1832. On the 23d of July, Milton Sublette's brigade and the company of
Mr. Wyeth again set out for the southwest, and met no more serious
interruptions while they traveled in company. On the head-waters of the
Humboldt River they separated, Wyeth proceeding north to the Columbia,
and Sublette continuing on into a country hitherto untraversed by
American trappers.
It was the custom of a camp on the move to depend chiefly on the men
employed as hunters to supply them with game, the sole support of the
mountaineers. When this failed, the stock on hand was soon exhausted,
and the men reduced to famine. This was what happened to Sublette's
company in the country where they now found themselves, between the
Owyhee and Humboldt Rivers. Owing to the arid and barren nature of these
plains, the largest game to be found was the beaver, whose flesh proved
to be poisonous, from the creature having eaten of the wild parsnip in
the absence of its favorite food. The men were made ill by eating of
beaver flesh, and the horses were greatly reduced from the scarcity of
grass and the entire absence of the cotton-wood.
In this plight Sublette found himself, and finally resolved to turn
north, in the hope of coming upon some better and more hospitable
country. The sufferings of the men now became terrible, both from hunger
and thirst. In the effort to appease the former, everything was eaten
that could be eaten, and many things at which the well-fed man would
sicken with disgust. "I have," says Joe Meek, "held my hands in an
ant-hill until they were covered with the ants, then greedily licked
them off. I have taken the soles off my moccasins, crisped them in the
fire, and eaten them. In our extremity, the large black crickets which
are found in this country were considered game. We used to take a kettle
of hot water, catch the crickets and throw them in, and when they
stopped kicking, eat them. That was not what we called _cant tickup ko
hanch_, (good meat, my friend), but it kept us alive."
Equally abhorrent expedients were resorted to in order to quench thirst,
some of which would not bear mention. In this condition, and exposed to
the burning suns and the dry air of the desert, the men now so nearly
exhausted began to prey upon their almost equally exhausted animals. At
night when they made their camp, by mutual consent a mule was bled, and
a soup made from its blood. About a pint was usually taken, when two or
three would mess together upon this reviving, but scanty and not very
palatable dish. But this mode of subsistence could not be long depended
on, as the poor mules could ill afford to lose blood in their famishing
state; nor could the men afford to lose their mules where there was a
chance of life: therefore hungry as they were, the men were cautious in
this matter; and it generally caused a quarrel when a man's mule was
selected for bleeding by the others.
A few times a mule had been sacrificed to obtain meat; and in this case
the poorest one was always selected, so as to economise the chances for
life for the whole band. In this extremity, after four days of almost
total abstinence and several weeks of famine, the company reached the
Snake River, about fifty miles above the fishing falls, where it boils
and dashes over the rocks, forming very strong rapids. Here the company
camped, rejoiced at the sight of the pure mountain water, but still in
want of food. During the march a horse's back had become sore from some
cause; probably, his rider thought, because the saddle did not set well;
and, although that particular animal was selected to be sacrificed on
the morrow, as one that could best be spared, he set about taking the
stuffing out of his saddle and re-arranging the padding. While engaged
in this considerate labor, he uttered a cry of delight and held up to
view a large brass pin, which had accidentally got into the stuffing,
when the saddle was made, and had been the cause of all the mischief to
his horse.
The same thought struck all who saw the pin: it was soon converted into
a fish-hook, a line was spun from horse-hair, and in a short time there
were trout enough caught to furnish them a hearty and a most delicious
repast. "In the morning," says Meek, "we went on our way rejoicing;"
each man with the "five fishes" tied to his saddle, if without any
"loaves." This was the end of their severest suffering, as they had now
reached a country where absolute starvation was not the normal condition
of the inhabitants; and which was growing more and more bountiful, as
they neared the Rocky Mountains, where they at length joined camp, not
having made a very profitable expedition.
It may seem incredible to the reader that any country so poor as that in
which our trappers starved could have native inhabitants. Yet such was
the fact; and the people who lived in and who still inhabit this barren
waste, were called _Diggers_, from their mode of obtaining their food--a
few edible roots growing in low grounds, or marshy places. When these
fail them they subsist as did our trappers, by hunting crickets and
field mice.
Nothing can be more abject than the appearance of the Digger Indian, in
the fall, as he roams about, without food and without weapons, save
perhaps a bow and arrows, with his eyes fixed upon the ground, looking
for crickets! So despicable is he, that he has neither enemies nor
friends; and the neighboring tribes do not condescend to notice his
existence, unless indeed he should come in their way, when they would
not think it more than a mirthful act to put an end to his miserable
existence. And so it must be confessed the trappers regarded him. When
Sublette's party first struck the Humboldt, Wyeth's being still with
them, Joe Meek one day shot a Digger who was prowling about a stream
where his traps were set.
"Why did you shoot him?" asked Wyeth.
"To keep him from stealing traps."
"Had he stolen any?"
"No: but he _looked as if he was going to_!"
This recklessness of life very properly distressed the just minded New
Englander. Yet it was hard for the trappers to draw lines of distinction
so nice as his. If a tribe was not known to be friendly, it was a rule
of necessity to consider it unfriendly. The abjectness and cowardice of
the Diggers was the fruit of their own helpless condition. That they had
the savage instinct, held in check only by circumstances, was
demonstrated about the same time that Meek shot one, by his being
pursued by four of them when out trapping alone, and only escaping at
last by the assistance of one of his comrades who came to the rescue.
They could not fight, like the Crows and Blackfeet, but they could steal
and murder, when they had a safe opportunity.
It would be an interesting study, no doubt, to the philanthropist, to
ascertain in how great a degree the habits, manners, and morals of a
people are governed by their resources, especially by the quality and
quantity of their diet. But when diet and climate are both taken into
consideration, the result is striking.
The character of the Blackfeet who inhabited the good hunting grounds on
the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, is already pretty well given.
They were tall, sinewy, well-made fellows; good horsemen, and good
fighters, though inclined to marauding and murdering. They dressed
comfortably and even handsomely, as dress goes amongst savages, and
altogether were more to be feared than despised.
The Crows resembled the Blackfeet, whose enemies they were, in all the
before-mentioned traits, but were if possible, even more predatory in
their habits. Unlike the Blackfeet, however, they were not the enemies
of all mankind; and even were disposed to cultivate some friendliness
with the white traders and trappers, in order, as they acknowledged, to
strengthen their own hands against the Blackfeet. They too inhabited a
good country, full of game, and had horses in abundance. These were the
mountain tribes.
Comparing these with the coast tribes, there was a striking difference.
The natives of the Columbia were not a tall and robust people, like
those east of the Rocky Mountains, who lived by hunting. Their height
rarely exceeded five feet six inches; their forms were good, rather
inclining to fatness, their faces round, features coarse, but complexion
light, and their eyes large and intelligent. The custom of flattening
their heads in infancy gave them a grotesque and unnatural appearance,
otherwise they could not be called ill-looking. On the first advent of
white men among them, they were accustomed to go entirely naked, except
in winter, when a panther skin, or a mantle of other skins sewed
together, served to protect them from the cold: or if the weather was
rainy, as it generally was in that milder climate, a long mantle of
rush mats, like the toga of the ancient Romans, took the place of that
made of skins. To this was added a conical hat, woven of fibrous roots,
and gaily painted.
For defensive armor they were provided with a tunic of elkskin double,
descending to the ankles, with holes in it for the arms, and quite
impenetrable to arrows. A helmet of similar material covered the head,
rendering them like Achilles, invulnerable except in the heels. In this
secure dress they went to battle in their canoes, notice being first
given to the enemy of the intended attack. Their battles might therefore
be termed compound duels, in which each party observed great
punctiliousness and decorum. Painted and armor-encased, the warriors in
two flotillas of canoes were rowed to the battle ground by their women,
when the battle raged furiously for some time; not, however, doing any
great harm to either side. If any one chanced to be killed, that side
considered itself beaten, and retired from the conflict to mourn over
and bury the estimable and departed brave. If the case was a stubborn
one, requiring several days fighting, the opponents encamped near each
other, keeping up a confusion of cries, taunts, menaces, and raillery,
during the whole night; after which they resumed the conflict, and
continued it until one was beaten. If a village was to be attacked,
notice being received, the women and children were removed; and if the
village was beaten they made presents to their conquerors. Such were the
decorous habits of the warriors of the lower Columbia.
These were the people who lived almost exclusively by fishing, and whose
climate was a mild and moist one. Fishing, in which both sexes engaged
about equally, was an important accomplishment, since it was by fish
they lived in this world; and by being good fishermen that they had
hopes of the next one. The houses in which they lived, instead of being
lodges made of buffalo skins, were of a large size and very well
constructed, being made out of cedar planks. An excavation was first
made in the earth two or three feet deep, probably to secure greater
warmth in winter. A double row of cedar posts was then planted firmly
all round the excavation, and between these the planks were laid, or,
sometimes cedar bark, so overlapped as to exclude the rain and wind. The
ridge-pole of the roof was supported on a row of taller posts, passing
through the centre of the building, and notched to receive it. The
rafters were then covered with planks or bark, fastened down with ropes
made of the fibre of the cedar bark. A house made in this manner, and
often a hundred feet long by thirty or forty wide, accommodated several
families, who each had their separate entrance and fireplace; the
entrance being by a low oval-shaped door, and a flight of steps.
The canoes of these people were each cut out of a single log of cedar;
and were often thirty feet long and five wide at midships. They were
gaily painted, and their shape was handsome, with a very long bow so
constructed as to cut the surf in landing with the greatest ease, or the
more readily to go through a rough sea. The oars were about five feet
long, and bent in the shape of a crescent; which shape enabled them to
draw them edgewise through the water with little or no noise--this
noiselessness being an important quality in hunting the sea otter, which
is always caught sleeping on the rocks.
The single instrument which sufficed to build canoes and houses was the
chisel; generally being a piece of old iron obtained from some vessel
and fixed in a wooden handle. A stone mallet aided them in using the
chisel; and with this simple "kit" of tools they contrived to
manufacture plates, bowls, carved oars, and many ornamental things.
Like the men of all savage nations, they made slaves of their captives,
and their women. The dress of the latter consisted merely of a short
petticoat, manufactured from the fibre of the cedar bark, previously
soaked and prepared. This material was worked into a fringe, attached to
a girdle, and only long enough to reach the middle of the thigh. When
the season required it, they added a mantle of skins. Their bodies were
anointed with fish-oil, and sometimes painted with red ochre in
imitation of the men. For ornaments they wore strings of glass beads,
and also of a white shell found on the northern coast, called _haiqua_.
Such were the _Chinooks_, who lived upon the coast.
Farther up the river, on the eastern side of the Cascade range of
mountains, a people lived, the same, yet different from the Chinooks.
They resembled them in form, features, and manner of getting a living.
But they were more warlike and more enterprising; they even had some
notions of commerce, being traders between the coast Indians and those
to the east of them. They too were great fishermen, but used the net
instead of fishing in boats. Great scaffoldings were erected every year
at the narrows of the Columbia, known as the Dalles, where, as the
salmon passed up the river in the spring, in incredible numbers, they
were caught and dried. After drying, the fish were then pounded fine
between two stones, pressed tightly into packages or bales of about a
hundred pounds, covered with matting, and corded up for transportation.
The bales were then placed in storehouses built to receive them, where
they awaited customers.
By and by there came from the coast other Indians, with different
varieties of fish, to exchange for the salmon in the Wish-ram
warehouses. And by and by there came from the plains to the eastward,
others who had horses, camas-root, bear-grass, fur robes, and whatever
constituted the wealth of the mountains and plains, to exchange for the
rich and nutritious salmon of the Columbia. These Wish-ram Indians were
sharp traders, and usually made something by their exchanges; so that
they grew rich and insolent, and it was dangerous for the unwary
stranger to pass their way. Of all the tribes of the Columbia, they
perpetrated the most outrages upon their neighbors, the passing
traveler, and the stranger within their gates.
Still farther to the east, on the great grassy plains, watered by
beautiful streams, coming down from the mountains, lived the Cayuses,
Yakimas, Nez Perces, Wallah-Wallahs, and Flatheads; as different in
their appearance and habits as their different modes of living would
naturally make them. Instead of having many canoes, they had many
horses; and in place of drawing the fishing net, or trolling lazily
along with hook and line, or spearing fish from a canoe, they rode
pell-mell to the chase, or sallied out to battle with the hostile
Blackfeet, whose country lay between them and the good hunting-grounds,
where the great herds of buffalo were. Being Nimrods by nature, they
were dressed in complete suits of skins, instead of going naked, like
their brethren in the lower country. Being wandering and pastoral in
their habits, they lived in lodges, which could be planted every night
and raised every morning.
Their women, too, were good riders, and comfortably clad in dressed
skins, kept white with chalk. So wealthy were some of the chiefs that
they could count their fifteen hundred head of horses grazing on their
grassy uplands. Horse-racing was their delight, and betting on them
their besetting vice. For bridles they used horse-hair cords, attached
around the animal's mouth. This was sufficient to check him, and by
laying a hand on this side or that of the horse's neck, the rider could
wheel him in either direction. The simple and easy-fitting saddle was a
stuffed deer-skin, with stirrups of wood, resembling in shape those used
by the Mexicans, and covered with deer-skin sewed on wet, so as to
tighten in drying. The saddles of the women were furnished with a pair
of deer's antlers for the pommel.
In many things their customs and accoutrements resembled those of the
Mexicans, from whom, no doubt, they were borrowed. Like the Mexican,
they threw the lasso to catch the wild horse. Their horses, too, were of
Mexican stock, and many of them bore the brand of that country, having
been obtained in some of their not infrequent journeys into California
and New Mexico.
As all the wild horses of America are said to have sprung from a small
band, turned loose upon the plains by Cortez, it would be interesting to
know at what time they came to be used by the northern Indians, or
whether the horse and the Indian did not emigrate together. If the horse
came to the Indian, great must have been the change effected by the
advent of this new element in the savage's life. It is impossible to
conceive, however, that the Indian ever could have lived on these
immense plains, barren of everything but wild grass, without his horse.
With him he does well enough, for he not only "lives on horseback," by
which means he can quickly reach a country abounding in game, but he
literally lives on horse-flesh, when other game is scarce.
Curious as the fact may seem, the Indians at the mouth of the Columbia
and those of New Mexico speak languages similar in construction to that
of the Aztecs; and from this fact, and the others before mentioned, it
may be very fairly inferred that difference of circumstances and
localities have made of the different tribes what they are.
As to the Indian's moral nature, that is pretty much alike everywhere;
and with some rare exceptions, the rarest of which is, perhaps, the
Flathead and Nez Perces nations, all are cruel, thieving, and
treacherous. The Indian gospel is literally the "gospel of blood"; an
"eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Vengeance is as much a
commandment to him as any part of the decalogue is to the Christian. But
we have digressed far from our narrative; and as it will be necessary to
refer to the subject of the moral code of savages further on in our
narrative, we leave it for the present.
After the incident of the pin and the fishes, Sublette's party kept on
to the north, coursing along up Payette's River to Payette Lake, where
he camped, and the men went out trapping. A party of four, consisting of
Meek, Antoine Godin, Louis Leaugar, and Small, proceeded to the north as
far as the Salmon river and beyond, to the head of one of its
tributaries, where the present city of Florence is located. While camped
in this region, three of the men went out one day to look for their
horses, which had strayed away, or been stolen by the Indians. During
their absence, Meek, who remained in camp, had killed a fine fat deer,
and was cooking a portion of it, when he saw a band of about a hundred
Indians approaching, and so near were they that flight was almost
certainly useless; yet as a hundred against one was very great odds, and
running away from them would not increase their number, while it gave
him something to do in his own defence, he took to his heels and ran as
only a mountain-man can run. Instead, however, of pursuing him, the
practical-minded braves set about finishing his cooking for him, and
soon had the whole deer roasting before the fire.
This procedure provoked the gastronomic ire of our trapper, and after
watching them for some time from his hiding-place, he determined to
return and share the feast. On reaching camp again, and introducing
himself to his not over-scrupulous visitors, he found they were from the
Nez Perces tribe inhabiting that region, who, having been so rude as to
devour his stock of provisions, invited him to accompany them to their
village, not a great way off, where they would make some return for his
involuntary hospitality. This he did, and there found his three comrades
and all their horses. While still visiting at the Nez Perces village,
they were joined by the remaining portion of Sublette's command, when
the whole company started south again. Passing Payette's lake to the
east, traversing the Boise Basin, going to the head-waters of that
river, thence to the Malade, thence to Godin's river, and finally to the
forks of the Salmon, where they found the main camp. Captain Bonneville,
of whose three years wanderings in the wilderness Mr. Irving has given a
full and interesting account, was encamped in the same neighborhood, and
had built there a small fort or trading-house, and finally wintered in
the neighborhood.
An exchange of men now took place, and Meek went east of the mountains
under Fitzpatrick and Bridger. When these famous leaders had first set
out for the summer hunt, after the battle of Pierre's Hole, their course
had been to the head-waters of the Missouri, to the Yellowstone lake,
and the forks of the Missouri, some of the best beaver grounds known to
them. But finding their steps dogged by the American Fur Company, and
not wishing to be made use of as pilots by their rivals, they had
flitted about for a time like an Arab camp, in the endeavor to blind
them, and finally returned to the west side of the mountains, where Meek
fell in with them.
Exasperated by the perseverance of the American Company, they had come
to the determination of leading them a march which should tire them of
the practice of keeping at their heels. They therefore planned an
expedition, from which they expected no other profit than that of
shaking off their rivals. Taking no pains to conceal their expedition,
they rather held out the bait to the American Company, who, unsuspicious
of their purpose, took it readily enough. They led them along across the
mountains, and on to the head-waters of the Missouri. Here, packing up
their traps, they tarried not for beaver, nor even tried to avoid the
Blackfeet, but pushed right ahead, into the very heart of their country,
keeping away from any part of it where beaver might be found, and going
away on beyond, to the elevated plains, quite destitute of that small
but desirable game, but followed through it by their rivals.
However justifiable on the part of trade this movement of the Rocky
Mountain Company might have been, it was a cruel device as concerned the
inexperienced leaders of the other company, one of whom lost his life in
consequence. Not knowing of their danger, they only discovered their
situation in the midst of Blackfeet, after discovering the ruse that had
been played upon them. They then halted, and being determined to find
beaver, divided their forces and set out in opposite directions for that
purpose. Unhappily, Major Vanderburg took the worst possible direction
for a small party to take, and had not traveled far when his scouts came
upon the still smoking camp-fires of a band of Indians who were
returning from a buffalo hunt. From the "signs" left behind them, the
scout judged that they had become aware of the near neighborhood of
white men, and from their having stolen off, he judged that they were
only gone for others of their nation, or to prepare for war.
But Vanderburg, with the fool-hardiness of one not "up to Blackfeet,"
determined to ascertain for himself what there was to fear; and taking
with him half a score of his followers, put himself upon their trail,
galloping hard after them, until, in his rashness, he found himself
being led through a dark and deep defile, rendered darker and gloomier
by overhanging trees. In the midst of this dismal place, just where an
ambush might have been expected, he was attacked by a horde of savages,
who rushed upon his little party with whoops and frantic gestures,
intended not only to appal the riders, but to frighten their horses, and
thus make surer their bloody butchery. It was but the work of a few
minutes to consummate their demoniac purpose. Vanderburg's horse was
shot down at once, falling on his rider, whom the Indians quickly
dispatched. One or two of the men were instantly tomahawked, and the
others wounded while making their escape to camp. The remainder of
Vanderburg's company, on learning the fate of their leader, whose place
there was no one to fill, immediately raised camp and fled with all
haste to the encampment of the Pends Oreille Indians for assistance.
Here they waited, while those Indians, a friendly tribe, made an effort
to recover the body of their unfortunate leader; but the remains were
never recovered, probably having first been fiendishly mutilated, and
then left to the wolves.
Fitzpatrick and Bridger, finding they were no longer pursued by their
rivals, as the season advanced began to retrace their steps toward the
good trapping grounds. Being used to Indian wiles and Blackfeet
maraudings and ambushes, they traveled in close columns, and never
camped or turned out their horses to feed, without the greatest caution.
Morning and evening scouts were sent out to beat up every thicket or
ravine that seemed to offer concealment to a foe, and the horizon was
searched in every direction for signs of an Indian attack. The
complete safety of the camp being settled almost beyond a peradventure,
the horses were turned loose, though never left unguarded.
[Illustration: SCOUTS IN THE BLACKFOOT COUNTRY--"ELK OR INDIANS?"]
It was not likely, however, that the camp should pass through the
Blackfoot country without any encounters with that nation. When it had
reached the head-waters of the Missouri, on the return march, a party of
trappers, including Meek, discovered a small band of Indians in a bend
of the lake, and thinking the opportunity for sport a good one,
commenced firing on them. The Indians, who were without guns, took to
the lake for refuge, while the trappers entertained themselves with the
rare amusement of keeping them in the water, by shooting at them
occasionally. But it chanced that these were only a few stragglers from
the main Blackfoot camp, which soon came up and put an end to the sport
by putting the trappers to flight in their turn. The trappers fled to
camp, the Indians pursuing, until the latter discovered that they had
been led almost into the large camp of the whites. This occasioned a
halt, the Blackfeet not caring to engage with superior numbers.
In the pause which ensued, one of the chiefs came out into the open
space, bearing the peace pipe, and Bridger also advanced to meet him,
but carrying his gun across the pommel of his saddle. He was accompanied
by a young Blackfoot woman, wife of a Mexican in his service, as
interpreter. The chief extended his hand in token of amity; but at that
moment Bridger saw a movement of the chiefs, which he took to mean
treachery, and cocked his rifle. But the lock had no sooner clicked than
the chief, a large and powerful man, seized the gun and turned the
muzzle downward, when the contents were discharged into the earth. With
another dexterous movement he wrested it from Bridger's hand, and
struck him with it, felling him to the ground. In an instant all was
confusion. The noise of whoops, yells, of fire-arms, and of running
hither and thither, gathered like a tempest. At the first burst of this
demoniac blast, the horse of the interpreter became frightened, and, by
a sudden movement, unhorsed her, wheeling and running back to camp. In
the melee which now ensued, the woman was carried off by the Blackfeet,
and Bridger was wounded twice in the back with arrows. A chance medley
fight now ensued, continuing until night put a period to the contest. So
well matched were the opposing forces, that each fought with caution
firing from the cover of thickets and from behind rocks, neither side
doing much execution. The loss on the part of the Blackfeet was nine
warriors, and on that of the whites, three men and six horses.
As for the young Blackfoot woman, whose people retained her a prisoner,
her lamentations and struggles to escape and return to her husband and
child so wrought upon the young Mexican, who was the pained witness of
her grief, that he took the babe in his arms, and galloped with it into
the heart of the Blackfoot camp, to place it in the arms of the
distracted mother. This daring act, which all who witnessed believed
would cause his death, so excited the admiration of the Blackfoot chief,
that he gave him permission to return, unharmed, to his own camp.
Encouraged by this clemency, Loretta begged to have his wife restored to
him, relating how he had rescued her, a prisoner, from the Crows, who
would certainly have tortured her to death. The wife added her
entreaties to his, but the chief sternly bade him depart, and as sternly
reminded the Blackfoot girl that she belonged to his tribe, and could
not go with his enemies. Loretta was therefore compelled to abandon his
wife and child, and return to camp.
It is, however, gratifying to know that so true an instance of affection
in savage life was finally rewarded; and that when the two rival fur
companies united, as they did in the following year, Loretta was
permitted to go to the American Company's fort on the Missouri, in the
Blackfoot country, where he was employed as interpreter, assisted by his
Blackfoot wife.
Such were some of the incidents that signalized this campaign in the
wilderness, where two equally persistent rivals were trying to outwit
one another. Subsequently, when several years of rivalry had somewhat
exhausted both, the Rocky Mountain and American companies consolidated,
using all their strategy thereafter against the Hudson's Bay Company,
and any new rival that chanced to enter their hunting grounds.
After the fight above described, the Blackfeet drew off in the night,
showing no disposition to try their skill next day against such
experienced Indian fighters as Bridger's brigade had shown themselves.
The company continued in the Missouri country, trapping and taking many
beaver, until it reached the Beaver Head Valley, on the head-waters of
the Jefferson fork of the Missouri. Here the lateness of the season
compelled a return to winter-quarters, and by Christmas all the
wanderers were gathered into camp at the forks of the Snake River.
1833. In the latter part of January it became necessary to move to the
junction of the Portneuf to subsist the animals. The main body of the
camp had gone on in advance, while some few, with pack horses, or women
with children, were scattered along the trail. Meek, with five others,
had been left behind to gather up some horses that had strayed. When
about a half day's journey from camp, he overtook _Umentucken_, the
Mountain Lamb, now the wife of Milton Sublette, with her child, on
horseback. The weather was terribly cold, and seeming to grow colder.
The naked plains afforded no shelter from the piercing winds, and the
air fairly glittered with frost. Poor Umentucken was freezing, but more
troubled about her babe than herself. The camp was far ahead, with all
the extra blankets, and the prospect was imminent that they would
perish. Our gallant trapper had thought himself very cold until this
moment, but what were his sufferings compared to those of the Mountain
Lamb and her little Lambkin? Without an instant's hesitation, he
divested himself of his blanket capote, which he wrapped round the
mother and child, and urged her to hasten to camp. For himself, he could
not hasten, as he had the horses in charge, but all that fearful
afternoon rode naked above the waist, exposed to the wind, and the fine,
dry, icy hail, which filled the air as with diamond needles, to pierce
the skin; and, probably, to the fact that the hail _was_ so stinging,
was owing the fact that his blood did not congeal.
"O what a day was that!" said Meek to the writer; "why, the air war
thick with fine, sharp hail, and the sun shining, too! not one sun only,
but three suns--there were _three_ suns! And when night came on, the
northern lights blazed up the sky! It was the most beautiful sight I
ever saw. That is the country for northern lights!"
When some surprise was expressed that he should have been obliged to
expose his naked skin to the weather, in order to save Umentucken--"In
the mountains," he answered, "we do not have many garments. Buckskin
breeches, a blanket capote, and a beaver skin cap makes up our rig."
"You do not need a laundress, then? But with such clothing how could you
keep free of vermin?"
"We didn't always do that. Do you want to know how we got rid of lice in
the mountains? We just took off our clothes and laid them on an
ant-hill, and you ought to see how the ants would carry off the lice!"
But to return to our hero, frozen, or nearly so. When he reached camp at
night, so desperate was his condition that the men had to roll him and
rub him in the snow for some time before allowing him to approach the
fire. But Umentucken was saved, and he became heroic in her eyes.
Whether it was the glory acquired by the gallant act just recorded, or
whether our hero had now arrived at an age when the tender passion has
strongest sway, the writer is unprepared to affirm: for your
mountain-man is shy of revealing his past gallantries; but from this
time on, there are evidences of considerable susceptibility to the
charms of the dusky beauties of the mountains and the plains.
The cold of this winter was very severe, insomuch that men and mules
were frozen to death. "The frost," says Meek, "used to hang from the
roofs of our lodges in the morning, on first waking, in skeins two feet
long, and our blankets and whiskers were white with it. But we trappers
laid still, and called the camp-keepers to make a fire, and in our close
lodges it was soon warm enough.
"The Indians suffered very much. Fuel war scarce on the Snake River, and
but little fire could be afforded--just sufficient for the children and
their mothers to get warm by, for the fire was fed only with buffalo fat
torn in strips, which blazed up quickly and did not last long. Many a
time I have stood off, looking at the fire, but not venturing to
approach, when a chief would say, 'Are you cold, my friend? come to the
fire'--so kind are these Nez Perces and Flatheads."
The cold was not the only enemy in camp that winter, but famine
threatened them. The buffalo had been early driven east of the
mountains, and other game was scarce. Sometimes a party of hunters were
absent for days, even weeks, without finding more game than would
subsist themselves. As the trappers were all hunters in the winter, it
frequently happened that Meek and one or more of his associates went on
a hunt in company, for the benefit of the camp, which was very hungry at
times.
On one of these hunting expeditions that winter, the party consisting of
Meek, Hawkins, Doughty, and Antoine Claymore, they had been out nearly a
fortnight without killing anything of consequence, and had clambered up
the side of the mountains on the frozen snow, in hopes of finding some
mountain sheep. As they traveled along under a projecting ledge of
rocks, they came to a place where there were the impressions in the snow
of enormous grizzly bear feet. Close by was an opening in the rocks,
revealing a cavern, and to this the tracks in the snow conducted.
Evidently the creature had come out of its winter den, and made
just one circuit back again. At these signs of game the hunters
hesitated--certain it was there, but doubtful how to obtain it.
At length Doughty proposed to get up on the rocks above the mouth of the
cavern and shoot the bear as he came out, if somebody would go in and
dislodge him.
"I'm your man," answered Meek.
"And I too," said Claymore.
"I'll be ---- if we are not as brave as you are," said Hawkins, as he
prepared to follow.
On entering the cave, which was sixteen or twenty feet square, and high
enough to stand erect in, instead of one, three bears were discovered.
They were standing, the largest one in the middle, with their eyes
staring at the entrance, but quite quiet, greeting the hunters only
with a low growl. Finding that there was a bear apiece to be disposed
of, the hunters kept close to the wall, and out of the stream of light
from the entrance, while they advanced a little way, cautiously, towards
their game, which, however, seemed to take no notice of them. After
maneuvering a few minutes to get nearer, Meek finally struck the large
bear on the head with his wiping-stick, when it immediately moved off
and ran out of the cave. As it came out, Doughty shot, but only wounded
it, and it came rushing back, snorting, and running around in a circle,
till the well directed shots from all three killed it on the spot. Two
more bears now remained to be disposed of.
The successful shot put Hawkins in high spirits. He began to hallo and
laugh, dancing around, and with the others striking the next largest
bear to make him run out, which he soon did, and was shot by Doughty. By
this time their guns were reloaded, the men growing more and more
elated, and Hawkins declaring they were "all Daniels in the lions' den,
and no mistake." This, and similar expressions, he constantly
vociferated, while they drove out the third and smallest bear. As it
reached the cave's mouth, three simultaneous shots put an end to the
last one, when Hawkins' excitement knew no bounds. "Daniel was a
humbug," said he. "Daniel in the lions' den! Of course it was winter,
and the lions were sucking their paws! Tell me no more of Daniel's
exploits. We are as good Daniels as he ever dared to be. Hurrah for
these Daniels!" With these expressions, and playing many antics by way
of rejoicing, the delighted Hawkins finally danced himself out of his
"lion's den," and set to work with the others to prepare for a return to
camp.
Sleds were soon constructed out of the branches of the mountain willow,
and on these light vehicles the fortunate find of bear meat was soon
conveyed to the hungry camp in the plain below. And ever after this
singular exploit of the party, Hawkins continued to aver, in language
more strong than elegant, that the Scripture Daniel was a humbug
compared to himself, and Meek, and Claymore.