quietly down the river at night. In this way he passed on, until he
supposed himself safely through the region of danger; when he resumed
his voyage in the open day. On the 3d of September he had landed, at
midday, to dine; and while some were making a fire, one of the hunters
mounted a high bank to look out for game. He had scarce glanced his
eye round, when he perceived horses grazing on the opposite side of the
river. Crouching down he slunk back to the camp, and reported what he
had seen. On further reconnoitering, the voyagers counted twenty-one
lodges; and from the number of horses, computed that there must be
nearly a hundred Indians encamped there. They now drew their boat, with
all speed and caution, into a thicket of water willows, and remained
closely concealed all day. As soon as the night closed in they
re-embarked. The moon would rise early; so that they had but about two
hours of darkness to get past the camp. The night, however, was cloudy,
with a blustering wind. Silently, and with muffled oars, they glided
down the river, keeping close under the shore opposite to the camp;
watching its various lodges and fires, and the dark forms passing to
and fro between them. Suddenly, on turning a point of land, they found
themselves close upon a camp on their own side of the river. It appeared
that not more than one half of the band had crossed. They were within a
few yards of the shore; they saw distinctly the savages--some standing,
some lying round the fire. Horses were grazing around. Some lodges were
set up, others had been sent across the river. The red glare of the
fires upon these wild groups and harsh faces, contrasted with the
surrounding darkness, had a startling effect, as the voyagers suddenly
came upon the scene. The dogs of the camp perceived them, and barked;
but the Indians fortunately, took no heed of their clamor. Wyeth
instantly sheered his boat out into the stream; when, unluckily it
struck upon a sand-bar, and stuck fast. It was a perilous and trying
situation; for he was fixed between the two camps, and within rifle
range of both. All hands jumped out into the water, and tried to get
the boat off; but as no one dared to give the word, they could not pull
together, and their labor was in vain. In this way they labored for a
long time; until Wyeth thought of giving a signal for a general heave,
by lifting his hat. The expedient succeeded. They launched their canoe
again into deep water, and getting in, had the delight of seeing the
camp fires of the savages soon fading in the distance.
They continued under way the greater part of the night, until far beyond
all danger from this band, when they pulled to shore, and encamped.
The following day was windy, and they came near upsetting their boat in
carrying sail. Toward evening, the wind subsided and a beautiful calm
night succeeded. They floated along with the current throughout the
night, taking turns to watch and steer. The deep stillness of the night
was occasionally interrupted by the neighing of the elk, the hoarse
lowing of the buffalo, the hooting of large owls, and the screeching
of the small ones, now and then the splash of a beaver, or the gonglike
sound of the swan.
Part of their voyage was extremely tempestuous; with high winds,
tremendous thunder, and soaking rain; and they were repeatedly in
extreme danger from drift-wood and sunken trees. On one occasion, having
continued to float at night, after the moon was down, they ran under
a great snag, or sunken tree, with dry branches above the water. These
caught the mast, while the boat swung round, broadside to the stream,
and began to fill with water. Nothing saved her from total wreck, but
cutting away the mast. She then drove down the stream, but left one of
the unlucky half-breeds clinging to the snag, like a monkey to a pole.
It was necessary to run in shore, toil up, laboriously, along the eddies
and to attain some distance above the snag, when they launched forth
again into the stream and floated down with it to his rescue.
We forbear to detail all the circumstances and adventures of upward of
a months voyage, down the windings and doublings of this vast river; in
the course of which they stopped occasionally at a post of one of the
rival fur companies, or at a government agency for an Indian tribe.
Neither shall we dwell upon the changes of climate and productions, as
the voyagers swept down from north to south, across several degrees of
latitude; arriving at the regions of oaks and sycamores; of mulberry
and basswood trees; of paroquets and wild turkeys. This is one of the
characteristics of the middle and lower part of the Missouri; but still
more so of the Mississippi, whose rapid current traverses a succession
of latitudes so as in a few days to float the voyager almost from the
frozen regions to the tropics.
The voyage of Wyeth shows the regular and unobstructed flow of the
rivers, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, in contrast to those of
the western side; where rocks and rapids continually menace and obstruct
the voyager. We find him in a frail bark of skins, launching himself
in a stream at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and floating down from
river to river, as they empty themselves into each other; and so he
might have kept on upward of two thousand miles, until his little
bark should drift into the ocean. At present we shall stop with him at
Cantonment Leavenworth, the frontier post of the United States; where he
arrived on the 27th of September.
Here his first care was to have his Nez Perce Indian, and his half-breed
boy, Baptiste, vaccinated. As they approached the fort, they were
hailed by the sentinel. The sight of a soldier in full array, with what
appeared to be a long knife glittering on the end of a musket, struck
Baptiste with such affright that he took to his heels, bawling for mercy
at the top of his voice. The Nez Perce would have followed him, had not
Wyeth assured him of his safety. When they underwent the operation
of the lancet, the doctor’s wife and another lady were present; both
beautiful women. They were the first white women that they had seen, and
they could not keep their eyes off of them. On returning to the boat,
they recounted to their companions all that they had observed at the
fort; but were especially eloquent about the white squaws, who, they
said, were white as snow, and more beautiful than any human being they
had ever beheld.
We shall not accompany the captain any further in his Voyage; but will
simply state that he made his way to Boston, where he succeeded in
organizing an association under the name of “The Columbia River Fishing
and Trading Company,” for his original objects of a salmon fishery and
a trade in furs. A brig, the May Dacres, had been dispatched for the
Columbia with supplies; and he was now on his way to the same point, at
the head of sixty men, whom he had enlisted at St. Louis; some of whom
were experienced hunters, and all more habituated to the life of the
wilderness than his first band of “down-easters.”
We will now return to Captain Bonneville and his party, whom we left,
making up their packs and saddling their horses, in Bear River Valley.
42.
Departure of Captain Bonneville for the Columbia--Advance of
Wyeth--Efforts to keep the lead--Hudson’s Bay party--A
junketing--A delectable beverage--Honey and alcohol--High
carousing--The Canadian “bon vivant”--A cache--A rapid move
Wyeth and his plans--His travelling companions--Buffalo
hunting More conviviality--An interruption.
IT was the 3d of July that Captain Bonneville set out on his second
visit to the banks of the Columbia, at the head of twenty-three men. He
travelled leisurely, to keep his horses fresh, until on the 10th of July
a scout brought word that Wyeth, with his band, was but fifty miles in
the rear, and pushing forward with all speed. This caused some bustle
in the camp; for it was important to get first to the buffalo ground to
secure provisions for the journey. As the horses were too heavily laden
to travel fast, a cache was digged, as promptly as possible, to receive
all superfluous baggage. Just as it was finished, a spring burst out of
the earth at the bottom. Another cache was therefore digged, about two
miles further on; when, as they were about to bury the effects, a line
of horsemen with pack-horses, were seen streaking over the plain, and
encamped close by.
It proved to be a small band in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company,
under the command of a veteran Canadian; one of those petty leaders,
who, with a small party of men, and a small supply of goods, are
employed to follow up a band of Indians from one hunting ground to
another, and buy up their peltries.
Having received numerous civilities from the Hudson’s Bay Company, the
captain sent an invitation to the officers of the party to an evening
regale; and set to work to make jovial preparations. As the night air in
these elevated regions is apt to be cold, a blazing fire was soon
made, that would have done credit to a Christmas dinner, instead of a
midsummer banquet. The parties met in high good-fellowship. There was
abundance of such hunters’ fare as the neighborhood furnished; and it
was all discussed with mountain appetites. They talked over all the
events of their late campaigns; but the Canadian veteran had been
unlucky in some of his transactions; and his brow began to grow cloudy.
Captain Bonneville remarked his rising spleen, and regretted that he had
no juice of the grape to keep it down.
A man’s wit, however, is quick and inventive in the wilderness; a
thought suggested itself to the captain, how he might brew a delectable
beverage. Among his stores was a keg of honey but half exhausted.
This he filled up with alcohol, and stirred the fiery and mellifluous
ingredients together. The glorious results may readily be imagined;
a happy compound of strength and sweetness, enough to soothe the most
ruffled temper and unsettle the most solid understanding.
The beverage worked to a charm; the can circulated merrily; the first
deep draught washed out every care from the mind of the veteran; the
second elevated his spirit to the clouds. He was, in fact, a boon
companion; as all veteran Canadian traders are apt to be. He now became
glorious; talked over all his exploits, his huntings, his fightings
with Indian braves, his loves with Indian beauties; sang snatches of old
French ditties, and Canadian boat songs; drank deeper and deeper, sang
louder and louder; until, having reached a climax of drunken gayety,
he gradually declined, and at length fell fast asleep upon the ground.
After a long nap he again raised his head, imbibed another potation of
the “sweet and strong,” flashed up with another slight blaze of French
gayety, and again fell asleep.
The morning found him still upon the field of action, but in sad and
sorrowful condition; suffering the penalties of past pleasures, and
calling to mind the captain’s dulcet compound, with many a retch and
spasm. It seemed as if the honey and alcohol, which had passed so glibly
and smoothly over his tongue, were at war within his stomach; and
that he had a swarm of bees within his head. In short, so helpless
and woebegone was his plight, that his party proceeded on their march
without him; the captain promised to bring him on in safety in the after
part of the day.
As soon as this party had moved off, Captain Bonneville’s men proceeded
to construct and fill their cache; and just as it was completed the
party of Wyeth was descried at a distance. In a moment all was activity
to take the road. The horses were prepared and mounted; and being
lightened of a great part of their burdens, were able to move with
celerity. As to the worthy convive of the preceding evening, he was
carefully gathered up from the hunter’s couch on which he lay, repentant
and supine, and, being packed upon one of the horses, was hurried
forward with the convoy, groaning and ejaculating at every jolt.
In the course of the day, Wyeth, being lightly mounted, rode ahead of
his party, and overtook Captain Bonneville. Their meeting was friendly
and courteous; and they discussed, sociably, their respective fortunes
since they separated on the banks of the Bighorn. Wyeth announced his
intention of establishing a small trading post at the mouth of the
Portneuf, and leaving a few men there, with a quantity of goods, to
trade with the neighboring Indians. He was compelled, in fact, to this
measure, in consequence of the refusal of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
to take a supply of goods which he had brought out for them according
to contract; and which he had no other mode of disposing of. He further
informed Captain Bonneville that the competition between the Rocky
Mountain and American Fur Companies which had led to such nefarious
stratagems and deadly feuds, was at an end; they having divided the
country between them, allotting boundaries within which each was to
trade and hunt, so as not to interfere with the other.
In company with Wyeth were travelling two men of science; Mr. Nuttall,
the botanist; the same who ascended the Missouri at the time of the
expedition to Astoria; and Mr. Townshend, an ornithologist; from these
gentlemen we may look forward to important information concerning these
interesting regions. There were three religious missionaries, also,
bound to the shores of the Columbia, to spread the light of the Gospel
in that far wilderness.
After riding for some time together, in friendly conversation, Wyeth
returned to his party, and Captain Bonneville continued to press
forward, and to gain ground. At night he sent off the sadly sober and
moralizing chief of the Hudson’s Bay Company, under a proper escort, to
rejoin his people; his route branching off in a different direction.
The latter took a cordial leave of his host, hoping, on some future
occasion, to repay his hospitality in kind.
In the morning the captain was early on the march; throwing scouts
out far ahead, to scour hill and dale, in search of buffalo. He had
confidently expected to find game in abundance, on the head-waters of
the Portneuf; but on reaching that region, not a track was to be seen.
At length, one of the scouts, who had made a wide sweep away to the
head-waters of the Blackfoot River, discovered great herds quietly
grazing in the adjacent meadows. He set out on his return, to report
his discoveries; but night overtaking him, he was kindly and hospitably
entertained at the camp of Wyeth. As soon as day dawned he hastened to
his own camp with the welcome intelligence; and about ten o’clock of the
same morning, Captain Bonneville’s party were in the midst of the game.
The packs were scarcely off the backs of the mules, when the runners,
mounted on the fleetest horses, were full tilt after the buffalo. Others
of the men were busied erecting scaffolds, and other contrivances, for
jerking or drying meat; others were lighting great fires for the same
purpose; soon the hunters began to make their appearance, bringing
in the choicest morsels of buffalo meat; these were placed upon the
scaffolds, and the whole camp presented a scene of singular hurry and
activity. At daylight the next morning, the runners again took the
field, with similar success; and, after an interval of repose made their
third and last chase, about twelve o’clock; for by this time, Wyeth’s
party was in sight. The game being now driven into a valley, at some
distance, Wyeth was obliged to fix his camp there; but he came in the
evening to pay Captain Bonneville a visit. He was accompanied by Captain
Stewart, the amateur traveller; who had not yet sated his appetite for
the adventurous life of the wilderness. With him, also, was a Mr. M’Kay,
a half-breed; son of the unfortunate adventurer of the same name who
came out in the first maritime expedition to Astoria and was blown up
in the Tonquin. His son had grown up in the employ of the British fur
companies; and was a prime hunter, and a daring partisan. He held,
moreover, a farm in the valley of the Wallamut.
The three visitors, when they reached Captain Bonneville’s camp, were
surprised to find no one in it but himself and three men; his party
being dispersed in all directions, to make the most of their present
chance for hunting. They remonstrated with him on the imprudence of
remaining with so trifling a guard in a region so full of danger.
Captain Bonneville vindicated the policy of his conduct. He never
hesitated to send out all his hunters, when any important object was to
be attained; and experience had taught him that he was most secure when
his forces were thus distributed over the surrounding country. He then
was sure that no enemy could approach, from any direction, without
being discovered by his hunters; who have a quick eye for detecting the
slightest signs of the proximity of Indians; and who would instantly
convey intelligence to the camp.
The captain now set to work with his men, to prepare a suitable
entertainment for his guests. It was a time of plenty in the camp; of
prime hunters’ dainties; of buffalo humps, and buffalo tongues; and
roasted ribs, and broiled marrow-bones: all these were cooked in
hunters’ style; served up with a profusion known only on a plentiful
hunting ground, and discussed with an appetite that would astonish the
puny gourmands of the cities. But above all, and to give a bacchanalian
grace to this truly masculine repast, the captain produced his
mellifluous keg of home-brewed nectar, which had been so potent over
the senses of the veteran of Hudson’s Bay. Potations, pottle deep, again
went round; never did beverage excite greater glee, or meet with more
rapturous commendation. The parties were fast advancing to that
happy state which would have insured ample cause for the next day’s
repentance; and the bees were already beginning to buzz about their
ears, when a messenger came spurring to the camp with intelligence that
Wyeth’s people had got entangled in one of those deep and frightful
ravines, piled with immense fragments of volcanic rock, which gash the
whole country about the head-waters of the Blackfoot River. The revel
was instantly at an end; the keg of sweet and potent home-brewed was
deserted; and the guests departed with all speed to aid in extricating
their companions from the volcanic ravine.
43.
A rapid march--A cloud of dust--Wild horsemen--“High Jinks”
Horseracing and rifle-shooting--The game of hand--The
fishing season--Mode of fishing--Table lands--Salmon
fishers--The captain’s visit to an Indian lodge--The Indian
girl--The pocket mirror--Supper--Troubles of an evil
conscience.
“UP and away!” is the first thought at daylight of the Indian trader,
when a rival is at hand and distance is to be gained. Early in the
morning, Captain Bonneville ordered the half dried meat to be packed
upon the horses, and leaving Wyeth and his party to hunt the scattered
buffalo, pushed off rapidly to the east, to regain the plain of the
Portneuf. His march was rugged and dangerous; through volcanic hills,
broken into cliffs and precipices; and seamed with tremendous chasms,
where the rocks rose like walls.
On the second day, however, he encamped once more in the plain, and
as it was still early some of the men strolled out to the neighboring
hills. In casting their eyes round the country, they perceived a great
cloud of dust rising in the south, and evidently approaching. Hastening
back to the camp, they gave the alarm. Preparations were instantly made
to receive an enemy; while some of the men, throwing themselves upon
the “running horses” kept for hunting, galloped off to reconnoitre. In
a little while, they made signals from a distance that all was friendly.
By this time the cloud of dust had swept on as if hurried along by a
blast, and a band of wild horsemen came dashing at full leap into the
camp, yelling and whooping like so many maniacs. Their dresses, their
accoutrements, their mode of riding, and their uncouth clamor, made
them seem a party of savages arrayed for war; but they proved to be
principally half-breeds, and white men grown savage in the wilderness,
who were employed as trappers and hunters in the service of the Hudson’s
Bay Company.
Here was again “high jinks” in the camp. Captain Bonneville’s men hailed
these wild scamperers as congenial spirits, or rather as the very game
birds of their class. They entertained them with the hospitality of
mountaineers, feasting them at every fire. At first, there were mutual
details of adventures and exploits, and broad joking mingled with peals
of laughter. Then came on boasting of the comparative merits of horses
and rifles, which soon engrossed every tongue. This naturally led to
racing, and shooting at a mark; one trial of speed and skill succeeded
another, shouts and acclamations rose from the victorious parties,
fierce altercations succeeded, and a general melee was about to take
place, when suddenly the attention of the quarrellers was arrested by a
strange kind of Indian chant or chorus, that seemed to operate upon them
as a charm. Their fury was at an end; a tacit reconciliation succeeded
and the ideas of the whole mongrel crowd whites, half-breeds and squaws
were turned in a new direction. They all formed into groups and taking
their places at the several fires, prepared for one of the most exciting
amusements of the Nez Perces and the other tribes of the Far West.
The choral chant, in fact, which had thus acted as a charm, was a kind
of wild accompaniment to the favorite Indian game of “Hand.” This is
played by two parties drawn out in opposite platoons before a blazing
fire. It is in some respects like the old game of passing the ring or
the button, and detecting the hand which holds it. In the present game,
the object hidden, or the cache as it is called by the trappers, is a
small splint of wood, or other diminutive article that may be concealed
in the closed hand. This is passed backward and forward among the party
“in hand,” while the party “out of hand” guess where it is concealed. To
heighten the excitement and confuse the guessers, a number of dry poles
are laid before each platoon, upon which the members of the party “in
hand” beat furiously with short staves, keeping time to the choral chant
already mentioned, which waxes fast and furious as the game proceeds. As
large bets are staked upon the game, the excitement is prodigious.
Each party in turn bursts out in full chorus, beating, and yelling, and
working themselves up into such a heat that the perspiration rolls down
their naked shoulders, even in the cold of a winter night. The bets
are doubled and trebled as the game advances, the mental excitement
increases almost to madness, and all the worldly effects of the gamblers
are often hazarded upon the position of a straw.
These gambling games were kept up throughout the night; every fire
glared upon a group that looked like a crew of maniacs at their frantic
orgies, and the scene would have been kept up throughout the succeeding
day, had not Captain Bonneville interposed his authority, and, at the
usual hour, issued his marching orders.
Proceeding down the course of Snake River, the hunters regularly
returned to camp in the evening laden with wild geese, which were yet
scarcely able to fly, and were easily caught in great numbers. It was
now the season of the annual fish-feast, with which the Indians in these
parts celebrate the first appearance of the salmon in this river. These
fish are taken in great numbers at the numerous falls of about four feet
pitch. The Indians flank the shallow water just below, and spear them
as they attempt to pass. In wide parts of the river, also, they place a
sort of chevaux-de-frize, or fence, of poles interwoven with withes, and
forming an angle in the middle of the current, where a small opening
is left for the salmon to pass. Around this opening the Indians station
themselves on small rafts, and ply their spears with great success.
The table lands so common in this region have a sandy soil,
inconsiderable in depth, and covered with sage, or more properly
speaking, wormwood. Below this is a level stratum of rock, riven
occasionally by frightful chasms. The whole plain rises as it approaches
the river, and terminates with high and broken cliffs, difficult to
pass, and in many places so precipitous that it is impossible, for days
together, to get down to the water’s edge, to give drink to the horses.
This obliges the traveller occasionally to abandon the vicinity of the
river, and make a wide sweep into the interior.
It was now far in the month of July, and the party suffered extremely
from sultry weather and dusty travelling. The flies and gnats, too, were
extremely troublesome to the horses; especially when keeping along the
edge of the river where it runs between low sand-banks. Whenever the
travellers encamped in the afternoon, the horses retired to the gravelly
shores and remained there, without attempting to feed until the cool of
the evening. As to the travellers, they plunged into the clear and cool
current, to wash away the dust of the road and refresh themselves after
the heat of the day. The nights were always cool and pleasant.