AMONG THE NEZ PERCES
"LOOK out, Dick, there are rattlesnakes all around here. I can see
three of them right in front of you! Get back, Dick, get back, I tell
you!"
Dick hastened to comply, for by that time he also had detected the
presence of the venomous reptiles. They seemed to be of a small
species, such as can be found on the plains of the entire West, but
their stroke carries just as sure death as though the snakes were twice
the size.
The boys had often come across them of late, mostly near the colonies
of gophers, for the two seemed to be able to dwell together in harmony,
though possibly the snakes made an occasional meal from some of the
puppies.
Roger had already laid aside his gun, and picking up a long stick, he
commenced to belabor some of the coiled snakes.
"Think you own the earth do you?" Roger was saying, as he plied his
stick with vigor, and knocked first one snake and then another into a
wriggling mass. "Well, I want to show you that others besides you have
a right to breathe, and walk where they please. That makes the fifth
one I've smashed, Dick. Did you ever see such a nest of the 'varmints,'
as Jasper Williams would call them?"
Roger evidently meant to keep on just as long as there was a single one
of the ugly, scaly creatures in sight. He certainly had more than his
share of antipathy toward all reptiles, for he never let an opportunity
to kill one escape him.
When he could no longer find anything to hit, Roger consented to drop
the stick, secure his rifle, and prepare to leave the scrubby timber.
They could find nothing in the way of water, though there must have
been something of the sort underground to have allowed those ugly dwarf
trees to grow in the first place.
"There goes the silly, little wolf scurrying off," said Roger as they
mounted once more, Dick having brought his horse through the patch
of woods. "He must think we set great store by his dingy hide, and
would take after him. But I'm disappointed because we failed to get an
antelope."
"Better luck next time, Roger," his comrade told him; for nothing
seemed to crush the spirits of this sanguine lad.
The third day passed, and, as the blazing sun sank again beyond the
glittering horizon, none of them, even by shading his eyes with his
hands, could see any sign to proclaim that they were drawing near the
end of the desert.
It was not a very cheerful party that sat around on blankets that night
and exchanged ideas concerning their prospects of pulling through these
difficulties. The horses were showing signs of the hard usage to which
they had been put. Lack of forage made them hungry all the time, since
the small amount of hay that could be carried was almost gone.
With the morning they were again on the way, the sun at their backs.
Noon found them resting, though the journey was resumed later on.
When once more the sun went down its glow showed them trees in the
near distance, the presence of which they had not been able to detect
before, on account of the shimmer of the sun's torrid rays on the
shining sand.
It was the consensus of opinion among the men that they were now close
to the western extremity of the desert, and they decided to keep on
moving far into that night if necessary, in order to reach the timber
that promised them water, and shelter from the terrible sun.
Before midnight they arrived at the trees and had hardly made their way
among them when some of the weary men sank to the ground, unable to
continue further. Camp was made on the spot, and the remainder of the
night was spent in refreshing slumber.
While the desert had been left behind, they now had a new source of
trouble. Water they could obtain as often as they needed it, but their
food supplies had fallen very low, nor were the hunters able to find
game, though they searched early and late for signs of deer or bear;
anything, in fact, that could be eaten.
"If this sort of thing keeps on," Roger grumbled, when he and Dick
were returning from an unsuccessful search for game, "there's only one
resort left to us, and that is to feed on horse flesh. I'd hate to come
to it; but, rather than starve to death, I believe I'd try it."
Dick laughed at hearing this confession.
"And yet, when we were among the Sioux," he remarked merrily, "you
threw up your hands in horror at the thought of eating baked dog, which
the Indians esteem a great delicacy, so that they seldom have it except
when they want to make a great feast. How do you feel about that now,
Roger?"
"To be honest with you, Dick, I've changed my mind somehow. Those were
days when we always had plenty to eat; but now the rations have become
so scanty that we feel half starved most of the time. Yes, I believe
that if I was asked to sit down to a feast of baked dog, I'd accept,
and with thanks."
"Well, there's nothing like hunger to serve as sauce at a meal,"
laughed Dick. "And, when I tell them at home how you were cured of some
of your nice notions about the kind of food you long for, they will
think it quite a joke."
"We're in a bad fix as it goes," resumed Roger; "with some of the men
half sick from their sufferings on this long trip, little to eat in
camp, and a slim prospect of getting anything from now on. Perhaps,
after coming so far, none of us will live to see that wonderful ocean."
"Oh! yes we shall, never fear," Dick assured him. "But stop and look
ahead. What have we run up against now, I wonder. It looks like an
Indian family on the move."
"You are right, Dick," cried Roger. "They have a horse, and two poles
fastened so that the other ends drag on the ground. On that they have
hides, and I can see a squaw and a papoose. Suppose we try and see if
we can make ourselves understood?"
"I mean to," replied the other, quickly. "The warrior may be able to
direct us to the river we are seeking, down which we hope to float
until we come to the sea itself."
They walked nearer the Indians, who by this time had discovered their
presence, and were undoubtedly amazed to see people with white skins in
that part of the country.
"We have never, up to now, come in contact with any Indians dressed as
that fellow is," remarked Dick, as he held up his hand with the palm
toward the woman, to indicate that their intentions were friendly; for
that seems to be a sign universally understood among all the savage
peoples of the world.
"It may be they belong to the Nez Perces tribe, and the man is a brave,
because he wears the bear claws about his neck," (Note 8) suggested
Roger; "I heard Captain Clark speaking about them only yesterday, and
saying we must soon strike their hunting grounds, for he had learned
about them from other tribes."
As the two boys joined the Indians they saw that the fat squaw had a
small papoose in her arms. Dick instantly discovered that the child
was suffering in some way, possibly from cramps in its little stomach.
According to the native custom nothing would be done to relieve the
pain, that is in the way of medicine. When they reached their village
the old medicine man would doubtless be called in to conduct his
eccentric dances around the writhing child, to rattle his hollow gourds
that contained small stones, and to do everything in his power to
frighten off the evil spirit that was believed to be tormenting the
papoose.
Dick tried to begin a conversation with the brave. As he could depend
only on gestures it was rather difficult; but, by this time, both boys
were becoming more or less expert in this sort of thing. Presently
he managed to convince the brave that he was a medicine man after a
fashion, and would be glad to try to relieve the sufferings of the
papoose.
When the squaw understood this from what her man told her, she looked
dubious. Evidently her faith had made her believe that the more
fantastic the costume of the healer, the better chance there would be
of success; and how then could this boy with the white skin frighten
away the evil spirit when he made no attempt to disguise himself?
Both brave and squaw looked anxiously on as Dick took out a little case
from his pocket and extracted a tiny bottle. It was only camphor that
the phial contained, but Dick felt positive it would work wonders, if
only he could get the child to swallow a dose.
This was finally managed with the help of the squaw. Since they had
consented to allow the "paleface wizard" to try to charm the evil
spirit out of the papoose, she meant that the experiment should be
carried out regardless of the child's whims; and so with her finger she
thrust the medicine down the little one's throat.
Dick then went on to talk with his fingers. He was trying to find out
whether the village of the brave was nearby, and finally succeeded in
learning they would come upon it in one day's walk, or the sweep of the
sun from the east to the west.
From what the other said in his native fashion Dick was not quite sure
about its position. He cut a piece of bark from a tree and held it out
to the Nez Perces brave, together with a nail, showing him how to mark
upon the smooth surface.
Apparently the Indian was shrewd enough to grasp his meaning, for he
immediately commenced to make crude figures. Roger watched his efforts
with growing eagerness.
"I do believe he's caught what you've been trying to say to him, Dick!"
he exclaimed in glee. "See there now! he's gone and made a lot of
cone-shaped things that I'm sure must stand for wigwams. That's meant
for his village; and now he's making a wriggly line past it. Do you
think that can stand for a river?"
"No question but that it does, Roger. There, now he makes a broader
line of the same kind, which must mean a big river that the first one
flows into."
"Watch him now, Dick; what does he mean by all that curly stuff? To me
it looks like waves rolling up onto the beach, just as we've seen them
at that lake near which we passed the winter on the Yellowstone."
"I really believe he means that the broad river empties into the sea!"
announced Dick, at which Roger could hardly repress his feelings of
exultation.
"Hurrah!" he cried, "we have struck something worth while at last, if
only we can coax this brave to go to camp with us. And Dick, your
medicine has worked wonders already, for the papoose seems to be
kicking no longer. I guess the cramps have been settled."
The squaw beamed on them now. She was evidently awed by the wonderful
success of the "paleface medicine man," who found no necessity for
indulging in fantastic dances and such things, but chased the evil
spirit out by simply sending a message down the child's throat that he
must vacate!
Again Dick endeavored to tell the brave that, if they would accompany
the boys to where they had companions, all of them on the following
day would go to the Nez Perces village with the Indians, and enjoy the
hospitality of the red men.
It ended in the others accepting, so that, half an hour later, they
reached the camp, where their coming created no end of excitement; for
every one expected it would soon lead to great things.
If the boys had failed to secure any game in this, their last hunt,
at least they had accomplished what was better; for, with the new
prospects ahead of them, it began to look as though their troubles
might all be in the past.
Captain Lewis spent almost two hours in sign talk with the Indian that
evening, after they had smoked the peace pipe between them. Together
with what he was able to pick up, and the crude map fashioned by the
brave on the smooth bark, he felt convinced that they would soon arrive
at a river that eventually emptied into the great ocean which they had
traveled thousands of miles to gaze upon.
No longer were the weary explorers given over to hopelessness, as had
begun to be the case of late. The future began to assume a rosy hue,
and both boys felt certain the success that had been dangling before
them as a tempting bait all these long months was about to become a
certainty.
When morning came they once more set forth, but now laughter was the
rule instead of silence and long faces. The brave and his squaw had by
degrees overcome their feeling of awe, and were quite friendly with the
men.
"I think," said Dick to Roger, as they rode slowly on, "I heard him
trying to explain to the captain that his chief and most of the men in
the village would be away at this time, for they expected to start on a
big hunt, to lay in a store of jerked meat for the winter season. But
that will not make any difference. He says his people will welcome us,
especially after they know what a great medicine man is coming."
At that both boys laughed aloud.
"If you are wise," said Roger, "you will get ready to do a big
business, because every old squaw that has an aching tooth will call
upon you to chase the demon of pain away."
"Oh! very well," replied Dick, carrying his honors easily, "I'll draw
out the aching molars, and in that way bring freedom from pain. But all
of us will be glad to rest for a while in the Nez Perces village."
"Yes," added Roger. "And, moreover, we hope they will be free with
their food, because our stock has by this time got down to nearly
nothing. For once I think I could enjoy some Indian cooking."
"Even if it has to be a feast of baked dog!" added Dick, at which the
other made a grimace, though he immediately replied:
"Yes, even that, if the rest of you try it. I don't hold myself to
be any better than my comrades, and what they can stand I ought to.
Perhaps, who knows, all of us may yet take a great liking for the dish.
The first man who ever swallowed a raw oyster must have had a strong
stomach, I should say."
Late that afternoon they came upon the Nez Perces village, which they
found located upon quite a noble river. This stream the explorers
immediately called the Lewis River in honor of their intrepid leader.
Sad to say in later years this well-earned name was changed to that of
Snake River, showing what short memories those who came after must have
had, in forgetting how much they were indebted to Captain Meriwether
Lewis.