released from the restraints of
society and law, had arisen between two of
the most quarrelsome of the company, ter-
minating in the accidental wounding of one
of them. It occurred, as I learned in the
following manner : a dispute arose between
the parties as to their relative moral ho-
nesty in some matter, thing, or act in the
past. And as this was a question of great
perplexity in their own minds, and doubt
in those of others, words ran high and abu-
sive, till some of the men, more regardful
of their duty than these warriors, began
preparations to strike the tent. The re-
doubtable combatants were within it ; and
as the cords were loosed, and its folds
began to swing upon the centre pole, the
younger of the braves, filled with wrath at
his opponent, attempted to show how ter-
rible his ire would be if once let loose among
his muscles. For this purpose, it would
seem he seized the muzzle of his rifle
with every demonstration of might, &c.,
and attempted to drag it from among the
baggage. The hammer of the lock caught,
and sent the contents of the barrel into his
side. Every thing was done for the wound-
ed man that his condition required, and
our circumstances permitted. Doctor Wal-

THE INVALID. 73

worth, of the Santa Fe caravan, then eight
miles in advance, returned, examined, and
dressed the wound, and furnished a car-
riage for the invalid. During the after-
noon the high chief of the Caws also vis •
ited us ; and by introducing discoloured
water into the upper orifice, and watching
its progress through, ascertained that the
ball had not entered the cavity. But not-
withstanding that our anxieties about the
life of Smith were much lessened by the
assurances of Dr. Walworth, and our friend
the Chief, yet we had others of no less ur-
gent nature, on which we were called to
act. We were on the hunting-grounds of
the Caws. They were thieves ; and after
the Santa F^ traders should have left the
neighbourhood, they would without scruple
use their superior force in appropriating
to themselves our animals, and other means
of continuing our journey. The Pawnees,
too, were daily expected. The Cuman-
ches were prowUng about the neighbour-
hood. To remain, therefore, in our pre-
sent encampment, until Smith could travel
without pain and danger, was deemed cer-
tain death to all. To travel on in a man-
ner as comfortable to the invalid, as our

VOL. I. E

74 LOSING THE TRAIL.

condition would permit — painful to him
and tedious to us though it should be —
appeared therefore the only means of
safety to all, or any of us. We accord-
ingly covered the bottom of the carriole
with grass and blankets, laid Smith upon
them, and with other blankets bolstered
him in such manner that the jolting of the
carriage would not roll him. Other ar-
rangements necessary to raising camp being
made, I gave the company in charge of my
lieutenant; and ordering him to lead on
after me as fast as possible, took the reins
of the carriage and drove slowly along the
trail of the Santa F^ans.

The trail was continually crossed by deep
paths made by the buffalo, as a thousand ge-
nerations of them had in single file followed
their leaders from point to point through
the plains. These, and other obstructions,
jolted the carriage at every step, and caused
the wounded man to groan pitiably. I drove
on till the stars indicated the hour of mid-
night ; and had hoped by this time to have
overtaken the traders, but was disappoint-
ed. In vain I looked through the darkness
for the white embankment of their waggons.
The soil over which they had passed was

CURSING A STORM. 75

now SO hard, that the man in advance of
the carriage could no longer find the trail ;
and another storm was crowding its dark
pall up the western sky. The thunder
aroused and enraged the buflFalo bulls. They
pawed the earth and bellowed, and gathered
around the carriage madly, as if they con-
sidered it a huge animal of their own spe-
cies, uttering thunder in defiance of them.
It became dangerous to move. It was use-
less also ; for the darkness thickened so
rapidly that we could not keep the track.
My men, too, had not come up ; they had
doubtless lost the trail—or, if not, might
join me if I waited there till the morning.
I therefore halted in a deep ravine, which
would partially protect me from the mad-
dened buffalo and the storm, tied down my
animals head to foot, and sought rest.
Smith was in great pain. His groans were
sufficient to prevent sleep. But had he
been comfortable and silent, the storm
poured such torrents of rain and hail, with
terrible wind and Hghtning, around us, that
life instead of repose became the object
of our solicitude. The horseman who had
accompanied me, had spread his blankets
on the ground under the carriage, and,

E 2

76 TRAIL REGAINED.

with his head upon his saddle, attempted
to disregard the tempest as an old-fashion-
ed stoic would the tooth-ache. But it beat
too heavy for his philosophy. His Macki-
naw blankets and slouched hat, for a time
protected his ungainly body from the ef-
fects of the tumbling flood. But when the
water began to stream through the bottom
of the carriage upon him, the ire of the
animal burst from his lank cheeks Uke the
coming of a rival tempest. He cursed his
stars, and the stars behind the storm, his
garters, and the garters of some female
progenitor, consigned to purgatory the
thunder, lightning, and rain, and waggon,
alias poor Smith ; and gathering up the
shambling timbers of his mortal frame,
raised them bolt upright in the storm, and
thus stood, quoted Shakspeare, and ground
his teeth till day-light.

As soon as day dawned I found the trail
again, and at seven o'clock overtook the Santa
F^ans. Having changed Smith's bedding,
I drove on in the somewhat beaten track
that forty odd waggons made. Still every
small jolt caused the unfortunate man to
scream with pain. The face of the country
around Pawnee Fork was, when we saw it>

BUFFALO AT NIGHT. 77

a picture of beauty. The stream winds
silently among bluffs covered with woods,
while from an occasional ravine, long groves
stretch out at right angles with its main
course into the bosom of the plains. The
thousand hills that swelled on the horizon,
were covered with dark masses of buffalo
peacefully grazing, or quenching their thirst
at the sweet streams among them. But
the scene had now changed. No timber,
not a shrub was seen to-day. The soft
rich soil had given place to one of flint
and sand, as hard as M'Adam's pave-
ments ; the green, tall prairie grass, to a
dry, wiry species, two inches in height.
The water, too, disgusting remembrance !
There was none, save what we scooped from
the puddles, thick and yellow with buffalo
offal.

We travelled fifteen miles, and halted
for the night. Smith was extremely unwell.
His wound was much inflamed and pain-
ful. Dr. Walworth dressed it, and encou-
raged me to suppose that no danger of life
was to be apprehended. My company joined
me at twelve o'clock, on the 22d, and we
followed in the rear of the cavalcade. After
supper was over, and Smith made comfort*

78 A SEA OF FLESH.

able, I sought from some of them a relation
of their fortunes during the past night. It
appeared they had found the buffalo trou-
blesome as soon as night came on ; that the
bands of bulls not unfrequently advanced
in great numbers within a few feet of them,
pawing and bellowing in the most threaten-
ing manner ; that they also lost the trail
after midnight, and spent the remainder of
the night in firing upon the buffalo, to keep
them from running over them. Their situation
was dangerous in the extreme ; for when
buffalo become enraged, or frightened in
any considerable number, and commence
running, the whole herd start simultane-
ously, and pursue nearly a right-line course,
regardless of obstacles. So that, had they
been frightened by the Santa F^ns, or
myself, or any other cause, in the direction
of my companions, they must have trampled
them to death. The danger to be appre-
hended from such an event, was rendered
certain in the morning, when we perceived
that the whole circle of vision was one black
mass of these animals. What a sea of life
— of muscular power— of animal appetite —
of bestial enjoyment ! And if lashed to
rage by some pervading cause, how fear*

STORM AND NO SHELTER. 79

ful the ebbing and flowing of its mighty
wrath !

On the 23d the buffalo were more nmne-
rous than ever. They were arranged in long
lines from the eastern to the western
horizon. The bulls were forty or fifty yards
in advance of the bands of cows to which
they severally intended to give protection.
And as the moving embankment of wag-
gons, led by the advanced guard, and
flanked by horsemen riding slowly from
front to rear, and guarded in the rear by my
men, made its majestic way along, these
fiery cavaliers would march each to his own
band of dames and misses, with an air that
seemed to say " we are here ;'* and then
back again to their lines, with great appa-
rent satisfaction, that they were able to do
battle for their sweet ones and their native
plains. We travelled fifteen or sixteen
miles ; distance usually made in a day by
the traders. Smith's wound was more in-
flamed and painful ; the wash and salve of
the Indian chief, however, kept it soft, and
prevented to a great extent the natural in-
flammation of the case.

The face of the country was still an arid
plain — the water as on the 22d — fuel, dried

80 THE HOSPITAL CARRIAGE.

buffalo offal — not a shrub of any kind in
sight. Another storm occurred to-night.
Its movements were more rapid than that of
any preceding one which we had experi-
enced. In a few moments after it showed its
dark outline above the earth, it rolled its
pall over the whole sky, as if to build a
wall of wrath between us and the mercies of
heaven. The flash of the lightning, as it
bounded upon the firmament, and mingled
its thunder with the blast, that came groan-
ing down from the mountains ; the masses of
inky darkness crowding in wild tumult along,
as if anxious to lead the leaping bolt upon
us — the wild world of buffalo, bellowing
and starting in myriads, as the drapery of
this funeral scene of nature, a vast cavern
of fire was lighted up ; the rain roaring and
foaming like a cataract — all this, a reeling
world tottering under the great arm of its
Maker, no eye could see and be unblenched;
no mind conceive, and keep its clayey tene-
ment erect.

I drew the carriole in which Smith and
myself were attempting to sleep, close to
the Santa F6 waggons, secured the' curtains
as firmly as I was able to do, spread blankets
over the top and around the sides, and

GUESSES AND RECKONINGS. 81

lashed them firmly with ropes passing
over, under, and around the carriage in
every direction ; but to little use^ The pen-
etrating powers of that storm were not
resisted by such means. Again we were
thoroughly drenched. The men in the tent
fared still worse than ourselves. It was
blown down with the first blast ; and the
poor fellows were obliged to lie closely and
hold on strongly to prevent it and them-
selves from a flight less safe than parachute
ing.

On the morning of the 24th, having given
Smith in charge of my excellent Lieutenant^
with assurance that I would join him at the
** Crossings," I left them with the traders>
and started with the remainder of my com-*
pany for the Arkansas.

The bufialo during the last three days
had covered the whole country so com-
pletely, that it appeared oftentimes ex-
tremely dangerous even for the immense
cavalcade of the Santa F^ traders to attempt
to break its way through them. We tra-
velled at the rate of fifteen miles a day.
The length of sight on either side of the
trail, 15 miles ; on both sides, 30 miles : —
15 X3=45|xj30= 1,350 square miles of

£ 3

82 WEIGHT OF A BUFFALO.

country, so thickly covered with these no-
ble animals, that when viewed from a
height, it scarcely aflForded a sight of a
square league of its surface. What a quan-
tity of food for the sustenance of the Indian
and the white pilgrim of these plains ! It
would have been gratifying to have seen
the beam kick over the immense frames of
some of those bulls. But all that any of us
could do, was to ' guess' or 'reckon' their
weight, and contend about the indubitable
certainty of our several suppositions. In
these disputes, two butchers took the lead ;
and the substance of their discussions that
could interest the reader is, ** that many of
the large bulls would weigh 3,000 pounds
and upwards ; and that, as a general rule,
the buffalo were much larger and heavier
than the domesticated cattle of the States."
We were in view of the Arkansas at
four o'clock. P.M. The face of the earth was
visible again ; for the buffalo were now
seen in small herds only, fording the river,
or feeding upon the bluffs. Near nightfall
we killed a young bull, and went into camp
for the night.

On the 25th we moved slowly along up
the bank of the river. Having travelled

A DISCUSSION. 83

ten miles, one of the men shot an antelope,
and we went into camp, to avoid if possi-
ble another storm that was lowering upon
us from the north-west; but in spite of
this precaution, we were again most un-
comfortably drenched.

On the 26th we struck across a southern
bend in the river, and made the Santa F^
** Crossings " at four o'clock, p.m. ; 27th.
we lay at the ** Crossings," waiting for
the Santa F^ans, and our wounded com-
panion. On this day a mutiny, which had
been ripening ever ^ since Smith was
wounded, assumed a clear aspect. It now
appeared that certain individuals of my
company had determined to leave Smith to
perish in the encampment where he was
shot ; but failing in supporters of so barbar-
ous a proposition, they now endeavoured to
accomplish their design by less objection-
able means. They said it was evident, if
Smith remained in the company, it must be
divided ; for that they, pure creatures>
could no longer associate with so impure a
man. And that, in order to preserve the
unity of the company, they would propose
that arrangements should be made with the
Santa Feans to take him along with them.

84 THE DIVISION.

In this wish a majority of the company, in-
duced by a laudable desire for peace, and
the preservation of our small force entire,
in a country filled with Indian foes, readily
united. I was desired to make the arrange-
ment ; but my efforts proved fruitless.
The traders were of opinion that it
would be hazardous for Smith, destitute of
the means of support, to trust himself
among a people of whose language he was
ignorant, and among whom he could conse-
quently get no employment ; farther, that
Smith had a right to expect protection from
his comrades ; and they would not, by any
act of theirs, relieve them from so sacred a
duty. I reported to my company this
reply, and dwelt at length upon the reasons
assigned by the traders.

The mutiiieers were highly displeased with
the strong condemnation contained in them,
of their intention to desert him ; and bold-
ly proposed to leave Smith in the carriole,
and secretly depart for the mountains. Had
we done this inhuman act, I have no doubt
that he would have been treated with great
humanity and kindness, till he should have
recovered from his wound. But the mean-
ness of the proposition to leave a sick com-

A DILEMMA. 85

panion on the hands of those who had
shown us unbounded kindness, and in vio-
lation of the solemn agreement we had all
entered into on the frontier of Missouri —
*' to protect each other to the last ex-
tremity" — was so manifest, as to cause
C. Wood, Jourdan, Oakley, J. Wood, and
Blair, to take open and strong grounds
against it. They declared, that ** however
unworthy Smith might be, we could neither
leave him to be eaten by wolves, nor to the
mercy of strangers; and that neither should
be done while they had life to prevent
it."

Having thus ascertained that I could rely
upon the co-operation of these men, two of
the company made a litter, on which the
unfortunate man might be borne between
two mules. In the afternoon of the 28th, I
went down to the traders, five miles below
us, to bring him up to my camp. The
traders generously refused to receive any-
thing for the use of their carriage, and
furnished Smith, when he left them, with
every little comfort in their power for his
future use. It was past sunset when we left
their camp. Deep darkness soon set in, and
we lost our course among the winding bluffs.

86 A DILEMMA.

But as I had reason to suppose that my
presence in the camp the next morning with
Smith was necessary to his welfare, I drove
on till three o'clock in the morning. It
was of no avail : the darkness hid heaven
and earth from view. We therefore halted,
tied the mules to the wheels of the carriage,
and waited for the sight of morning. When
it came, we found that we had travelled
during the night at one time up and at an-
other time down the stream, and were then
within a mile and a half of the trader's
camp.

On reaching my encampment, I found
every thing ready for marching, sent back
the carriole to its owners, and attempted to
swing Smith in his litter for the march ; but
to our great disappointment, it would not
answer the purpose. How it was possible
to convey him, appeared an inquiry of the
most painful importance. We deliberated
long ; but an impossibility barred every
attempt to remove its difficulties. We had
no carriage ; we could not carry him upon
our shoulders ; it seemed impossible for him
to ride on horseback ; the mutineers were
mounted ; the company was afraid to stay
longer in the vicinity of the Cumanche In-

THE MUTINY. 87

dians, with so many animals to tempt them
to take our lives ; the Santa F^ waggons were
moving over the hills ten miles away on the
other side of the river ; I had abjured the
command, and had no control over the
movements of the company ; two of the in-
dividuals who had declared for mercy towards
Smith had gone with the traders ; there was
but one course left— one eflFort that could
be made ; he must attempt to ride an easy,
gentle mule. If that failed, those who had
befriended him would not then forsake him.
About eleven o'clock, therefore, on the 29th,
Smith being carefully mounted on a pacing
mule, our faces were turned to Bent's trad-
ing post, one hundred and sixty miles up the
Arkansas. One of the principal mutineers,
a hard-faced villain of no honest memory
among the traders upon the Platte, as-
sumed to guide and command. His ma-
lice towards Smith was of the bitterest
character, and he had an opportunity
now of making it felt. With a grin upon
his long and withered physiognomy, that
shadowed out the fiendish delight of a heart
long incapable of better emotions, he drove
oflf at a rate which none but a man in
health could have long endured. His mo-

88 CONSEQUENCES.

tive for this was easily understood. If we
fell behind, he would get rid of the wounded
man, whose presence seemed to be a living
evidence of his murderous intentions,
thwarted and cast back blistering upon
his already sufficiently foul character. He
would, also, if rid of those persons who had
devoted themselves to saving him, be able
to induce a large number of the remainder
of the company to put themselves under his
especial guardianship in their journey
through the mountains ; and if we should
be destroyed by the Cumanche Indians who
were prowling around our way, the black-
ness of his heart might be hidden, awhile
at least, from the world.

The rapid riding, and the extreme warmth,
well-nigh prostrated the remaining strength
of the invalid. He fainted once, and had
nearly fallen headlong to the ground ; but
all this was delight to the self-constituted
leader; and on he drove, belabouring his
own horse unmercifully to keep up the pace ;
and quoting Richard's soliloquy with a satis-
faction Tind emphasis, which seemed to say
** the winter" of his discontent had passed
away, as well as that of his ancient proto-
type in villany.

THE invalid's CHARACTER. 89

The buffalo were seldom seen during the
day : the herds now becoming fewer and
smaller. Some of the men, when it was
near night, gave chase to a small band near
the track, and succeeded in killing a young
bull. A fine fresh steak, and night's rest,
cheered the invalid for the fatigues of a long
ride the following day. And a long one it
was. Twenty-five miles under a burning
sun, with a high fever, and three broken
ribs, required the greatest attention from
his friends, and the exertion of the utmost
remaining energies of the unfortunate man.
Base though he was in everything that
makes a man estimable and valuable to
himself and others, Smith was really an
object of pity and the most assiduous care.
His couch was spread— his cup of water
fresh from the stream, was always by his
side — and his food prepared in the most
palatable manner which our circumstances
permitted. Everything indeed that his
friends (no, not his friends, for he was in-
capacitated to attach either the good or the
bad to his person, but those who commiser-
ated his condition), could do, was done to
make him comfortable.

In connexion with this kindness bestowed

^iutti^ ii>y twottjiai!} Ht -tiif OroBBmCT oT -fte
Afix^mibisb A iimii trf n kintbr beart ibrvbt
^uMi^. Ttwx: iiiit place viiert lie JDhssd
w iv ^ito^OTi Taraton-. -wbeii 1 or otbexc
ni'iiwt wt>ni v'itli iatirue. nr dkreBHe. nr
^Um'utKni. 4if vitt' alwuT^ readr to admi-

I:iu1; tw':ttrd^ feuutb in lik lkdkplfifi{> cfmriitimi
jbf^ ip^:a$ ^B]:it;oHiUr oblipns. lie 'dreBsed iuB
wouud 'dalh'. He «iept Bear hiin Hi niglit,
mud fvm to supply lu« least wam.. And in
4JU tbe tr> iuj^ difficulhief that oodared along
^ur periltQW )Quraer, it ww hi^ CTeact^ de-
ii^ 1<Q <lidBitti»e peaoe, oamfoit, and cantent-
ttfewt, to tbe ^^eot <xf bk kdluesKse. I cnn
iM^cr for^ the fxx>d old man.. He iod
tit^eiu <iife8ted out of fak prajKitr br a near
ifieitftirt; <qI' pre4ie!iMled pktr, a&d had ksft Ae
cIm>$iw isoecM^ of fah tolls and hopes in
iM^ardlji of a residence in the inldemess
beroud tbe inountains. For the porpcKe of
^utiiu^ to ttae Oregon Territory, he had
hired himself to a gentleman of the traders*
csinYHnf with the intention of going to the
c/mntry by the way of New Mexico and
CMifomvi. An honest man — an honourable

SHAKSPEARE. 91

man — a benevolent, kind, sympathizing
friend — ^he deserves well of those who may
have the good fortune to become acquainted
with his unpretending worth.

On the 30th, twenty-five miles up the
river. — This . morning the miscreant who
acted as leader exchanged horses, that he
might render it more difficult for Smith to
keep in company. During the entire day's
march, Shakspeare was on the tapis. If there
be ears of him about the ugly world, to hear
his name bandied by boobies, and his im-
mortal verse mangled by barbarians in
civilized clothing, those ears stood erect,
and his dust crawled with indignation, as
this savage in nature and practice discharged
from his polluted mouth the inspirations of
his genius.

The face of the country was such as that
found ever since we struck the river. Long
sweeping bluffs swelled away from the water's
edge into the boundless plains. The soil
was a composition of sand, clay, and
gravel — the only vegetation — the short
furzy grass, several kinds of prickly pear, a
stinted growth of sun-flower, and a few
decrepid cotton-wood trees on the margin of
the stream. The south side of the river

92 A COMPARISON.

was blackened by the noisy buffalo. It
was amusing when our trail led us near the
bank, to observe the rising wrath of the
bulls. They would walk with a stately
tread upon the verge of the bank, at times
almost yelling out their rage, and tramping^,
pawing, falling upon their knees, and tear-
ing the earth with their horns ; till, as if
unable to keep down the safety-valve of
their courage any longer, they would tumble
into the stream, and thunder, and wade, and
swim, and whip the waters with their tails,
and thus throw off a quantity of their
bravery. But, like the wrath and cou-
rage of certain members of the biped
race, these manifestations were not bullet
proof, for the crack of a rifle, and the snug
fit of a bullet about their ribs operated
instantaneously as an anodyne to all such
like nervous excitation.

We pitched our tent at night near
the river. There was no timber near ;
but after a long and tedious search we
gathered fire-wood enough to make our
evening fire.

The fast riding of the day had wearied
Smith exceedingly. An hour's rest in camp
however, had restored him, to such an ex-

LAST DAY OF JUNE. 93

tent, that our anxiety as to his ability to ride
to Bent's was much diminished. His noble
mule proved too nimble and easy to gratify
the malice of the vagabond leader. The
night brought us its usual tribute — a storm.
It was as severe as any we had experienced.
If we may distinguish between the severities
of these awful tumults of nature, the thun-
der was heavier, deeper. The wind also
was very severe. It came in long gusts,
loaded with large drops of rain, which struck
through the canvas of our tent, as if it had
been gauze.

The last day of June gave us a lovely
morning. The grass looked green upon the
flinty plains. Nor did the apparent fact that
they w^ere doomed to the constant recurrence
of long draughts take from them some of the
interest which gathers around the hills and
dales within the lines of the States. There
is indeed a wide difference in the outline of
the surface and the productions of these
regions. In the plains are none of the
evergreen ridges, the cold clear springs, and
snug flow^ering valleys of New England ;
none of the pulse of busy men that beats
from the Atlantic through the great body of
human industry to the western border of the

94 FACE OF THE COUNTRY.

republic ; none of the sweet villages and
homes of the old Saxon race ; but there
are the vast savannahs, resembling molten
seas of emerald sparkling with flowers,
arrested while stormy and heaving, and fixed
in eternal repose. Nor are lowing herds
to be found there, and bleating flocks, which
dependance on man has rendered subser-
vient to his will ; but there are thousands of
fleet and silent antelope, myriads of the bel-
lowing bufialo, the perpetual patrimony of
the wild, uncultivated red man. And how-
ever other races may prefer the haunts of
their childhood, the well-fenced domain and
the stall-pampered beast— still, even they
cannot fail to perceive the same fitness of
things in the beautiful adaptation of these
conditions of nature to the wants and plea-
sures of her uncultivated lords.

We made fifteen miles on the 1st of July.
The bluffs along the river began now to be
striped with strata of lime and sand-stone.
No trees that could claim the denomination of
timber appeared in sight. Willows of various
kinds, a cotton-wood tree, at intervals of
miles, were all ; and so utterly sterile was the
whole country that, as night approached,
we were obliged carefully to search along

MORAL CHARACTER. 95

the river's bends for a plat of grass of suffi-
cient size to feed our animals. Our encamp-
ment was twelve miles above Choteau's
Island. Here was repeated, for the twentieth
time, the quarrel about the relative and
moral merits of the company. This was
always a question of deep interest with
the mutineers ; and many were the amusing
arguments adduced and insisted upon as in-
contestible, to prove themselves great men,
pure men, and saints. But as there was much
difference of opinion, I shall not be ex-
pected to remember all the important judg-
ments rendered in the premises. If, however,
my recollection serves me, it was adjudged,
that our distinguished leader was the only
man among us that ever saw the plains or
mountains, the only one of us that ever
drove an ox- waggon up the Platte, stole a
horse and rifle from his employers, opened
and plundered a *' cache'* of goods, and ran
back to the States with well-founded preten-
sions to an *' honest character."

Matters of this kind being thus satisfac-
torily settled, we gave ourselves to the
musquitoes for the night. These compa-
nions of our sleeping hours were much
attached to us — an amiable quality which

96 MAN OF THE STOLEN RIFLE.

*'runs in the blood;" and not unlike the
birthright virtues of another race in its
effect upon our happiness.

It can scarcely be imparting information
to my readers to say that we passed a
sleepless night. But it is due to the guards
outside the tent, to remark, that each and
every of them manifested the most praise-
worthy vigilance, and industry, during the
entire night. So keen a sense of duty did
musquito beaks impart.

The next day we travelled twelve miles,
and fell in with a band of buffalo. There
being a quantity of wood near at hand
wherewithal to cure meat, we determined
to dry, in this place, what might be needed,
till we should fall in with buffalo again
beyond the hunting-grounds of the Messrs.
Bents. Some of the men, for this purpose,
filed off to the game, while the remainder
formed the encampment. The chase was
spirited and long. They succeeded, how-
ever, in bringing down two noble bullocks :
and led their horses in, loaded with the
choicest meat.

In preparing and jerking our meat, our
man of the stolen rifle here assumed extra-
ordinary powers in the management of

EQUALITY— FUDGE. 97

affairs. Like other braves, arm ia hand, he
recounted the exploits of his past hfe, con-
sisting of the entertainment of serious
intentions to have killed some of the men
who had left, had they remained with us ;
and also, of how dangerous his wrath would
have been in the settlements and elsewhere,
had any indignity been offered to his ho-
nourable person, or his plantation ; of which
latter he held the fee simple title of a
*' squatter." On this point, '* let any man,
or Government even," said he, ** attempt to
deprive me of my inborn rights, and my
rifle shall be the judge between us.
Government and laws ! what are they but
impositions upon the freeman." With this
ebullition of wrath at the possibility that
the institutions of society might demand of
him a rifle, or the Government a price of a
portion of the public lands in his possession,
he appeared satisfied that he had convinced
us of his moral acumen, and sat himself
down, with his well-fed and corpulent coad-
jutor, to slice the meat for drying. While
thus engaged, he again raised the voice of
wisdom. '* These democratic parties for
the plains, what are they? what is equa-
lity any where ? A fudge. One must

VOL. I. F

98 BLISTERED FINGERS.

rule ; the rest obey, and no grumbling, by

The mutineers were vastly edified by these
timely instructions ; and the man of parts
ceasing to speak, directed his attention to
drying the meat. He, however, soon broke
forth again, found fault with every arrange •
ment which had been made, and with his
own mighty arm wrought the changes he
desired.

Meanwhile, he was rousing the fire,
already burning fiercely, to more and more
activity, till the dropping grease blazed,
and our scaffold of meat was wrapped in
flames.

" Take that meat off"," roared he. No
one obeyed, and he stood still. '' Take
that meat off"," he cried again, with the
emphasis and mien of an Emperor; not
deigning himself to soil his rags, by obey-
ing his own command. No one obeyed.
The meat burned rapidly. His ire waxed
high ; yet, no one was so much frightened
as to heed his command. At length his
sublime forbearance had an end. The great
man seized the blazing meat, dashed it
upon the ground, raised the temperature
of his fingers to the blistering point, and
rested from his labours.

V

bents' fort. 99

Three days more fatiguing travel along
the bank of the Arkansas brought us to the
trading-post of the Messrs. Bents. It was
about two o'clock in the afternoon of the
5th of July, when we came in sight of its
noble battlements, and struck our caravan
into a lively pace down the swell of the
neighbouring plain. The stray mules that
we had in charge belonging to the Bents,
scented their old grazing ground, and gal-
loped cheerfully onward. And our hearts,
relieved from the anxieties which had made
our camp for weeks past a travelling Babel,
leaped for joy as the gates of the fort were
thrown open ; and '* welcome to Fort Wil-
liam" — the hearty welcome of fellow-
countrymen in the wild wilderness, greeted
us. Peace again — roofs again — safety again
from the winged arrows of the savage ;
relief again from the depraved suggestions
of inhumanity ; bread, ah ! bread again :
and a prospect of a delightful tramp over
the snowy heights between me and Oregon,
with a few men of true and generous
spirit, were some of the many sources of
pleasure which struggled with my slumbers
on the first night's tarry among the hospi-
talities of '* Fort William."

F 2

100 DISBANDING.

My company was to disband here ; the
property held in common to be divided ;
and each individual to be left to his own
resources. And while these and other
things are being done, the reader will allow
me to introduce him to the Great Prairie
Wilderness, and the beings and matters
therein contained.

THE WILDERNESS. 101

CHAPTER III.

The Great Prairie Wilderness — Its Rivers and Soil — '
Its People and their Territories — Choctaws — Chick-
asaws — Cherokees — Creeks — Senecas and Shawnees
— Seminoles — Pottawotamies — Weas— Pionkashas —
Peorias and Kaskaskias — Ottowas — Shawnees or Sha-
wanoes — ^Delawares — Kansaus — Kickapoos — Sauks
and Foxes — lowas — Otoes — Omehas — Puncahs —
Pawnees, remnants— Carankauas—Cumanche, rem-
nants — Knistineaux — Naudowisses or Sioux — Chippe*
ways, and their traditions.

The tract of country to which I have
thought it fitting to apply the name of the
*' Great Prairie Wilderness/' embraces the
territory lying between the States of Loui-
siana, Arkansas, and Missouri, and the
Upper Mississippi on the east, and the
Black Hills, and the eastern range of the
Rocky and the Cordilleras mountains on
the west. One thousand miles of lon-
gitude, and two thousand miles of la-
titude, 2,000,000 square miles, equal to
1,280,000,000 acres of an almost unbroken
plain ! The sublime Prairie Wilderness !

The portion of this vast region, two

102 THE WILDERNESS.

hundred miles in width, along the coast of
Texas and the frontier of the States of
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, and
that lying within the same distance of the
Upper Mississippi in the Iowa Territory,
possess a rich, deep, alluvial soil, capable
of producing the most abundant crops of
grains, vegetables, &c., that grow in such
latitudes.

Another portion lying west of the irre-
gular western line of that just described,
five hundred miles in width, extending
from the mouth of St. Peter's River to the
Rio del Norte, is an almost unbroken plain,
destitute of trees, except here and there one
scattered at intervals for many miles along
the banks of the streams. The soil, except
the intervals of some of the rivers, is com-
posed of coarse sand and clay, so thin and
hard that it is difficult for travellers to
penetrate it with the stakes they carry with
them wherewithal to fasten their animals or
spread their tents. Nevertheless it is co-
vered thickly with an extremely nutritious
grass peculiar to this region of country, the
blades of which are wiry and about two
inches in height.

The remainder of this Great Wilderness,
lying three hundred miles in width along

RIVERS. 103

the eastern radices of the Black Hills and
that part of the Rocky Mountains between
the Platte and the Cordilleras-range east of
the Rio del Norte, is the arid waste usually
called the *' Great American Desert.'* Its
soil is composed of dark gravel mixed with
the sand. Some small portions of it, on
the banks of the streams, are covered with
tall prairie and bunch grass ; others, with
wild wormwood ; but even these kinds of
vegetation decrease and finally disappear
as you approach the mountains. It is a
scene of desolation scarcely equalled on
the continent, when viewed in the dearth of
midsummer from the base of the hills.
Above, rise in sublime confusion, mass
upon mass, shattered cliffs through which
is struggling the dark foliage of stinted
shrub-cedars ; while below you spreads far
and wide the burnt and arid desert, whose
solemn silence is seldom broken by the
tread of any other animal than the wolf
or the starved and thirsty horse which bears
the traveller across its wastes.

The principal streams that intersect the
Great Prairie wilderness are the Colorado,
the Brasos, Trinity, Red, Arkansas, Great
Platte and the Missouri. The latter is in
many respects a noble stream ; not so

104 PRODUCTIVE VALLIES.

much SO indeed for the intercourse it opens
between the States and the plains, as the
theatre of agriculture and the other pursuits
of a densely populated and distant interior;
for these plains are too barren for general
cultivation. As a channel for the transpor-
tation of heavy artillery, military stores,
troops, &c. to posts that must ultimately be
established along our northern frontier, it
will be of the highest use.

In the months of April, May, and June
it i^ navigable for steam-boats to the Great
Falls ; but the scarcity of water during
the remainder of the year, as well as
the scarcity of wood and coal along its
banks, its steadily rapid current, its tor-
tuous course, its falling banks, timber im-
bedded in the mud of its channel, and its
constantly shifting sand bars, will ever
prevent its waters from being extensively
navigated, how great soever may be the
demand for it. In that part of it which
lies above the mouth of the Little Missouri
and the tributaries flowing into it on either
side, are said to be many charming and
productive valleys, separated from each other
by secondary rocky ridges sparsely covered
with evergreen trees ; and high over all, far in
south-west, west and north-west, tower into

RIVERS. 105

view, the ridges of the Rocky Mountains,
whose inexhaustible magazines of ice and
snow have, from age to age, supplied these
valleys with refreshing springs — and the
Missouri — the Great Platte — the Columbia
— and Western Colorado rivers with their
tribute to the seas.

Lewis and Clark, on their way to Oregon
in 1805, made the Portage at the Great
Falls eighteen miles. In this distance the
water descends three hundred and sixty-
two feet. The first great pitch is ninety-eight
feet, the second nineteen, the third forty-
eight, and the fourth twenty-six. Smaller
rapids make up the remainder of the
descent. After passing over the Portage
with their boats and baggage, they again
entrusted themselves to the turbulent
stream — entered the chasms of the Rocky
Mountains seventy-one miles above the
upper rapids of the Falls, penetrated them
one hundred and eighty miles, with the
mere force of their oars against the current,
to Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson's Forks —
and in the same manner ascended Jefferson's
River two hundred and forty-eight miles to
the extreme head of navigation, making
from the mouth of the Missouri, whence
they started, three thousand and ninety-

F 3

10& RIVERS.

ax miles ; four hundred and twenty-nine of
which lay among the sublime crags and
cliffs of the mountains.

The Great Platte has a course by its
northern fork of about one thousand five
hundred miles; and by its southern fork
somewhat more than that distance ; from
its entrance into the Missouri to the junc-
tion of these forks about four hundred miles.
The north fork rises in Wind River Moun-
tain, north of the Great Pass through
Long's range of the 'Rocky Mountains, in
latitude 42** north. The south fork rises
one hundred miles west of James Peak, and
within fifteen miles of the point where the
Arkansas escapes from the chasms of the
mountains, in latitude 39* north. This
river is not navigable for steamboats at any
season of the year. In the spring floods,
the batteaux of the American fur traders
descend it from the forts on its forks. Bat
even this is so hazardous that they are
beginning to prefer taking down their furs
in waggons by the way of the Konsas River
to Westpprt, Missouri, thence by steam-
boat to St. Louis. During the summer
and autumn months its waters are too
shallow to float a canoe. In the winter
it is bound in ice. Useless as it is for

OUTLINE OF ROUTES. 107

purposes of navigation, it is destined to be
of great value in another respect.

The overland travel from the States to
Oregon and California will find its great
highway along its banks. So that in years
to come, when the Federal Government shall
take possession of its Territory West of the
Mountains, the banks of this stream will be
studded with fortified posts for the protec-
tion of countless caravans of American ci-
tizens emigrating thither to establish their
abode ; or of those that are willing to endure
or destroy the petty tyranny of the Califor-
nian Government, for a residence in that
most beautiful, productive country. Even
now, loaded waggons can pass without seri-
ous interruption from the mouth of the
Platte to navigable waters on the Columbia
River in Oregon, and the Bay of San Fran-
cisco, in California.

As it may interest my readers to peruse
a description of these routes given me
by different individuals who had often
travelled them, I will insert it : " Land on
the north side of the mouth of the Platte ;
follow up that stream to the Forks, four
hundred miles ; in this distance only one
stream where a raft will be needed, and
that near the Missouri ; all the rest ford-
able. At the Forks, take the north side of

108 OUTLINE OF ROUTES.

the North one ; fourteen days' travel to the
Black Hills; thence leaving the river's bank,
strike oflf in a North West direction to the
Sweet-water branch, at " Independence
Rock," (a large rock in the plain on which
the old trappers many years ago carved the
word " Independence " and their own
names ; oval in form ;) follow up the sweet-
water three days ; cross it and go to its
head ; eight or ten days travel this ; then
cross over westward to the head waters of a
small creek running southwardly into the
Platte, thence westward to Big Sandy creek
two days, (this creek is a large stream com-
ing from Wind river Mountains in the
North ;) thence one day to Little Sandy
creek — thence westward over three or four
creeks to Green River, (Indian name Sheet-
skadee,) strike it at the mouth of Horse
creek — follow it down three days to Pilot
Bute ; thence strike westw^ard one day to
Ham's Fork of Green River — two days up
Ham's Fork — thence West one day to
Muddy Branch of Great Bear River — down
it one day to Great Bear River — down this
four days to Soda Springs ; turn to the right
up a valley a quarter of a mile below the
Soda Springs ; follow it up a north west
direction two days to its head ; there take
the left hand valley leading over the dividing

THE PLATTE. 109

ridge ; one day over to the waters of Snake
River at Fort Hall; thence down Snake
River twenty days to the junction of the
Lewis and Clark Rivers — or twenty days
travel westwardly by the Mary's River —
thence through a natural and easy passage
in the California Mountains to the naviga-
ble waters of the San Joiquin — a noble
stream emptying into the Bay of San Fran-
cisco/'

The Platte therefore when considered in
relation to our intercourse with the habi-
table countries on the Western Ocean as-
sumes an unequal importance among the
streams of the Great Prairie Wilderness !
But for it, it would be impossible for man or
beast to travel those arid plains, destitute
alike, of wood, water and grass, save what
of each is found along its course. Upon
the head waters of its North Fork, too, is the
only way or opening in the Rocky mountains
at all practicable for a carriage road through
them. That traversed by Lewis and Clark,
is covered with perpetual snow ; that near
the debouchure of the South Fork of the
river is over high and nearly impassable
precipices ; that travelled by myself farther
south, is, and ever will be impassable for
wheel carriages. But the Great Cap, nearly

no TH» RAFT.

on a right line between the mouth of Mis-
souri and Fort Hall on Clark's River — the
point where the trails to California and
Oregon diverge — seems designed by nature
as the great gateway between the nations on
the Atlantic and Pacific seas.

The Red River has a course of about one
thousand five hundred miles. It derives its
name from a reddish colour of its water,
produced by a rich red earth or marl in its
banks, far up in the Prairie Wilderness. So
abundantly is this mingled with its waters
during the spring freshets, that as the floods
retire, they leave upon the lands they have
overflowed a deposit of half an inch in
thickness. Three hundred miles from its
mouth commences what is called "The
Raft,'* a covering formed by drift-wood,
which conceals the whole river for an ex-
tent of about forty miles. And so deeply is
this immense bridge covered with the sedi-
ment of the stream, that all kinds of vege-
table common in its neighbourhood, even
trees of a considerable size, are growing
upon it. The annual inundations are said
to be cutting a new channel near the hill.
Steamboats ascend the river to the Raft, and
might go fifty leagues above, if that obstruc-
tion were removed. Above this latter point

BRAVO DEL NORTE. Ill

the river is said to be embarrassed by many
rapids, shallows, falls, and sand-bars. In-
deed, for seven hundred miles its broad bed
is represented to be an extensive and perfect
sand-bar ; or rather a series of sand-bars ;
among which during the summer months,
the water stands in ponds. As you approach
the mountains, however, it becomes con-
tracted within narrow limits over a gravelly
bottom, and a swift, clear, and abundant
stream. The waters of the Red River are
so brackish when low, as to be unfit for
common use.

The Trinity River, the Brazos, and the
Rio Colorado, have each a course of about
twelve hundred miles, rising in the plains
and mountains on the north and north-west
side of Texas, and running south south-east
into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Rio Bravo del Norte bounds the Great
Prairie Wilderness on the south and south-
west. It is one thousand six hundred and fifty
miles long. The extent of its navigation is
little known. Lieutenant Pike remarks in
regard to it, that *^ for the extent of four or
five hundred miles before you arrive near
the mountains, the bed of the river is exten-
sive and a perfect sand-bar, which at a cer-
tain season is diy, at least the waters stand

112 ARKANSAS RIVER.

in ponds, not affording sufficient to procure
a running course. When you come nearer
the mountains, you find the river contracted,
a gravelly bottom and a deep navigable
stream. From these circumstances it is
evident that the sandy soil imbibes all the
waters which the sources project from the
mountains, and render the river in dry season
less navigable Jive hundred miles^ than two
hundred from its source." Perhaps we
should understand the Lieutenant to mean
that five hundred miles of sand bar and two
hundred miles immediately below its source
being taken from its whole course, the
remainder, nine hundred and fifty miles,
would be the length of its navigable waters.
The Arkansas, after the Missouri, is the
most considerable river of the country
under consideration. It takes its rise in
that cluster of secondary mountains which
lie at the eastern base of the Anahuac
Ridge, in latitude 41® north — eighty or
ninety miles north-west of James Peak.
It runs about two hundred miles — first in,
a southerly and then in a south-easterly di-
rection among these mountains ; at one
time along the most charming valleys and
at another through the most awful chasms
— till it rushes from them with a foaming

DUMBER OF INDIANS. 113

current in latitude 39° north. From the
place of its debouchure to its entrance into
the Mississippi is a distance of 1981 miles ;
its total length 2173 miles. About fifty-
miles below, a tributary of this stream,
called the Grand Saline, a series of sand-
bars commence and run down the river
several hundred miles. Among them,
during the dry season, the water stands in
isolated pools, with no apparent current.
But such is the quantity of water sent down
from the mountains by this noble stream
at the time of the annual freshets, that
there is sufficient depth, even upon these
bars, to float large and heavy boats ; and
having once passed these obstructions, they
can be taken up to the place where the
river escapes from the crags of the moun-
tains. Boats intended to ascend the river,
should start from the mouth about the
1st of February. The Arkansas will be
useful in conveying munitions of war to
our southern frontier. In the dry season,
the waters of this river are strongly im-
pregnated with salt and nitre.

There are about 135,000 Indians inha-
biting the Great Prairie Wilderness, of
whose social and civil condition, manners
and customs, &c. I will give a brief ac-

114 NUMBBR OF INDIANS.

count. It would seem natural to com-
mence with those tribes which reside in
what is called '' The Indian Territory ;" a
tract of country bounded south by the
Eed River, east by the States of Arkansas
and Missouri — on the north-east and north
by the Missouri and Punch Rivers, and
west by the western limit of habitable
country on this side of the Rocky Moun-
tains. This the National Government has
purchased of the indigenous tribes at spe-
cific prices ; and under treaty stipulations
to pay them certain annuities in cash, and
certain others in facilities for learning the
useful arts, and for acquiring that know-
ledge of all kinds of truth which will, as is
supposed, in the end excite the w^ants,
create the industry, and confer upon them
the happiness of the civilized state.

These benevolent intentions of Govern-
ment, however, have a still wider reach.
Soon after the English power had been ex-
tinguished here, the enlightened men who
had raised over its ruins the temples of
equal justice, began to make efforts to re-
store to the Indians within the colonies the
few remaining rights that British injustice
had left within their power to return ; and
so to exchange property with them, as to

INDIANS, &C. 115

secure to the several States the right of
sovereignty within their several limits, and
to the Indians, the functions of a sovereign
power, restricted in this, that the tribes
should not sell their lands to other person
or body corporate, or civil authority, be-
side the Government of the United States ;
and in some other respects restricted, so as
to preserve peace among the tribes, prevent
tyranny, and lead them to the greatest hap-
piness they are capable of enjoying.*

Various and numerous were the ef-
forts made to raise and ameliorate their
condition in their old haunts within the
precincts of the States. But a total or
partial failure followed them all. In a few
cases, indeed, there seemed a certain pros-
pect of final success, if the authorities of
the States in which they resided had per-
mitted them to remain where they were.
But as all experience tended to prove that
their proximity to the whites induced
ai&ong them more vice than virtue; and
aff the General Government, before any
attempts had been made to elevate them,
had become bound to remove them from

"^ This is a gratuitous remark. The conduct of the
British Government will compare most favourably with
that of the United States. The English have not
thought of hunting Indians with blood-hounds. — Ed,

116 INDIANS, &C.

inany of the States in which they resided,
both the welfare of the Indians, and the
duty of the Government, urged their colo-
nization in a portion of the western do-
main, where, freed from all questions of
conflicting sovereignties, and under the
protection of the Union, and their own
municipal regulations, they might find a
refuge from those influences which threat-
ened the annihilation of their race.

The " Indian Territory-' has been se-
lected for this purpose. And assuredly if
an inexhaustible soil, producing all the ne-
cessaries of life in greater abundance, and
with a third less labour than they are pro-
duced in the Atlantic States, with excellent
water, fine groves of timber growing by
the streams, rocky clifis rising at conve-
nient distances for use among the deep
alluvial plains, mines of iron and lead ore
and coal, lakes and springs and streams of
salt water, and innumerable quantities of
buffalo ranging through their lands, are
sufficient indications that this country is a
suitable dwelUng-place for a race of men
which is passing from the savage to the
civilized condition, the Indian Territory has
been well chosen as the home of these un-
fortunate people. Thither the Government,
for the last thirty years, has been endea*

INDIANS, &C. 117

vouring to induce those within the jurisdic-
tion of the States to emigrate.

The Government purchase the land
which the emigrating tribes leave — giving
them others within the Territory; trans-
port them to their new abode ; erect a por-
tion of their dwellings ; plough and fence
a portion of their fields ; furnish them
teachers of agriculture, and implements of
husbandry, horses, cattle, &c.; erect school-
houses, and support teachers in them the
year round ; make provision for the sub-
sistence of those who, by reason of their
recent emigration, are unable to support
themselves ; and do every other act of be-
nevolence necessary to put within their
ability to enjoy, not only all the physical
comforts that they left behind them, but
also every requisite, facility, and encourage-
ment to become a reasoning, cultivated,
and happy people.

Nor does this spirit of liberality stop
here. The great doctrine that Government
is formed to confer upon its subjects a
greater degree of happiness than they could
enjoy in the natural state, has suggested
that the system of hereditary chieftaincies,
and its dependant evils among the tribes,
should yield, as circumstances may permit,
to the ordination of nature, the supremacy

1 18 INDIANS, &C.

of intellect and virtue. Accordingly, it is
contemplated to use the most efficient
means to abolish them, making the rulers
elective, establishing a form of government
in each tribe, similar in department and
duties to our State Governments, and
uniting the tribes under a Greneral Govern-
ment, similar in powers and functions to
that at Washington.

It is encouraging to know that some
of the tribes have adopted this system ; and
that the Government of the Union has been
so far encouraged to hope for its adoption
by all those in the Indian Territory, that in
1837 orders were issued from the Depart-
ment of Indian affairs, to the Superintendent
of Surveys, to select and report a suitable
place for the Central Government. A se-
lection was accordingly made of a charming
and valuable tract of land on the Osage
river, about seven miles square; which, on
account of its equal distance from the north-
ern and southern line of the Territory, and
the beauty and excellence of the surrounding
country, appears in every way adapted to its
contemplated use. It is a little more than
sixteen miles from the western line of Mis-
souri. Any member of those tribes which
come into the confederation, may own pro-
perty in the district, and no other.

INDIANS, &C. 119

The indigenous, or native tribes of the
Indian Territory, are — the Osages, about
5,510; the Kauzaus or Caws, 1,720; the
Omahas, 1,400 ; the Otoe and Missouri,
1,600; the Pawnee, 10,000; Puncah, 800;
Quapaw, 600 — making 21 ,660. The tribes
that have emigrated thither from the States,
are — the Choctaw, 15,600 (this estimate
includes 200 white men, married to Choc-
taw women, and 600 negro slaves) ; the
Chickasaws, 5,500 ; the Cherokees, 22,000
(this estimate includes 1 ,200 negro slaves
owned by them) ; the Cherokees (including
900 slaves), 22,000 ; the Creeks (including
393 negro slaves) 22,500 ; the Senecas
and Shawnees, 461 ; the Seminoles, 1,600 ;
the Pottawatamies, 1 ,650 ; the Weas, 206 ;
the Piankashas, 1 57 ; the Peorias and Kas-
kaskias, 142 ; the Ottawas, 240 ; the Shaw-
nees, 823 ; the Delawares, 921 ; the Kicka-
poos, 400; the Sauks, 600; the lowas, 1,000.
It is to be understood that the numbers
assigned to these tribes represent only
those portions of them which have actually
removed to the Territory. Large numbers
of several tribes are still within the borders
of the States. It appears from the above
tables, then, that 72,200 have had lands
assigned them; and, abating the relative

120 INDIANS, &C.

eflFects of births and deaths among them, in
increasing or diminishing their numbers, are
actually residing in the Territory. These,
added to 21,000 of the indigenous tribes,
amount to 94,860 under the fostering care
of the Federal Government, in a fertile
and delightful country, six hundred miles in
length from north to south, and east and
west from the frontier of the Republic to
the deserts of the mountains.

The Choctaw country lies in the extreme
south of the Territory. Its boundaries are
— on the south, the Red River, which sepa-
rates it from the Republic of Texas ; on the
west, by that line running from the Red
River to the Arkansas River, which sepa-
rates the Indian American Territory from
that of Mexico : on the north, bv the Ar-
kansas and the Canadian Rivers ; and on the
east, by the State of Arkansas. This tract
is capable of producing the most abundant
crops, the small grains, Indian com, flax,
hemp, tobacco, cotton, &c. The western
portion of it is poorly supplied with tim-
ber; but all the distance from the Ar-
kansas' frontier westward, two hundred
miles, and extending one hundred and sixty
miles from its northern to its southern
boundary, the country is capable of sup-

INDIANS, &C. 121

porting a population as dense as that of
England. 1 9,200,000 acres of soil suitable
for immediate settlement, and a third as
much more to the westward that would pro-
duce the black locust in ten years after plant-
ing, of sufficient size for fencing the very
considerable part of it which is rich enough
for agricultural purposes, will, doubtless,
sustain any increased population of this
tribe that can reasonably be looked for dur-
ing the next five hundred years.

They have suficred much from sickness
incident to settlers in a new country. But
there appear to be no natural causes exist-
ing, which, in the known order of things,
will render their location permanently un-
healthy. On the other hand, since they
have become somewhat inured to the change
of climate, they are quite as healthy as the
whites near them; and are improving in
civilization and comfort ; have many large
farms ; much live stock, such as horses,
mules, cattle, sheep, and swine ; three
flouring- mills, two cotton-gins, eighty-eight
looms, and two hundred and twenty spin-
ning-wheels; carts, waggons, and other
farming utensils. Three or four thousand
Choctaws have not yet settled on the lands
assigned to them. A part of these are in

VOL. I. G

122 CHOCTAWS, &c,

Texas, between the rivers Brazos and Tri*
nity, 300 in nqmber, who located themselves
there in the time of the general emigration ;
and others in divers places in Texas, who
emigrated thither at various times, twenty,
thirty, and forty years ago. Still another
band continues to reside east of the Missis-
sippi,

The Choctaw Nation, as the tribe deno-
minates itself, has adopted a written consti-
tution of Government, similar to the Con-
stitution of the United States. Their De-
claration of Rights secures to all ranks and
«ects equal rights, liberty of conscience, and
trial by jury, &c. It may be altered or
amended by a National Council. They
have divided their country into four judicial
districts. Three of them annually elect
nine, and the other thirteen, members of
the National Assembly. They m^et on the
first Monday in October annually ; organize
by the election of a Speaker, the necessary
clerks, a light-horseman (sergeant-at-arms),,
and door-keeper ; adopt by-laws, or rules
for their governance, while in session ; and
make other regulations requisite for the
systematic transaction of business. The
journals are kept in the English language ;
but in the progress pf business are read off

CHOCTAW GOVERNMENT. 123

in Choctaw. The preliminary of a law is,
*' Be it enacted by the General Council of
the Choctaw Nation.**

By the Constitution, the Grovemment is
composed of four departments, viz. : Legis-
lative, Executive, Judicial and Military.
Three judges are elected in each district by
popular vote, who hold inferior and superior
courts within their respective districts. Ten
light-horse menin each district perform the
duties of sherifiis. An act has been passed
for the organization of the militia. Within
each judicial district an officer is elected,
denominated a chief, who holds his office
for the term of four years. These chiefs
have honorary seats in the National Coun-
cil. Their signatures are necessary to the
passage of a law. If they veto an act, it
may become a law by the concurrence of
two-thirds of the Council. Thus have the
influences of our institutions begun to tame
and change the savages of the western wil-
derness.

At the time when the lights of religion
and science had scarcely begun to dawn
upon them — when they had scarcely dis-
covered the clouds of ignorance that had
walled every avenue to rational life — even
while the dust of antiquated barbarism was

g2

124 INDIANS, &C.

Still hanging upon their garments— and the
night of ages, of sloth, and sin held them in
its cold embraces — the fires on the towers
of this great temple of civil freedom arrested
their slumbering faculties, and they read
qn all the holy battlements, written with
beams of living light, *' All men are, and of
right ought to be, free and equal," This
teaching leads them. It was a pillar of fire
moving over the silent grave of the past —
enlightening the vista of coming years —
and, by its winning brightness, inviting
them to rear in the Great Prairie wilderness,
a sanctuary of repubUcan liberty— of equal
laws — in which to deposit the ark of their
own future well-being.

The Chikasaws have become merged in
the Choctaws. When they sold to the
Government their lands east of the Missis-
sippi, they agreed to furnish themselves
with a home. This they have done in the
western part of the Choctaw country for the
sum of £106,000. It is called the Chick-
9S^w district ; and constitutes an integral
part of the Choctaw body politic in every
respect, except that the Chickasaws, like
the Choctaws, received and invest for their
own sole use, the annuities and other
moneys proceeding from the sale of their
lands east of the Mississippi.

INDIANS, &C. 125

The trieaty of 1830 provides for keeping
forty Choctaw youths at school, under the
direction of the President of the United
States,, for the term of twenty years. Also,
the sum of £500 is to be applied to the sup-
port of three teachers of schools among
them for the same length of time. There
is, also; an unexpended balance of former
annuities, amounting to about £5,000,
which is to be applied to the support of
schools, at twelve diflFerent places. School-
houses have been erected for this pur-
pose, and paid for, out of this fund. Also,
by the treaty of 1825, they are entitled
to an annuity of £1,200, for the sup-
port of schools within the Choctaw Dis*
trict.

The treaty of the 24th of May, 1834,
provides that £600 annually, for fifteen
years, shall be applied, under the direction
of the Secretary of War, to the education
of the Chickasaws. These people have
become very wealthy, by the cession of
their lands east of the Mississippi to the
United States. They have a large fund
applicable to various objects of civilization ;
£2,000 of which is, for the present ap-
plied to purposes of education.

The country assigned to the Cherokees
is bounded as follows: beginning on the

12G INDIANS, &C.

north bank of Arkansas River, where the
western line of the State of Arkansas
crosses the river ; thence north 7"* 35' west,
along the line of the State of Arkansas,
seventynseven miles to the south-west corner
of the State of Missouri ; thence north
along the line of Missouri, eight miles to Se-
neca River ; thence west along the southern
boundary of the Senecas to Neosho River ;
thence up said river to the Osage lands ;
thence west with the South boundary of the
Osage lands, two hundred and eighty-eight
and a half miles ; thence south to the Creek
lands, and east along the north line of the
creeks, to a point about forty-three miles
west of the State of Arkansas, and twenty-
five miles north of Arkansas River, thence
south to Verdigris River, thence down Ver-
digris to Arkansas River ; thence down Ar-
kansas River to the mouth of Neosho River ;
thence South SS'' west one mile ; thence
,south 18** ly west thirty- three miles ; thence
south four miles, to the junction of the North
Fork and Canadian Rivers; thence down
the latter to the Arkansas ; and thence down
the Arkansas, to the place of beginning.

They also own a tract, described, by be-
ginning at the south-east comer of the Osage
lands, and running north with the Osage
line, fifty miles ; thence east twenty-five

ICHEROKBES. 127

tftiles to the west line of Missouri ; thence
west twenty-five-miles, to the place of be-
ginning.

They own numinous Salt Springs, three
of which are worked by Cherokees. The
amount of Salt manufactured is probably
about 100 bushels per day. They also own
two Lead Mines.-— Their Salt Works and
Lead Mines are in the Eastern portion of
their country. All the settlements yet
formed are there also. It embraces about
2,500,000 acres. They own about 20,000
head of cattle, 3,000 horses, 1 5,000 hogs, 600
sheep, 110 waggons> c^ten several ploughs
to one farm, several hundred spinning wheels^
and one hundred looms. Their fields are en-
closed with rail fences. They have erected
for .themselves good log dwelUngs, with
stone chimneys and f^ank floors. Their
houses are furnished with plain tables,
chairs, and bedsteads, and with table and
kitchen furniture, nearly or quite equal to
the dwellings of white people in new
countries.— They have seven native mer-
chants, and one regular physician, beside
several *' quacks." Houses of entertain-
ment, with neat and comfortable accommo-
dation, are found among them.

Their settlements are divided into four
districts, each of which elects for the term

128 CHEROKEES.

of two years, two members of the National
Council — the title of which is, ** The Ge-
neral Council of the Cherokee Nation." By
law, it meets annually on the first Monday
in October. They have three chiefs, which
till lately have been chosen by the General
Council. Hereafter, they are to be elected
by the people. The approval of the chiefs
is necessary to the passage of a law ; but
an act upon which they have fixed their
veto, may become a law by a vote of two
thirds of 'the Council. The Council con-
sists of two branches. The lower, is
denominated the Committee^ and the upper,
the Council. The concurrence of both is
necessary to the passage of a law. The
chiefs may call a Council at pleasure. In
this, and in several other respects, they
retain in some degree the authority com-
mon to hereditary chiefs. Two Judges
belong to each district, who hold courts
when necessary. Two officers, denomi-
nated Light-horsemen, in each district per-
form the duties of Sheriffs. A company of
six or seven Light- horsemen, the leader of
whom is styled captain, constitute a Na-
tional Corps of Regulators, to prevent in-
fractions of the law, and to bring offenders
to justice.
: It is stipulated in the treaty of the 6th.

CHEROKBES. 129

of May, 1823, that the United States will
pay £400 annually to the Cherokees for
ten years, to be expended under the direc-
tion of the President of the United States,
in the education of their children, in their
oton country, in letters and mechanic arts.
Also £200 toward the purchase of a printing-
press and types. By the treaty of Decem-
ber 29, 1835, the sum of £30,000 is pro-
Tided for the support of common schools,
and such a literary institution of a higher
order as may be established in the Indian
country* The above sum is to be added to
an education fund of £10,000 that pre-
viously existed, making the sum of £40,000
which is to remain a permanent school fund,
only the interest of which is to be consumed.
The application of this money is to be
directed by the Cherokee Nation, under the
supervision of the President of the United
States. The interest of it will be sufficient
constantly to keep in a boarding-school two
hundred children ; or eight hundred, if
boarded by their parents.

The country of the Creeks joins Canadian
river, and the lands of the Choctaws on
the south, and the Cherokee lands on the
east and north. Their eastern limit is
about sixty-^two miles from north to south;

o3

130 CREEK EMIGRANTS.

their western limit the Mexican boun-
dary.

Their country is fertile, and exhibits a
healthy appearance ; but of the latter
Creek emigrants who reached Arkansas in
the winter and spring of 1837, about two
hundred died on the road ; and before the
1st of October succeeding the arrival, about
three thousand five hundred more fell vic-
tims to bilious fevers. In the same year
three hundred of the earlier emigrants died.
They own salt springs, cultivate corn, vege-
tables, &c., spin, weave and sew, and follow
other pursuits of civilised people. Many of
them have large stocks of cattle. Before
the crops of 1837 had been gathered, they
had sold corn to the amount of upwards of
£7,800 ; and vast quantities still remained
unsold. Even the emigrants who arrived in
their coimtry during the winter and spring,
previous to the cropping season of 1837,
broke the turf, fenced their fields, raised
their crops for the first time on the soil,
and sold their surplus of corn for £2,000.
They have two native merchants.

The civil government of this tribe is less
perfect than that of the Cherokees. There
are two bands; the one under Mcintosh,
the other under Little Doctor. That led

BDUCATION. 131

by the former, brought with them from
their old home written laws which they en-
force as the laws of their band. That under
the latter, made written laws after their
arrival. £ach party holds a general council.
The members of each are hereditary chiefs,
and a class of men called councillors. Each
of these great bands is divided into lesser
ones ; which severally may hold courts, try
civil and criminal causes, sentence, and
execute, &c. Laws, however, are made
by the general councils only ; and it is be-
coming customary to entertain trials of
cases before these bodies, and to detail some
of their members for executioners. The
legislative, judicial, and executive depart-
ments of their government are thus becom-
ing strangely united in one.

The treaty of the 6th of March, 1832,
stipulates that an annuity of £600 shall
be expended by the United States, under
the direction of the President, for the term
of twenty years, in the education of their
children. Another £200 by the treaty
of the 14th of February, 1833, is to be
annually expended during the pleasure of
Congress for the same object, under the
direction of the President.
, In location and government the Semi-

132 SENEGAS, &C.

noles are merged in the Creeks. In the
spring of 1836, about four hundred of
them emigrated from the east, and aettled
on the north fork of Canadian river. In
October, 1837, they were reduced by sick-
ness nearly one-half. During these awful
times of mortality among them, some of
the dead were deposited in the hollows of
the standing and fallen trees, and others,
for want of these, were placed in a tem-
porary inclosure of boards, on the open
plains. Guns and other articles of pro-
perty were often buried with the dead, ac-^
cording to ancient custom ; and so great
is said to have been the terror of the time,
that, having abandoned themselves awhile
to their wailings around the burial-places
of their friends, they fled to the western
deserts till the pestilence subsided. Of
the two thousand and twenty-three emi-
grants who had reached their new homes
prior to October, 1832, not more than
one thousand six hundred remained alive.

The Senecas consist of three bands,
namely : Senecas two hundred, Senecas and
Shawanoes two hundred and eleven, Mo-
hawks fifty ; in all four hundred and sixty-
one. The lands of the Senecas proper
adjoin those of the Cherokees on the south.

OSAGES^ &C. 133

and, abutting on the Missouri border, the
distance of thirteen miles, extend north to
Neosho river. The lands of the mixed band
of Senecas and Shawanoes, extend north
between the State of Missouri and Neosho
river, so far as to include sixty-thousand
acres.

These people, also, are in some measure
civilized. Most of them speak English.
They have fields inclosed with rail fences,
and raise corn and vegetables sufficient for
their own use. They own about eight-
hundred horses, twelve hundred cattle,
thirteen yoke of oxen, two hundred hogs,
five waggons, and sixty-seven ploughs;
dwell in neat, hewn log cabins erected by
themselves, and furnished with bedsteads,
chairs, tables, &c., of their own manu-
facture ; and own one grist and saw-miU,
erected at the expense of the United
States.

The country of the Osages lies north of
the western portion of the Cherokee lands,
commencing twenty-five miles west of the
State of Missouri, and thence, in a width
of fifty miles, extends westward as far as
the country can be inhabited. In 1817,
they numbered ten thousand five hundred.
Wars with the Sioux, and other causes,
have left only five thousand five hundred.

134 OSAGKS, &C,

About half the tribe reside on the eastern
portion of their lands ; the residue in the
Cherokee country, in two villages on Ver-
digris river.

This tribe has made scarcely any im*
provement. Their fields are small and
badly fenced. Their huts are constructed
of poles inserted in the ground, bent to-
gether at the top, and covered with bark,
mats, &c., and some of them with buffalo
and elk skins. The fire is placed in the
centre, and the smoke escapes through an
aperture at the top. These huts are built
iu villages, and crowded together without
order or arrangement, and destitute of fur-
niture of any kind, except a platform raised
about two feet upon stakes set in the
ground. This extends along the side of
the hut, and may serve for a seat, a table,
or a bedstead. The leggings, and mocas-
sins for the feet, are seldom worn except in
cold weather, or when they are travelling
in the grass. These, with a temporary
garment fastened about the loins, and ex-
tending downwards, and a buffalo robe or
blanket thrown loosely around them, con-
stitute the sole wardrobe of the males and
married females. The unmarried females
wear also a strip of plain cloth eight or
nine inches wide, which they throw over

OSAOES, &c. 135

one shoulder, draw it over the breasts, and
fasten it under the opposite arm.

The Osages were, when the whites first
knew them, brave, warUke, and in the In-
dian sense of the term, in affluent circum-
stances. They were the hardiest and fiercest
enemies of the terrible Sioux; but their
independent spirit is gone, and they have
degenerated into the miserable condition of
insolent, starving thieves. The government
has been, and is making the most generous
efibrts to elevate them. The treaty of 1825
provides, " that the President of the United
States shall employ such persons to aid
the Osages in their agricultural pursuits,
as to him may seem expedient.*' Under
this stipulation, £240 annually have been
expended, fbr the last fifteen years. This
bounty of the government, however, has
not been of any permanent benefit to
the tribe. The same treaty of 1825, re-
quired fifty-four sections of land to be laid
off and sold under the direction of the Pre-
sident of the United States, and the pro-
ceeds to be applied to the education of
Osage children. Early in the year 1838,
government made an arrangement by which
they were to be paid two dollars per acre,
for the whole tract of fiftv-four sections.

136 POTTAWATAMIES, &C.

34,560 acres. This commutation has se-
cured to the Osage tribe, the sum of £13,824
for education ; a princely fund for five thou-
sand five hundred and ten individuals. Go-
vernment hereditary chieftaincies.

The band of Quapaws was originally con-
nected with the Osages. Their lands lie
immediately north of the Senecas and Sha-
wanoes, and extend north between the state
of Missouri on the east, and Neosho River
on the west, so far as to include 96,000
acres. Their country is south-east of, and
near to the country of the Osages. Their
habits are somewhat more improved, and
their circumstances more comfortable than
those of the last named tribe. They subsist
by industry at home, cultivate fields en-
closed with rail fences ; and about three-
fourths of them have erected for themselves
small log dwellings with chimneys. Unfor-
tunately for the Quapaws, they settled on
the lands of the Senecas and Shawanoes,
from which they must soon remove to their
own. A small band of them, forty or fifty
in number, have settled in Texas, and about
thirty others live among the Choctaws.

The Pottawatamies, in emigrating to the
west, have unfortunately been divided into
two bands. One thousand or fifteen hun-

^ MIAMfS^ &C. 137

HTjllT""^ li^ve located themselves on the north-
r^€ast side of the Missouri River, two hundred
^.jf^d forty miles from the country designated
^ by government as their permanent resi-
dence. Negotiations have been made to
effect their removal to their own lands, but
without success. About fifteen hundred
others have settled near the Sauks, on the
Mississippi, and manifest a desire to remain
"''there. The country designated for them
•^ lies on the sources of the Osage and Neosho
-^livers ; it commences sixteen miles and four
chains west of the State of Missouri, and in
a width of twentv-four miles, extends west
two hundred miles. By the treaty of 1833,
they are allowed the sum of £14,000 dollars
for purposes of education and the encou-
ragement of the useful arts. Also by the
same treaty, is secured to them the sum of
£30,000 to be applied in the erection of
mills, farmhouses, Indian houses, and black-
smiths' shops ; to the purchase of agricul-
tural implements and live stock, and for
the support of physicians, millers, farmers,
and blacksmiths, which the President of the
United States shall think proper to appoint
to their service.

The Weas and Piankashas arc bandn of
Miamis. Their country lies north of the

138 OTTOWAS, &C.

Pottawatamies, adjoins the State of Mis-»
souri on the east, the Shawanoes on the
north, and the Peorias and Kaskaskias on
the west — 160,000 acres. These people
own a few cattle and swine. Ahout one*
half of their dwellings are constructed of
logs, the remainder of bark, in the old na-
tive style. Their fields are enclosed with
rails, and they cultivate corn and vegetables
sufficient for a comfortable subsistence*
The Piankasha band is less improved thaik
the Weas. The former have a field of about
fifty acreS) made by the government ; the
latter have made their own improvements.

Hie Peorias and Kaskaskias are also
bands of the Miamis. Their land lies imme-
diately west of the Weas ; adjoins the Sha*
wanoes on the north, and the Ottowas on
the west. They own 96,000 acres. They
are improving, live in log-houses, have
small fields generally enclosed with rail-
fences, and own considerable numbers of
cattle and swine.

The lands of the Ottowas lie immediately
west of the Peorias and Kaskaskias, and
south of the Shawanoes. The first band of
emigrants received 36,000 acres, and one
which arrived subsequently, 40,000 acres,
adjoining the first. They all live in good

SHAWNEES, &C. 139

log cabins, have fields enclosed with rail-
fences, raise a comfortable supply of corn
and garden vegetables, are beginning to
raise wheat, have horses, cattle and swine,
a small grist-mill in operation, and many
other conveniences of life, that indicate an
increasing desire among them to seek from
the soil, rather than the chase, the means of
life. About five thousand Ottowas, residing
in Michigan, are soon to be removed to their
brethren in the Territory. The country of
the Ottowas lies upon the western verge of
the contemplated Indian settlement, and
consequently opens an unlimited range to
the westward. Their government is based
on the old system of Indian chieftaincies.

Immediately on the north of the Weas
and Piankashas, the Peorias and Kaskaskias
and Ottowas, lies the country of the Shaw-
nees, or Shawanoes. It extends along the
Kne of the State of Missouri, north, twenty-
eight miles to the Missouri River at its
junction with the Konzas, thence to a point
aixty miles on a direct course to the lands
of the Kauzaus, thence south on the
Kauzaus line six miles, and from these lines,
with a breadth of about nineteen miles to a
north and south line, one hundred and
twenty miles west of the State of Missouri,

140 DELAWARES, &C.

containing 1,600,000 acres. Their princi-
pal settlements are on the north-east corner
of their country, between the Missouri bor-
der and the Konzas River. Most of thera
live in neatly hewn log-cabins, erected by
themselves, and partially supplied with fur-
niture of their own manufacture. Their
fields are inclosed with rail-fences, and suf-
ficiently large to yield plentiful supplies of
corn and culinary vegetables. They keep
cattle and swine, work oxen, and use horses
for draught, and own some ploughs, wag-
gons and carts. They have a saw and
grist-mill, erected by government at an ex-
pense of about £1,600 This, like many
other emigrant tribes, is much scattered;
Besides the two bands on the Neosho,
already mentioned, there is one on Trinity
River, in Texas, and others in divers places*

Under the superintendance of Mission-
aries of various denominations, these people
are making considerable progress in Educa<>
tion and the Mechanic Arts. They have a
printing press among them, from which is
issued a monthly periodical, entitled the
'* Shauwawnoue Kesuuthwau" — Shawanoe
Sun.

The lands of the Delawares lie north oif
the Shawanots, in the forks of the Konzas

KAUZAUS, &C. 141

and Missouri Rivers ; extending up the
former to the Kauzaus lands, thence north
twenty-four miles, to the north-east corner
of the Kauzaus survey, up the Missouri
twenty-three miles, in a direct course to
Cantonment Leavenworth, thence with a
line westward to a point ten miles north
of the north-east corner of the Kauzaus
survey, and then a slip not more than ten
miles wide, it extends westwardly along the
northern boundary of the Kauzaus, two-
hundred and ten miles from the State of
Missouri.

They live in the eastern portion of their
country, near the junction of the Konzas
and Missouri Rivers ; have good hewn log-
houses, and some furniture in them ; in-
close their fields with rail fences ; keep
cattle and hogs ; apply horses to draught ;
use oxen and ploughs ; cultivate corn and
garden vegetables, sufficient for use : have
commenced the culture of wheat ; and own
a grist and saw-mill, erected by the United
States. Some of these people remain in
the Lake country ; a few are in Texas ;
about one-hundred reside on the Choctaw
lands near Arkansas River, one hundred
and twenty miles west of the state of
Arkansas. These latter have acquired the

142 KAUZAUS, &C.

languages of the Cumanches, Keaways,
Pawnees, &c., and are extensively employed
as interpreters by traders from the Indian
Territory. The Treaty of September, 1829,
provides that thirty-six sections of the
best land within the district at that time
ceded to the United States, be selected and
sold, and the proceeds applied to the sup-
port of Schools for the education of Dela-
ware children. In the year 1838, the Dela-
wares agreed to a commutation of two dol-
lars per acre, which secures to them an Edu-
cation Fund of £9,000.

The country of the Kauzaus lies on the
Konzas River. It commences sixty miles
west of the State of Missouri, and thence,
in a width of thirty miles, extends west-
ward as far as the plains can be inhabited.
It is well watered and timbered; and in
every respect delightful. They are a
lawless, dissolute race. Formerly they
committed many depredations upon their
own traders, and other persons ascending
the Missouri River, But, being latterly
restrained in this regard by the United
States, they have turned their predatory
operations upon their red neighbours. In
language, habits and condition in life, they
are in effect the same as the Osages. la

KAUZAUS, &C. 143

matters of peace and war, the two tribes
are blended. They are virtually one
people.

like the Osages, the Kauzaus are ig-
norant and wretched in the extreme; un-
commonly servile, and easily managed by
the white men who reside among them.
Almost all of them live in villages of straw,
bark, flag and earth huts. These latter are
in the form of a cone ; wall two feet in
thickness, supported by Tvooden pillars
within. like the other huts, these have
no floor except the earth. The fire is
built in the centre of the interior area. The
smoke escapes at an opening in the apex
of the cone. The door is a mere hole,
through which they crawl, closed by the
&kin of some animal suspended therein.
Tfaey cultivate small patches of corn, beans
and melons. They dig the ground with
hoes and sticks. Their fields generally, are
npt fenced. They have one, however,
of three hundred acres, which the United
Stsites six years ago ploughed and fenced
for them. The principal Chiefs have log-
houses built by the Government Agent.

Jt is encouraging, however, to know that
these miserable creatures are beginning to
yidid to the elevating influences around

144 KICKAPOO, &C.

them. A missionary has induced some of
them to leave the villages, make separate
settlements, build log-houses, &c. The
United States have furnished them with
four yoke of oxen, one waggon, and other
means of cultivating the soil. They have
succeeded in stealing a large number of
horses and mules ; own a very few hogs ;
nd stock cattle. By a treaty formed with
them in 1825, thirty-six sections, or 23,040
acres, of good land were to be selected and
sold to educate Kauzaus children within
their territory. But proper care not having
been taken in making the selection, 9,000
acres only have been sold. The remaining
14,040 acres of the tract, it is said, will
scarcely sell at any price, so utterly worth-
less is it. Hence only £2,250 have been
realised from this munificent appropriation.
By the same treaty, provision was made
for the application of £120 per annum, to
aid them in agriculture.

The Kickapoo lands lie on the north of
the Delawares ; extend up the Missouri
river thirty miles direct, thence westward
about forty five miles, and thence south
twenty miles to the Delaware line, embrac-
ing 768,000 acres.

They live on the south-eastern extremity

THB SAUKS. 145

of their lands, sear Cantonment Leaven-
worth. In regard to civilization, their
condition is similar to that of the Peorias.
They are raising a surplus of the grains, &c.
have cattle and hogs, £140 worth of the
latter, and three hundred and forty head of
the former from the United States, in obe-
dience to treaty stipulations ; have about
thirty yoke of oxen, fourteen yoke of them
purchased chiefly with the produce of their
farms ; have a saw and grist mill, erected by
the United States. Nearly one-half of the
tribe are unsettled and scattered, some in
Texas, others with the southern tribes, and
still others ranging the mountains. The
treaty of October 24th, 1832, provides that
the United States shall pay £100 per
annum for ten successive years, for the
support of a school, purchase of books, &c.
for the benefit of the Kickapoo tribe on
their own lands. A school-house and
teacher have been furnished in conformity
with this stipulation. The same treaty
provides £200 for labour and improvements
on the Kickapoo lands.

The Sauks, and Reynards or Foxes, speak
the same language, and are so perfectly
consolidated by intermarriages and other
ties of interest, as, in fact, to be one nation.

VOL. I. H

146 MARCH OF CIVILIZATION.

They formerly owned the north-western
half of the State of Illinois, and a large
part of the State of Missouri. No Indian
tribe, except the Sioux, has shown such
daring intrepidity, and such implacable
hatred towards other tribes. Their enmity,
when once excited, was never known to
be appeased, till the arrow and tomahawk
had for ever prostrated their foes. For
centuries the prairies of Illinois and Iowa
were the theatre of their exterminating
prowess ; and to them is to be attributed
the almost entire destruction of the Mis-
souris, the Illinois, Cahokias, Kaskaskias,
and Peorias. They were, however, steady
and sincere in their friendship to the whites ;
and many is the honest old settler on the
borders of their old dominion, who mentions
with the warmest feelings, the respectful
treatment he has received from them, while
he cut the logs for his cabin, and ploughed
his ** potato patch" on that lonely and
"unprotected frontier.

Like all the tribes, however, this also
dwindles away at the approach of the
whites. A melancholy fact. The Indians'
bones must enrich the soil, before the
plough of civilized man can open it. The
noble heart, educated by the tempest to

SIOUX, &c. 147

endure the last pang of departing life ydth-
out a cringe of a muscle ; that heart edu-
cated by his condition to love with all the
powers of being, and to hate with the ex-
asperated mahgnity of a demon ; that heart,
educated by the voice of its own existence
— the sweet whisperings of the streams —
the holy flowers of spring — to trust in, and
adore the Great producing and sustaining
Cause of itself, and the broad world and
the lights of the upper skies, must fatten
the corn hills of a more civilized race ! The
sturdy plant of the wilderness droops under
the enervating culture of the garden. The
Indian is buried with his arrows and bow.
In 1 832 their friendly relations with their
white neighbours were, I beUeve, for the
first time, seriously interrupted. A treaty
had been formed between the chiefs of the
tribe and commissioners, representing the
United States, containing, among other
stipulations, the sale of their lands north of
the Rock River, &c. in the State of Illinois.
This tract of country contained the old vil-
lages and burial-places of the tribe. It was,
indeed, the sanctuary of all that was vene-
rable and sacred among them. They win-
tered and summered there long before the
date of their historical legends. And on

h2

148 BLACK HAWK.

these flowering plains the spoils of war —
the loves of early years — every thing that
delights man to remember of the past, clung
closely to the tribe, and made them dis-
satisfied with the sale. Black-Hawk was
the principal chief. He, too, was unwilling
to leave his village in a charming glen, at
the mouth of Rock River, and increased the
dissatisfaction of his people by declaring
that " the white chiefs had deceived him-
self and the other contracting chiefs" in
this, '* that he had never, and the other
chiefs had never consented to such a sale
as the white chiefs had written, and were
attempting to enforce upon them.*' They
dug up the painted tomahawk with great
enthusiasm, and fought bravely by their
noble old chief for their beautiful home*
But, in the order of nature, the plough
must bury the hunter. And so it was with
this truly great chief and his brave tribe.
They were driven over the Mississippi to
make room for the marshalled host of ve-
teran husbandmen, whose strong blows had
levelled the forests of the Atlantic States ;
and yet unwearied with planting the rose
on the brow of the wilderness, demanded
that the Prairies also should yield food to
their hungry sickles.

SAUKS AND FOXES. 149

The country assigned them as their per-
manent residence^ adjoins the southern
boundary of the Kickapoos, and on the
north and north east the Missouri river^
They are but little improved. Under treaty
stipulations, they have some few houses
and fields made for them by the United
States, and are entitled to more. Some
live stock has been given them, and more
is to be furnished. The main body of the
Sauks, usually denominated the ^auks and
Foxes, estimated at four thousand six hun-
dred souls, reside on the Iowa river, in
Iowa Territory. They will ultimately be
removed to unappropriated lan<b adjoining
those already occupied by their kindred with-
in the Indian Territory. Both these bands
number twelve thousand four hundred. By
the treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830, the
Sauks are entitled to £100 a year for the
purposes of educaition. By treaty of Sep^
tember, 1836, they are entitled to a school-
master, a farmer, and blacksmith, as long
as the United States ^hall deem proper.
Three comfortable houses are to be erected

V. J

for them, two hundred acres of prairie land
fenced and ploughed, such agricultural im-
plements furnished as they may need for
five years, one ferry-boat, two hundred and

150 OTOES, &c.

five head of cattle, one hundred stock hogs,
and a flouring mill. These benefits they
are receiving, but are making an impro-
vident use of them.

The country of the lowas contains one
hundred and twenty-eight thousand acres ad-
joining the north eastern boundaries of the
Sauks, with the Missouri river on the north
east, and the great Nemaha river on the
north. Their condition is similar to that of
the Sauks. The aid which they have re-
ceived, and are to receive from the govern-
ment, is about the same in proportion to
their numbers. The village of the Sauks
and lowas, are within two miles of each other.

The Otoes are the descendants of the
Missouris, with whom they united after the
reduction of the latter tribe by the Sauks
and Foxes. They claim a portion of land
lying in the fork between Missouri and
G^eat Platte rivers. The government of
the United States understand, however,
that their lands extend southward from the
Platte down the Missouri to Little Nemaha
river, a distance of about forty miles ;
thence their southern boundary extends
westward up Little Nemaha to its source,
and thence due west. Their western and
northern boundaries are not particularly

OTOES, &C, 151

defiDed. Their southera boundary is about
twenty-five miles north of the Iowa's land*

By treaty, such of their tribe as are re-
lated to the whites, have an interest in a
tract adjoining the Missouri river, and ex-
tending from the Little Nemaha to the
Great Nemaha, a length of about twenty-
eight miles, and ten miles wide. No Indians
reside on this tract.

The condition of this people is similar to
that of the Osages and Kauzaus. The
United States Government has fenced and
ploughed for them one hundred and thirty
acres of land. In 1838, they cultivated
three hundred acres of corn. They own
six ploughs, furnished by Government*
Their progenitors, the Missouris, were, when
the French first knew the country, the most
numerous tribe in the vicinity of Saint
Louis; and the great stream, on whose
banks they reside, and the State which has
risen upon their hunting grounds when the
race is extinct, will bear their name to the
generations of coming time. They are said
to have been an energetic and thrifty race
before they were visited by the small-pox,
and the destroying vengeance of the Sauks
and Foxes. The site of their ancient vil-
lage is to be seen on the north bank of the

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V craity cttMift with them in JuLf, 1830,

tl^ ;m ;umuitY oi fi^e hamJired

PAWNEES, &C. 153

dollars shall be paid to them in agricultural
implements, for ten years thereafter, and
longer if the President of the United States
thinks proper. A blacksmith also, is to be
furnished them for the same length of time.
Another treaty obliges the United States
to plough and fence one hundred acres of
land for them, and to expend, for the term
of ten years, £100 annually, in educating
Omaha children.

The Puncahs, or Ponsars, are the remnant
of a nation of respectable importance, for-
merly living upon Red river, of Lake Win-
nipeg. Having been nearly destroyed by
the Sioux, they removed to the west side of
the Missouri river, where they built a forti-
fied village, and remained some years ; but
being pursued by their ancient enemies, the
Sioux, and reduced by continual wars, they
joined the Omahas, and so far lost their
original character as to be undistinguished
from them. They, however, after a while,
resumed a separate existence, which they
continue to maintain. They reside in the
northern extremity of the Indian Territory.
Their circumstances are similar to those of
the Pawnees.

The Pawnees own an extensive country
lying west of the Otoes and Omahas^ on

h3

154 PAWNEES, &C.

the Great Platte river. Their villages are
upon this stream and its lower tributaries.
They are said to have about two thousand
five hundred warriors. Among them are
still to be found every custom of old Indian
life. The earth-hut, the scalping-knife, the
tomahawk, and the scalps of their foes
dangUng from the posts in their smoky
dwellings, the wild war cries, the venerated
medicine bag, with the calumet of peace,
the sacred wampum that records their trea-
ties, the feasts and dances of peace and of
war, those of marriage and of sacrifice, the
moccasins, and leggings, and war-caps, and
horrid paintings ; the moons of the year,
as March, the 'worm moon,* April, the

* moon of plants,' May, the * moon of flow-
ers,' June, the * hot moon,' July, the * buck
moon,' August, the 'sturgeon moon,' Sep-
tember, the * corn moon,' October, the

* travelUng moon,' November, the * beaver
moon,' December, the * hunting moon,'
January, the * cold moon,' February, the

* snow moon,' and in reference to its phases,
the** dead moon" and "live moon;" and
days are counted by " sleeps," and
their years by ** snows." In a word, the
Pawnees are as yet unchanged by the en-
lightening influences of knowledge and

OTHER TRIBES. 155

religion. The philanthropy of the United
States Government, however, is putting
within their reach every inducement to im-
provement. By treaty, £400 worth of agri-
cultural implements is to be furnished
them annually for the term of five years,
or longer, at the discretion of the Pre-
sident of the United States ; also, £200
worth of live stock whenever the Presi-
dent shall believe them prepared to profit
thereby; also, £400 annually are to be
expended to support two smitheries, with
two smiths in each, for supplying iron,
steel, &c., for the term of ten years ; also
four grist mills, propelled by horse power ;
also four farmers during the term of five
years. Also the sum of £200 annually, for
ten years, is to be allowed for the support
of schools among them.

These are the emigrant and native Indians
within the " Indian Territory," and their
several conditions and circumstances, so far
as I have been able to learn them. The
other Indians in the Great Prairie Wilder-
ness will be briefly noticed under two divi-
sions — those living south, and those living
north of the Great Platte river.

There are living on the head waters of
Red river, and between that river and the

156 CUMANCHES, &C.

Rio Bravo del Norte, the remains of twelve
different tribes — ten of which have an aver-
age population of two hundred souls ; none of
them number more than four hundred. The
Carankouas and Tetaus, or Cumanches, are
more numerous. The former live about the
Bay of St. Bernard. They were always
inimical to the Mexicans and Spaniards ;
never would succumb to their authority, or
receive their religious teachers. And many
hard battles were fought in maintaining
their independence in these respects. In
1817, they amounted to about three thou-
sand, of which six hundred were warriors.

TheCumanches are supposed to be twenty
thousand strong. They are a brave vagrant
tribe, and never reside but a few days in a
place, but travel north with the buffalo in
the summer, and, as winter comes on, return
with them to the plains west of Texas. They
traverse the immense space of country ex-
tending from the Trinity and Brazos to the
Red River, and the head waters of the Ar-
kansas, and Colorado to the west, to the
Pacific Ocean, and thence to the head
streams of the Missouri, and thence to their
winter haunts. They have tents made of
neatly dressed skins, in the form of cones.
These, when they stop, are pitched so as to

CUMANCHES, &C. 157

form streets and squares. They pitch and
strike these tents in an astonishingly short
space of time. To every tent is attached
two pack-horses, the one to carry the tent,
and the other the polished cedar poles with
which it is spread. These loaded in a trice
— the saddle horses harnessed in still less
time — twenty thousand savages — men, wo-
men, and children, warriors and chiefs —
start at a signal whoop, travel the day,
again raise their city of tents to rest and
feed themselves and animals for another
march.

Thus- passes life with the Cumanches.
Their plains are covered with buffalo, elk,
deer, and wild horses. It is said that they
drink the blood of the buffalo warm from
the veins. They also eat the liver in its raw
state, using the gall as sauce. The dress
of the women is a long loose robe which
reaches from the chin to the ground, made
of deer skin dressed very neatly, and paint-
ed with jSgures of different colours and sig-
nifications. The dress of the men is close
pantaloons, and a hunting shirt or frock
made of the same beautiful material. They
are a warlike and brave race, and stand in
the relation of conquerors among the tribes
in the south. The Spaniards of New Mexico

158 A LEGEND.

are all acquainted with the strength of
their enemy, and their power to punish
those whom they hate. For many are the
scalps and death-dances among these In-
dians, which testify of wars and tomahawks
which have dug tombs for that poor apology
of European extraction. They are exceed-
ingly fond of stealing the objects of their
enemies' affection. Female children are
sought with the greatest avidity, and adopt-
ed or married. " About sixty years ago,"
as the tale runs, ** the daughter of the
Grovernor-General at Chilhuahua, was stolen
by them. The father immediately pursued,
and by an agent, after some weeks had
elapsed, purchased her ransom. But she
refused to return to her parents, and sent
them these words : * That the Indians had
tattooed her face according to their style of
beauty — had given her to be the wife of a
young man by whom she believed herself
enceinte — that her husband treated her
well, and reconciled her to his mode of life
— that she would be made more unhappy
by returning to her father under these
circumstances, than by remaining where
she was.' She continued to Uve with her
husband in the nation, and raised a family
of children."

SIOUX, &c. 159

There are the remains of fifteen or twenty
tribes in that part of the Great Prairie
Wilderness north of the Great Platte, and
north and west of the Indian Territory.
They average about eight hundred each.
The Sioux and the small-pox have reduced
them thus.

The Knistineaux chiefly reside in the
British possessions along the northern shores
of Lake Superior. Some bands of them
have established themselves south of lati-
tude 49'' north, near the head waters of
these branches of Red River of Lake Win-
nipeg, which rise south of the sources of
the Mississippi. They are moderate in
stature, well proportioned, and of great
activity. Mackenzie remarks that their
countenances are frank and agreeable, that
the females are well-formed, and their fea-
tures are more regular and comely than
those of any other tribe he saw upon the
continent. They are warlike — number
about three thousand ; but the Sioux are
annihilating them.

The Sioux claim a country equal in ex-
tent to some of the most powerful empires
of Europe. Their boundaries ** commence
at the Prairie du Chien, and ascend the
Mississippi on both sides to the River De

160 SIOUX, &c.

Corbeau, and up that to its source, from
thence to the sources of the St. Peter's,
thence to the * Montaigne de la Prairie,'
thence to the Missouri, and down that river
to the Omahas, thence to the sources of the
River Des -Moines, and thence to the place
of beginning." They also claim a large
territory south of the Missouri.

The country from Rum River to the
River de Corbeau is claimed by them and
the Chippeways, and has been the source
of many bloody encounters for the past twqr
hundred years. These Indians have con-
quered and destroyed immense numbers of
their race. They have swept the banks of
the Missouri from the Great Falls to the
mouth of the Great Platte and the plains
that lie north of the latter stream, between
the Black Hills and the Mississippi. They
are divided into six bands, viz. : the Me-
nowa Kontong, which resides around the
falls of St. Anthony, and the lower portion
of St. Peter's River ; the Washpetong,. still
higher on that stream ; the Sussetong, on
its head waters and those of Red River, of
Lake Winnipeg ; the Yanktons of the norths
who rove over the plains on the borders of
the Missouri valley south of the sources of
the St. Peter's ; the Yonktons Ahnah, who

PBMICAN. 161

live on the Missouri near the entrance of
James River ; the Tetons Brulos ; Tetons
Okandandas ; Tetons Minnekincazzo, and
Tetons Sahone, who reside along the banks
of the Missouri from the Great Bend north-
ward to the villages of the Riccarees. Theirs
is the country from which is derived the
colouring matter of that river. The plains
are strongly impregnated with Glauber
salts, alum, copperas, and sulphur. In the
spring of the year immense bluffs fall in the
stream ; and these, together with the leach-
ings from these medicated prairies, give to
the waters their mud colour, and purgative
qualities.

These bands comprise about twenty-
eight thousand souls. They subsist upon
buffalo meat, and the wild fruits of their
forests. The former is prepared for win-
ter, and for travelling use, in the fol-
lowing manner : — The lean parts of the
buffalo are cut into thin slices, dried over
a slow fire, in the sun, or by exposing it
to frost — pounded fine, and then, with a
portion of berries, mixed with an equal
quantity of fat from the humps and brisket,
or with marrow, in a boiling state, and
sewed up tightly in sacks of green hide, or
packed closely in baskets of wicker work.
This " pemican," as they call it, will keep

162 WILD RICE.

for several years. They also use much of
the wild rice, avena fatua, which grows in
great abundance on the St. Peter's, and
among the lakes and head streams of Red
River, of Winnipeg, and in other parts of
their territory. It grows in water from
four to seven feet deep with a muddy bot-
tom. The plant rises from four to eight
feet above the surface of the water, about
the size of the red cane of Tennessee, full
of joints, and of the colour and texture of
buU-rushes : the stalks above the water,

and the branches which bear the grain, re-
semble oats.

To these strange grain fields the wild
duck and geese resort for food in the
summer. And to prevent it from being
devoured by them, the Indians tie it, when
the kernel is in the milky state, just below
the head, into large bunches. This arrange-
ment prevents these birds from pressing
the heads down within their reach. When
ripe, the Indians pass among it with canoes
lined with blankets, into which they bend
the stalks, and whip off the grain with
sticks ; and so abundant is it, that an ex-
pert squaw will soon fill a canoe. After
being gathered, it is dried and put into
skins or baskets for use. They boil or
parch it, and eat it in the winter season,

FEATURES OP THE LAND. 163

with their pemican. This plant is found
no farther south than Illinois, no farther,
east than Sandusky Bay, and north nearly
to Hudson's Bay. The rivers and lakes of
the Sioux and Chippeway country are said
to produce annually several million bushels
of it. It is equally as nutritious and palat-
able as the Carolina rice. Carver also says
that the St. Peter's flows through a country
producing spontaneously all the necessaries^
of life in the greatest abundance. Besides
the wild rice, he informs us that every part
of the valley of that river ** is filled with
trees bending under their loads of plums,
grapes, and apples ; the meadows with
hops, and many sorts of vegetables, while
the ground is stored with edible roots, and
covered with such amazing quantities of
sugar-maple, that they would produce sugar
enough for any number of inhabitants."

Mr. Carver seems to have been, to say
the least, rather an enthusiastic admirer of
nature ; and although later travellers in the
country of the Naudowessies (Sioux) have
not been able to find grouped within it all
the fruits and flowers of an Eden, yet that
their lands lying on the Mississippi, the St.
Peter's, and the Red Rivers, produce a luxu-
rious vegetation, groves of fine timber sepa-

164 CHIPPEWAYS, &C.

rated by open plains of the rich wild grasses,
and by lakes and streams of pure water well
atored with fish ; that there are many valua-
ble edible roots there: and the whortle-
berry, blackberry, wild plumb and crab-
apple, other and later travellers have seen
and declared ; so that no doubt can be
entertained that this talented and victorious
tribe possess a very desirable and beautiful
country. A revolted band of the Sioux
called Osinipoilles, live near the Rocky
Mountains upon the Sascatchiwine river, a
pleasant champaign country, abounding in
^me. They subsist by the chase, and the
spoils of war. Their number is estimated
to be eight thousand. Their dwellings are
neat conical tents of tanned buffalo skins.

The Chippewyans or Chippeways, were
supposed by Lewis and Clark to inhabit the
country lying between the 60th and 65th
parallels of north latitude, and 100"" and
110* of west longitude. Other authori-
ties, and I believe more correct, assert that
they also occupy the head waters of the
Mississippi, Ottertail, and Leach, De Cor-
beau and Red rivers, and Winnipeg lake.
They are a numerous tribe, speak a copious
language, are timorous, vagrant, and selfish;
stature rather low ; features coarse ; hair

MARRIAGE, &C. 165

latik, and not unfrequently a sunburnt
brown ; women more agreeable (and who
can doubt the fact) than the men ; but
have an awkward gait; which proceeds
from their being accustomed, nine months
in the year, to wear snow shoes, and
drag sledges of a weight from two hun-
dred to four hundred pounds. They are
entirely submissive to their husbands ; and
for very trifling causes are treated with such
cruelty as to produce death 1 These people
betroth their children when quite young;
and when they arrive at puberty the cere-
mony of marriage is performed ; that is, the
bridegroom pays the market price for his
bride, and takes her to his lodge, not '' for
better or for worse," but to put her away and
take another when he pleases. Plurality of
wives is customary among them. They
generally wear the hair long. The braves
sometimes clip it in fantastic forms. The
women always wear it of great length,
braided in two queues, and dangling down
the back. Jealous husbands sometimes
despoil them of these tresses. Both sexes
make from one to four bars of lines upon
the forehead or cheeks, by drawing a thread
dipped in the proper colour beneath the skin
of those parts.

166 DRESS.

No people are more attentive to comfort
in dress than the Chippeways. It is com-
posed of deer and fawn skins, dressed with
the hair on, for the winter, and without the
hair for the summer wear. The male ward-
robe consists of shoes, leggings, frock and
cap, &c. The shoes are made in the usual
moccassin form, save that they sometimes
use the green instead of the tanned hide.
The leggings are made like the legs of pan-
taloons unconnected by a waistband. They
reach to the waist ; and are supported by a
belt. Under the belt a small piece of leather
is drawn, which serves as an apron before
and behind. The shoes and leggings are
sewed together. In the former are put
quantities of moose and reindeer hair ; and
additional pieces of leather as socks. The
frock or hunting shirt is in the form of a
peasant's frock. When girded around the
waist it reaches to the middle of the thigh.
The mittens are sewed to the sleeves, or
suspended by strings from the shoulders.
A kind of tippet surrounds the neck. The
skin of the deer's head furnishes a curious
covering to the head ; and a robe made of
several deer or fawn skins sewed together,
covers the whole. This dress is worn single
or dpuble, as circumstances suggest; but in

SNOW-SHOES, &C. 167

winter the hair side of the undersuit is worn
next the person, and that of the outer one
without. Thus arrayed, the Chippeway
will lay himself down on the ice, in the mid-
dle of a lake, and repose in comfort ; and
when rested, and disencumbered of the
snow-drifts which have covered him while
asleep, he mounts his snow shoes, and
travels on without fear of frosts or storm.
The dress of the women differs from that of
the men. Their leggings are tied below the
knee ; and their frock or chemise extends
down to the ankle. Mothers make these
garments large enough about the shoulders
to hold an infant ; and when travelling carry
their little ones upon their backs next the
skin.

Their arms and domestic apparatus, in
addition to guns, &c., obtained from the
whites, are bows and arrows, fishing-nets,
and lines made of green deer-skin thongs, and
nets of the same material for catching the
beaver, as he escapes from his lodge into
the water; and sledges and snow-shoes.
The snow-shoes are of very superior work-
manship. The inner part of the frame is
straight ; the outer one curved ; the ends
are brought to a point, and in front turned
up. This frame done, they are neatly placed

168 RELIGION, &C.

with light thongs of deer-skin. Their sledges
are made of red fir-tree boards, neatly po-
lished and turned up in front. The means
of sustaining life in the country claimed by
these Indians are abundant ; and if sufficient
forethought were used in laying in food for
winter, they might live in compeurative com-
fort. The woodless hills are covered with a
moss that sustains the deer and moose and
reindeer ; and when boiled, forms a gelati-
nous substance very acceptable to the
human palate. Their streams and lakes are
stored with the greatest abundance of valu-
able fish. But although more provident
than any other Indians on the continent,
they often sufier severely in the dead of
winter, when, to prevent death from cold,
they fly from their fishing stations to their
scanty woods.

They are superstitious in the extreme.
Almost every action of their lives is in-
fluenced by some whimsical notion. They
believe in the existence of a good and evil
spirit, that rule in their several depart-
ments over the fortunes of men ; and in a
state of future rewards and punishments.
They have an order of priests who adminis-
ter the rites of their religion — ofier sacrifices
at their solemn feasts, &c. They have con-

INDIAN TRADITIONS, 169

jurors who cure diseases — as rheumatism,
flux and consumption.

"The notion which these people enter-
tain of the creation is of a very singular
nature. They believe that at first the
earth was one vast and entire ocean, inha-
bited by no living creature except a mighty
Bird, whose eyes were fire, whose glances
were lightning, and the flapping of whose
wings was thunder. On his descent to the
ocean, and touching it, the earth instantly
arose, and remained on the surface of the
waters. This omnipotent Bird then called
forth all the variety of animals from the
earth except the Chippeways, who were
produced from a dog. And this circum-
stance occasions their aversion to the flesh
of that animal, as well as the people who
eat it. This extraordinary tradition pro-
ceeds to relate that the great Bird, having
finished his work, made an arrow, which
was to be preserved with great care and to
remain untouched ; but that the Chippe-
ways were so devoid of understanding as to
carry it away ; and the sacrilege so enraged
the great Bird that he has never since ap-
peared."

" They have also a tradition among them
that they originally came from another

VOL, 1. I

170 INDIAN TRADITIONS,

country, inhabited by very wicked people,
and had traversed a great lake, which was
narrow, shallow and full of islands, where
they had suffered great misery — it being
always winter, with ice and deep snow.
At the Coppermine River, where they had
made the first land, the ground was co-.
vered with copper, over which a body of
earth had since been collected to the depth
of a man's height. They believe, also, that
in ancient times, their ancestors lived till
their feet were worn out with walking, and
their throats with eating. They describe a
deluge when the waters spread over the
whole earth, except the highest mountains,
on the top of which they preserved them-
selves. They believe that immediately after
their death they pass into another world,
where they arrive at a large river, on which
they embark in a stone canoe ; and that a
gentle current bears them on to an exten-
sive lake, in the centre of which is a most
beautiful island ; and that in view of this
delightful abode they receive that judge-
ment for their conduct during life, which
determines their final state and unalterable
allotment. If their good actions are de-
clared to predominate, they are landed
upon the island, where there is to be no

MISSIONARY. LABOURS. I7l

end to their happiness ; which, however, to
their notion, consists in an eternal enjoy-
ment of sensual pleasure and carnal gratifi-
cation. But if there be bad actions to
weigh down the balance, the stone canoe
sinks at once, and leaves them up to their
chins in water, to behold and regret the
reward enjoyed by the good, and eternally
struggling, but with unavailing endeavours,
to reach the blissful island from which they
are excluded for ever.'*

It would be interesting, in closing this
notice of the Great Prairie wilderness, to
give an account of the devoted Missiona-
ries of the various denominations who are
labouring to cultivate the Indian in a man-
ner which at once bespeaks their good sense
and honest intentions. But, as it would
require more space and time than can be
devoted to it, merely to present a skeleton
view of their multifarious doings, I shall
only remark, in passing, that they appear
to have adopted, in their plan of operations,
the principle that to civilize these people,
one of the first steps is to create and gratify
those physical wants peculiar to the civi-
lized state ; and also, that the most suc-
cessful means of civilizing their mental
state, is to teach them a language which is

1 2

172 MISSIONARY LABOURS.

filled with the learning, sciences^ and the
religion which has civilized Europe, that
they may enter at once, and with the fullest
vigour into the immense harvests of know-
ledge and virtue which past ages and supe-
rior races have prepared for them.

FORT WILLIAM. 173

CHAPTER IV.

Fort William — its Structure, Owners, People, Animals,
Business, Adventures, and Hazards — A Division — A
March — Fort el Puebla — ^Trappers and Whisky — A
Genius — ^An Adventurous Iroquois — A Kentuckian—
Horses and Servant — A Trade — ^A Start — Arkansas
and Country — ^Wolfieuio Mountains — Creeks — Rio
Wolfeno — ^A Plague of Egypt — Cordilleras — James's
Peak— Pike's Peak— A Bath— The Prison of the Ar-
kansas — ^Entrance of the Rocky Moimtains — ^A Vale.

Fort William, or Bent's Fort, on the
north side of the Arkansas, eighty miles north
by east from Taos in the Mexican dominions,
and about one hundred and sixty miles from
the mountains, was erected by gentlemen
owners in 1832, for purposes of trade with
the Spaniards of Santa F6 and Taos, and
the Eutaw, Cheyenne and Cumanche In-
dians. It is in the form of a parallelogram,
the northern and southern sides of which
are about a hundred and fifty feet, and the
eastern and western a hundred feet in length.
The walls are six or seven feet in thickness
at the base, and seventeen or eighteen
feet in height. The fort is entered through

174 FORT WILLIAM.

a large gateway on the eastern side, in
which swing a pair of immense plank
doors. At the north-west and south-east
corners stand two cylindrical hastions,
about ten feet in diameter and thirty feet
in height.

These are properly perforated for the
use of cannon and small arms ; and com-
mand the fort and the plains around it.
The interior area is divided into two parts.
The one and the larger of them occupies
the north-eastern portion. It is nearly a
square. A range of two story houses, the
well, and the blacksmith's shop are on the
north side; on the west and south are
ranges of one-story houses ; on the east the
blacksmith's shop, the gate and the outer
wall. This is the place of business. Here
the owners and their servants have their
sleeping and cooking apartments, and here
are the storehouses. In this area the In-
dians in the season of trade gather in large
numbers and barter, and trade, and buy,
under the guardianship of the carronades
of the bastions loaded with grape, and
looking upon them. From this area a pas-
sage leads between the eastern outer wall
and the one-story houses, to the caral or
cavy-yard, which occupies the remainder
of the space within the walls. This is the

FORT WILLIAM. 175

place for the horses, mules, &c., to repose
in safety from Indian depredations at night.
Beyond the caral to the west and adjoining
the wall, is the waggon-house. It is strongly
built, and large enough to shelter twelve or
fifteen of those large vehicles which are
used in conveying the peltries to St. Louis,
and goods thence to the post. The long
drought of summer renders it necessary to
protect them from the sun.

The walls of the fort, its bastions and
houses, are constructed of adobies or un-
burnt bricks, cemented together with a
mortar of clay. The lower floors of the
building are made of clay, a little moistened
and beaten hard with large wooden mallets ;
the upper floors of the two-story houses
and the roofs of all are made in the same
way and of the same material, and are sup-
ported by heavy transverse timbers covered
with brush. The tops of the houses being
flat and gravelled, furnish a fine promenade
in the moonlight evenings of that charming
climate. The number of men employed in
the business of this establishment is sup-
posed to be about sixty. Fifteen or twenty
of them in charge of one of the owners, are
employed in taking to market the bufialo
robes, &c., which are gathered at the fort,

176 FORT WILLIAM.

and in bringing back with them new stocks
of goods for future purchases. Another
party is employed in hunting buffalo meat
in the neighbouring plains ; and another
in guarding the animals while they cut
their daily food on the banks of the
river. Others, under command of an ex-
perienced trader, goes into some distant
Indian camp to trade. One or more of the
owners, and one or another of these par-
ties which chances to be at the post, defend
it and trade, keep the books of the com-
pany, &c. Each of these parties encounters
dangers and hardships, from which persons
within the borders of civilization would
shrink.

The country in which the fort is situated
is in a manner the common field of several
tribes, unfriendly alike to one another and
the whites. The Eutaws and Cheyennes of
the mountains near Santa F^, and the Paw-
nees of the great Platte, come to the Upper
Arkansas to meet the buffalo in their annual
migrations to the north ; and on the trail of
these animals follow up the Cumanches.
And thus in the months of June, August,
and September, there are in the neighbour-
hood of these traders from fifteen to twenty
thousand savages ready and panting for

HAZARDS AND DANGERS. 177

plunder and blood. If they engage in bat-
tling out old causes of contention among
themselves, the Messrs. Bents feel com-
paratively safe in their solitary fortress.
But if they spare each other's property and
lives, they occasion great anxieties at
Fort William ; every hour of day and night
is pregnant with danger. These untameable
savages may drive beyond reach the buffalo
on which the garrison subsists ; may begirt
the fort with their legions, and cut off sup-
plies ; may prevent them from feeding their
animals upon the plains ; may bring upon
them starvation and ]the gnawing their own
flesh at the door of death ! All these are
expectations, which as yet the ignorance
alone of the Indians as to the weakness of
the post, prevents from becoming realities.
But at what moment some chieftain or white
desperado may give them the requisite
knowledge, is an uncertainty which occa-
sions at Fort William many well-grounded
fears for life and property.

Instances of the daring intrepidity of the
Cumanches which occurred just before and
after my arrival here, will serve to show the
hazards and dangers of which I have
spoken. About the middle of June, 1839,
a band of sixty of them, under cover of

I 3

178 THE HORSE-GUARD.

night, crossed the river, and concealed
themselves among the bushes growing
thickly on the bank near the place where
the animals of the establishment feed during
the day. No sentinel being on duty at the
time, their presence was unobserved ; and
when morning came the Mexican horse-
guard mounted his horse, and with the
noise and shoutings usual with that class of
servants when so employed, drove his
charge out of the fort, and riding rapidly
from side to side of the rear of the band,
urged them on, and soon had them nibbling
the short dry grass in a little vale within
grape-shot distance of the guns of the bas-
tions. It is customary for a guard of ani-
mals about these trading-posts to take his
station beyond his charge ; and if they stray
from each other, or attempt to stroll too
far, to drive them together, and thus keep
them in the best possible situation to be
hurried hastily to the caral, should the In-
dians, or other evil persons, swoop down
upon them. As there is constant danger
of this, his horse is held by a long rope
and grazes around him, that he may be
mounted quickly, at the first alarm, for
a retreat within the walls. The faithful
guard at Bent's, on the morning of the dis-

HIS DEATH. 179

aster 1 am relating, had dismounted after
driving out his animals, and sat upon the
ground, watching with the greatest fidelity
for every call of duty, when these fifty or
sixty Indians sprang from their hiding-
places, ran upon the animals, yelUng hor-
ribly, and attempted to drive them across
the river. The guard, however, nothing
daunted, mounted quickly, and drove his
horse at full speed among them. The mules
and horses hearing his voice amidst the
frightning yells of the savages, immediately
started at a lively pace for the fort ; but the
Indians were on all sides, and bewildered
them. The guard still pressed them on-
ward, and called for help ; and on they
rushed, despite the efibrts of the Indians
to the contrary. The battlements were
covered with men. They shouted encou-
ragement to the brave guard — ** Onward!
onward !" and the injunction* was obeyed.
He spurred his horse to his greatest speed
from side to side, and whipped the hinder-
most of the band with his leading rope. He
had saved every animal ; he was within
twenty yards of the open gate; he fell;
three arrows from the bows of the Cu-
manches had cloven his heart. Relieved
of him, the lords of the quiver gathered

180 AN OLD TRAPPER.

their prey, and drove them to the borders of
Texas, without injury to life or limb. I
saw this faithful guard's grave. He had
been buried a few days. The wolves had
been digging into it. Thus forty or fifty
mules and horses, and their best servant's
life, were lost to the Messrs. Bents in a sin-
gle day. I have been informed also that
those horses and mules, which my com-
pany had taken great pleasure in recovering
for them in the plains, were also stolen in
a similar manner soon after my departure
from the post ; and that gentlemen owners
were in hourly expectation of an attack
upon the fort itself.

The same liability to the loss of life and
property attends the trading expeditions to
the encampments of the tribes.

An anecdote of this service was related
to me. An old trapper was sent from this
fort to the Eutaw camp, with a well-assort-
ed stock of goods, and a body of men to
guard it. After a tedious march among
the snows and swollen streams and declivi-
ties of the mountain, he came in sight of
the village. It was situated in a sunken
valley, among the hideously dark cliffs of
the Eutaw mountains ; and so small was it,
and so deep, that the overhanging heights

ANECDOTE, 181

not only protected it from the blasts of ap-
proaching winter, but drew to their frozen
embrace the falling snows, and left this
valley its grasses and flowers, while their
own awful heads were glittering with per-
petual frosts.

The traders encamped upon a small
swell of land that overlooked the smoking
wigwams, and sent a deputation to the
chiefs to parley for the privilege of open-
ing a trade with the tribe. They were
received with great haughtiness by those
monarchs of the wilderness, and were asked
**why they had dared to enter the Eutaw
mountains without their permission . ' ' Being
answered that they " had travelled from the
fort to that place, in order to ask their high-
nesses' permission to trade with the Eiu-
taws," the principal chief replied, that no
permission had been given to them to come
there, nor to remain. The interview ended,
and the traders returned to their camp with
no very pleasant anticipations as to the
result of their expedition. Their baggage
was placed about for breastworks ; their
animals drawn in nearer, and tied firmly to
stakes ; and a patrol guard stationed, as
the evening shut in. Every preparation
for the attack, which appeared determined
upon on the part of the Indians, being

182 DANGERS OP

made, they waited for the first ray of day—
a signal of dreadful havoc among all the
tribes — with the determined anxiety which
fills the bosom, sharpens the sight, nerves
the arm, and opens the ear to the slightest
rustle of a leaf, so remarkably, among the
grave, self-possessed, and brave traders of
the Great Prairie and Mountain Wilder-
ness.

During the first part of the night the
Indians hurrying to and fro through the vil-
lage, their war speeches and war dances, and
the painting their faces with red and black,
in alternate stripes, and an occasional scout
warily approaching the camp of the whites,
indicated an appetite for a conflict that ap-
peared to fix, with prophetic certainty, the
fate of the traders. Eight hundred Indians to
fifty whites, made fearful odds. The morn-
ing light streamed faintly up the east at
last. The traders held their rifles with the
grasp of dying men. Another and another
beam kindled on the dark blue vault, and
one by one quenched the stars. The silence
of the tomb rested on the world. They
breathed heavily , with teeth set in terrible
resolution. The hour — the moment — had
arrived! Behind a projecting ledge, the
dusky forms of three or four hundred Eu-
taws undulated near the 'ground^ like herds

TRADING EXPEDITIONS. 183

of bears intent on their prey. They ap-
proached the ledge, and for an instant lay
flat on their faces, and motionless. Two or
three of them gently raised their heads high
enough to look over upon the camp of the
whites.

The day had broken over half the firma-
ment ; the rifles of the traders were levelled
from behind the baggage, and glistened
faintly; a crack — a whoop — a shout — a
rout ! The scalp of one of the peepers over
the ledge had been bored by the whistling
lead from one of the rifles — the chief war-
rior had fallen. The Indians retreated to
their camp, and the whites retained their
position, each watching the others move-
ments. The position of the traders was
such as could command the country within
long rifle-shot on all sides; the Indians,
therefore, declined an attack. The num-
ber of their foes, and perhaps some pru-
dential consideration as to having an advan-
tageous location, prevented the traders from
making an assault. Well would it have
been for them had they continued to be
careful. About nine o'clock, the warlike
appearance gave place to signs of peace.
Thirty or forty unarmed Indians, denuded
of clothing and of paint, came towards the

184 THE SACRED CALUMET

camp of the traders, singing and dancing,
and bearing the Sacred Calumet, or Great
Pipe of Peace. A chief bore it who had
acted as lieutenant to the warrior that had
been shot. Its red marble bowl, its stem
broad and long, and carved into hierogly-
phics of various colours and significations,
and adorned with feathers of beautiful birds,
was soon recognized hy the traders, and
secured the bearer and his attendants a
reception into their camp. Both parties
seated themselves in a great circle ; the pipe
was filled with tobacco and herbs from the
venerated medicine bag ; the well-kindled
coal was reverently placed upon the bowl ;
its sacred stem was then turned towards the
heavens, to invite the Great Spirit to the
solemn assembly, and to implore his aid ;
it was then turned towards the earth, to
avert the influence of malicious demons ;
it was then borne in a horizontal position,
till it completed a circle, to call to their
help in the great smoke, the beneficent,
invisible agents which live on the earth, in
the waters, and the upper air ; the chief
took two whiffs, and blew the smoke first
towards heaven, and then round upon the
ground ; and so did others, until all had
inhaled the smoke — the breath of Indian

OF PEACE. 185

fidelity — and blown it to the earth and hea-
ven, loaded with the pious vows that are
supposed to mingle with it while it curls
among the lungs near the heart. The chief
then rose and said, in the Spanish language,
which the Eutaws east of the mountains
speak well, " that he was anxious that
peace might be restored between the par-
ties ; that himself and people were desirous
that the traders should remain with them ;
and that if presents were made to him to ,
the small amount of £140, no objection
would remain to the proposed proceedings
of the whites ; but on no account could
they enter the Eutaw country without pay-
ing tribute in some form. They were in
the Eutaw country, the tribute was due,
they had killed a Eutaw chief, and the
blood of a chief was due ; but that the latter
could be compromised by a prompt com-
pliance with his proposition in regard to
the presents."

The chief trader was explicit in his re-
ply. " That he had come into the coun-
try to sell goods, not to give them away ;
that no tribute could be paid to him or
to any other Eutaw; and that if fighting
were a desideratum with the chief and
his people, he would do his part to make

18G ESCAPE OF THE TRADERS.

it sufficiently lively to be interesting."
The council broke up tumultuously. The
Indians carried back the wampum belts to
their camp, held war councils, and whipt
and danced around posts painted red, and
recounted their deeds of valour, and showed
high in air, as they leaped in the frenzy of
mimic warfare, the store of scalps that gar-
nished the doors of the family lodges ; and
around their camp-fires the following night
were seen features distorted with the most
ghastly wrath. Indeed, the savages ap-
peared resolved to destroy the whites. And
as they were able, by their superior numbers
to do so, it was deemed advisable to get be*
yond their reach, with all practicable haste.
At midnight, therefore, when the fires had
smouldered low, the traders saddled in silent
haste, bound their bales upon their pack-
mules, and departed while the wolves were
howling the hour ; and succeeded by the
dawn of day in reaching a gorge where
they had expected the Indians (if they had
discovered their departure in season to reach
it) would oppose their retreat. On recon-
noitering, however, it was found clear ; and
with joy they entered the defile, and be-
held from its eastern opening, the wide cold
plains, and the sun rising, red and cheerful,

DEPREDATIONS OF THE INDIANS. 187

on the distant outline of the morning sky.
A few days after, they reached the post —
not a little glad that their flesh was not rot-
ting with many who had been less success-
ful than themselves, in escaping death at
the hands of the Eutaws. For the insults,
robberies, and murders, committed by this
and other tribes, the traders Bents have
sought opportunities to take well-measured
vengeance : and liberally and bravely have
they often dealt it out. But the conse-
quence seems to have been the exciting
of the bitterest enmity between the parties ;
which results in a little more inconvenience
to the traders than to the Indians ; for the
latter, to gratify their propensity to steal,
and their hatred to the former, make an
annual levy upon the cavy-yard of the
fortress, which, as it contains usually from
eighty to one hundred horses, mules, &c.,
furnishes to the men of the tomahawk a
very comfortable and satisfactory retribution
for the inhibition of the owners of them
upon their immemorial right to rob and
murder, in manner and form as prescribed
by the customs of their race.

The business within the walls of the post
is done by clerks and traders. The former
of these are more commonly young gentle-

188 FORT WILLIAM.

men from the cities of the States; their
duty is to keep the books of the establish-
ment. The traders are generally selected
from among those daring individuals who
have traversed the Prairie and Mountain
Wilderness with goods or traps, and under-
stand the best mode of dealing with the
Indians. Their duty is to weigh sugar,
coffee, powder, &c., in a Connecticut pint-
cup ; and measure red baize, beads, &c.,
and speak the several Indian languages that
have a name for beaver skins, buffalo robes,
and money. They are as fine fellows as
can anywhere be found.

Fort William is owned by three brothers,
by the name of Bent, from St. Louis. Two
of them were at the post when we arrived.
They seemed to be thoroughly initiated into
Indian life; dressed like chiefs — ^in moc-
casins thoroughly garnished with beads and
porcupine quills ; in trousers of deer skin,
with long fringes of the same extending
along the outer seam from the angle to the
hip ; in the splendid hunting-shirt of the
same material, with sleeves fringed on the
elbow seam from the wrist to the shoulder,
and ornamented with figures of porcupine
quills of various colours, and leathern fringe
around the lower edge of the body. And

TRADING POSTS. 189

chiefs they were in the authority exercised
in their wild and lonely fortress.

A trading establishment to be known
must be seen. A solitary abode of men,
seeking wealth in the teeth of danger and
hardship, rearing its towers over the uncul-
tivated wastes of nature, like an old baro-
nial castle that has withstood the wars and
desolations of centuries ; Indian women
tripping around its battlements in their glit-
tering moccasins and long deer skin wrap-
pers ; their children, with most perfect
forms, and the carnation of the Saxon
cheek struggling through the shading of
the Indian, and chattering now Indian, and
now Spanish or English ; the grave owners
and their clerks and traders, seated in the
shade of the piazza, smoking the long native
pipe, passing it from one to another, draw-
ing the precious smoke into the lungs by
short hysterical sucks till filled, and then
ejecting it through the nostrils ; or it may
be, seated around their rude table, spread
with coflFee or tea, jerked buffalo meat, and
bread made of unbolted wheaten meal from
Taos ; or, after eating, laid comfortably
upon their pallets of straw and Spanish
blankets, and dreaming to the sweet notes
of a flute ; the old trappers withered with

190 TRADING POSTS.

exposure to the rending elements, the half-
tamed Indian, and half civilized Mexican
servants, seated on the ground around a
large tin pan of dry meat, and a tankard of
water, their only rations, relating adven-
tures about the shores of Hudson's Bay, on
the rivers Columbia and Mackenzie, in the
Great Prairie Wilderness, and among the
snowy heights of the mountains ; and deli-
vering sage opinions about the destination
of certain bands of buffalo ; of the distance
to the Blackfoot country, and whether my
wounded man was hurt as badly as Bill the
mule was, when the *' meal party" was fired
upon by the Cumanches —present a tolera-
ble idea of every thing within its walls.

If we add, the opening of the gates on
a winter's morning — the cautious sliding in
and out of the Indians whose tents stand
around the fort, till the whole area is filled
six feet deep with their long hanging black
locks, and dark watchful flashing eyes ; and
traders and clerks busy at their work ; and
the patrols walking the battlements with
loaded muskets ; and the guards in the
bastions standing with burning matches by
the carronades ; and when the sun sets, the
Indians retiring again to their camp outside,
to talk over their newly purchased blankets

EL PUEBLA. 191

and beads, and to sing and drink and dance;
and the night sentinel on the fort that treads
his weary watch away ; we shall present a
tolerable view of this post in the season of
business.

It was summer time with man and
beast when I was there. The fine days
spent in the enjoyment of its hospitalities
were of great service to ourselves, and in
recruiting our jaded animals. The man,
too, who had been wounded on the Santa
F6 trade, recovered astonishingly.

The mutineers, on the 11th of July,
started for Bent's Fort, on the Platte ; and
myself, with three sound and good men,
and one wounded and bad one, strode our
animals and took trail again for the moun-
tains and Oregon Territory. Five miles
above Fort William, we came to Fort El
Puebla. It is constructed of adobies, and
consists of a series of one-story houses
built around a quadrangle, in the general
style of those at Fort William. It belongs
to a company of American and Mexican
trappers, who, wearied with the service,
have retired to this spot to spend the re-
mainder of their days in raising grain, ve-
getables, horses, mules, &c., for the various

192 RETIRED TRADERS.

trading establishments in these regions.
And as the Arkansas, some four miles above
the post, can be turned from its course over
large tracts of rich land, these individuals
might realize the happiest results from their
industry ; — for, as it is impossible, from the
looseness of the soil and the scarcity of rain,
to raise any thing thereabout without irri-
gation ; and, as this is the only spot, for a
long distance up and down the Arkansas,
where any considerable tracts of land can be
watered, they could supply the market with
these articles without any fear of competition.
But these, like the results of many honest
intentions, are wholly crippled by want of
capital and a superabundance of whisky.
The proprietors are poor, and when the keg
is on tap, dream away their existence under
its dangerous fascinations. Hence it is
that these men, destitute of the means to
carry out their designs in regard to farming,
have found themselves not wholly unemploy-
ed in drunkenness ; a substitute which many
other individuals have before been known to
prefer. They have, however, a small stock,
consisting of horses and mules, cattle,
sheep, and goats ; and still maintain their
original intention of irrigating and culti-

LIFE OF A TRAPPER. 193

vating the land in the vicinity of their es-
tablishment.

We arrived here about four o'clock in the
afternoon ; and, being desirous of purchasing
a horse for one of the men, and making
some farther arrangements for my journey,
I determined to stop for the night. At this
place I found a number of independent
trappers, who after the spring-hunt had
come down from the mountains, taken
rooms free of rent, stored their fur, and
opened a trade for whisky. One skin,
valued at four dollars, buys in that market
one pint of whisky ; no more, no less.
Unless, indeed, some theorists in the vanity
of their dogmas, may consider it less, when
plentifully mollified with water ; a process
that increases in value, as the faucet falters
in the energy of its action ; for the seller
knows, that if the pure liquid should so
mollify the whisky, as to delay the hopes of
merriment too long, another beaver-skin
will be taken from the jolly trapper's pack,
and another quantity of the joyful mixture
obtained. Thus matters will proceed, until
the stores of furs, the hardships of the
hunt, the toils and exposures of trapping,
the icy streams of the wilderness, the bloody
fight, foot to foot, with the knife and toma-

VOL. I. K

194 A GENIUS,

hawk, and the long days and nights of
thirst and starvation, are satisfactorily can-
celled in the dreanxy felicity which whisky,
rum, gin, brandy and ipecacuanha, if pro-
perly administered, are accustomed to
produce.

One of these trappers was from New
Hampshire ; he had been educated at Dart-
mouth College, and was altogether one of
the most remarkable men I ever knew. A
splendid gentleman, a finished scholar, a
critic on English and Roman literature, a
politician, a trapper, an Indian ! His sta-
ture was something more than six feet ; his
shoulders and chest were broad, and his
arms and lower limbs well formed, and very
muscular. His forehead was high and ex-
pansive ; Causality, Comparison, Eventu-
ality, and all the perceptive organs, (to use
a phrenological description), remarkably
large. Locality was, however, larger than
any other organ in the frontal region.
Benevolence, Wonder, Ideality, Secretive-
ness, Destructiveness and Adhesiveness,
Combativeness, Self-Esteem and Hope were
very high. The remaining organs were low.
His head was clothed with hair as black as
jet, two and a half feet in length, smoothly
combed, and ha,nging dpwn his back. He

A GENIUS. r95

was dressed in a deer-skin frock, leggings
and moccasins ; not a shred of cloth ahout
his person. On my first interview with
him, he addressed me with the stiflf, cold
formality of one conscious of his own im-
portance ; and, in a manner that he thought
unobserved, scrutinized the movement of
every muscle of my face, and every word
which I uttered. When any thing was
said of political events in the States or
Europe, he gave silent and intense attention.
I left him without any very good impres-
sions of his character ; for I had induced
him to open his compressed mouth but
once, and then to make the no very agree-
able inquiries, *' When do you start ?" and
" What route do you take ?" At my second
interview, he was more familiar. Having
ascertained that he was proud of his learning,
I approached him through that medium.
He seemed pleased at this compliment to
his superiority over those around him, and
at once became easy and talkative. His
*'Alma Mater" was described and rede-
scribed ; all the fields, and walks, and rivu-
lets, the beautiful Connecticut, the evergreen
primitive ridges lying along its banks, which,
he said, '' had smiled for a thousand ages on
the march of decay ;" were successive

k2

196 A GENIUS.

themes of his vast imagination. His des-
criptions were minute and exquisite. He
saw in every thing all that Science sees,
together with all that his capacious intel-
lect, instructed and imbued with the wild
fancyings and legends of his race, could
see. I inquired the reason of his leaving
civilized life for a precarious livelihood in
the wilderness. " For reasons found in the
nature of my race," he replied. ''The
Indian's eye cannot be satisfied with a
description of things, how beautiful soever
may be the style, or the harmonies of verlse
in which it is conveyed. For neither the
periods of burning eloquence, nor the
mighty and beautiful creations of the
imagination, can unbosom the treasures
and realities as they live in their own
native magnificence on the eternal moun-
tains, and in the secret, untrodden vale.

" As soon as you thrust the ploughshare
under the earth, it teems with worms and
useless weeds. It increases population to
an unnatural extent ; creates the necessity
of penal enactments, builds the jail, erects
the gallows, spreads over the human face a
mask of deception and selfishness, and sub-
stitutes villany, love of wealth and power,
and the slaughter of millions for the gra-

A G£NIUS. 197

tification of some individual instead of
the single-minded honesty, the hospitality,
the honour and the purity of the natural
state. Hence, wherever Agriculture appears,
the increase of moral and physical wretch-
edness induces the thousands of necessities,
as they are termed, for abridging human
liberty ; for fettering down the mind to the
principles of right, derived, not from nature,
but from a restrained and forced condition
of existence. And hence my race, with
mental and physical habits as free as the
waters which flow from the hills, become
restive under the rules of civilized life ;
dwindle to their graves under the control
of laws, customs, and forms, which have
grown out of the endless vices, and the
factitious virtue of another race. Red men
often acquire and love the Sciences. But
with the nature which the Great Spirit has
given them, what are all their truths to them?
Would an Indian ever measure the height
of a mountain that he could climb ? No,
never. The legends of his tribe tell him
nothing about quadrants, and base lines and
angles. Their old braves, however, have
for ages watched from the cliffs, the green
life in the spring, and the yellow death in
the autumn, of their holy forests. Why
should he ever calculate an eclipse ? He

198 A GENIUS.

always knew such occurrences to be the
doings of the Great Spirit.

" Science, it is true, can tell the times
and seasons of their coming ; but the In-
dian, when they do occur, looks through
nature, without the aid of science, up to its
cause. Of what use is a Lunar to him ?
His swift canoe has the green embowered
shores, and well-known headlands, to guide
its course. In fine, what are the arts of
peace, of war, of agriculture, or any thing
civilized, to him ? His nature and its ele-
ments, like the pine which shadows its
wigwam, are too mighty, too grand, of too
strong a fibre, to form a stock on which to
engraft the rose or the violet of polished
life. No. I must range the hills, I must
always be able to out-travel my horses, I
must always be able to strip my own ward-
robe from the backs of the deer and bufialo,
and to feed upon their rich loins ; I must
always be able to punish my enemy with
my own hand, or I am no longer an Indian.
And if I am any thing else, I am a mere
imitation of an ape."

The enthusiasm with which these sen-
timents were uttered, impressed me with
an awe I had never previously felt for
the unborrowed dignity and indepen-
dence of the genuine, original cha-

A TRAPPER. 199

racter of the American Indians. Enfeebled,
and reduced to a state of dependence by
disease and the crowding hosts of civilized
men, we find among them still, too much
of their own, to adopt the character of
another race, too much bravery to feel like
a conquered people, and a preference of
annihilation to the abandonment of that
course of life, consecrated by a thousand
generations of venerated ancestors.

This Indian has been trapping among the
Rocky Mountains for seventeen years.
During that time, he has been often em-
ployed as an express to carry news from
one trading post to another, and from the
mountains to Missouri. In these journeys
he has been remarkable for the directness
of his courses, and the exceedingly short
space of time required to accomplish them.
Mountains which neither Indian nor white
man dared attempt to scale, if opposing his
right-line track, he has crossed. Angry
streams, heavy and cold from the snows,
and plunging and roaring among the gird-
ing caverns of the hills, he has swum ; he
has met the tempest as it groaned over the
plains, and hung upon the trembling towers
of the everlasting hills ; and without a
horse, or even a dog, traversed often the
terrible and boundless wastes of mountains,

200 AN lUOQUOIS TRAPPER.

and plains, and desert valleys, through
which I am travelling ; and the ruder the
blast, the larger the bolts, and the louder
the peals of the dreadful tempest, when the
earth and the sky seem joined by a moving
cataract of flood and flame driven by the
wind, the more was it like himself, a free,
unmarred manifestation of the sublime
energies of nature. He says that he never
intends again to visit the States, or any
other part of the earth ** which has been
torn and spoiled by the slaves of agricul-
ture." " I shall live," said he, '' and die
in the wilderness." And assuredly he
should thus live and die. The music of
the rushing waters should be his requiem,
and the Great Wilderness his tomb.

Another of these peculiar men was an
Iroquois from Canada ; a stout, old man,
with a flat nose, broad face, small twink-
ling black eyes, a swarthy, dirty com-
plexion, a mouth that laughed from ear to
ear. He was always relating some wonderful
tale of a trapper's life, and was particularly
fond of describing his escapes from the
Sioux and Blackfeet, while in the service
of the Hudson's Bay Company. On one
occasion he had separated from his fellow-
trappers and travelled far up the Missouri

AN IROQUOIS TRAPPER. 201

into a particularly beautiful valley. It was
the very spot he had sought in all his wan-
derings, as a retreat .*for himself and his
squaw to live in till they should die. It
appeared to him like the gateway to the
Isles of the Blest. The lower mountains
were covered with tall pines, and above and
around, except in the east, where the morn-
ing sun sent in his rays, the bright glittering
ridges rose high against the sky, decked in
the garniture of perpetual frosts. Along
the valley lay a clear, pure lake, in the cen-
tre of which played a number of fountains,
that threw their waters many feet above its
surface, and sending tiny waves rippling
away to the. pebbly shores, made the moun-
tains and groves that were reflected from
its rich bosom seem to leap and clap their
hands for joy, at the sacred quiet that
reigned among them.

The old Indian pitched his skin tent oi
the shore, in a little copse of hemlock, and
set his traps. Having done this, he ex-
plored carefully every part of the neigh-
bouring mountains for ingress and egress,
" signs," &c. His object in this was to
ascertain if the valley were frequented by
human beings ; and if there were places of
escape, should it be entered by hostile per-

k3

202 AN IROQUOIS TRAPPER.

sons through the pass that led himself to
it. He found no other pass, except one
for the waters of the lake through a deep
chasm of the mountain ;• and this was such
that no one could descend it aUve to the
lower valleys. For as he waded and swam
by turns down its still waters, he soon found
himself drawn by an increasing current,
which sufficiently indicated to him the
cause of the deep roar that resounded from
the caverns beyond. He accordingly made
the shore, and climbed along among the
projecting rocks till he overlooked an abyss
of fallen rocks, into which the stream
poured and foamed and was lost in the
mist. He returned to his camp satisfied^
He had found an undiscovered valley,
stored with beaver and trout, and grass for
his horses, where he could trap and fish and
dream awhile in safety. And every morning,
for three delightful weeks, did he draw the
beaver from the deep pools into which they
had plunged when the quick trap had
seized them, and stringing them two and
two together over his pack-horse, bore them
to his camp ; and with his long side-knife
stripped off the skins of fur, pinned them
to the ground to dry, and in his camp kettle
cooked the much-prized tails for his mid*

A KBNTUCKIAN TRAPPER. 203

day repast. " Was it not a fiae hunt
that ?" asked he ; ** beaver as thick as
musquitoes, trout as plenty as water. But
the ungodly Blackfeet 1" The sun had
thrown a few bright rays upon the rim of
the eastern firmament, Wheti the Blackfeet
war-whoop rang around his tent — a direful
*' whoop-ah-hooh," ending with a yell,
piercing harsh and. shrill, through the
clenched teeth. He had but one means of
escape — the lake. Into it he plunged,
beneath a shower of poisoned arrows-^
plunged deeply— and swam under while he
could endure the absence of air ; he rose,
he was in the midst of his foes swimming
and shouting around him ; down again, up
to breathe, and on he swam with long and
powerful sweeps. The pursuit was long,
but at last our man entered the chasm he
had explored, plunged along the cascade as
near as he dared, clung to a shrub that grew
from the crevice of the rock, and lay under
water for the approach of his pursuers. On
they came, they passed, they shrieked and
plunged for ever into the abyss of mist.

Another individual of these veteran trap-
pers was my guide, Kelly, a blacksmith by
trade, from Kentucky. He left his native
State about twelve years ago, and entered

204 A KENTUCKIAN TRAPPER.

the service of the American Fur Company.
Since that time, he has heen in the States
but once, and that for a few weeks only.
In his opinion, every thing was so dull and
tiresome that he was compelled tp fly to
the mountains again. The food, too, had
well nigh killed him : " The villanous pies
and cake, bacon and beef, and the nick-
nacks that one is obliged to eat among
cousins, would destroy the constitution of
an ostrich." And if he could eat such
stuff, he said he had been so long away
from civilization that he could never again
enjoy it. As long as he could get good
buffalo cows to eat, the fine water of the
snowy hills to drink, and good buckskins to
wear, he was satisfied. The mountaineers
were free ; he could go and come when he
chose, with only his own will for law.

My intercourse with him, however, led
me afterwards to assign another cause for
his abandonment of home. There were times
when we were encamped at night on the cold
mountains about a blazing fire, that he re-
lated anecdotes of his younger days with an
intensity of feeling which discovered that a
deep fountain of emotion was still open in
his bosom, never to be sealed till he slum-
ber under the sands of the desert.

COAT VERSUS H0R8B. 205

We passed the night of the 1 1 th of July
at the Puebla. One of my companions
who 'had, previously to the division of my
company, used horses belonging to an in-
dividual who left us for Santa Fe, and the
excellent Mr. Blair, were without riding
animals. It became, therefore, an object
for them to purchase here ; and the more
so, as there would be no other opportunity
to do so for some hundreds of miles. But
these individuals had no money nor goods
that the owners of the horses would receive
in» exchange. They wanted clothing or
cash, and as I had a surplus quantity of
linen, I began to bargain for one of the
animals. The first price charged was
enormous. A little bantering, however,
brought the owner to his proper senses ;
and the articles of payment were over-
hauled. In doing this, my whole wardrobe
was exposed, and the vendor of horses
became extremely enamoured of my dress-
coat, the only one remaining, not out at
the elbows. This he determined to have.
I assured him it was impossible for me to
part with it; the only one I possessed.
But he, with quite as much coolness, as-
sured me that it would then be impossible
for him to part with his horse. These two

206 A HARD BARGAIN.

impossibilities having met, all prospects of
a trade were suspended, till one or the
other of them should yield. After a little,
the idea of walking cast such evident dis-
satisfaction over the countenances of my
friends, that the coat was yielded, and then
thq pants and overcoat, and all my shirts
save four, and various other articles to the
value of three such animals in the States.
The horse was then transferred to our
keeping. And such a horse ! The bio-
graphy of her mischief, would fill a vo-
lume !' and that of the vexations arising
therefrom to us poor mortals ? Would
it not fill two volumes of ''Pencillings by
the Way," whose only deficiency would
be the want of a love incident ? Another
horse was still necessary ; but in this, as in
the other case, a coat was a ** sine qua non ;'*
and there being no other article of the
kind to dispose of among us, no bargain
could be made. The night came on amidst
these our little preparations. The owners
of the horses and mules belonging to El
Puebla, drove their animals into the court
or quadrangle, around which their houses
were built. We gathered our goods and
chattels into a pile, in a confer of the most
comfortable room we could obtain, and so

WOLFANO MOUNTAINS. 207

arranged our blankets and bodies, that it
would be difficult for any one to make
depredations upon them during the night,
without awaking us. After conversing
with my Dartmouth friend concerning the
mountainous country through which we
were to travel, and the incidents of feasting
and battle which had befallen him during
his trapping excursions, we retired to our
couches.

At eight o'clock on the 12th, we were
harnessed and on route again for the moun-
tains. It was a fine mellow morning. The
snowy peaks of the Wolfano mountains,
one hundred and seventy miles to the south-
west, rose high and clear in view. The
atmosphere was bland like that of the
Indian summer in New England. Five
miles' travel brought us to the encampment
of Kelly's servant, who had been sent
abroad the night before to find grass for his
horses. Here another horse was purchased
of a Mexican, who had followed us from
Puebla. But on adjusting our baggage, it
appeared that three animals were required
for transporting it over the broken country
which lay before us. Messrs. Blair and
Wood would, therefore, still have but a
single saddle horse for their joint use.

208 THE ARKANSAS.

This was felt to be a great misfortune, both
on account of the hardships of such a jour-
ney on foot, as well as the delay it would
necessarily cause in the prosecution of it.
But these men felt no such obstacle to be
insurmountable, and declared, that while
the plain and the mountains were before
them, and they could walk, they would
conquer every difficulty that lay between
them and Oregon. After we had eaten,
Kelly's horses were rigged, and we moved
on four or five miles up the river, where
we halted for the night. Our provisions
consisted of a small quantity of wheat
meal, a little salt and pepper, and a few
pounds of sugar and coffee. For meat we
depended on our rifles. But as no game
appeared during the day, we spent the
evening in attempting to take cat-fish from
the Arkansas. One weighing a pound,
after much practical angling, was caught —
a sn^all consolation surely to the keen ap-
petites of seven men ! But this, and por-
ridge made of wheat meal and water, con-
stituted our supper that night and breakfast
next morning.

July 13th, fifteen miles along the banks
of the Arkansas ; the soil composed of sand
slightly intermixed with clay, too loose to

nature's fortresses. 209

retain moisture, and too little impregnated
with the nutritive salts to produce any thing
save a spare and stinted growth of bunch
grass and sun-flowers. Occasional bluffs
of sand and limestone bordered the valley
of the stream. In the afternoon, the range
of low mountains that lie at the eastern
base of the Great Cordilleras and Long's
ranges became visible; and even these,
though pigmies in the mountain race, were,
in midsummer, partially covered with snow.
Pike's peak in the south-west, and James'
peak in the north-west, at sunset showed
their hoary heads above the clouds which
hung around them.

On the 14th, made twenty miles. Kelly
relieved his servant by surrendering to him
his riding horse for short distances ; and
others relieved Blair and Wood in a similar
manner. The face of the plain became more
broken as we approached the mountains.
The waters descending from the lower hills,
have cut what was once a plain into isolated
bluffs three or four hundred feet in height,
surmounted and surrounded with columnar
and pyramidal rocks. In the distance they
resemble immense fortresses, with towers
and bastions as skilfully arranged as they
could have been by the best suggestions of

210 THE ARKANSAS.

•

art — embattlements raised by the commo^
tions of warring elements — by the storms
that have gathered and marshalled their
armies on the heights in view, and poured
their desolating power over these devoted
plains !

The Arkansas, since we left Fort William,
had preserved a medium width of a quarter
of a mile, the waters stiU turbid ; its general
course east south-east ; soil on either side
as far as the eye could reach, light sand and
clayey loam, almost destitute of vegetation.

On the 15th travelled about eighteen
miles over a soil so light that our animals
sunk over their fetlocks at every step.
During the forenoon we kept along the
bottom lands of the river. An occasional
willow or cotton-wood tree, ragged and
grey with age, or a willow bush trembling,
it almost seemed, at the tale of desolation
that the winds told in passing, were the
only relieving features of the general dearth.
The usual colour of the soil was a greyish
blue. At twelve o'clock we stopped on a
plat of low ground which the waters of the
river moistened by filtration through the
sand, and baited our horses. Here were
forty or fifty decrepid old willows, so poor
and shrivelled that one felt, after enjoying

THE FONTEQUEBOUIR. 211

their shade in the heat of that sultry day,
like bestowing alms upon them. At twelve
o'clock we mounted and struck out across
the plain to avoid a southward bend in the
river of twenty miles in length. Near the
centre of this bend is the mouth of the
river Fontequebouir, which the trappers
who have traversed it for beaver say, rises
in James' Peak eighty miles to the north-
west by north.

We came upon the banks of this stream
at sunset. Kelly had Informed us that
we might expect to find deer in the groves
which border its banks. And, like a
true hunter, as soon as we halted at the
place of encampment, he sought them be-
fore they should hear or scent us. He
traversed the groves, however, in vain.
The beautiful innocents had, as it after-
wards appeared, been lately hunted by a
party of Delaware trappers and in consi-
deration of the ill usage received from these
gentlemen in red, had forsaken their old
retreat for a less desirable but safer one
among the distant hills in the north. So
that our expectations of game and meat
subsided in a supper of * tole' — plain water
porridge. As our appetites w^ere keen, we
all relished it well, except the Mexican

212 RIO WOLFANO.

servant, who declared upon his veracity
that * tole was no bueno.' Our guide was,
if possible, as happy at our evening fire as
some one else was when he '* shouldered
his crutch and told how fields were won;'*
and very much for the same reasons. For,
during the afternoon's tramp, much of his
old hunting ground had loomed in sight.
Pike's and James' peaks showed their bald,
cold, shining heads as the sun set ; and the
mountains on each side of the upper river
began to show the irregularities of their
surfaces. So that as we rode along gazing
at these stupendous piles of rocks and
earth and ice, he would often direct his
attention to the outlines of chasms, faintly
traced on the shadings of the cliffs, through
which various streams on which he had
trapped, tumbled into the plains. I was
particularly interested by his account of Rio
Wolfano, a branch of the Arkansas on the
Mexican side, the mouth of which is twelve
miles below that of the Fontequebouir. It
has two principal branches. The one ori-
ginates in Pike's peak, seventy or eighty
miles in the south ; the other rises far in
the west among the Eutaw mountains, and
has a course of about two hundred miles,
nearly parallel with the Arkansas.

SWARMS OF ANTS. 213

We travelled twenty-eight miles on the
16th over broken barren hills sparsely
covered with shrub cedars and pines. The
foliage of these trees is a very dark green.
They cover, more or less, all the low hills
that lie along the roots of the mountains
from the Arkansas north to the Missouri.
Hence the name '* Black Hills" is given
to that portion of them which lie between
the Sweetwater and the mouth of the Little
Missouri. The soil of our track to-day was
a grey barren loam, gravel knolls and bluffs
of sand and limestone.

About four o'clock, p. m., we met an un-
heard of annoyance. We were crossing a
small plain of red sand, gazing at the moun-
tains as they opened their outlines of rock
and snow, when, in an instant, we were en-
veloped in a cloud of flying ants with grey-
ish wings and dark bodies. They fixed upon
our horses' heads, necks, and shoulders, in
such numbers as to cover them as bees do
the sides of a hive when about to swarm.
They flew around our own heads too, and
covered our hats and faces. Our eyes
seemed special objects of their attention.
We tried to wipe them off; but while the
hand was passing from one side of the face
to the other, the part that was left bare was

214 Kelly's creek.

instantly covered as thickly as before with
these creeping, hovering, nauseous insects.
Our animals were so much annoyed by
their pertinacity, that they stopped in their
tracks ; and finding it impossible to urge
them along, guide them and keep our faces
clear of the insects at the same time, we
dismounted and led them. Having by this
means the free use of our hands and feet,
we were able in the course of half an hour
to pass the infested sands, and once more
see and breathe.

We dined at the mouth of Kelly's Creek,
another stream that has its source in
Jame's peak. Encamped at the mouth
of Oakley's creek, another branch of the
Arkansas. It rises in the hills which lie
thirty-five miles to the north. It is a clear,
cool little brook, with a pebbly bottom, and
banks clothed with shrub cedars and pines:
We had a pleasant evening here, a cloudless
sky, a cold breeze from the snow-clad
mountains, a blazing cedar- wood fire, a
song from our merry Joe, a dish of ' tole'
and a fine couch of sand. Who wants
more comforts than we enjoyed ? My de-
bilitated system had begun to thrive under
the bracing influence of the mountain air ;
my companions were well and happy ; our

wood's creek. 215

horses and mules were grazing upon a plat
of rich grass ; we were almost within touch
of those stupendous ridges of rock and
snow which stay or send forth the tempest
in its course, and gather in their rugged
embrace the noblest rivers of the world.

July 17. We made twenty miles to-day
among the deep gullies and natural fortresses
of this great gateway to the mountains. All
around gave evidence that the agents of
nature have struggled here in their mightiest
wrath, not the volcano, but the floods of
ages. Ravines hundreds of feet in depth ;
vast insular mounds of earth towering in all
directions, sometimes surmounted by frag-
ments of mountains, at others, with strati-
fied rocks, the whole range of vision was a
flowerless, bladeless desolation ! Our en-
campment for the night was at the mouth
of Wood's creek, five miles from the de-
bouchure of the Arkansas from the moun-
tains. The ridges on the south of the river,
as viewed from this place, presented an em-
bankment of congregated hills, piled one
above another to the region of snow, and
scored into deep and irregular chasms,
frowning precipices, tottering rocks, and
black glistening strata, whose recent frac-
tures indicated that they were continually

1

216 THE EUTAWS.

sending upon the humble hills below weighty
testimony of their own superior height and
might. Nothing could be more perfectly
wild. The summits were capped with ice.
The ravines which radiated from their apices
were filled with snow far down their course ;
and so utterly rough was the whole mass,
that there did not appear to be a foot of
plain surface upon it. Eternal, sublime
confusion !

This range runs down the Arkansas, bear-
ing a little south of a parallel with it, the
distance of about fifty miles, and then turn-
ing southward, bears off to Taos and Santa
F^. At the back of this ridge to the west-
ward, and connected with it, is said to be a
very extensive tract of mountains which
embrace the sources of the Rio Bravo del
Norte, the Wolfano, and other branches of
the Arkansas ; and a number of streams that
fall into Rio Colorado of the West, and the
Gulf of California. Among these heights
live the East and West bands of the Eutaws.
The valleys in which they reside are said to
be overlooked by mountains of shining
glaciers, and in every other respect to re-
semble the valleys of Switzerland.^ They
are a brave, treacherous race, and said to
number about eight thousand souls. They

pike's peak. 217

raise mules, horses, and sheep, and cultivate
corn and beans, trap the beaver, manufac-
ture woollen blankets with a darning-
needle, and intermarry with the Mexican
Spaniards.

Sixty miles east of these mountains, and
fifty south of the Arkansas, stands (isolated
on the plain) , Pike's Peak, and the lesser ones
that cluster around it. This Peak is covered
with perpetual snow and ice down one-third
its height. The subordinate peaks rise near
to the line of perpetual congelation, and
stand out upon the sky like giant watch-
men, as if to protect the vestal snows above
them from the polluting tread of man. On
the north side of the river a range of moun-
tains, or hills, as they have been called by
those who are in the habit of looking on
the Great Main Ridges, rise about two
thousand feet above the plain. They re-
semble, in their general characteristics,
those on the south. Like them, thev are
dark and broken ; like them, sparsely co-
vered on their sides with shrub pines and
cedars. They diverge also from the river
as they descend : and after descending it
forty miles, turn to the north, and lose
themselves in the heights which congregate
around James' Peak.

VOL. I. L

218 wood's crrek.

On the morning of the 18th we rose early,
made our simple repast of tole, and pre-
pared to enter the mountains. A joyful
occasion this. The storms, the mud, the
swollen streams, the bleakness and barren-
ness of the Great Prairie Wilderness, in an
hour's ride, would be behind us ; and the
deep, rich vales, the cool streams and
breezes, and transparent atmosphere of the
more elevated regions, were to be entered.

Wood's Creek, on which we had passed
the night, is a cold, heavy torrent, from the
northern hills. At the ford, it was about
three feet deep, and seven yards wide. But
the current was so strong as to bear away
two of our saddle-horses. One of these was
my Puebla animal. She entered the stream
with all the caution necessary for the result.
Stepping alternately back, forward, and
sidewise, and examining the effect of every
rolling stone upon the laws of her own gra-
vity, she finally gathered her ugly form upon
one of sufficient size and mobility to plunge
herself and rider into the stream. She
floated down a few yards, and, contrary to
my most fervent desire, came upon her feet
again, and made the land. By dint of wa-
ding, and partially drowning, and other like
agreeable ablutions, we found ourselves at

ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 219

last on the right side of the water : and hav-
ing bestowed upon it- sundry commendatory
epithets of long and approved use under like
circumstances, we remounted ; and shiver-
ing in the freezing winds from the neigh-
bouring snows, trotted on at a pace so merry
and fast, that three-quarters of an hour
brought us to the buttress of the cliffs,
where the Arkansas leaps foaming from
them.

This river runs two hundred miles among
the mountains. The first half of the dis-
tance is among a series of charming valleys,
stocked with an endless number of deer and
elk, which, in the summer, live upon the
nutritious wild grass of the vales, and in the
winter, upon the buds, twigs, and bark
of trees. The hundred miles of its course
next below, is among perpendicular cliffs
rising on both sides hundreds, and some-
times thousands, of feet in height. Through
this dismal channel, with a rapid current
down lofty precipices, and through com-
pressed passes, it plunges and roars to this
point, where it escapes nobly and gleefully,
as if glad at having fled some fearful edict
of nature, consigning it to perpetual impri-
sonment in those dismal caverns.

Here we entered the Rocky Mountains

l2

220 THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

through a deep gorge at the right, formed
by the waters of a little brook which comes
down from the north. It is a sweet stream.
It babbles so delightfully upon the ear, like
those that flowed by one's home, when youth
was dreaming of the hopes of coming years
in the shade of the hemlock by the family
spring. On its banks grew the dandelion,
the angelica, the elder, the alder and birch,
and the mountain-flax. The pebbles, too,
seemed old acquaintances, they were so like
those which I had often gathered, with a
lovely sister long since dead, who would
teach me to select the prettiest and best.
The very mountains were dark and mighty,
and overhanging, and striped with the de-
parting snows, like those that I viewed in
the first years of remembrance, as I frolicked
with my brothers on the mossy rocks.

We soon lost sight of the Arkansas among
the small pines and cedars of the valley, and
this we were sorry to do. The good old
stream had &:iven us many a fine cat-fish,
and many a bumper pf delicious water while
we travelled wearily along its parched banks.
It was like parting with an old companion
that had ministered to our wants, and stood
with us in anxious, dangerous times. It was,
therefore, pleasant tp h^ar its voice come

THE VALLEY. 221

Up from the caverns like a ""sacred farewell
while we wound our way up the valley.

This gorge, or valley, runs about ten
miles in a northwardly direction from the
debouchure of the Arkansas, to the dividing
ridge between the waters of that river and
those of the southern head-waters of the
south fork of the Great Platte.

About midway its length, the trail, or In-
dian track, divides : the one branch makes
a circuit among the heights to the westward,
terminates in the great valley of the south
fork of the Platte, within the mountains,
commonly called *' Boyou Salade ;" and the
other and shorter leads northwardly up the
gorge to the same point. Our guide care-
fully examined both trails at the diverging
point, and finding the more western one
most travelled, and believing, for this rea-
son, the eastward one the least likely to be
occupied by the Indians, he led us up to the
foot of the mountain which separates it from
the vales beyond. We arrived at a little
open spot at the base of the height about
twelve o'clock. The steepest part of the
trail up the declivity was a loose, moving
surface of sand and pebbles, constantly
falling under its own weight. Other por-
tions were precipitous, lying along over-

222 PRECIPITOUS ASCENT.

hanging cliffs and the brinks of deep ravines
strewn with fallen rocks. To ascend it
seemed impossible ; but our old Kentuckian
was of a different opinion.

In his hunting expeditions he had often
ascended and descended worse steeps with
packs of beaver, traps, &c. So, after a de-
scription of others of a much more diffi-
cult nature, which he had made with worse
animals and heavier packs, through storms
of hail and heaps of snow ; and after the as-
surance that the Eutaw village of tents, and
women, and children, had passed this not
many moons ago, we felt nettled at our own
ignorance of possibilities in these regions,
and drove off to the task. Our worthy
guide led the way with his saddle-horse fol-
lowing him ; the pack animals, each under
the encouraging guardianship of a vigorous
goad, and the men and myself leading our
riding animals, brought up the rear. Now
for a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull not
all together, but each leg on its own account.
Five or six rods of zigzag clambering, and
slipping, and gathering, and tugging, ad-
vanced us one on the ascent ; and then a
halt for breath and strength for a new effort.
The puffing and blowing over, a general
shout, ■' go on, go on," started the cavalcade

PRECIPITOUS ASCENT. 223

again. The pack anitnals, with each one
hundred and fifty pounds weight, struggled
and floundered, as step after step gave way
in the sliding sand ; hut they laboured
madly, and advanced at intervals of a few
yards, resting and then on again, till they
arrived at the rocky surface, about midway
the ascent. Here a short pause upon the
declivity was interrupted by a call of " on-
ward" from our guide ; and again we
climbed. The track wound around a
beetling cliff, which crowded the animals
upon the edge of a frightful precipice. In
the most dangerous part of it, my Puebla
mare ran her pack against a projecting rock,
and for an instant reeled over an abyss three
hundred feet in depth. But her fortune
favoured her ; she blundered away from her
grave, and lived to make a deeper plunge
farther along the journey.

The upper half, though less steep, proved
to be the worst part of the ascent. It was a
bed of rocks, at one place small and rolling,
at another large and fixed, with deep open-
ings between them ; so that our animals were
constantly falling, and tottering upon the
brink of the cliffs, as they rose again and
made their way among them. An hour and
a half of this most dangerous and tiresome

224 TEMPEST ON

clambering deposited us in a grove of yellow
pines, near the summit. Our animals were
covered with sweat and dirt, and trembled
as if at that instant from the race track;
Nor were their masters free from every
ill of weariness. Our knees smote each
other with fatigue, as Belshazzar's did with
fear.

Many of the pines on this ridge were two
feet in diameter, and a hundred feet high,
with small clusters of limbs around the tops.
Others were low, and clothed with strong
limbs quite near the ground. Under a
number of these latter, we had seated our-
selves, holding the reins of our riding
horses, when a storm arose with the rapi-
dity of a whirlwind, and poured upon us
hail, rain, and snow with all imaginable
liberality. It was a most remarkable tem-
pest. Unlike those whose monotonous
groans are heard among the Green Moun-
tains for days before they assemble their
fury around you, it came in its strength at
once, and rocked the stately pines to their
most distant roots. Unlike those long
^* blows," which, generated in the frozen
zone of the Atlantic seas, bring down the
frosty blasts of Greenland upon the warmer
climes of the States, it was the meeting

THE MOUNTAINS. 225

of different currents of the 'aerial seas,
lashed and torn by the live thunder,
among the sounding mountains. . One
portion of it had gathered its electricity
and mist around James' Peak in the east ;
another among the white heights north-
west ; . and a third among the snowy pyra-
mids of the Eutaws in the south-west;
and, marshalling their hosts, met over this
connecting ridge between the eastern and
central ranges, as if by general battle to
settle a vexed question as to the better right
to the Pass ; and it was sublimely fought.
The opposing storms met nearly at the
zenith, and fiercely rolled together their
angry masses. As if to carry out the
simile I have here attempted, at the moment
of their junction, the electricity of each
leaped upon its antagonist transversely
across the heavens, and in some instances
fell in immense bolts upon the trembling
cliffs ; and then instantly came a volley of
hail as large as grape-shot, sufficient to
whiten all the towers of this horrid war.
It lasted an hour. I never before, not even
on the plains, saw such a movement 6f the
elements. If anything had been want-
ing to establish the theory, this exhibition
sufficed to convince those who saw its

l3

226 THB ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

movements, and felt its power, that these
mountains are the great laboratory of
mist, wind, and electricity, which, formed
into storms, are sent in such awful fury
upon the great plains or prairies that stretch
away from their bases to the States, and,
that here alone may be witnessed the
extreme power of the warring elements.

After the violence of the tempest had
abated, we travelled up the remainder of
the ascent, and halted a few minutes on
the summit to view the scene around us.
Behind was the valley up which we had
travelled, covered with evergreen shrubs.
On the east of this, rose a precipitous
wall of stratified rock, two thousand or
three thousand feet high, stretching off
towards the Arkansas, and dotted here and
there with the small shrub pine, struggling
from the crevices of the ro^ks. In the
south-west the mountains, less precipitous*
rose one above another in a distance, till
their blue tops faded into the semblance of
the sky. To the east of our position, there
was nothing in sight but piles of mountains,
whose dark and ragged masses increased in
height and magnitude, till they towered in
naked grandeur around James' Peak.
^J^rom that frozen height ran off to the north

ANAHUAC RIDGE. 227

that secondary range of mountains that lie
between the head- waters of the South Fork
of the Platte and the plains. This is a
range of brown, barren, and broken ridges,
destitute alike of earth and shrub, with an
average height of three thousand feet above
the plain. On the western side of it, and
north of the place where we were viewing
them, hills of a constantly decreasing height
fall off for fifty miles to the north-west, till
they sink in the beautiful valley of Bpyou
Salade, and then rising again, tower higher
and higher in the west, until lost in the haze
about the base of the Anahuac range ; a vast
waste of undusted rocks, without a flower
or leaf to adorn it, save those that hide
their sweetness from its eternal winters in
the glens down which we were to travel.

The Anahuac ridge of the snowy range
was visible for at least one hundred miles of
latitude ; and the nearest point was so far
^ distant that the dip of the horizon concealed
all that portion of it below the line of per-
petual congelation. The whole mass was
purely white. The principal irregularity
perceptible was a slight imdulation on the
upper edge. There was, however, per-
ceptible shading on the lower edge, pro-
duced, perhaps, by great lateral swells pro-

228 THE ROCKT MOUNTAINS.

trading from the general outline. But thd
mass, at least ninety miles distant, as white
as milk, the home of the frosts of all ages^
stretching away to the north by west full a
hundred miles, unsealed by any living
thing, except perhaps by the bold bird of
our national arms^

" Broad, high, eternal and sublime.
The mock of ages, and the twin of time,"

s

is an object of amazing grandeur, unequalled
probably on the face of the globe.

We left this interesting panorama, and
travelled down five miles to the side of a
little stream running north, and encamped.
We were wet from head to foot, and shiver-
ing with cold. The day had indeed been
one of much discomfort ; yet we had been
well repaid for all this by the absorbing
freshness and sublimity that hung around
us. The lightning bounding on the crags ;
the thunder breaking the slumber of the
mountains ; a cooler climate, and the noble
pine again ; a view of the Great Main
snowy range of the ** Rocky," '* Stone," or
** Shining" mountains, south of the Great
Gap, from a height never before trodden by
a civilized tourist, the sight of the endless
assemblage of rocky peaks, among which

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 229

otir weary feet were yet to tread along un-
explored waters^ were the delights which lay
upon the track of the day, and made us
happy at our evening fire* Our supper of
water porridge being eaten, we tried to
sleep. But the cold wind from the snow
soon drove us from our blankets to our fire,
where we turned ourselves like Christmas
turkeys, till morning. The mountain flax
grew around our encampment. Every stalk
was stiffened by the frosts of the night ;
and the waters of the brooks were barred
with ice. This is the birth-place of the
Platte. From these gorges its floods re-
ceive existence, among the sturdy^ solemn
pines and nursing tempests, twelve miles
north of the Arkansas's debouchement from
the mountains, and forty miles due west
from James' Peak.

On the 19th we travelled in a northward
course down the little streams bursting
from the hills, and babbling among the
bushes. We were upon an Indian trail, full
of sharp gravel, that annoyed our animals
exceedingly. The pines were often difficult
to pass, so thick were they. But the right
course was easily discovered among them,
even when the soil was so hard as to have
received no impression from previous

230 A STARVING COUNTRY.

travelling, by small stones which the Eutaws
had placed among the branches. About
mid-day we saw scattering spears of the
wild flax again, and a few small shrubs of
the black birch near the water courses.'
The endless climbing and ascending of
hills prevented our making much progress.
At two o'clock we judged ourselves but
ten miles from the last night's encampment.
A cloud of hail then beginning to pelt and
chill us, we took shelter in a small grove of
pines. But as the hail had fallen two
inches in depth, over the whole adjoining
country, every movement of the atmosphere
was like a blast of December. Too cold
to sleep, we therefore built fires and dried
our packs, &c., till the howl of the wolves
gave notice of the approach of morning.

Tole for breakfast. It had been our oidy
food for nine days. It seemed strange that
we should have travelled one himdred and
eighty miles, in a country like that we had
passed through since leaving Fort WilUam,
without killing an animal. But it ceased
to appear so, when our worthy guide in-
formed us that no individual had ever come
from the Arkansas, in the region of the
Fort, to the mountains, with as Uttle suffer-
. ing as we had, ** It is," said he, ** a stary-

BOyOU SALADS. 231

ing country ; never any game found in it.
The buffalo come into these valleys from
the north through the Bull Pen^ and go out
there when the storms of the autumn warn
them to fly to the south for warm winter
quarters. But that valley off there, (point-'
ing to a low smooth spot in the horizon),
looks mighty like Boyou Salade, my old
stamping ground. If it should be, we will
have meat before the sun is behind the
snow."

We were well pleased with this pros-
pect. Our Mexican servant cried, at
the top of his voice, ^' Esta muy bueno,
Senor Kelly, si, muy bueno, este Boyou
Salade ; mucho came por nosotros." And
the poor fellow had some reasons for this
expression of joy, for the tole regimen had
been to him what the water gruel of the
Mudfog„ workhouse was to Oliver Twist,
except that its excellent flavour had never
induced the Mexican ** to ask for more.'*
He had, on previous occasions, in company
with Kelly, gnawed the ribs of many a fat
cow in Boyou Salade ; and the instincts of
his stomach put him in such a frenzy at the
recollection, that although he could only
understand the words *' Boyou Salade,'*
. these were sufficient to induce him to cross

232 WOLVES.

himself- from the forestep to the abdomen,
and to swear by Santa Gaudaloupe that
tole was not food for a Christian mouth.

On the 20th we were early on our way.
The small prairie wolf which had howled
us to sleep every evening, and howled us
awake every morning since we left Inde-
pendence, was continually greeting us with
an ill-natured growl, as we rode along
among his hiding places. The streams that
were mere rivulets twenty miles back,
having received a thousand tributaries,
were now heavy and deep torrents. The
peaks and mountain swells were clad with
hail and snow. Every thing, even our-
selves, shivering in our blankets, gave evi-
dence that we were traversing the realms of
winter. Still many of the grasses and
flowers which usually flourish in high lati-
tudes and elevated places were growing
along the radices of the hills, and aided
much in giving the whole scene an un-
usually singular aspect. We were in fine
spirits, and in the enjoyment of a voracious
appetite. Our expectations of having a
shot soon at a bufialo, were perhaps an
accessory cause of this last. But be that
as it may, we dodged along among the
pines ' and spruce and hemlock and firs

BUFFALO MEAT. 233

about ten miles, and rose over a swell of
land covered with small trees in full view of
a quiet little band of buffalo. Ye deities
who. presided of old over the trencher and
goblet, did not our palates leap for a tender
loin ? A halt— our famous old Kentuckian
creeps away around a copse of wood —
we hear the crack of his deadly rifle—
witness the writhing of the buffalo! He
lays himself gently down. All is now silent^
intense anxiety to observe whether he
will rise again and run, as buffalo often
do under the smart of a wound, beyond our
reach among the hills. No ! he curls his
tail as in the last agony ; he choaks ; he is
ouf s ! he is ours !

Our knives are quickly hauled from their
sheaths — he is rolled upon his brisket — his
hide is slit along the spine, and pealed down
midrib ; one side of it is cut off and spread
upon the sand to receive the meat ; the
flesh on each side of the spine is pared off;
the mouth is opened, and the tongue
removed from his jaws ; the axe is laid to
his rib ; the heart — the fat — the tender
loins— the blood, are taken out — his legs
are rifled of their generous marrow bones ;
all wrapped in the green hide, and loaded
on animals, and off to camp in a charm-

234 A MOUNTAIN I^OST.

ing grove of white pine by a cold stream
of water under a woody hill !

Who that had seen us stirring our fires
that night in the starlight of bright skies
^mong the mountain forests ; who that
had seen the buffalo ribs propped up before
the crackling blaze — the brisket boiling in
our camp-kettles ; who that had seen us
with open countenances yield to these well
cooked invitations to " drive dull care
away," will not believe that we accepted
them, and swallowed against time, and
hunger, and tole ? Indeed, we ate that
night till there was a reasonable presump-
tion that we had eaten enough ; and when
we had spent a half hour in this agreeefble
employment, that presumption was sup-*
ported by a pile of bones, which if put to-
gether by Buffon in his best style, would
have supported not only that but another
presumption to the like effect. Our hearty
old Kentuckian was at home, and we were
his guests. He sat at the head of his own
board, and claimed to dictate the number of
courses with which we should be served.
" No, no," said he, as we strode away from
the bare ribs which lay round us, to our
couches of pine leaves, **no, no, I have
eaten with you, fared well, and now you

trapper's butter. 235

must take courage while you eat with me ;
no, no, not done yet ; mighty good eating
to come. Take a rest upon it> if you like>
while I cook another turn ; but I'll insure
you to eat till day peeps. Our meat here
in the mountains never pains one. Nothing
harms here but pills and lead ; many's the
time that I have starved six and eight days,
and when I have found meat, ate all night ;
that's the custom of the country. We
never borrow trouble from hunger or thirst,
and when we have a plenty, we eat the best
pieces first, for fear of being killed by some
trat of an Indian before we have enjoyed
them. You may eat as much as you can ;
my word for it, this wild meat never hurts
one. But your chickens and bacon, &c.,
in the settlements, it came right near shoving
me into the Kenyon when I was down there
last."

While the excellent man was giving
vent to these kind feelings, he was busy
making preparations for another course.
The marrow bones were undergoing a severe
flagellation ; the blows of the old hunter's
hatchet were cracking them in pieces, and
laying bare the rolls of "trapper's butter"
within them. A pound of marrow wa$

236 A RARE DISH.

thus extracted, and put into a gallon of
water heated nearly to the boiling point.
The blood which he had dipped from the
cavity of the buffalo was then stirred in till
the mass became of the consistency of rice
soup. A little salt and black pepper finished
the preparation. It was a fine dish ; too
rich, perhaps, for some of my esteemed ac-
quaintances, whose digestive organs partake
of the general laziness of their habits ; but
to us who had so long desired a healthful
portion of bodily exercise in that quarter,
it was the very marrow and life«blood of
whatsoever is good and wholesome for
famished carniverous animals like our-
selves. It was excellent, most excellent.
It was better than our father's foaming ale.
For while it loosed our tongues and warmed
our hearts towards one another, it had the
additional effect of Aaron's oil ; it made our
faces to shine with grease and gladness.
But the remembrance of the palate plea-
sures of the next course, will not allow me
to dwell longer upon this. The crowning
gratification was yet in store for us.

While enjoying the soup, which I have
just described, we believed the bumper of
our pleasures to be sparkling to the brim ;

BOUDIES. 237

and if our excellent old trapper had not
been there, we never should have desired
more. But how true is that philosophy
which teaches, that to be capable of happi-
ness, we must be conscious of wants ! Our
friend Kelly was in this a practical as well
as theoretical Epicurean. '' No giving up
the beaver so," said he ; " another bait
and we will sleep."

Saying this, he seized the intestines of
the buffalo, which had been properly
cleaned for the purpose, turned them
inside out, and as he proceeded stuffed
them with strips of well salted and pep-
pered tender loin. Our " boudies'* thus
made, were stuck upon sticks before the
fire, and roasted till they were thoroughly
cooked and brown. The sticks were then
taken from their roasting position and
stuck in position for eating ; that is to
say, each of us with as fine an appetite as
ever blessed a New England boy at his
grandsire's Thanksgiving dinner, seized a
stick pit, stuck it in the earth near our
couches, and sitting upon our haunches, ate
our last course — the desert of a mountain
host's entertainment. These wilderness sau-
sages would have gratified the appetite of

^38 ENCAMPMENT.

those who had been deprived of meat a
less time than we had been. The enve-
lopes preserve the juices with which while
cooking, the adhering fat, turned within,
mingles and forms a gravy of the finest
flavour. Such is a feast in the mountains.

Since leaving Fort William we had beeu
occasionally crossing the trails of the Eutaw
war parties, and had felt some solicitude for
the safety of our little band. An over-
whelming number of them might fall upon
us at night and annihilate us at a blow.
But we had thus far selected such encamp-
ments, and had such confidence in our
rifles and in our dog, who never failed to
give us notice of the least movement of a
wolf or panther at night, that we had not
stationed a guard since leaving that post.

Our guide too sanctioned this course;
always saying when the subject was intrp*
duced that the dawn of day was the time
for Indian attacks, and that they would
rise early to find his eyes shut after the
howl of the wolf on the hills had announced
the approach of light. We however took
the precaution to encamp at night in a deep
woody glen, which concealed the light of
our fire, and slept with our equipments.

PLANTS. 239

upon us, and our well primed rifles across
our breasts.

On the morning of the 21st we were
awakened at sunrise, by our servant who
had thus early been in search of our
animals. The sun rose over the eastern
mountains brilliantly, and gave promise of a
fine day. Our route lay among vast swell-
ing hills, the sides of which were covered
with groves of the large yellow pine and
aspen. ITiese latter trees exclude every
other from their society. They stand so
closely that not the half of their number
live until they are five inches in diameter.
Those also that grow on the borders of the
groves are generally destroyed, being de-
prived of their bark seven or eight feet up,
by the elk which resort to them yearly ta
rub off the annual growth of their horns.
The snow on the tops of the hills was
melting, and along the lower edge of it,
where the grass was green and tender,
herds of buffalo were grazing. So far dis-
tant were they from the vales through which
we travelled, that they appeared a vast col-
lection of dark specks on the line of the sky.

By the side of the pebbly brooks, grew
many beautiful plants. A species of con-
volvulus and honeysuckle, two species of

240 SIGNS.

wild hops and the mountain flax, were
among them. Fruits were also heginniog
to appear ; as wild plums, currants, yellow
and hlack ; the latter like those of the same
colour in the gardens, the former larger
than either the red or hlack, but of an un-
pleasant astringent flavour. — We had not,
since entering the mountains, seen any in-
dication of volcanic action. The rocky
strata and the soil appeared to be of pri-
mary formation. We made fifteen miles
to-day in a general course of north by
west.

On the 22nd we travelled eight miles
through a country similar to that we had
passed the day before. We were still
on the waters of the Platte ; but seldom in
sight of the main stream. Numerous noisy
brooks ran among the hills over which we
rode. During the early part of the morn-
ing buffalo bulls were often seen crossing
our path : they were however so poor and
undesirable, that we shot, none of them.
About ten o'clock we came upon a fresh
trail, distinctly marked by hoofs and drag-
ging lodge poles. Kelly judged these
" signs" to be not more than twenty four
hours old, and to have been made by a
party of Eutaws which had passed into

VICINITY OF THE INDIAN. 241

Boyou Salade to hunt the buffalo. Hostile
Indians in our immediate neighbourhood
was by no means an agreeable circumstance
to us. We could not contend with any
hope of success against one hundred and
fifty tomahawks and an equal number of
muskets and bows and arrows. They
would also frighten the buffalo back to the
bull pen, and thus prevent us from laying
in a stock of rneat farther along to sup-
port us across the desert in advance. We
therefore determined to kill the next bull
that we should meet, cure the best pieces
for packing, and thus prepare ourselves for
a siege or a retreat, as circumstances might
dictate ; or if the Indians should prevent
our obtaining other and better meat, and yet
not interrupt us by any hostile demonstra-
tion in pursuing our journey, we might, by
an economical use of what we could pack
from this point, be able to reach, before we
should perish with hunger, the game which
we hoped to find on tributaries of Grand
River.

We, therefore, moved on with great
caution ; and at about two o'clock killed a
fine young bull. He fell in a glen through
which a little brook murmured along to a
copse just below. The bulls in consider-

VOL. I. M

242 A CHASE.

able number were manifesting tbeir surplus
wrath on the other side of the little wood
with as much apparent complacency as
certain animals with fewer legs and horns
often do, when there is not likely to be any
thing in particular to oppose them. But
fortunately for the reputation of their pre-
tensions, as sometimes happens to their
biped brethren, a circumstance chanced to
occur, when their courage seemed waxing to
the bursting state, on which it could expend
its energies. The blood of their slaugh-
tered companion scented the breeze, and on
they came, twenty or more, tail in air, to
take proper vengeance.

We dropped our butcher knives, mount-
ed quickly, and were about to accommo-
date them with the contents of our rifles,
when, like many perpendicular hello wers,
as certain danger comes, they fled as
bravely as they had approached. Away
they racked, for buffalo never trot, over
the brown barren hills in the north-
east, looking neither to the right nor left,
for the long hair around the head does not
permit such aberrations of their optics ;
but onward gloriously did they roll their
massive bulks — now sinking in the vales
and now blowing up the ascents ; stop-

PROGRESS. 243

ping not an instant in their career until
they looked like creeping insects on the
brow of the distant mountain. Having
thus vanquished, by the most consum-
mate generalship and a stern patriotism
in the ranks never surpassed by Jew or
Gentile, these *' abandoned rebels," we
butchered our meat, and as one of the works
of returning peace, loaded it upon our ani-
mals, and travelled in search of quaking-asp
wood wherewithal to drv it. The traders
and trappers always prefer this wood for
such purposes, because, when dry, it is
more inodorous than any other ; and con-
sequently does not so sensibly change the
flavour of the meat dried over a fire made
of it. Half an hour's ride brought us to a
grove of this timber, where we encamped
for the night — dried our meat, and Eutaws
near or far, slept soundly. In this remark
I should except, perhaps, the largest piece
of human nature among us, who had, as his
custom was, curled down hard-by our brave
old guide and slept at intervals, only an eye
at a time, for fear of Indians.

23d. Eighteen miles to-day among rough
precipices, overhanging crags, and roaring
torrents. There were, however, between
the declivities and among the copses of

M 2

244 FRESH INDIAN TRACKS.

cotton-wood, quaking-asp and fir, and yel-
low pine, some open glades and beautiful
valleys of green verdure, watered by the
rivulets gushing from the stony hills, and
sparkling with beautiful flowers. Five or
six miles from our last encampment, we
came upon the brow of a woody hill that
overlooked the valley, where the waters on
which we were travelling unite with others
that come down from the mountains in the
north, and from what is prbperly called the
south fork of the Great Platte, within the
mountains. Here we found fresh Indian
tracks ; and on that account deemed it
prudent to take to the timbered heights,
bordering the valley on the west, in order
to ascertain the position of the Indians,
their numbers, &c., before venturing within
their reacl>. We accordingly, for three
hours, wound our way in silence among
fallen timber and thick-set cotton-wood ;
climbed every neighbouring height, and
examined the depressions in the plain,
which could not be seen from the lower
hills.

Having searched the valley thorough-
ly in this manner, and, perceiving from
the peaceable and careless bearing of
the small bands of buffalo around its bor^

BOYOU SALADE. 245

ders, that if there were Indians within it
they were at some distance from our trail,
we descended from the heights, and struck
through a deep ravine across it, to the
junction of the northern and southern
waters of the stream.

We found the river at this place a hun-
dred and fifty yards wide, and of an average
depth of about six feet, with a current of
five miles the hour. Its course hence is
E. N. E. about one hundred miles, where
it rushes through a magnificent kenyon or
chasm in the eastern range of the Rocky
Mountains to the plains of the Great
Prairie Wilderness, This valley is a con-
geries or collection of valleys. That is,
along the banks of the main and tributary
streams a vale extends a few rods or
miles, nearly or quite separated from a
similar one beyond, by a rocky ridge or
bute or a rounded hill covered with grass
or timber, which protrudes from the height
towards the stream. This is a bird's-eye
view of Boyou Salade, so named from the
circumstance that native rock salt is found
in some parts of it. We were in the cen-
tral portion of it. To the north, and south,
and west, its isolated plains rise one above
the other, always beautiful, and covered

246 A PICTURE

with verdure during the months of spring
and summer. But when the storms of
autumn and winter come, they are the re-
ceptacles of vast bodies of snow, which fall
or are drifted there from the Anahuac
Ridge, on its western horizon. A sweet
spot this, for the romance of the future as
well as the present and past. The buffalo
have for ages resorted here about the last
days of July, from the arid plains of the
Arkansas and the Platte ; and thither the
Eutaws and Cheyennes from the mountains
around the Santa Fe, and the Shoshonies
or Snakes and Arrapahoes from the west,
and the Blackfeet, Crows and Sioux from
the north, have for ages met, and hunted,
and fought, and loved. And when their
battles and hunts were interrupted by the
chills and snows of November, they have
separated for their several winter resorts.
How wild and beautiful the past as it comes
up fledged with the plumage of the imagi-
nation !

These vales, studded with a thousand
villages of conical skin wigwams, with
their thousands of fires blazing on the
starry brow of night! I see the dusky
forms crouching around the glowing piles
of ignited logs, in family groups whispering

OF INDIAN LIFE. 247

the dreams of their rude love ; or gathered
around the stalwart form of some noble
chief at the hour of midnight, listening to
the harangue of vengeance or the whoop of
war, that is to cast the deadly arrow with
the first gleam of morning light. Or may
we not see them gathered, a circle of
braves around an aged tree, surrounded
each by the musty trophies of half a cen-
tury's daring deeds. The eldest and richest
in scalps, rises from the centre of the ring
and advances to the tree. Hear him :

'' Fifty winters ago, when the seventh
moon's first horn hung over the green
forests of the Eutaw hills, myself and five
others erected a lodge for the Great Spirit,
on the snows of the White Bute, and
carried there our wampum and skins and
the hide of a white buffalo. We hung
them in the Great Spirit's lodge, and seated
ourselves in silence till the moon had de-
scended the western mountain, and thought
of the blood of our fathers that the Cuman-
ches had killed when the moon was round
and lay on the eastern plain. My own
father was scalped, and the fathers of five
others were scalped, and their bloody heads
were gnawed by the wolf. We could not
live while our fathers' lodges were empty,

248 SPEECH OF A CHIEF.

and the scalps of their murderers were not
in the lodges of our mothers. Our hearts
told us to make these offerings to the Great
Spirit who had fostered them on the moun-
tains ; and when the moon was down, and
the shadows of the White Bute were as
dark as the hair of a bear, we said to the
Great Spirit, * No man can war with the
arrows from the quiver of thy storms ; no
man's word can be heard when thy voice is
among the clouds ; no man's hand is strong
when thy hand lets loose its winds. The
wolf gnawed the heads of our fathers, and
the scalps of their murderers hang not in
the lodges of our mothers. Great father
spirit, send not thine anger out ; hold in
thy hand the winds ; let not thy great voice
drown the death -yell while we hunt the
murderers of our fathers.' I and the five
others then built in the middle of the lodge
a fire, and in its bright light the Great
Spirit saw the wampum, and the skin, and
the white buffalo hide. Five days and
nights, I and the five others danced and
smoked the medicine, and beat the board
with sticks, and chaunted away the power
of the great Medicine, that they might not
be evil to us, and bring sickness into our
bones. Then when the stars were shining

PROGRESS. 249

ia the clear sky, we swore (I must nbt tell
what, for it was ia the ear of the Great
Spirit) and went out of the lodge with our
bosoms full of anger against the murderers
of our fathers, whose bones were in the
jaws of the wolf, and went for their scalps
to hang them in the lodges of our mothers .
See him strike the aged tree with his war
club again, again, nine times. So many
Cumanches did I slay, the miirderers of
my father, before the moon was round
again, and lay upon the eastern plain/'

This is not merely an imagined scene in
former times in Boyou Salade. All the
essential incidents related, happened yearly
in that and other hunting grounds, when-
ever the old braves assembled to celebrate
the valorous deeds of their younger days.
When these exciting relations were finished,
the young men of the tribe, who had not
yet distinguished themselves, were exhorted
to seek glory in a similar way. Woe
to him who passed his manhood without
ornamenting the door of his lodge with the
scalps of his enemies !

This valley is still frequented by some of
these tribes as a summer haunt, when the
heat of the plains renders them uncomfort-
able. The Eutaws were scouring it when w^e

M 3

250 PRECAUTIONS AGAINST

passed. We therefore crossed the river to its
northern bank, and followed up its northern
branch eight miles, with every eye keenly
searching for the appearance of foes ; and
made our encampment for the night in m
deep chasm, overhung by the long branches
of a grove of white pines. We built our
fire in the dry bed of a mountain torrent,
shaded by bushes on the side towards the
valley, and above, by a dense mass of
boughs, so effectually, as not only to con-
ceal the blaze from any one in the valley,
but also to prevent the reflection from
gilding too high the conspicuous foliage of
the neighbouring trees. After our horses
had fed themselves, we tied them close to
our couches, that they might not, in case
of an attack, be driven away before we had
an opportunity of defending them; and
when we retired, threw water upon our fire
that it might not guide the Indians in a
search for us ; put new caps upon our
arms, and trusting to our dog and mule,
the latter in such cases always the most
skilful to scent their approach, tried to
sleep. But we were too near the snows.
Chilling winds sucked down the vale, and
drove us from our blankets to a shivering
watch during the remainder of the night.
Not a cap, however, was burst. Alas ! for

AN ATTACK OF INDIANS. 251

our brave intentions, they ended in an
ague fit.

Our guide informed us, that the Eutaws
reside on both sides of the Eutaw or Ana-
huac mountains ; that they are continually
migrating from one side to the other ; that
they speak the Spanish language ; that
some few half breeds have embraced the
Catholic faith ; that the remainder yet hold
the simple and sublime faith of their fore-
fathers, in the existence of one great creat-
ing and sustaining cause, mingled with a
belief in the ghostly visitations of their
deceased Medicine men or diviners ; and that
they number a thousand families. He also
stated that the Cheyennes are a band of
renegadoes from the Eutaws and Cuman-
ches ; and that they are less brave and more
thievish than any other tribe living in the
plains south of Arkansas.

We started at seven o'clock in the morn-
ing of the 24th, travelled eight miles in a
north by west direction, killed another
buffalo, and went into camp to jerk the
meat. Again we were among the frosts
and snows and storms of another dividing
ridge. Our camp was on the height of
land between the waters of the Platte and
those of Grand River, the largest southern

252 BOTOU SALADS.

branch of the Colorado of the west. From
this eminence we had a fine view of Boyou
Salade, and also of the Anahuac range,
which we had before seen from the ridge
between the Arkansas and the southern
waters of the Platte. To the south-east,
one hundred and sixty miles, towered the
bald head of James' Peak ; to the east, one
hundred miles distant, were the broken and
frowning cliffs through which the south
fork of the Platte, after having gathered all
its mountain tributaries, forces its roaring
cascade course to the plains. To the north,
the low, timbered and grassy hills, some
tipped with snow, and others crowned with
lofty pines, faded into a smooth, dim, and
regular horizon.

AN ASCENT. 253

CHAPTER V.

An Ascent— A Misfortone-^A Death—- The Mountain
of the Holy Cross — ^Leapmg Pines — Killing a Buffiilo
— ^Asses and Tyrants — ^Panther, &c. — Geography—
Something about Descending the Colorado of the
West — Dividing Ridges — A Scene — Tumbleton's
Park — A War Whoop — Meeting of Old Fellow
Trappers — ^A Notable IVamp— My Mare — The eti-
quette of the Mountains — Kelly's Old Camp, &c. —
A Great Heart — ^Little Bear River— Vegetables and
Bitterness — ^Two White Men, a Squaw and Child—
A Dead Shot— What is Tasteful— Trapping— Black-
foot and Sioux — ^A Bloody Incident— A Cave — Hot
Spring — ^The Country — ^A Surprise — ^American and
Canadian Trappers — The Grand River — Old Park —
Death before us — ^The Mule — ^Despair.

The ascent to this height was not so
laborious as the one near the Arkansas. It
lay up the face of a mountain which formed
a larger angle with the plane of the horizon
than did the other. But it was clothed
with a dense forest of pines, a species of
doubleJeaved hemlock, and spruce and fir
trees, which prevented our animals from

254 A MISFORTUNE.

falling over the precipices* and enabled us
to make long sweeps in a zigzag course,
that much relieved the fatigue of the as-
cent. We however met here a misfortune
of a more serious nature to us, than the
storm that pelted us on the other ridge.
One of the horses belonging to our guide
sickened just before arriving at the summit,
and refusing to bear farther the burthen
which he had heretofore borne with ease
and apparent pride, sunk under it. We
roused him ; he rose upon his legs, and
made a willing attempt to do his duty ; but
the poor animal failed in his generous
effort.

We, therefore, took off his pack, put
it upon my saddle horse, and drove him
before us to the summit, from whence we
enjoyed the beautiful prospect we have just
described. But we felt little interest in
the expanse of sublimity before us ; our
eyes and sympathies, too, were turned to
the noble animal which was now suffering
great pain. He had been reared in the
mountains ; and it seemed to be his highest
pleasure to tread along their giddy brinks.
Every morning at his post, with the other
horse belonging to his master, he would

A DEATH. 255

stand without being fastened, and receive
his burthen ; and with every demonstration
of willingness, bear it over the mountains
and through torrents till his task was
ended in the night encampment. Such a
horse, in the desolate regions we were tra-
versing, the bearer of our wearing apparel
and food, the leader of our band of ani-
mals, the property of our kind old Ken-
tuckian, the one-third of all his worldly
estate, was no mean object of interest.
After noticing him awhile, we perceived
symptoms of his being poisoned, adminis-
tered whatever medicine we possessed suited
to the case, and left him to his fate for the
night. Rain during the day, frost during
the night ; ice in our camp kettles an inch
in thickness.

We were out early on the morning of the
25th, and found our guide's horse living.
We accordingly saddled, packed and start-
ed down the valley of a small head stream
of Grand River. The sick horse was driven
slowly along for about five miles when he
refused to go farther. It now became evi-
dent that he had been eating the wild par-
snips at our last encampment on the other
side of the ridge. That he must die be-
came, therefore, certain, and we unpacked

256 HOLY CROSS MOUNTAIN.

to see the breath from his body before he
should be left to the merciless wolves. He
died near daylight dowD, and as the path
before us was rough and bushy, we deter-
mined to remain on the spot for the night.
Our anxiety for the life of this excellent
animal had well nigh led us to pass un-
observed one of the most singular curio-
sities in nature — a cross of crystallized
quartz in the eastern face of a conical
mountain 1

On the western side of the stream which
we were following down, were a collec-
tion of butes or conical peaks clustered
around one, the top of which was somewhat
in the form of the gable end of an ancient
church. This cluster was flanked on each
side by vast rolls or swells of earth and
rock, which rose so high as to be capped
with snow. In the distance to the West,
were seen through the openings between
the butes, a number of spiral peaks that
imagination could have said formed the
western front of a vast holy edifice of the
eternal hills. On the eastern face of the
gable bute were two transverse seams
of what appeared to be crystallized quartz.
The upright was about sixty feet in length,
the cross seam about twenty feet, thrown

HOLY CROSS MOUNTAIN. 257

athwart the upright near its top and lying
parallel to the plane of the horizon. I
viewed it as the sun rose over the eastern
mountains and fell upon the gUttering
crystals of this emblem of the Saviour's
suffering, built with the foundations and
treasured in the bosom of these granite
solitudes. A cross in a church, however
fallen we may suppose it to be from the
original purity of worship, excites, as it
should, in the minds of all reasonable men,
a sacred awe arising from the remembrance
of the scene in Judea which spread dark-
ness like the night over the earth and the
sun. But how much more impressive was
this cross of living rock — on the temple of
nature where priest never trod ; the symbol
of redeeming love, engraven when Eden
was unscathed with sin, by God's own
hand on the brow of his everlasting moun-
tains.

The trappers have reverently named this
peak, the ** Mountain of the Holy Cross."
It is about eight hundred feet in height
above the level of the little brook, which
runs a few rods from its base. The upper
end of the cross is about one hundred feet
below the summit. There are many dark

258 HOLY CROSS MOUNTAIN.

and stately groves of pine and balsam fir
in the vicinity. About the brooks grow
the black alder, the laurel, and honey-
suckle, and a great variety of wild flowers
adorn the crevices of thfe rocks. The virgin
snows of ages whiten the lofty summits
around ; the voice of the low murmuring
rivulets trembles in the sacred silence:
*' O solitude, thou art here," the lip moves
to speak. ** Pray, kneel, adore," one seems
to hear softly breathed in every breeze.
" It is holy ground."

26th. On march at six o'clock and tra-
velled down the small stream which had
accompanied us on the 24th and 25th. As
we advanced, the valleys opened, and the
trees, pine, fur, white oak, cotton wood,
quaking-asp, &c., became larger and taller.
The wild flowers and grass became more
luxuriant. As we were on an Indian trail,
our course was as nearly a right line as the
eye of that race could trace among the
lower hills. Hence we often left the stream
and crossed the wood swells, not hills, not
mountains ; but vast swelling tracts of land
that rise among these vales like half buried
spheres, on which, frequently for miles
about us, pine and fir trees of the largest

ROUGH TRAVELLING. 259

size had been prostrated by the winds. To
leap our animals over these, and among
them, and into them, and out of them, and
still among them, floundering, tearing packs
and riders — running against knots and
tumbling upon splintery stubs and rocks,
were among the amusements of getting
through them. The groves of small quak-
ing-asp too, having been killed by the elk,
in some places had fallen across our track
so thickly that it became necessary to raise
the foot over one at almost every step.

Here my Puebla mare performed many a
feat of *' high and lofty tumbUng." She
could leap the large pines, one at a time,
with satisfaction to herself, that was worthy
of her blood. But to step, merely step,
over one small tree and then over another,
seemed to be too much condescension. Ac-
cordingly she took a firm unalterable stand
upon her reserved rights, from which
neither pulling nor whipping seemed likely
to move her. At length she yielded, as
great men sometimes do, her own opinion
of constitutional duty to the will of the
people, and leaped among them with a des-
peration that ought to have annihilated a
square mile of such obstacles. But instead

260 ELK SIGNS.

thereof, she turned a saumersault into about
the same quantity of them, and there lay
** alone in her glory," till she was tumbled
out and set up again.

The valley, during the day's journey, had
appeared five miles in width. On its
borders hung dark mountains of rock, some
of which lying westward, were tipped with
shining ice. Far beyond these appeared
the Anahuac ridge. Snow in the south
was yet in sight — none seen in the east
north. The valley itself was much broken,
with minor rocky declivities, bursting up
between the " swells," and with fields of
large loose stones laid bare by the torrents.
The buffalo were seen grazing in small
detached herds on the slopes of the moun-
tains near the lower line of snow, those
green fields of the skies. Many " elk
signs," tracks, &c., were met; but none
of these animals were seen. Our guide in-
formed me that their habit is to *' follow
the snow." In other words, that as the
snow in summer melts away from the
lowlands, they follow its retiring banks
into the mountains ; and when it begins
in autumn to descend again, they descei^d
with it, and pass the winter in the valley.

SCENERY. 261

He also accounted for the absence of the
male deer in a similar way ; and added that
the does, when they bring forth their young,
forsake their male companions until the
kids are four or five months old ; and this
for the reason that the unnatural male is
disposed to destroy his offspring during the
period of its helplessness. Some rain fell
to-day.

27th. We commenced our march this
morning at six o'clock, travelled, as our
custom usually was, till the hour of eleven,
and then halted to breakfast, on the bank
of the stream. The face of the country
along the morning's trail was much the
same as that passed over the day before;
often beautiful, but oftener sublime. Vast
spherical swells covered with buffalo, and
wild flowering glens echoing the voices of a
thousand cascades, and countless numbers
of lofty peaks crowding the sky, will give
perhaps a faint idea of it. As the stream
that we had been following bore to the
westward of our course, we in the afternoon
struck across a range of low hills to another
branch of it that came down from the
eastern mountains, and encamped upon its
banks. These hills were composed of hard
gravel, covered with two or three inches of

262 BUFFALO KILLED.

black loam. In the deep vales the moun-
tain torrents had swept away the soil, and
left the strata bare for miles along their
courses. The mountain flax and the large
thistle flourished everywhere. The timber
was the same in kind as we had passed the
three last days. The groves were princi-
pally confined to the lower portions of the
ravines which swept down from the snowy
heights. The Anahuac range in the west
appeared to dip deeper in the horizon, and
recede farther from us. One half only of
its altitude as seen from the dividing ridges
was now visible. We were doubtless less-
ening our own altitude materially, but the
difference in the apparent height of this
ridge was in part produced by its increased
distance. It had evidently begun to tend
rapidly towards the Pacific.

An aged knight of the order of horns
strode across our path near four o'clock,
and by his princely bearing invited our
trapper to a tilt. His Kentucky blood
could not be challenged with impunity.
He dropped upon one knee — drew a close
sight — clove the bull's heart in twain, and
sent him him groaning upon the sand. He
was very poor, but as >ve had reason to
fear that we were leaving the buflfalo

ASSES AND TYRANTS. 263

" beat," it was deemed prudent to increase
the weight of our packs with the better
portion of his flesh. Accordingly the tongue,
heart, leaf fat and the *' fleece" were taken,
and were being lashed to our mule, when
an attack of bilious bravery seized our
giant in the extremities, and he began to
kick and beat his horse for presuming to
stand upon four legs, or some similar act,
without his permission, in such gallant
style, that our mule on which the meat was
placed, leaped affrighted from us and
dropped it on the sand. We were all
extremely vexed at this, and I believe made
some disparaging comparisons between the
intellects of asses and tyrants. Whether
our mule or Smith felt most aggrieved
thereby we were never informed. But the
matter was very pleasantly disposed of by
our benevolent old guide. He turned the
meat with his foot and kicked it good-
naturedly from him, saying in his blandest
manner, " No dirt in the mounting but
sand ; the teeth can't go that ;" and
mounted his horse for the march. We tra-
velled twenty miles and encamped.

28th. Eighteen miles down the small
valleys between the sharp and rugged hills ;
crossed a number of small streams running

264 THE OLD PARK.

westward. The mountains along our way
differed in character from any we had here-
tofore passed. Some of them were com-
posed entirely of earth, and semi-elliptical
in form ; others embraced thousands of
acres of what seemed to be mere elevations
of fine brown gravel, rising swell above
swell, and sweeping away to the height of
two thousand feet, destitute of timber save
a few slender strips which grew along the
rills that trickled at long intervals down
their sides. We encamped again on the
bank of the main stream. It was one
hundred yards in width ; water a foot and
a half deep, current six miles the hour.

29th. To-day we struck Grand River,
(the great southern branch of the Colorado
of the west), twenty miles from our last
night's encampment. It is here three
hundred yards wide ; current, six miles the
hour; water, from six to ten feet in depth,
transparent, but, hke the atmosphere, of
much higher temperature than we had met
with since leaving the Arkansas. The
valleys that lie upon this stream and some
of its tributaries, are called by the hunters
** The Old Park." If the qualifying term
were omitted, they would be well described
by their name. Extensive meadows run-

THE PRAIRIE DOG, &C. 265

ning up the valleys of the streams, wood-
lands skirting the mountain bases and
dividing the plains, over which the ante-
lope, black and white-tailed deer, the
English hare, the big horn or mountain
sheep, the grisly, grey, red and black
bears, and the buffalo and elk range — a
splendid park indeed ; not old, but new
as in the first fresh morning of the creation.
Here also are found the prairie and the
large grey wolf, the American panther,
beaver, polecat, and land otter. The grisly
bear is the largest and most ferocious —
with hair of a dirty-brown colour, slightly
mixed with those of a yellowish white.
The males not unfrequently weigh five or
six hundred pounds. The grey bear is less
iusize, hair nearly black, interspersed along
the shoulders and hips with white. The red
is still less, according to the trappers, and of
the colour indicated by the name. The black
bear is the same in all respects as those
inhabiting the States. The prairie dog is
also found here, a singular animal, partially
described in a previous page ; but as they
may be better known from Lieutenant
Pike's description of them, I shall here
introduce it : *' They live in towns and
villages, having an evident police esta-

VOL. I. N

266 PRAIRIE DOG — BIRDS.

blished in their communities. The sites of
these towns are generally on the brow of a
hill, near some creek or pond, in order to
be convenielit to water and to be exempt
from inundation. Their residence is in
burrows, which descend in spiral form."
The Lieutenant caused one hundred and
forty kettles of water to be poured into one
of their holes in order to drive out the oc-
cupant, but failed. ** They never travel
mere than half a mile from their homes,
and readily associate with rattlesnakes.
They are of a dark brown colour, except
their bellies, which are red. They are
something larger than a grey squirrel, and
very fat ; supposed to be graminivorous.
Their villages sometimes extend over two
or three miles square, in which there must
be innumerable hosts of them, as there is!
generally a burrow every ten steps. As
you approach the towns, you are saluted oa
all sides by the cry of " vrishtonwish,*' ut-
tered in a shrill piercing manner."

The birds of these regions are the sparrow-
hawk, the jack-daw, a species of grouse of
the size of the English grouse ; colour brown,
a tufted head, and limbs feathered to the
feet; the raven, very large, turkey, turkey-
buzzards, geese, all the varieties of ducks

GRAND RIVER. 267

known in such latitudes, the bald and grey
eagle, meadow lark and robin red breast.
Of reptiles, the small striped lizard, horned
frog and garter snake are the most com-
mon. Rattlesnakes are said to be found
among the cliffs, but I saw none.

We forded Grand River, and encamped
in the willows on the northern shore. The
mountains in the west, on which the snow
was lying, were still in sight. The view to
the east and south was shut in by the
neighbouring hills ; to the north and north-
east it was open, and in the distance
appeared the Wind River and other moun-
tains, in the vicinity of the * Great Gap.'

During the evening, while the men were
angling for trout, Kelly gave me some
account of Grand River and the Colorado
of the west. Grand River, he said, is a
branch of the Colorado. It rises far in the
east among the precipitous heights of the
eastern range of the Rocky Mountains,
about midway from the Great Gap and the
Kenyon of the south Fork of the Platte.
It interlocks the distance of sixty miles
with the waters of the Great Platte; its
course to the point where we crossed, is
nearly due west. Thence it continues in
a west by north course one hundred and

n2

268 THE COLORADO.

sixty miles, where it breaks through the
Anahuac Ridge. The cliffs of this Keayon
are said to be many hundred feet high, and
overhanging ; within them is a series of
cascades, which, when the river is swollen
by the freshets in June, roar like Niagara.

After passing this Kenyon, it is said to
move with a dashing, foaming current in
a westerly direction fifty miles, where it
unites with Green River, or Sheetskadee,
and forms the Colorado of the west. From
the junction of these branches the Colorado
has a general course from the north-east
to the south-west, of seven hundred miles
to the head of the Gulf of California. Four
hundred of this seven hundred miles is an
almost unbroken chasm of Kenyon, with
perpendicular sides, hundreds of feet in
height, at the bottom of which the waters
rush over continuous cascades. This Ken-
yon terminates thirty miles above the Gulf.
To this point the river is navigable. The
country on each side of its whole course
is a rolling desert of brown loose earth, on
which the rains and dews never fall.

A few years since, two Catholic Mis-
sionaries and their servants, on their way
from the mountains to California, attempted
to descend the Colorado. They have never

PAINFUL SITUATION. 269

been seen since the morning they com-
menced their fatal undertaking. A party of
trappers and others made a strong boat and
manned it well, with the determination of
floating down the river to take the beaver,
which they supposed to live along its banks ;
but they found themselves in such danger
after entering the kenyon, that with might
and main they thrust their trembling boat
ashore, and succeeded in leaping upon the
crags, and lightening it before it was
swallowed in the dashing torrent. But the
death which they had escaped in the stream,
still threatened them on the crags. Per-
pendicular and overhanging rocks frowned
above them ; these they could not ascend.
They could not cross the river ; they could
not ascend the river, and the foaming
cascades below forbade the thought of com-
mitting themselves again to their boat.

Night came on, and the difficulty of keep-
ing their boat from being broken to pieces
on the rocks, increased the anxieties of their
situation. They must have passed a hor-
rible night ; so full of fearful expectations,
of the certainty of starvation on the crags,
or drowning in the stream. In the morn-
ing, however, they examined the rocks
again, and found a small projecting crag.

270 DANGEROUS SITUATION.

some twenty feet above them, over which,
after many efforts, they threw their small
boat-rope and drew the noose tight. One
of their number then climbed to explore.
He found a platform above the crag, of suffi-
cient size to contain his six companions,
and a narrow chasm in the overhanging
wall through which it appeared possible to
pass to the upper surface. Having all
reached the platform, they unloosed their
lasso, and, bracing themselves as well as
they could, with their rifles in the moving,
dry earth beneath their feet, they undertook
the ascent. It was so steep that they were
often in danger of being plunged together in
the abyss below. But by digging steps in the
rocks, (where they could be dug with their
rifle-barrells) , and by making use of their
lasso where it could be used, they reached
the upper surface near sunset, and made
their way back to the place of departure.

This is a mountain legend, interesting,
indeed, but —

" I cannot tell how the truth may be,
I tell the tale as 'twas told to me :"

At day-light, on the 30th, our cavalcade
was moving across the woody ridges and
verdant valleys between the crossings of

PANTHERS. 271

Grand River and its great north fork. We
struck that stream about ten o'clock. Its
water was beautifully clear, average depth
two feet, and current four miles the hour*
It is said to take its rise in the mountains,
near the south side of the ' Great Gap,' and
to flow, in a south-westerly course, through
a country of broken and barren plains, into
Grand River, twenty miles below the cross-
ings. We ascended rapidly all the day.
There was no trail to guide us ; but our
worthy guide knew every mountain-top in
sight. Bee lines through immense fields of
wild sage and wormwood, and over gravelly
pledns— a short halt for a short breakfast —
constant spurring, and trotting, and driv-
ing, deposited us at sunset, at the foot of a
lofty mountain, clothed with heavy timber.
This was the dividing ridge between the
waters of Grand and Green Rivers. It was ne-
cessary to cross it. We therefore, turned out
the animals to feed, ate a scanty morsel of
dried meat, and went to our couches, for
the strength requisite for the task. About
the middle of the night the panthers on the
mountain gave us a specimen of their
growling capacities. It was a hideous noise :
deep and broken by the most unearthly
screams ! They were gathering for prey ;

272 VALLEY OF THE

for our horses and ourselves. We drove
up the animals, however, tied them near
the camp, built a large and bright fire, and
slept till daylight.

At sunrise, on the morning of the 31st,
we stood on the summit of the mountain,
at the base of which we had slept the pre-
vious night. It was the very place from
which I wished to view the outline of the
valley of Grand River, and the snowy ridge
of the Anahuac ; and it was as favourable
an hour for my purpose as I could have se*
kcted from the whole day. The sun had just
risen over the eastern heights, sufficiently
to give the valley of the Grand River to
the south-east of me, those strong contrasts
of light and shade which painters know so
well how to use when sketching a mountain
scene at early morning, or when the sun is
half hidden at night. The peaks were
bright, the deep shadows sprang off from
the western sides, above faintly, and deep-
ening as they descended to the bases, where
the deep brown of the rocks and earth
gave the vales the semblance of undisturbed
night.

The depression of the valley, as I have
termed it, was in truth a depression of a
vast tract of mountains ; not unto a plane

GRAND RIVBR. 273

or vale ; but a great ravine of bates and
ridges, decreasing in height from the li-
mit of vision in the north-east, east and
south— and falUng one below another toward
the stream, into the diminutive bluffs on its
banks. The valley below the crossing was
less distinctly seen. Its general course
only could be distinguished among the bare
hills upon its borders. But the great main
chain, or Anahuac range, came sweeping
up from the Arkansas more sublime, if pos-
sible, in its aspect than when viewed from
the heights farther south. It was about one
hundred miles distant, the length of the
section in view about one hundred and
sixty ; not a speck on all its vast outline.
It did not show as glaciers do ; but like a
drift of newly-fallen snow heaped on moun-
tains, by some mighty efforts of the ele-
ments; piled from age to age; and from
day to day widening and heightening its
untold dimensions. Its width, its height,
its cubic miles, its mass of rock, of earth,
of snow, of ice, of waters ascending in clouds
to shower the lowlands or renew its own
robes of frosts, of waters sent rushing to the
seas, are some of the vast items of this sub-
limity of existence. The light of the rising

n3

274 DESCENT*

sun falling upon it through the remarkable
transparent atmosphere of these regions,
made the view exceedingly distinct. The
intervening space was thickly dotted with
lesser peaks, which, in the lengthened dis-
tance, melted into an apparent plain. But
the elevation of the great Anahuac ridge,
presenting its broad, white side to the
morning light in that dry, clear, upper air,
seemed as distictly seen as the tree at my
side. In the north-west it manifestly
tended toward the north end of the Great
Salt Lake. But I must leave this absorbing
scene for the journey of the day. The
ascent of the dividing ridge, from which I
took this extensive survey of all this vast,
unknown, unexplored portion of the moun-
tains, was comparatively easy. We threaded,
indeed, some half dozen precipices in going
up, within an inch of graves five hundred
feet deep. Yet, as none of us lost our brains
on the rocks below, these narrow and slip-
pery paths cannot be remembered in connex-
ion with incidents either remarkable or sad.
With this notice of mountain turnpikes, I
shall be obliged to my readers to step along
with me over the bold summit and look at
the descent, yes, the descent^ my friends*

WAR-WHOOP. 275

It is a bold one : one of the men said ^^ four
miles of perpendicular ;'' and so it was. Or
if it was not, it ought to have been, for many
very good reasons of mathematical propriety
that are as difficult to write as to compre-
hend. It was partially covered with bushes
and trees, and a soft vegetable mould that
yielded to our horses' feet, but we, by dint
of holding, bracing, and sliding, arrived
safely at the bottom, and jogged on merrily
six or seven miles over barren ridges, rich
plains, and woody hills to the head of Tum-
bieton park. We had turned out our ani- .
mals to eat, hung our camp-kettle over the
fire to boil some bits of grisly meat that we
had found among the rubbish of our packs,
and were resting our wearied frames in the
shade of the willows, conversing about the
tracts which we had seen five miles back ;
one supposing that they were made by
Indians, the Arrapahoes or the Shoshonies,
while our old guide insisted that they were
made by white men's horses ! and assigned
as a reason for this opinion, that no Indians
could be travelling in that direction, and
that one of the horses had shoes on its fore
feet ; when the Arrapahoe war-whoop and
the clattering of hoofs upon the side hill
above, brought us to our feet, rifle in hand>

276 MEETING OF TRAPPERS.

for a conflict. Kelly seemed for a moment
to be in doubt as to his own conclusions
relative to the tracks, and as to the colour of
those unceremonious visiters. But as they
dashed up, he leaped the brook, and seized
the hands of three old fellow-trappers. It
was a joyful meeting. They had often
stood side by side in battle, and among the
solemn mountains dug the lonely grave of
some slaughtered companion, and together
sent the avenging lead into the hearts of the
Blackfeet. They were more than brothers,
and so they met. We shared with them
our last scraps of meat.

They informed us that they had fallen in
with our trail, and followed us under a belief
that we were certain friends whom they
were expecting from St. Louis with goods
for the post at Brown's Hole ; that the Ar-
rapahoe& were fattening on buffalo in the
Bull Pen, on the north fork of the Platte ;
that the Shoshonies or Snakes w«re starving
on roots on Great Bear River; that the
Blackfeet and Sioux were in the neighbour-
hood ; that there was no game in the moun-
tains except on the head waters of Snake
River ; and that they themselves were a
portion of a party of white men, Indians, and
squaws, on their way to Bent's Fort on the

tumbleton's rock. 277

Arkansas, to meet Mr. Thomson with the
goods before named ; that we might reason-
ably anticipate starvation and the arrows of
the Sioux, and other kindred comforts along
our journey to Brown's Hole. Mr. Craig, the
chief of the party, and part owner with Mr.
Thomson, assured us that the grass on the
Columbia was already dry and scarce ; and
if there should prove to be enough to sus-
tain our horses on the way down, that the
snows on the Blue Mountains would prevent
us from reaching Vancouver till the spring,
and kindly invited us to pass the winter at
his post. After two hours' tarry with us he
and his party returned to their camp.

Tumbleton's Park is a beautiful savannah,
stretching north-westerly from our camp in
an irregular manner among groves of pine,
spruce, fir, and oak. Three hundred yards
from us rose Tumbleton's Rock, one of those
singular spires found in the valley of the
mountains, called Butes. It was about
eighty feet in height, twenty feet in diameter
at the base, and terminated at the top in a
point. Soon after our new acquaintances
had left us, we *' caught up" and struck
across the hills in a north-easterly course
toward the north fork of Little Bear River.
The travelling was very rough, now among

278 NOTABLB TRAMP.

fields of loose stones and bushes, and now
among dense forests ; no trail to aid us in
finding our way ; new ground even to our
guide. But he was infallible.

Two hours' riding had brought us upon
an Indian trail that he had heard of ten
years before ; and on we rushed among
the fallen pines, two feet, three feet in
diameter, raised, as you see, one foot, two
feet from the ground. The horses and mules
are testing their leaping powers. Over
they go, and tip ofi^ riders and packs, &c.,
&c. A merry time this. There goes my
Puebla mare, head, heels, and neck, into an
acre of crazy logs. Ho, haltl Puebla's
down, mortally wounded with want of
strength! She's unpacked, and out in a
trice; we move again. Hoi whistle that
mule into the track ! he'll be ofi* that ledge
there. Move them on! move! cut down
that sapling by the low part of that fallen
tree! drive over Puebla! There she goes!
long legs a benefit in bestriding forests.
Hold! hold! hold! that pack-horse yonder
has anchored upon a pine! Dismount!
back her out ! she has hung one side of her-
self and pack upon that knot! away! ho!
But silence! a deer springs up in yonder
thicket! Kelly creeps forward - halt ! hush]

NOTABLE TRAMP* 279

hu! Ah! the varlet! he is gone; a mur-^
rain on his fat loins ! a poor supper we'll
have to-night! no meat left, not a par-
ticle; nor coffee, tea, nor salt! custom of
society here to starve! suppose you will
conform! Stay, here's trouble! but they
move! one goes down well! another, another,
and another ! My Puebla mare, reader, that
six foot frame standing there, hesitating to
descend that narrow track around the preci-
pice ! she goes over it ! bravely done ! A
ten feet leap ! and pack and all stuck in the
mud. That mule, also, is down in the quag-
mire! a lift at the pack there, man! the
active, tireless creature! he's up and off.
Guide, this forest is endless! shan't get out
to-night. But here we go merrily onward !
It is dark enough for the frogs of Egypt!
Halt! halt! ho! Puebla down again — laid
out among the logs ! Pull away upon that
pack there, man ! help the sinner to her feet
again for another attempt to kill herself.
Beautiful pines, firs, and hemlocks, these,
reader ; but a sack of hurricanes has been
let loose among them not long since. The
prostrate shingle timber, eh? 'twould cover
a roof over the city of London ; and make
a railroad to run the Thames into Holland.
Halt! halt! unpack! we camp here to-night.

280 travellers' etiquette.

A little prairie this, embosomed, nestled,
&c., among the sweet evergreen woodlands.
Wait a little now, reader, till we turn these
animals loose to feed, and we'll strike up a
fire wherewithal to dry our wet garments,
and disperse a portion of this darkness. It
is difficult kindling this wet bark. Joseph,
sing a song; find a hollow tree; get some
dry leaves. That horse is making into the
forest! better tie him to a bough! That's
it r Joseph, that's a youthful blaze! give it
strength! feed it oxygen! it grows. Now
for our guest. Seat yourself, sir, on that
log; rather damp comfort — the best we
have — homespun fare — the ton of the coun-
try ! We're in the primeval state, sir. We
regret our inability to furnish you food, sir.
But as we have not, for the last few days
indulged much in that merely animal
gratification, we beg you to accommo-
date yourself with a dish of Transcendental-
ism ; and with us await patiently a broiled
steak a few days along the track of time to
come.

It was ten o'clock at night when we arrived
at this encampment. It had been raining
in torrents ever since night-fall. The rip-
pling of a small stream had guided us after
the darkness shut in. Drenched with rain^

GRASSES. 281

fihivering with cold, destitute of food, and
with the appetite of wolves, we availed our-
selves of the only comforts within our reach
— a cheering pine-knot fire, and such sleep
as we could get under the open heavens in a
pelting storm.

The general face of the country through
which the afternoon's travel had car-
ried us, w^as much broken ; but the ine-
qualities, or hills and valleys, to a very
considerable extent, were covered with a
rich vegetable loam, supporting a heavy
growth of pine, spruce, quaking-asp, &c.
The glades that intervened were more beau-
tiful than I had seen. Many were covered
with a heavy growth of timothy or herds
grass, and red top in blossom. Large tracts
in the skirts of the timber were thickly set
with Sweet-sicily. The mountain flax was
very abundant. I had previously seen it in
small patches only ; but here it covered
acres as densely as it usually stands in fields,
and presented the beautiful sheet of blue
blossoms so graceful to the lords of the
plough.

I had noticed some days previously, a few
blades of the grasses just named, stand-
ing in a clump of bushes ; but we were
riding rapidly, and could not stop to ex-

282 Kelly's old camp.

amine them, and I was disposed to think
that my sight had deceived me. What!
the tame grasses of Europe, all that are
valuable for stock, the best and most sought
by every intelligent farmer in Christendom ;
these indigenous to the vales of the Rocky
mountains ? It was even so.

August 1st. As our horses had found
little to eat during the past night, and
seemed much worn by the exceeding fati-
gues of the previous day, we at early dawn
drew them around our camp, loaded the
strongest of them with our packs, and led
and drove the poor animals through three
miles more of standing and fallen timber, to
the opening on Little Bear River, and turned
them loose to feed upon the first good grass
that we found. It chanced to be in one of
Kelly's old encampments ; where he had,
some years before, fortified himself with logs,
and remained seven days with a sick fellow
trapper. At that time the valley was alive
with hostile Indians ; but the good man
valued the holy principles of humanity more
than his life, and readily put it at hazard to
save that of his companion. *' A fearful
time that," said he ; *'the redskins saw every
turn of our heads during those seven days
and nights. But I baited our horses within

Kelly's old camp. 283

reach of my rifle during the day, and put
them in that pen at night ; so that they
could not rush ofi^ with them, without losing
their brains. The buffalo were plenty here
then. The mountains were then rich.
The bulls were so bold that they would
come close to the fence there at night, and
bellow and roar till I eased them of their
blood by a pill of lead in the liver. So you
see I did not go far for meat. Now, the
mountains are so poor that one would stand
a right good chance of starving, if he were
obliged to hang up here for seven days. The
game is all driven out. No place here for a
white man now. Too poor, too poor. What
little we get, you see, is bull beef. Formerly,
we ate nothing but cows, fat and young.
More danger then, to be sure ; but more
beaver too ; and plenty of grease about the
buffalo ribs. Ah! those were good times;
but a white man has now no more business
here."

Our general course since entering the
mountains at the Arkansas, had been north-
west by west. It now changed to north-west
by north. Our horses and mules, having
eaten to their satisfaction the rich grass
about our guide's old encampment, we
moved on down Little Bear River. Tha

284 WORMWOOD.

country, as we descended^ became more

and more barren.

The hills were destitute of timber and

grasses ; the plains bore nothing but prickly

pear and wild wormwood. The latter is a

shrub growing from two to six feet in height.

It branches in all directions from the root.

The main stem is from two to four inches

in diameter at the ground, the bark rough,

of a light greyish colour and very thin.

The wood is firm, fine grained, and difficult

to break. The leaves are larger, but

resemble in form and colour those of the

common wormwood of the gardens. The

flavour is that of a compound of garden

wormwood and sage : hence it has received

the names of ** wild wormwood" and **wild

sage." Its stiff and knotty branches are

peculiarly unpleasant to the traveller among

them. It stands so thickly over thousands

of acres of the mountain valleys, that it is

well nigh impossible to urge a horse through

it ; and the individual who is rash enough

to attempt it, will himself be likely to be

deprived of his moccasins, and his horse of

his natural covering of his legs. There are

two species of the prickly pear (cactus)

here. The one is the plant of low growth,

thick elliptical leaves armed with thorns,

THE PRICKLY PEAR. 285

the same as is found in the gardens of
certain curious people in the States ; the
other is of higher growth, often reaching
three feet ; the colour is a deep green.
It is a columnar plant without a leaf ; the
surface of the stalk is checked into dia-
monds of the most perfect proportions,
swelling regularly from the sides to the
centre. At the corners of these figures
grow strong thorns, from an inch to an inch
and a half in length. Six inches from the
ground, branches shoot from the parent
stalk in all directions, making an angle with
it of about forty-five degrees, and growiiig
shorter as the point of union with the
central stalk increases in height. The
consistency of the whole plant is alter-
nately pulpy and fibrous. We were making
our tedious way among these thorny com-
panions, musing upon our empty stomachs,
when we were overtaken by two men, a
squaw and child, from Craig's party. They
made their camp with us at night. Nothing
to eat, starving and weak ; we followed the
example of the squaw, in eating the inner
portion of large thistle-stalks.

2nd. We rose at daybreak, somewhat
refreshed by sleep, but weak, weak, having
eaten but little for four days. The longings

286 A DEAD SHOT.

of appetite — they are horrible ! Our guide
was used to long fasts, and was therefore
little incommoded. He, however, had been
out with his rifle, since the peep of day,
and as we were lifting the packs upon our
mules, it cracked in the direction of the
trail we were about to travel. We hastened
away to him with the eagerness of starving
men, and found him resting unconcernedly
upon his rifle, waiting for us to enjoy with
him the roasted loins of an elk, which had
tumbled from a neighbouring cliff", in obe-
dience to his unerring aim.

Leaving his saddle-horse to pack the
meat on, passed along a mile, and en-
camped among the willows on the bank of
Little Bear River. The first work, after
turning loose our animals, was to build a
fire to cook meat. Our squaw companion
thought otherwise. She selected a place
. for her camp beneath the willows, cleared a
spot wide enough for her bed, formed an
arch of the boughs overhead, covered it
with a piece of buffalo tent leather, unloosed
her infant from its prison, and laid it upon
skins in the shade she had formed. After
this, the horses of herself and husband were
unharnessed, and turned loose to feed.
She was a good, cleanly, affectionate body,

SOMETHING TASTEFUL. 287

equally devoted to the happiness of her
child, husband, and horses ; and seemed
disposed to initiate us into every little piece
of knowledge that would enable us to dis-
cover the wild edible roots of the country,
the best method of taking fish, hoppling
horses, tying knots in ropes, repairing sad-
dles, &c., which experience had taught her.
Our fire had just begun to burn brightly,
when our guide arrived with the elk. It
was very much bruised by its fall from the
cliff when shot. Yet it was meat ; it was
broiled ; it was eaten ; it was sweet. No
bread, or vegetables, or salt, to the contrary,
it was delicious. Four days' fasting is con-
fessed to be an excellent panacea for a bad
appetite ; and as all good and wholesome
rules work both ways, it is without doubt
a tasteful addition to bad food. I must,
however, bear my humble testimony to the
fact, that meat alone, unquaUfied with
gravy, unsprinkled with salt or pepper,
unaided by any vegetable or farinaceous
accompaniment, is excellent food for men.
It neither makes them tigers nor crocodiles.
On the contrary, it prevents starvation,
when nothing else can be had, and cultivates
industry, the parent of virtue, in all the
multiplied departments of the gastric sys-
tem «

288 TRAPPING.

3rd. Remained in camp all day to refresh
our animals, to eat, and hear yarns of
mountain life. During these conversations,
the great dangers of a residence among the
naountains was often reverted to. One
class of them was said to arise from the
increasing scarcity of buffalo and beaver
among them. This circumstance compelled
the trappers to move over a wide range of
country, and consequently, multiplied the
chances of falling in with the Sioux and
Blackfeet, their deadUest enemies — enemies
on whom no dependence could be placed
other than this, that they always fight well
whenever and wherever met. Our new
friends related, in this connexion, the death
of one of their old companions, a brave old
trapper of the name of Redman. This man,
and another called Markhead, were trapping
on the head-waters of Green River, when
they were discovered by a war party of
young Sioux, and robbed of their horses.
This was a great annoyance to them. The
loss of the value of their animals was
inconvenient for the poor men ; but the loss
of their services in transporting their traps
and furs, and *' possibles," (clothing, cook-
ing utensils, &c.,) was severely felt. It was
necessary to recover them, or cache ;^^ that
is, bury in some secret place in the dry sand>

GEOLOGY. 289

their remaining property : forsake their hunt,
and abandon all their prospects of gain for
the season. Redman had lived with the
Sioux, and relying on their former friend-
ship for him in their village, determined to
go with Markhead, and attempt to reason a
Sioux war party into a surrender of their
plunder. They approached them rifle in
hand, and held a parley near the Pilot Bute.
The result was, that the Indians demanded
and obtained their rifles, discharged them
at their owners, killed Redman instantly,
and severely wounded his companion. This
occurred in the spring of 1839.

4th. We were early on route this morn-
ing, down the banks of Little Bear River ;
course north-west. Our track lay so low,
that the mountains were seldom seen. A
portion of the Anahuac ridge in the south-
west, was the only height constantly in view.
The plains, as they are called, on either
side of the river, were cut into vast ravines
and bluffs. In their side sometimes ap-
peared a thin stratum of slate. Few other
rocky strata were seen during a march of
fifteen mUes. About twelve o'clock, we
came upon a cave formed by the limestone
and sulphur deposit of a small stream that
burst from a hill hard by. The water had,

VOL. I. o

290 SULPHUR CAy£ AND SPRING.

by constant depositions, formed an elevated
channel some five rods down the face of the
hillside, at the termination of which it
spread itself over a circular surface of one
hundred and fifty or two hundred feet in cir-
cumference. In the centre of this, was an
orifice, down which the water trickled into
the cave below. As little of the cave coidd
be seen from the ground above, myself and
two others attempted to explore it. We
found the roof hung with beautifully crys-
tallized sulphur, and the bottom strewn
with large quantities of the same material
in a pulverized state. The odour was so
offensive, however, that we were glad to
retreat before we had formed a very perfect
estimate of its extent and contents. It was
about six rods long, eight feet wide, and
four feet high. Near it were a number of
warm springs. On the bluff, a few rods
above it, was a small tract of fused rocks.
In all the circle of vision, however, there
were no elevations that indicate any power-
ful volcanic action in former times ; nor
any from which these rocks could have
tumbled or been thrown. The warm
springs, however, in the vicinity may, per-
haps, indicate their origin.

The face of the country passed to-day

AN AGREEABLE SURPRISE. 291

was dry and barren. A single quaking-asp
tree here and there on the sterile bottom
lands, and small strips of cotton wood,
whose tops peered from the deep gorges just
above the level of the wormwood plains, and
a few withered patches of the wild grasses
among the patched bluffs, present its whole
aspect.

The sun had nearly set before we arrived
at the desired place of encampment, the
junction of the two principal forks of Little
Bear River. When within half a mile of it,
one of the trappers who had joined us,
suddenly started his horse into a quick
gallop in advance of the rest of the party.
We were surprised by this sudden move-
ment, and hastened after him. As we rose
a sharp knoll, our surprise was changed to
pleasure on seeing him in friendly converse
with a white face, a fellow-trapper, one of
the ** white men" of the mountains. He
was a French Canadian, fourteen days from
Brown's Hole. We were soon across the
river, and in his camp among the cotton-
wood. Here we found three others to
welcome us, and give us information of the
movements of the Indians. They had been
attacked by a Sioux war party, a few days
before on Little Snake River, but had es-

o2

292 CANADIAN TRAPPERS.

caped with no other loss than that of a hat
and a favourite dog. Their opinion was
that we should have the pleasure of meeting
them on their way to Brown's Hole. This
prospect was extremely gratifying to our
noble old Kentucky guide. " D — n them,"
said he ; " I'll try to pick up one of
the rascals. Redman was as fine a fellow
as ever came to the mountains, and
they shot him with his own rifle. He was
a fool to let them have it ; he ought to have
shot one of them, d — n 'em, and then died,
if he must."

Our elk meat was diminishing fast, under
the kind administration of our own and our
friends' appetites ; and the certain prospect
that we should obtain no more for eight
days was a source of no inconsiderable un-
easiness to us. And yet we gave Ward,
Burns, the squaw, and the four French
trappers, being destitute of food, as freely
as they would have given to us under similar
circumstances, the best piece, and as much
as they would eat for supper and breakfast.
These solitary Frenchmen were apparently
very happy. Neither hunger nor thirst
annoy them, so long as they have strength
to travel, and trap, and sing. Their
camps are always merry, and they cheer

AMERICAN TRAPPERS. 293

themselves along the weary march in
the wilderness with the wild border
songs of ** Old Canada.*' The American
trappers present a different phase of charac-
ter. Habitual watchfulness destroys every
frivolity of mind and action. They seldom
smile : the expression of their countenances
is watchful, solemn, and determined. They
ride and walk like men whose breasts have
so long been exposed to the bullet and the
arrow, that fear finds within them no resting-
place. If a horse is descried in the distance,
they put spurs to their animals, and are at
his side at once, as the result may be, for
death or life. No delay, no second thought,
no cringing in their stirrups ; but erect, firm>
and with a strong arm, they seize and over-
come every danger, or ^* perish,'' as they
say, '* as white men should," fighting
promptly and bravely.

5th. This morning we were to part with
Burns and Ward, and the French trappers.
The latter pursued their way to the " Old
Park," as they called the valley of Grand
River, in pursuit of beaver ; the former
went into the heights in the south-west, for
the same object, and the additional one of
waiting there the departure of the Sioux
and Blackfeet. These Americans had in-^

o 3

294 A DREARY PROSPECT.

terested us in themselves by their frankness
and kindness ; and before leaving them, it
was pleasant to know that we could testify
our regard for them by increasing their
scanty stock of ammunition. But for every
little kindness of this description, they
sought to remunerate us tenfold, by giving
us moccasins, dressed deer and elk skins,
&c. Every thing, even their hunting shirts
upon their backs, were at our service ; —
always kindly remarking when they made an
oflfer of such things, that '* the country was
filled with skins, and they could get a
supply when they should need them."

About ten o'clock, we bade these fearless
and generous fellows a farewell as hearty
and honest as any that was ever uttered ;
wishing them a long and happy life in
their mountain home ; and they bade us a
pleasant and prosperous journey. We took
up our march again down Little Bear River
for Brown's Hole. It was six or eight
" camps," or days' travel, a-head of us ;
the way infested with hostile Indians — des-
titute of game and grass ; a horrid journey !
We might escape the Sioux ; we might kill
one of our horses, and so escape death by
starvation ! But these few chances of sav-
ing our lives were enough. Dangers of

ELK AND BEARS. 295

the kind were not so appalling to us then-
as they would have been when leaving the
frontier. We had been sixty odd days
among the fresh trails of hostile tribes, in
hourly expectation of hearing the war-
whoop raised around us ; and certain that
if attacked by a war party of the
ordinary number, we should be destroyed.
We had, however, crept upon every height
which we had crossed with so much caution,
and examined the plains below with so much
care, and when danger appeared near,
wound our way among the timber and
heights till we had passed it with so much
success, that our sense of danger was
blunted to that degree, and our confidence
in our ability to avoid it so great, that I
verily believe we thought as little of Indians
as we did of the lizards along our track.

We still clung to the stream. It was
generally about fifty yards wide, a rapid
current, six inches deep, rushing over a bed
of loose rocks and gravel, and falling at the
rate of about two hundred feet to the mile.
During the day, a grisly bear and three
cubs and an elk showed themselves. One
of the men gave chase to the bears, with
the intention of killing one of them for
food ; but they eluded his pursuit by run-
ning into brush, through which a horse

296 ESCAPE OF AN ELK.

could not penetrate with suflBicient speed to
overtake them. The man in pursuit, how-
ever, found a charming prize among the
brush; a mule— an excellent pack mule,
which would doubtless be worth to him at
Brown's Hole £20. It was feeding quietly,
and so tame as to permit him to approach
within ten yards, without even raising its
head over the hazel bushes that partly con-
cealed it. A double prize it was, and so
accidental ; obtained at so little expense ;
ten minutes time only — two pounds a
minute ! But alas for the £20 ! He was
preparing to grasp it, and the mule
most suddenly — most wonderfully — most
cruelly metamorphosed itself into an elk !
fat as marrow itself, and sufficient in weight
to have fed our company for twelve days.
It fled away, before our *' maid and her
milk pail companion " could shake his asto-
nished locks, and send a little lead after it,
by way of entreaty, to supply us starving
wretches with a morsel of meat.

After this incident had imparted its com-

»

fort to our disappointed appetites, we passed
on, over, around, in, and among deep ra-
vines, and parched, sterile, and flinty plains
for the remainder of our ten miles' march,
and encamped on the bank of the river.
The last of our meat was here cooked and

A DEEARY PROSPECT. 297

eaten. A sad prospect ! No game ahead,
no provisions in possession. We caught
three or four small trout from the river, for
breakfast, and slept.

I had now become much debilitated
by want of food and the fatigues of the
journey. I had appropriated my saddle
horse to bear the packs that had been borne
by Kelly's before its death ; and had, conse-
quently, been on foot ever since that event,
save when my guide could relieve me with
the use of his saddle beast. But as our
Spanish servant, the owner and myself, had
only his horse's services to bear us along,
the portion to each was far from satisfying
to our exceeding weariness. Blair and
Wood also, had had only one horse from
El Peubla. We were, therefore, in an ill
condition to endure a journey of seven days,
over a thirsty country, under a burning
sun, and without food.

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