have invariably a proneness to adopt savage habitudes; but none more so
than the free trappers. It is a matter of vanity and ambition with them
to discard everything that may bear the stamp of civilized life, and to
adopt the manners, habits, dress, gesture, and even walk of the Indian.
You cannot pay a free trapper a greater compliment, than to persuade
him you have mistaken him for an Indian brave; and, in truth, the
counterfeit is complete. His hair suffered to attain to a great length,
is carefully combed out, and either left to fall carelessly over
his shoulders, or plaited neatly and tied up in otter skins, or
parti-colored ribands. A hunting-shirt of ruffled calico of bright dyes,
or of ornamented leather, falls to his knee; below which, curiously
fashioned legging, ornamented with strings, fringes, and a profusion of
hawks’ bells, reach to a costly pair of moccasons of the finest Indian
fabric, richly embroidered with beads. A blanket of scarlet, or some
other bright color, hangs from his shoulders, and is girt around his
waist with a red sash, in which he bestows his pistols, knife, and the
stem of his Indian pipe; preparations either for peace or war. His gun
is lavishly decorated with brass tacks and vermilion, and provided with
a fringed cover, occasionally of buckskin, ornamented here and there
with a feather. His horse, the noble minister to the pride, pleasure,
and profit of the mountaineer, is selected for his speed and spirit,
and prancing gait, and holds a place in his estimation second only to
himself. He shares largely of his bounty, and of his pride and pomp of
trapping. He is caparisoned in the most dashing and fantastic style; the
bridles and crupper are weightily embossed with beads and cockades; and
head, mane, and tail, are interwoven with abundance of eagles’ plumes,
which flutter in the wind. To complete this grotesque equipment, the
proud animal is bestreaked and bespotted with vermilion, or with white
clay, whichever presents the most glaring contrast to his real color.
Such is the account given by Captain Bonneville of these rangers of
the wilderness, and their appearance at the camp was strikingly
characteristic. They came dashing forward at full speed, firing their
fusees, and yelling in Indian style. Their dark sunburned faces, and
long flowing hair, their legging, flaps, moccasons, and richly-dyed
blankets, and their painted horses gaudily caparisoned, gave them
so much the air and appearance of Indians, that it was difficult to
persuade one’s self that they were white men, and had been brought up in
civilized life.
Captain Bonneville, who was delighted with the game look of these
cavaliers of the mountains, welcomed them heartily to his camp, and
ordered a free allowance of grog to regale them, which soon put them in
the most braggart spirits. They pronounced the captain the finest fellow
in the world, and his men all bons garcons, jovial lads, and swore they
would pass the day with them. They did so; and a day it was, of boast,
and swagger, and rodomontade. The prime bullies and braves among the
free trappers had each his circle of novices, from among the captain’s
band; mere greenhorns, men unused to Indian life; mangeurs de lard,
or pork-eaters; as such new-comers are superciliously called by the
veterans of the wilderness. These he would astonish and delight by the
hour, with prodigious tales of his doings among the Indians; and of
the wonders he had seen, and the wonders he had performed, in his
adventurous peregrinations among the mountains.
In the evening, the free trappers drew off, and returned to the camp
of Fontenelle, highly delighted with their visit and with their new
acquaintances, and promising to return the following day. They kept
their word: day after day their visits were repeated; they became
“hail fellow well met” with Captain Bonneville’s men; treat after treat
succeeded, until both parties got most potently convinced, or rather
confounded, by liquor. Now came on confusion and uproar. The free
trappers were no longer suffered to have all the swagger to themselves.
The camp bullies and prime trappers of the party began to ruffle up, and
to brag, in turn, of their perils and achievements. Each now tried
to out-boast and out-talk the other; a quarrel ensued as a matter
of course, and a general fight, according to frontier usage. The two
factions drew out their forces for a pitched battle. They fell to work
and belabored each other with might and main; kicks and cuffs and dry
blows were as well bestowed as they were well merited, until, having
fought to their hearts’ content, and been drubbed into a familiar
acquaintance with each other’s prowess and good qualities, they ended
the fight by becoming firmer friends than they could have been rendered
by a year’s peaceable companionship.
While Captain Bonneville amused himself by observing the habits and
characteristics of this singular class of men, and indulged them, for
the time, in all their vagaries, he profited by the opportunity to
collect from them information concerning the different parts of the
country about which they had been accustomed to range; the characters
of the tribes, and, in short, everything important to his enterprise. He
also succeeded in securing the services of several to guide and aid him
in his peregrinations among the mountains, and to trap for him during
the ensuing season. Having strengthened his party with such valuable
recruits, he felt in some measure consoled for the loss of the Delaware
Indians, decoyed from him by Mr Fontenelle.
8.
Plans for the winter--Salmon River--Abundance of salmon west
of the mountains--New arrangements--Caches--Cerre’s
detachment--Movements in--Fontenelle’s camp--Departure of
the--Blackfeet--Their fortunes--Wind--Mountain streams--
Buckeye, the Delaware hunter, and the grizzly bear--Bones of
murdered travellers--Visit to Pierre’s Hole--Traces of the
battle--Nez--Perce--Indians--Arrival at--Salmon River
THE INFORMATION derived from the free trappers determined Captain
Bonneville as to his further movements. He learned that in the Green
River valley the winters were severe, the snow frequently falling to the
depth of several feet; and that there was no good wintering ground in
the neighborhood. The upper part of Salmon River was represented as far
more eligible, besides being in an excellent beaver country; and thither
the captain resolved to bend his course.
The Salmon River is one of the upper branches of the Oregon or Columbia;
and takes its rise from various sources, among a group of mountains to
the northwest of the Wind River chain. It owes its name to the immense
shoals of salmon which ascend it in the months of September and October.
The salmon on the west side of the Rocky Mountains are, like the buffalo
on the eastern plains, vast migratory supplies for the wants of man,
that come and go with the seasons. As the buffalo in countless throngs
find their certain way in the transient pasturage on the prairies, along
the fresh banks of the rivers, and up every valley and green defile of
the mountains, so the salmon, at their allotted seasons, regulated by a
sublime and all-seeing Providence, swarm in myriads up the great
rivers, and find their way up their main branches, and into the minutest
tributory streams; so as to pervade the great arid plains, and to
penetrate even among barren mountains. Thus wandering tribes are fed in
the desert places of the wilderness, where there is no herbage for the
animals of the chase, and where, but for these periodical supplies, it
would be impossible for man to subsist.
The rapid currents of the rivers which run into the Pacific render the
ascent of them very exhausting to the salmon. When the fish first run
up the rivers, they are fat and in fine order. The struggle against
impetuous streams and frequent rapids gradually renders them thin and
weak, and great numbers are seen floating down the rivers on their
backs. As the season advances and the water becomes chilled, they are
flung in myriads on the shores, where the wolves and bears assemble to
banquet on them. Often they rot in such quantities along the river banks
as to taint the atmosphere. They are commonly from two to three feet
long.
Captain Bonneville now made his arrangements for the autumn and the
winter. The nature of the country through which he was about to travel
rendered it impossible to proceed with wagons. He had more goods
and supplies of various kinds, also, than were required for present
purposes, or than could be conveniently transported on horseback; aided,
therefore, by a few confidential men, he made caches, or secret pits,
during the night, when all the rest of the camp were asleep, and in
these deposited the superfluous effects, together with the wagons. All
traces of the caches were then carefully obliterated. This is a common
expedient with the traders and trappers of the mountains. Having no
established posts and magazines, they make these caches or deposits at
certain points, whither they repair, occasionally, for supplies. It is
an expedient derived from the wandering tribes of Indians.
Many of the horses were still so weak and lame, as to be unfit for
a long scramble through the mountains. These were collected into one
cavalcade, and given in charge to an experienced trapper, of the name
of Matthieu. He was to proceed westward, with a brigade of trappers, to
Bear River; a stream to the west of the Green River or Colorado, where
there was good pasturage for the horses. In this neighborhood it was
expected he would meet the Shoshonie villages or bands, on their yearly
migrations, with whom he was to trade for peltries and provisions. After
he had traded with these people, finished his trapping, and recruited
the strength of the horses, he was to proceed to Salmon River and rejoin
Captain Bonneville, who intended to fix his quarters there for the
winter.
While these arrangements were in progress in the camp of Captain
Bonneville, there was a sudden bustle and stir in the camp of
Fontenelle. One of the partners of the American Fur Company had arrived,
in all haste, from the rendezvous at Pierre’s Hole, in quest of the
supplies. The competition between the two rival companies was just now
at its height, and prosecuted with unusual zeal. The tramontane concerns
of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company were managed by two resident
partners, Fitzpatrick and Bridger; those of the American Fur Company,
by Vanderburgh and Dripps. The latter were ignorant of the mountain
regions, but trusted to make up by vigilance and activity for their want
of knowledge of the country.
Fitzpatrick, an experienced trader and trapper, knew the evils of
competition in the same hunting grounds, and had proposed that the
two companies should divide the country, so as to hunt in different
directions: this proposition being rejected, he had exerted himself to
get first into the field. His exertions, as have already been shown,
were effectual. The early arrival of Sublette, with supplies, had
enabled the various brigades of the Rocky Mountain Company to start
off to their respective hunting grounds. Fitzpatrick himself, with his
associate, Bridger, had pushed off with a strong party of trappers, for
a prime beaver country to the north-northwest.
This had put Vanderburgh upon his mettle. He had hastened on to
meet Fontenelle. Finding him at his camp in Green River valley, he
immediately furnished himself with the supplies; put himself at the
head of the free trappers and Delawares, and set off with all speed,
determined to follow hard upon the heels of Fitzpatrick and Bridger. Of
the adventures of these parties among the mountains, and the disastrous
effects of their competition, we shall have occasion to treat in a
future chapter.
Fontenelle having now delivered his supplies and accomplished his
errand, struck his tents and set off on his return to the Yellowstone.
Captain Bonneville and his band, therefore, remained alone in the Green
River valley; and their situation might have been perilous, had the
Blackfeet band still lingered in the vicinity. Those marauders, however,
had been dismayed at finding so many resolute and well-appointed parties
of white men in the neighborhood. They had, therefore, abandoned this
part of the country, passing over the headwaters of the Green River, and
bending their course towards the Yellowstone. Misfortune pursued them.
Their route lay through the country of their deadly enemies, the Crows.
In the Wind River valley, which lies east of the mountains, they were
encountered by a powerful war party of that tribe, and completely put
to rout. Forty of them were killed, many of their women and children
captured, and the scattered fugitives hunted like wild beasts until they
were completely chased out of the Crow country.
On the 22d of August Captain Bonneville broke up his camp, and set out
on his route for Salmon River. His baggage was arranged in packs, three
to a mule, or pack-horse; one being disposed on each side of the animal
and one on the top; the three forming a load of from one hundred and
eighty to two hundred and twenty pounds. This is the trappers’ style of
loading pack-horses; his men, however, were inexpert at adjusting
the packs, which were prone to get loose and slip off, so that it was
necessary to keep a rear-guard to assist in reloading. A few days’
experience, however, brought them into proper training.
Their march lay up the valley of the Seeds-ke-dee, overlooked to the
right by the lofty peaks of the Wind River Mountains. From bright little
lakes and fountain-heads of this remarkable bed of mountains poured
forth the tributary streams of the Seeds-ke-dee. Some came rushing
down gullies and ravines; others tumbled in crystal cascades from
inaccessible clefts and rocks, and others winding their way in rapid and
pellucid currents across the valley, to throw themselves into the main
river. So transparent were these waters that the trout with which they
abounded could be seen gliding about as if in the air; and their pebbly
beds were distinctly visible at the depth of many feet. This beautiful
and diaphanous quality of the Rocky Mountain streams prevails for a long
time after they have mingled their waters and swollen into important
rivers.
Issuing from the upper part of the valley, Captain Bonneville continued
to the east-northeast, across rough and lofty ridges, and deep rocky
defiles, extremely fatiguing both to man and horse. Among his hunters
was a Delaware Indian who had remained faithful to him. His name was
Buckeye. He had often prided himself on his skill and success in coping
with the grizzly bear, that terror of the hunters. Though crippled in
the left arm, he declared he had no hesitation to close with a wounded
bear, and attack him with a sword. If armed with a rifle, he was
willing to brave the animal when in full force and fury. He had twice
an opportunity of proving his prowess, in the course of this mountain
journey, and was each time successful. His mode was to seat himself
upon the ground, with his rifle cocked and resting on his lame arm. Thus
prepared, he would await the approach of the bear with perfect coolness,
nor pull trigger until he was close at hand. In each instance, he laid
the monster dead upon the spot.
A march of three or four days, through savage and lonely scenes, brought
Captain Bonneville to the fatal defile of Jackson’s Hole, where poor
More and Foy had been surprised and murdered by the Blackfeet. The
feelings of the captain were shocked at beholding the bones of these
unfortunate young men bleaching among the rocks; and he caused them to
be decently interred.
On the 3d of September he arrived on the summit of a mountain which
commanded a full view of the eventful valley of Pierre’s Hole; whence he
could trace the winding of its stream through green meadows, and
forests of willow and cotton-wood, and have a prospect, between distant
mountains, of the lava plains of Snake River, dimly spread forth like a
sleeping ocean below.
After enjoying this magnificent prospect, he descended into the valley,
and visited the scenes of the late desperate conflict. There were the
remains of the rude fortress in the swamp, shattered by rifle shot, and
strewed with the mingled bones of savages and horses. There was the late
populous and noisy rendezvous, with the traces of trappers’ camps and
Indian lodges; but their fires were extinguished, the motley assemblage
of trappers and hunters, white traders and Indian braves, had all
dispersed to different points of the wilderness, and the valley had
relapsed into its pristine solitude and silence.
That night the captain encamped upon the battle ground; the next day he
resumed his toilsome peregrinations through the mountains. For upwards
of two weeks he continued his painful march; both men and horses
suffering excessively at times from hunger and thirst. At length, on the
19th of September, he reached the upper waters of Salmon River.
The weather was cold, and there were symptoms of an impending storm. The
night set in, but Buckeye, the Delaware Indian, was missing. He had left
the party early in the morning, to hunt by himself, according to his
custom. Fears were entertained lest he should lose his way and become
bewildered in tempestuous weather. These fears increased on the
following morning, when a violent snow-storm came on, which soon covered
the earth to the depth of several inches. Captain Bonneville immediately
encamped, and sent out scouts in every direction. After some search
Buckeye was discovered, quietly seated at a considerable distance in the
rear, waiting the expected approach of the party, not knowing that they
had passed, the snow having covered their trail.
On the ensuing morning they resumed their march at an early hour, but
had not proceeded far when the hunters, who were beating up the country
in the advance, came galloping back, making signals to encamp, and
crying Indians! Indians!
Captain Bonneville immediately struck into a skirt of wood and prepared
for action. The savages were now seen trooping over the hills in great
numbers. One of them left the main body and came forward singly,
making signals of peace. He announced them as a band of Nez Perces or
Pierced-nose Indians, friendly to the whites, whereupon an invitation
was returned by Captain Bonneville for them to come and encamp with him.
They halted for a short time to make their toilette, an operation as
important with an Indian warrior as with a fashionable beauty. This
done, they arranged themselves in martial style, the chiefs leading the
van, the braves following in a long line, painted and decorated, and
topped off with fluttering plumes. In this way they advanced, shouting
and singing, firing off their fusees, and clashing their shields.
The two parties encamped hard by each other. The Nez Perces were on a
hunting expedition, but had been almost famished on their march. They
had no provisions left but a few dried salmon, yet finding the white
men equally in want, they generously offered to share even this meager
pittance, and frequently repeated the offer, with an earnestness that
left no doubt of their sincerity. Their generosity won the heart of
Captain Bonneville, and produced the most cordial good will on the part
of his men. For two days that the parties remained in company, the most
amicable intercourse prevailed, and they parted the best of friends.
Captain Bonneville detached a few men, under Mr. Cerre, an able leader,
to accompany the Nez Perces on their hunting expedition, and to trade
with them for meat for the winter’s supply. After this, he proceeded
down the river, about five miles below the forks, when he came to a halt
on the 26th of September, to establish his winter quarters.
9.
Horses turned loose--Preparations for winter quarters--
Hungry times--Nez-Perces, their honesty, piety, pacific
habits, religious ceremonies--Captain Bonneville’s
conversations with them--Their love of gambling
IT WAS GRATIFYING to Captain Bonneville, after so long and toilsome a
course of travel, to relieve his poor jaded horses of the burden under
which they were almost ready to give out, and to behold them rolling
upon the grass, and taking a long repose after all their sufferings.
Indeed, so exhausted were they, that those employed under the saddle
were no longer capable of hunting for the daily subsistence of the camp.
All hands now set to work to prepare a winter cantonment. A temporary
fortification was thrown up for the protection of the party; a secure
and comfortable pen, into which the horses could be driven at night; and
huts were built for the reception of the merchandise.
This done, Captain Bonneville made a distribution of his forces: twenty
men were to remain with him in garrison to protect the property; the
rest were organized into three brigades, and sent off in different
directions, to subsist themselves by hunting the buffalo, until the snow
should become too deep.
Indeed, it would have been impossible to provide for the whole party in
this neighborhood. It was at the extreme western limit of the buffalo
range, and these animals had recently been completely hunted out of the
neighborhood by the Nez Perces, so that, although the hunters of the
garrison were continually on the alert, ranging the country round, they
brought in scarce game sufficient to keep famine from the door. Now
and then there was a scanty meal of fish or wild-fowl, occasionally an
antelope; but frequently the cravings of hunger had to be appeased with
roots, or the flesh of wolves and muskrats. Rarely could the inmates
of the cantonment boast of having made a full meal, and never of having
wherewithal for the morrow. In this way they starved along until the
8th of October, when they were joined by a party of five families of Nez
Perces, who in some measure reconciled them to the hardships of their
situation by exhibiting a lot still more destitute. A more forlorn set
they had never encountered: they had not a morsel of meat or fish; nor
anything to subsist on, excepting roots, wild rosebuds, the barks of
certain plants, and other vegetable production; neither had they any
weapon for hunting or defence, excepting an old spear: yet the poor
fellows made no murmur nor complaint; but seemed accustomed to their
hard fare. If they could not teach the white men their practical
stoicism, they at least made them acquainted with the edible properties
of roots and wild rosebuds, and furnished them a supply from their
own store. The necessities of the camp at length became so urgent that
Captain Bonneville determined to dispatch a party to the Horse
Prairie, a plain to the north of his cantonment, to procure a supply of
provisions. When the men were about to depart, he proposed to the Nez
Perces that they, or some of them, should join the hunting-party. To
his surprise, they promptly declined. He inquired the reason for their
refusal, seeing that they were in nearly as starving a situation as his
own people. They replied that it was a sacred day with them, and the
Great Spirit would be angry should they devote it to hunting. They
offered, however, to accompany the party if it would delay its departure
until the following day; but this the pinching demands of hunger would
not permit, and the detachment proceeded.