WITH THE INDIANS.
Hardly knowing how I went or what I did, I trudged along in a half
conscious condition. Led a captive into the camp of Big Bear by one of
his vile band. Taken through brush and briar, a large pond came to view,
we did not pass it by, he made me go through the water on that cold 2nd
of April nearly to my waist. I got so very weak that I could not walk
and the Indian pulled me along, in this way he managed to get me to his
tepee. On seeing Mrs. Delaney taken away so far from me, I asked the
Indian to take me to her; and he said _"No, No,"_ and opening the tent
shoved me in. A friendly squaw put down a rabbit robe for me to sit on;
I was shivering with the cold; this squaw took my shoes and stockings
off and partly dried them for me. Their tepees consisted of long poles
covered with smoke-stained canvas with two openings, one at the top for
a smoke hole and the other at the bottom for a door through which I had
to crawl in order to enter. In the centre they have their fire; this
squaw took a long stick and took out a large piece of beef from the
kettle and offered it to me, which I refused, as I could not eat
anything after what I had gone through.
Just then Big Bear's braves came into the tent; there were nearly thirty
of them, covered with war paint, some having on my husband's clothes,
and all giving vent to those terrible yells, and holding most murderous
looking instruments. They were long wooden clubs. At one end were set
three sharp shining knife blades. They all looked at me as I eyed those
weapons (and they well matched the expression of their cruel mouths and
develish eyes) thinking my troubles would soon be over I calmly awaited
the result. But they sat down around me with a bottle full of something
that looked like water, passing it from one Indian to the other, so I
put on a brave look as if I was not afraid of them. After this they all
went out and the most bloodcurdling yells that ever pierced my ears
was their war-whoop, mingled with dancing and yelling and cutting most
foolish antics.
I saw a little baby that I thought must be dead, lying in one part of
the tent, they had it done up in a moss bag. I will try and give an idea
of what it was like: they take a piece of cloth having it large at the
top, and cut it around where the feet should be, and on both sides, of
this little bag they have loops of very fine leather, then they have a
small thin cushion laid on this, the length of the child, and three or
four pieces of different colored flannels, then they dress the baby in a
thin print gown and put it in this bag, and its little legs are put down
just as straight as a needle, covered over with moss, which they first
heat very hot; then the arms are put down in the same way and the
flannels are wrapped around very tight and then they lace the bag up,
and all that can be seen is the little brown face peeping out.
Just then Pritchard's little girl came in where I was; she could talk a
few words of English. I asked her where her pa was, and she said that he
was putting up a tent not far away, and then I had some hope of getting
from the Indians.
After I had been there for four hours, Louis Goulet and Andre Nault came
in, and Goulet said to me "Mrs. Gowanlock if you will give yourself over
to the half-breeds, they will not hurt you; Peter Blondin has gone down
to where the mill is, and when he comes back he will give his horse for
you." I asked them to interpret it to the Indians in order to let me go
to Pritchard's tent for awhile, and the Indians said that she could
go with this squaw. I went and was overjoyed to see Mrs. Delaney there
also. After getting in there I was unconscious for a long time, and upon
coming to my senses, I found Mrs. Pritchard bathing my face with cold
water. When Blondin came back he gave his horse and thirty dollars for
Mrs. Delaney and me. He put up a tent and asked me to go with him, but
I refused; and he became angry and did everything he could to injure me.
That man treated me most shamefully; if it had not been for Pritchard I
do not know what would have become of me. Pritchard was kinder than any
of the others.
After I had been a prisoner three days, Blondin came and asked me if I
could ride horse back, and I said "yes," and he said if I would go with
him, he would go and take two of the best horses that Big Bear had and
desert that night. I told him I would _never_ leave Pritchard's tent
until we all left, saying "I would go and drown myself in the river
before I would go with him."
Late that same night a French Canadian by the name of Pierre came into
the tent, and hid himself behind us, he said the Indians wanted to shoot
him, and some one told him to go and hide himself, ultimately one of the
half-breeds gave a horse to save his life. Mrs. Pritchard told him not
to stay in there. She did not want to see any more men killed, and one
of the half-breeds took him away and he was placed under the protection
of the Wood Crees. This man had been working with Goulet and Nault all
winter getting out logs about thirty miles from Frog Lake.