USA > Montana > Blaine County > In the land of Chinook; or, The story of Blaine county > Part 1
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IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
STIATE
SIGIL
L
RNIENSIS
EX LIBRIS
ROBERT ERNEST COWAN
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/inlandofchinooko00noye
IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
OR
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
BY
AL. J. NOYES (Ajax)
STATE PUBLISHING CO., HELENA, MONT.
0
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1917 By A. J. NOYES In the Office of Librarian of Congress, at Washington
B5N8 00
INTRODUCTION.
I shall offer no excuse for giving this story to the public. Many will read it with delight; while others will cast it aside with contempt. No man can write for all people-that is, to interest all people-successfully.
While this is a story of Blaine county, many of the people along the valley of the Milk river should find much that will prove of an educational nature, as the material was gotten from men who have been identified with the "Land of the Chinook" for many years.
It is no easy matter to gather the incidents and stories that are herein recorded. It requires days of travel, almost endless ques- tions and much research to trace down a fact. What I have placed before you is as truthfully done as possible. I find that men get an idea they are right, and they tell, for truth, something which has been told to them that can not be traced to fact. Any mistake that you find here was given as some other man saw or understood the matter.
COWAN LIBRARY, 1936
Harry Norton, an early-day newspaper man and prominent writer, said: "I know not what the truth may be; I give the story as 'twas told to me."
I could not conclude this without thanking those people who were kind enough to render assistance in the work.
My first encouragement came from Thomas M. Everett and Earnest Ekergren. From Everett I received very much of his- torical value, as he has been one of the most prominent men con- nected with this section of Northern Montana. Ekergren looked at it from the standpoint of business; in fact that such an attempt should be encouraged by the people of the county. To Jack Saddler I wish to extend thanks, as he gave me many names to whom I have been and from whom many things of interest were gotten. To each and all of the following, singly and collectively, I extend my thanks: "Daddy" Minugh, Sam Goff, Bill Bent, Billy Cochran, Col. Healey, Jim Snell, "Curley" Ereaux, Wm. Hart, Jay Rhoads, Jesse Angstman, Herbert Anderson, Chas. A. Smith, George Herendeen, Raymond Noyes, Jack Brown, Bradley, Father Eberschweiler, Bob Stuart, "K" Lowery, Chas. M. Russell, "Kid" Price, Si Gamble, Frank Dorrity and Mrs. Moore for stenographic assistance; James Dorrity, Mrs. James Dorrity, Arthur Scott, Min and Mrs. Arthur Cowan, Senator
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Taylor, Joe Mosser, Louie Shambow, Billy Skillen, Bro. Van Orsdel, W. B. Sands, Mrs. Lincoln, the first white woman of Northern Montana; "Daddy" Marsh, Chinook Democrat, Burton of Harlem and A. M. Allison of Chinook, for photos, River Press of Benton, E. M. Kenedy, Vernon Butler, Ed Broadwater, and last, but not least, my friend, Louis V. Bogy, the first man to build a shack in Chinook.
May there be many happy days in store for each of them.
AL J. NOYES (Ajax).
DEDICATION.
To my son, Charles Raymond Noyes, who has struggled for years to make a Dry Farm in Northern Montana yield a fair return, this little story of the men and conditions in "The Land of the Chinook" is dedicated by a loving father.
CREE INDIANS IN CAMP.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF BLAINE COUNTY WERE INDIANS-GROSVENTRES AND ASSINNIBOINES.
There is a story handed down by the Grosventres (Big Bellies) that many, many moons ago, a time, in fact, so long ago that it is now a myth, the Grosventres and Arapahoes came from the East and when they arrived at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone the Arapahoes turned to the south and the Gros- ventres crossed the Missouri and followed its north bank. The Grosventres speak of the Arapahoes as their children and it is said that their language is somewhat similar.
The Grosventres claim to have gone as far west as the land of the Blackfeet. In those days the Grosventres were quite a powerful tribe and numbered many warriors. Anyway, it is said they made it so disagreeable for the Blackfeet that they were persuaded to take up their headquarters along the Milk river.
Even though the Indians were the first inhabitants of this section they, by common consent, held as neutral ground the land in this vicinity. They traded at the different posts that had been built for that purpose along the Milk and Missouri rivers.
I say neutral ground-yes-among themselves, but not to the Sioux when they came to this section to hunt the buffalo which had taken refuge in this country.
Fort Browning was one of the first trading posts to be built in what was after to become Blaine County. This post was a short distance below the mouth of Peoples creek. When Ben Phillips got his namesake cut off the old site became a part of Phillips County.
This post was built in 1868 and was abandoned about 1872 for the following reason : As above stated, the Sioux came in large numbers to hunt the buffalo, and their presence made it an impossibility for the Milk River Indians to continue their trading at Browning. This is proof that the Sioux were altogether too powerful for the tribes of this section.
While the post was in operation the whites attempted to farm. Their attempt was an abortive one, however, as all that was done was the breaking of about fifteen acres of land which was never seeded. This was, no doubt, the first land that was
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IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
ever plowed in Northern Montana or the Milk river. They did put in some potatoes but there was no great success attending the experiment as the potatoes they raised were very small.
After it was shown that Browning was no longer in neutral ground the post was abandoned and the building of "Old" Fort Belknap Agency, or post, across the river from what is now known as Chinook, the county seat of our county, in '70 or '71.
There was probably not more than fifty miles difference as to distance between these two posts. Why the Sioux did not cover that distance and make it disagreeable for the people located there, has, to my mind, only one explanation. All the other west- ern and northern tribes had more or less in common and could be relied upon to form a coalition to protect themselves from the powerful people to the east.
There can be no doubt but it was these same people who had caused the Grosventres and Arapahoes to leave the lands of their fathers and seek new hunting grounds along the waters of the Upper Missouri, in one case, and, in the other, to find more con- genial homes in Wyoming and Colorado. But be the reason what it may, the Sioux did not molest them very much at Belknap. Thus we find that the Grosventres and Assinniboines were the first people to inhabit Blaine County.
What kind of people were they? In fact, what kind of people are they, as they are still quite a factor as far as popula- tion is concerned in the county. In the first place, if I have been correctly informed, they were friendly to the whites and I can find but few instances where they ever killed them. One case that was of particular importance happened in the following way : A white trader came among them at one time and so far forgot the rights of the other man that he eloped with the young and comely wife of one of the leading Indians. The Indian, as soon as he found his wife missing, set out in hot pursuit, overtook his enemy and both firing at the same time, were killed. It is too bad that the Red Man had to die, in this case.
It is only natural that we should like to know something of the traits and peculiarities of these people whom we found when we came here and who now occupy one of the most pleasant sections of our county, the Ft. Belknap Reservation. They number 1400 to 1500. Their tribal relations have become more or less disrupted. They no longer have Chiefs to direct them as they once did. (In the olden days of tribal relationship the chief was all powerful. The hunters went out and killed the game, which was brought in by the women to the tepee of the head man and he divided it so that each family had some share.) The young men of the tribe no longer feel that they must subject
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
themselves to the arbitrary ruling of some one whom they think has no more rights than themselves.
The father was the owner of his children and sold, as a gen- eral rule, his daughter to the highest bidder or to the one who had the most to exchange for her. Of course there are instances where the father has allowed his friendship for some man- whether young or old-to take advantage of his avarice and make a present.
COURTSHIP.
The courtship under such conditions could never have been as is too often depicted by the person who wishes to throw the mantle of romance around these people as they have done in so many instances. The young Red Man could not have paid much attention to the girl by saying soft things to her when he knew that the way to her heart was through the pocket of her father. The young Indian would see some girl that he wished to purchase and would probably take a horse and tie it near the father's lodge. If the father considered the horse, or whatever the thing may have been, worth as much to him as the girl he would untie and take possession. But if there was a possibility of the swain coming thru with something more elaborate the horse was left, apparently unnoticed until more presents, either horses or trinkets, had accumulated to satisfy the greed of pater. One can hardly consider that a courtship which has only one side, but there may have been a coy look in the eye of the Indian maiden to show the young warrior that she would be willing to follow him to his lodge.
When the trade was finally made she was taken to the lodge of her husband and began, at once, the arduous duties that the women of the tribes were expected to perform. The drudgery was their part of the contract and the bold husband was to hunt the game and protect the wife from the bands of roving Indians who would too willingly claim her as a trophy.
When an Indian had married the oldest daughter of a man he could, if he so desired, marry each and all the daughters of that man. Many of them had, for wives, as many as seven or eight sisters. When there was more than one wife in a lodge- one of the white men who had married into the Indian tribe, told me he had seen as many as nine wives in the same lodge-the fav- orite wife was the leader in all the domestic duties, and her word was law. It might be that she was the oldest, or it might be that she was any one of the nine down to the very last and young- est, if she was the favorite she laid out the work and they all fell to and did it. The tanning of hides, the drying of meat, the
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IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
making of pemican, or the clothes, was done in that way. Jeal- ousy was the exception and not the rule in these large families.
The husband had complete control over the lives of his wives and no one could gainsay it. If a woman proved untrue she might be killed or disfigured, by having the ears or nose cut off. This was certainly a mark more pronounced than appeared on the brow of Cain. Men have told me that they have seen Indian women bearing these horrible mutilations and going thru life for- ever branded as untrue to their lords. One instance was called to the notice of the writer as follows: A young man fell in live with the youngest wife of an Indian of wealth. He fled with her to a friendly tribe in a land far distant, but word came to the bereaved husband that his wife was there. He called one of his friends, a man of parts, and said: "In the camp of the -s you will find the woman who left me for a younger man. Go and bring her back, see that she returns with you and I will reimburse you for your trouble."
The journey was made and ten buffalo ponies-horses that were particularly fitted for the chase of the buffalo-was the price exacted. She was brought back to her lord and master and he said: "Take her to her lodge." He asked the friend how much he had to give for her release and he told him that the price was ten buffalo ponies. The payment of the debt was made at once and he went to the lodge where the young woman was sitting, with her head bowed down with grief and fear, and cov- ered in the folds of her blanket. She knew full well the anger that was in the heart of her husband and also knew that her lot would only be what he should desire. She had been given to this man, so far as her body and life was concerned, not by any law of God, but by the law of the most selfish of all beings, man. Why should man, and especially one who was governed by a law which he had made for only selfish reasons; one which allowed him to run almost as loose as the beast of the field, make a law to govern the woman and keep her bound in subjection ?
I have no time for the fool man who thinks himself wiser than the woman who was given him for the gratification of his desires and to help him make this world a place that is really worth living in simply because she was an after-thought of God. Bosh ! Man has lived a million years on this earth and instead of raising the standard of life to the highest plain he has raised Hell in his race for selfish aims.
Even in America where the woman is beginning to receive some recognition, where she is being given a chance to help to make the world better, to make it what God must have intended it should become in order that one and all should get the best
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
that there is in life out, even here, man believes himself one on whom all the responsibilities rest, and with whom all wisdom and goodness lies.
This is a digression, maybe, but I believe it belongs right where it is found. That Indian woman, of tender age, given to a man old enough to have been her father and one who had several women for the gratification of his passions, for that is all the credit that can be extended to one who lives under such laws and conditions, could not be to blame if some one nearer her age had signified a desire for her as she was nothing but an animal any way, according to the law of nature as practiced by the primitive people.
And when her owner stood over her he was kind enough to tell her the price, in horses, she had cost him for her safe return to his lodge. "You are back to my lodge again and you have cost me ten buffalo ponies," and with that remark he shot her, not once, but ten times, a shot for each horse.
And that man that over-persuaded her to leave her husband knew the Indian law and knew that the woman would meet that fate, yet he, for a few ponies, surrendered her to be slaughtered. This is only one instance that could be recorded of the frightful price that some Indian women have paid for breaking their mar- riage vows.
There is another thing that seems strange, and that is the dis- position to change the conditions of the distribution of marriage- able people, that is, that you will find many old men with young wives and young men with old women for wives. The first time the writer was on the reservation his attention was called to the matter but the party who told him, though one who had lived for years in that section, could throw no light on it. I must admit that, to the writer, that was not the correct way of making the dis- tribution. The why (?) was asked for such a custom and the answer came from a man who had lived for forty years, more or less, among the Indians, that it was simple, when known. "There is no courtship, at least as we know it, known among the Indians. The woman is a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder, as it were. The young and tender girls, even of seven or eight, might be chosen by some old Indian who had many wives already, if he had accumulated ponies or property with which to buy them, while the aged wife of the same man might be purchased by some younger man who was less fortunate or had not become old enough to have made raids among his Indian neighbors and stolen the requisite number of horses to give him a start in the world."
When one takes this as the reason he no longer wonders at the condition as he knows that the man who holds woman as
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IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
property can not and does not form affection for her. I have heard, though, of Indian men who have been as much in love with their wives as any one of the higher races in civilization could possibly think. A gentleman told me of one man, and one, too, who was a big chief, who would sit for hours and comb the hair of his better half. This man could hardly leave her to go to war or to the chase. Surely an exception.
TALCUM POWDER IN BIG BUNCHES.
Not many years ago when a child was born to one of these women it was placed in the baby sack, and as a preventative for chafing, was packed in the dry pulverized dung of the buffalo. This had been rubbed until it had become an almost impalpable dust. These mothers were much as the more civilized ones in that some of them were very careful and changed their little ones as often as necessary to keep them comfortable, while others became careless and allowed the little one to suffer agony because of the accumulation of filth about them. This dry dung is used much as the Talcum powder of the white mother, but surely in more generous quantities.
I have been told by men who have lived among them that they were more cleanly before the advent of the whites than they are now. Baths were of frequent occurrence and many were known to open the ice and jump in. I recall a story of the particular carelessness of one Indian woman in this part of the state as related by Larpenture, a man who was at Ft. Union years ago and who left a very interesting story or diary which, in the hands of a noted writer, has become of much value to those who like to study the conditions of men. He said: "It was thought necessary by the factor of the post to go up to the Milk River country and make a trade with the Indians in their winter camp, so another man and myself were selected to make the trip. It was one of those very cold and disagreeable winters when one would have been much more comfortable at the fireside of a cabin than out on the prairies of the Northwest in the Indian camp, especially when they were camped where wood was hard to get. We arrived at their place of encampment and it was so cold and the snow was so deep that we could get about but little. We had been invited to the lodge of one of the principal men and was partaking of his hospitality, which had lasted for several days, when the man who was with me began to lose his appetite. I was somewhat alarmed at this as he had been able to make a full hand at the table and this sudden change bothered me not a little as I could hardly get my stuff back to the post if he became incapacitated. I asked him what was wrong and his reply was somewhat startling to one with a weak stomach, as he said: 'I saw the squaw use her butcher knife to remove the
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
frozen increment from the nether garments of her papoose and, without washing it, she proceeded to cut the meat for our supper, and from that time till this I have not thought as much about eat- ing as I have in changing boarding houses.' It is needless to say we soon wound up our business and started for the Fort, though it was a very serious matter at that time of the year."
There were instances among the tribes where separations took place by mutual consent. There were also women in some camps who would barter themselves for a price. These women had been the wives of men who were not blood-thirsty enough to kill or disfigure, but allowed them to live in the same camp a prey to the desires of men.
Indians, though they appear stoical to the whites, are as full of jokes, when left to their own devices, as are the whites. They are fond of their tribal dances and have built several large dance halls or houses on the reservation at convenient points. These buildings are round. They congregate at these places often. The writer was informed by a man who has lived for years among them that the dances of today are too immoral for any use and are more for the gratification of the animal passions than for social enjoyment. That this is a fact was substantiated by a young man who said that it was too true.
The advent of the white man did not benefit the Red. While it is a fact that many good white men did marry Indian women and were true to their family relations, there were too many who lived for their personal gratifications-careless of the final results. When the railroad came too many of the "Bucks" made the mother of their children a commodity to satisfy the lust of the grader and hanger-on.
The Indian would always steal from his enemy, but seldom from his tribe. An incidence that took place several years ago was related to the writer by William Bent, who said: "Bill Hamilton, the frontiersman and author, boasted that there was not an Indian in America who could creep up to him in the night and relieve him of any of his possession. Bill would not sleep any place except out in the open. There was a noted Indian. horse thief, "Grosventre Jerry," who had never been known to miss anything he had started for. The boys, knowing the Indian's almost uncanny ability, wagered Bill that they knew a man who would get something that he possessed, but, of course, would not state any definite time. Bill always laid down with his gun by his side, his revolver under his head and a famous bull- dog at his feet.
One night he made his usual preparations, hanging his field glasses on some bushes at the head of his bed and placing his revolver under his head. Jerry had been told that if Bill caught
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IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
him in the act of pillage it would be sure death. I do not know what the incentive could have been that would cause the Indian to take a chance such as was put up to him; the trying to secure something from a sleeping man, noted for his caution, and espe- cially from the bulldog that would have killed him if Bill hadn't. The next morning old Bill raised a big disturbance because his revolver, from under his head, and glasses, from off the bush, had been taken, and neither himself, or the dog, heard the approach of the thief. Bill never again boasted of his prowess but made a particular friend of Jerry, for whom he would do anything."
I can not take too much of my time in recounting the tales of these peculiar people, nor in trying to throw light on their characteristics because this could not be done in one short chapter. When everything is known of them and, of other races and peo- ples, then we can say that they are a different people from any others whom we know. The man who is the student of man- kind-the ethnologist-will tell you that men are pretty much alike the world over. Men are only peculiar to us as they differ from us in our mode of thinking.
That there can be no sin where there is no intent to do evil, holds just as good among the various nations and tribes of earth as it does in our own laws. The Indian woman who has been traded and sold for the price that men would pay for her had nothing in her ethics that would cause her to blush with shame.
The Indian who had been taught to steal the enemies' horses should certainly not be condemned, too severely, as we find the white men in their warfare doing things much worse.
The Indians worshiped the sun and other things as they would worship rocks of peculiar shapes. Their theory of the set- tlement, or the way they happened to be here was, as told to me by one of the old men, so Wm. Bent says, as follows: "Long time ago our people were on a big frozen lake and one of the women had a papoose on a sled. We came to a place where there was an elk horn protruding from the ice and the baby wanted it and in our endeavor to procure it the ice broke, drowning some and separating the party. Those who were on this side of the hole came and settled this country." Who knows but what the Bering sea was frozen over and that the Indian did come to this land in that very way.
In closing this chapter on these people, who came here before we did, I want to say that they are among us, and will become, as soon as the reservation is thrown open, a part of us. They will present problems for us to solve and in solving them let us treat them as men who will have the same rights that we enjoy as they are to be amenable to our laws.
CURLEY EREAUX.
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
CHAPTER II.
"SQUAW-MEN."
If one were to speak about the men who have taken Indian women, derisively, he would be considered as anything but wise, in some parts of Montana. The fact is that some of the best men had Indian women in the early days when women were at a premium and before the advent of the pioneer white women.
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