The Adventures of Captain Bonneville

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They had scarcely arrived, when the Blackfeet warriors made their
appearance on the opposite bank, displaying two American flags in token
of amity. They plunged into the river, swam across, and were kindly
received at the fort. They were some of the very men who had been
engaged, the year previously, in the battle at Pierre's Hole, and a
fierce-looking set of fellows they were; tall and hawk-nosed, and very
much resembling the Crows. They professed to be on an amicable errand,
to make peace with the Crows, and set off in all haste, before night, to
overtake them. Wyeth predicted that they would lose their scalps; for he
had heard the Crows denounce vengeance on them, for having murdered two
of their warriors who had ventured among them on the faith of a treaty
of peace. It is probable, however, that this pacific errand was all a
pretence, and that the real object of the Blackfeet braves was to hang
about the skirts of the Crow band, steal their horses, and take the
scalps of stragglers.

At Fort Cass, Mr. Wyeth disposed of some packages of beaver, and a
quantity of buffalo robes. On the following morning (August 18th), he
once more launched his bull boat, and proceeded down the Yellowstone,
which inclined in an east-northeast direction. The river had alluvial
bottoms, fringed with great quantities of the sweet cotton-wood,
and interrupted occasionally by "bluffs" of sandstone. The current
occasionally brings down fragments of granite and porphyry.

In the course of the day, they saw something moving on the bank among
the trees, which they mistook for game of some kind; and, being in want
of provisions, pulled toward shore. They discovered, just in time,
a party of Blackfeet, lurking in the thickets, and sheered, with all
speed, to the opposite side of the river.

After a time, they came in sight of a gang of elk. Wyeth was
immediately for pursuing them, rifle in hand, but saw evident signs
of dissatisfaction in his half-breed hunters; who considered him as
trenching upon their province, and meddling with things quite above
his capacity; for these veterans of the wilderness are exceedingly
pragmatical, on points of venery and woodcraft, and tenacious of their
superiority; looking down with infinite contempt upon all raw beginners.
The two worthies, therefore, sallied forth themselves, but after a time
returned empty-handed. They laid the blame, however, entirely on their
guns; two miserable old pieces with flint locks, which, with all their
picking and hammering, were continually apt to miss fire. These great
boasters of the wilderness, however, are very often exceeding bad shots,
and fortunate it is for them when they have old flint guns to bear the
blame.

The next day they passed where a great herd of buffalo was bellowing on
a prairie. Again the Castor and Pollux of the wilderness sallied forth,
and again their flint guns were at fault, and missed fire, and nothing
went off but the buffalo. Wyeth now found there was danger of losing
his dinner if he depended upon his hunters; he took rifle in hand,
therefore, and went forth himself. In the course of an hour he returned
laden with buffalo meat, to the great mortification of the two regular
hunters, who were annoyed at being eclipsed by a greenhorn.

All hands now set to work to prepare the midday repast. A fire was made
under an immense cotton-wood tree, that overshadowed a beautiful piece
of meadow land; rich morsels of buffalo hump were soon roasting before
it; in a hearty and prolonged repast, the two unsuccessful hunters
gradually recovered from their mortification; threatened to discard
their old flint guns as soon as they should reach the settlements, and
boasted more than ever of the wonderful shots they had made, when they
had guns that never missed fire.

Having hauled up their boat to dry in the sun, previous to making their
repast, the voyagers now set it once more afloat, and proceeded on
their way. They had constructed a sail out of their old tent, which they
hoisted whenever the wind was favorable, and thus skimmed along down the
stream. Their voyage was pleasant, notwithstanding the perils by sea and
land, with which they were environed. Whenever they could they encamped
on islands for the greater security. If on the mainland, and in a
dangerous neighborhood, they would shift their camp after dark, leaving
their fire burning, dropping down the river some distance, and making
no fire at their second encampment. Sometimes they would float all night
with the current; one keeping watch and steering while the rest slept.
in such case, they would haul their boat on shore, at noon of the
following day to dry; for notwithstanding every precaution, she was
gradually getting water-soaked and rotten.

There was something pleasingly solemn and mysterious in thus floating
down these wild rivers at night. The purity of the atmosphere in these
elevated regions gave additional splendor to the stars, and heightened
the magnificence of the firmament. The occasional rush and laving of
the waters; the vague sounds from the surrounding wilderness; the dreary
howl, or rather whine of wolves from the plains; the low grunting and
bellowing of the buffalo, and the shrill neighing of the elk, struck the
ear with an effect unknown in the daytime.

The two knowing hunters had scarcely recovered from one mortification
when they were fated to experience another. As the boat was gliding
swiftly round a low promontory, thinly covered with trees, one of them
gave the alarm of Indians. The boat was instantly shoved from shore and
every one caught up his rifle. "Where are they?" cried Wyeth.

"There--there! riding on horseback!" cried one of the hunters.

"Yes; with white scarfs on!" cried the other.

Wyeth looked in the direction they pointed, but descried nothing but
two bald eagles, perched on a low dry branch beyond the thickets, and
seeming, from the rapid motion of the boat, to be moving swiftly in an
opposite direction. The detection of this blunder in the two veterans,
who prided themselves on the sureness and quickness of their sight,
produced a hearty laugh at their expense, and put an end to their
vauntings.

The Yellowstone, above the confluence of the Bighorn, is a clear stream;
its waters were now gradually growing turbid, and assuming the yellow
clay color of the Missouri. The current was about four miles an hour,
with occasional rapids; some of them dangerous, but the voyagers passed
them all without accident. The banks of the river were in many places
precipitous with strata of bituminous coal. They now entered a region
abounding with buffalo--that ever-journeying animal, which moves in
countless droves from point to point of the vast wilderness; traversing
plains, pouring through the intricate defiles of mountains, swimming
rivers, ever on the move, guided on its boundless migrations by some
traditionary knowledge, like the finny tribes of the ocean, which, at
certain seasons, find their mysterious paths across the deep and revisit
the remotest shores.

These great migratory herds of buffalo have their hereditary paths
and highways, worn deep through the country, and making for the surest
passes of the mountains, and the most practicable fords of the rivers.
When once a great column is in full career, it goes straight forward,
regardless of all obstacles; those in front being impelled by the moving
mass behind. At such times they will break through a camp, trampling
down everything in their course.

It was the lot of the voyagers, one night, to encamp at one of these
buffalo landing places, and exactly on the trail. They had not been long
asleep, when they were awakened by a great bellowing, and tramping, and
the rush, and splash, and snorting of animals in the river. They had
just time to ascertain that a buffalo army was entering the river on the
opposite side, and making toward the landing place. With all haste they
moved their boat and shifted their camp, by which time the head of the
column had reached the shore, and came pressing up the bank.

It was a singular spectacle, by the uncertain moonlight, to behold
this countless throng making their way across the river, blowing,
and bellowing, and splashing. Sometimes they pass in such dense and
continuous column as to form a temporary dam across the river, the
waters of which rise and rush over their backs, or between their
squadrons. The roaring and rushing sound of one of these vast herds
crossing a river, may sometimes in a still night be heard for miles.

The voyagers now had game in profusion. They could kill as many
buffaloes as they pleased, and, occasionally, were wanton in their
havoc; especially among scattered herds, that came swimming near the
boat. On one occasion, an old buffalo bull approached so near that the
half-breeds must fain try to noose him as they would a wild horse. The
noose was successfully thrown around his head, and secured him by the
horns, and they now promised themselves ample sport. The buffalo
made prodigious turmoil in the water, bellowing, and blowing, and
floundering; and they all floated down the stream together. At length he
found foothold on a sandbar, and taking to his heels, whirled the boat
after him like a whale when harpooned; so that the hunters were obliged
to cast off their rope, with which strange head-gear the venerable bull
made off to the prairies.

On the 24th of August, the bull boat emerged, with its adventurous crew,
into the broad bosom of the mighty Missouri. Here, about six miles above
the mouth of the Yellowstone, the voyagers landed at Fort Union, the
distributing post of the American Fur Company in the western country.
It was a stockaded fortress, about two hundred and twenty feet
square, pleasantly situated on a high bank. Here they were hospitably
entertained by Mr. M'Kenzie, the superintendent, and remained with him
three days, enjoying the unusual luxuries of bread, butter, milk, and
cheese, for the fort was well supplied with domestic cattle, though it
had no garden. The atmosphere of these elevated regions is said to be
too dry for the culture of vegetables; yet the voyagers, in coming down
the Yellowstone, had met with plums, grapes, cherries, and currants, and
had observed ash and elm trees. Where these grow the climate cannot be
incompatible with gardening.

At Fort Union, Wyeth met with a melancholy memento of one of his men.
This was a powder-flask, which a clerk had purchased from a Blackfoot
warrior. It bore the initials of poor More, the unfortunate youth
murdered the year previously, at Jackson's Hole, by the Blackfeet, and
whose bones had been subsequently found by Captain Bonneville. This
flask had either been passed from hand to hand of the youth, or,
perhaps, had been brought to the fort by the very savage who slew him.

As the bull boat was now nearly worn out, and altogether unfit for the
broader and more turbulent stream of the Missouri, it was given up,
and a canoe of cottonwood, about twenty feet long, fabricated by the
Blackfeet, was purchased to supply its place. In this Wyeth hoisted his
sail, and bidding adieu to the hospitable superintendent of Fort Union,
turned his prow to the east, and set off down the Missouri.

He had not proceeded many hours, before, in the evening, he came to a
large keel boat at anchor. It proved to be the boat of Captain William
Sublette, freighted with munitions for carrying on a powerful opposition
to the American Fur Company. The voyagers went on board, where they
were treated with the hearty hospitality of the wilderness, and passed a
social evening, talking over past scenes and adventures, and especially
the memorable fight at Pierre's Hole.

Here Milton Sublette determined to give up further voyaging in the
canoe, and remain with his brother; accordingly, in the morning, the
fellow-voyagers took kind leave of each other and Wyeth continued on
his course. There was now no one on board of his boat that had ever
voyaged on the Missouri; it was, however, all plain sailing down the
stream, without any chance of missing the way.

All day the voyagers pulled gently along, and landed in the evening and
supped; then re-embarking, they suffered the canoe to float down with
the current; taking turns to watch and sleep. The night was calm and
serene; the elk kept up a continual whinnying or squealing, being the
commencement of the season when they are in heat. In the midst of the
night the canoe struck on a sand-bar, and all hands were roused by the
rush and roar of the wild waters, which broke around her. They were
all obliged to jump overboard, and work hard to get her off, which was
accomplished with much difficulty.

In the course of the following day they saw three grizzly bears at
different times along the bank. The last one was on a point of land, and
was evidently making for the river, to swim across. The two half-breed
hunters were now eager to repeat the manoeuvre of the noose; promising
to entrap Bruin, and have rare sport in strangling and drowning him.
Their only fear was, that he might take fright and return to land before
they could get between him and the shore. Holding back, therefore, until
he was fairly committed in the centre of the stream, they then pulled
forward with might and main, so as to cut off his retreat, and take him
in the rear. One of the worthies stationed himself in the bow, with the
cord and slip-noose, the other, with the Nez Perce, managed the paddles.
There was nothing further from the thoughts of honest Bruin, however,
than to beat a retreat. Just as the canoe was drawing near, he turned
suddenly round and made for it, with a horrible snarl and a tremendous
show of teeth. The affrighted hunter called to his comrades to paddle
off. Scarce had they turned the boat when the bear laid his enormous
claws on the gunwale, and attempted to get on board. The canoe was
nearly overturned, and a deluge of water came pouring over the gunwale.
All was clamor, terror, and confusion. Every one bawled out--the bear
roared and snarled--one caught up a gun; but water had rendered it
useless. Others handled their paddles more effectually, and beating old
Bruin about the head and claws, obliged him to relinquish his hold. They
now plied their paddles with might and main, the bear made the best
of his way to shore, and so ended the second exploit of the noose; the
hunters determined to have no more naval contests with grizzly bears.

The voyagers were now out of range of Crows and Black-feet; but they
were approaching the country of the Rees, or Arickaras; a tribe no less
dangerous; and who were, generally, hostile to small parties.

In passing through their country, Wyeth laid by all day, and drifted
quietly down the river at night. In this way he passed on, until he
supposed himself safely through the region of danger; when he resumed
his voyage in the open day. On the 3d of September he had landed, at
midday, to dine; and while some were making a fire, one of the hunters
mounted a high bank to look out for game. He had scarce glanced his
eye round, when he perceived horses grazing on the opposite side of the
river. Crouching down he slunk back to the camp, and reported what he
had seen. On further reconnoitering, the voyagers counted twenty-one
lodges; and from the number of horses, computed that there must be
nearly a hundred Indians encamped there. They now drew their boat, with
all speed and caution, into a thicket of water willows, and remained
closely concealed all day. As soon as the night closed in they
re-embarked. The moon would rise early; so that they had but about two
hours of darkness to get past the camp. The night, however, was cloudy,
with a blustering wind. Silently, and with muffled oars, they glided
down the river, keeping close under the shore opposite to the camp;
watching its various lodges and fires, and the dark forms passing to
and fro between them. Suddenly, on turning a point of land, they found
themselves close upon a camp on their own side of the river. It appeared
that not more than one half of the band had crossed. They were within a
few yards of the shore; they saw distinctly the savages--some standing,
some lying round the fire. Horses were grazing around. Some lodges were
set up, others had been sent across the river. The red glare of the
fires upon these wild groups and harsh faces, contrasted with the
surrounding darkness, had a startling effect, as the voyagers suddenly
came upon the scene. The dogs of the camp perceived them, and barked;
but the Indians fortunately, took no heed of their clamor. Wyeth
instantly sheered his boat out into the stream; when, unluckily it
struck upon a sand-bar, and stuck fast. It was a perilous and trying
situation; for he was fixed between the two camps, and within rifle
range of both. All hands jumped out into the water, and tried to get
the boat off; but as no one dared to give the word, they could not pull
together, and their labor was in vain. In this way they labored for a
long time; until Wyeth thought of giving a signal for a general heave,
by lifting his hat. The expedient succeeded. They launched their canoe
again into deep water, and getting in, had the delight of seeing the
camp fires of the savages soon fading in the distance.

They continued under way the greater part of the night, until far beyond
all danger from this band, when they pulled to shore, and encamped.

The following day was windy, and they came near upsetting their boat in
carrying sail. Toward evening, the wind subsided and a beautiful calm
night succeeded. They floated along with the current throughout the
night, taking turns to watch and steer. The deep stillness of the night
was occasionally interrupted by the neighing of the elk, the hoarse
lowing of the buffalo, the hooting of large owls, and the screeching
of the small ones, now and then the splash of a beaver, or the gonglike
sound of the swan.

Part of their voyage was extremely tempestuous; with high winds,
tremendous thunder, and soaking rain; and they were repeatedly in
extreme danger from drift-wood and sunken trees. On one occasion, having
continued to float at night, after the moon was down, they ran under
a great snag, or sunken tree, with dry branches above the water. These
caught the mast, while the boat swung round, broadside to the stream,
and began to fill with water. Nothing saved her from total wreck, but
cutting away the mast. She then drove down the stream, but left one of
the unlucky half-breeds clinging to the snag, like a monkey to a pole.
It was necessary to run in shore, toil up, laboriously, along the eddies
and to attain some distance above the snag, when they launched forth
again into the stream and floated down with it to his rescue.

We forbear to detail all the circumstances and adventures of upward of
a months voyage, down the windings and doublings of this vast river; in
the course of which they stopped occasionally at a post of one of the
rival fur companies, or at a government agency for an Indian tribe.
Neither shall we dwell upon the changes of climate and productions, as
the voyagers swept down from north to south, across several degrees of
latitude; arriving at the regions of oaks and sycamores; of mulberry
and basswood trees; of paroquets and wild turkeys. This is one of the
characteristics of the middle and lower part of the Missouri; but still
more so of the Mississippi, whose rapid current traverses a succession
of latitudes so as in a few days to float the voyager almost from the
frozen regions to the tropics.

The voyage of Wyeth shows the regular and unobstructed flow of the
rivers, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, in contrast to those of
the western side; where rocks and rapids continually menace and obstruct
the voyager. We find him in a frail bark of skins, launching himself
in a stream at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and floating down from
river to river, as they empty themselves into each other; and so he
might have kept on upward of two thousand miles, until his little
bark should drift into the ocean. At present we shall stop with him at
Cantonment Leavenworth, the frontier post of the United States; where he
arrived on the 27th of September.

Here his first care was to have his Nez Perce Indian, and his half-breed
boy, Baptiste, vaccinated. As they approached the fort, they were
hailed by the sentinel. The sight of a soldier in full array, with what
appeared to be a long knife glittering on the end of a musket, struck
Baptiste with such affright that he took to his heels, bawling for mercy
at the top of his voice. The Nez Perce would have followed him, had not
Wyeth assured him of his safety. When they underwent the operation
of the lancet, the doctor's wife and another lady were present; both
beautiful women. They were the first white women that they had seen, and
they could not keep their eyes off of them. On returning to the boat,
they recounted to their companions all that they had observed at the
fort; but were especially eloquent about the white squaws, who, they
said, were white as snow, and more beautiful than any human being they
had ever beheld.

We shall not accompany the captain any further in his Voyage; but will
simply state that he made his way to Boston, where he succeeded in
organizing an association under the name of "The Columbia River Fishing
and Trading Company," for his original objects of a salmon fishery and
a trade in furs. A brig, the May Dacres, had been dispatched for the
Columbia with supplies; and he was now on his way to the same point, at
the head of sixty men, whom he had enlisted at St. Louis; some of whom
were experienced hunters, and all more habituated to the life of the
wilderness than his first band of "down-easters."

We will now return to Captain Bonneville and his party, whom we left,
making up their packs and saddling their horses, in Bear River Valley.




42.

Departure of Captain Bonneville for the Columbia--Advance of
Wyeth--Efforts to keep the lead--Hudson's Bay party--A
junketing--A delectable beverage--Honey and alcohol--High
carousing--The Canadian "bon vivant"--A cache--A rapid move
Wyeth and his plans--His travelling companions--Buffalo
hunting More conviviality--An interruption.

IT was the 3d of July that Captain Bonneville set out on his second
visit to the banks of the Columbia, at the head of twenty-three men. He
travelled leisurely, to keep his horses fresh, until on the 10th of July
a scout brought word that Wyeth, with his band, was but fifty miles in
the rear, and pushing forward with all speed. This caused some bustle
in the camp; for it was important to get first to the buffalo ground to
secure provisions for the journey. As the horses were too heavily laden
to travel fast, a cache was digged, as promptly as possible, to receive
all superfluous baggage. Just as it was finished, a spring burst out of
the earth at the bottom. Another cache was therefore digged, about two
miles further on; when, as they were about to bury the effects, a line
of horsemen with pack-horses, were seen streaking over the plain, and
encamped close by.

It proved to be a small band in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company,
under the command of a veteran Canadian; one of those petty leaders,
who, with a small party of men, and a small supply of goods, are
employed to follow up a band of Indians from one hunting ground to
another, and buy up their peltries.

Having received numerous civilities from the Hudson's Bay Company, the
captain sent an invitation to the officers of the party to an evening
regale; and set to work to make jovial preparations. As the night air in
these elevated regions is apt to be cold, a blazing fire was soon
made, that would have done credit to a Christmas dinner, instead of a
midsummer banquet. The parties met in high good-fellowship. There was
abundance of such hunters' fare as the neighborhood furnished; and it
was all discussed with mountain appetites. They talked over all the
events of their late campaigns; but the Canadian veteran had been
unlucky in some of his transactions; and his brow began to grow cloudy.
Captain Bonneville remarked his rising spleen, and regretted that he had
no juice of the grape to keep it down.

A man's wit, however, is quick and inventive in the wilderness; a
thought suggested itself to the captain, how he might brew a delectable
beverage. Among his stores was a keg of honey but half exhausted.
This he filled up with alcohol, and stirred the fiery and mellifluous
ingredients together. The glorious results may readily be imagined;
a happy compound of strength and sweetness, enough to soothe the most
ruffled temper and unsettle the most solid understanding.

The beverage worked to a charm; the can circulated merrily; the first
deep draught washed out every care from the mind of the veteran; the
second elevated his spirit to the clouds. He was, in fact, a boon
companion; as all veteran Canadian traders are apt to be. He now became
glorious; talked over all his exploits, his huntings, his fightings
with Indian braves, his loves with Indian beauties; sang snatches of old
French ditties, and Canadian boat songs; drank deeper and deeper, sang
louder and louder; until, having reached a climax of drunken gayety,
he gradually declined, and at length fell fast asleep upon the ground.
After a long nap he again raised his head, imbibed another potation of
the "sweet and strong," flashed up with another slight blaze of French
gayety, and again fell asleep.