At that time, the Pawnee Picts, themselves an offset of the Shoshones
and Comanches, and speaking the same language--tribe residing upon the
northern shores of the Red River, and who had always been at peace with
their ancestors, had committed some depredations upon the northern
territory of the Comanches.
The chiefs, as usual, waited several moons for reparation to be offered
by the offenders, but as none came, it was feared that the Picts had
been influenced by the American agents to forget their long friendship,
and commence hostilities with them. It was, therefore, resolved that we
should enter the war path, and obtain by force that justice which
friendship could no longer command.
The road which we had to travel, to arrive at the town of the Pawnee
Picts, was rough and uneven, running over hills and intersected by deep
gullies. Bad as it was, and faint and tired as were our horses, in ten
days we reached a small prairie, within six miles of the river, on the
other side of which lay the principal village of the Pawnee Picts.
The heavens now became suddenly overcast, and a thunder-storm soon
rendered it impossible for even our best warriors to see their way. A
halt was consequently ordered; and, not withstanding a tremendous rain,
we slept soundly till morn, when a drove of horses, numbering some
hundreds, was discovered some distance to our left. In all appearance
they were tame animals, and many thought they could see the Pawnee
warriors riding them. Four of us immediately started to reconnoitre, and
we made our preparations for attack; as we gradually approached there
appeared to be no little commotion among the herd, which we now plainly
perceived to be horses without any riders.
When we first noticed them, we discerned two or three white spots, which
Gabriel and I mistook for flags; a nearer view convinced us that they
were young colts.
We continued our route. The sun had scarcely risen when we arrived on
the shore of the river, which was lined with hundreds of canoes, each
carrying green branches at their bows and white flags at their sterns.
Shortly afterwards, several chiefs passed over to our side, and invited
all our principal chiefs to come over to the village and talk to the
Pawnee Picts, who wished to remain brothers with their friends--the
Comanches. This was consented to, and Gabriel, Roche, and I accompanied
them. This village was admirably protected from attack on every side;
and in front, the Red River, there clear and transparent, rolls its deep
waters. At the back of the village, stony and perpendicular mountains
rise to the height of two thousand feet, and their ascent is impossible,
except by ladders and ropes, or where steps have been cut into the rock.
The wigwams, one thousand in number, extend, for the space of four
miles, upon a beautiful piece of rich alluvial soil in a very high state
of cultivation; the fields were well fenced and luxuriant with maize,
pumpkins, melons, beans, and squashes. The space between the mountains
and the river, on each side of the village, was thickly planted with
close ranks of prickly pear, impassable to man or beast, so that the
only way in which the Pawnees could be attacked was in front, by forcing
a passage across the river, which could not be effected without a great
loss of life, as the Pawnees are a brave people and well supplied with
rifles, although in their prairie hunts they prefer to use their lances
and their arrows.
When we entered the great council lodge, the great chief, Wetara Sharoj,
received us with great urbanity, assigned to us places next to him, and
gave the signal for the Pawnee elders to enter the lodge. I was very
much astonished to see among them some white men, dressed in splendid
military uniforms; but the ceremonies having begun, and it being the
Indian custom to assume indifference, whatever your feelings may be, I
remained where I was. Just at the moment that the pipe-bearer was
lighting the calumet of peace, the venerable Pawnee chief advanced to
the middle of the lodge, and addressed the Comanches:--
"My sight is old, for I have seen a hundred winters, and yet I can
recognize those who once were friends. I see among you Opishka Koaki
(the White Raven), and the leader of a great people; Pemeh-Katey (the
Long Carbine), and the wise Hah-nee (the Old Beaver). You are friends,
and we should offer you at once the calumet of peace, but you have come
as foes; as long as you think you have cause to remain so, it would be
mean and unworthy of the Pawnees to sue and beg for what perchance they
may obtain by their courage. Yet the Comanches and the Pawnees have been
friends too long a time to fall upon each other as a starved wolf does
upon a wounded buffalo. A strong cause must excite them to fight against
each other, and then, when it comes, it must be a war of extermination,
for when a man breaks with an old friend, he becomes more bitter in his
vengeance than against an utter stranger. Let me hear what the brave
Comanches have to complain of, and any reparation, consistent with the
dignity of a Pawnee chief, shall be made, sooner than risk a war between
brothers who have so long hunted together and fought together against a
common enemy. I have said."
Opishka Koaki ordered me to light the Comanche calumet of peace, and
advancing to the place left vacant by the ancient chief, he answered:--
"I have heard words of great wisdom; a Comanche always loves and
respects wisdom; I love and respect my father, Wetara Sharoj; I will
tell him what are the complaints of our warriors, but before, as we have
come as foes, it is but just that we should be the first to offer the
pipe of peace; take it, chief, for we must be friends; I will tell our
wrongs, and leave it to the justice of the great Pawnee to efface them,
and repair the loss his young men have caused to a nation of friends."
The pipe was accepted, and the "talk" went on. It appeared that a party
of one hundred Pawnee hunters had had their horses estampeded one
night, by some hostile Indians. For five days they forced their way on
foot, till entering the northern territory of the Comanches, they met
with a drove of horses and cattle. They would never have touched them,
had it not been that, a short time afterwards, they met with another
very numerous party of their inveterate enemies--the Kiowas, by whom
they were pressed so very hard, that they were obliged to return to the
place where the Comanche herds of horse were grazing, and to take them,
to escape their foes. So far, all was right; it was nothing more than
what the Comanches would have clone themselves in the land of the
Pawnees; but what had angered the Comanche warriors was, that the
hundred horses thus borrowed in necessity, had never been returned,
although the party had arrived at the village two moons ago.
When the Pawnees heard that we had no other causes for complaint, they
showed, by their expressions of friendship, that the ties of long
brotherhood were not to be so easily broken; and indeed the Pawnees had,
some time before, sent ten of their men with one hundred of their finest
horses, to compensate for those which they had taken and rather
ill-treated, in their hurried escape from the Kiowas. But they had taken
a different road from that by which we had come, and consequently we had
missed them. Of course, the council broke up, and the Indians, who had
remained on the other side of the river, were invited in the village to
partake of the Pawnee hospitality.
Gabriel and I soon accosted the strangely-dressed foreigners. In fact,
we were seeking each other, and I learned that they had been a long time
among the Pawnees, and would have passed over to the Comanches, in order
to confer with me on certain political matters, had it not been that
they were aware of the great antipathy the chiefs of that tribe
entertained against the inhabitants of the United States.
The facts were as follows:--These people were emissaries of the Mormons,
a new sect which had sprung up in the States, and which was rapidly
increasing in numbers. This sect had been created by a certain Joseph
Smith. Round the standard of this bold and ambitious leader, swarms of
people crowded from every part, and had settled upon a vast extent of
ground on the eastern shores of the Mississippi, and there established a
civil, religious, and military power, as anomalous as it was dangerous
to the United States. In order to accomplish his ulterior views, this
modern apostle wished to establish relations of peace and friendship
with all the Indians in the great western territories, and had for that
purpose sent messengers among the various tribes east of the Rocky
Mountains. Having also learned, by the St. Louis trappers, that
strangers, long established among the Shoshones of the Pacific Ocean,
were now residing among the Comanches, Smith had ordered his emissaries
among the Pawnees to endeavour to meet us, and concert together as to
what measures could be taken so as to secure a general league, defensive
and offensive, against the Americans and the Texans, and which was to
extend from the Mississippi to the western seas.
Such a proposition of course could not be immediately answered. I
therefore obtained leave from the Comanches to take the two strangers
with us, and we all returned together. It would be useless to relate to
the reader that which passed between me and the emissaries of the
Mormons; let it suffice to say, that after a residence of three weeks in
the village, they were conducted back to the Pawnees. With the advice of
Gabriel, I determined to go myself and confer with the principal Mormon
leaders; resolving in my own mind that if our interview was not
satisfactory, I would continue on to Europe, and endeavour either to
engage a company of merchants to enter into direct communication with
the Shoshones or to obtain the support of the English government, in
furtherance of the objects I had in view for the advantage of the tribe.
As a large portion of the Comanches were making preparations for their
annual migration to the east of Texas, Roche, Gabriel, and I joined this
party, and having exchanged an affectionate farewell with the remainder
of the tribe, and received many valuable presents, we started, taking
the direction of the Saline Lake, which forms the head-waters of the
southern branch or fork of the river Brazos. There we met again with our
old friends the Wakoes, and learned that there was a party of sixty or
seventy Yankees or Texans roaming about the upper forks of the Trinity,
committing all sorts of depredations, and painting their bodies like the
Indians, that their enormities might be laid to the account of the
savages. This may appear strange to the reader, but it has been a
common practice for some time. There have always been in the United
States a numerous body of individuals, who, having by their crimes been
compelled to quit the settlements of the east, have sought shelter out
of the reach of civilization. These individuals are all desperate
characters, and, uniting themselves in small bands, come fearlessly
among the savages, taking squaws, and living among them till a
sufficient period has elapsed to enable them to venture, under an
assumed name and in a distant state, to return with impunity and enjoy
the wealth acquired by plunder and assassination.
This is the history of the major portion of the western pioneers, whose
courage and virtues have been so much celebrated by American writers. As
they increased in numbers, these pioneers conceived a plan by which they
acquired great wealth. They united together, forming a society of land
privateers or buccaneers, and made incursions into the very heart of the
French and Spanish settlements of the west, where, not being expected,
they surprised the people and carried off great booty. When, however,
these Spanish and French possessions were incorporated into the United
States, they altered their system of plunder; and under the name of
Border's Buggles, they infested the states of the Mississippi and
Tennessee, where they obtained such a dreaded reputation that the
government sent out many expeditions against them, which, however, were
useless, as all the principal magistrates of these states had contrived
even themselves to be elected members of the fraternity. The increase of
population broke up this system, and the "Buggles" were compelled to
resort to other measures. Well acquainted with Indian manners, they
would dress and paint themselves as savages, and attack the caravans to
Mexico. The traders, in their reports, would attribute the deed to some
tribe of Indians, probably, at the moment of the attack some five or six
hundred miles distant from the spot.
This land pirating is now carried to a greater extent than ever. Bands
of fifty or sixty pioneers steal horses, cattle, and slaves from the
west of Arkansas and Louisiana, and sell them in Texas, where they have
their agents; and then, under the disguise of Indian warriors, they
attack plantations in Texas, carrying away with them large herds of
horses and cattle, they drive to Missouri, through the lonely mountain
passes of the Arkansas, or to the Attalapas and Opelousas districts of
Western Louisiana, forcing their way through the lakes and swamps on
both shores of the river Sabine. The party mentioned by the Wakoes was
one of this last description.
We left our friends, and, after a journey of three days, we crossed the
Brazos, close to a rich copper mine, which has for ages been worked by
the Indians, who used, as they do now, this metal for the points of
their arrows and lances. Another three days' journey brought us to one
of the forks of the Trinity, and there we met with two companies of
Texan rangers and spies, under the command of a certain Captain Hunt,
who had been sent from the lower part of the river to protect the
northern plantations. With him I found five gentlemen, who, tired of
residing in Texas had taken the opportunity of this military escort to
return to the Arkansas. As soon as they heard that I was going there
myself, they offered to join me, which I agreed to, as it was now
arranged that Gabriel and Roche should not accompany me further than to
the Red River[22].
[Footnote 22: It may appear singular to the reader that the Comanches,
being always at war with the Texans, should not have immediately
attacked the party under the orders of Hunt. But we were merely a
hunting-party; that is to say, our band was composed chiefly of young
hunters, not yet warriors. On such occasions there is frequently, though
not always, an ancient warrior for every eight hunters, just to show to
them the crafts of Indian mode of hunting. These parties often bring
with them their squaws and children, and never fight but when obliged
to do so.]
The next morning I received a visit from Hunt and two or three inferior
officers, to advise upon the following subject. An agricultural company
from Kentucky had obtained from the Texan government a grant of lands on
the upper forks of the Trinity. There twenty-five or thirty families had
settled, and they had with them numerous cattle, horses, mules, and
donkeys of a very superior breed. On the very evening I met with the
Texan rangers, the settlement had been visited by a party of ruffians,
who stole everything, murdering sixty or seventy men, women and
children, and firing all the cottages and log-houses of this rising and
prosperous village. All the corpses were shockingly mangled and scalped,
and as the assailants were painted in the Indian fashion, the few
inhabitants who had escaped and gained the Texan camp declared that the
marauders were Comanches.
This I denied stoutly, as did the Comanche party, and we all proceeded
with the Texan force to Lewisburg, the site of the massacre. As soon as
I viewed the bodies, lying here and there, I at once was positive that
the deed had been committed by white men. The Comanche chief could
scarcely restrain his indignation; he rode close to Captain Hunt and
sternly said to him--
"Stoop, Pale-face of a Texan, and look with thy eyes open; be honest if
thou canst, and confess that thou knowest by thine own experience that
this deed is that of white men. What Comanche ever scalped women and
children? Stoop, I say, and behold--a shame on thy colour and race--a
race of wolves, preying upon each other; a race of jaguars, killing the
female after having forced her--stoop and see.
"The bodies of the young women have been atrociously and cowardly
abused--seest thou? Thou well knowest the Indian is too noble and too
proud to level himself to the rank of a Texan or of a brute."
Twenty of our Comanches started on the tracks, and in the evening
brought three prisoners to the camp. They were desperate blackguards,
well known to every one of the soldiers under Captain Hunt, who, in
spite of their Indian disguise, identified them immediately. Hunt
refused to punish them, or to make any further pursuit, under the plea
that he had received orders to act against Indian depredators, but not
against white men.
"If such is the case," interrupted the Comanche chief, "retire
immediately with thy men, even to-night, or the breeze of evening will
repeat thy words to my young men, who would give a lesson of justice to
the Texans. Away with thee, if thou valuest thy scalp: justice shall be
done by Indians; it is time they should take it into their own hands,
when Pale-faces are afraid of each other."
Captain Hunt was wise enough to retire without replying, and the next
morning the Indians armed with cords and switches, gave a severe
whipping to the brigands, for having assumed the Comanche paint and
war-whoop. This first part of their punishment being over, their paint
was washed off, and the chief passed them over to us, who were, with the
addition I have mentioned, now eight white men. "They are too mean,"
said the chief, "to receive a warrior's death; judge them according to
your laws; justice must be done."
It was an awful responsibility; but we judged them according to the laws
of the United States and of Texas: they were condemned to be hanged, and
at sunset they were executed. For all I know, their bodies may still
hang from the lower branches of the three large cotton-wood trees upon
the head waters of the Trinity River.