BOOKS BY GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL
Published by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
THE WOLF HUNTERS. Illustrated.
12mo, _net_ $1.35
BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES. Illustrated.
12mo, _net_ $1.00
BEYOND THE OLD FRONTIER. Illustrated.
12mo, _net_ $1.50
TRAILS OF THE PATHFINDERS. Illustrated.
12mo, _net_ $1.50
BLACKFOOT LODGE TALES. The Story
of a Prairie People. 12mo, _net_ $1.75
PAWNEE HERO STORIES AND FOLK TALES.
Illustrated, 12mo, _net_ $1.75
THE WOLF HUNTERS
[Illustration: "Then come a puff of smoke and the prairie was afire."
[Page 237]]
THE
WOLF HUNTERS
A STORY OF THE BUFFALO PLAINS
EDITED AND ARRANGED
FROM THE MANUSCRIPT ACCOUNT OF
ROBERT M. PECK
BY
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL
_Illustrated_
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK:::::::::::::::::::::1914
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published September, 1914
[Illustration]
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
In the days of the buffalo, wolfing was a recognized industry. Small
parties--two or more men--with team, saddle-horses, and camp outfit,
used to go out into the buffalo range, establish a camp, and spend
the winter there, killing buffalo and poisoning the carcasses with
strychnine. The wolves that fed on these carcasses died about them, and
their pelts were taken to camp, to be stretched and dried.
The work was hard and not without its dangers. Storms were frequent,
and often very severe, and the Indians were bitterly opposed to the
operations of these wolf hunters, who killed great numbers of buffalo
for wolf baits, as well as elk, antelope, deer, and other smaller
animals. On the other hand, in winter the Indians did not usually
travel about very much.
The following pages describe the adventures of Mr. Peck and two
companions--all recently discharged soldiers--during the winter of
1861-1862.
Robert Morris Peck was born in Washington, Mason County, Kentucky,
October 30, 1839. At the age of seventeen--November, 1856--he enlisted
in the First Cavalry, and the following year was sent to Fort
Leavenworth and took part in the Cheyenne and other campaigns. He was
discharged in 1861, and not very long afterward became a wagon-master,
in which capacity he served in the army of the frontier. Mr. Peck died
March 25, 1909.
G. B. G.
July, 1914.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. TOM'S PLAN 1
II. WE GET OUR DISCHARGES 7
III. WE FIND AN OUTFIT 12
IV. BACK TO THE BUFFALO RANGE 24
V. WE MEET DOUBTFUL CHARACTERS 42
VI. STANDING OFF THE JAYHAWKERS 51
VII. JACK TAKES A PRISONER 63
VIII. TOM'S STRATEGY 72
IX. BUFFALO NEAR THE BIG BEND 87
X. WHY SATANK KILLED PEACOCK 96
XI. WE REACH FORT LARNED 111
XII. OUR CAMP ON WALNUT CREEK 122
XIII. KILLED BY THE INDIANS 150
XIV. SATANTA'S STORY 159
XV. WILD BILL VISITS US 171
XVI. TOM LOCKS THE STABLE DOOR 184
XVII. VOLUNTEER TROOPS AT LARNED 195
XVIII. BILL RETURNS FROM HIS SCOUT 206
XIX. A NIGHT IN THE KIOWA CAMP 216
XX. WE TRADE WITH INDIANS 226
XXI. JACK'S CLOSE CALL 235
XXII. SATANK ARRIVES 243
XXIII. SURROUNDED BY KIOWAS 255
XXIV. CAPTAIN SAUNDERS' FIGHT 266
XXV. WE PART FROM FRIENDS 277
XXVI. BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY 297
ILLUSTRATIONS
"Then come a puff of smoke and the prairie
was afire" _Frontispiece_
Facing page
"Five minutes to get out of range! Now,
git!" 60
"It must have been the work of Injuns" 154
"Go to Tom" 250
THE WOLF HUNTERS
CHAPTER I
TOM'S PLAN
"Well, men, what will we do?" said Jack Flanagan. "We can re-enlist
or go back to the States and each hunt his job, or we can try to get
something to do where we can all three stick together."
"Let's stick together if we can," said I.
"Now, hold on, men," advised Tom Vance, "until you hear what I have got
to say. I have been thinking a lot about what we'd best do, and last
night I think it come to me."
"Tell us what it is, Tom," said Jack eagerly. "'Tis yourself has the
wise head on his shoulders, and I'd like to hear your plan."
We were three soldiers of Company K, First Cavalry, whose terms of
service were about to expire, and we looked forward with much eagerness
to the time when we should again be our own masters instead of being
subject to military discipline. Of course, we could re-enlist for
another five years, and the government offered inducements to do this.
A soldier who re-enlisted within three months before the expiration
of his term received a discharge three months in advance of its
expiration, with furlough for that length of time and three months'
extra pay. At the expiration of that time he was expected to report to
his company or, if unable to do that, at the nearest military post.
Failing to report for duty on time, he was regarded as a deserter. Tom
Vance had served for three enlistments and Jack Flanagan for two. I was
at the end of my first five years.
We were at Fort Wise,[A] Colorado Territory, and it was the summer of
1861. The Civil War was just beginning.
"What is your plan, Tom?" Jack repeated.
"Well, men," said Tom, "as I say, I thought of it last night, and I
believe that we can spend the winter somewhere out here in the buffalo
range hunting wolves and can make a good stake doing that. We all know
something about the plains and something about wolf hunting, and if
we can raise the money needed for the outfit, I believe we can make a
go of it. The Indians are pretty quiet now, but, of course, we know
something about Indians and know that they've got to be looked out for
all the time, but I guess we'll be safe enough. What do you think of
it?"
"It's sure a fine plan," said Jack, "if we can carry it through; but
how much money is it going to take?"
"It's a great scheme, Tom," I added, "and it seems to me there ought to
be money in it; but have we the capital?"
"We'll have some money," said Tom, "but, of course, we've got to sail
pretty close to the wind and to cut our coat according to our cloth.
When we get our 'final statements' cashed we ought to have about two
hundred dollars apiece. This ought to buy us a good team of ponies and
camp outfit, with supplies for the winter. At outfitting towns like
Saint Joe, Leavenworth, Kansas City, or Independence there are chances
to buy a good team and camp outfit in the fall from people who are
coming in from buffalo hunting, and get them cheap, too.
"We ought to go to one of those towns, look out for such hunting
parties, and, if we can find what we want cheap, take it in; then
we can strike out for the plains by the old Santa Fé road, select
a location in about the thickest of the herds, build us a cabin or
dugout, and get ready for winter."
Jack and I agreed that the plan was sound, and Tom then asked us for
any ideas or suggestions that we might have. We both felt, however,
that his fifteen years' service had given him so much experience that
he was much more likely to think of the necessary points than we, and
we had far more faith in his judgment than in our own. We asked him to
go ahead and give us the further details of his plan so far as he had
thought them out.
"First," Tom said, "we must get what we absolutely need, and if we have
any money left after that we can buy luxuries. For grub we'd better
take about the same as government rations--flour, bacon, beans, coffee,
sugar, rice, and salt. A Sharp's rifle and a Colt's navy apiece, with
plenty of cartridges, will be all the arms we'll want, and, besides
the clothing we already have, each man ought to have a good suit of
buckskins. These are better than any cloth for wear and to keep off
the wind. We can make overcoats, caps, and mittens out of furs as soon
as we take a few pelts and dress them. Most of these things we can
get here before we are discharged. The first sergeants of the cavalry
companies often have some of these things over and will sell them to us
for very little money."
"How about tobacco and pipes?" asked Jack.
"Tobacco don't come under the head of general supplies, and, as Peck
don't use it, every man will have to buy his own tobacco."
"How about whiskey?" asked Jack, for he had a weakness for liquor.
Tom answered him quickly: "There'll be no whiskey taken along if I am
to have any say in the plans for the expedition. When we leave the
settlements you'll have to swear off until we get back again; and that
reminds me that when we get our 'final statements' cashed it will be a
good idea for you to turn over your money to Peck, all except a small
allowance for a spree, if you must have one."
Jack was forced to yield to the decision of the majority that whiskey
should form no part of our supplies.
"Seems to me," I began, to change the subject, "that we've got to
decide on where we'll go. Where do you think we'd better locate our
winter camp, Tom?"
"As to that, I haven't quite made up my mind," said he, "but it must
be somewhere near the centre of the buffalo range and not too far from
the Santa Fé road. Fort Larned is about the middle of the range this
season, and I've thought some of pitching our camp on Walnut Creek,
about twenty miles north of the fort."
"It's now toward the last of August," continued Tom, "and our time will
be out in September. We can call for our discharges now any time that
we see a chance to get transportation into the States. It'll take us
about a month to reach the Missouri River if we go by bull train, and
that'll be about the first of October. Allowing about ten days to fit
out for the return, it'll take us the rest of October to go back to the
neighborhood of Fort Larned. We won't want to do much wolf skinning
before the middle of November, when the winter coat begins to get good,
but there'll be plenty of work to keep us busy, building, fitting up
camp, and getting ready for the cold weather. It won't do for us to
have our camp too close to Fort Larned or the Santa Fé road, for around
there buffalo and wolves will be scarce, but we want to be near enough
to call for our mail occasionally. Besides that, if Indians should be
troublesome it's a good thing to be nigh to Uncle Sam's soldiers."
"They say," put in Jack, "that there's plenty of otter and beaver in
Walnut Creek."
"Yes," replied Tom, "we'll be apt to find some of them, but they're
nothing like as plenty as they used to be. All those timbered creeks
used to have lots of beaver and otter in them, and we'll find some
of them, but our best hold will be wolfskins. They are plentiest and
easiest to get. We'll take a few steel traps along to try for otter and
beaver. We'll take anything we can in the way of fur."