USA > Idaho > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 41
USA > Montana > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 41
USA > Oregon > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 41
USA > Washington > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 41
USA > Wyoming > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 41
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" Delighted with the success of our experiment
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in boat-building, and animated with hope of a safe and speedy passage through the two thousand miles of hostile Indian country, we quickly de- posited our personal effects and various creature comforts in the little vessel, which we called 'The Self Riser,' and got everything in readiness for embarkation. We felt, indeed, that the bright visions of home, which had cheered us through many years of wandering, were soon to be real- ized. We had just taken a parting glass with the friends assembled on the levée to witness our de- parture, and the farewell hand-shaking and good wishes were in progress, when a young man, seem- ingly not more than twenty, approached me, and in an imploring voice and manner asked a passage with us down the river. There was something so touching in the low, sad tones of his voice, and his subdued manner, that I involuntarily, and on the instant, found myself deeply interested in him. He was a stranger to us all, but his pleasant, honest face, lit up by a pair of expressive eyes, disarmed all suspicions unfavorable to his charac- ter; and it was with real regret that I told him, with a view of breaking my refusal as lightly as possible, that our party was made up of old com- rades, who had seen much service together, and had jointly outfitted for the trip with the under-
-
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standing that the company should not be in- creased.
" I was about to turn away and join my com- rades, who had already got into the boat, when he persisted, -
"' For the love of God, sir, do not refuse me ! I am here alone among strangers, and have met with many misfortunes in this country. If you do not take me, I shall lose my last chance of returning to my friends and relatives.'
"I could not resist the power of this appeal. After a few words of hasty consultation with my companions, it was agreed that the young man should accompany us. Never shall I forget his look of mingled joy and gratitude when I told him to come on board. Our moorings were then cut loose, and with many a shout and cheer we bore down upon the rapid current. When night approached we did not, as was usual with voy- agers, make land and remain until morning, but sailed on, bringing to for the first time carly in the afternoon of the next day at the mouth of Judith river. There we made camp under the branching cottonwoods, one hundred and forty miles from our place of embarkation. Our larder had been replenished on the trip with three fat antelopes and a buffalo cow, shot from the boat
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as we floated along. We had also contrived to form the acquaintance of our new passenger, but without learning much of his history. There was something about him when questioned as to his life in the mountains which impressed us with the idea that he was guarding a secret it would cost him great pain to reveal. Respect for his sensi- bility soon overcame all curiosity on the subject, and so the poor boy was only known to us by the unromantic name of 'Johnny.' His skill with the pistol, exhibited on several occasions on our first day out, won him the favor of every man in the party. We all felt that in his way 'Johnny ' was one of us, but his way was not like ours. We soon discovered that the rough life to which we had been accustomed had no charms for him. He neither indulged in coarse jokes himself nor enjoyed them in others, no profane expressions escaped his lips, and we were kept constantly upon our guard by some indescribable delicacy of de- meanor on his part, which commanded our respect. Neither could we impose on him any of the severe toil of the voyage, but in all the lighter duties no man was more faithful than he, nor more grateful for relief from any labor that overtasked his strength.
" We had feasted to repletion on antelope and
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buffalo at our first camping-place, and when the hour for resting came, the question arose what should be done with Johnny. He had no blan- kets, and there was no alternative but that Hum- phrey and I should give him a place with us. So he became our joint bedfellow for the trip.
" We left at dawn, and before mid-day entered upon that marvellous tract of country which as yet has received no more appropriate name than the 'Bad Lands.' This significant title, trans- lated from the original French, Mauvaises Terres, has been given to an immense tract of barren country stretching for more than a thousand miles along the Missouri and Yellowstone ; but the portion to which I here allude is but a single and remarkable feature of this vast earthen des- ert, and should receive a more distinctive appella- tion. The Missouri at this point, for a distance of thirty miles or more, passes through a ledge of talcose rock. Its color is a dusky white. Twelve miles of this distance the entire face of the rock upon either bank of the river has been eroded by the elements into countless forms, which suggest a thousand resemblances to artificial and natural objects, in some instances so exact as almost to deceive a casual observer. No other spot in the world has yet been discovered which can boast of
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such an extensive display of eroded rock. The river is confined between precipitous banks a hun- dred or more feet in height, and all along the jagged and broken surface, extending from the edge of these vertical walls beyond the range of vision, these objects are distributed. It seems as if all the pantheons and art galleries of the world had been emptied of their contents here. In one place is an immense round table with a large company gathered around, realizing at a single glance the legendary stories of Arthur and his knights. Through a little nook may be seen a number of forms that will remind one of the Saviour and his disciples. Then again suddenly springs into view a large gathering of people, as if assembled upon some public occasion. Men in every position, women, angels, animals, mauso- leums, may be seen, and in their immediate vicin- ity are larger forms suggestive of dwellings, churches, and cottages. On the extreme point of one of the bends in the river stands the most exquisitely fretted castle of imperial dimensions ; spires, minarets, towers, and domes scattered over it in great profusion. This single object is larger
than the Capitol at Washington. One nearly as large, and presenting points of great interest, stands diagonally from it, on the opposite side of
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the river. Buildings with long lines of colon- nades, citadels with embrasured parapets and bastions at their several angles, may be seen on every hand. The exhibition is very beautiful, and so unlike any other exhibition of natural art, as to excite the wonder not less than the admira- tion of all beholders. The difference between these and the eroded rocks of the Yellowstone is in color and size. The Missouri erosions are much more delicate, and not confined to architec- tural forms alone, but they embrace statuary, furniture, vessels, chariots, and almost every object in the natural world. They are, moreover, nearly white, and their surfaces gleam in the sun- light with all the beauty of polished marble. Awestruck at the multiplicity and grandeur of the various objects which met our gaze, we floated through this region of wonders as silently as if it had been a city of the dead. It did not seem possible as we sailed under the shadow of these immense citadels, that they were the mere crea- tion of the elements, and had never been the abodes of men.
" The navigation of a Mackinaw boat over this portion of the river was intensely interesting. Our light craft, impelled by sails and a rapid cur- rent, easily at the command of the helmsman,
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would sheer around the huge rocks and dash through the foaming rapids, sweeping bends, crooked channels, and innumerable islands and sandbars. The scene was constantly changing, and new objects of interest presented themselves at every turn.
" Early on the morning of the third day, one of our company fired at a black-tailed deer, standing midway to the summit of a lofty cliff. The animal rolled down the declivity almost to the water's edge. The shot was pronounced remark- able. Out of compliment to the skill of the marksman, as well as to appease the cravings of appetite, we immediately landed, built a fire, and proceeded to roast and ' scoff,' after the approved manner of hunters, the tender ribs and haunches, furnishing a meal which all agreed surpassed any- thing known to the modern cuisine. Perhaps this was attributable to the fact that we were hungry, but then the delicious flavor of the veni- son was not spoiled by villanous cookery. Our dessert consisted of canned fruit and coffee, the whole moistened with a moderate flow of Bour- bon drunk from tin cups. After our repast was finished, we resumed our journey in the happiest mood, with the spirit and dash of adventurers who felt themselves equal to any emergency. At
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noon we came upon the steamboat Luella, which, owing to the falling of the river, had left Fort Benton some weeks before, and was lying below Dauphin's rapids, where her passengers, who were coming down in small boats, were to join her for the trip to St. Louis. The river, which owes its spring flood to the early rains and dissolving snows in the mountain ranges, seldom affords sufficient depth later than July for steam- boats to pass over Dauphin's and Dead-Man's rapids, the two great obstructions to its upper navigation. Indeed it was matter of specula- tion whether the Luella would be able at this late period in the season to make the trip until after another rise. We remained long enough to exchange compliments with Captain Marsh, and presenting him with a quantity of game for his lady passengers, resumed our voyage.
" While descending the river the forenoon of the next day, we saw on the right bank half a mile ahead, three monster bears. They were taking a social drink from the river. As soon as they had finished, they strolled leisurely up the bank and disappeared in the cottonwoods. Land- ing at the spot, all hands seized their weapons and started enthusiastically in pursuit of them. We followed their huge tracks in the sand up a
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low coulee, to the top of the bluff, and there formed in line and proceeded by the flank into the chaparral, their tracks growing larger and fresher as we advanced, until suddenly the huge monsters confronted us at a distance of about
thirty paces. Seated on their haunches, their heads towering above the shrubbery, jaws ex- tended, and paws swaying to and fro, they by short and eager snuffs, growls, and snaps, gave us an acute sense of the danger we had mistaken for sport. Our appetite for bear meat weakened much quicker than it came, and old 'Forty-niner,' who had served a long apprenticeship in Califor- nia, coming up at this moment, on seeing the animals, raised and fired his rifle, shouting in a voice of terror, 'Holy Jupiter ! They are griz- zlies !' and turned and ran like a demoralized jack-rabbit in the direction of the boat. Sud- denly recollecting that it was the black bear and not the grizzly we were in pursuit of, we all fol- lowed his example. Humphrey, slowly bringing up the rear, proposed that we should ' give them a round.' To this I assented, but urged as a pre- liminary that we should get out of the brush and within striking distance of the boat. Before we could do so, however, the foremost bear made a plunge for Humphrey, who, facing him, with
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his gun at his shoulder, fired with so true an aim, that the great beast with a somersault fell for- ward at his feet, and with a roar of pain expired. The cub, two-thirds the size of its dam, seeing her fall, turned and fled, leaving the way open for the attack of the sire, a grand old fellow who sounded instantly to the charge, and came crash- ing through the thicket upon us. It was a mo- ment for action. We opened upon him with a terrible bombardment from our Henry rifles. In less time than a minute we had fired thirty-one balls into him. In his endeavors to reach us, and in his rage and agony, he executed some tremen- dous feats of ground and lofty tumbling. The woods echoed to his howlings, and in a frantic manner he tore up the earth and broke down the saplings for a considerable space around. The chaparral cracked beneath the strokes of his paws, and large pieces of rotten logs were scat- tered in all directions. His pluck should have won him a more glorious fate, for with all his efforts to attack us, he died without inflicting any harm, and his death roar, reverberating through the forest, summoned our frightened companions, who, with 'Forty-niner' in the van, returned in time to be in at the death. 'Johnny,' my faith- ful henchman, with revolver in hand, reserving
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fire for a last contingency, had stood near while the fight was progressing. He now came for- ward and warmly congratulated Humphrey and myself on our victory. We took the hind quar- ters of our prize on board, and nailed one of the huge paws as a trophy, to the top of our jack- staff, and floated on.
" Toward evening we descried a party of white men on the right bank, hove to, and went ashore. They proved to be a party of seven, engaged in chopping wood for steamboats. They were living in a little shanty, and intended to remain through the winter. When the boats came up, in the early spring, they expected to make a profitable sale of their wood, and go to some less exposed country. During the winter they designed to increase their wealth by hunting and trapping for furs.
These men were armed with Hawkins rifles, which, being muzzle-loading, were greatly inferior to the breech-loading cartridge guns then in use. We warned them of their danger, but with the energy and enterprise they possessed also the courage and recklessness of all pioneers. They said they were ready to take the chances. Poor fellows ! The chances were too strong for them, for only a few days afterwards a body of Sionx Indians came upon them. They made a
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desperate defence, but were overpowered and every one of them massacred.
" The eighth day of our voyage was mild and lovely. We had floated seven hundred miles without accident. Each day had been crowded with events of interest, and our adventures had all been crowned with success. These, with our resources for humor, and a general disposition to see only the ludicrous side of passing incidents, made us cheerful and good-humored even to boisterousness. Sometimes, even in the midst of mirth, the thought of our constant exposure to Indian attack would operate as an unpleasant restraint. But we did not shirk the subject, or fail for a moment to look it steadily in the face. Most of our company knew what Indian fighting meant, and some had had experience. Three had followed under the banner of the writer, on the sunny slopes of the distant Pacific, when gallantry and honor had called for volunteers for the de- fence of firesides against savage forays. In early times upon the Middle Yuba, when Bill Junes the packer and five others were ruthlessly murdered, it was 'Forty-niner ' who sounded the tocsin of war and led the daylight attack down the winding gorge upon a Digger ranchero, to its total annihilation. Our uniform experience had
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been that where civilized jarred with savage nature, a confliet was inevitable, and the pioneer had fought his own battles unaided. Govern- ment had done little for his protection, and less for the savage.
" Occasionally this subject would obtrude itself upon our thoughts, and we would discuss it in its personal aspects, always resolving to be on our guard against surprise and attack. But the pres- tige of successful adventure made us careless, and a latent sentiment of pride and confidence in our arms pervaded the entire party. We had
been for several days passing through the coun- try of the hostile Sioux, and knew if we should fall in with one of their war parties an attack would surely follow, and he would be a lucky man who escaped a bloody fate. As if, by a pre- sentiment of coming evil, the subject on this day became more than usually exciting. 'Forty- niner,' who rather desired a brush with the Indians, had just expressed his willingness and ability to eat any number of Sioux for breakfast, should they attack our party, when our boat rounded a bend in the river, and Humphrey, the first to make the discovery, exclaimed, ' Well, there they are. You can eat them for dinner if you choose.'
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"It was high noon. Just before us at the mouth of a coulee on the south bank of the river, was a large party of Indians. A hasty glance of mutual surprise and an instant seizure of arms by both parties, defined, stronger than language could do, the terms upon which we were to meet. Below the coulee, there rose to the height of fifty feet, a perpendicular bluff around whose base dashed the foaming current. A low open sand-bar disputed our passage on the opposite side. There was no alternative. We must go by the channel, within range of their guns, or not at all. As we steered to a point across the river, the Indians withdrew to the coulee, one alone remaining, who accompanied his friendly saluta- tion of 'How ! How !' with gestures indicating a desire for us to return to that side, and engage in trade with them. A moment later and our boat was opposite the coulee, within which we could see some of the red devils stripping off their blankets, and others, already denuded, approach- ing the verge of the bluff, armed with bows and arrows and rifles. It was evident we had come up with a large party of Sioux who were about to attack us, and we must make the best of the situation. Despite our labor at the oars, the current swept us down in direct range
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of the spot occupied by the Indians, who, before we had finished fastening our boat, opened fire upon us with about fifty shots, which fortunately whistled over our heads. Before they could cor- rect their aim for another fire, we were behind a breastwork hastily extemporized by throwing up our blankets and baggage against the exposed gunwale of the boat. This they pierced with bullets thick as hail, but the protection it afforded us was ample, and we soon got ready to return their leaden compliments. Each of our Henry rifles contained sixteen cartridges when we opened fire, and the distance being about one hundred and fifty yards to the bluff, which was literally swarming with savages, not more than ten min- utes elapsed until every one of them had disap- peared. The fearful death howl, however, assured us that our fire had not been in vain. With the exception of an occasional head dodg- ing behind the trees, not an Indian could be seen, yet from the coulee, the sage brush, and low shrubbery, an incessant firing was kept up, which we returned as often as an object became visible.
" The effect of our first fire satisfied us that while it would be death to all on board to attempt to run the channel, we could in our present posi- tion keep the rascals at bay. We could stand the
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broiling sun of an August afternoon on a heated sand-bar in the Missouri better than the hotter fire of our savage foes. Early in the action, while rising to fire from the breastwork, a bullet struck Humphrey in the mouth, carrying away with it a piece of the jaw and three teeth, and severely cutting the lips. The wound disabled him, and deprived us of the best marksman in the party. A little later 'Forty-niner' was struck by an arrow in the fleshy part of the thigh. I pulled out the shaft, and bound up the wound. Five minutes after, an arrow pierced the calf of his leg, inflicting a painful wound. These arrows came from a squad which was pro- tected from our bullets by a depression in the bluff, oblique to us. So great was their skill with the bow, that while the main party in front could not harm us with bullets, they, by bending their arrows, caused them to describe a curve which would strike their sharp points into the legs of our boots with unerring precision.
" The pride of 'Forty-niner' was now fully aroused. Twice wounded, he became enraged, desperate, and unsheathing his bowie-knife, he rose to his feet, and brandished it in the rays of the sun, launching a terrible imprecation upon the liver, hearts, and scalps of the savages.
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'Come on,' he shouted, 'you infernal sons of Belial ! Alone and single-handed, I will meet any five of the best of you in open fight !'
" The bullets whistled around him from an in- visible foe, but to no purpose. Seizing him by the left arm I pulled him down, and warned him of the danger of this personal exposure ; but not until he had exhausted his vocabulary of maledic- tions, would he yield to my entreaties and resume his place behind the breastwork. Deprecating his recklessness, I could not but admire his cour- age. But as this was no time for sentiment, I was only too happy, when, of his own accord, he stretched himself beside me, and I heard the bul- lets whistling harmlessly over us. Just at this moment I looked behind me and caught a glance of my little friend Johnny. With nothing but a pistol to engage in the conflict, he had taken no active part in it, but, with the pistol beside him, he was administering every possible relief to poor wounded Humphrey. His coolness was remark- able, and inspired us all with hope.
" The Indians kept up a brisk fire from various places of concealment until after sundown. We only responded when our shots would tell, and finally ceased to fire at all. Our enemies, think- ing we were all slain, sent a party to take our
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scalps and plunder. We lay still, behind our breastwork, so as not to undeceive them. Twenty- seven of their best warriors, led by Ta-Skun-ka- Du-tah (the ' Red Dog'), swam the river half a mile above, and marched down directly in rear of
us. There, at a distance of about three hundred yards, they sat down in a ring, within easy range of our rifles. Sitting Bull, their head chief, meantime made medieine on the south bank for their success, while they, believing that we were fully in their power, commenced smoking and making medicine with the intention of destroying us at leisure. (The names of the chiefs engaged in this attack were learned by the writer several years after its occurrence when he was employed as a government agent for the Teton Sioux, of which tribe Sitting Bull was head chief.)
" The 'Red Dog' was a big medicine man. Having filled and lighted the magie pipe, he first touched the heel of it to the ground, then raised and pointed the stem to the sun, drew a few solemn whiffs, foreing the smoke through his nostrils, and passed the pipe to his neighbor on the right, by whom it was passed on, until the ceremony was performed by every man in the cirele, and the pipe returned from right to left without ceremony to the hands of the medicine
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man. He refilled it, and it was circulated again from left to right. Painted sticks with colored sacks of medicine attached were then stuck in the ground in the centre of the enchanted circle, and the whole company arose, broke into a guttural graveyard chant, and commenced the war-dance around the medicine, the chief meantime waving over it his coo-stick. This over, the medicine with great solemnity was given to the sun.
" During the half-hour thus occupied by the Indians, we were engaged also in making medi- cine, and we made it strong. Our ten large Colt's revolvers were carefully loaded, our Henry rifles cleaned, and their magazines filled with car- tridges. We were impatiently awaiting the assault when it came. Naked, hideously striped with red and black paint, dancing, contorting their bodies, showering arrows thick and fast into and around the boat, blowing war whistles made of the bones of eagles' wings, whooping and yelling, they rushed to the onset as if all the devils of pandemonium had been suddenly let loose. For their arrows and bullets we were pre- pared, but this terrific vocal accompaniment for the moment scattered our courage to the winds. We could well understand how the stoutest hearts would quail in presence of such an infernal demon-
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stration. Our hair rose up like quills, and we could feel our hearts sink within us as the noise and din increased, filling the forest with horrible reverberations.
"Our little boat, breasting the sluggish current, floated at a distance of twenty feet from the shore, to which she was fastened by a strong painter. The red-skins, still shouting and firing, evidently anticipating an easy victory, rushed madly onward to the water's edge, when at a word, we all rose up and opened a deadly and in- cessant fire upon them with our rifles. Our hopes were more than realized in seeing several fall, and the others beat a hasty retreat to the cottonwoods. It was now our turn to shout, and we made the welkin ring with cheers of victory as we jumped from the boat and waded rapidly to the shore, and pursued the flying demons to their log covert in a coppice of willows. 'Forty-niner,' reminded that his banqueting hour had arrived, forgetful of his wounds, rushed impetuously to the charge, brandishing his inevitable bowie-knife with one hand, his unerring pistol firmly clasped in the other, and his powerful voice raised to the high- est pitch of angry utterance.
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