The Great Bend of the Missouri--Crooks and M’Lellan Meet
With Two of Their Indian Opponents--Wanton Outrage of a
White Man the Cause of Indian Hostility--Dangers and
Precautions.-An Indian War Party.--Dangerous Situation of
Mr. Hunt.--A Friendly Encampment.--Feasting and Dancing.--
Approach of Manuel Lisa and His Party--.A Grim Meeting
Between Old Rivals.--Pierre Dorion in a Fury.--A Burst of
chivalry.
ON the afternoon of the following day (June 1st) they arrived at
the great bend, where the river winds for about thirty miles round a
circular peninsula, the neck of which is not above two thousand yards
across. On the succeeding morning, at an early hour, they descried two
Indians standing on a high bank of the river, waving and spreading their
buffalo robes in signs of amity. They immediately pulled to shore and
landed. On approaching the savages, however, the latter showed evident
symptoms of alarm, spreading out their arms horizontally, according to
their mode of supplicating clemency. The reason was soon explained. They
proved to be two chiefs of the very war party that had brought Messrs.
Crooks and M’Lellan to a stand two years before, and obliged them
to escape down the river. They ran to embrace these gentlemen, as if
delighted to meet with them; yet they evidently feared some retaliation
of their past misconduct, nor were they quite at ease until the pipe of
peace had been smoked.
Mr. Hunt having been informed that the tribe to which these men belonged
had killed three white men during the preceding summer, reproached them
with the crime, and demanded their reasons for such savage hostility.
“We kill white men,” replied one of the chiefs, “because white men
kill us. That very man,” added he, pointing to Carson, one of the new
recruits, “killed one of our brothers last summer. The three white men
were slain to avenge his death.”
Their chief was correct in his reply. Carson admitted that, being with a
party of Arickaras on the banks of the Missouri, and seeing a war party
of Sioux on the opposite side, he had fired with his rifle across. It
was a random shot, made without much expectation of effect, for the
river was full half a mile in breadth. Unluckily it brought down a
Sioux warrior, for whose wanton destruction threefold vengeance had been
taken, as has been stated. In this way outrages are frequently committed
on the natives by thoughtless or mischievous white men; the Indians
retaliate according to a law of their code, which requires blood
for blood; their act, of what with them is pious vengeance, resounds
throughout the land, and is represented as wanton and unprovoked;
the neighborhood is roused to arms; a war ensues, which ends in the
destruction of half the tribe, the ruin of the rest, and their expulsion
from their hereditary homes. Such is too often the real history of
Indian warfare, which in general is traced up only to some vindictive
act of a savage; while the outrage of the scoundrel white man that
provoked it is sunk in silence.
The two chiefs, having smoked their pipe of peace and received a few
presents, departed well satisfied. In a little while two others appeared
on horseback, and rode up abreast of the boats. They had seen the
presents given to their comrades, but were dissatisfied with them, and
came after the boats to ask for more. Being somewhat peremptory and
insolent in their demands, Mr. Hunt gave them a flat refusal, and
threatened, if they or any of their tribes followed him with similar
demands, to treat them as enemies. They turned and rode off in a furious
passion. As he was ignorant what force these chiefs might have behind
the hills, and as it was very possible they might take advantage of some
pass of the river to attack the boats, Mr. Hunt called all stragglers on
board and prepared for such emergency. It was agreed that the large
boat commanded by Mr. Hunt should ascend along the northeast side of
the river, and the three smaller boats along the south side. By this
arrangement each party would command a view of the opposite heights
above the heads and out of sight of their companions, and could give
the alarm should they perceive any Indians lurking there. The signal of
alarm was to be two shots fired in quick succession.
The boats proceeded for the greater part of the day without seeing any
signs of an enemy. About four o’clock in the afternoon the large boat,
commanded by Mr. Hunt, came to where the river was divided by a long
sand-bar, which apparently, however, left a sufficient channel between
it and the shore along which they were advancing. He kept up this
channel, therefore, for some distance, until the water proved too
shallow for the boat. It was necessary, therefore, to put about, return
down the channel, and pull round the lower end of the sand-bar into the
main stream. Just as he had given orders to this effect to his men, two
signal guns were fired from the boats on the opposite side of the river.
At the same moment, a file of savage warriors was observed pouring down
from the impending bank, and gathering on the shore at the lower end
of the bar. They were evidently a war party, being armed with bows and
arrows, battle clubs and carbines, and round bucklers of buffalo hide,
and their naked bodies were painted with black and white stripes. The
natural inference was, that they belonged to the two tribes of Sioux
which had been expected by the great war party, and that they had been
incited to hostility by the two chiefs who had been enraged by the
refusal and the menace of Mr. Hunt. Here then was a fearful predicament.
Mr. Hunt and his crew seemed caught, as it were, in a trap. The Indians,
to a number of about a hundred, had already taken possession of a point
near which the boat would have to pass: others kept pouring down the
bank, and it was probable that some would remain posted on the top of
the height.
The hazardous situation of Mr. Hunt was perceived by those in the other
boats, and they hastened to his assistance. They were at some distance
above the sand-bar, however, and on the opposite side of the river, and
saw, with intense anxiety, the number of savages continually augmenting,
at the lower end of the channel, so that the boat would be exposed to a
fearful attack before they could render it any assistance. Their anxiety
increased, as they saw Mr. Hunt and his party descending the channel
and dauntlessly approaching the point of danger; but it suddenly changed
into surprise on beholding the boat pass close by the savage horde
unmolested, and steer out safely into the broad river.
The next moment the whole band of warriors was in motion. They ran along
the bank until they were opposite to the boats, then throwing by their
weapons and buffalo robes, plunged into the river, waded and swam off
to the boats and surrounded them in crowds, seeking to shake hands with
every individual on board; for the Indians have long since found this to
be the white man’s token of amity, and they carried it to an extreme.
All uneasiness was now at an end. The Indians proved to be a war party
of Arickaras, Mandans, and Minatarees, consisting of three hundred
warriors, and bound on a foray against the Sioux. Their war plans were
abandoned for the present, and they determined to return to the Arickara
town, where they hoped to obtain from the white men arms and ammunition
that would enable them to take the field with advantage over their
enemies.
The boats now sought the first convenient place for encamping. The tents
were pitched; the warriors fixed their camp at about a hundred yards
distant; provisions were furnished from the boats sufficient for all
parties; there was hearty though rude feasting in both camps, and in the
evening the red warriors entertained their white friends with dances and
songs, that lasted until after midnight.
On the following morning (July 3) the travellers re-embarked, and took
a temporary leave of their Indian friends, who intended to proceed
immediately for the Arickara town, where they expected to arrive in
three days, long before the boats could reach there. Mr. Hunt had not
proceeded far before the chief came galloping along the shore and made
signs for a parley. He said, his people could not go home satisfied
unless they had something to take with them to prove that they had met
with the white men. Mr. Hunt understood the drift of the speech, and
made the chief a present of a cask of powder, a bag of balls, and three
dozen of knives, with which he was highly pleased. While the chief was
receiving these presents an Indian came running along the shore, and
announced that a boat, filled with white men, was coming up the river.
This was by no means agreeable tidings to Mr. Hunt, who correctly
concluded it to be the boat of Mr. Manuel Lisa; and he was vexed to find
that alert and adventurous trader upon his heels, whom he hoped to
have out-maneuvered, and left far behind. Lisa, however, was too much
experienced in the wiles of Indian trade to be lulled by the promise of
waiting for him at the Poncas village; on the contrary, he had allowed
himself no repose, and had strained every nerve to overtake the rival
party, and availing himself of the moonlight, had even sailed during a
considerable part of the night. In this he was partly prompted by his
apprehensions of the Sioux, having met a boat which had probably passed
Mr. Hunt’s party in the night, and which had been fired into by these
savages.
On hearing that Lisa was so near at hand, Mr. Hunt perceived that it was
useless to attempt any longer to evade him; after proceeding a few miles
further, therefore, he came to a halt and waited for him to come up. In
a little while the barge of Lisa made its appearance. It came sweeping
gently up the river, manned by its twenty stout oarsmen, and armed by
a swivel mounted at the bow. The whole number on board amounted to
twenty-six men: among whom was Mr. Henry Breckenridge, then a young,
enterprising man; who was a mere passenger, tempted by notions of
curiosity to accompany Mr. Lisa. He has since made himself known by
various writings, among which may be noted a narrative of this very
voyage.
The approach of Lisa, while it was regarded with uneasiness by Mr. Hunt,
roused the ire of M’Lellan; who, calling to mind old grievances, began
to look round for his rifle, as if he really intended to carry his
threat into execution and shoot him on the spot; and it was with some
difficulty that Mr. Hunt was enabled to restrain his ire, and prevent a
scene of outraged confusion.
The meeting between the two leaders, thus mutually distrustful, could
not be very cordial: and as to Messrs. Crooks and M’Lellan, though they
refrained from any outbreak, yet they regarded in grim defiance their
old rival and underplotter. In truth a general distrust prevailed
throughout the party concerning Lisa and his intentions. They considered
him artful and slippery, and secretly anxious for the failure of their
expedition. There being now nothing more to be apprehended from the
Sioux, they suspected that Lisa would take advantage of his twenty-oared
barge to leave them and get first among the Arickaras. As he had traded
with those people and possessed great influence over them, it was feared
he might make use of it to impede the business of Mr. Hunt and his
party. It was resolved, therefore, to keep a sharp look-out upon his
movements; and M’Lellan swore that if he saw the least sign of treachery
on his part, he would instantly put his old threat into execution.
Notwithstanding these secret jealousies and heart-burnings, the two
parties maintained an outward appearance of civility, and for two days
continued forward in company with some degree of harmony. On the third
day, however, an explosion took place, and it was produced by no less
a personage than Pierre Dorion, the half-breed interpreter. It will be
recollected that this worthy had been obliged to steal a march from St.
Louis, to avoid being arrested for an old whiskey debt which he owed to
the Missouri Fur Company, and by which Mr. Lisa had hoped to prevent his
enlisting in Mr. Hunt’s expedition. Dorion, since the arrival of Lisa,
had kept aloof and regarded him with a sullen and dogged aspect. On the
fifth of July the two parties were brought to a halt by a heavy rain,
and remained encamped about a hundred yards apart. In the course of
the day Lisa undertook to tamper with the faith of Pierre Dorion,
and, inviting him on board of his boat, regaled him with his favorite
whiskey. When he thought him sufficiently mellowed, he proposed to
him to quit the service of his new employers and return to his old
allegiance. Finding him not to be moved by soft words, he called to mind
his old debt to the company, and threatened to carry him off by force,
in payment of it. The mention of this debt always stirred up the gall
of Pierre Dorion, bringing with it the remembrance of the whiskey
extortion. A violent quarrel arose between him and Lisa, and he left the
boat in high dudgeon. His first step was to repair to the tent of Mr.
Hunt and reveal the attempt that had been made to shake his faith. While
he was yet talking Lisa entered the tent, under the pretext of coming
to borrow a towing line. High words instantly ensued between him and
Dorion, which ended by the half-breed’s dealing him a blow. A quarrel
in the “Indian country”, however, is not to be settled with fisticuffs.
Lisa immediately rushed to his boat for a weapon. Dorion snatched up
a pair of pistols belonging to Mr. Hunt, and placed himself in battle
array. The noise had roused the camp, and every one pressed to know
the cause. Lisa now reappeared upon the field with a knife stuck in
his girdle. Mr. Breckenridge, who had tried in vain to mollify his ire,
accompanied him to the scene of action. Pierre Dorion’s pistols gave
him the advantage, and he maintained a most warlike attitude. In the
meantime, Crooks and M’Lellan had learnt the cause of the affray, and
were each eager to take the quarrel into their own hands. A scene of
uproar and hubbub ensued that defies description. M’Lellan would have
brought his rifle into play and settled all old and new grudges by
a pull of the trigger, had he not been restrained by Mr. Hunt. That
gentleman acted as moderator, endeavoring to prevent a general melee; in
the midst of the brawl, however, an expression was made use of by Lisa
derogatory to his own honor. In an instant the tranquil spirit of Mr.
Hunt was in a flame. He now became as eager for the fight as any one on
the ground, and challenged Lisa to settle the dispute on the spot with
pistols. Lisa repaired to his boat to arm himself for the deadly feud.
He was followed by Messrs. Bradbury and Breckenridge, who, novices in
Indian life and the “chivalry” of the frontier, had no relish for scenes
of blood and brawl. By their earnest mediation the quarrel was brought
to a close without bloodshed; but the two leaders of the rival camps
separated in anger, and all personal intercourse ceased between them.