LS OR A CR TOR OS alg ewan e a3 . FE RS Ce TOE RD Se nem oT — Stitt ne ae i

THE RIVER OF THE WEST.

———

LIFE AND ADVENTURE

IN THE

ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND OREGON;

EMBRACING EVENTS IN THE LIFE-TIME OF A

MOUNTAIN-MAN AND PIONEER:

WITH THE

EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WESTERN SLOPE,

INCLUDING

a " AN ACCOUNT OF THE FUR.TRADERS, THE INDIAN TRIBES, THE OVERLAND IMMIGRA- TION, THE OREGON MISSIONS, AND THE TRAGIC FATE OF REV. DR. WHITMAN AND FAMILY.

ALSO, A DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY,

ITS CONDITION, PROSPECTS, AND RESOURCES; ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, AND SCENERY ; ITS MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, VALLEYS, DESERTS, AND PLAINS; ITS INLAND WATERS, AND NATURAL WONDERS.

WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. BY MRS. FRANCES FULLER VICTOR.

PUBLISHED BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY.

HARTFORD, CONN.: COLUMBIAN BOOK COMPANY.

_ BLISS & CO., NEWARK, N.J.; W.E. BLISS & CO., TOLEDO, 0.: R. J. TRUMBULL & CO., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.

1870.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1869, by R. W. BLISS & CO.,

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Connecticut.

till ah ita a seacumaniinminanaiemwenn-weoohontonto nn

1c District of

WE FIND THEM, ACCORDINGLY, HARDY, LITHE, VIGOROUS, AND AC TIVE: EXTRAVAGANT IN WORD, IN THOUGHT, AND DEED: HEEDLESS OF HARDSHIP; DARING OF DANGER; PRODIGAL OF THE PRESENT, AND

THOUGHTLESS OF THE FUTURE.—Irving.

INTRODUCTION.

When the author of this book has been absorbed in the elegant narratives of Washington Irving, reading and musing over Astoria and Bonneville, in the cozy quiet of a New York study, no prescient motion of the mind ever gave prophetic indication of that personal acquaintance which has since been formed with the scenes, and even with some of the characters which figure in the works just referred to. Yet so have events shaped themselves that to me Astoria is familiar ground; Forts Vancouver and Walla-Walla pictured forever in my memory; while such journeys as I have been enabled to make into the country east of the last named fort, have given me a fair insight into the characteristic features of its mountains and its plains.

To-day, a railroad traverses the level stretch between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, along which, thirty years ago, the fur-traders had worn a trail by thei annual excursions with men, pack-horses, and sometime wagons, destined to the Rocky Mountains. Then, they had to guard against the attacks of the Savages; and in this respect civilization is behind the railroad, for now, as then, it is not safe to travel without a sufficient escort. To-day, also, we have new Territories called by several names cut out of the identical hunting-grounds of the fur- traders of thirty years ago; and steamboats plying the rivers where the mountain-men came to set their traps for beaver; or cities growing up like mushrooms from a soil

iv INTRODUCTION.

made quick by gold, where the hardy mountain-hunter pursued the buffalo herds in search of his winter’s supply of food.

The wonderful romance which once gave enchantment to stories of hardship and of daring deed |, suffered and done in these then distant wilds, is fast being dissipated by the rapid settlement of the new Territories, and by the familiarity of the public mind with tales of stirring adven- ture encountered in the search for glittering ores. It was, then, not without an emotion of pleased surprise that I first encountered in the fertile plains of Western Oregon the subject of this biography, a man fifty-eight years of age, of fine appearance and buoyant temper, full of auec- dote, and with a memory well stored with personal recol- lections of all the men of note who have formerly visited the old Oregon Territory, when it comprised the whole country west of the Rocky Mountains lying north of Cali- fornia and south of the forty-ninth parallel. This man is Joseph L. Meek, to whose stories of mountain-life I have listened for days together; and who, after having figured conspicuously, and not without considerable fame, in the early history of Oregon, still prides himself most of all on having been a ‘“mountain-man.”

Most persons are familiar with the popular, celebrated

adian pictures of the artist Stanley; and it cannot fail to nterest the reader to learn that in one of these Meek is represented as firing his last shot at the pursuing Savages. He was also the hero of another picture, painted by an English artist. The latter picture represents him in a con- test with a grizzly bear, and has been copied in wax for the benefit of a St. Louis Museum, where it has been re- peatedly recognized by Western men.

It has frequently been suggested to Mr. Meek, who has now come to be known by the famier title of “Uncle

”

Joe woul have little to a of it the | est | I ca it m

INTRODUCTION. v

Joe” to all Oregon, that a history of his varied adveutures would make a readable book, and some of his neighbors have even undertaken to become his historian, yet with so little well-directed efforts that the task after all has fallen to a comparative stranger. I confess to having taken hold of it with some doubts as to my claims to the office; and the best recommendation I can give my work is the inter- est I myself felt in the subjec! of it; and the only apology I can offer for anything incredib\c in the narrative which it may contain, is that I “tell the tale as ’twas told to me,” and that I have no occasiou to doubt the truth of it.

Mr. Meek has not attempted to disguise the fact that he, as a mountain-man, ‘did those things which he ought not to have done, and left undone those things which he ought to have done.” It will be seen, by referring to Mr. Ir- ving’s account of this class of men, as given him by Capt. Bonneville, that he in no wise differed from the majority of them in his practical rendering of the moral code, and his indifference to some of the commandments. Yet, no one ‘seeing Uncle Joe in his present aspect of a good- humored, quiet, and not undignified citizen of the “ Plains,” would be likely to attribute to him any very bad or dan- gerous qualities. It is only when recalling the scenes of his early exploits in mountain life, that the smouldering fire of his still fine eyes brightens up with something sug- gestive of the dare-devil spirit which characterized those exploits, and made him famous even among his compeers, when they were such men as Kit Carson, Peg-Leg Smith, and others of that doughty band of bear-fighters.

Seeing that the incidents I had to record embraced a period of a score and a helf of years, and that they ex- tended over those years most interesting in Oregon his- tory, as well as of the history of the Fur Trade in the West, I have concluded to preface Mr. Meek’s adventures

vi INTRODUCTION.

with a sketch of the latter, believing that the information thus conveyed to the reader will give an additional degree of interest to their narration. The impression made upon my own mind as I gained a knowledge of the facts which I shall record in this book relating to the early occupation of Oregon, was that they were not only profoundly roman- tic, but decidedly unique.

In giving Mr. Meek’s personal adventures I should have preferred always to have clothed them in his own peculiar language could my memory have served me, and above all I should have wished to convey to the reader some im- pression of the tones of his voice, both rich and soft, and deep, too; or suddenly changing, with a versatile power quite remarkable, as he gave with natural dramatic ability the perfect imitation of another’s voice and manner. But these fine touches of narrative are beyond the author's skiJl, and the reader must perforce be content with words, aided only by his own powers of imagination in conjuring up such tones and subtile inflexions of voice as seem to him to suit the subject. Mr. Meek’s pronunciation is Southern. He says “thar,” and ‘“‘whar,” and “bar,” like a true Virginian as he is, being a blood relation of one of our Presidents from that State, as well as cousin to other one-time inmates of the White House. Like the children of many other slave-holding planters he received little at- tention, and was allowed to frequent the negro quarters, while the alphabet was neglected. At the age of sixteen he could not read. He had been sent to a school in the neighborhood, where he had the alphabet set for him on ‘a wooden “paddle;” but not liking this method of in- struction he one day ‘‘hit the teacher over the head with it, and ran home,” where he was suffered to disport him- self among his black associates, clad like themselves in a tow frock, and guiltless of shoes and stockings. This sort

hation egree

upon which bation bman-

have culiar pbove e im- , and ower bility But thor’s vords, uring pm to ion is 4 bar,” of one other dren tle at- ters, xteen n the m on of in- with him- in a 3 sort

INTRODUCTION. Vii

of training was not without its advantages to the physical man; on the contrary, it produced, in this instance, as in many others, a tall, broad-shouldered, powerful and hand- some man, with plenty of animal courage and spirit, though somewhat at the expense of the inner furnishing which is supposed to be necessary to a perfect develop- ment. In this instance, however, Nature had been more than usually kind, and distinguished her favorite with a sort of inborn grace and courtesy which, in some phases of his eventful life, served him well.

Mr. Meek was born in Washington Co., Virginia, in 1810, one year before the settlement of Astoria, and at a period when Congress was much interested in the question of our Western possessions and their boundary. ‘ Mani- fest destiny” seemed to have raised him up, together with many others, bold, hardy, and fearless men, to become sentinels on the outposts of civilization, securing to the United States with comparative ease a vast extent of ter- ritory, for which, without them, a long struggle with Eng- land would have taken place, delaying the settlement of the Pacific Coast for many years, if not losing it to us alto- gether It is not without a feeling of genuine self-congrat- ulation, that I am able to bear testimony to the services, hitherto hardly recognized, of the “‘mountain-men” who have setiled in Oregon. Whenever there shall arise a studious and faithful historian, their names shall not be excluded from honorable mention, nor least illustrious will appear that of Joseph L. Meek, the Rocky Mountain Hunt- er and Trapper.

SUNSET AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA,

Therc sinks the sun; like cavalier of old, Servant of crafty Spain, He flaunts his banner, barred with blood and gold, Wide o’er the western main ; A thousand spear heads glint beyond the trees In columns bright and long, While kindling fancy hears upon the breeze The swell of shout and song,

And yet not here Spain’s gay, adventurous host Dipped sword or planted cross ;

The treasures guarded by this rock-bound coast Counted them gain nor loss.

The blue Columbia, sired by the eternal hills And wedded with the sea,

O’er golden sands, tithes from a thousand rills, Rolled in lone majesty—

Through deep ravine; through burning, barren plain, Through wild and rocky strait,

Through forest dark, and mountain rent in twain Toward the sunset gate;

While curious eyes, keen with the lust of gold, Caught not the informing gleam,

These mighty breakers age on age have rolled To meet this mighty stream.

Age after age these noble hills have kept, The same majestic lines ;

Age after age the horizon’s edge been swept By fringe of pointed pines,

Summers and Winters circling came and went, Bringing no change of scene ;

Unresting, and unhasting, and unspent, Dwelt Nature here serene |

Till God’s own time to plant of Freedom’s seed, In this selected soil;

Denied forever unto blood and greed,

~ But blest to honest toil.

There sinks the sun; Gay cavalier no more! His bonners trail the sea,

And all his legions shining on the shore Fade into mystery.

The swelling tide laps on the shingly beach, Like any starving thing ;

And hungry breakers, white with wrath, upreach, In a vain clamoring.

The shadows fall ; just level with mine eye Sweet Hesper stands and shines,

And shines beneath an arc of golden sky, Pinked round with pointed pines.

A noble scene! all breadth, deep tone, and power, Suggesting glorious themes ;

Shaming the idler who would fill the hour With unsubstantial dreams.

Be mine the dreams prophetic, shadowing forth The things that yet shall be,

When through this gate the treasures of the North Flow outward to the sea

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Portrait oF JosEPH L. MEEK.—Frontispiece.

THe ENLISTMENT, . - - -

THe SuMMER RENDEzvous, - -

BEAVER-DAM,~ - -

Tue THREE “BaREs,” -

Tur Wrona Env OF THE TREE,

BRANDING CATTLE, « -

THE Mute Fort, - -

Tue Free TrAprer’s INDIAN WIFE,

DeEscENDING THE BLUE MounNTAINS,

THe Bear In Camp, - -

SATISFIED wWiTH BEAR FiGcutine,

THE T'RAPPER’s Last SuHot,

Tue Squaw’s Escapes, -

A Burrato Hunt, -

Tue Missionary WEDGE,

WRECKED IN THE -Rapips, - -

Tue CascapE Mountain Roap-HuntTeERs, - - - -

Massacre oF Dr. WHITMAN AND FAMILY, OF THE PRESBYTERIAN Mission, - - - - - - - -

MEEK As STEAMBOAT RUNNER,

“Take Care Knox,” - -

A MouNTAIN-MAN IN CLOVER, - - - -

Gov. LANE AND MarsHat MEEK EN Rovure To OREGON,

OrEGON BEAVER-MONEY, - - Ps ‘ =

Meex as Unitep STAtes MArsHaAt, -

Mr. RANIER FROM PuGET Sounp, - - -

SuHexpan’s First BatrrLe-Grounp, CotumB1A River,

CastLE Rock, - - - “ -

Horse-Tam Fatt, -

VIEW ON THE COLUMBIA, -

Mr. Hoop From THE DALLEs,

CONTENTS.

PREFATORY CHAPTER. Pag.

Astoria—Fort Vancouver—Its isolated Position—Precautions against In- dians—The Hudson’s Bay Company—lIts Policy and Intercourse with the Indians—The Arrival of the “ Brigade ”—Other Yearly Arrivals— Punishment of Indian Offenders— Indian Strategy—A Hero—The American Fur Companies--Their Dealings with the Indians—Ashley’s Expeditions to Green River—Attack on Smith’s Party—Wyeth’s Ex- peditions—Fort Hall—Decline of the Fur Trade—Causes of the Indians’ Hostility—Dangers attending the Trapper’s Life, > - -

CHAPTER I.

Early Life of Meek—He leaves Home—Enlists in a Fur Company—On the March—A Warning Voice —Frontier Sports—Last Vestige of Civil- ization—On the Plains—A first Adventure—A firm Front—A Parley— The Summer Rendezvous—An enchanting Picture—The Free Trap- per’s Indian Wife—Wild Carousals—Routine of Camp Life—Smoked Moccasins versus Green Ones—A “ Trifling Fellow,” - - .

CHAPTER II.

The Camp in Motion—A Trapping Expedition—Opposition to the Hud- son’s Bay Company—Beautiful Scenery—The Lost Leader Found— Rejoicings in Camp—The “Luck” of the Trappers—Conference of Leaders—The “Devil’s. Own”—Blackfoot Character—Account of the Tribes, - - - ps - - - - -

CHAPTER Iii.

How Beaver are Taken—-Beaver Dams—Formation of Meadows—Beaver Lodges—“ Bachelors”—Trapping in Winter—“ Up to Trap ”—Black- feet oh the Trail—On Guard*-The Trapper’s Ruse—A disappointed Bear—A Fight with Blackfeet—“ Out of Luck “—Alone in the Moun- tains—Splendid Views—A Miserable Night—The last Luxury of Life— The Awfulness of Solitude—A Singular Discovery—A Hell on Earth— A Joyful Recognition—Hard Times in Camp—The Negro’s Porcupine— Craig’s Rabbit—Deep Snows—What the Scout saw—Bighorn River— “ Colter’s Hell”—An Alarm—Arrival at Wind River—Christmas, -

CHAPTER IV. Removai to Powder River—A Trapper’s Paradise—The Transformation in the Wilderness—The Encampment by Night—Meek takes to Study—

xii CONTENTS.

Page.

On the Move—Loss of Horses and Traps—Robbed and Insulted by a Bear—Crossing the Yellowstone—A Novel Ferriage-——Annoyance from Blackfeet—A Cache Opened—A Comrade Killed—Rude Burial Serv- ice—Return to Rendezvous—Gay Times—The old Partners take Leave,

CHAPTER V.

Grizzly Bears—-An Adventure with a Grizzly—The Three “ Bares ”— The Mountain-Man’s Manners— Joking the Leaders—The Irishman and the Booshway—How Sublette climbed a Tree and escaped a Bear— Rival Trappers—Whisky as a Strong Card—Ogden’s Indian Wife— Her Courage and Escape—Winter Quarters—Crow Horse-Thieves— An Expedition on Foot—Night Attack on the Indian Fort—Fitzpatrick Missing—Destitution in Camp—A “ Medicine-Man ” consulted—*“ Mak- ing Medicine”—A Vision Obtained—Fitzpatrick Found—Death of Smith— An Expedition on Snow-Shoes, - - - -

CHAPTER VI

Annoying Competition—The Chief’s Daughter— Sublette Wounded— Forty Days of Isolation—Sublette and Meek captured by Snake In- dians—A Solemn Council—Sentence of Death—Hope Deferred—A Res- cue—The “Mountain Lamb”—An Obstinate Rival—Blackfeet Ma- rauders—Fitzpatrick’s Adventures in the Mountains—“ When the Pie was opened the Birds began to Sing ”—Rough Sports—A Man on Fire— Brigades ready for the Start—Blackfeet Caravan—Peaceful Overtures— The Half-Breed’s Revenge—A Battle—Reinforcements—Death of Sin- clair—Sublette Wounded—Greenhorns—A false Alarm—Indian Adroit- ness—A Deserted Fort—Incident of the Blackfoot Woman—Maurder of a Party by Blackfeet, - - - " - -

CHAPTER VII.

The March to the Humboldt—Scarcity of Game—Terrible Sufferings— The Horrers of Thirst and Famine—Eating Ants, Crickets and Mules— Return to Snake River—A lucky Discovery—A Trout Supper—The Country of the Diggers—Some Account of Them—Anecdote of Wyeth and Meek-—Comparison of Indian Tribes—The Blackfeet—The Crows— The Coast Tribes and the Mountain Tribes—The Columbia River Indians—Their Habits, Customs, and Dress—Indian Commerce—The Indians of the Plairs—Their Dress, Manners, and Wealth—The Horses of the Plains—La guage—The Indian’s Moral Nature—Hungry and Hospitisle Sava —A Trap set for a Rival—An Ambush—Death of Vanderburg—Sk.cmish with Blackfeet—The Woman Interpreter taken Prisoner—Bravery of her Husband—Happy Finale—Meek Rescues the “Mountain Lamb ”—Intense Cold—Threatened by Famine—The Den of Grizzlys—Second Daniels, . - - - ~ #119

CONTENTS. xiii

i, CHAPTER VIII. Paes. A Visit from Blackfeet—The Green River Rendezvous—A “ Powerful Drunk”—Mad Wolf—A Friendly Warning—A Trip to the Salt Lake Country-—Meek Joins Jo. Walker’s California Expedition—Instinct of the Mule—On the Humboldt River—Massacre of Diggers at Mary’s River—Vain Explorations—Crossing the Sierra Nevadas—Hardships and Sufferings—The Sacramento Valley—Delight of the Trappers— Meeting with Spanish Soldiers—A Parley—Escorted to Monterey—A Hospitable Reception—The Native Californians—Visit to the Mohave Village—Meeting with Trapp and Jervais—Infamous Conduct at the Moquis Village—The Return March, - - - - +141

CHAPTER IX.

In the Camanche Country—A Surprise and a Rapid Movement—The Mule Fort—A Camanche Charge—Sure Aim—Another Charge—More Dead Indians—Woman’s Weapon, the Tongue—Fearful Heat and Suf- ferings from Thirst—The Escape by Night—The South Park—Death ne of Guthrie—Meeting with Bonneville—Indignant Reproaches, - - 154

CHAPTER X.

Gossip at Rendezvous—Adventures in the Crow Country—Fitzpatrick ae * Picked by the Crows and Flies from Them—Honor among Thieves—

n- Be Unfair Treatment of Wyeth—Bonneville Snubbed at Walla-Walla—

it a He Rejects good Counsel—Wyeth’s Threat, and its Fulfillment—Divis-

of ‘4 ion of Territory, - - - - - - - - 160 - 108

CHAPTER XI. .

In the Blackfoot Country—A Visit to Wyeth’s Trappers—Sorry Expe- Pe riences—Condolence and its Effect—The Visitors become Defenders— = A Battle with Fire and Sword—Fighting for Life—The Trappers’ Vic-

ss tory—A Trapping Excursion—Meek Plays a Trick and has one Played h = on Him—A Run to Camp—Taking up Traps—A Blackfoot Ambush—

A Running Fire—A lucky Escape—Winter Camp on the Yellowstone— Interpretation of a Dream—A Buffalo Hunt and a Blackfoot Surprise—

ie Meek’s Mule Story, - - - - - - = 166 28

d - CHAPTER XII.

of Setting up as a Family Man—First Love—Cut out by the Eooshway—

B Reward of Constancy—Beauty of Umentucken—Her Dress, Her Horse

ie 4 and Equipments— Anecdotes of the Mountain Lamb—Her Quarrel with

° in The Trapper—Capture by Crows—Wer Rescue—Meek Avenges an In-

sult—A Row in Camp—The Female Element—Death of Umentucken, 175

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII. Paaz.

Visitors at Rendezvous—Advent of Missionaries—What Brought Then— my Heclin Bonneville’s account of the Nez Perces and Flatheads—An Enthusiastic 4 View of Their Characters—Origin of some of Their Religious Observ- ances—An Indian’s Idea of a God—Material Good Desired—Mistake of the Missionaries—First Sermon in the Rocky Mountains—Interrupted by Buffaloes—Precept and Example—Dr. Whitman’s Character—The Missionaries Separate—Dr. Whitman Returns to the States, - -

CHAPTER XIV.

Meek Falls into the Hands of Crows—The Story as He tells It—He Packs Moccasins, and Bears the Jeers of the Fair Sex—Bridger’s Camp Dis- covered and the Lie Found out—A Desperate Situation—Signaling the Horse-Guard—A Parley with Bridger—Successful Strategy—Capture of Little-Gun—Meek Set at Liberty with a New Name—A Fort Be- sieged by Bears—A Lazy Trapper—The Decoy of the Delawares— Winter Amusements— The Ishmaelite of the Wilderness — March through the Crow Country—Return to Green River—Punishment of the Bannacks—Consolidation—An Excursion—Intercepted by Crows—A Scattered Camp—The Escape, - - - - -

CHAPTER XV.

An Express from Fitzpatrick—The Approach of Missionaries Announc- ed—The Caravan Welcomed by a Party ot Trappers—Noisy Demonstra- tions—Curiosity of the Indians—The Missionary Ladies—Preparations in the Indian Villages—Reception of the Missionaries by the Nez Perces and Flatheads—Kind Treatment from the Hudson’s Bay Company— The Missionaries’ Land of Promise—Visit to Fort Vancouver—Selection of Missionary Stations, - - - - - Pea?

CHAPTER XVI.

The Den of Rattlesnakes—The Old Frenchman—How to Keep Srakes out of Bed—The Prairie Dog’s Tenants at Will—Fight with Blackfeet— Policy of War—A Duel Averted—A Run-away Bear—Meek’s Best Bear Fight—Winter Quarters on Powder River—Robbing Bonneville’s Men,

CHAPTER XVII.

A Dissipated Camp—A Crow Carousal—Picked Crows—A Fight with Blackfeet-—Manhead Killed—Night Visit to the Blackfoot Village— “Cooning a River”—Stanley the Indian Painter—Desperate Fight with Blackfeet—“ The Trapper’s Last Shot ””—War and Peace—In the Wrong Camp—To Rendezvous on Wind River—Mr. Gray, and His Adventures — Massacre of Indian Allies— Capt. Stuart Robbed by Crows—Newell’s Address to the Chiefs, . . . - 228

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Page, Pecline of the Fur Trade—Wild Scenes at Rendezvous—A Missionary Party—Entercained by a War Dance—Meek in Armor—Deserted by his Indian Spouse—The Pursuit—-Meek abuses a Missionary and Kid- naps his Wife—Meek’s Black Eyed Daughter—Singing for a Biscuit— Trapping Again—A hot March, and Fearful Suffering from Thirst— The Old Flathead Woman—Water at Last, - - - -

CHAPTER XIX.

A Chat about Buffalo Hunting—Buffalo Horses—The Start—The Pur- suit—The Charge—Tumbles— Horsemanship—The Glory of Mountain Life—How a Nez Perce Village Hunts Buffalo—Kit Carson and the Frenchman on a Run—Mountain Manners, - - - -

CHAPTER XX.

The Solitary Trapper—A Jest—Among the Nez Perces—Their Eagerness to be Taught—Meek is Called upon to Preach—He modestly Complies— Asks for a Wife — Polygamy Detended— Meek Gets a Wife—The Preacher’s Salary—Surprised by Blackfeet—Death of Allen —The Last Rendezvous—Anecdote of Shawnee Jim—The new Wife Missing— Meeting with Farnham—Cold and Famine—Succor and Food—Parties at Fort Crockett—Setting up in Trade—How Al. Saved His Bacon— Bad Times—War upon Horse Thieves—In Search of Adventures— Green River Canyon—Running Antelope—Gambling—Vain Hunt for Rendezvous— Reflections and Half-Resolves—The last Trapping Expe- dition, - - - - a a i aie

istra-

tions

erces

mnt CHAPTER XXI.

: A new Start in Life—Mountain-Men for Pioneers—Discovery of the Co- lumbia River—What Capt. Gray Did—What Vancouver Did—The United States’ Claim to Oregon—The Treaty of 1818—Plans for Colon- izing Oregon—Yankee Enterprise—Hall J. Kelley—Ball and Tibbits— Execraticn of the H. B. Company—First Missionaries to the Wallamet— Their Reception—Three Points in the H. B. Co. Policy—The Political History of Oregon—Extracts from “Thirty Years in Congress ”—Ben- ton on the Oregon Claims—The Missionary Wedge—Character of Dr. John McLaughlin—Hospitalities of Fort Vancouver—The Mission Re- inforced—Other Settlers in the Wallamet Valley—How they Regarded the Mission—The California Cattle Company—Distribution of Settlers,

CHAPTER XXTI.

Westward Ho!—Opening Wagon Roads—Republicanism—Fat Pork for Preachers—Mission Work at Waiilatpu—Helen Mar—Off for the Wal- lamet— Wagons Left at Walla-Walla—The Dalles Mission — Indian

2

xvi CONTENTS.

Pag. Prayers—The Missionaries and the Mountain-Men—The Impious Cana-

dian—Doing Penance—Down the Columbia—Trouble with Indians— Arrival at the Wallamet—Hunger, and Dependence on Fort Vancouver— Meeting Old Comrades—Settling on the Tualatin Plains—A disagreeable Winter—Taking Claims—Who furnished the Seed Wheat, = - - 279

CHAPTER XXIII.

Wealth of the Methodist Mission—Waste of Property—Influence on the Indians—What the Mission Board Did for Oregon—A Natural Se- quence—Policy of the Mission regarding Other Settlers—Memorial to Congress—'l'rying Position of Dr. McLaughlin—How He Directed the Power of the Hudson’s Bay Company—Fear of Catholicism—The Mis- sion Party and the American Party—The Story of Ewing Young—A Historical Character—Some Opinions of the Writer—Position of the Mountain-Men in Oregon, - - - - -

CHAPTER XXIV.

Scarcity of Employment— Wilkes’ Exploring Expedition—Meek Employed as Pilot—Interchange of Courtesies at Vancouver—Unpleasant Re- minder—Exploring the Cowelitz—Wilkes’ Chronometer—Land Expe- dition to California—Meck Discharged—Gleaning Wheat— Fifty Miles for an Axe—Visit to the New Mission—Praying for a Cow—The Great Event of the Year—The “Star of Oregon”—Cargo of the “'Thomas

Perkins”—Salvation of the Colony, - - - - - 296

CHAPTER XXV.

The Brooding of Events—The Balance of Power—First Cargo for the American Market—Fourth of July—An Indian Agent for Oregon— Reception of Immigrants—Indian Agent 19 Governor—Dr. Whitman Visits Washington—The “Ashburton Treaty ”—Emigration from Mis- souri—Discontent of the Indians—Missionaries Threatened—Mrs. Whit- man leaves Waiilatpu—Dr White Visits the Indians—A Code of Laws for the Nez Perces—Cayuses avoid an Interview, - - - 304

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Plot Thickens—Forms of Government Discussed—The Wolf Associa- tion—Suspicions of the Canadians—A Committee Appointed—Their Report Accepted—The, Die Cast—Address of the Canadians—Officers Elected—Meek Elected Sheriff—The Provisional Government—Notable Laws—Indian Disturbances in the Upper Country—The Agent Leaves for a Visit—Mr. Hines an¢. Dr. McLaughlin—Dorio the wicked Half- Breed—-Account of the Indian Troubles—Particulars of the Indian Con- ference—The Missionaries Warned, - - - ‘ - 316

CONTENTS,

Pagg. na- CHAPTER XXVII. bised Page. ive \ Arrival of the Immigration at the Dalles—Wagons Abandoned—Condition Lble of the People—Aid from the Hudson’s Bay Company—Perils of the - 279 Columbia—Wreck of a Boat—Wonderful Escape—Trials of the New Colonists—The Generous Savage—The Barefoot Lawyer — Meek’s Pumpkin—Privation of the Settlers—Going Shopping—No Mails—Ed- ucation and Literary Societies—Attempt to Manufacture Ardent Spirits— the Dilemma of the People—An Appeal to Dr. White—The Sheriff Destroys Be- the Distillery—Anecdote of Dr. White and Madam Cooper — Meek I to Levies on Her Whisky—Meek and “The better Part of the Communi- = ty”—First Official Act of the Sheriff, - = - 2 a 888 is- ‘ ~A CHAPTER XXVIII. the Excitement about Indians—Dr. White’s Flogging Law—Indian Revenge— abe Raid of the Klamaths—Massacre of Indians—Affray at the Falls— Death of Cockstock—Death of LeBreton and Rogers—Meek’s Advice— His Policy with the Indians—Meek and the Agent—The Borrowed oyed Horse—Success of the New Government—Ambitious Designs—Negroes Re- and Liquors Interdicted—Taxation Opposed—Defeat of the Independent xpe- Party, - - - - - - - - - 347 iles reat CHAPTER XXIX. omas The Oreyca City Land-Clain—Enmity of the Mission to Dr. McLaugh- - 296 lin—His Possessory Rights—Attempts at a Settlement—Mr. Waller’s Trifling—Double Dealings Extraordinary-—-Various Propositions—Ric- ord’s Caveat—The Doctor’s Devotions and Inital * y—A Settlement r the Effected—The Several Parties—Uneasiness at Fort Vancouver—Des- on— ie perate Characters—Dr. McLaughlin Asks for Protection—The Situation, 355 tman j Mis- CHAPTER XXX. Vhit- The American Organization—Oath of Membership Modified—Dr. Me- Laws Laughlin Unites with the Americans—Unwelcome Visitors at the Fort— - 304 The British Government Promise Protection—Disagreeable Results of Espionage—The English Officers—Wonderful 'Transformation—Tem- perance—Courts—Anecdote of Judge Nesmith—Memorial to Congress— ati a Ludicrous Legislative Proceedings—Audacity Triumphant—Growth of Their E Improvements—New Towns—Early Days of Portland—An Indian Ca- Ficers rousal—Meek “Settles the Indians”—Reader’s Query, and Answer— The Immigration of 1845—The Road-Hunters—Hunger and Peril—A stable sl i aa Maven Last Request—Succor at the Last Moment—A Reason for Patriotism, yon | CHAPTER XXXII. - 316 Difficulty of Collecting Taxes—A Ponderous Currency—Dr. McLaughlin’s

Ox—An Exciting Year—Abrogation of the Treaty—The Boundary

———

xviii CONTENTS,

' | Paon. |

t

| Question—Fifty-Four-Forty or Fight--Caution of the Government— i War Vessels in the Columbia—Loss of the Shark—Meek Receives a i ; Salute—Schenck Arrested—The Color-Stand of the Shark—-The Agony fi Over—Terms of the New Treaty not Agreeable to the Oregonians— iit -» Disappointment of the Hudson’s Bay Company, - - - «= 877 i

MI) CHAPTER XXXII.

ti i Colonial Gossip—The Oregon Spectator—Overland Mail Special—Theat- il H , Yicals on Board the Modeste—Literature of the Spectator—“The Ad- Wt ventures of a Columbia River Salmon ”—THistory of the Immigration of i 1846—Opening of the Southern Route—Tragic Fate of the California

Immigrants—Hardships of the Oregon Immigrants—The Cause—Tardy i Relief—Disappointment of the Colony—The Road-hunters Blamed— Feuds in Consequence—Legislature for 1846—Meek and Newell Mem- bers—The Liquor Bill—Divorce Acts, = - - - - += 882

‘ |

uly CHAPTER XXXIII.

ii ‘The Beginning of Oregon Commerce—The Oregon Colony second only to

Hi that of the Mayflower—The Foundations of a New State—Celebrating

Hi the Fourth of July—Visit to the Ship Brutus—An Indignity Resented

HY , with a T'welve-Pounder—Dr. McLaughlin Interferes—Re-elec.ion of Meek—Large Immigration—Letter from Thomas H. Benton—Affray between Immigrants and Indians at the Dalles—The Governor’s Dele- gate to Congress—Manner of his Equipment—Stranded at San Juan— Meeting of the Legislature—Falling of the Thunderbolt, - - 391

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The Up-Country Indians—Causes of Their Disquiet—Their Opinion of the Americans—Their Feelings toward Dr. Whitman—Acts of Violence—- Mh Influence of the Catholic Missionaries—What Provoked the Massacre— Ht Jo Lewis the Half-Breed—The Fatal Test—Sickness Among the Emi- ni grants—Dr. Whitman’s Family—Persons at the Mission and Mill— ii Night Visit to the Umatilla—The Warning of Stickas and His Family— ij The Death Song—Meeting with Brouillet-—News of the Massacre—Mr. Spalding’s Night Journeys, - - * é . - 400

\ . CHAPTER XXXV.

The Tragedy at Waiilatpu—Dr. Whitman’s Arrival at Home—The Com-

mencement of the Massacre—Horrors oj’ the Attack—Shooting of Mrs.

if Whitman—Treachery of a Chief—Sufferings of the Children—The Two

14 Compassionate Indians—Escape of Mr. Osborne and Family—Escape

i and Fate of Mr. Hall—Cruel Treatment of Fugitives—Sufferings of Mr. i Osborne’s 'amily—Fears of Mcbean—Kindness of Stickas, - - 410

|

Horror of th sacre Bule Indi: of th Spal The Subs

The C fence erno Unit Wai Mee!

Meek’s Whi tain Revs Pass on a at S as S Astd

ing

Meek nize tion| of § Re Meg and| to Lo Pol Fr

882

- 891

- 400

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Horrors of the Waiilatpu Massacre—Exemption of the Catholics—Charges

of the Protestants—Natural Suspicions—Further Particulars of the Mas- sacre—Cruelty to the Children—-Fate of the Young Women—Miss Bulce and the Priests—Lapwai Mission—Arrival of Mr. Camfield—An Indian ‘T'rait—Heroism of’ Mrs. Spalding—Appeal to the Chiefs—Arrival of the News—Lapwai Plundered—Treachery of Joseph—Arrival of Mr. Spalding—Detained as Hostages—Ransomed by the H. B. Company— The “Blood of the Martyrs”—Country Abandoned to the Indians— Subsequent Rgturn of Mr. Spalding to the Nez Perces, - - -

CHAPTER XXXVII.

The Call to Arms—Meetings and Speeches—Ways and Means of De-

fence—The first Regiment of Oregon Riflemen—Messenger to the Gov- ernor of California—Meek Chosen Messenger to the President of the United States—He Proceeds to the Dalles—The Army Marches to Waiilatpu—A Skirmish with the Des Chutes--Burial of the Victims— Meek Escorted to the Blue Mountains, - - - - -

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Meek’s Party—Precautions against Indians—Meeting with Bannacks—

White Lies—Fort Hall—Deep Snows—Horses Abandoned—The Moun- tain Spirit Returning — Meeting with Peg-Leg Smith—A Mountain Revel—Meeting with An Old Leader—Reception at Fort Laramie— Passing the Sioux Village—Courtesy of a French Trader—Reflections on Nearing the Settlements—Resolve to Remain Joe Méek—Reception at St. Joseph—“ The Quickest Trip Yet”—Arrival at St. Louis—Meek as Steamboat Runner—lInterview with the Stage Agent at Wheeling—- Astonishing the Natives—The Puzzled Conductor—Arrival at Wash- ington, - - - - - - - - -

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Meek Dines at Coleman’s—A Sensation—An Amusing Scene—Recog-

nized by Senator Underwood—Visit to the President—Cordial Recep- tion by the Family of Polk—Some Doubts of Himself—Rapid Recovery of Self-Possession—Action of the Friends of Oregon—The Two Oregon Representatives—The Oregon Bill in the Senate—Benton’s Speech— Meek’s Successful Debut in Society—Curiosity of Ladies—Kit Carson and the “ Contingent Fund ”—Meek’s Remarkable Popularity—Invited to Baltimore by the City Council—E; rts the President—Visit to Lowell—The Factory Girls—Some Natural Regrets—Kindness of Mrs. Polk and Mrs, Walker—Commodore Wilkes—Oregon Lies—Getting Franked—Champagne Sup};.:’s, - - - - -

‘

xix

Paqn

419

428

434

447

xx CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XL.

Page. Mr. Thornton as Representative of Oregon—The Territorial Bill—How B

| Obnoxious to the South—The Friends and Enemies of the Bill—The Be Meel itt Land Bill—The Last Chance—Scene between Butler and Benton— ei gle mn Speech cf Senator Foote—A Tedious Night—The Territorial Bill Pass- a Ce ed—Failure of the Land Bill—What Became of It, - - = 463 4 a . Bees ti CHAPTER XLI. = Meek Appointed U. S. Marshal for Oregon—“ Home Sweet Home ”—Pay a er

of the Delegates— The Lion’s Share—Mecek’s Interview with Gov. a :

Lane—Buying out a Peddler—The Escort of Riflemen—The Start from i

St. Louis, and the Route—Meeting Price’s Army—An Adventure and a

i a Pleasant Surprise—Leaving the Wagons—Desertion of Soldiers— Be The ; Drought—The Trick of the Yumas—Demoralization of the Train— 4 x. st i Rumors of Gold—Gen. Lane’s Coffee—The Writer’s Reflection—The c a fey 4 Party on Foot—Extreme Sufferings—Arrival at William’s Ranch— 4 : : i Speculation in Silks and Jack-Knives—Miners at Los Angelos—Ore- oe Sh gonians at San Francisco-—Nat Lane and Meek Take the Gold Fever— s Meek’s Investment—The Governor and Marsha] Quarrel— Pranks Ne rey with a Jew—A Salute—Arrival in Oregon City, = . - 469 4

CHAPTER XLII. -<

If This Were a Novel—-The Dropped Threads of Our Story— Gov.

Lane’s Proclamation—One Day under Polk—Condition of Oregon— me The Honolulu and Her Captain—The Gold Excitement—Deserted Har- ce vest Fields — Sudden Prosperity of Oregon — Gradual Relapse, and a

the Cause—The Three Parties—Resignation of Dr. McLaughlin—His

Wish to Become an American Citizen—Complications of His Case—Mr. i Thurston, Delegate to Congress— The Story of the Donation Act— a

Death of the Doctor, - - - - - - - 482

CHAPTER XLIII.

Lane’s Course with the Cayuse Indians--Magnanimity of the Savages— Rebuke to Their Captors—Their Statements to Meek—The Puzzle of Indian Ethics— Incidents of the Trial and Execution—State of the

Upper Country for A Term of Years—How Meek Was Received in Ore-

gon—Ilis Incurable Waggishness—Scene in a Court-Room—Contempt

of Court—Judge Nelson and the Carpenters—Two Hundred Lies—.n

Excursion by the Oregon Court—Indians Tried for Murder—Proceed- “

ings of a Jury—Sentence and Execution of the Indians—The Chief's 4

Wife—Cost of Proceedings—Lane’s Career in Qregon—Gov. Davis, 495 |

CONTENTS. Xxi

CHAPTER XLIV. Pagg. Meek as U. S. Marshal—The Captain of the Melvin—The British Smug- gler—Returning a Compliment—* Barly Enough for the Officers of the Court ”—Misused Confidence—Indian Disturbances—The Indian War of 1855-6—Gen Wool and Gov. Curry—Officers of the War—How the Volunteers Fared—Meek us a Volunteer—Feasting and Fun—* Mark- ing ‘Time ”-—End of Meek’s Public Career—His Stern Loyalty in Con- a trast with Lane’s Disloyalty—His Present Life—Treatment of a “Preach- 3 er”—-Hope of the Future, - - - - - - 503

463

os CHAPTER XLV.

: The Northern Pacific Railroad—WESTERN OREGON—The Walla- bs eN met River and Valley—The Falls of the Wallamet—The Umpqua Val- ml ley—The Rogue River Valley—The Coast Country—The Dairy Region of the Pacific Coast—Varieties of Soil—Climate and Temperature—Pro- a ductions and Natural Resources — Fruit Growing—Native Grasses— aa Shrubbery—Price of Lands—Sheep Raising and Woolen Goods—Trees and Lumbering—Turpentine, Tar, and Rosin—Fish and Fisheries— Game—Salt—Coal—Iron—Lead—Copper—Gold and Silver—Grain— ; Flax and Hemp—Tobacco—Hop;—Honey—EASTERN OREGON— a Impressions of Early Emigrants—Aspectof the Country—Waste Lands— " Sage Deserts—Valleys and Plains-—The Blue Mountains—Soil and Pro- y ductions—The Klamath Basin—Sprague’s River Valley—Goose Lake Valley—Surprise Vailey—-Oases in the Desert—The Des Chutes, John

469

‘egon— a Har- Day, Umatilla, Grande Ronde, and Powder Rivers and Valleys— se, and Climate and Resources of Eastern Oregon — Stock-Ranches—Fruit in—His Orchards—Vineyards—Corn and Sorghum—Flix and Wool—Mineral se—Mr. Wealth—Area and Popuiation of Oregon, - - - - 513 5 » Act— - 482 CHAPTER XLVI. WASHINGTON TERRITORY—Area and Population—The Cowelitz ius River—The Cascade Range—Mount Olympus—The Cowelitz Prairie— vages— The Future of Washington—The Strait of San Juan De Fuca—Ad- ' zzle of miralty Inlet—Hood’s Canal—Puerr Sounp—Its Advantages as a > of the a Creat Naval Depot—Material for Ship Building—Ample Room and in Ore- aa Safe Anchorage—The Lumbering Interésts—Large Saw Mills—Im- fai ontempt a mense Forests—Magnificent Trees—Coal Mines—Fisheries—The Coast es—./.n 4 Counties—Shoal Water Bay—Cape Hancock—Markets for Agricultural -roceed~ = Products—A Great Maritime City to Grow up at the Terminus of the | Chief's 3 Northern Pacific Railroad—Southern and Eastern Washington—The avis, 493 a Cowelitz, Lewis, and Lake River Valleys—Excellent Fruit, Grain, and ye : Dairy Regions—The Walla-Walla Valley, + + + «554 \ rN

xxii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XLVII.

THE COLUMBIA RIVER—Its Scenery, Extent, and Resources—Point Adams—Fort Stevens—The Bar—Astoria—Shipping of the Lower Co- Inmbia—Monticello—St. Helen—Junction with the Wallamet—Sauvies Island—Vancouver—The Cascade Range — The Heart of the Moun- tains—Railroad Portage—Magnificent Scenery—The Cascades—Castle Rock — Indian Tradition — Stupendous Bluffs — Precipitous Cliffs— Grandeur of the Mountains—A Terrible Passage—Wind Mountain— Hood River—Mt. Hood—Mt. Adams—The Dalles of the Columbia— Wildness of the Scenery—Dalles City—Second Railroad Portage— Celilo—Immense Warehouses—The Rapids—The Des Chutes River— Columbus — Umatilla — Wallula— The Walla-Walla River— Walla- Walla City—White Bluffs—Colville—Northern. Branches of the Colum- bia—A Region of Mineral and Agricultural Wealth—Lewiston, Idaho— The Oregon Steam Navigation Company—Scenery of Snake River— The American Falls—Tributaries of Snake River—Rich Mineral Dis- tricts—Fertile Valleys, and Excellent Timber—-Changing Aspect of the Country—F acilities for Emigrants, - - - - -

CHAPTER XLVIII.

MONTANA TERRITORY—F: ;t Discovery of Gold—Extract from the

Report of Gov. Stevens—The Valleys of the Cour e’ Alene and Spokane— The Cour d’Alene Prairie—The Bitter Root Valley—Hell Gate Pass— Deer Lodge Prairie—The Little Blackfoot---Flint Creek—The Hell Gate River—Flathead Lake—Clarke’s Fork—Hot Spring Creek— Pend d’ Oreille Lake—Estimates of the Areas of Arable Land—A Beautiful Country—Agricultural Advantages—The Climate—The Fa- vorite Wintering Grounds of the Fur Hunters—Mineral and Lumbering Resources, - - - - - % . ia

CHAPTER XLIX.

General Remarks on the North-west— Varieties of Climate and Temperature —The Mild Climate of the Rocky Mountains in Montana—Captain Mul- lan’s Theory Respecting Ji—The Isochimenal Line Across the Conti- nent—Reclamation of Dr;y Lands by Irrigation—Productiveness of the Soil—Gigantie Trees and Ferns—Unfailing Harvests—The Foot-Hills of the Mountains—Meadows and Uplands—Elements of the Grand and

Wonderful—The Cascade Mountains—Their Solitary Wonders—Awful,

“hasms—Description of a Mountain Lake—Unequalled Scenery—Com- mercial Condition and Advantages—Need of Capital and Railroads— Probable Railroad Routes—The Oregon Central Railroad—Proposed Branch from the Union Pacific Railroad—The Northern Pacific Rail-

564

582

road, - - - - - - - - - 589

’

oe,

An Act InpDIJ ENT TRIB

In th back fr four ye ot Ghei original on the ( protecti United taken fo the oecr here,) ¢ going o remaine¢ ment w come ij frighten king Cc towards men” ¢ Astoria, inmates breeds : women, ation of surroun of prov was onl quarter:

Abou North-}

rah {ul- mnti- the Hills and wful,

om- is— bsed kail-

-

PREFATORY CHAPTER.

An Account oF THE Hupson’s BAY CoMpANyY’s INTERCOURSE WITH TH= INDIANS OF THE NortH-WeEst Coast; WITH A SKETCH OF [HE DirrER- ENT AMERICAN Fur COMPANIES, AND THEIR DEALINGS WITH THE TRIBES oF THE Rocky MountTarys.

In the year 1818, Mr. Prevost, acting for the United States, received Astoria back from the British, who had taken possession, as narrated by Mr. Irving, four years previous. The restoration took place in conformity with the treaty of Ghent, by which those places captured during the war were restored to their original possessors. Mr. Astor stood ready at that time to renew his enterprise on the Columbia River, had Congress been disposed to grant him the necessary protection which the undertaking required. Failing to secure this, when the United States sloop of war Ontario sailed away from Astoria, after having taken formal possession of that place for our Government, the country was left to the occupancy, (scarcely a joint-occupancy, since there were then no Americans here,) of the British traders. After the war, and while negotiations were going on between Great Britain and the United States, the fort at Astoria had remained in possession of the North-West Company, as their principal establish- ment west of the mountains. It had been considerably enlarged since it had come into their possession, and was furnished with artillery enough to have frightened into friendship a much more warlike people than the subjects of old king Comeomly; who, it will be remembered, was not at first very well disposed towards the “King George men,” having learned to look upon the “ Bostoa men” as his friends in his earliest intercourse with the whites. At this time Astoria, or Fort George, as the British traders called it, contained sixty-tive inmates, twenty-three of whom were whites, and the remainder Candian half- breeds and Sandwich Islanders. Besides this number of men, there were a few women, the native wives of the men, and their half-breed offspring. The situ- ation of Astoria, however, was not favorable, being neer the sea coast, and not surrounded with good farming lands such as were required for the furnishing of provisions to the fort. ‘Therefore, when in 1821 it was destroyed by fire, it was only in part rebuilt, but a better and more convenient location for the head- quarters of the North-West Company was sought for in the interior.

About this time a quarrel of long standing between the Hudson’s Bay and North-West Companies culminated in a battle between their men in the Red

24 FORT VANCOUVER.

River country, resulting in a considerable loss of life and property. This affair drew the attention of the Government at home; the rights of the rival com- panies were examined into, the mediation of the Ministry secured, and a com- promise effected, by which the North-West Company, which had succeeded in dispossessing the Pacific Fur Company under Mr. Astor, was merged into the Hudson’s Bay Company, whose name and fame are so familiar to all the early settlers of Oregon. .

At the same time, Parliament passed an act by which the hands of the con- solidated company were much strengenthed, and the peace and security of all persons greatly insured; but which became subsequently, in the joint occupancy of the country, a cause of offence to the American citizens, as we shall see hereafter. This act allowed the commissioning of Justices of the Peace in all the territories not belonging to the United States, nor already subject to grants. These justices were to execute and enforce the laws and decisions of the courts of Upper Canada; to take evidence, and commit and send to Canada for trial the guilty; and even in some cases, to hold courts themselves for the trial of criminal offences and misdemeanors not punishable with death, or of civil causes in which the amount at issue shoulu not exceed two hundred pounds.

Thus in 1824, the North-West Company, whose perfidy had occasioned such loss and mortification to the enterprising New York merchant, became itself a thing of the past, and a new rule began in the region west of the Rocky Moun- tains. The old fort at Astoria having been only so far rebuilt as to answer the needs of the hour, after due consideration, a site for head-quarters was selected about one hundred miles from the sea, near the mouth of the Wallamet River, though opposite to it. Three considerations went to make up the eligibility of the point selected. First, it was desirable, even necessary, to settle upon good agricultural lands, where the Company’s provisions could be raised by the Com- pany’s servants. Second, it was important that the spot chosen should be upon waters navigable for the Company’s vessels, or upon tide-water. Lastly, and not leastly, the Company had an eye to the boundary question between Great Britain and the United States; and believing that the end of the controversy would probably be to make the Columbia River the northern limit of the United States territory, a spot on the northern bank of that river was considered a zood point for their fort, and possible future city.

The site chosen by the North-West Company in 1821, for their new fort, combined all these advantages, and the further one of having been already commenced and named. Fort Vancouver became at once on the accession of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the metropolis of the northwest coast, the center of the fur trade, and the seat of government for that immense territory, over which roamed the hunters and trappers in the employ of that powerful corpo- ration. This post was situated on the edge of a beautiful sloping plain on the northern bank of the Columbia, about six miles above the upper mouth of the Wallamet. At this point the Columbia spreads to a great width, and is divided on the south side into bayous by long sandy islands, covered with oak, ash, and cotton-wood trees, making the noble river more attractive still by adding the charm of curiosity concerning its actual breadth to its natural and ordinary

magnit and av tains t

the sn

In tl acts of Astori: artille: enclos a basti pound ernor

beside:

Milita well a certair permit knew | The reside Yea about garder servan when Unitec shore, prise ¢ authot The the re: When eral y¢ ment. eligi he wi: ever i vente goods the q' upon exact were dow returt est in

DEFENCES AND IMPROVEMENTS. 25

This affair magnificence. Back of the fort the land rose gently, covered with forests of fir; rival com- | and away to the east swelled the foot-hills of the Cascade range, then the moun- and a com- i tains themselves, draped in filmy azure, and over-topped five thousand feet by icceeded in | the snowy cone of Mt. Hood.

red into the |% In this lonely situation grew up, with the dispatch which characterized the ll the early ; acts of the Company, a fort in most respects similar to the original one at

Astoria. It was not, however, thought necessary to make so great a display of of the con- a artillery as had served to keep in order the subjects of Comcomly. A stockade urity of all [939% enclosed a space about eight hundred feet long by five hundred broad, having

occupancy | a bastion at one corner, where were mounted three guns, while two eighteen

shall see | pounders and two swivels were planted in front of the residence of the Gov- Peace in all 93 ernor and chief factors. These commanded the main entrance to the fort, ‘tto grants. | besides which there were two other gates in front, and another in the rear. the courts Military precision was observed in the precautions taken against surprises, as da for trial | well as in all the rules of the place. ‘The gates were opened and closed at the trial of [9% certain hours, and were always guarded. No large number of Indians were

civilcauses | permitted within the enclosure at the same time, and every employee at the fort

5. 998 knew and performed his duty with punctuality.

sioned such The buildings within the stockade were the Governor’s and chief factors’ nme itself a | residences, stores, offices, work-shops, magazines, warehouses, &c.

ocky Moun- | Year by year, up to 1835 or ’40, improvements continued t go on in and

answer the |§ about the fort, the chief of which was the cultivation of the large farm and vas selected | 93% garden outside the enclosure, and the erection of a hospital building, large barns, met River, J servants’ houses, and a boat-house, all outside of the fort; so that at the period ligibility of "99% when the Columbia River was a romance and a mystery to the people of the »upon good (798% United States, quite a flourishing and beautiful vi'age adorned its northern yy the Com- (93% shore, and that too erected and sustained by the enemies of American enter- uid be upon || prise on soil commonly believed to belong to the United States: fair foes the Lastly, and | author firmly believes them to have been in those days, yet foes nevertheless. ween Great “| The system on which the Hudson’s Bay Company conducted its business was controversy the result of long experience, and was admirable for its method and its justice also, ‘the United When a young man entered its service as a clerk, his wages were small for sev- onsidered a | (3% eral years, increasing only as his ability and good conduct entitled him to advance- ment. When his salary had reached one hundred pounds sterling he became r new fort, eligible to a chief-tradership. as a partner in the concern, from which position en already © he was promoted to the rank of a chief factor. No important business was ecession of ever intrusted to an inexperienced person, a policy which almost certainly pre- , the center * vented any serious errors. A regular tariff was established on the Company’s ritory, over * goods, comprising all the articles used in their trade with the Indians; nor was

erful corpo- 7 the quality of their goods ever allowed to deteriorate, A price was also fixed lain on the | 2 upon furs according to their market value, and an Indian knowing this, knew

exactly what he could purchase, No bartering was allowed. When skins 1 is divided were offered for sale at the fort they were handed to the clerk through a win- k, ash, and | dow like a post-office delivery-window, and their value in the article desired, adding the (9 returned through the same aperture. All these regulations were of the high- d ordinary est importance to the good order, safety, and profit of the Company. The con-

outh of the

26 INTOXICATING LIQUORS.

fidence of the Indians was sure to be gained by the constancy and good faith always observed toward them, and the Company siehneunes thereby numerous and powerful allies in nearly all the tribes.

As soon as it was possible to make the change, the Indians were denied the use of intoxicating drinks, the appetite for which had early been introduced among them by coasting vessels, and even continued by the Pacific Fur Com- pany at Astoria. It would have been dangerous to have suddenly deprived them of the coveted stimulus; therefore the practice must be discontinued by many wise arts and devices. A public notice was given that the sale of it would be stopped, and the reasons for this prohibition explained to the Indians, Still, not to come into direct conflict with their appetites, a little was sold to the chiefs, now and then, by the clerks, who affected to be running the greatest risks in violating the order of the company. The strictest secrecy was enjoined on the lucky chief who, by the friendship of some «under-clerk, was enabled to smuggle off a bottle under his blanket. But the canning clerk had generally managed to get his “good friend” into a state so cleverly between drunk and sober, before he entrusted him with the precious bottle, that he was sure to betray himself. Leaving the shop with a mien -ven more erect than usual, with a gait affected in its majesty, and his blarxet tightened around him to conceal his secret treasure, the chuckling chief would start to cross the grounds within the fort. If he was a new customer, he was once or twice permitted to play his little game with the obliging clerk whose particular friend he was, and to escape detection.

But by-and-by, when the officers had seen the offence repeated more than once from their purposely contrived posts of observation, one of them would skillfully chance to intercept the guilty chief at whose comical endeavors to appear sober he was inwardly laughing, and charge him with being intoxicated. Wresting away the tightened blanket, the bottle appeared as evidence that could not be controverted, of the duplicity of the Indian and the unfaithfulness of the clerk, whose name was instantly demanded, that he might be properly punished. When the chief again visited the fort, his particular friend met him with a sorrowful countenance, reproaching him for having been the cause of his disgrace and loss. This reproach was the surest means of preventing an- other demand for rum, the Indian being too magnanimous, probably, to wish to get his friend into trouble; while the clerk affected to fear the consequences tvo much to be induced to take the risk another time. Thus by kind and care- ful means the traffic in liqvors was at length broken up, which otherwise would have ruined both Indian and trader.

To the company’s servants liquor was sold or allowed at certain times: to those on the sea-board, one half-pint two or three times a year, to be used as medicine,—not that it was always needed or used for this purpose, but too strict inquiry into its use was wisely avoided,—and for this the company demanded pay. ‘To their servants in the interior no ltquor was sold, but they were fur- nished as a gratuity with one pint on leaving rendezvous, and another on arriv- ing at winter quarters. By this management, it became impossible fov them to

dispose ately cc The in the was. country annuall They tl This ar military though ing, pic and thx came tc arrival among deprive most fa Thei Vancou Was a { came tl cross of the rive richly | a loud ers wit ness 0; gemme shrubb¢ where § seeme of colo brigad cheer y clamor Afte then td @ caro comma peril, ended. The stores laden @ part

pood faith numerous

enied the ntroduced Fur Com-

deprived tinued by

sale of it e Indians, as sold to e greatest s enjoined enabled to generally drunk and as sure to han usual, ind him to he grounds brmitted to e was, and

more than 1em would ideavors to ntoxicated, dence that faithfulness e properly 1d met him e. cause of enting an- to wish to nsequences 1 and care- wise would

1 times: to be used as ut. too strict - demanded y were fur- er on arriv- for them to

27

ARRIVAL OF ‘THE BRIGADE.”’

dispose of drink to the Indians; their small allowance being «lways immedi- ately consumed in a meeting or parting carouse.

The arrival of men from the interior at Fort Vancouver usually took place in the month of June, when the Columbia was high, and a stirring scene it was. The chief traders generally contrived their march through the upper country, their camps, and their rendezvous, so as to meet the Express which annually came to Vancouver from Canada and the Red River settlements. They then descended the Columbia together, and arrived in force at the Fort. This annual fleet went by the name of Brigade—a name which suggested a military spirit in the crews that their appearance failed to vindicate. Yet, though there was nothing warlike in the scene, there was much that was excit- ing, picturesque, and even brilliant ; for these couriers de bois, or wood-rangers, and the voyageurs, or boatmen, were the most foppish of mortals when they came to rendezvous. Then, too, there was an exaltation of spirits on their safe arrival at head-quarters, after their year’s toil and danger in wildernesses, among Indians and wild beasts, exposed to famine and accident, that almost deprived them of what is called “common sense,” and compelled them to the most fantastic excesses.

Their well-understood peculiarities did not make them the less welcome at Vancouver. When the cry was given—“the Brigade! the Brigade !”—there was a general rush to the river’s bank to witness the spectacle. In advance came the chief-trader's barge, with the company’s flag at the bow, and the cross of St. George at the stern: the fleet as many abreast as the turnings of the river allowed. With strong and skillful strokes the boatmen governed their richly laden boats, keeping them in line, and at the same time singing in chorus a loud and not unmusical hunting or boating song. The gay ribbons and feath- ers with which the singers were bedecked took nothing from the picturesque- ness of their appearance. The broad, full river, sparkling in the sunlight, gemmed with emerald islands, and bordered with a rich growth of flowering shrubbery ; the smiling plain surrounding the Fort; the distant mountains, where glittered the sentinel Mt. Hood, all came gracefully into the picture, and seemed to furnish a fitting back-ground and middle distance for the bright bit of coloring given by the moving life in the scene. As with a skillful sweep the brigade touched the bank, and the traders and men sprang on shore, the first cheer which had welcomed their appearance was heartily repeated, while a gay clamor of questions and answers followed.

After the business immediately incident to their arrival had been dispatched, then took place the regale of pork, flour, and spirits, which was sure to end in a carouse, during which blackened eyes and broken noses were not at all un- common ; but though blood was made to flow, life was never put seriously in peril, and the belligerent parties were the best of friends when the fracas was ended.

The business of exchange being completed in three or four weeks—the rich stores of peltries consigned to their places in the warehouse, and the boats re- laden with goods for the next year’s trade with the Indians in the upper country, @ parting carouse took place, and with another parade of feathers, ribbons, and

iW 28 OTHER YEARLY ARRIVALS,

ah other finery, the brigade departed with songs and cheers as it had come, but x Carefu i} with probably heavier hearts. always It would be a stern morality indeed which could look upon the excesses of always this peculiar class as it would upon the same excesses committed by men inthe = Fort \ i enjoyment of all the comforts and pleasures of civilized life. For them, during [@ been 1 WAR | most, of the year, was only an out-door life of toil, watchfulness, peril, and | long it wl isolation. When they arrived a‘ the rendezvous, for the brief period of their : Indian Wet stay they were allowed perfect license because nothing else would content | preven i them. Although at head-quarters they were still in the wilderness, thousands § Wh Hi of miles from civilization, with no chance of such recreations as meninthe @& Vanco | continual enjoyment of life’s sweetest pleasures would naturally seek. For | Such v them there was only one method of seeking and finding temporary oblivion of wholes AR the accustomed hardship ; and whatever may be the strict rendering of man’s | sisted, Hi duty as an immortal being, we cannot help being somewhat lenient at times to | ing to. i his errors as a mortal. : duct b i After the departure of the boats, there was another arrival at the Fort, of | brough trappers from the Snake River county. Previous to 1832, such were the dan- | ; the riv gers of the fur trade in this region, that only the most experienced traders 4 and ev: i were suffered to conduct a party through it; and even they were frequently 3 food. Hi attacked, and sometimes sustained serious losses of men and animals. Subse- : their h | He quently, however, the Hudson’s Bay Company obtained such an influence over |#_ Compa even these hostile tribes as to make it safe for a party of no more than twoof ~ chieftai their men to travel through this much dreaded region. 4 and pr There was another important arrival at Fort Vancouver, usually in mid- 1% well as H summer. This was the Company’s supply ship from London. In the possible | It m: | event of a vessel being lost, one cargo was always kept on store at Vancouver; | ner in but for which wise regulation much trouble and disaster might have resulted, | by the iy especially in the early days of the establishment. Occasionally a vessel foun- ae (Was cas i i dered at sea or was lost on the bar of the Columbia; but these losses did not 4 seeme | interrupt the regular transaction of business. The arrival of a ship from Lon- they h q don was the occasion of great bustle and excitement also. She brought not 4 she wa only goods for the posts throughout the district of the Columbia, but letters, dians By) papers, private parcels, and all that seemed of so much value to the little to the Bi isolated world at the Fort. ee hy the aly A company conducting its business with such method and regularity as has : force W i been described, was certain of success. Yet some credit also must attach to 7 which | certain individuals in its service, whose faithfulness, zeal, and ability in carry- 4 ; the re ing out its designs, contributed largely to its welfare. Such a man was atthe | charge i head of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s affairs in the large and important dis- desis } trict west of the Rocky Mountains. The Company never had in its service a While HY j more efficient man than Gov. John McLaughlin, more-commonly called Dr, ye W*° nb i McLaughlin. 2 men fi H ' To the discipline, at once severe and just, which Dr. McLaughlin maintained | well u Hi ii in his district, was due the safety and prosperity of the company he sérved, (ge cipien il and the servants of that company generally ; as well as, at a later period, of | ny | the emigration which followed the hunter and trapper into the wilds of Oregon. : men f¢ ee : 1

‘ome, but

m, during eril, and

of man’s t times to

le Fort, of the dan- d traders frequently s. Subse-

ly in mid- e possible Tancouver ; e resulted, essel foun- ses did not y from Lon- rought not but letters, » the little

rity as has + attach to ty in carry- was at the vortant dis- ts service a

called Dr.

maintained

he served, * period, of of Oregon.

PUNISHMENT OF INDIAN OFFENDERS. 29

Careful as were all the officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, they could not always avoid conflicts with the Indians; nor was their kindness and justice always sufliciently appreciated to prevent the outbreak of savage instincts. Fort Vancouver had been threatened in an early day; a vessel or two had been lost in which the Indians were suspected to have been implicated; at long intervals a trader was murdered in the interior; or more frequently, Indian insolence put to the test both the wisdom and courage of the officers to prevent an outbreak.

When murders and robberies were committed, it was the custom at Fort Vancouver to send a strong party to demand the offenders from their tribe ; Such was the well known power and influence of the Company, and such the wholesome fear of the “ King George men,” that this demand was never re- sisted, and if the murderer could be found he was given up to be hung accord- ing to “ King George” laws. They were almost equally impelled to good con- duct by the state of dependence on the company into which they had been brought. Once they had subsisted and clothed themselves from the spoils of the rivers and forest ; since they had tasted of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they could no more return to skins for raiment, nor to game alone for food. Blankets and flour, beads, guns, and ammunition had become dear to their hearts: for all these things they must love and obey the Hudson’s Bay Company. Another fine stroke of policy in the Company was to destroy the chieftain-ships in the various tribes; thus weakening them by dividing them and preventing dangerous coalitions of the leading spirits: for in savage as well as civilized life, the many are governed by the few.

It may not be uninteresting in this place to give a few anecdotes of the man- ner in which conflicts with the Indians were prevented, or offences punished by the Hudson's Bay Company. In the year 1828 the ship William and Ann was cast away just inside the bar of the Columbia, under circumstances which seemed to direct suspicion to the Indians in that. vicinity. Whether or not they had attacked the ship, not a soul was saved from the wreck to tell how she was lost. On hearing that the ship had gone to pieces, and that the In- dians had appropriated a portion of her cargo, Dr. McLaughlin sent a message to the chiefs, demanding restitution of the stolen goods. Nothing was returned by the messenger except one or two worthless articles. Immediately an armed force was sent to the scene of the robbery with a fresh demand for the goods, which the chiefs, in view of their spoils, thought proper to resist by firing upon the reclaiming party. But they were not unprepared; and a swivel was dis- charged to let the savages know what they might expect in the way of fire- arms. ‘The argument was conclusive, the Indians fleeing into the woods, While making search for the goods, a portion of which were found, a chief was observed skulking near, and cocking his gun; on which motion one of the men fired, and he fell. This prompt action, the justice of which the Indians well understood, and the intimidating power of the swivel, put an end to the in- cipient war. Care was then taken to impress upon their minds that they must not expect to profit by the disasters of vessels, nor be tempted to murder white men for the sake of plunder. The Wilkam and Ann was supposed to have got

80 INDIAN STRATEGY.

aground, when the savages seeing her situation, boarded her and murdered the crew for the cargo which they knew her to contain. Yet as there were no posi- tive proofs, only such measures were taken as would deter them from a similar attempt in future. That the lesson was not lost, was proven two years later, when the Jsabella, from London, struck on the bar, her crew deserting her. In this instance no attempt was made to meddle with the vessel’s cargo; and as the crew made their way tc Vancouver, the goods were nearly all saved.

In a former voyage of the William and Ann to the Columbia River, she had been sent on an exploring expedition to the Gulf of Georgia to discover the mouth of Frazier’s River, having on board a crew of forty men. Whenever the ship came to anchor, two sentries were kept constantly on deck to guard against any surprise or misconduct on the part of the Indians; so adroit, how- ever, were they in the light-fingered art, that every one of the eight cannon with which the ship was armed was robbed of its ammunition, as was discovered on leaving the river! Such incidents as these served to impress the minds of the Company’s officers and servants with the necessity of vigilance in their deal- ings with the savages.

Not all their vigilance could at all times avail to prevent mischief. When Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, was on a visit to Vancouver in 1829, he was made aware of this truism. The Governor was on his return to Canada by way of the Red River Settlement, and had reached the Dalles of the Columbia with his party. In making the portage at this place, all the party except Dr. Tod gave their guns into the charge of two men to prevent their being stolen by the Indians, who crowded about, and whose well-known bad character made great care needful. All went well, no attempt to seize either guns or other property being made until at the end of the port- age the boats had been reloaded. As the party were about to re-embark, a simultaneous rush was made by the Indians who had dogged their steps, to get possession of the boats. Dr. Tod raised his gun immediately, aiming at the head chief, who, not liking the prospect of so speedy dissolution, ordered his followers to desist, and the party were suffered to escape. It was soon after discovered that every gun belonging to the party in the boat had been wet, excepting the one carried by Dr. Tod; and to the fact that the Doctor did carry his gun, all the others owed their lives.

The great desire of the Indians for guns and ammunition led to many strata-

gems which were dangerous to the possessors of the coveted articles. Much

more dangerous would it have been to have allowed them a free supply of these things; nor could an Indian purchase from the Company more than a stated supply, which was to be used, not for the purposes of war, but to keep himself in game.

Dr. McLaughlin was himself once quite near falling into a trap of the Indians, so cunningly laid as to puzzle even him. This was a report brought to him by a deputation of Columbia River Indians, stating the startling fact that the fort at Nesqually had been attacked, and every inmate slaughtered. To this horrible story, told with every appearance of truth, the Doctor listened with incredulity mingled with apprehension. The Indians were closely questioned

and cross-

sumed a ve come mess from their positive as Dr. MeLat qually to i detachmen design of t couver, aft ing the for trading-po head-quart were comp An inci Walla, anc The hero « Hudson’s | was one di that had b cutting it McKinlay him to res ber was | prudence, left the fo! not being clerk whe there wer of anythir out in a p the purpo to the stu with a po gling for midst and it ready tq They kne purpose, braves ag a moment} what had not his ¢ exerted b for the o

courage. ’

ered the no posi- similar

she had over the henever to guard oit, how- cannon

two men d whose attempt the port- mbark, a ps, to get ng at the lered his oon after been wet, did carry

ny strata- —

s. Much y of these 1 a stated p himself

: Indians, ht to him 5 that the

To this ned with uestioned

A HERO. 81

and cross-questioned, but did not conflict in their testimony. The matter as- sumed a very painful aspect. Not to be deceived, the Doctor had the unwel- come messengers committed to custody while he could bring other witnesses from their tribe. But they were prepared for this, and the whole tribe were as positive as those who brought the tale. Confounded by this cloud of witnesses, Dr. McLaughlin had almost determined upon sending an armed force to Nes- qually to inquire into the matter, and if necessary, punish the Indians, when a detachment of men arrived from that post, and the plot was exposed! The design of the Indians had been simply to cause a division of the force at Van- couver, after which they believed they might succeed in capturing and plunder. ing the fort. Had they truly been successful in this undertaking, every other trading-post in the country would have been destroyed. But so long as the head-quarters of the Company remained secure and powerful, the other stations were comparatively safe.

An incident which has been several times related, occurred at fort Walla- Walla, and shows how narrow escapes the interior traders sometimes made, The hero of this anecdote was Mr. McKinlay, one of the most estimable of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s officers, in charge of the fort just named. An Indian was one day lounging about the tort, and seeing some timbers lying in a heap that had been squared for pack saddles, helped himself to one and commenced cutting it down into a whip handle for his own use. To this procedure Mr. McKinlay’s clerk demurred, first telling the Indian its use, and then ordering him to resign the piece of timber. The Indian insolently replied that the tim- ber was his, and he should take it. At this the clerk, with more temper than prudence, struck the offender, knocking him over, soon after which the savage: left the fort with sullen looks boding vengeance. The next day Mr. McKinlay, not being informed of what had taken place, was in a room of the fort with his clerk when a considerable party of Indians began dropping quietly in until there were fifteen or twenty of them inside the building. The first intimation of anything wrong McKinlay received was when he observed the clerk pointed out in a particular manner by one of the party. He instantly comprehended the purpose of his visitors, and with that quickness of thought which is habitual to the student of savage nature, he rushed into the store room and returned with a powder keg, flint and steei. By this time the unlucky clerk was strug- gling for his life with his vindictive foes. Putting down the powder in their midst and knocking out the head of the keg with a blow, McKinlay stcod over it ready to strike fire with his flint and steel. The savages paused aghast. They knew the nature of the “perilous stuff,” and also understood the trader’s purpose. “Come,” said he with a clear, determined voice, “you are twenty braves against us two: now touch him if you dare, and see who dies first ” In a moment the fort was cleared, and McKinlay was left to inquire the cause of what had so nearly been a tragedy. It is hardly a subject of doubt whether or: not his clerk got a scolding, Soon after, such was the powerful influence exerted by these gentlemen, the chief of the tribe flogged the pilfering Indian for the offence, and McKinlay became a great brave, a “big heart” for his

courage, 3

$2 THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANIES.

It was indeed necessary to have courage, patience, and prudence in dealing with the Indians. These the Hudson’s Bay officers generally possessed. Per- haps the most irascible of them all in the Columbia District, was their chief, Dr. McLaughlin; but such was his goodness and justice that even the savages recognized it, and he was hyas tyee, or great chief, in all respects to them. Being on one occasion very much annoyed by the pertinacity of an Indian who was continually demanding pay for some stones with which the Doctor was having a vessel ballasted; he seized one of some size, and thrusting it in the Indian’s mouth, cried out in a furious manner, “pay, pay! if the stones are yours, take them and eat them, you rascal! Pay, pay! the devil! the devil!” upon which explosion of wrath, the native owner of the soil thought it prudent to withdraw his immediate claims.

There was more, however, in the Doctor’s action than mere indulgence of wrath. He understood perfectly that the savage values only what he can eat and wear, and that as he could not put the stones to either of these uses, his demand for pay was an impudent one.

Enough has been said to give the reader an insight into Indian character, to prepare his mind for events which are to follow, to convey an idea of the influ- ence of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and to show on what it was founded. The American Fur Companies will now be sketched, and their mode of dealing with the Indians contrasted with that of the British Company. The compari- son will not be favorable; but should any unfairness be suspected, a reference to Mr. Irving’s Bonneville, will show that the worthy Captain was forced to witness against his own countrymen in his narrative of his hunting and trading

adventures in the Rocky Mountains.

The dissolution of the Pacific Fur Company, the refusal of the United States Government to protect Mr. Astor in a second attempt to carry on a commerce with the Indians ¥:9s1 0% the Rocky Mountains, and the occupation of that country by British traders, aad the effect to deter individual enterprise from again attempting to establish commerce on the Pacific coast. The people waited for the Government to take some steps toward the encouragement of a trans-continental trade; the Government beholding the lion (British) in the way, waited for the expiration of the convention of 1818, in the Micawber-like hope that something would “turn up” to settle the question of territorial sov- ereignty. The war of 1812 had been begun on the part of Great Britain, to secure the great western territories to herself for the profits of the fur trade, almost solely, Failing in this, she had been compelled, by the treaty of Ghent, to restore to the United States all the places and forts captured during that war. Yet the forts and trading posts in the west remained practically in the possession of Great Britain; for her traders and fur companies still roamed the country, excluding American trade, and inciting (so the frontiers-men believed), the Indians to acts of blood and horror.

Congress being importuned by the people of the West, finally, in 1815, passed an act expelling British traders from American territory east of the Rocky

Mountains, Following the passage of iuis act the hunters and trappers of the

~

old North began tor upper Mis provinces « and after t At leng time engag push a trac the Platte . and merch: water, Tl in the Rock discovered | eled by tra and emigra having first afterwards : try about t very rich in nished abun Louis in the In 1824, ] Green Rive another sm; shores of thi about one |] amount of fi period of th of furs werd Ashley’s inte at the head Jackson, Su The custd since 1824, y ing ground, on the head there were o ing of the the same reg as to which largest amo petition in tl] dred Americ the Hudson dispose of hi not indentu

aling

Per- chief, vages them. 1 who r was in the ‘3 are avil |” ‘cudent

nce of an eat es, his

‘ter, to » influ- unded, lealing ym pari- ference reed to trading

| States mmerce of that se from people bnt of a in the ner-like ial sov- itain, to r trade, Ghent, ng that ly in the ned the lieved),

b, passed } Rocky 3 of the

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY. 83

old North American Company, at the head of which Mr, Astor still remained, began to range the country about the head waters of the Mississippi and the upper Missouri. Also a few American traders had ventured into the northern provinces of Mexico, previous to the overthrow of the Spanish Government; and after that event, a thriving trade grew up between St. Louis and Santa Fe.

At length, in 1823, Mr. W. H. Ashley, of St. Louis, a merchant for a long time engaged in the fur trade on the Missouri and its tributaries, determined to push a trading party up to or beyond the Rocky Mountains. Following up the Platte River, Mr. Ashley proceeded at the head of a large party with horses and merchandise, as far as the northern branch of the Platte, called the Sweet- water, This he explored to its source, situated in that remarkable depression in the Rocky Mountains, known as the South Pass—the same which Fremont discovered twenty years later, during which twenty years it was annually trav- eled by trading parties, and just prior to Fremont’s discovery, by missionaries and emigrants destined to Oregon. To Mr. Ashley also belongs the credit of having first explored the head-waters of the Colorado, called the Green River, afterwards a favorite rendezvous of the American Fur Companies. The coun- try about the South Pass proved to be an entirely new hunting ground, and very rich in furs, as here many rivers take their rise, whose head-waters fur- nished abundant beaver. Here Mr. Ashley spent the summer, returning to St. Louis in the fall with a valuable collection of skins.

In 1824, Mr. Ashley repeated the expedition, extending it this time beyond Green River as far as Great Salt Lake, near which to the south he discovered another smaller lake, which he named Lake Ashley, after himself. On the shores of this lake he built a fort for trading with the Indians, and leaving in it about one hundred men, returned to St. Louis the second time with a large amount of furs. During the time the fort was oceupied by Mr. Ashley’s men, a period of three years, more than one hundred and eighty thousand dollars worth of furs were collected and sent to St. Louis. In 1827, the fort, and all Mr. Ashley’s interest in the business, was sold to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, at the head of which were Jedediah Smith, William Sublette, and David Jackson, Sublette being the leading spirit in the Company.

The custom of these enterprising traders, who had been in the mountains since 1824, was to divide their force, each taking his command to a good hunt- ing ground, and returning at stated times to rendezvous, generaily appointed on the head-waters of Green River. Frequently the other fur companies, (for there were other companies formed on the heels of Ashley’s enterprise,) learn-

Z ing of the place appointed for the yearly rendezvous, brought their goods to

the same resort, when an intense rivalry was exhibited by the several traders as to which company should soonest dispose of its goods, getting, of course, the largest amount of furs from the trappers and Indians. So great was the com- petition in the years between 1826 and 1829, when there were about six hun- dred American trappers in and about the Rocky Mountains, besides those of the Hudson’s Bay Company, that it was death for a man of one company to dispose of his furs to a rival association. Even a “free trapper ”—that is, one not indentured, but hunting upon certain terms of agreement concerning the

nmin OE ir ie

84 AYLACK ON SMITH’S PARTY.

price of his furs and the cost of his outfit, only, dared not sell to any other company than the one he had agreed with.

Jedediah Smith, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, during their first year in the mountains, took a party of five trappers into Oregon, being the first American, trader or other, to cross into that country since the breaking up of Mr. Astor’s establishment. He trapped on the head-waters of the Snake River until autumn, when he fell in with a party of Hudson’s Bay trappers, and going with them to their post in the Flathead country, wintered there.

Again, in 1826, Smith, Subiette, and Jackson, brought out a large number of men to trap in the Snake River country, and entered into direct competition with the Hudson’s Bay Company, whom they opposed with hardly a degree more of zeal than they competed with rival American traders: this one extra degree being inspired Ly a “ spirit of ’76” toward enything British.

After the Rocky Mountain Fur Company had extended its business by the purchase of Mr. Ashley’s interest, the partners determined to push their enter- prise to the Pacific coast, regardless of the opposition they were likely to en- counter from the Hudson’s Bay traders. Accordingly, in the spring of 1827, the Company was divided up into three parte, +o be led separately, by different routes, into the Indian Territory, nearer the ocean.

Smith’s route was from the Platte River, southwards to Santa Fé, thence to the bay of San Francisco, and thence along the coast to the Columbia River. Hlis party were successiul, and had arrived in the autumn of the following year at the Umpqua River, about two hundred miles south of the Columbia, in safety. Here one of those sudden reverses to which the “mountain-man” is liable at any moment, overtook him. His party at this time consisted of thir- teen men, with their horses, and a collection of furs valued at twenty thousand dollars. Arrived at the Umpqua, they encamped for the night on its southern bank, unaware that the natives in this vicinity (the Shastas) were more fierce and treacherous’ than the indolent tribes of California, for whom, probably, they had a great contempt. All went well until the following morning, the Indians hanging about the camp, but apparently friendly. Smith had just breakfasted, and was occupied in looking for a fording-place for the animals, being on a raft, and having with him a little Englishman and one Indian. When they were in the middle of the river the Indian snatched Smith’s gun and jumped into the water. At the same instzat a yell from the camp, which was in sight, proclaimed that it was attacked. Quick as thought Smith snatched the Englishman’s gun, and shot dead the Indian in the river.

To return to the camp was certain death. Already several of his men had fallen ; overpowered by numbers he could not hope that any would escape, and nothing was left him but flight. He succeeded in getting to the opposite shore with his raft before he could be intercepted, and fled with his companion, on foot and with only one gun, and no provisions, to the mountains that border the river. With great good fortuae they were enabled to pass through the re- maining two hundred miles of their journey without accident, though not with- out suffering, and reach Fort Vancouver in a destitute condition, where they were kindly cared for.

4

oy

Of the fended h cover of who nilo powerful When th or half-bt four red- tremity, |

Dr. Mi w.th evel winter. of the di was done can rival; among th be upon George § spending following to advan McLaugh

On Sul merchanc tracted al Snake Ri L. Meek, meeting length de

was one at length the Snal camp, W tain-mer comrade of symp their ca and it ig they ing sorrowft Influ

hands

draw fir

waters q

mounta’

Colorac

ousand

uthern » fierce »bably, ng, the id just nimals, [ndian. 3 gun which

Smith

on had ye, and 2 shore ion, on border the re- it; with- re they

JOSEPH L. MEEK. 85

Of the men left in camp, only two escaped. One man named Black de- fended himself until he saw an opportunity for flight, when he escaped to the cover of the woods, and finally to a friendly tribe farther north, near the coast, who piloted him to Vancouver. The remaining man was one Turner, of a very powerful frame, who was doing camp duty as cook on this eventful morning. When the Indians rushed upon him he defended himself with a huge firebrand, or half-burnt popiar stick, with which he laid about him like Sampson, killing four red-skins before he saw a chance of escape. Singularly, for one in his ex- tremity, he did escape, and also arrived at Vancouver that winter.

Dr. McLaughlin received the unlucky traler and his three surviving men with every mark and expression of kinIness, and entertained them through the winter. Not only this, but he dispatched a strong, armed party to the scene of the disaster to punish the Indians and recover the stolen goods ; all of which was done at his own expense, both as an act of friendship toward his Ameri- can rivals, and as necessary to the discipiine which they everywhere maintained among the Indians. Should this offence go unpunished, the next attack might be upon one of his own parties ~oing annually down into California. Sir George Simpson, the Governo: of the Hudson’s Bay Company, chanced to be spending the winter at Vancouver. He offered to send Smith to London the following summer, in the Company’s vessel, where he might dispose of his furs to advantage ; but Smith declined this offer, and finally sold his furs to Dr. McLaughlia, and returned in the spring to the Rocky Mountains.

On Sublette’s return from St. Louis, in the summer of 1829, with men and merchandise for the year’s trade, he became uneasy on account of Smith’s pro- tracted absence. According to a previous plan, he took a large party into the Snake River country to hunt. Among the recruits from St. Louis was Joseph L. Meek, the subject of ihe narrative following this chapter. Sublette not meeting with Smith’s party on its way from the Columbia, as he still hoped, at length detailed a party to look for him on the head-waters of the Snake. Meck was one of the men sent to look for the missing partner, whom he discovered at leneth in Pierre’s Hole, a deep valley in the mountains, from which issues the Snake River in many living streams. Smith returned with the men to camp, where the tale of his disasters was received after the manner of moun- tain-men, simply declaring with a momentarily sobered countenance, that their comrade has not been “in luck ;” with which bricf and equivocal expression of sympathy the subject is dismissed. 'To dwell on the dangers incident to their calling would be to half disarm themselves of their necessary courage ; and it is only when they are gathered about the fire in their winter camp, that they indulge in tales of wild adventure and “ hair-breadth scapes,” or make sorrowful refarence to a comrade lost.

Influenced by the hospitable treatment which Smith had received at the hands of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the partners now determined to with- draw from competition with them in the Snake country, and to trap pon the waters of the Colorado, in the neighborhood of their fort. But “luck,” the mountain-man’s Providenve, seemed to have deserted Smith. In crossing the Colorado River with a considerable collection of skins, Le was again attacked

36 WYETH’S EXPEDITIONS. by Indians, and only escaped by losing all his property. He then went to St. e Paes ack Louis for a supply of merchandise, and fitted out a trading party for Santa F¢é ; grea etl but on his way to that place was ki!.ed in an encounter with the savages. When Turner, the man who so valiantly wielded the firebrand on the Umpqua acquired River, several years later met with a similar adventure on the Rogue River, in With hier Southern Oregon, and was the means of saving the lives of his party by his at Wane courage, strength, and alertness. He finally, when trapping had become un- A profitable, retired upon.a form in the Wallamet Valley, as did many other the Unit mountain-men who survived the dangers of their perilous trade. another After the death of Smith, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company continued its for the ( operations under the command of Bridger, Fitzpatrick, and Milton Sublette, ao iand brother of William. In the spring of 1830 they received abu: . vo hundred dhatidize recruits, and with litile variation kept up their number of 1): |. .our hundred & this exp

men for a period of eight or ten years longer, ov "until the beaver were hunted out of every nook and corner of the Rocky Mountains.

Previous to 1835, there were in and about the Rocky Mountiins, beside the “ American” and “ Rocky Mountain” companies, the St. Louis Company, and eight or ten “lone traders.” Among these latter were William Sublette, Robert Campbell, J. O. Pattie, Mr. Pilcher, Col. Charles Bent, St. Vrain, i let William Bent, Mr. Gant, and Mr. Blackwell. All these companies and (Rm

s large ¢

the marl Wyet!

* of the I men in 1

tracers more or less frequently penetrated into the countries of New Mexico, Pa, ‘ Old Mexico, Sonora, and California; returning sometimes through the moun- nee? tain regions of the latter State, by the Humboldt River to the head-waters of hn war the Colurado. Seldom, in all their journeys, did they intrude on that portion He had of the Indian ‘Territory lying within three hundred miles of Fort Vancouver, by the 1 or which forms the area of the present State of Oregon. i astablie Up to 1832, the for trade in the West had been chiefly conducted hb) mer prise le chants from the frontier cities, especially by those of St. Louis. ‘i: |. i Soule bs “North American” was the only exception. But in the spring of ti..2 a Muct Captain Bonneville, an United States officer on furlough, led a company oi > (igh ape hundred men, with a train of wagons, horses auc mules, with merchandise, into Din. deinis of the trapping grounds of the Rocky Mountains. His wagons were the first that | ally, he had ever crossed the summit of these mountains, though William Sublette had, : trader, two or three years previous, brought wagons as far as the valley of the Wind = §& wished River, on the east side of the range. Captain Bonneville remained nearly dnd thi three ears in the hunting and trapping grounds, taking parties of men into aa the Colorado, Humboldt, and Sacramento valleys; °:1 be realized no profits tamper from his expedition, being opposed and competed ...’ oy both Friish and = The American traders of larger experience. i oar Gai But Captain Bonneville’s venture was a fortunate one compared 4\\’> “hot the Sin of Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth of Massachusetts, who also crossed the continent in The 1832, with the view of establishing a trade on the Columbia River. Mr. Wyeth ee brought with him a small party of men, ail ine«serienced in frontier or moun- Park tain life, and destined for a salmon fis!ery on ths Commbia. He had reached Rav Independence, Missouri, the last station before pice zing into the wilderness, and be gat]

found himself somewhat at a loss how to proceed, ‘uniil, at this juncture, he was bach @

portion couver,

ny oi 2 se, into rst that te had, > Wind nearly nn into profits sh and

*y hat went In Wyeth moun- ached 38, and ne was

DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE. 37

overtaken by the party of William Sublette, from St. Louis to the Rocky Moun- tains, with whom he travelled in company to the rendezvous at Pierre’s Hole.

When Wyeth arrived at the Columbia River, after tarrying until he had acquired some mountain experiences, he found that his vessel, which was loaded with merc handise for the Columbia River trade, had not arrived. He remained at Vancouver through the winter, the guest of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and either having learned or surmised that his vessel was wrecked, returned to the United States in the following year. Not discouraged, however, he made another venture in 1834, despatching the ship May Dacre, Captain Lamtert, for the Columbia River, with another cargo of Indian goods, travcling himself overland with a party of two hundred men, and a considerable quantity of mer- chandise which he expested to sell to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. In this expectation he w.s defeated by William Sublette, who had also brought out « large assortment of goods for the Indian trade, and had sold out, supplying the market, before Mr. Wyeth arrived.

Wyeth then built a post, named Fort Hall, on Snake River, at the junction of the Portneuf, where he stored his goods, and having detached most of' his men in trapping parties, proceeded to the Columbia River to meet the May Dacre. He reached the Columbia about the same ‘ime with his vessel, and proceeded at once to erect a salmon fishery. To forward this purpose he built a post, called Fort William, on the lower end of Wappatoo (now known as Sauvie’s) Island, near where the Lower Wallamet falls into the Colwnbia. But for various reasons he found the business on which he had,entered anprofitable. He had much trouble with the Indians, his men were killed or drowned, so that by the time he had half a cargo of fish, he was ready to abandon the effort to establish a commerce with the Oregon Indians, and was satisfied that no enter- prise less stupendous and powerful than that of the Hudson’s Bay Company could be long sustained in that country.

Much complaint was subsequently made by Americans, chiefly Missionaries, of the conduct of that company in not allowing Mr. Wyeth to purchase beaver skins of the Indians, but Mr. Wyeth himself made no such complaint. Pergon- ally, he was treated with wavwrying kindnes., courtesy, and hospitality. Asa trader, they would not periait him to undessell them. In truth, they no domht.. wished him away; because competition ‘vould soon ruin the business of eith and they liked not to have the Indiaxs taught to expect more than their furs were worih, nor to have the Indians’ confidence in themselves destroyed or tampered with.

The Hudson’s Bay Company were hardly so unfriendly to him as the Ameri- can companies; since to the former he was enabled to sell his goods and fort on the Snake River, before he returned to the United States, which he did in 1835.

The sale of Fort Hall to the Hudson’s Bay Company was a finishing blow at the American fur trade in the Rocky Mountains, which after two or three years of constantly declining profits, was entirely abandoned.

Something of the dangers incident to the life of the hunter and trapper may be g gathered from the following statements, made by various parties who have been engaged in it. In 1808, a Missouri Company engaged in fur hunting on

a

88 CAUSES OF THE INDIANS’ HOSTILITY.

the three forks of the river Missouri, were attacked by Blackfeet, losing twenty- license. J]

HH) seven men, and being compelled to abandon the country. In 1823, Mr. Ashley upon their tl Mi was attacked on the same river by the Arickaras, and had twenty-six men of danger Wi killed. About the same time the Missouri company lost seven men, and fifteen cumstance ri iH thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise on the Yellowstone River. A few years : Indian co

} | previous, Major Henry lost, on the Missouri River, six men and fifty horses. “ shoot an j i! In the sketch given of Smith’s trading adventures is shown how uncertain were had intern

et | life and property at a later period. Of the two hundred men whom Wyeth On the : HEE ©? into the Indian country, only about forty were alive at the end of three ; of them I Wee There was, indeed, a constant state of warfare between the Indians whom nes a aui. ..e@ whites, wherever the American Companies hunted, in which great trapped f at numbers of both lost their lives. Add to this cause of decimation the perils suavity of itt from wild beasts, famine, cold, and all manner of accidents, and the trapper’s life. Bes’

a chance of life was about one in three. regarded

Ht Of the causes which have produced the enmity of the Indians, there are to the wil

e ute about as many. It was found to be the case almost universally, that on the ings with itty first visit of the whites the natives were friendly, after their natural fears had prudence. been allayed. But by degrees their cupidity was excited to possess themselves Notwit

ae of the much coveted dress, arms, and goods of their visitors. As they had hostility «

i \\ little or nothing to offer in exchange, which the white man considered an equiva- Such we: Hk lent, they took the only method remaining of gratifying their desire of possess- ches. O ion, and stcie the coveted articles which they could not purchase. When they for any 1 Pe learned. that the white men punished theft, they murdered to preveni the pun- hostility.

p E isument. Often, also, they had wrongs of their own to avenge. White men ; It hapy

( did not always regard their property-rights. They were guilty of infamous , parativel:

; conduct toward Indian women. What one party of whites told them was true, implacab

; another plainly contradicted, leaving the lie between them. They were over- party wa

i" ; bearing toward the Indians on their own soil, exciting to irrepressible hostility stated, th

if the natural jealousy of the inferior toward the superior race, where both are Very f

; 4 free, which characterizes all people. In short, the Indians were not without to the U1

: i their grievances; and from barbarous ignorance and wrong on one side, and scattered ¢ > ae intelligent wrong-doing on the other, together with the misunderstandings likely the abar _ | 4 to arise between two entirely distinct races, grew constantly a thousand abuses, : actual se i : a which resulted in a deadly enmity between the two. : citizens ¢

: \ For several reasons this evil existed to a greater degree among the American

; traders and trappers than among the British. The American trapper was not, i like the Hudson’s Bay employees, bred to the jusiness. Oftener than any other way he was some wild youth who, after an escapade in the society of his native place, sought safety from reproach or punishment in the wilderncs-. Or he was some disappointed man who, with feelings embittered towards his fellows, i preferred the seclusion of the forest and mountain. Many were of a class dis- ah reputable everywhere, who gladly embraced a life not subject-to social laws. A few were brave, independent, and hardy spirits, who delighted in the hard-

ships and wild adventures their calling made necessary. All these men, the

el best with the worst, were subject to no will but their own; and all experience

4 aa goes to prove that a life of perfect liberty is apt to degenerate into a life of

HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE. 89

license. Even their own lives, and those of their companions, when it depended upon their own prudence, were but lightly considered. The constant presence of danger made them reckless. It is easy to conceive how, under these cir- cumstances, the natives and the foreigners grew to hate each other, in the Indian country; especially after the Americans came to the determination to “shoot an Indian at sight,” unless he belonged to some tribe with whom they had intermarried, after the manner of the trappers.

On the other hand, the employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company were many of them half-breeds or full-blooded Indians of the Iroquois nation, towards whom nearly all the tribes were kindly disposed. Even the Frenchmen who trapped for this company were well liked by the Indians on account of their suavity of manner, and the ease with which they adapted themselves to savage life. Besides most of them had native wives and half-breed children, and were regarded as relatives. They were trained to the life of a trapper, were subject to the will of the Company, and were generally just and equitable in their deal- ings with the Indians, according to that company’s will, and the dictates of prudence. . Here was a wide difference.

Notwithstanding this, there were many dangers to be encountered. The hostility of some of the tribes could never be overcome; nor has it ever abated, Such were the Crows, the Blackfeet, the Cheyennes, the Apaches, the Caman- ches. Only a superior force could compel the friendly offices of these tribes for any white man, and then their treachery w«.3 ae dangerous as their open hostility.

It happened, therefore, that although the Hudson’s Bay Company lost com- paratively few men by the hands of the Indians, they sometimes found them implacable foes in common with the American trappers; and frequently one party was very glad of the others’ assistance. Altogether, as has before been stated, the loss of life was immense in proportion to the number employed.

Very few of those who had speit years in the Rocky Mountains ever returned to the United States. With their Indian wives and half-breed children, they scattered themselves throughout Oregon, until when, a number of years after the abandonment of the fur trade, Congress donated large tracts of land to actual settlers, they laid claim, each to his selected portion, and became active citizens of their adopted state.

As he was a D part of tion wh massa ;” bondsm school possessi to a spl he unw

which t “the m who, in became

fighter:

Whe wearlet into th ville, K they di sion ot heedle: and us selves. ‘‘ hone out hi arduov

EARLY LIFE OF JOSEPH L. MEEK. 41

CHAPTER I.

As has been stated in the Introduction, Joseph L. Meek was a native of Washington Co., Va. Born in the early part of the present century, and brought up on a planta- tion where the utmost liberty was accorded to the “young massa ;” preferring out-door sports with the youthful bondsmen of his father, to study with the bald-headed schoolmaster who furnished him the alphabet on a paddle; possessing an exhaustless tand of waggish humor, united to a spirit of adventure and remarkable personal strength, he unwittingly furnished in himself the very material of which the heroes of the wilderness were made. Virginia, “the mother of Presidents,” has furnished many such men, who, in the early days of the now populous Western States, became the hardy frontiers-men, or the fearless Indian fighters who were the bone and sinew of the land.

When young Joe was about eighteen years of age, he wearied of the monotony of plantation life, and jumping into the wagon of a neighbor who was going to Louis. ville, Ky., started out in life for himself. He ‘reckoned they did not grieve for him at home;” at which conclu- sion others besides Joe naturally arrive on hearing cf his heedless disposition, and utter contempt for the ordinary and useful employments to which other men apply them- selves. This truly Virginian and chivalric contempt for ‘honest labor” has continued to distinguish him through- out his eventful career, even while performing the most arduous duties of the life he had chosen.

HE ENLISTS IN A FUR COMPANY.

Joe probably believed that should his father grieve for him, his step-mother would be able to console him; this step-mother, though a pious and good woman, not being one of the lad’s favorites, as might easily be conjectured. It was such thoughts as these that kept up his resolution to seek the far west. In the autumn of 1828 he arrived in St. Louis, and the following spring he fell in with Mr. Wn. Sublette, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, who was making his annual visit to that frontier town to pur- chase merchandise for the Indian country, and pick up re- cruits for the fur-hunting service. To this experienced leader he offered himself.

RECRTTS WA NED RY

——

TL

\\ AN i KN

{ \ uy

THE ENLISTMENT.

‘How old are you?” asked Sublette.

‘A little past eighteen.”

‘And you want to go to the Rocky Mountains ?” Yes,”

tb Yo You'll | “Tf his full their b: bb Co didate “that Only b bc W) marche The) ney—! ing th the m were 1 thing « ances. On

about

ON THE MARCH—CAMP LIFE. 43

“You don’t know what you are talking about, boy. You'll be killed before you get half way there.”

“If I do, I reckon I can die!” said Joe, with a flash of his full dark eyes, and throwing back his shoulders to show their breadth.

“Come,” exclaimed the trader, eyeing the youthful can- didate with admiration, and perhaps a touch of pity also ; “that is the game spirit. I think you'll do, after all. Only be prudent, and keep your wits about you.”

‘Where else should they be?” laughed Joe, as he marched off, feeling an inch or two taller than before.

Then commenced the business of preparing for the jour- ney—making acquaintance with the other recruits—enjoy- ing the novelty of owning an outfit, being initiated into the mysteries of camp duty by the few old hunters who were to accompany the expedition, and learning some- thing of their swagger and disregard of civilized observ- ances.

On the 17th of March, 1829, the company, numbering about sixty men, left St. Louis, and proceeded on horses and mules, with pack-horses for the goods, up through the state of Missouri. Camp-life commenced at the start; and this being the season of the year when the weather 1s most disagreeable, its romance rapidly melted away with the snow and sleet which varied the sharp spring wind and the frequent cold rains. The recruits went through all the little mishaps incident to the business and to their inexperience, such as involuntary somersaults over the heads of their mules, bloody noses, bruises, dusty faces, bad colds, accidents in fording streams,—yet withal no very serious hurts or hindrances. Rough weather and se- vere exercise gave them wolfish appetites, which sweet- ened the coarse camp-fare and amateur cooking.

Getting up at four o’clock of a March morning to kindle

44 A WARNING VOICE.

fires and attend to the animals was not the most delect- able duty that our labor-despising young recruit could have chosen; but if he repented of the venture he had made nobody was the wiser. Sleeping of stormy nights in corn-cribs or under sheds, could not be by any stretch of imagination converted into a highly romantic or heroic mode of lodging one’s self. The squalid manner of living of the few inhabitants of Missouri at this period, gave a forlorn aspect to the country which is lacking in the wil- derness itself;—a thought which sometimes occurred to Joe like a hope for the future. Mountain-fare he began to think must be better than the boiled corn and pork of

the Missourians. Antelope and buffalo meat were more:

suitable viands for a hunter than coon and opossum. Thus those very duties which seemed undignified, and those hardships without danger or glory, which marked the beginning of his career made him ambitious of a more free and hazardous life on the plains and in the moun- tains.

Among the recruits was a young man not far from Joe’s own age, named Robert Newell, from Ohio. One morn- ing, when the company was encamped near Boonville, the two young men were out looking for their mules, when they encountered an elderly woman returning from the milking yard with a gourd of milk. Newell made some remark on the style of vessel she carried, when she broke out in a sharp voice,—

‘Young chap, I'll bet you run off from your mother! Who'll mend them holes in the elbow of your coat? You're a purty looking chap to go to the mountains, among them Injuns! They'll kill you. You'd better go back home!”

Considering that these irontier people knew what In- dian fighting was, this was no doubt sound and disinter-

ested a sharply. not in t course b home, for the t on, with habitant they ca mitting At th gin, and the pac On Sun in whic many change the rifl This we pany co yet wor took th River. Often the par’ Many n or won pany w indeed sied; | Newell. The from n kansas

LAST VESTIGE OF CIVILIZATION, 45

ested advice, notwithstanding it was given somewhat sharply. And so the young men felt it to be; but it was not in the nature of either of them to turn back froma course because there was danger in it. The thought of home, and somebody to mend their coats, was, however, for the time strongly presented. But the company moved on, with undiminished numbers, stared at by the few in- habitants, and having their own little adventures, until they came to Independence, the last station before com- mitting themselves to the wilderness.

At this place, which contained a dwelling-hcuse, cotton- gin, and grocery, the camp tarried for a few days to adjust the packs, and prepare for a final start across. the plains, On Sunday the settlers got together for a shooting-match, in which some of the travelers joined, without winning | many laurels. Coon-skins, deer-skins, and bees-wax changed hands freely among the settlers, whose skill with the rifle was greater than their hoard of silver dollars. This was the last vestige of civilization which the com- pany could hope to behold for years; and rude as it was, yet won from them many a parting look as they finally took their way across the plains toward the Arkansas River.

Often on this part of the march a dead silence fell. upon the party, which remained unbroken for miles o* the way. Many no doubt were regretting homes by them abandoned, or wondering dreamily how many and whom of that com- pany would ever see the Missouri country again. Many indeed went the way the woman of the gourd had prophe- sied; but not the hero of this story, nor his comrade Newell.

The route of Captain Sublette led across the country from near the mouth of the Kansas River to the River Ar- kansas; thence to the South Fork of the Platte; thence

SR 2 =e shearer eS

46 CAMP SURPRISED BY INDIANS.

on to the North Fork of that River, to where Ft. Laramie now stands; thence up the North Fork to the Sweetwater, and thence across in a still northwesterly direction to the head of Wind River. , The manner of camp-travel is now so well known through the writings of Irving, and still more from the great numbers which have crossed the plains since Astoria and Bonneville were written, that it would be superfluous here to enter upon a particular description of a train on that journey. A strict half-military discipline had to be maintained, regular duties assigned to each person, pre- cautions taken against the loss of animals e ‘er by stray- ing or Indian stampeding, etc. Some of men were appointed as camp-keepers, who had all these things to

look after, besides standing guard. A few were se-

lected as hunters, and these were free to come and go, as their calling required. None but the most experienced were chosen for hunters, on a march; therefore our re- cruit could not aspire to that dignity yet.

The first adventure the company met with worthy of mention after leaving Independence, was in crossing the country between the Arkansas and the Platte. Here the camp Was surprised one morning by a band of Indians a thousand strong, that came sweeping down upon them in such warlike style that even Captain Sublette was fain to believe it his last battle. Upon the open prairie there is no such thing as flight, nor any cover under which to con- ceal a party even for a few moments. It is always hght or die, if the assailants are in the humor for war.

Happily on this occasion the band proved to be more peaceably disposed than their appearance indicated, being the warriors of several tribes—the Sioux, Arapahoes, Kio- was, and Cheyennes, who had been holding a council to consider probably what mischief they could do to some

other tri at full s their w one wh heart a1 a thous spears, § But jj that the hody ; drawn 1 ing and lette tut fire.” of the li saw his

ready t

weapon lowed a ent, Suk dispatcl ble bet their ne these tr an escay tional f allow it who shx movem spired present train. cost hit

A FIRM FRONT——A PARLEY. 47

other tribes, The spectacle they presented as they came at full speed on horseback, armed, painted, brandishing their weapons, and yelling in first-rate Indian style, was one which might well strike with a palsy the stoutest heart and arm. What were a band of sixty men against a thousand armed warriors in full fighting trim, with spears, shields, bows, battle-axes, and not a few guns? But it is the rule of the mountain-men to fight—and that there is a chance for life until the breath is out of the body; therefore Captain Sublette had his little force drawn up in line of battle. On came the savages, whoop- ing and swinging their weapons above their heads. Sub- lette turned to his men. ‘*When you hear my shot, then fire.” Still they came on, until within about fifty paces of the line of waiting men. Sublette turned his head, and saw his command with their guns all up “to their faces ready to fire, then raised his own gun. Just at this mo- ment the principal chief sprang off his horse and laid his weapon on the ground, making signs of peace. Then fol- lowed a talk, and after the giving of a considerable pres- ent, Sublette was allowed to depart. This he did with all - dispatch, the company putting as much distance as possi- ble between themselves and their visitors before making their next camp. Considering the warlike character of these tribes and their superior numbers, it was as narrow an escape on the part of the company as it was an excep- tional freak of generosity on the part of the savages to. allow it. But Indians have all a great respect for a man who shows no fear; and it was most probably the warlike movement of Captain Sublette and his party which in- spired a willingness on the part of the chief to accept a present, when he had the power to have taken the whole train. Besides, according to Indian logic, the present cost him nothing, and it might cost him many warriors to 4

48 THE SUMMER RENDEZVOUS.

capture the train. Had there been the least wavering on Sublette’s part, or fear in the countenances of his men, the end of the affair would have been different. This-adven- ture was a grand initiation of the raw recruits, giving them both an insight into savage modes of attack, and an opportunity to test their own nerve.

The company proceeded without accident, and arrived, about the first of July, at the rendezvous, which was ap- pointed for this year on the Popo Agie, one of the streams which form the head-waters of Bighorn River.

New, indeed, young Joe had an opportunity of seeing something of the life upon which he had entered. As customary, when the traveling partner arrived at rendez- vous with the year’s merchandise, there was a meeting of all the partners, if they were within reach of the appomted place. On this occasion Smith was absent on his tour through California and Western Oregon, as has been related in the prefatory chapter. Jackson, the resident partner, and commander for the previous year, was not yet in; and Sublette had just arrived with the goods from St. Louis.

All the different hunting and trapping parties and In- dian allies were gathered together, so that the camp con- tained several hundred men, with their riding and pack- horses. Nor were Indian women and children wanting to give variety and an appearance of domesticity to the scene.

The Summer rendezvous was always chosen in some valley where there was grass for the auimals, and game for the camp. ‘The plains along the Popo Agie, besides furnishing these necessary bounties, were bordered by pic- turesque mountain ranges, whose naked bluffs of red sand- stone glowed in the morning and evening sun with a mel- lowness of coloring charming to the eye of the Virginia

AHL

LAM MAS

“SDONZA ENA SE

MNS oo

ZH L

t

tour been dent } not oods

ZCAMMWAS

| In- con- ack- ig to the

“SDONAZLA ENA EY

ome ame ides pic- and- mel- ‘inia

oY

recruit wild f white ¢ ing am the B motley murmu ited an cou'd 1 But All we full an genera very ci year's hundre The greatly regula s = trap fe . | quired 4 |

res

the pa his con load th do any vice he horses, outfit, | a; dollars if al Ther aa 4 nished_

and wl

* Lead from the |

oY

AN ENCHANTING PICTURE. 49

recruit. The waving grass of the plain, variegated with wild flowers; the clear summer heavens flecked with white clouds that threw soft shedows in passing; the graz- ing animals scattered about the meadows; the lodges of the Booshways,* around which clustered the camp in motley garb and brilliant coloring; gay laughter, and the murmur of soit Indian voices, all made up a most spir- ited and enchanting picture, in which the eye of an artist cou'd not fail to delight.

But as the goods were opened the scene grew livelier. All were eager to-purchase, most of the trappers to the full amount of their year’s wages; and some of them, generally free trappers, went in debt to the company to a very considerable amount, after spending the value of a

year’s labor, privation, and danger, at the rate of several hundred dollars in a single day

The difference between ed and a free trapper was greatly in favor of the latter. The hired trapper was regularly indentured, and bound svt only to hunt and

trap for his employers, but also to perform any duty re- quired of him in camp. The Booshway, or the trad, or the partisan, (leader of the detachment,) had him under his command, to make him take charge of, wad and un- load the horses, stand guard, cook, hunt fuel, or, in short, do any and every duty. In return for this toils .e ser- vice he received an outfit of traps, arms and «: \.unition, horses, end whatever his service required. Besides his outfit, he received no more than three or four hundred dollars a year as wages. —

There was also a class of free trappers, who were fur- nished with their outfit by the company they trapped for, and who were obliged to agree to a certain stipulated

* Leaders or chiefs—corrupted from the French of Bourge<is, and borrowed from the Canadians.

50 THE FREE TRAPPER’S INDIAN WIFE.

price for their furs before the hunt commenced. But the genuine free trapper regarded himself as greatly the su- perior of either of the foregoing classes. He had his own horses and accoutrements, arms and ammunition. He took what route he thought fit, hunted and trapped when and where he chose; traded with the Indians; sold his furs to whoever offered highest for them; dressed flaunt- ingly, and generally had an Indian wife and half-breed children. They prided themselves on their hardihood and courage; even on their recklessness and profligacy. Kach claimed to own the best horse; to have had the wildest adventures; to have made the most nazrow es- capes; to have killed the greatest number of bears and In- dians; to be the greatest favorite with the Indian belles, the greatest consumer of alcohol, and to have the most money to spend, 7. e. the largest credit on the books of the company. If his hearers did not believe him, he was ready to run a race with him, to beat him at ‘‘old sledge,” or to fight, if fighting was preferred,—ready to prove what he affirmed in any manner the company pleased.

If the free trapper had a wife, she moved with the camp to which he attached himself, being furnished with a fine horse, caparisoned in the gayest and costliest man- ner. Her dress was of the finest goods the market af- forded, and was suitably ornamented with beads, ribbons, fringes, and feathers. Her rark, too, as a free trapper’s wife, gave her consequence not only in her own eyes, but in those of her tribe, and protected her from that slavish drudgery to which as the wife of an Indian hunter or war- rior she would have been subject. The cnly authority which the free trapper acknowledged was that of his In- dian spouse, who generally ruled in the lodge, Lowever her lord blustered outside.

One of the free trapper’s special delights was to take in

hand boastf pil’s c escape in the schola: fine te ranks. held t been ¢ mer |. rousal, noise : this fit ing ex with t was tl tions \ thems influer feeling

ra sort o!

to Me he sai But tl pecial young life. If first ¢ found felt. tc ness,

and fi

WILD CAROUSALS. 51

hand the raw recruits, to gorge their wonder with his boastful tales, and to amuse himself with shocking his pu- pil’s civilized notions of propriety. Joe Meek did not escape this sort of “breaking in;” and if it should appear in the course of this narrative that he proved an apt scholar, it will but illustrate a truth—that high spirits and fine talents tempt the tempter to win them over to his ranks. But Joe was not won over all at once. He be- held the beautiful spectacle of the encampment as it has been described, giving life and enchantment to the sum. mer landscape, changed into a scene of the wildest ca- rousal, going from bad to .worse, until from harmless noise and bluster it came to fighting and loss of life. At this first rendezvous he was shocked to behold the revolt- ing exhibition of four trappers playing at e game of cards with the dead body of a comrade for a card-table! Such was the indifference to all the natural and ordinary emo- tions which these veterans of the wilderness cultivated in themselves, and inculcated in those who came under their influence. Scenes like this at first had the effect to bring feelings of home-sickness, while it inspired by contrast a sort of penitential and religious feeling also. According to Meek’s account of those early days in the mountains, he said some secret prayers, and shed some secret tears.. But this did not last long. The force of example, and es- pecially the force of ridicule, is very potent with the young; nor are we quite free from their influence later in life.

If the gambling, swearing, drinking, and fighting at first astonished and alarmed the unsophisticated Joe, he found at the same time something to admire, and that he felt. to be congenial with his own disposition, in the fearless- ness, the contempt of sordid gain, the hearty merriment and frolicsome abandon of the better portion of the men

52 ROUTINE OF CAMP LIFE.

about him. A spirit of emulation arose in him to become as brave as the bravest, as hardy as the hardiest; and as gay as the gayest, even while his feelings still revo'ted at many things which his heroic models were openly guilty of. If at any time in the future course of this narrative, Joe is discovered to have taken leave of his early scruples, the reader will considerately remember the associations by which he was surrounded for years, until the memory of the pious teachings of his childhood was nearly, if not quite, obliterated. To ‘nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice,” should be the frame of mind in which both the writer and reader of Joe’s adventures should strive to maintain himself.

Before our hero is ushered upon the active scenes of a trapper’s life, it may be well to present to the reader a sort of guide to camp life, in order that he may be able to understand some of its technicalities, as they may be casually mentioned hereafter.

When the large camp is on the march, it has a leader, generally one of the Booshways, who rides in advance, or at the head of the column. Near him isa led mule, chosen for its qualities of speed and trustworthiness, on which are packed two small trunks that balance each other like panniers, and which contain the company’s books, papers, and articles of agreement with the men. Then follow the pack animals, each one bearing three packs—one on each side, and one on top—so nicely adjusted as not to slip in traveling. These are in charge of certain men called camp-keepers, who have each three of these to look after. The trappers and hunters have two horses, or mules, one to ride, and one to pack their traps. If there are women and children in the train, all are mounted. Where the country is safe, the caravan moves in single file, often stretching out for half or three-quarters of a mile. At

the end Booshwi whose b of the

On ar the lead is to be they cor up the to appol ine the. are the darkness eted by so tied The met so many is not a is meat, quiet in during 1 gives th swered |

In the rise, acc ond mar leve, le is the ec cries ou turn out the lodg not befc some di the neis

CAMPING AT NIGHT. 53

the end of the column rides the second man, or “little Booshway,” as the men call him; usually a hired officer, whose business it is to look after the order and condition of the whole camp.

On arriving at a suitable spot to make the night camp, the leader stops. dismounts in the particular space which is to be devoted to himself in its midst. The others, as they come up, forma circle; the “second man” bringing up the rear, to be sure all are there. He then proceeds to appoint every man a place in the circle, and to exam- ine the. horses’ backs to see if any are sore. The horses are then turned out, under a guard, to graze; but before darkness comes on are placed inside the ring, and _pick- eted by a stake driven in the earth, or with two feet so tied together as to prevent easy or free locomotion. The men are divided into messes: so many trappers and so many ¢ keepers to a mess. The business of eating is not a very elaborate one, where the sole article of diet is meat, either dried or roasted. By a certain hour all is quiet in camp, and only the guard is awake. At times during the night, the leader, or the officer of the guard, gives the guard a challenge—‘‘all’s well!” which is an- swered by ‘‘all’s well!”

In the morning at daylight, or sometimes not till sun- rise, according to the safe or dangerous iocality, the sec- ond man comes forth from his lodge and cries in French, “ Teve, leve, leve, leve, leve/” fifteen or twenty times, which is the command to rise. In about five minutes more he cries out again, in French, ‘leche lego, leche lego!” or turn out, turn out; at which command all come out from the lodges, and the horses are turned loose to feed; but not before a horseman has galloped all round the camp at some distance, and discovered every thing to be safe in the neighborhood. Again, when the horses have been

54 DIVIDING THE GAME.

sufficiently fed, under the eye of a guard, they are driven up, the packs replaced, the train mounted, and once more it moves off, in the order before mentioned.

In a settled camp, as in winter, there are other regula- tions. The leader and the second man occupy. the same relative positions; but other minor regulations are ob- served. The duty of a trapper, for instance, in the trap- ping season, is only to trap, and take care of his own horses. When he comes in at night, he takes his beaver to the clerk, and the nuinber is counted off, and placed to his credit. Not he, but the camp-keepers, take off the skins and dry them. In the winter camp there are six persons to a lodge: four trappers and two camp-keepers ; therefore the trappers are well waited upon, their only duty being to hunt, in turns, for the camp. When a piece of game is brought in,—a deer, an antelope, or buffalo meat,—it is thrown down on the heap which accumulates in front of the Booshway’s lodge; and the second. man stands by and cuts it up, or has it cut up for him. The first man who chances to come along, is ordered to stand still and turn his back to the pile of game, while the ‘little Booshway ” lays hold of a piece that has been cut off, and asks in a loud voice—‘ who will have this? ”— and the man answering for him, says, ‘the Booshway,” or perhaps “number six,” or ‘“‘ number twenty ”’—mean- ing certain messes ; and the number is called to come and take their meat. In this blind way the meat is portioned off; strongly reminding one of the game of ‘button, button, who has the button?” In this chance game of the meat, the Booshway fares no better than his men; unless, in rare instances, the little Booshway should indi- cate to the man who calls off, that a certain choice piece is designed for the mess of the leader or the second man.

A gun is never allowed to be fired in camp under any

provocs frequen woe to other d finds a cleanin, or was offende man an “Ves “Tw dollars keeper. lars in In t which | make n oughly wetting moccas and sh upon | trappir in his waken to rise pain. per is breech which Such also, o cipline cruit. W

SMOKED MOCCASINS. 55

provocation, short. of an Indian raid; but the guns are frequently inspected, to see if they are in order; and woe to the careless camp-keeper who neglects this or any other duty. When the second man comes around, and finds a piece of work imperfectly done, whether it be cleaning the firearms, making a hair rope, or a skin lodge, or washing a horse’s back, he does not threaten the offender with personal chastisement, but calls up another man and asks him, ‘‘ Can you do this properly ?”

“Yes, sir.”

“T will give you ten dollars to doit;” and the ten dollars is set down to the account of the inefficient camp- keeper. But he does not risk forfeiting another ten dol- lars in the same manner.

In the spring, when the camp breaks up, the skins which have been used all winter for lodges are cut up to make moccasins: because from their having been thor- oughly smoked by the lodge fires they do not shrink in wetting, like raw skins. This is an important quality in a moccasin, as a trapper is almost constantly in the water, and should not his moccasins be smoked they will close upon his feet, in drying, like a vice. Sometimes after trapping all day, the tired and soaked trapper lies down in his blankets at night, still wet. But by-and-by he is wakened by the pinching of his moccasins, and is obliged to rise and seek the water again to relieve himself of the pain. For the same reason, when spring comes, the trap- per is forced to cut off the lower half of his buckskin breeches, and piece them down with blanket leggins, which he wears all through the trapping season.

Such were a few of the peculiarities, and the hardships also, of a life in the Rocky Mouutains. If the camp dis- cipline, and the dangers and hardships to which a raw re- cruit, was exposed, failed to harden him to the service in

56 A ‘TRIFLING FELLOW.”

one year, he was rejected as a “trifling fellow,” and sent back to the settlement the next year. It was not prob- able, therefore, that the mountain-man often was detected in complaining at his lot. If he was miserable, he was laughed at; and he soon learned to laugh at his own mis- eries, as well as to laugh back at his comrades.

THE | month. Indian { were all s was adju who shot by the co dividing pointed « trappers

and ‘co others we This y siderable brother traders, along thd party, an to trap o Bay Co

hitherto

THE CAMP IN MOTION. 57

CHAPTER II.

Tuer business of the rendezvous occupied about e month. In this period the men, Indian allies, and other Indian parties who usually visited the camp at this time, were all supplied with goods. The remaining merchandise was adjusted for the convenience of the different traders who should be sent out through all the country traversed by the company. Sublette then decided upon their routes, dividing up his forces into camps, which took each its ap- pointed course, detaching as it proceeded small parties of trappers to all the hunting grounds in the neighborhood. These smaller camps were ordered to meet at certain times and places, to report progress, collect and cache their furs, and ‘‘count noses.” If certain parties failed to arrive, others were sent out in search for them.

This year, in the absence of Smith and Jackson, a con- siderable party was dispatched, under Milton Sublette, brother of the Captain, and two other free trappers and traders, Frapp and Jervais, to traverse the country down along the Bighorn River. Captain Sublette took a large party, among whom was Joe Meek, across the mountains to trap on the Snake River, in opposition to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Rocky Mountain Fur Company had hitherto avoided this country, except when Smith had once crossed to the head-waters of the Snake with a small party of five trappers. But Smith and Sublette had determined to oppose themselves to the British traders

58 THE LOST FOUND—BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

who occupied so large an extent of territory presumed to be American; and it had been agreed between them to meet this year on Snake River on Sublette’s return from St. Louis, and Smith’s from his California tour. What befel Smith’s party before reaching the Columbia, has already been related; also his reception by the TH idson’s Bay Company, and his departure from Vancouver.

Sublette led his company up the valley of the Wind River, across the mountains, and on to the very head-waters of the Lewis or Snake River. Here he fell in with Jack- son, in the valley of Lewis Lake, called Jackson’s Ifole, and remained on the borders of this lake for some time, waiting for Smith, whose non-appearance began to create a good deal of uneasiness. At length runners weve dis- patched in all directions looking for the lost Booshway.

The detachment to which Meek was assigned had the pleasure and honor of discovering the hiding place of the missing partner, which was in Pierre’s Hole, a mountain valley about thirty miles long and of half that width, which subsequently was much frequented by the camps of the various fur companies. He was found trapping and exploring, in company with four men only, one of whom was Black, who with him escaped from the Umpqua In- dians, as before related.

Notwithstanding the excitement and elation attendant upon the success of his party, Meek found time to admire the magnificent scenery of the valley, which is bounded on two sides by broken and picturesque ranges, and over- looked by that magnificent group of mountains, called the Three Tetons, towering to a height of fourteen thou- sand feet. This emerald cup set in its rim of amethystine mountains, was so pleasant a sight to the mountain-men that camp was moved to it without delay, where it re- mained until some time in September, recruiting its ani- mals and preparing for the fall hunt.

Here ¢

and rejo

long-abse who had fellow! ¢ ile mem no more, lost com tioned. manner § hody unc keep his by his « wait for blow of pery hei ing cold. peril, ye Death s ance of men, wa self defe surest 1 To keep not rem comrade propriet In you warmth of your the hea be three track : camp fil

ntain ridth, ps of and vhom ia In-

idant Imire nded over- alled thou- ‘stine -men t re- 3 ani-

REJOICINGS IN CAMP, 59

Here again the trappers indulged in their noisy sports and rejoicing, ostensibly on account of the return of the long-absent Booshway. ‘There was little said of the men who had perished in that unfortunate expedition. ‘Poor fellow! out of luck;” was the usual burial rite which ithe memory of a dead comrade received. So much and no more. They could indulge in noisy rejoicings over a lost comrade restored; but the dead one was not men- tioned. Nor was this apparently heartless and heedless manner so irrational or unfeeling as it seemed. Lvery- body understood one thing in the mountains—that he must keep his life by his own courage and valor, or at the least by his own prudence. Unseen dangers always lay in wait for him. The arrow or tomahawk of the Indian, the blow of the grizzly bear, the mis-step on the dizzy or slip- pery height, the rush of boiling and foaming floods, freez- ing cold, famine—these were the most common forms of peril, yet did not embrace even then all the forms in which Death sought? his victims in the wilderness. The avoid- ance of painful reminders, such as the loss of a party of men, was a natural instinct, involving also a principle of self defence—since to have weak hearts would be the surest road to defeat in the next dangerous encounter. To keep their hearts ‘ big,” they must be gay, they must not remember the miserable fate of many of their one-time comrades. Think of that, stern moralist and martinet in propriety! Your fur collar hangs in the gas-lighted hall. In your luxurious dressing gown and slippers, by the warmth of a glowing grate, you muse upon the depravity of your fellow men. But imagine yourself, if you can, in the heart of an interminable wilderness. Let the snow be three or four feet deep, game scarce, Indians on your track: escaped from these dangers, once more beside a camp fire, with a roast of buffalo meat on a stick before it,

60 THE TRAPPER’S PHILOSOPHY. ti ; re The a and several of your companions similarly escaped, and b Wiseute : Me ; | Mount . destined for the same chances to-morrow, around you. Do : He : : | rendere : you faney you should give much time to lamenting the less 9m They at j ley ar lucky fellows who were left behind frozen, starved, or (ay ey : teristics

scalped? Not you. You would be fortifying yourself %

against to-morrow, when the same terrors might lay in

in wait for you. Jedediah Smith was a pious man; one of | the few that ever resided in the Rocky Mountains, and led

they wi of then

ie i) - aband of reckless trappers; but he did not turn back Bae: | Bia to his camp when he saw it attacked on the Umpqua, fg z i nor stop to lament his murdered men. The law of self. @ ce = | preservation is strong in the wilderness. ‘Keep up your § bien : heart to-day, for to-morrow you may aie,” is the motto — ane ae of the trapper. a up a lo

In the conference which tock place between Smith and Sublette. the former insisted that on sccount of the kind

to a See

. fight n services of the Hudson’s Bay Company toward himself ia age i aoe F = quene } . and the three other survivors of his party, they should fg A ot A Ga ’ . : x ey ¢ at withdraw their trappers and traders from thé western side ef ax ; ek on shor \ of the mountains for the present, so as not to have them. Ry : ae ; he pcos " d f met wi i come in conflict with those of that company. To this [iM ewan WY wa ; 4 fi Y | proposition Sublette rehictantly consented, and orders , pee y were issued for moving once more to the east, before go- Be ois ‘ ‘} : ‘ . P 3° ; aha ‘ S, &£ _— ing into winter camp, which was appointed for the Wind Their | ‘ . - 33 i i > , River Valley. ; “ae ; = and su z ithe In the meantime Joe Meek was sent out with a party to at 7 \ ar , ' : Say sin caus . Pee take his first hunt for beaver asa hired trapper. The ; _— : ei ae if the ¢ ti detachment to which he belonged traveled down Pierre’s + en ae Le , they be “ a fork, the stream which watered the valley of Pierre’s Hole, § ite a Be haat +s ; | ‘| to its junction w.th Lewis’ and Henry’s torks where they | Ay > ‘ ; . me Hasty payee ke bows a , unite to form the great Snake River. While trapping in >) on ; ‘ cae eg made a i) * this locality the party became aware of the vicinity of a - i ; ; ’ a ae pany. a roving band of Biackfeet, and in consequence, redoubled & ae: Z ' their usval precautions while on the march. it GC. eae , %

and

Do e less d, or rself ay in 1e of d led back ua, self- your 10tto

and kind iself

ould

side

hem -

this ‘ders

> 20- Vind

Ly to The rre’3 iole, they gin of a bled

“THE DEVIL’S OWN.” 61

The Blackfeet were the tribe most dreaded in the Rocky Mountains, and went by the name of “ Bugs Boys,” which rendered into good English, meant ‘the devii’s own.” They are now so well known that to mention their charac- teristics seems like repeating a ‘‘ twice-told tale;” but as they will appear so often in this narrative, Irving’s account of them as he had it from Bonneville when he was fresh from the mountains, will, after all, not be out of place. “These savages,” he says, ‘are the most dangerous ban- ditti of the mountains, and the inveterate foe of the trap- per. They are Ishmaelites of the first order, always with weapon in hand, ready for action. The young braves of the tribe, whe are destitute of property, go to war for booty; to gain horses, and acquire the means of setting up a lodge, supporting a family, and entitling themselves toaseat in the public councils. The veteran warriors fight merely for the love of the thing, and the conse- quence which success gives them among their people. They are capital horsemen, and are generally well mounted on short, stout horses, similar to the prairie ponies, to be met with in St. Louis. When ona war party, however, they go on foot, to enable them to skulk through the country with greater secrecy; to keep in thickets and ra- vines, and use more adroit subterfuges and stratagems. Taeir mode of warfare is entirely by ambush, surprise, and sudden assaults in the night time. If they succeed in causing a panic, they dash forward with headlong fury ; if the enemy is on the alert, and shows no signs of fear, they become wary and deliberate in their movements.

Some of them are armed in the primitive style, with bows and arrows; the greater part have American fusees, made after the fashion of those of the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany. These they procure at the trading post of the American Fur Company, on Maria’s River, where they

62 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BLACKFEET.

traffic their peltries for arms, ammunition, clothing, and trinkets. They are extremely fond of spirituoys liquors and tobacco, for which nuisances they are ready to exchange, not merely their guns and horses, but even their wives and daughters. As they are a treacherous race, and have cherished a lurking hostility to the whites, ever since one of their tribe was killed by Mr. Lewis, the associate of reneral Clarke, in his exploring expedition across the Rocky Mountains, the American Fur Company is obliged constantly to keep at their post a garrison of sixty or sev- enty men.”

“Under the general name of Blackfeet are compre- hended several tribes, such as the Surcies, the Peagans, the Blood Indians, and the Gros Ventres of the Prairies, who roam about the Southern branches of the Yellow- stone and Missouri Rivers, together with some other tribes further north. The bands infesting the Wind River Mountains, and the country adjacent, at the time of which we are treating, were Gros Ventres of the Pravries, which are not to be confounded with the Gros Ventres of the Missour?, who keep about the lower part of that river, and are friendly to the white men.”

“This hostile band keeps about the head-waters of the Missouri, and numbers about nine hundred fighting men. Once in the course of two or three years they abandon their usual abodes and make a visit to the Arapahoes of the Arkansas. Their rowte lies either through the Crow country, and the Black Hills, or through the lands of the Nez Perces, Flatheads, Bannacks, and Shoshonies. As they enjoy their favorite state of hostility with all these tribes, their expeditions are prone to be conducted in the most lawless and predatery style; nor do they hesitate to extend their maraudings to any party of white men they meet with, following their trail, hovering about their

camps, ° traders, quences and the the Roc period ¢ changed to their

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BLACKFEET. 63

camps, waylaying and dogging the caravans of the free traders, and murdering the solitary trapper. The conse- quences are frequent and desperate fights between them and the mountaineers, in the wild defiles and fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains.” Such were the Blackfeet at the period of which we are writing; nor has their character changed at this day, as many of the Montana miners know to their cost.

64 HOW THE BEAVER IS TAKEN.

CHAPTER III.

1830. SvBLErre’s camp commenced moving back to the east side of the Rocky Mountains in October. Its course was up Henry’s fork of the Snake River, through the North Pass to Missouri Lake, in which rises the Madison fork of tne Missouri River. The beaver were very plenty on Henry’s fork, and our young trapper had great success in making up his packs; having learned the art of setting his traps very readily. The manner in which the trapper takes his game is as follows :—

He has an ordinary steel trap weighing five pounds, at- tached to a chain five feet long, with a swivel and ring at the end, which plays round what is called the float, a dry stick of wood, about six feet long. The trapper wades out into the stream, which is shallow, and cuts with his knife a bed for the trap, five or six inches under water. He then takes the float out the whole length of the chain in the direction of the centre of the stream, and drives it iuto the mud, so fast that the beaver cannot draw it out; at the same time tying the other end by a thong to the bank. A small stick or twig, dipped in musk or castor,

serves for bait, and is placed so as to hang directly above the trap, which is now set. The trapper then throws wa- ter plentifully over the adjacent bank to conceal any foot prints or scent by which the beaver would be alarmed, and going to some distance wades out of the stream. In setting a trap, several things are to be observea with care :—first, that the trap is firmly fixed, and the proper

distan shore ondly. the lit with | its we traps | ing in sing’ tr and ch for tra bait, ce reachir placed if low, The and col the wa observe gacity ciently to kee of an o pose of howeve quired is fellec water, § the pr then pr about t the dan by meat when t

the Irse rth : of

on $ in ting yper

5 at- ig at dry ades his ater. hain res it out ; bh the hstor, Ibove 5 Wwa- foot med,

with roper

WONDERFUL INSTINCT OF THE BEAVER, 65

distance from the bank—for if the beaver can get on shore with the trap, he will cut off his foot to escape: sec- ondly, that the float is of dry wood, for should it not be, the little animal will cut it off at a stroke, and swimming with the trap to the middle of the dam, be drowned by its weight. In the latter case, when the hunter visits his traps in the morning, he is under the necessity of plung- ing into the water and swimming out to dive for the mis- sing trap, and his game. Should the morning be frosty and chill, as it very frequently is in the mountains, diving for traps is not the pleasantest exercise. In placing the bait, care must be taken to fix it just where the beaver in reaching it will spring the trap. If the bait-stick be placed high, the hind foot of the beaver will be caught: if low, his fore foot.

The manner in which the beavers make their dam, and construct their lodge, has long been reckoned among the wonders of the animal creation; and while some observers have claimed for the little creature more sa- gacity than it really possesses, its instinct is still sufh- ciently wonderful. It is certainly true that it knows how to keep the water of a stream to a certain level, by means of an obstruction; and that it cuts down trees for the pur- pose of backing up the water by adam. It is not true, however, that it can always fell a tree in the direction re- quired for this purpose. The timber about a beaver dam is felled in all directions; but as trees that grow near the water, generally lean towards it, the tree, when cut, takes the proper direction by gravitation alone. The beaver then proceeds to cut up the fallen timber into lengths of about three feet, and to convey them to the spot where the dam is to be situated, securing them in their places by means of mud and stones. The work is commenced when the water is low, and carried on as it rises, until it

BER oe

66 BEAVER DAMS—FORMATION OF MEADOWS.

has attained the desired height. And not only is it made of the requisite height and strength, but its shape is suited exactly to the nature of the stream in which it is built. If the water is sluggish the dam is straight; if rapid and turbulent, the barrier is constructed of a convex form, the better to resist the action of the water.

BEAVER-DAM.

When the beavers have once commenced a dam, its ex tent and thickness are continually augmented, not only by their labors, but by accidental accumulations; thus accom- modating itself to the size of the growing community. At length, after a lapse of many years, the water being spread over a considerable tract, and filled up by yearly accumulations of drift-wood and earth, seeds take root in the new made ground, and the old beaver-dams be- come green meadows, or thickets of cotton-wood and willow.

The food on which the beaver subsists, is the bark of the young trees in its neighborhood; and when laying up a winter store, the whole community join in the labor of selecting, cutting up, and carrying the strips to their store-

hous affirr and

only

“ Th lows w far inte pair of teeth nearly | tendons the bea extraor

“ Noy The los deficien the ena to cut — ashamec to theft. ing that beaver ¥ reflection per: *H over, by

When best con the will willow t

is round fall. In tree is ¢

ones are and the The bea convenie tiously, < noise sh of the br} five or si then tak!

The

de ed ilt. nd the

wee

mm DPN

Vy

} ex y by om- nity. eing arly root s be

and

k of g¢ up r of tore-

BEAVER LODGES. 67

houses under water. They do not, as some writers have affirmed, when cutting wood for a dam strip off the bark and store it in their lodges for winter consumption; but only carry under water the stick with the bark on.

“The beaver has two incisors and eight molars in each jaw; and empty hol- lows where the canine teeth might be. The upper pair of cutting teeth extend far into the jaw, with a curve of rather more than a semicircle; and the lower pair of incisors form rather less than a semicircle. Sometimes, one of these tecth gets broken and then the opposite tooth continues growing until it forms a nearly complete circle. The chewing muscle of the beaver is strengthened by tendons in such a way as to give it great power. But more is needed to enable the beaver to eat wood. The insalivation of the dry food is provided for by the extraordinary size of the salivary glands.

“ Now, every part of these instruments is of vital importance to the beavers. The loss of an incisor involves the formation of an obstructive circular tooth ; deficiency of saliva renders the food indigestible; and when old age comes and the enamel is worn down faster than it is renewed, the beaver is not longer able to cut branches for its support. Old, feeble and poor, unable to borrow, and ashamed to beg, he steals cuttings, and subjects himself to the penalty assigned to theft. Aged beavers are often found dead with gashes in their bodies, show- ing that they have been killed by their mates. In the fall of 1864, a very aged beaver was caught in one of the dams of the Esconawba River, and this was the reflection of a great authority on the occasion, one Ah-she-goes, an Ojibwa trap- per: ‘Had he escaped the trap he would have been killed before the winter was over, by other beavers, for stealing cuttings.’

When the beavers are about two or three years old, their teeth are in their best condition for cutting. On the Upper Missouri, they cut the cotton tree and the willow bush; around Hudson’s Bay and Lake Superior, in addition to the willow they cut the poplar and maple, hemlock, spruce and pine. ‘The cutting is round and round, and deepest upon the side on which they wish the tree to fall. Indians and trappers have seen beavers cutting trees. The felling of a tree is a family affair. No more than a single pair with two or three young ones are engaged at atime. The adults take the cutting in turns, one gnawing and the other watching; and occasionally a youngster trying his incisors, The beaver whilst gnawing sits on his plantigrade hind legs, which keep him conveniently upright. When the tree begins to crackle the beavers work cau- tiously, and when it crashes down they plunge into the pond, fearful lest the noise should attract an enemy to the spot. After the tree-fall, comes the lopping of the branches. A single tree may be winter provision for a family. Branches five or six inches thick have to be cut into proper lengths for transport, and are then taken home.”

The lodge of a beaver is generally about six feet in di-

se nem eR SSeS

68 BACHELOR'S HALL—-TRAPPING IN WINTER.

ameter, on the inside, and about half as high. They are rounded or dome-shaped on the outside, with very thick walls, and communicate with the land by subterranean passages, below the depth at which the water freezes in winter. Each lodge is made to accommodate several in- mates, who have their beds ranged round the walls, much as the Indian does in his tent. They are very cleanly, too, and after eating, carry out the sticks that have been stripped, and either use them in repairing their dam, or throw them into the stream below.

During the summer months the beavers abandon their lodges, and disport themselves about the streams, some- times going on long journeys; or if any remain at home, they are the mothers of young families. About the last of August the community returns to its home, and begins preparations for the domestic cares of the long winter months.

An exception to this rule is that of certain individuals, who have no families, make no dam, and never live in lodges, but burrow in subterranean tunnels. They are al- ways found to be males, whom the French trappers call ‘les parasseux,” or idlers; and the American trappers, ‘‘bachelors.” Several of them are sometimes found in one abode, which the trappers facetiously denominate “bachelor’s hall.” Being taken with lcss difficulty than the more domestic beaver, the trapper is always glad to come upon their habitations.

The trapping season is usually in the spring and au- tumn. But should the hunters find it necessary to con: tinue their work in winter, they capture the beaver by sounding on the ice until an aperture is discovered, when the ice is cut away and the opening closed up. Returning to the bank, they search for the subterranean passage, trac- ing its connection with the lodge; and by patient watching

ry

succeed between often re: cessful ; for food “Oce ‘that se successit and can trappers trapper in the u The be: proaches with a | upwards them to trapper 1 dering h “up to I Befor« River, openly. that nat age cont ing, just had misc dently b and mo had bee charged once, to only a fe had not

turned t

“up TO TRAP’ —FIRST BATTLE WITH BLACKFEET, 69

succeed in catching the beaver on some of its journeys between the water and the land. This, however, is not often resorted to when the hunt in the fall has been suc- cessful; or when not urged by famine to take the beaver for food.

‘Occasionally it happens,” says Captain Bonneville, “that several members of a beaver family are trapped in succession. The survivors then become extremely shy, and can scarcely be “brought to medicine,” to use the trappers’ phrase for ‘‘taking the bait.” In such case, the trapper gives up the use of the bait, and conceals his traps in the usual paths and crossing places of the household. The beever being now completely “up to trap,” ap- proaches them cautiously, and springs them, ingeniously, with a stick. At other times, he turns the traps bottom upwards, by the same means, and occasionally even drags them to the barrier, and conceals them in the mud. The trapper now gives up the contest of ingenuity, and shoul- dering his traps, marches off, admitting that he is not yet “up to beaver.”

Before the camp moved from the forks of the Snake River, the haunting Blackfeet made their appearance. openly. It was here that Meek had his first battle with that nation, with whom he subsequently had many a sav- age contest. They attacked the camp early in the morn- ing, just as the call to turn out had sounded. But they had miscalculated their opportunity: the design having evi- dently been to stampede the horses and mules, at the hour and moment of their being turned loose to graze. They had been too hasty by a few minutes, so that when they charged on the camp pell-mell, firing a hundred guns at once, to frighten both horses and men, it happened that only a few of the animals had been turned out, and they had not yet got far off. The noise of the charge only turned them back to camp.

ON GUARD—THE TRAPPERS RUSE.

In an instant’s time, Fitzpatrick was mounted, and com- manding the men to follow, he galloped at headlong speed round and round the camp, to drive back such of the horses as were straying, or had been frightened from their pickets. In this race, two horses were shot under him; but he escaped, and the camp-horses were saved. The battle now was to punish the thieves. They took their position, as usual with Indian fighters, in a narrow ravine; from whence the camp was forced to dislodge them, at a great disadvantage. This they did do, at last, after six hours of hard fighting, in which a few men were wounded, but none killed. The thieves skulked off, through the canyon, when they found themselves defeated, and were seen no more until the camp came to the woods which cover the western slope of the Rocky Mountains.

But as the camp moved eastward, or rather in a north- easterly direction, through the pine forests between Pier- re’s Hole and the head-waters of the Missouri, it was con- tinuaily harrassed by Blackfeet, and required a strong guard at night, when these marauders delighted to make an attack. The weather by this time was very cold in the mountains, and chilled the marrow of our young Vir- ginian. The travel was hard, too, and the recruits pretty well worn out.

One cold night, Meek was put on guard on the further side of the camp, with a veteran named Reese. But neither the veteran nor the youngster could resist the ap- proaches of ‘ tired Nature’s sweet restorer,” and went to sleep at their post of duty. When, during the night, Sublette came out of his tent and gave the challenge— ‘“ All’s well!” there was no reply. To quote Meek’s own language, ‘‘ Sublette came round the horse-pen swearing and snorting. He was powerful mad. Before he got to where Reese was, he made so much noise that he waked

him; a Billy! : quick. 73 iT] Reese. bb W 6c 6 H whisper “ Ree what h: few mir Sublett I told ] morning saw the and thu lance, i of duty It was on the 1 one of rades, ( left thei of beay before so sudd nearest which c easy to small tr

upon h

CLIMBING TWO TREES. ral

him; and Reese, in a loud whisper, called to him, ‘ Down, Billy! Indians!’ Sublette got down on his belly mighty quick. ‘Whar? whar?’ he asked.

“They were right there when you hollered so,’ said Reese.

‘“¢ Where is Meek?’ whispered Sublette.

‘“* He is trying to shoot one,’ answered Reese, still in a whisper.

“Reese then crawled over to whar I war, and told me what had been said, and informed me what to do. Ina few minutes I crept cautiously over to Reese’s post, when Sublette asked me how many Indians had been thar, and I told him I couldn’t make out their number. In the morning a pair of Indian moccasins war found whar Reese saw the Indians, which I had taken care to leave there ; and thus confirmed, our story got us the credit of vigi- lance, instead of our receiving our just dues for neglect of duty.”

It was sometime during the fall hunt in the Pine Woods, on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, that Meek had one of his earliest adventures with a bear. Two com- rades, Craig and Nelson, and himself, while out trapping, left their horses, and traveled up a creek on foot, in search of beaver. They had not proceeded any great distance, before they came suddenly face to face with a red bear ; so suddenly, indeed, that the men made a spring for the nearest trees. Craig and Meek ascended a large pine, which chanced to be nearest, and having many limbs, was easy to climb. Nelson happened. to take to one of two small trees that grew close together ; and the bear, fixing upon him for a victim, undertook to climb after him. With his back against one of these small trees, and his feet against the other, his bearship succeeded in reaching a point not far below Nelson’s perch, when the trees

72 A DISAPPOINTED BEAR.

opened with his weight, and down he went, with a shock that fairly shook the ground. But this bad luck only seemed to infuriate the beast, and up he went again, with the same result, each time almost reaching his enemy. With the second tumble he was not the least discouraged ; but started up the third time, only to be dashed once more to the ground when he had attained a certain height. At the third fall, however, he became thoroughly dis- gusted with his want of success, and turned and ran at full speed into the woods.

“Then,” says Meek, ‘ Craig began to sing, and I began to laugh; but Nelson took to swearing. ‘O yes, you can laugh and sing now,’ says Nelson; ‘but you war quiet enough when the bear was around.’ ‘Why, Nelson,’ I answered, ‘you wouldn’t have us noisy before that dis- tinguished guest of yours?’ But Nelson damned the wild beast ; and Craig and I laughed, and said he didn’t seem wild a bit. That’s the way we hector each other in the mountains. If a man gets into trouble he is only laughed at: ‘let him keep out; let him have better luck,’ is what we say.”

The country traversed by Sublette in the fall of 1829, was unknown at that period, even to the fur companies, they having kept either farther to the south or to the north. Few, if any, white men had passed through it since Lewis and Clarke discovered the head-waters of the Missouri and the Snake Rivers, which flow from the oppo- site sides of the same mountain peaks. Even the toils and hardships of passing over mountains at this season of the year, did not deprive the trapper of the enjoyment of the magnificent scenery the region afforded. Splendid views, however, could not long beguile men who had little to eat, and who had yet a long journey to accom-

plish in ¢ the winte

In Nor side of th on to the a very TO still in tl Rocky ra ularly hi; Yellowst« great fati and hors Blackfeet bers. = Ty thrown i Capt. Sul still purst

Not so cut off fi mountain uation fo the Blacl to procee taken to unknown gun, his pended { thought alone in

Hiding tain top his cours able bo again we

ALONE IN THE MOUNTAINS. 73

plish in cold, and surrounded by dangers, before reaching the wintering ground.

In November the camp left Missouri Lake on the east side of the mountains, and crossed over, still northeasterly, on to the Gallatin fork of the Missouri River, passing over avery rough and broken country. They were, in fact, still in the midst of mountains, being spurs of the great Rocky range, and equally high and rugged. <A_ partic- ularly high mountain lay between them and the main Yellowstone River. This they had just crossed, with great fatigue and difficulty, and were resting the camp and horses for a few days on the river’s bank, when the Blackfeet once more attacked them in considerable num- bers. Two men were killed in this fight, and the camp thrown into confusion by the suddenness of the alarm. Capt. Sublette, however, got off, with most of his men, still pursued by the Indians.

Not so our Joe, who this time was not in luck, but was cut off from camp, alone, and had to flee to the high mountains overlooking the Yellowstone. Here was a sit- uation for a nineteen-year-old raw recruit! Knowing that the Blackfeet were on the, trail of the camp, it was death to proceed in that direction. Some other route must be taken to come up with them; the country was entirely unknown to him; the cold severe; his mule, blanket, and gun, his only earthly possessions. On the latter he de- pended for food, but game was scarce; and besides, he thought the sound of his gun would frighten himself, so alone in the wilderness, swarming with stealthy foes.

Hiding his mule in a thicket, he ascended to the moun- tain top to take a view of the country, and decide upon his course. And what a scene was that for the miser- able boy, whose chance of meeting with his comrades again was small indeed! At his feet rolled the Yellow-

74 A MISERABLE NIGHT,

stone River, coursing away through the great plain to the Tv the north his eye follows the windings of the Missouri, as upon a map, but playing at hide-and-seek

eastward.

in amongst the mountains. Looking back, he saw the River Snake stretching its serpentine length through Java plains, far away, to its junction with the Columbia. To the north, and te the south, one white mountain rose above another as far as the eye could reach. What a mighty and magnificent world it seemed, to be alone in! Poor Joe succumbed to the influence of the thought, and wept.

Uaving indulged in this sole remaining luxury of life, Joe picked up his resolution, and decided upon his course, To the southeast lay the Crow country, a land of plenty, —as the mountain-man regards plenty,—and there he could at least live ; provided the Crows permitted him to do so. Besides, he had some hopes of falling in with one of the camps, by taking that course.

Descending the mountain to the hiding-place of his mule, by which time it was dark night, hungry and _ freez- ing, Joe still could not light a fire, for fear of revealing his whereabouts to the Indians ; nor could he remain to fper- ish with cold. Travel he must, and travel he did, going he scarcely knew whither. Looking back upon the terrors and discomforts of that night, the veteran mountaineer yet regards it as about the most miserable one of his life. When day at length broke, he had made, as well as he « .ald estimate the distance, about thirty miles. Trav- eling on toward the southeast, he had crossed the Yellow- stone River, and still among the mountains, was obliged to abandon his mule and accoutrements, retaining only one bianket and his gun. Neither the mule nor himself had broken fast in the last two days. erly course for twenty miles more, over a rough and

Cceping a south-

elevate day, up ness did fasting’ with an Havir with fat quite d biting b if not p eler has what sk rough a nor alari of the © alarm ws ous in t the vete divest hi comes fi handiw< At th camp in

and son

outer m his wea bleak ar Ing piec the pros

the nei country springs, ters, ead

Wae

roing rors ineer ‘ft his ell as Trav- ‘llow-

liged Be

only anself south- 1 and

AWFUL SOLITUDE.—A SINGULAR DISCOVERY. 75 elevated country, he came, on the evening of the third day, upon a band of mountain sheep. With what eager- ness did he hasten to kill, cook, and eat! Three days of fasting was, for a novice, «uite sufficient to provide him with an appetite. .

Having eaten voraciously, and being quite overcome with fatigue, Joe fell asleep in his blanket, and slumbered quite deeply until morning. With the morning came biting blasts from the north, that made motion necessary if not pleasant. Refreshed by sleep and food, our trav- eler hastened ou upon his solitary way, taking with him what sheep-meat he could carry, traversing the same rough and mountainous country as before. No incidents nor alarms varied the horrible and monotonous solitude of the wilderness) The very absence of anything to alarm was awful; for the bravest man is wretchedly nerv- ous in the solitary presence of sublime Nature. Even the veteran hunter of the mountains can never eutircly divest himself of this feeling of awe, when his single soul comes face to face with God’s wonderful and beautiful handiwork,

At the close of the fourth de, Joe made his lonely camp in a deep defile of the mcuntains, where a little fire and some roasted mutton again comforted his inner and outer man, and another night's sleep still farther refreshed his wearied frame. On the following morning, a very bleak and windy one, having breakfasted on his remain- ing piece of mutton, being desirous to learn something of the progress he had made, he ascended a low mountain in the neighborhood of his camp-—and behold! the whole country beyond was smoking with the vapor from boiling springs, and burning with gasses, issuimg from small cra- ters, each of which was emitting a sharp whistling sound.

When the first surprise of this astonishing scene had

76 A HELL ON EARTH.

began to admire its effect in an artistic poimt of view. ‘The morning being clear, with a sharp frost, he thought himself reminded of the city of Pittsburg, as he had beheld it on a winter morning, a couple of years be- fore. This, however, related only to the rising smoke and vapor; for the extent of the volcanic region was immense, reaching far out of sight. The general face of the coun- try was smooth and rolling, being a level plain, dotted with cone-shaped mounds. On the summits of these mounds were small craters from four to eight fee’ in di- Interspersed among these, on the leve! plain, were larger craters, some of them from four to six miles

passed, Joe

ameter. across. Out of these craters issued blue flames and molten brimstone.

Curious thoughts came into his head, about hell and the day of doom.

For some minutes Joe gazed and wondered.

With that natural tendency to reckless gayety and humorous absurdities which some temperaments are sensible of in times of great excitement, he began to solilo- quize. Said he, to himself, ‘I have been told the sun would be blown out, and the earth burnt up. If this in fernal wind keeps up, | shouldn’t be surprised if the sun war blown out. then it is that place the old Methodist preacher used to threaten me with. what it’s like.” Gn descending to the plain described, the earth was

If the earth is not burning up over thar,

Any way it suits me to go and see

found to have a hollow sound, and seemed threatening t& break through. But Joe found the warmth of the plac

most delightful, after the freezing cold of the mountains.

and remarked to himself again, that it war hell, it war amore agreeable climate than ke had been in for some time,

He had thought the conntey erively desolate, as not a

living ¢ he stooc startled yell. V flight, if voice gi When 1 age at 1 of endes “old U

adventu

seing

ing for | but a he the men took th tains be If Meek did not

Was So ( break t] tion sti

nor any

should r Durit

ine’ inei

contrive

in perio

permiss}

e ''m W hails

Jededia

have ca fire }

lilo- sun sin sun thar, sd to

see

was Ae bo plac fains, f war

some

not a

‘OLD JOE’—A JOYFUL RECOGNITION, 17 living creature had been seen in the vicinity; but while he stood gazing about him in curious amazement, he was startled by the report of two guns, followed by the Indian yell. While making rapid preparations for defence and flight, if either or both should be necessary, a familiar voice greeted him with the exclamation, “It ¢s old Joe!” When the adjective “old” is applied to one of Meek’s age at that time, it is generally understood to be a term of endearment. ‘ My feelings you may imagine,” says the “old Uncle Joe” of the present time, in recalling the adventure.

Being joined by these two associates, who had been look- ing for him, our traveler, no longer simply a raw recruit, but a hero of wonderful adventures, as well as the rest of the men, proceeded with them to camp, which they over- took the third day, attempting to cross the high moun- tains between the Yellowstone and the Bighorn Rivers. If Meek had seen hard times in the mountains alone, he did not find them much improved in camp. The snow was so deep that the men had to keep im advanee, and break the road for the animals; and te make their condi- tion still more trying, there were no provisions in camp, nor any prospect of plenty, for men or animals, until they should reach the buffalo country beyond the mountains.

During this scarcity of provisions, some of those amus- ing incidents took place with which the mountaineer will contrive to lighten his own and his comrades’ spirits, even in periods of the greatest suffering. One which we have permission to relate, has reference to what Joe Meek calls the “meanest act of his life.”

While the men were starving, a negro boy, belonging to Jedediah Smith, by some means was fortunate as to have caught a porcupine, which he was roasting before the fire. Happening to turn his back for a moment, to obeerve

‘

78 ORAIG’S RABBIT.

something in camp, Meek and Reese snatched the tempt- ing viand and made off with it, before the darkey discov- ered his loss. But when it was discovered, what a wail went up for the embezzled porcupine! Suspicion fixed upon the guilty parties, but as no one would ’peach on white men to save a ‘“nigger’s” rights, the poor, disap- pointed boy could do nothing but lament in vain, to the ereat amusement of the men, who upon the principle that ~ misery loves company,” rather chuckled over than con- demned Meek’s ‘‘ mean act.”

There was a sequel, however, to this little story. So much did the negro dwell upon the eveut, and the heart- lessness of the men towards him, that in the following summer, when Smith was in St. Louis, he gave the boy his freedom and two hundred dollars, and left him in that city ; so that it became a saying in the mountains, that ‘the nig- ger got his freedom for a porcupine.”

During this same march, a similar joke was played upon one of the men named Craig. He had caught a rabbit and put it up to roast before the fire—a tempting looking morsel to starving mountaineers. Some of his associates determined to see how it tasted, and Craig was told that the Booshways wished to speak with him at their lodge. While he obeyed this supposed command, the rabbit was spirited away, never more to be seen by mortal man. When Craig returned to the camp-fire, and beheld the place vacant where a rabbit so late was nicely roasting, his passion knew no bounds, and he declared his intention of cutting it out of the stomach that contained it. But as finding the identical stomach which contained it involved the cutting open of many that probably did not, in the search, he was fain to relinquish that mode of vengeance, together with his hopes of a supper. As Craig is still liv- ing, and is tormented by the belief that he knows the man

as the fo pronouns

who sto assuring not the While depth ot horses ¢ and coul Jededial top of a. tain the returned “* Wel iously. iT ty drink ! ” shocking Smith man’s an and kney reach thi man, an very dist ian; and is the ac selves, The ce¢ the anim upon the river, wl fact that

one disec place aff

his ity ;

nig-

pon bbit cing ates that dge. was man. the b, his n of ait as ilved 1 the

ance, 1 liv-

man

WHAT THE SCOUT SAW. 79

who stole his rabbit, Mr. Meek takes this opportunity of assuring him, upon the word of a gentleman, that he is not the man.

While on the march over these mountains, owing to the depth of the snow, the company lost a hundred head of horses and mules, which sank in the yet unfrozen drifts, and could not be extricated. In despair at their situation, Jedediah Smith one day sent a man named Harris to the top of a high peak to take a view of the country, and ascer- tain their position. After a toilsome scramble the scout returned.

‘“ Well, what did you see, Harris?” asked Smith anx- iously.

‘“T saw the city of St. Louis, and one fellow taking a drink!” replied Harris; prefacing the assertion with a shocking oath.

Smith asked no more questions. He understood by the man’s answer that he had made no pleasing discoveries ; and knew that they had still a weary way before them to reach the plains below. Besides, Smith was a religious man, and the coarse profanity of the mountaineers was very distasteful to him. ‘A very mild man, and a christ- ian; and there were very few of them in the mountains,” is the account given of him by the mountaineers theim- selves.

The camp finally arrived without loss of life, except to the animals, on the plains of the Bighorn River, and came upon the waters of the Stinking Fork, a branch of this river, which derives its unfortunate appellation from the fact that it flows through a volcanic tract similar to the one discovered by Meek on the Yellowstone plains, This place afforded as much food for wonder to the whole camp, as the former one had to Joe; and the men wnanimously pronounced it the ‘ back door to that country whieh divines

ee bie, %

80 AN ALARM—CROW WAR PARTY.

¢

preach about.” As this volcanic district had previously been seen by one of Lewis and Clarke’s men, named Col- ter, while on @ solitary hunt, and by him also denominated “hell,” there must certainly have been something very suggestive in its appearance.

If the mountains had proven barren, and inhospitably cold, this hot and sulphurous country offered no greater hospitality. In fact, the fumes which pervaded the air rendered it exceedingly noxious to every living thing, and the camp was fain to push on to the main stream of the Bighorn River. Here signs of trappers became appa- rent, and spies having been sent out discovered a camp of about forty men, under Milton Sublette, brother of Captain William Sublette, the same that had been detached the previous summer to hunt in that country. Smith and Sub- lette then cached their furs, and moving up the river joined the camp of M. Sublette.

The manner of caching furs is this: A pit is dug toa depth of five or six feet in which to stand. The men then drift from this under a bank of solid earth, and excavate a room of considerable dimensions, in which the furs are deposited, and the apartment closed up. The pit is then filled up with earth, and the traces of digging obliterated or concealed. These caches are the only storehouses of the wilderness.

While the men were recruiting themselves in the joint camp, the alarm of ‘‘ Indians!” was given, and hurried cries of ‘‘shoot! shoot!” were uttered on the instant. Captain Sublette, however, checked this precipitation, and ordering the men to hold, allowed the Indians to approach, making signs of peace. They proved to be a war party of Crows, who after smoking the pipe of peace with the Captain, received from him a present of some tobacco, and

departed.

As eling and ¢ Valle made sever eling Winc brate stance Harri shoes ble e1

CHRISTMAS. 81

sly fv As soon as the camp was sufficiently recruited for trav-

‘ol. ie eliag, the united companies set out again toward the south,

ted fe and crossed the Horn mountains once more into Wind River

ery Valley; having had altogether, a successful fall hunt, and ‘ 4

made some important explorations, notwithstanding the a

bly severity of the weather and the difficulty of mountain trav- }

ter | eling. It was about Christmas when the camp arrived on

air fe Wind River, and the cold intense. While the men cele-

ing, brated Christmas, as best they might under the circum-

of stances, Capt. Sublette started to St. Louis with one man, ba

pa- Harris, called among mountain-ren Black Harris, on snow- i uy

of Fa shoes, with a train of pack-dogs. Such was the indomita- i

tain Fae ble energy and courage of this famous leader! lthe Ba : Sub- FF ‘a ined i La

to a )

then rate a 4 s are | then rated es of

joint uried Fy . : stant. fe . ee ae n,and & ee : roach, Fe te. y | party as) th the Fe et

0, and

n 82 A HUNTER’S PARADISE, Was, : camp did it | ii attrac if! : I such | 4 CHAPTER IV. How about 1830. Tun furs collected by Jackson’s company were ‘ : ‘ ment cached on the Wind River; and the cold still being very eee severe, and game scarce, the two remaining leaders, Smith : "Thi and Jackson, set out on the first of January with the fat” a whole camp, for the buffalo country, on the Powder — | : : : i of am River, a distance of about one hundred aiid fifty miles. of ga | ‘Times were hard in camp,” when mountains had to be 4 fae crossed in the depth of winter. ie ea The animals had to be subsisted on the hark of the searseth sweet cotton-wood, which grows along the streams and in ‘ : an iso the valleys on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, but : oceup: . » . \ Cc is nowhere to be found west of that range. This way of eau 4 providing for his horses and mules involved no trifling factat 7 > . ¢ amount of labor, when each man had to furnish food for 4 of the several of them. To collect this bark, the men carried ; , their 1 the smooth limbs of the cotton-wood to camp, where, be- ane a , , aA C} side the camp-fire, they shaved off the sweet, green bark § Lyte with a hunting-knif: transformed into a drawing-knife by not th fastening a piece o. woot to its point; or, in case the The cotton-wood was noi convenient, the bark was peeled off, artied ' ' ide ) Flies i i € and carried to camp ina blatiket, So nutritious is it, of Na d | that animals fatten upon it quite as well as upon oats. wl ; als ~ In the large cotton-wood bottoms on the Yellowstoe the bi | River, it sometimes became necessary to station a double of th " guard to keep the buffalo out of camp, so numerous were ; oe ie ! of ho f they, when the severity of the cold drove them from the yell; z prairies to these cottonswood thickets for subsistence. It ; spent p: ce

THE TRANSFORMATION IN THE WILDERNESS, 83

was, therefore, of double importance to make the winter camp where the cotton-wood was plenty ; since not only did it furnish the animals of the camp with food, but by attracting buffalo, made game plenty for the men. To such a hunter’s paradise on Powder River, the camp was now traveling, and arrived, after a hard, cold march, about the middle of January, when the whole encamp- ment went into winter quarters, to remain until the open- ing of spring.

This was the occasion when the mountain-man “lived fat” and enjoyed life: a season of plenty, of relaxation,

id 1 of amusement, of acquaintanceship with all the company, ‘ bey} . ,) ‘ ?

of gayety, and of busy idleness. Through the day,

: hunting parties were coming and going, men were cook- ing, drying meat, making moccasins, cleaning their arms,

2 wrestling, playing games, and, in short, everything that P an isolated community of hardy men could resort to for ° occupation, was resorted to by these mountaineers, Nor

was there wanting, in the appearance of the camp, the 18 variety, and that picturesque air imparted by a mingling

UF of the native element; for what with their Indian allies, od their native wives, and numerous children, the mountain- HN eers’ camp was a motley assemblage; and the trappers rk

themselves, with their affectation of Indian coxcombry, by not the least picturesque individuals.

he The change wrought in a wilderness landscape by the yf, arrival of the grand camp was wonderful indeed. Instead It, of Nature’s superb silence and majestic loneliness, there~ was the sound of men’s voices in boisterous laughter, or 8 ihe busy hum of conversation ; the loud-resounding stroke blo of the axe; the sharp report of the rifle; the neighing are of horses, and braying of mules; the Indian whoop and ne yell; and all that not unpleasing confusion of sound which

accompanies the movements of the creature man. Over

THE ENCAMPMENT BY NIGHT.

the plain, only dotted until now with shadows of clouds, or the transitory passage of the deer, the antelope, or the bear, were scattered hundreds of lodges and immense herds of grazing animals. Even the atmosphere itself seemed changed from its original purity, and became clouded with the smoke from many camp-fires. And all this change might go as quickly as it came. The tent struck and the march resumed, solitude reigned once more, and only the cloud dotted the silent landscape.

If the day was busy and gleesome, the night had its charms as well. Gathered about the shining fires, groups of men in fantastic costumes told tales of marvelous ad- ventures, or sung some old-remembered song, or were absorbed in games of chance. Some of the better edu- cated men, who had once known and loved books, but whom some mishap in life had banished to the wilderness, recalled their favorite authors, and recited passages once treasured, now growing unfamiliar ; or vhispered to some chosen confrere the saddened history of his earlier years, and charged him thus and thus, should ever-ready death surprise himself in the next spring’s hunt.

It will not be thought discreditable to our young trap- per, Joe, that he learned to read by the light of the camp- fire. Becoming sensible, even in the wilderness, of the deficiencies of his early education, he found a teacher in a comrade, named Green, and soon acquired sufficient knowledge to enjoy an old copy of Shakspeare, which, with a Bible, was carried about with the property of the camp.

In this life of careless gayety and plenty, the whole company was allowed to remain without interruption, until the first of April, when it was divided, and once more started on the march. Jackson, or ‘‘ Davey,” as he was called by the men, with about half the company, left

for th was M James

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In tl

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HEAVY LOSS OF HORSES AND TRAPS. 85

for the Snake country. The remainder, among whom was Meek, started north, with Smith for commander, and James Bridger as pilot.

Crossing the mountains, ranges of which divide the tributary streams of the Yellowstone from each other, the first halt was made on Tongue River. From thence the camp proceeded to the Bighorn River. Through all this country game was in abundance,—buffalo, elk, and bear, and beaver also plenty. In mountain phrase, “times were good on this hunt:” beaver packs increased in num- ber, and both men and animals were in excellent condi- tion.

A large party usually hunted out the beaver and fright- ened away the game in a few weeks, or days, from any one locality. When this happened the camp moved on; or, should not game be plenty, it kept constantly on the move, the hunters and trappers seldom remaining out more than a day or two. Should the country be consid- ered dangerous on account of Indians, it was the habit of the men to return every night to the encampment.

It was the design of Smith to take his command into the Blackfoot country, a region abounding in the riches which he sought, could they only be secured without coming into too frequent conflict with the natives: always a doubtful question concerning these savages. He had proceeded in this direction as far as Bovey’s Fork of the Bivhora, when the camp was overtaken by a heavy fall of snow, which made traveling extremely difficult, and which, when melted, caused a sudden great rise in the mountain streams. In attempting to cross Bovey’s Fork during the high water, he had thirty horses swept away, with three hundred traps: a serious loss in the business of hunting beaver.

In the manner described, pushing on through an un-

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86 ROBBED AND INSULTED BY A BEAR,

known country, hunting and trapping as they moved, the company proceeded, passing another low chain of moun- tains, through a pass called Pryor’s Gap, to Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone, thence to Rose-Bud River, and finally to the main Yellowstone River, where it makes a great bend to the east, enclosing a large plain covered with grass, and having also exteusive cotton-wood bottoms, which subsequently became a favorite wintering ground of the fur companies.

It was while trapping up in this country, on the Rose- Bud River, that an amusing adventure befel our trapper Joe. Being out with two other trappers, at some distance from the great camp, they had killed and supped off a fat buffalo cow. The night was snowy, and their camp was made in a grove of young aspens. Having feasted them- selves, the remaining store of choice pieces was divided between, and placed, hunter fashion, under the heads of the party, on their betaking themselves to their blanket couches for the night. Neither Indian nor wild beast dis- turbed their repose, as they slept, with their guns beside them, filled with comfort and plenty. But who ever dreams of the presence of a foe under such circum- stances? Certainly not our young trapper, who was only awakened about day-break by something very large and heavy walking over him, and snuffing about him with a most insulting freedom. It did not need Yankee powers of guessing to make out who the intruder in camp might be: in truth, it was only too disagreeably certain that it was a full sized grizzly bea’, whose keenness of smell had revealed to him the presence ns fat cow-meat in that neighborhood.

‘You may be sure,” says Joe, “that I kept very quiet, while that bar helped himself to some of my buffalo meat, andwent a little way off to eat it. But Mark Head, one

of t wel erec the Mit on, our bef ten and sty] tair afte The ‘ life bel the J fou str stit fra. In

ved, the f moun- ’s Fork d finally a great ed with ottoms, ground

e Rose- trapper distance off a fat mp was d them: divided eads of blanket east dis- 3 beside ho ever circum- vas only ge and 1 with a powers > might . that it ell had in that

y quiet, lo meat, ad, one

A NOVEL FERRIAGE. 87

of the men, raised up, and back came the bar. Down went our heads under the blankets, and I kept mine cov- ered pretty snug, while the beast took another walk over the bed, but finally went off again to a little distance. Mitchel then wanted to shoot; but I said, ‘no, no; hold on, or the brute will kill us, sure.’ When the bar heard our voices, back he run again, and jumped on the bed as before. I’d have been happy to have felt myself sinking ten feet under ground, while that bar promenaded over and around us! However, he couldn’t quite make out our style, and finally took fright, and ran off down the moun- tain. Wanting to be revenged for his impudence, I went after him, and seeing a good chance, shot him dead. Then I tock my turn at running over him awhile!”

Such are the not infrequent incidents of the trapper’s life, which furnish him with material, needing little em- bellishment to convert it into those wild tales with which the nights are whiled away around the winter camp-fire.

Arrived at the Yellowstone with his company, Smith found it necessary, on account of the high water, to con- struct Bull-boats for the crossing. These are made by stitching together buffalo hides, stretching them over light frames, and paying the seams with elk tallow and ashes. In these light wherries the goods and people were ferried over, while the horses and mules were crossed by swim- ming.

The mode usually adopted in crossing large rivers, was to spread the lodges on the ground, throwing on them the light articles, saddles, ete. A rope was then run through the pin-holes around the edge of each, when it could be drawn up like a reticule. It was then filled with the heavier camp goods, and being tightly drawn up, formed a perfect ball. A rope being tied to it, it was launched on the water, the children of the camp on top, and the wo- men swimming after and clinging to it, while a man, who

88 RETURN MARCH——RUDE BURIAL SERVICE.

had the rope in his hand, swam ahead holding on to his horse’s mane. In this way, dancing like a cork on the waves, the lodge was piloted across; and passengers as well as freight consigned, undamaged, to the opposite shore. A large camp of three hundred men, and one hundred women and children were frequently thus crossed in one hour’s time.

The camp was now in the excellent but inhospitable country of the Blackfeet, and the commander redoubled his precautions, moving on all the while to the Mussel Shell, and thence to the Judith River. Beaver were plenty and game abundant; but the vicinity of the large village of the Blackfeet made trapping impracticable. Their war upon the trappers was ceaseless; their thefts of traps and horses ever recurring: and Smith, finding that to re- main was to be involved in incessant warfare, without hope of victory or gain, at length gave the command to turn back, which was cheerfully obeyed: for the trappers had been very successful on the spring hunt, and thinking discretion some part at least of valor, were glad to get safe out of the Blackfoot country with their rich harvest of beaver skins.

The return march was by the way of Pryor’s Gap, and up the Bighorn, to Wind River, where the cache was made in the previous December. The furs were now taken out and pressed, ready for transportation across the piains. A party was also dispatched, under Mr. Tullock, to raise the cache on the Bighorn River. Among this party was Meek, and a Frenchman named Ponto. While digging to come at the fur, the bank above caved in, fal- ling upon Meek and Ponto, killing the latter almost in- stantly. Meek, though severely hurt, was taken out alive: while poor Ponto was “rolled in a blanket, and pitched into the river.” So rude were the burial services of the trapper of the Rocky Mountains.

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THE OLD PARTNERS TAKE LEAVE. 89

Meek was packed back to camp, along with the furs, where he soon recovered. Sublette arrived from St.

B Louis with fourteen wagons loaded with merchandise, and

two hundred additional men for the service. Jackson also arrived from the Snake country with plenty of beaver, and the business of the yearly rendezvous began. Then the scenes previously described were re-enacted. Beaver, thé currency of the mountains, was plenty that year, and goods were high accordingly. A thousand dollars a day was not too much for some of the most reckless to spend on their squaws, horses, alcohol, and themselves. For

; “alcohol” was the beverage of the mountaineers. Liquors

could not be furnished to the men in that country. Pure alcohol was what they ‘got tight on;” and a desperate tight it was, to be sure!

An important change took place in the affairs of the Rocky Mountain Company at this rendezvous. The three partners, Smith, Sublette, and Jackson, sold out to a new firm, consisting of Milton Sublette, James Bridger, Fitz- patrick, Frapp, and Jervais; the new company retaining the same name and style as the old.

The old partners left for St. Louis, with a company of seventy men, to convoy the furs. Two of them never re- turned to the Rocky Mountains; one of them, Smith, be- ing killed the following year, as will hereafter be related ; and Jackson remaining in St. Louis, where, like a true mountain-man, he dissipated his large and hard-earned fortune in a few years. Captain Sublette, however, con- tinued to make his annual trips to and from the mountains for a number of years; and until the consolidation of an- other wealthy company with the Rocky Mountain Com- pany, continued to furnish goods to the latter, at a profit on St. Louis prices; his capital and experience enabling him to keep the new firm under his control to a. large degree,

Sth

90 ABUNDANCE OF GAME-—THE GRIZZLY BEAR.

CHAPTER V.

1830. Tue whole country lying upon the Yellowstone and its tributaries, and about the head-waters of the Missouri, at the time of which we are writing, abounded not only in beaver, but in buffalo, bear, elk, antelope, and many smaller kinds of game. Indeed the buffalo used then to cross the mountains into the valleys about the head-waters of the Snake and Colorado Rivers, in such numbers that at cer. tain seasons of the year, the plains and river bottoms swarmed with them. Since that day they have quite dis appeared from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, and are no longer seen in the same nunbers on the east- ern side.

Bear, although they did