USA > Oregon > The Oregon trail : sketches of prairie and Rocky Mountain life > Part 23
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among the bushes, and an elk, as I thought, his horns thrown back over his neck, darted past us across the open space, and bounded like a mad thing away among the adjoining pines. Raymond was soon out of his saddle, 5 but before he could fire, the animal was full two hundred yards distant. The ball struck its mark, though much too low for mortal effect. The elk, however, wheeled in its flight, and ran at full speed among the trees, nearly at right angles to his former course. I fired and broke Io his shoulder; still he moved on, limping down into the neighboring woody hollow, whither the young Indian followed and killed him. When we reached the spot we discovered him to be no elk, but a black-tailed deer, an animal nearly twice the size of the common deer, and quite 15 unknown to the East. We began to cut him up; the re- ports of the rifles had reached the cars of the Indians, and before our task was finished several of them came to the spot. Leaving the hide of the deer to The Hail-Storm, we hung as much of the meat as we wanted behind our sad- 20 dles, left the rest to the Indians, and resumed our journey. Meanwhile the village was on its way, and had gone so far that to get in advance of it was impossible. Therefore we directed our course so as to strike its line of march at the nearest point. In a short time, through the dark 25 trunks of the pines, we could see the figures of the Indians as they passed. Once more we were among them. They were moving with even more than their usual precipita- tion, crowded close together in a narrow pass between rocks and old pine trees. We were on the eastern descent 3º of the mountain, and soon came to a rough and difficult defile, leading down a very steep declivity. The whole swarm poured down together, filling the rocky passage- way like some turbulent mountain stream. The mountains before us were on fire, and had been so for weeks. The 35 view in front was obscured by a vast dim sea of smoke and vapor, while on either hand the tall cliffs, bearing aloft their crest of pines, thrust their heads boldly through it, and the sharp pinnacles and broken ridges of the moun- tains beyond thein were faintly traceable as through 40 a veil. The scene in itself was most grand and imposing, but with the savage multitude, the armed warriors, the
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naked children, the gayly appareled girls, pouring impet- uously down the heights, it would have formed a noble subject for a painter, and only the pen of a Scottº could have done it justice in description.
We passed over a burnt tract where the ground was hot 5 beneath the horses' feet, and between the blazing sides of two mountains. Before long we had descended to a softer region, where we found a succession of little valleys watered by a stream, along the borders of which grew abundance of wild gooseberries and currants, and the children and Ic many of the men straggled from the line of march to gather them as we passed along. Descending still farther, the view changed rapidly. The burning mountains were be- hind us, and through the open valleys in front we could see the oceanlike prairie, stretching beyond the sight. After 15 passing through a line of trees that skirted the brook, the Indians filed out upon the plains. I was thirsty and knelt down by the little stream to drink. As I mounted again I very carelessly left my rifle among the grass, and my thoughts being otherwise absorbed, I rode for some distance 20 before discovering its absence. As the reader may con- ceive, I lost no time in turning about and galloping back in search of it. Passing the line of Indians, I watched every warrior as he rode by me at a canter, and at length dis- covered my rifle in the hands of one of them, who, on my 25
approaching to claim it, immediately gave it up. Having no other means of acknowledging the obligation, I took off one of my spurs and gave it to him. He was greatly delighted, looking upon it as a distinguished mark of favor, and immediately held out his foot for me to buckle it on. 30 As soon as I had done so, he struck it with all his force into the side of his horse, who gave a violent leap. The Indian laughed and spurred harder than before. At this the horse shot away like an arrow, amid the screams and laughter of the squaws, and the ejaculations of the men, 35 who exclaimed: "Washtay ! - Good !" at the potent effect of my gift. The Indian had no saddle, and nothing in place of a bridle except a leather string tied round the horse's jaw. The animal was of course wholly uncontrollable, and stretched away at full speed over the prairie, till he 40 and his rider vanished behind a distant swell. I never saw
R
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the man again, but I presume no harm came to him. An Indian on horseback has more lives than a cat.
The village encamped on a scorching prairie, close to the foot of the mountains. The heat was most intense 5 and penetrating. The coverings of the lodges were raised a foot or more from the ground, in order to procure some circulation of air; and Reynal thought proper to lay aside his trapper's dress of buckskin and assume the very scanty costume of an Indian. Thus elegantly attired, he stretched Io himself in his lodge on a buffalo robe, alternately cursing the heat and puffing at the pipe which he and I passed between us. There was present also a select circle of Indian friends and relatives. A small boiled puppy was served up as a parting feast, to which was added, by way 15 of dessert, a wooden bowl of gooseberries, from the mountains.
"Look there," said Reynal, pointing out of the opening of his lodge; "do you see that line of buttes about fifteen miles off ? Well, now, do you see that farthest one, with the white speck on the face of it? Do you think you ever 20 saw it before ?"
"It looks to me," said I, "like the hill that we were camped under when we were on Laramie creek, six or eight weeks ago."
"You've hit it," answered Reynal.
25 "Go, and bring in the animals, Raymond," said I; "we'll camp there to-night, and start for the fort in the morning."
The mare and the mule were soon before the lodge. We saddled them, and in the meantime a number of In- 30 dians collected about us. The virtues of Pauline, my strong, fleet, and hardy little mare, were well known in camp, and several of the visitors were mounted upon good horses which they had brought me as presents. I promptly declined their offers, since accepting them would have in- 35 volved the necessity of transferring poor Pauline into their barbarous hands. We took leave of Reynal, but not of the Indians, who are accustomed to dispense with such superfluous ceremonies. Leaving the camp we rode straight over the prairie toward the white-faced bluff, whose pale 40 ridges swelled gently against the horizon, like a cloud. An Indian went with us, whose name I forget, though the ugli-
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ness of his face and the ghastly width of his mouth dwell vividly in my recollection. The antelope were numerous, but we did not heed them. We rode directly toward our destination, over the arid plains and barren hills; until, late in the afternoon, half spent with heat, thirst, and 5 fatigue, we saw a gladdening sight; the long line of trees and the deep gulf that mark the course of Laramie creek. Passing through the growth of huge dilapidated old cotton- wood trees that bordered the creek, we rode across to the other side. The rapid and foaming waters were filled with I‹ fish playing and splashing in the shallows. As we gained the farther bank, our horses turned eagerly to drink, and we, kneeling on the stand, followed their example. We had not gone far before the scene began to grow familiar. "We are getting near home, Raymond," said I. . 15
There stood the big tree under which we had encamped so long; there were the white cliffs that used to look down upon our tent when it stood at the bend of the creek; there was the meadow in which our horses had grazed for weeks, and a little farther on, the prairie-dog village where I had 20" beguiled many a languid hour in persecuting the unfortunate inhabitants.
"We are going to catch it now," said Raymond, turn- ing his broad, vacant face up towards the sky.
In truth, the landscape, the cliffs and the meadow, the 25 stream and the groves, were darkening fast. Black masses of cloud were swelling up in the south, and the thunder was growling ominously.
" We will camp there," I said, pointing to a dense grove of trees lower down the stream. Raymond and I turned 30 toward it, but the Indian stopped and called earnestly after us. When we demanded what was the matter, he said that the ghosts of two warriors were always among those trees, and that if we slept there, they would scream and throw stones at us all night, and perhaps steal our 35 horses before morning. Thinking it as well to humor him, we left behind us the haunt of these extraordinary ghosts, and passed on toward Chugwater, riding at full gallop, for the big drops began to patter down. Soon we came in sight of the poplar saplings that grew about the mouth 40 of the little stream. We leaped to the ground, threw off
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our saddles, turned our horses loose, and drawing our knives, began to slash among the bushes to cut twigs and branches for making a shelter against the rain. Bending down the taller saplings as they grew, we piled the young shoots upon 5 them, and thus made a convenient penthouse, but all our labor was useless. The storm scarcely touched us. Half a mile on our right the rain was pouring down like a cataract, and the thunder roared over the prairie like a battery of can- non; while we by good fortune received only a few heavy 10 drops from the skirt of the passing cloud. The weather cleared and the sun set gloriously. Sitting close under our leafy canopy, we proceeded to discuss a substantial meal of wasna which Weah-Washtay had given me. The Indian had brought with him his pipe and a bag of shongsasha; so 15 before lying down to sleep, we sat for some time smoking together. Previously, however, our wide-mouthed friend had taken the precaution of carefully examining the neigh-
borhood. He reported that eight men, counting them on his fingers, had been encamped there not long before. 20 Bisonette, Paul Dorion, Antoine Le Rouge, Richardson, and four others, whose names he could not tell. All this proved strictly correct. By what instinct he had ar- rived at such accurate conclusions, I am utterly at a loss to divine.
25 It was still quite dark when I awoke and called Ray- mond. The Indian was already gone, having chosen to go on before us to the fort. Setting out after him, we rode for some time in complete darkness, and when the sun at length rose, growing like a fiery ball of copper, we 30 were ten miles distant from the fort. At length, from the broken summit of a tall sandy bluff we could see Fort Laramie, miles before us, standing by the side of the stream like a little gray speck in the midst of the bound- less desolation. I stopped my horse, and sat for a moment 35 looking down upon it. It seemed to me the very center of comfort and civilization. We were not long in ap- proaching it, for we rode at speed the greater part of the way. Laramie ereck still intervened between us and the friendly walls. Entering the water at the point where 40 we had struck upon the bank, we raised our feet to the saddle behind us, and thus, kneeling as it were on horse-
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back, passed dry-shod through the swift current. As we rode up the bank, a number of men appeared in the gate- way. Three of them came forward to meet us. In a mo- ment I distinguished Shaw; Henry Chatillon followed with his face of manly simplicity and frankness, and Des- 5 lauriers came last, with a broad grin of welcome. The meeting was not on either side one of mere ceremony. For my own part, the change was a most agreeable one from the society of savages and men little better than savages, to that of my gallant and high-minded com- Io panion and our noble-hearted guide. My appearance was equally gratifying to Shaw, who was beginning to enter- tain some very uncomfortable surmises concerning me.
Bordeaux greeted me very cordially, and shouted to the cook. This functionary was a new acquisition, having 15 lately come from Fort Pierre with the trading wagons. Whatever skill he might have boasted, he had not the most promising materials to exercise it upon. He set before me, however, a breakfast of biscuit, coffee, and salt pork. It seemed like a new phase of existence, to be 20 seated once more on a bench, with a knife and fork, a plate and teacup, and something resembling a table before me. The coffee seemed delicious, and the bread was a most welcome novelty, since for three weeks I had eaten scarcely anything but meat, and that for the most part 25 without salt. The meal also had the relish of good com- pany, for opposite to me sat Shaw in elegant dishabille.º If one is anxious thoroughly to appreciate the value of a congenial companion, he has only to spend a few weeks by himself in an Ogallallah village. And if he can con- 30 trive to add to his seclusion a debilitating and somewhat critical illness, his perceptions upon this subject will be rendered considerably more vivid.
Shaw had been upward of two weeks at the fort. I found him established in his old quarters, a large apart- 35 ment usually occupied by the absent bourgeois. In one corner was a soft and luxurious pile of excellent buffalo robes, and here I lay down. Shaw brought me three books.
"Here," said he, "is your Shakspereº and Byron,º and here is the Old Testament, which has as much poetry in 40 it as the other two put together."
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I chose the worstº of the three, and for the greater part of that day I lay on the buffalo robes, fairly reveling in the creations of that resplendent genius which has achieved no more signal triumph than that of half beguiling us to 5 forget the pitiful and unmanly character of its possessor.
CHAPTER XX
THE LONELY JOURNEY
ON the day of my arrival at Fort Laramie, Shaw and I were lounging on two buffalo robes in the large apart- ment hospitably assigned to us; Henry Chatillon also was present, busy about the harness and weapons, which had been brought into the room, and two or three Indians 5 were crouching on the floor, eying us with their fixed, un- wavering gaze.
"I have been well off here," said Shaw, "in all respects but one; there is no good shongsasha to be had for love or money."
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I gave him a small leather bag containing some of ex- cellent quality, which I had brought from the Black hills. "Now, Henry," said he, "hand me Papin's chopping- board, or give it to that Indian, and let him cut the mixture; they understand it better than any white man." I5
The Indian, without saying a word, mixed the bark and the tobacco in due proportions, filled the pipe and lighted it. This done, my companion and I proceeded to deliberate on our future course of proceeding; first, however, Shaw acquainted me with some incidents which 20 had occurred at the fort during my absence.
About a week previous four men had arrived from beyond the mountains: Sublette, Reddick, and two others. Just before reaching the fort they had met a large party of Indians, chiefly young men. All of them belonged to the 25 village of our old friend Smoke, who, with his whole band of adherents, professed the greatest friendship for the whites. The travelers therefore approached, and began to converse without the least suspicion. Suddenly, how- ever, their bridles were violently seized, and they were 30 ordered to dismount. Instead of complying, they struck their horses with full force, and broke away from the In-
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THE OREGON TRAIL
dians. As they galloped off they heard a yell behind them. mixed with a burst of derisive laughter, and the reports of several guns. None of them were hurt, though Red- dick's bridle rein was cut by a bullet within an inch of his 5 hand. After this taste of Indian hostility they felt for the moment no disposition to encounter farther risks. They intended to pursue the route southward along the foot of the mountains to Bent's fort; and as our plans coincided with theirs, they proposed to join forces. Finding, however, ro that I did not return, they grew impatient of inaction, forgot their late escape, and set out without us, promising to wait our arrival at Bent's fort. From thence we were to make the long journey to the settlements in company, as the path was not a little dangerous, being infested by 15 hostile Pawnees and Comanches.
We expected, on reaching Bent's fort, to find there still another reinforcement. A young Kentuckian of the true Kentucky blood, generous, impetuous, and a gentleman withal, had come out to the mountains with Russel's party 20 of California emigrants. One of his chief objects, as he gave out, was to kill an Indian; an exploit which he after- wards succeeded in achieving, much to the jeopardy of ourselves and others who had to pass through the country of the dead Pawnee's enraged relatives. Having become 25 disgusted with his emigrant associates he left them, and had some time before set out with a party of companions for the head of the Arkansas. He sent us previously a letter, intimating that he would wait until we arrived at Bent's fort, and accompany us thence to the settlements. 30 When, however, he came to the fort, he found there a party of forty men about to make the homeward journey. He wisely preferred to avail himself of so strong an escort. Mr. Sublette and his companions also set out, in order to over- take this company; so that on reaching Bent's fort, some 35 six weeks after, we found ourselves deserted by our allies and thrown once more upon our own resources.
But I am anticipating. When, before leaving the set- tlement we had made inquiries concerning this part of the country of General Kearny, Mr. Mackenzie,º Captain go Wyeth, " and others well acquainted with it, they had all advised us by no means to attempt this southward journey
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with fewer than fifteen or twenty men. The danger con- sists in the chance of encountering Indian war parties. Sometimes throughout the whole length of the journey (a distance of 350 miles) one does not meet a single human being; frequently, however, the route is beset by Arapa- 5 hoes and other unfriendly tribes; in which case the scalp of the adventurer is in imminent peril. As to the escort of fifteen or twenty men, such a force of whites could at that time scarcely be collected by the whole country; and had the case been otherwise, the expense of securing them, to- Ic gether with the necessary number of horses, would have been extremely heavy. We had resolved, however, upon pursuing this southward course. There were, indeed, two other routes from Fort Laramie; but both of these were less interesting, and neither was free from danger. Being 15
unable therefore to procure the fifteen or twenty men recom- mended, we determined to set out with those we had already in our employ; Henry Chatillon, Deslauriers, and Raymond. The men themselves made no objection, nor would they have made any had the journey been more 20 dangerous; for Henry was without fear, and the other two without thought.
Shaw and I were much better fitted for this mode of traveling than we had been on betaking ourselves to the prairies for the first time a few months before. The daily 25 routine had ceased to be a novelty. All the details of the journey and the camp had become familiar to us. We had seen life under a new aspect; the human bipedº had been reduced to his primitive condition. We had lived without law to protect, a roof to shelter, or garment of cloth to 30 cover us. One of us at least had been without bread, and without salt to season his food. Our idea of what is in- dispensable to human existence and enjoyment had been wonderfully curtailed, and a horse, a rifle, and a knife seemed to make up the whole of life's necessaries. For 35 these once obtained, together with the skill to use them, all else that is essential would follow in their train, and a host of luxuries besides. One other lesson our short prairie ex- perience had taught us; that of profound contentment in the present, and utter contempt for what the future might 40 bring forth.
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These principles established, we prepared to leave Fort Laramie. On the fourth of August, carly in the afternoon, we bade a final adieu to its Hospitable gateway. Again Shaw and I were riding side by side on the prairie. For 5 the first fifty miles we had companions with us; Troché, a little trapper, and Rouville, a nondescript in the employ of the fur company, who were going to join the trader Biso- nette at his encampment near the head of Horse creek. We rode only six or eight miles that afternoon before we Io came to a little brook traversing the barren prairie. All along its course grew copses of young wild-cherry trees, loaded with ripe fruit, and almost concealing the gliding thread of water with their dense growth, while on each side rose swells of rich green grass. Here we encamped; and 15 being much too indolent to pitch our tent, we flung our saddles on the ground, spread a pair of buffalo robes, lay down upon them, and began to smoke. Meanwhile, Deslauriers busied himself with his hissing frying pan, and Raymond stood guard over the band of grazing horses. 20 Deslauriers had an active assistant in Rouville, who pro- fessed great skill in the culinary art, and seizing upon a fork, began to lend his zealous aid in making ready supper. Indeed, according to his own belief, Rouville was a man of universal knowledge, and he lost no opportunity to dis- 25 play his manifold accomplishments. He had been a circus- rider at St. Louis, and once he rode round Fort Laramie on his head, to the utter bewilderment of all the Indians. He was also noted as the wit of the fort; and as he had considerable humor and abundant vivacity, he contributed 30 more that night to the liveliness of the camp than all the rest of the party put together. At one instant he would be kneeling by Deslauriers, instructing him in the true method of frying antelope steaks, then he would come and seat him- self at our side, dilating upon the orthodox fashion of braid- 35 ing up a horse's tail, telling apocryphal° stories how He Had killed a buffalo bull with a knife, having first cut off his tail when at full speed, or relating whimsical anecdotes of the bourgeois Papin. At last he snatched up a volume of Shakspere that was lying on the grass, and halted and 40 stumbled through a line or two to prove that he could read. He went gamboling about the camp, chattering like some
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frolicksome ape; and whatever he was doing at one mo- ment, the presumption was a sure one that he would not be doing it the next. His companion Troche sat silently on the grass, not speaking a word, but keeping a vigilant eye on a very ugly little Utah squaw, of whom he was extremely 5 jealous.
· /On the next day we traveled farther, crossing the wide sterile basin called Gochè's Hole.º Toward night we be- came involved among deep ravines; and being also un- able to find water, our journey was protracted to a very 10 late hour. On the next morning we had to pass a long line of bluffs, whose raw sides, wrought upon by rains and storms, were of a ghastly whiteness most oppressive to the sight. As we ascended a gap in these hills, the way was marked by huge foot-prints, like those of a human 15 giant. They were the track of the grizzly bear; and on the previous day also we had seen abundance of them along the dry channels of the streams we had passed. Imme- diately after this we were crossing a barren plain, spread- ing in long and gentle undulations to the horizon. Though 20 the sun was bright, there was a light haze in the atmosphere. The distant hills assumed strange, distorted forms, and the edge of the horizon was continually changing its aspect. Shaw and I were riding together, and Henry Chatillon was alone, a few rods before us; he stopped his horse suddenly, 25 and turning round with the peculiar eager and earnest ex- pression which he always wore when excited, he called us to come forward. We galloped to his side. Henry pointed toward a black speck on the gray swell of the prairie, ap- parently about a mile off. "It must be a bear," said he; 30 "come, now, we shall all have some sport. Better fun to fight him than to fight an old buffalo bull; grizzly bear so strong and smart."
So we all galloped forward together, prepared for a hard fight; for these bears, though clumsy in appearance and 35 extremely large, are incredibly fierce and active. The swell of the prairie concealed the black object from our view. Immediately after it appeared again. But now it seemed quite near to us; and as we looked at it in aston- ishment, it suddenly separated into two parts, each of 40 which took wing and flew away. We stopped our horses
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