ADVENTURES OF A TRAPPER.
Fifty years ago, when Kansas City consisted of a warehouse and there was
not a single private residence of civilized man between the Missouri
River and San Francisco, S. E. Ward, a trapper, landed from a steamer at
Independence. He was a penniless youth of eighteen years, direct from
the parental home in Virginia, filled with eager desire to gain a
fortune in the far West. Now, at sixty-eight years of age, Mr. Ward is
almost twice a millionaire and one of the most respected citizens of
Western Missouri. He is one of the pioneers that are left to speak of
the struggles and triumphs of early Western life. The family home is a
spacious two-story brick house, 2½ miles south of Westport, on the old
Santa Fé trail. The house stands upon a farm of 500 acres at the edge of
the great prairie which stretches away through Kansas to the base of the
Rocky Mountains. On this very spot where he now lives Mr. Ward camped
more than once on his return from trading expeditions, years ago, in the
Southwest.
He has had experiences that do not fall to the ordinary lot of man.
Thrown by circumstances into a new country in his earlier life, he has
traveled thousands of miles alone through the mountains and across the
prairies, and often spent weeks without meeting a single human being.
Exposed to snow, sleet, and rain, with no shelter but a buffalo robe,
and at times with starvation staring him in the face, the chances seemed
slight indeed of ever coming out alive. During his experience in the
West he met Fremont in his expedition through the mountains, saw Brigham
Young on the Platte River as he was on his way to found a Mormon empire,
passed through the stormy period of the Mexican War, the California gold
excitement, the Civil War, and witnessed the opening of the Pacific
Railroad, and the mighty influx of population on the plains of the great
West.
The first seven years of his life on the frontier were passed largely in
intercourse with Indian tribes, extending from the Red River on the
south to the upper waters of the Columbia and Yellowstone on the north.
Hunting, trapping, and trading were the only occupations open to white
men west of the Missouri River in those days. In little bands of from
two to twelve the hunters and trappers roamed through the vast region
with but little fear of the redskins. The Indians had not contracted the
vices of civilization, and were a different race of people from what
they are to-day. The cruelties we read of as practiced by them in later
years were unknown. I never knew of a prisoner being burned at the
stake, and ordinarily the hunter felt as safe in an Indian country as in
his own settlement. The Indians were armed with bows and arrows, not
more than one in fifty being the possessor of a gun. When an Indian did
use a gun it was usually a light shotgun that proved ineffective at any
great distance. An experienced frontiersman considered himself safe
against any small number of Indians.
By means of the sign language we were able to talk with the Indians upon
all subjects; and as they were very great talkers and inveterate
story-tellers, many is the hour I have passed seated by the camp-fire
hearing their adventures or the legends of their nations. I have often
wondered why the sign language, as recognized and perfected by the
Indians, was not adopted among civilized people instead of the deaf and
dumb alphabet. The Indian's method of communicating his ideas is much
more impressive and natural. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes were especially
noted for their skill in sign language.
In some respects the Indians were superior to the whites as hunters.
They knew nothing of trapping beaver until taught by the whites, but
they could give valuable points on bagging the large game on the plains.
Forty or fifty years ago the plains were swarming with buffalo. I have
often seen droves so large that no eye could compass them. Their numbers
were countless. The Indian hunter riding bare-backed would guide his
horse headlong into the midst of the herd, singling out the fattest and
in an instant sending the deadly arrow clean through his victim. In a
single day's hunt they sometimes killed 3,000 to 4,000 buffalo. The dead
bodies would lie scattered over the prairie for miles. It required the
greatest diligence to save the skins and dry the meat for use in winter.
They made wholesale slaughter of antelope by forming a "surround." This
required the presence of several hundred Indians to make a complete
success. Early in the morning the men and boys would form a circle miles
in diameter, riding round and round, making the circle smaller at every
revolution and growing closer together. All the game within the ranks
was gradually collected into a body which was driven to an inclosure
formed by weeds piled high up at the sides, behind which were the women
and old men. As the game passed the reserve force these bobbed up and
set up unearthly shrieks and yells that caused the frightened animals to
plunge forward over a precipice to which the inclosure conducted. The
slaughter was terrible. Indians stationed below gave the quietus to such
game as made the descent with but slight injury. At the close of the day
a great feast was held, and nobody enjoys a feast more than an Indian.
I have been asked if marriage was a success among the aborigines. I
never heard it hinted that it was otherwise. The Indian had the
privilege of taking as many wives as he was able to support, and if he
married the oldest sister in a family, all the remaining sisters were
considered his property as they became of age. Under favorable
circumstances, in some tribes, a warrior took a new wife every two or
three years. A separate lodge was provided for each wife, as the women
would fall out and scratch each other if kept together. A peculiarity in
the Indian family relations was that as soon as a wife found herself to
be with child her person was considered sacred, and she lived apart from
all the rest of the household until the child had been born and had
weaned itself of its own accord. This exclusion extended even to the
master of the house, and was never violated. The children were fairly
idolized among the more advanced tribes. The parents seemed to live for
their children, more particularly when the children were boys.
An Indian's wealth was known by the number of his horses. There were
both rich and poor Indians, but the latter were never allowed to want
when there was anything to be had. After a great hunt the poor man was
granted the privilege of taking the first carcasses nearest the camp.
Some Indians kept their lodges nicely painted and beyond criticism as to
cleanliness. The lodges were renewed every year, as frequent moving and
exposure to weather made the skins leaky. The Indians' range extended
anywhere that game and food for their animals could be found. It was a
rare occurrence for them to remain a month in a single vicinity. The
monotony of hunting and moving was varied by occasional forays upon an
unfriendly tribe, stealing their horses, and carrying off scalps and
prisoners. Unless these captives were children they were put to death.
The children were usually adopted and treated with the greatest
kindness. The older prisoners, both men and women, were dispatched with
little ceremony. The killing was usually deferred for several days after
the prisoners were brought into camp. A young Pawnee Indian who was
killed by a party of Comanches was taken into the open air, his hands
were tied to his legs, and he was shot through the heart. He uttered not
a word or groan. After the killing, a warrior stepped forward and raised
the dead Pawnee's scalp, then the war dance was held. A Crow Indian was
dispatched even more expeditiously. Trapper Ward called on the captain
in the lodge where he was confined, and they talked together by signs.
He said he knew he must die, but felt perfectly resigned to his fate, as
he would inflict the same penalty on his enemies if he had the chance.
While they were talking, a warrior appeared at the door and made a
motion. The Crow stepped forward and was shot within a few feet of the
spot he had occupied the moment before. After the scalping and war dance
he was tied up in a standing position, with his hands stretched as far
apart over his head as possible, making a ghastly spectacle, and left as
a warning to all the enemies of his executioners.
The winter of 1838 and 1839, Mr. Ward says, was vividly impressed upon
his mind, being his first experience as a trapper. After a journey of
600 miles from Independence, he arrived at Fort Bent, and early in the
fall the different hunting and trapping parties started out for a long
sojourn in the mountains. He was fortunate in being one of a party of
twelve, of which Kit Carson was a member. They made headquarters in
Brown's Hole, on the Colorado River, where it enters the mountains.
Trapping proved hard work, but he never enjoyed life more, and knew no
such thing as sickness. Their clothes were made (by their own hands) of
buckskin. Their food was nothing but meat cooked on a stick or on the
coals, as they had no cooking utensils. Antelope, deer, elk, bear,
beaver, and, in case of necessity, even the wolf, furnished a variety
that was always acceptable to eat. At night they gathered round a
roaring fire, in comfortable quarters, to listen to the stories which
such men as Kit Carson could tell.
At the close of three months a successful trapper was often able to show
a pack of 120 beaver skins, weighing about 100 pounds. As he made two
trapping expeditions during the year, in the spring and fall, he would
show 200 pounds, worth $6 per pound, as his year's work. In addition to
this, the musk-stones of the beaver were worth as much as the skins, so
that some of them made $3,000 per year as trappers. It was a poor
trapper that did not earn half as much. But few of them ever saved any
money. The traders from the States charged them enormously for supplies,
and Western men were inveterate gamblers. Sugar was $1.50 per pound,
coffee the same, tobacco $5 per pound, and a common shirt could not be
bought for less than $5, while whisky sold for over $30 a gallon. With
flour at $1 per pound, and luxuries in proportion, it was a question of
but a few days at the rendezvous before the labor of months was used up.
The traders were often called upon to fit out the men upon credit, after
a prosperous season.