USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 56
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" July 4 .- As we were riding slowly along this afternoon, elouds of dust, in the ravines to the right, suddenly attracted our attention, and in a few minutes column after column of buffaloes came galloping down, making directly to the river. By the time the leading herds had reached the water, the prairie was darkened with the dense masses. Immediately before us, when the bands first eame down into the val- ley, stretched an unbroken line, the head of which was lost among the river hills on the opposite side ; and still they poured down from the
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ridge on our right. From hill to hill the prairie bottom was not less than two miles wide, and allowing the animals to be ten feet apart, and only ten in a line, there were already eleven thousand in view. Some idea may thus be formed of their number, when they had occu- pied the whole plain. In a short time they surrounded us on every side, extending for several miles in the rear and forward, as far as the eye could reach, leaving around us, as we advanced, an open space of only two or three hundred yards. This movement of the buffaloes indicated to us the presence of Indians on the North Fork.
" I halted earlier than usual, about forty miles from the junction, and all hands were soon busily engaged in preparing a feast to eele- brate the day. The kindness of our friends at St. Louis had provided us with a large supply of excellent preserves, and rich fruit cake ; and when these were added to a maccaroni soup, and variously prepared dishes of the choicest buffalo meat, crowned with a eup of coffee, and enjoyed with prairie appetite, we felt, as we sat in barbaric luxury around our smoking supper on the grass, a greater sensation of enjoy- ment than the Roman epicure at his perfumed feast. But most of all it seemed to please our Indian friends, who, in the unrestrained enjoy- ment of the moment, demanded to know if our ' Medicine days came often.' No restraint was exercised at the hospitable board, and, to the great delight of his elders, one young Indian had made himself extremely drunk.
" July 7 .- At our camp this morning, at 6 o'clock, the barometer was 'at 26.183, thermometer 69°, and clear, with a light wind from the South-West. The past night had been squally, with high winds, and occasionally a few drops of rain. Our cooking did not occupy much time, and we left camp early. Nothing of interest occurred during the morning. The same dreary barrenness except that a hard, marly elay had replaced the sandy soil. Buffaloes absolutely covered the plain on both sides the river, and whenever we ascended the hills, scattered herds gave life to the view in every direction. A small drove of wild horses made their appearance on tho low river-bottoms, a mile or two to the left, and I sent off one of the Indians (who seemed very eager to eatch one), on my led horse, a spirited and fleet animal. The savage manœuvered a little to get the wind of the horses, in which he succeeded, approaching within a hundred yards without being dis- covered. The chase for a few minutes was animated and interesting. My hunter easily overtook and passed the hindermost of the wild drove, which the Indian did not attempt to lasso ; all his efforts being directed to the capture of the leader. But the strength of the horse, weakened by the insufficient nourishment of grass, failed in a race,
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and all the drove eseaped. We halted at noon on the bank of the river, the barometer at that time being 26.192, and the thermometer 103°, with a light air from the South, and elear weather.
" July 9 .- This morning we caught the first faint glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, about sixty miles distant. Though a tolerably bright day, there was a slight mist, and we were just able to discern the snowy summit of ' Long's peak ' (les deux oreilles of the Canad- ians), showing like a small cloud near the horizon. I found it easily distinguishable, there being a perceptible difference in its appearanee from the white clouds that were floating about the sky."
INDIAN SPEECHI.
"After reading this, I mentioned its purport to my companions, and seeing that all were fully possessed of its contents, one of the Indians rose up, and having first shaken hands with me, spoke as follows :
" ' You have come among us at a bad time. Some of our people have been killed, and our young men, who are gone to the mountains, are eager to avenge the blood of their relations, which has been shed by the whites. Our young men are bad, and if they meet you they will believe that you are carrying goods and ammunition to their ene- mies, and will fire upon you. You have told us that this will make war. We know that our great father lias many soldiers and big guns, and we are anxious to have our lives. We love the whites, and are desirous of peace. Thinking of all these things, we have determined to keep you here until our warriors return. We are glad to see you among us. Our father is rich, and we expected that you would have brought presents to us-horses, and guns, and blankets. But we are glad to see you. We look upon your coming as the light which goes before the sun ; for you will tell our great father that you have seen us, and that we are naked and poor, and have nothing to eat, and he will send us all these things.' He was followed by others to the same effect.
REPLY.
" The observations of the savage appeared reasonable, but I was aware that they had in view only the present object of detaining me, and were unwilling I should go further into the country. In reply, I asked them, through the interpretation of Mr. Boudean, to select two or three of their number to accompany us until we should meet their people ; they should spread their robes in my tent, and eat at my table, and on our return I would give them presents in reward of their services. They deelined, saying that there were no young men left in the village, and they were too old to travel so many days on
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horseback, and preferred now to smoke their pipes in the lodge, and let the warriors go on the war path. Besides, they had no power over the young men, and were afraid to interfere with them. In my turn, I addressed them : ' You say that you love the whites ; why have you killed so many already this spring? You say that you love the whites, and are full of many expressions of friendship to us, but you are not willing to undergo the fatigue of a few days' ride to save our lives. We do not believe what you have said, and will not listen to you. Whatever a chief among us tells his soldiers to do is done. We are the soldiers of the great chief, your father. He has told us to come here and see this country, and all the Indians, his children. Why should we not go? Before we came, we heard that you had killed his people, and ceased to be his children ; but we come among you peaceably, holding out our hands. Now, we find that the stories we heard are not lies, and that you are no longer his friends and children. We have thrown away our bodies, and will not turn back. When you told us that your young men would kill us, you did not know that our hearts were strong, and you did not see the rifles which my young men carry in their hands. We are few and you are many, and may kill us all; but there will be much crying in your vil- lages, for many of your young men will stay behind, and forget to return with your warriors from the mountains. Do you think that our great chief will let his soldiers die and forget to cover their graves ? Before the snows melt again, his warriors will sweep away your villages as the fire does the prairie in the autumn. See! I have pulled down my white houses, and my people are ready ; when the sun is ten paces higher, we shall be on the march. If you have any thing to tell us, you will say it soon.' I broke up the conference, as I could do nothing with these people, and being resolved to proceed, nothing was to be gained by delay."
DEVIL'S GATE.
"Crossing the ridge of red sand-stone, and traversing the little prairie which lies to the southward of it, we made in the afternoon an excursion to a place which we have called the Hot Spring Gate. This place has much the appearance of a gate, by which the Platte passes through a ridge composed of a white and calcareous sandstone. The length of the passage is about four hundred yards, with a smooth green prairie on either side. Through this place the stream flows with a quiet current, unbroken by any rapid, and is about seventy yards wide between the walls, which rise perpendicularly from the water. To that on the right bank, which is the lower, the barometer gave a hight of 360 feet."
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MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
" We saw here numerous herds of mountain sheep, and frequently heard the volley of rattling stones which accompanied their rapid des- cent down the steep hills. This was the first place at which we had killed any of these animals ; and, in consequence of this circumstance, and of the abundance of these sheep or goats (for they are called by each name), we gave to our encampment the name of Goat Island. Their flesh is much esteemed by the hunters, and has very much the flavor of the Alleghany Mountain sheep. I have frequently seen the horns of this animal three feet long, and seventeen inches in circumference at the basc, weighing eleven pounds. But two or three of these were killed by our party at this place, and of these the horns were small. The use of these horns seemed to be to protect the animal's head in pitching down precipices to avoid pursuing wolves - their only safety being in places where they can not be followed. The bones are very strong and solid, the marrow occupying a very small portion of the bone in the leg, about the thickness of a ryc straw. The hair is short, resembling the winter color of our common deer, which it nearly approaches in size and appearance. Except in the horns, it has no resemblance whatever to the goat."
SOUTH PASS.
" The afternoon was cloudy, with squalls of rain; but the weather became fine at sunset, when we again encamped on the Sweet Water, within a few miles of the South Pass. The country over which we have passed to-day consists principally of a compact, mica slate, which crops out on all the ridges, making the uplands very rocky and slaty."
MOUNTAIN VIEW.
" Early in the morning we resumed our journey, the weather still cloudy, with occasional raiu. , Our general course was west, as I had determined to cross the dividing ridge by a bridle path among the broken country, more immediately at the foot of the mountains, and return by the wagon road, two and a half miles to the south of the point where the trail crosses. About six miles from our encampment, brought us to the summit. The ascent had been so gradual that, with all the intimate knowledge possessed by Carson, who had made this country his home for seventeen years, we were obliged to watch very closely to find the place at which we had reached the culminating point. This was between two low hills, rising on either band fifty or sixty feet. When I looked back at them from the foot of the imme-
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diate slope on the western plain, their summits appeared to be abont one hundred and twenty feet above. From the impression on my · mind at this time, and subsequently on our return, I should compare the elevation which we surmounted immediately at the pass, to the ascent of Capitol Hill from the Avenue, at Washington. It is diffi- cult for me to fix positively the breadth of this pass. From the broken ground where it commences, at the foot of the Wind River chain, the view to the south-east is over a champaign country, broken at the distance of nineteen miles by the Table Rock ; which, with the other isolated hills in its vicinity, seems to stand on a comparative plain. This I judge to be its termination, the ridge recovering its character with the Table Roek. It will be seen that it in no manner resembles the places to which the term is commonly applied-nothing of the gorge-like character and winding ascents of the Alleghany passes in America; nothing of the great St. Bernard and Simplon passes in Europe. Approaching it from the mouth of the Sweet Water, a sandy plain, one hundred and twenty miles long, conducts by a gradual and regular aseent, to the summit, about seven thousand fect above the sea ; and the traveler, without being reminded of any change by toilsome aseents, suddenly finds himself on the waters which flow to the Pacific Ocean. By the route we had traveled, the distance from Fort Laramie is three hundred and twenty miles, or nine hun- dred and fifty from the mouth of the Kansas."
THE NATIONAL FLAG.
" We managed to get our mules up to a little beneh, about a hun- dred feet above the lakes, where there was a patch of good grass, and turned them loose to graze. During our rough ride to this place, they had exhibited a wonderful sure-footedness. Parts of the defile were filled with angular, sharp fragments of rock, three or four, and eight or ten feet cube; and among these they had worked their way, leaping from one narrow point to another, rarely making a false step, and giving us no occasion to dismount. Having divested ourselves of every unnecessary ineumbranee, we commeneed the ascent. This time like experienced travelers, we did not press ourselves, but elimbed leisurely, sitting down so soon as we found breath beginning to fail. At intervals we reached places where a number of springs gushed from the rocks, and about 1800 feet above the lakes, came to the snow line. From this point our progress was uninterrupted climbing. Hi- therto, I had worn a pair of thick moccasins, with soles of par flèche, but here I put on a light thin pair, which I had brought for the pur- pose, as now the use of our toes became necessary to a further advance.
-
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I availed myself of a sort of cone of the mountain, which stood against the wall like a buttress, and which the wind and the solar radiation, joined to the steepness of the smooth rock, had kept almost entirely free from snow. Up this I made my way rapidly.
" Our cautious method of advancing in the outset, had spared my strength ; and, with the exception of a slight disposition to headache, I felt no remains of yesterday's illness. In a few minutes we reached a point where the buttress was over-hanging, and there was no other way of surmounting the difficulty than by passing around one side of it, which was the face of a vertical precipice of several hundred feet. Putting hands and feet in the crevices between the blocks, I succeeded in getting over it, and when I reached the top, found my companions in a small valley below. Descending to them, we continued climbing, and in a short time reached the crest. I sprang upon the summit, and another step would have precipitated me into an immense snow- field, 500 feet below. To the edge of this field was a sheer icy preci- pice ; and then, with a gradual fall, the field sloped off for about a mile, until it struck the foot of the lower ridge. I stood upon a narrow crest, about three feet in width, with an inclination of about 20º N., 51° E. As soon as I had gratified the first feeling of curiosity, I descended, and each man ascended in his turn, for I would only allow one at a time to mount the unstable and precarious slab, which it seemed a breath would hurl into the abyss below.
" We mounted the barometer in the snow of the summit, and fixing a ramrod in a crevice, unfurled the National Flag to wave in the breeze where never flag waved before. During our morning's ascent, we had met no sign of animal life, except the small sparrow-like bird already mentioned. A stillness the most profound, and a terrible solitude forced themselves constantly on the mind as the great features of the place. Here on the summit where the stillness was absolute, unbroken by any sound, and the solitude complete, we thought ourselves beyond the region of animated life; but while we were sitting on the rock, a solitary bee (the humble bee), came winging his flight from the east- ern valley, and lit on the knee of one of the men."
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JEREMIAH SMITH.
I CAN NOT pass by the subject of this sketch, with whom I have long been personally acquainted. Judge Smith was one of the early set- tlers of Randolph county. He received in early life a good common English education, which he improved after he entered upon the active duties of life. He was emphatically a self-made man, with a vigorous mind, a strong sound constitution, and untiring energy. He rose rapidly to a high stand at the bar, was placed upon the bench as president judge, of the Circuit Court, and served a full term, when he returned to the practice of his profession, in which he is actively and successfully engaged, in the vigor of manhood. Judge Smith, in per- son is large and corpulent, high broad forehead, full face, good fea- tures. As a speaker he makes no pretense to eloquence, but marches directly to the point in controversy, with all his might, throwing bim- self bodily into the argument. The Judge has many years been an active member of the Christian church, and is now one of the trustees of the University at Indianapolis, and also president of the Cincin- nati, Union and Fort Wayne, and the Evansville, Indianapolis and Cleveland straight-line railroad companies. Still his indomitable energy and untiring perseverance seem to be equal to the labors he performs. Long may he live ; such men do much for their country, and can hardly be spared when the sands of life have run out.
CALVIN FLETCHER.
I FEAR my notice of the subject of this sketch, as connected with light anecdotes, may do injustice to his character as a man of the first standing among us, which I should regret. The notice I have taken of him was only intended to introduce him to the reader, as a young lawyer, filled with humorous fun and innocent amusement. I take back nothing I have said, and remark further, that the same vein of humor that coursed through the young lawyer, will be present with him, in despite of his efforts to restrain it through life. Mr. Fletcher was one of the first settlers at Indianapolis, when there was few houses there, when the whole country around it was a wilderness. He was a remark- able man. He combined all the elements of an effective pioneer in a new country-an iron constitution, clear and vigorous common- sense mind, an energy that never slumhered, integrity never questioned, a high conception of morality and religion, social qualities of the first order, a devoted friend to the cause of education, a good lawyer, and a forcible speaker. It was not strange that he should have occupied a prominent position ; whether at the bar, in the Senate of the State,
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JOHN BEARD -- JOHN HAGER.
president of the Bank, in the Sabbath school, or the free common schools, in the church or in the extended field of agriculture, he had no compcer. It may be said truly, that Calvin Fletcher has done more to stamp society at Indianapolis, with the true principles of civ- ilization and Christianity, than any other man living or dead. He is now enjoying fine health, only a little past the meridian of life. His sons, like their father, possess high qualities, and must like him be distinguished.
JOHN BEARD.
WHILE I am sketching a few more of the pioneers of Indiana, I can not pass my friend, John Beard, of Montgomery. I knew him in early days, as well as his father before him. He was of the class of men in a new country called useful. Mr. Beard made no show nor parade. He was plain, practical, sensible, with a strong common- sense mind, and a clear judgment. His opinions had great weight wherever he was placed. He rose by his native powers, without the benefit of an early education, to the Senate of the State, where he stood for years among the very first. He held the office of Receiver under the Government for many years, and discharged its duties to the entire satisfaction of the Government. He still lives to enjoy the remainder of his well-spent life. I love to speak of these plain. honest pioneers of the West. Such men are truly the bone and sinew of all new conntries.
JOHN HAGER.
I SHOULD do injustice to my feelings, were I to pass unnoticed my early, devoted friend, John Hager, of Hancock. I knew him long, I knew him well. As I was traveling one rainy day on horseback through the woods, between Indianapolis and Connersville, near where Green- field now stands, I heard a loud voice before me, some half a mile off. My horse was wading through the mud and water, up to the saddle- skirts. I moved slowly on, until I met John Hager driving a team of four oxen, hauling a heavy load of merchandise, or store-goods, as he called it, from Cincinnati to Indianapolis, then in the woods. He had been fifteen days on the road, and it would take him three days more to get through. He stopped his oxen a few moments, but said he must move on, as they would be anxiously looking for him at Indianapolis, as they were nearly out of powder and lead when he
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left, and they could get none until he got there, as his was the only wagon that could get through the mud between Cincinnati and Indi- anapolis, and it was just as much as he could do. He hallooed to the oxen, plied the lash of his long whip, and the team moved on at the rate of a mile an hour-the wheels up to the hubs in mud.
Such was John Hager and his teams, carrying the whole commerce between the Queen City and the Railroad City of the West, at that early day. But the end of my early friend was not yet; the roads through the woods were opened, competition soon rendered his busi- ness precarious ; he sold his team, left the business, turned his atten- tion to politics, his voice sounded from many a stump, the people tri- umphantly elected him successively Associate Judge and Clerk of the Circuit Court, and he died years ago, at a good old age, respected by all who knew him.
Y
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ANDREW WYLIE, L. L. D., ETC.
ANDREW WYLIE, L. L. D.
AMONG the eminent divines, connected with our highest literary institutions, stood Andrew Wylie, many years president of the State University at Bloomington. Whether we contemplate Dr. Wylie as an Episcopal minister or as president of the University, he occupies the same elevated position among his cotemporaries. The mind of Dr. Wylic was of the first order, trained and polished by a classical education. Nature had done her part, and education had reared her towering superstructure in his vigorous mind. Dr. Wylie was an intellectual giant, with few equals, and no superiors, within the sphere of his positions. I knew him well, and it affords me a most solemn gratification to pay this short tribute to his memory. He was remarkably fine-looking, above the common hight, portly and com- manding, capacious chest, large head, hair silvered over when first I saw him, broad high forehead, wide mouth, full face, prominent fea- tures. His style was plain, his elocution fluent and vigorous, at times beautiful, eloquent, sublime. As president of the University, he had his trials, but he rose triumphantly over his difficulties. His good common-sense, his enlarged, cultivated mind, the purity of his Chris- tian life and character disarmed his temporary opponents, and endeared him to those who knew him best. The sun of Dr. Wylie went down without a cloud at midday. He was taken from us in the the meridian of life, leaving many friends behind, among whom I desire to be numbered.
REV. PHINEAS D. GURLEY.
AT the time the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church at Indianapolis, the Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, now of the city of Washington, was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. I had the pleasure frequently of hearing these eminent divines. I have already sketched Mr. Beecher, and do not feel justified in passing Mr. Gurley without a brief notice. There was a great contrast between these distinguished divines, each was peculiar to himself. Mr. Gurley in person, was large, portly, and commanding, not only good-looking but handsome, black hair, dark eyes, large head, capacious brain. He was a man of a high order of talent ; not brilliant, but sound and practical. As a preacher, he was always listened to with deep interest by his congregation. He announced his text in a solemn tone of voice; the object of his whole sermon seemed to be to produce serious feelings in the congre-
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gation. I scarcely ever heard a man more highly gifted in that kind of preaching, that makes the congregation think and feel, than Mr. Gurley. He seemed fully impressed with the responsibility of his position as a gospel minister, and he labored his text to that end. I shall ever feel that the capital of the State needed just two such men as Mr. Gurley and Mr. Beecher; though differing so widely in person and style of preaching, each was calculated to do great good in his Church. Both left us for a wider field of usefulness, and now have large congregations in their respective Churches.
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