The Adventures of Captain Bonneville

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The morning found him still upon the field of action, but in sad and
sorrowful condition; suffering the penalties of past pleasures, and
calling to mind the captain's dulcet compound, with many a retch and
spasm. It seemed as if the honey and alcohol, which had passed so glibly
and smoothly over his tongue, were at war within his stomach; and
that he had a swarm of bees within his head. In short, so helpless
and woebegone was his plight, that his party proceeded on their march
without him; the captain promised to bring him on in safety in the after
part of the day.

As soon as this party had moved off, Captain Bonneville's men proceeded
to construct and fill their cache; and just as it was completed the
party of Wyeth was descried at a distance. In a moment all was activity
to take the road. The horses were prepared and mounted; and being
lightened of a great part of their burdens, were able to move with
celerity. As to the worthy convive of the preceding evening, he was
carefully gathered up from the hunter's couch on which he lay, repentant
and supine, and, being packed upon one of the horses, was hurried
forward with the convoy, groaning and ejaculating at every jolt.

In the course of the day, Wyeth, being lightly mounted, rode ahead of
his party, and overtook Captain Bonneville. Their meeting was friendly
and courteous; and they discussed, sociably, their respective fortunes
since they separated on the banks of the Bighorn. Wyeth announced his
intention of establishing a small trading post at the mouth of the
Portneuf, and leaving a few men there, with a quantity of goods, to
trade with the neighboring Indians. He was compelled, in fact, to this
measure, in consequence of the refusal of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
to take a supply of goods which he had brought out for them according
to contract; and which he had no other mode of disposing of. He further
informed Captain Bonneville that the competition between the Rocky
Mountain and American Fur Companies which had led to such nefarious
stratagems and deadly feuds, was at an end; they having divided the
country between them, allotting boundaries within which each was to
trade and hunt, so as not to interfere with the other.

In company with Wyeth were travelling two men of science; Mr. Nuttall,
the botanist; the same who ascended the Missouri at the time of the
expedition to Astoria; and Mr. Townshend, an ornithologist; from these
gentlemen we may look forward to important information concerning these
interesting regions. There were three religious missionaries, also,
bound to the shores of the Columbia, to spread the light of the Gospel
in that far wilderness.

After riding for some time together, in friendly conversation, Wyeth
returned to his party, and Captain Bonneville continued to press
forward, and to gain ground. At night he sent off the sadly sober and
moralizing chief of the Hudson's Bay Company, under a proper escort, to
rejoin his people; his route branching off in a different direction.
The latter took a cordial leave of his host, hoping, on some future
occasion, to repay his hospitality in kind.

In the morning the captain was early on the march; throwing scouts
out far ahead, to scour hill and dale, in search of buffalo. He had
confidently expected to find game in abundance, on the head-waters of
the Portneuf; but on reaching that region, not a track was to be seen.

At length, one of the scouts, who had made a wide sweep away to the
head-waters of the Blackfoot River, discovered great herds quietly
grazing in the adjacent meadows. He set out on his return, to report
his discoveries; but night overtaking him, he was kindly and hospitably
entertained at the camp of Wyeth. As soon as day dawned he hastened to
his own camp with the welcome intelligence; and about ten o'clock of the
same morning, Captain Bonneville's party were in the midst of the game.

The packs were scarcely off the backs of the mules, when the runners,
mounted on the fleetest horses, were full tilt after the buffalo. Others
of the men were busied erecting scaffolds, and other contrivances, for
jerking or drying meat; others were lighting great fires for the same
purpose; soon the hunters began to make their appearance, bringing
in the choicest morsels of buffalo meat; these were placed upon the
scaffolds, and the whole camp presented a scene of singular hurry and
activity. At daylight the next morning, the runners again took the
field, with similar success; and, after an interval of repose made their
third and last chase, about twelve o'clock; for by this time, Wyeth's
party was in sight. The game being now driven into a valley, at some
distance, Wyeth was obliged to fix his camp there; but he came in the
evening to pay Captain Bonneville a visit. He was accompanied by Captain
Stewart, the amateur traveller; who had not yet sated his appetite for
the adventurous life of the wilderness. With him, also, was a Mr. M'Kay,
a half-breed; son of the unfortunate adventurer of the same name who
came out in the first maritime expedition to Astoria and was blown up
in the Tonquin. His son had grown up in the employ of the British fur
companies; and was a prime hunter, and a daring partisan. He held,
moreover, a farm in the valley of the Wallamut.

The three visitors, when they reached Captain Bonneville's camp, were
surprised to find no one in it but himself and three men; his party
being dispersed in all directions, to make the most of their present
chance for hunting. They remonstrated with him on the imprudence of
remaining with so trifling a guard in a region so full of danger.
Captain Bonneville vindicated the policy of his conduct. He never
hesitated to send out all his hunters, when any important object was to
be attained; and experience had taught him that he was most secure when
his forces were thus distributed over the surrounding country. He then
was sure that no enemy could approach, from any direction, without
being discovered by his hunters; who have a quick eye for detecting the
slightest signs of the proximity of Indians; and who would instantly
convey intelligence to the camp.

The captain now set to work with his men, to prepare a suitable
entertainment for his guests. It was a time of plenty in the camp; of
prime hunters' dainties; of buffalo humps, and buffalo tongues; and
roasted ribs, and broiled marrow-bones: all these were cooked in
hunters' style; served up with a profusion known only on a plentiful
hunting ground, and discussed with an appetite that would astonish the
puny gourmands of the cities. But above all, and to give a bacchanalian
grace to this truly masculine repast, the captain produced his
mellifluous keg of home-brewed nectar, which had been so potent over
the senses of the veteran of Hudson's Bay. Potations, pottle deep, again
went round; never did beverage excite greater glee, or meet with more
rapturous commendation. The parties were fast advancing to that
happy state which would have insured ample cause for the next day's
repentance; and the bees were already beginning to buzz about their
ears, when a messenger came spurring to the camp with intelligence that
Wyeth's people had got entangled in one of those deep and frightful
ravines, piled with immense fragments of volcanic rock, which gash the
whole country about the head-waters of the Blackfoot River. The revel
was instantly at an end; the keg of sweet and potent home-brewed was
deserted; and the guests departed with all speed to aid in extricating
their companions from the volcanic ravine.




43.

A rapid march--A cloud of dust--Wild horsemen--"High Jinks"
Horseracing and rifle-shooting--The game of hand--The
fishing season--Mode of fishing--Table lands--Salmon
fishers--The captain's visit to an Indian lodge--The Indian
girl--The pocket mirror--Supper--Troubles of an evil
conscience.

"UP and away!" is the first thought at daylight of the Indian trader,
when a rival is at hand and distance is to be gained. Early in the
morning, Captain Bonneville ordered the half dried meat to be packed
upon the horses, and leaving Wyeth and his party to hunt the scattered
buffalo, pushed off rapidly to the east, to regain the plain of the
Portneuf. His march was rugged and dangerous; through volcanic hills,
broken into cliffs and precipices; and seamed with tremendous chasms,
where the rocks rose like walls.

On the second day, however, he encamped once more in the plain, and
as it was still early some of the men strolled out to the neighboring
hills. In casting their eyes round the country, they perceived a great
cloud of dust rising in the south, and evidently approaching. Hastening
back to the camp, they gave the alarm. Preparations were instantly made
to receive an enemy; while some of the men, throwing themselves upon
the "running horses" kept for hunting, galloped off to reconnoitre. In
a little while, they made signals from a distance that all was friendly.
By this time the cloud of dust had swept on as if hurried along by a
blast, and a band of wild horsemen came dashing at full leap into the
camp, yelling and whooping like so many maniacs. Their dresses, their
accoutrements, their mode of riding, and their uncouth clamor, made
them seem a party of savages arrayed for war; but they proved to be
principally half-breeds, and white men grown savage in the wilderness,
who were employed as trappers and hunters in the service of the Hudson's
Bay Company.

Here was again "high jinks" in the camp. Captain Bonneville's men hailed
these wild scamperers as congenial spirits, or rather as the very game
birds of their class. They entertained them with the hospitality of
mountaineers, feasting them at every fire. At first, there were mutual
details of adventures and exploits, and broad joking mingled with peals
of laughter. Then came on boasting of the comparative merits of horses
and rifles, which soon engrossed every tongue. This naturally led to
racing, and shooting at a mark; one trial of speed and skill succeeded
another, shouts and acclamations rose from the victorious parties,
fierce altercations succeeded, and a general melee was about to take
place, when suddenly the attention of the quarrellers was arrested by a
strange kind of Indian chant or chorus, that seemed to operate upon them
as a charm. Their fury was at an end; a tacit reconciliation succeeded
and the ideas of the whole mongrel crowd whites, half-breeds and squaws
were turned in a new direction. They all formed into groups and taking
their places at the several fires, prepared for one of the most exciting
amusements of the Nez Perces and the other tribes of the Far West.

The choral chant, in fact, which had thus acted as a charm, was a kind
of wild accompaniment to the favorite Indian game of "Hand." This is
played by two parties drawn out in opposite platoons before a blazing
fire. It is in some respects like the old game of passing the ring or
the button, and detecting the hand which holds it. In the present game,
the object hidden, or the cache as it is called by the trappers, is a
small splint of wood, or other diminutive article that may be concealed
in the closed hand. This is passed backward and forward among the party
"in hand," while the party "out of hand" guess where it is concealed. To
heighten the excitement and confuse the guessers, a number of dry poles
are laid before each platoon, upon which the members of the party "in
hand" beat furiously with short staves, keeping time to the choral chant
already mentioned, which waxes fast and furious as the game proceeds. As
large bets are staked upon the game, the excitement is prodigious.
Each party in turn bursts out in full chorus, beating, and yelling, and
working themselves up into such a heat that the perspiration rolls down
their naked shoulders, even in the cold of a winter night. The bets
are doubled and trebled as the game advances, the mental excitement
increases almost to madness, and all the worldly effects of the gamblers
are often hazarded upon the position of a straw.

These gambling games were kept up throughout the night; every fire
glared upon a group that looked like a crew of maniacs at their frantic
orgies, and the scene would have been kept up throughout the succeeding
day, had not Captain Bonneville interposed his authority, and, at the
usual hour, issued his marching orders.

Proceeding down the course of Snake River, the hunters regularly
returned to camp in the evening laden with wild geese, which were yet
scarcely able to fly, and were easily caught in great numbers. It was
now the season of the annual fish-feast, with which the Indians in these
parts celebrate the first appearance of the salmon in this river. These
fish are taken in great numbers at the numerous falls of about four feet
pitch. The Indians flank the shallow water just below, and spear them
as they attempt to pass. In wide parts of the river, also, they place a
sort of chevaux-de-frize, or fence, of poles interwoven with withes, and
forming an angle in the middle of the current, where a small opening
is left for the salmon to pass. Around this opening the Indians station
themselves on small rafts, and ply their spears with great success.

The table lands so common in this region have a sandy soil,
inconsiderable in depth, and covered with sage, or more properly
speaking, wormwood. Below this is a level stratum of rock, riven
occasionally by frightful chasms. The whole plain rises as it approaches
the river, and terminates with high and broken cliffs, difficult to
pass, and in many places so precipitous that it is impossible, for days
together, to get down to the water's edge, to give drink to the horses.
This obliges the traveller occasionally to abandon the vicinity of the
river, and make a wide sweep into the interior.

It was now far in the month of July, and the party suffered extremely
from sultry weather and dusty travelling. The flies and gnats, too, were
extremely troublesome to the horses; especially when keeping along the
edge of the river where it runs between low sand-banks. Whenever the
travellers encamped in the afternoon, the horses retired to the gravelly
shores and remained there, without attempting to feed until the cool of
the evening. As to the travellers, they plunged into the clear and cool
current, to wash away the dust of the road and refresh themselves after
the heat of the day. The nights were always cool and pleasant.

At one place where they encamped for some time, the river was nearly
five hundred yards wide, and studded with grassy islands, adorned with
groves of willow and cotton-wood. Here the Indians were assembled in
great numbers, and had barricaded the channels between the islands, to
enable them to spear the salmon with greater facility. They were a timid
race, and seemed unaccustomed to the sight of white men. Entering one
of the huts, Captain Bonneville found the inhabitants just proceeding
to cook a fine salmon. It is put into a pot filled with cold water, and
hung over the fire. The moment the water begins to boil, the fish is
considered cooked.

Taking his seat unceremoniously, and lighting his pipe, the captain
awaited the cooking of the fish, intending to invite himself to the
repast. The owner of the hut seemed to take his intrusion in good part.
While conversing with him the captain felt something move behind him,
and turning round and removing a few skins and old buffalo robes,
discovered a young girl, about fourteen years of age, crouched beneath,
who directed her large black eyes full in his face, and continued to
gaze in mute surprise and terror. The captain endeavored to dispel her
fears, and drawing a bright ribbon from his pocket, attempted repeatedly
to tie it round her neck. She jerked back at each attempt, uttering a
sound very much like a snarl; nor could all the blandishments of the
captain, albeit a pleasant, good-looking, and somewhat gallant man,
succeed in conquering the shyness of the savage little beauty. His
attentions were now turned toward the parents, whom he presented with
an awl and a little tobacco, and having thus secured their good-will,
continued to smoke his pipe, and watch the salmon. While thus seated
near the threshold, an urchin of the family approached the door, but
catching a sight of the strange guest, ran off screaming with terror and
ensconced himself behind the long straw at the back of the hut.

Desirous to dispel entirely this timidity, and to open a trade with the
simple inhabitants of the hut, who, he did not doubt, had furs somewhere
concealed, the captain now drew forth that grand lure in the eyes of
a savage, a pocket mirror. The sight of it was irresistible. After
examining it for a long time with wonder and admiration, they produced
a musk-rat skin, and offered it in exchange. The captain shook his head;
but purchased the skin for a couple of buttons--superfluous trinkets! as
the worthy lord of the hovel had neither coat nor breeches on which to
place them.

The mirror still continued the great object of desire, particularly in
the eyes of the old housewife, who produced a pot of parched flour and
a string of biscuit roots. These procured her some trifle in return;
but could not command the purchase of the mirror. The salmon being
now completely cooked, they all joined heartily in supper. A bounteous
portion was deposited before the captain by the old woman, upon some
fresh grass, which served instead of a platter; and never had he tasted
a salmon boiled so completely to his fancy.

Supper being over, the captain lighted his pipe and passed it to
his host, who, inhaling the smoke, puffed it through his nostrils
so assiduously, that in a little while his head manifested signs of
confusion and dizziness. Being satisfied, by this time, of the
kindly and companionable qualities of the captain, he became easy and
communicative; and at length hinted something about exchanging beaver
skins for horses. The captain at once offered to dispose of his steed,
which stood fastened at the door. The bargain was soon concluded,
whereupon the Indian, removing a pile of bushes under which his
valuables were concealed, drew forth the number of skins agreed upon as
the price.

Shortly afterward, some of the captain's people coming up, he ordered
another horse to be saddled, and, mounting it, took his departure from
the hut, after distributing a few trifling presents among its simple
inhabitants. During all the time of his visit, the little Indian girl
had kept her large black eyes fixed upon him, almost without winking,
watching every movement with awe and wonder; and as he rode off,
remained gazing after him, motionless as a statue. Her father, however,
delighted with his new acquaintance, mounted his newly purchased horse,
and followed in the train of the captain, to whom he continued to be a
faithful and useful adherent during his sojourn in the neighborhood.

The cowardly effects of an evil conscience were evidenced in the conduct
of one of the captain's men, who had been in the California expedition.
During all their intercourse with the harmless people of this place,
he had manifested uneasiness and anxiety. While his companions mingled
freely and joyously with the natives, he went about with a restless,
suspicious look; scrutinizing every painted form and face and starting
often at the sudden approach of some meek and inoffensive savage, who
regarded him with reverence as a superior being. Yet this was ordinarily
a bold fellow, who never flinched from danger, nor turned pale at the
prospect of a battle. At length he requested permission of Captain
Bonneville to keep out of the way of these people entirely. Their
striking resemblance, he said, to the people of Ogden's River, made
him continually fear that some among them might have seen him in that
expedition; and might seek an opportunity of revenge. Ever after this,
while they remained in this neighborhood, he would skulk out of the way
and keep aloof when any of the native inhabitants approached. "Such,"
observed Captain Bonneville, "is the effect of self-reproach, even upon
the roving trapper in the wilderness, who has little else to fear than
the stings of his own guilty conscience."




44.

Outfit of a trapper--Risks to which he is subjected--
Partnership of trappers--Enmity of Indians--Distant smoke--A
country on fire--Gun Greek--Grand Rond--Fine pastures--
Perplexities in a smoky country--Conflagration of forests.

IT had been the intention of Captain Bonneville, in descending along
Snake River, to scatter his trappers upon the smaller streams. In this
way a range of country is trapped by small detachments from a main body.
The outfit of a trapper is generally a rifle, a pound of powder,
and four pounds of lead, with a bullet mould, seven traps, an axe,
a hatchet, a knife and awl, a camp kettle, two blankets, and, where
supplies are plenty, seven pounds of flour. He has, generally, two
or three horses, to carry himself and his baggage and peltries. Two
trappers commonly go together, for the purposes of mutual assistance and
support; a larger party could not easily escape the eyes of the Indians.
It is a service of peril, and even more so at present than formerly, for
the Indians, since they have got into the habit of trafficking peltries
with the traders, have learned the value of the beaver, and look
upon the trappers as poachers, who are filching the riches from their
streams, and interfering with their market. They make no hesitation,
therefore, to murder the solitary trapper, and thus destroy a
competitor, while they possess themselves of his spoils. It is
with regret we add, too, that this hostility has in many cases been
instigated by traders, desirous of injuring their rivals, but who have
themselves often reaped the fruits of the mischief they have sown.

When two trappers undertake any considerable stream, their mode of
proceeding is, to hide their horses in some lonely glen, where they can
graze unobserved. They then build a small hut, dig out a canoe from a
cotton-wood tree, and in this poke along shore silently, in the evening,
and set their traps. These they revisit in the same silent way at
daybreak. When they take any beaver they bring it home, skin it, stretch
the skins on sticks to dry, and feast upon the flesh. The body, hung up
before the fire, turns by its own weight, and is roasted in a superior
style; the tail is the trapper's tidbit; it is cut off, put on the end
of a stick, and toasted, and is considered even a greater dainty than
the tongue or the marrow-bone of a buffalo.

With all their silence and caution, however, the poor trappers cannot
always escape their hawk-eyed enemies. Their trail has been discovered,
perhaps, and followed up for many a mile; or their smoke has been seen
curling up out of the secret glen, or has been scented by the savages,
whose sense of smell is almost as acute as that of sight. Sometimes they
are pounced upon when in the act of setting their traps; at other times,
they are roused from their sleep by the horrid war-whoop; or, perhaps,
have a bullet or an arrow whistling about their ears, in the midst of
one of their beaver banquets. In this way they are picked off, from time
to time, and nothing is known of them, until, perchance, their bones are
found bleaching in some lonely ravine, or on the banks of some nameless
stream, which from that time is called after them. Many of the small
streams beyond the mountains thus perpetuate the names of unfortunate
trappers that have been murdered on their banks.

A knowledge of these dangers deterred Captain Bonneville, in the present
instance, from detaching small parties of trappers as he had intended;
for his scouts brought him word that formidable bands of the Banneck
Indians were lying on the Boisee and Payette Rivers, at no great
distance, so that they would be apt to detect and cut off any
stragglers. It behooved him, also, to keep his party together, to guard
against any predatory attack upon the main body; he continued on his
way, therefore, without dividing his forces. And fortunate it was that
he did so; for in a little while he encountered one of the phenomena of
the western wilds that would effectually have prevented his scattered
people from finding each other again. In a word, it was the season of
setting fire to the prairies. As he advanced he began to perceive great
clouds of smoke at a distance, rising by degrees, and spreading over the
whole face of the country. The atmosphere became dry and surcharged
with murky vapor, parching to the skin, and irritating to the eyes. When
travelling among the hills, they could scarcely discern objects at the
distance of a few paces; indeed, the least exertion of the vision was
painful. There was evidently some vast conflagration in the direction
toward which they were proceeding; it was as yet at a great distance,
and during the day they could only see the smoke rising in larger and
denser volumes, and rolling forth in an immense canopy. At night the
skies were all glowing with the reflection of unseen fires, hanging in
an immense body of lurid light high above the horizon.